"Trip Report" - $200 + Rebuys at the Bike win ($25000)

[Daxonovitch]

I went to the Bike on Saturday, expecting to play a $200 NLHE tourney. A bit to my chagrin, I find out that the webpage incorrectly listed the tourney - it was a $200 plus rebuys. Definitely being underrolled for this tournament with how I play rebuy tournaments (extremely loose aggressive - 5-10 rebuys is common, in an effort to build a very large stack by the first break), I do some introspection.

In the last few months, I haven't been running well in tournaments, and I've tried some various things.

Some people play a LAG game extremely well, making player based reads and only pretending to look at their cards, moving a ton of chips in the process, continuously putting other people to a difficult decision. On the other end of the spectrum, you have someone who plays fairly rock-ish (not in the negative sense of the word): they aren't afraid to put their chips in when they feel they have the best hand, but rarely getting into big pots without some sort of hand. In general, they're the ones making the hard calls (but unless people realize they're playing as tight as they are, generally bluff off all their chips running into the nuts).

The problem is, these two strategies are almost mutally exclusive. If you try to mix them up a bit I think you end up with the worse end of both. Naturally situations dictate the type of play you're going to make, and in the midgame of a tournament when blinds are pressuring everyone, play becomes somewhat straightforward. Play LAG and move around a lot of chips or play ABC and save every chip for when you can double it up.

So back to the bankroll, I decide to enter this tournament and skip the LAG game, and opt for a super-tight ABC game. I end up getting nearly blinded off until I have 1100 chips with blinds 200/400. I call all-in with JTs in the BB (SB open pushed) and flop a Royal Flush. In the next 20 minutes, I go on an absolutely ridiculous streak: I make quads, I have AQ vs AT, I flop a straight with KT (QJ9) vs J9, and I get KK vs ??, winning a very large pot when he folds on the flop. I double or knock someone out on every hand (except for KK).

I turn 1100 into just shy of 50,000 chips, and have 1/6th the chips in play with 60 players remaining. I'm not one to get nervous or "shaky hands" after a big pot, but after 4 or 5 of these monster pots, I literally could not stack my chips because I was shaking so badly.

I decide that going with the ABC start was great and when I got the cards, I was able to build a tremendous stack up, but now was the time to go with the LAG approach. I proceed to bully the table, knocking off a few small stacks and basically putting pressure on everyone at my table until we get to the final table.

With 10 people left, the payouts were $57000 for first and $1800 for 10th. People were all similarly stacked so we agreed to a chip count chop for 90% of the pool. Everyone agree?

"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
".......... eff that, I'm drunk and ready to gamble, NO DEAL!"

<entire table> WHAT???

Basically everyone would have gotten 8k-20k guaranteed. Third place money for all ten people, and one drunk guy just wanted to gamble. After a 20 minute yelling session the floor finally says that there's no deal, shuffle up and deal, and any harassing of the player in question would result in a penalty.

We play on. I'm a little short stacked with about 30000 (I made a somewhat loose call with 44 after raising and getting reraised all-in) and find AKs in the BB. A player who *clearly* was over his head and probably the most angry about the non-deal moves all in for 28000 in MP with JJ. It's folded around to me and I ponder for ages. Here's where I'll take the beating from the 2+2 crowd - A) I don't want to call with AK because I'm probably a coinflip, maybe have a bigger ace, and possibly crushed vs AA/KK, but B) I don't want to call because I don't want to bust him for 1800 (when he was guaranteed $10000 15 minutes earlier).

I call and flop a king, he goes home and collects his $1800.

The table is silent, everyone's in a bad mood, on his way to the rail past the table, the 10th place finisher says something to the drunk guy along the lines of "I wish you have a heart attack and die on the way home", which no one at the table can disagree with.

I now have a lot of chips again, and several hands later, the drunk opens all in from the cutoff with 73o. I *instacall* with 66 in the SB, and the BB folds. 66 holds up and the table and rail go wild, patting me on the back, high fives all around. I have even more chips so good for me, and we make an 8-way chip count chop for 90% of the prize pool. My share is $25000 and I give the 10th place finisher $2000 out of my cut (again, here's where I take flak from the 2+2 crowd). I probably don't need to do this, but I geniunely felt bad for the guy, and what goes around comes around. If it weren't for his chips, instead of $25000, I'd be getting $10000 or maybe even $1800 if I bust 10th. $2000 is a drop in the bucket when I just scored 25 large.

The remaining funds are $12000 (and the trophy), and we play it down to 4. I make some good calls and bust a couple people, and a big hand comes up. I've been raising a lot of pots (almost any time it's unopened to me) for 3xBB, and sometimes folding to all-in raises. One player in particular has stood up to me, calling a raise preflop, calling a bet on the flop and betting out large on the turn (I lay down top pair - board paired and flushed). Few hands later, I have 77 with 120k, he has 110k. I raise to 18k (3/6k blinds) and he calls. Flop is 334, and I bet out 30k, and he reraises all in for about 60k more. I think that 4-handed, he's reraising with any pair higher than 88 and flat calling with a lot of broadway hands and maybe 55-77, so I call. I'm pleasantly surprised to see him bluffing with Q9o. Sevens hold up and I'm a big chip leader with 3 to go.

We trade some pots back and forth, and with 360k in play, it's three handed with all of us sitting on 120k or so. We start out with a $1000 save for 2nd and 3rd, play some more hands, move to a $2000 save, play some more hands, and finally go to a $3000 save. One of the guys knocks out the other in a huge pot, and now I have 90k chips to his 270k, playing for 9k and the trophy.

I *really* want the trophy.

He offers me $4500 (half the remaining funds) to go away, and after some thought I take the deal. It's a good deal for me because I get tons of cash relative to my equity, and I don't have to pay the taxes. He's actually taxed on $12000 while giving away $3000 to third and $4500 to me. $4000 of that goes to the government. Lesson: if you can take a chop, don't forget about the taxes - the person who wins is responsible for the taxes. He gets his picture in the paper though and is listed as the winner. Oh well, there's always next time.

I end up winning the most money, as he was short stacked with the 8-person initial chop. I toke the house about 4% (one gray chip - $1000), tip