There is an assumption that if you play poker at the lowest level you are not exposing yourself to serious losses or gains. After all $1/$2 no limit is such piddly stakes, right? This is the lowest level casinos in North America play at but it is plenty steep enough to lose outrageous amounts of money if you are reckless. Many times I have witnessed someone busting out and re-buying multiple times. I once saw a guy lose about $1,200 in two hours at a $1/$2 table. I have lost $600 myself in a single night.
Believe it or not, you can make a living playing $1/$2 no limit. I met a guy in Vegas who was doing just that. Mike was a laid-off construction worker who had just bought a house and had bills to pay. He turned to poker, playing an average of twelve hours a day, six days a week. With such a grueling schedule he was able to average about $1000 per week. Glamorous, huh? I asked if he ever considered going back to construction, and he told me he would quit poker the second a good construction job came along. Still, the point is that if you are serious and dedicated, it is possible to make a living at the $1/$2 table.
Last Friday the biggest pot I had ever witnessed at a $1/$2 table went down. Because the most you can bring to this level is $300, it is rare to see truly massive pots. But Tom (see previous post) and Francis (a young Filipino lagtard*) had very large stacks; about $750 and $1100 respectively. They had both been here all night (it was now about 1 p.m.) so those stacks presumably were the fruits of many hours labour. Another guy dressed in an Eberle jersey and matching Oilers cap had just joined the table about an hour earlier, but had quickly built his stack to about $700.
Tom raised to $15 on the button when it had folded to him and both Francis in the small blind and Eberle in the big blind called. There was $45 in the pot when the flop came As 10s 8d. Francis led out with a $20 bet which Eberle called before Tom raised to $50. Francis seemed genuinely excited that there was so much interest in the pot, and gleefully announced "Three-fifty!", pushing another $330 in chips forward. Wow. To my surprise Eberle hardly even thought about it before calling, and then Tom pushed all in with his remaining $685. Holy crap. Francis need another $400 or so to call and he doesn't even give it much thought, pushing four stacks of $5 chips into the middle. Eberle only has about $300 left, but he puts it in.
Holy crap. With two guys all-in there can be no more betting. What is going on here? Tom says "If either of you guys have pocket aces, you are probably good." and he shows pocket tens. Francis lets out a soft curse and turns over A 10 - he needs to hit an ace to win. Eberle doesn't show, which makes me think he is on a flush draw, maybe a straight-flush draw. But when the four of spades comes on the turn he shows no reaction. The river is a blank and Eberle mucks. "Seat open," he says and walks away from the table.
Tom rakes in a pot of around $2,200. Not bad for "low stakes" poker.
*What is a lagtard? Stay tuned for my next post: Busting the Lagtard
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