feelixthegreek
07-18-2004, 03:06 PM
I went to the Aviation Club in Paris with my wife the night of our arrival. With my wife's (who has very good French)help, I asked about the hold em games they had going. At first it seemed they didn't have any, but eventually we got the gist that a tournament was about to commence and I could get a seat for 100 Euro (about 128 dollars). Figuring I'd buy in at a ring game for just as much, and wanting to play in this place badly (very pretty place, Bond-like, as others have noted, though the clientele is as dressed down as Foxwoods), I bought in blissfully ignorant.
Everyone at the table was French but me, but the languqge of the game was easy to ascertain. What I lacked in comprehension I figured I got back by my own aura of mystery. I had no idea how many people were in the tournament, nor what was to be won. I did know that there were 200 Euro re-buys and add ons, which after a couple of hands people were doing.
I laid low for a full orbit until I caught AJs and came in for twenty. (The blinds at this point were 2-5 and we all started with 100. I was first in with the raise and got three or so callers, a surprisingly high amount. Then I flopped the flush (as you may have noticed from the WPT broadcast, they turn the flop one card at a time here). I checked in first position and everyone checked behind. The turn paired the board so I came in for 30 and got no callers.
I laid back for awhile after that, trying to get a sense of what the hell I was involved in. It seemed there was only one other table playing, so the field was small, although virtually everyone who busted out would re-buy. For a no-limit game, a lot of people stayed for the flop.
Later I got KK under the gun. I limped in for 5, figuring people would happily trail. Three people did, and then a guy one off the button raised 20 or so. I had more chips than him, so I moved all in. The guy to my immediate left pushed his smaller stack in behind me, and the original raiser did the same. They showed QQ and KJ, respectively. A jack flopped but my kings held up and all of a sudden I had some chips to play with.
I sat back and watched people go away. The blinds went to 5-10 (oddly, they never got higher). I caught KJs and limped in and got to see the flop for cheap. Once again, I flopped the flush, the nut flush, no less, because the ace hit the board. I cheked it on to a dude who pushed his stack in. Everyone folded to me but there was one more person between me and the all-in guy, so I just called. No matter, because he folded. Heads up, I threw over my flush. The guy winced, then said in English, 'I can still win,' and turned over Aces up. Blessedly, his boat didn't come in.
My cards got cold after that, but I did make some inspired folds, pitching 44 when I sensed they weren't worth pushing. One hand I nearly called a short stack's desperate all in bet with K9s. I laid it down, and the guy, when he was later called, turned over A9.
Eventually, when people started going out and there were no other players to replace them, and I realized that we were it. I had the second-highest stack, and played very tight until all the desperate stacks went away. I could tell by the chalkboard that the top 3 places were going to get something, but I didn't know what. When it got down to five, I started running bluffs, especially when the bigger stacks would fold. Everyone was very cautious, and I was able to snag some blinds. One hand the chip leader called my 75 dollar bet when I had Axs. Then the flop came and I got two to my suit, so I bet out 100 and he called me again. I missed the flush on the turn and pushed one more bet out there, got called again. I missed it on the river but caught my low pair (threes, I think) and bet out one more time, figuring the only way I could win was to bet. I put out another 100 and immediately regretted it. Too small, I thought. How could he not call after investing so much. Amazingly, he laid it down.
A couple hands later, when there were four left, the remaining three players went all-in pre-flop. I was hoping for a double knockout, but only one person was eliminated. But I knew that I had made the money.
Around this time David Benyamine came into the cardroom. It was a starstruck moment for me, but he did not stop to look at the action. When I left later, he was playing bridge with a friend.
Among the three of us, one guy had a measly stack and the other guy had me outchipped about two to one. I played tight until the short stack went down and we were heads-up. I was completely unprepared to deal with this kind of thing, and in a way I think that helped. I pushed hands with impunity, attempting to steal blinds. I felt strongly that I was a better player because he happily let me take the pots, never once trying to play back to shut me down. After all, he had the bigger stack. I chipped away.
Finally, I caught 99, he called from the SB and I raised the amount that I'd been raising all along. This time he came over the top, not enough to put me all in but enough so that merely calling would be pointless. I thought quickly, but came to the conclusion that he he had a big pair he would not have tried to run me out of the pot this quickly. I also thought that given my pushy play he might decide to take a stand with any ace, so the worst I'd be looking at was a coin-flip, and since I was short stacked I figured I'd have to win a coin-flip eventually. I moved all-in. He called; since it wasn't much more for him to do so.
I was right. He turned over AQo. I did the right thing, and I kept telling myself that even after another Q came on the flop and busted me.
So I finished second, and I had no idea what that meant. As it turned out, I got back 140 Euro (a little bit over my entry fee) and a 500 Euro chip to get a seat in any of the upcoming Grand Prix du Paris tournaments. I could have entered a 500 Euro pot-limit hold em game, or I could have played in a super-satellite to get a seat in the World Poker Tour 10,000 event. However, I could do none of these things, because I had to leave Paris in two days. So I talked a little bit with the guy who beat me, and he agreed to buy my chip for the cut rate of 300 Euro. (I sold it short, I know. I could have easily gotten 90 percent or all of its worth. Stupid.) Nonetheless, I left the Aviation Club up 340 Euro, which is around 425 dollars. Not a bad night. Paris looked prettier the rest of our time there.
Everyone at the table was French but me, but the languqge of the game was easy to ascertain. What I lacked in comprehension I figured I got back by my own aura of mystery. I had no idea how many people were in the tournament, nor what was to be won. I did know that there were 200 Euro re-buys and add ons, which after a couple of hands people were doing.
I laid low for a full orbit until I caught AJs and came in for twenty. (The blinds at this point were 2-5 and we all started with 100. I was first in with the raise and got three or so callers, a surprisingly high amount. Then I flopped the flush (as you may have noticed from the WPT broadcast, they turn the flop one card at a time here). I checked in first position and everyone checked behind. The turn paired the board so I came in for 30 and got no callers.
I laid back for awhile after that, trying to get a sense of what the hell I was involved in. It seemed there was only one other table playing, so the field was small, although virtually everyone who busted out would re-buy. For a no-limit game, a lot of people stayed for the flop.
Later I got KK under the gun. I limped in for 5, figuring people would happily trail. Three people did, and then a guy one off the button raised 20 or so. I had more chips than him, so I moved all in. The guy to my immediate left pushed his smaller stack in behind me, and the original raiser did the same. They showed QQ and KJ, respectively. A jack flopped but my kings held up and all of a sudden I had some chips to play with.
I sat back and watched people go away. The blinds went to 5-10 (oddly, they never got higher). I caught KJs and limped in and got to see the flop for cheap. Once again, I flopped the flush, the nut flush, no less, because the ace hit the board. I cheked it on to a dude who pushed his stack in. Everyone folded to me but there was one more person between me and the all-in guy, so I just called. No matter, because he folded. Heads up, I threw over my flush. The guy winced, then said in English, 'I can still win,' and turned over Aces up. Blessedly, his boat didn't come in.
My cards got cold after that, but I did make some inspired folds, pitching 44 when I sensed they weren't worth pushing. One hand I nearly called a short stack's desperate all in bet with K9s. I laid it down, and the guy, when he was later called, turned over A9.
Eventually, when people started going out and there were no other players to replace them, and I realized that we were it. I had the second-highest stack, and played very tight until all the desperate stacks went away. I could tell by the chalkboard that the top 3 places were going to get something, but I didn't know what. When it got down to five, I started running bluffs, especially when the bigger stacks would fold. Everyone was very cautious, and I was able to snag some blinds. One hand the chip leader called my 75 dollar bet when I had Axs. Then the flop came and I got two to my suit, so I bet out 100 and he called me again. I missed the flush on the turn and pushed one more bet out there, got called again. I missed it on the river but caught my low pair (threes, I think) and bet out one more time, figuring the only way I could win was to bet. I put out another 100 and immediately regretted it. Too small, I thought. How could he not call after investing so much. Amazingly, he laid it down.
A couple hands later, when there were four left, the remaining three players went all-in pre-flop. I was hoping for a double knockout, but only one person was eliminated. But I knew that I had made the money.
Around this time David Benyamine came into the cardroom. It was a starstruck moment for me, but he did not stop to look at the action. When I left later, he was playing bridge with a friend.
Among the three of us, one guy had a measly stack and the other guy had me outchipped about two to one. I played tight until the short stack went down and we were heads-up. I was completely unprepared to deal with this kind of thing, and in a way I think that helped. I pushed hands with impunity, attempting to steal blinds. I felt strongly that I was a better player because he happily let me take the pots, never once trying to play back to shut me down. After all, he had the bigger stack. I chipped away.
Finally, I caught 99, he called from the SB and I raised the amount that I'd been raising all along. This time he came over the top, not enough to put me all in but enough so that merely calling would be pointless. I thought quickly, but came to the conclusion that he he had a big pair he would not have tried to run me out of the pot this quickly. I also thought that given my pushy play he might decide to take a stand with any ace, so the worst I'd be looking at was a coin-flip, and since I was short stacked I figured I'd have to win a coin-flip eventually. I moved all-in. He called; since it wasn't much more for him to do so.
I was right. He turned over AQo. I did the right thing, and I kept telling myself that even after another Q came on the flop and busted me.
So I finished second, and I had no idea what that meant. As it turned out, I got back 140 Euro (a little bit over my entry fee) and a 500 Euro chip to get a seat in any of the upcoming Grand Prix du Paris tournaments. I could have entered a 500 Euro pot-limit hold em game, or I could have played in a super-satellite to get a seat in the World Poker Tour 10,000 event. However, I could do none of these things, because I had to leave Paris in two days. So I talked a little bit with the guy who beat me, and he agreed to buy my chip for the cut rate of 300 Euro. (I sold it short, I know. I could have easily gotten 90 percent or all of its worth. Stupid.) Nonetheless, I left the Aviation Club up 340 Euro, which is around 425 dollars. Not a bad night. Paris looked prettier the rest of our time there.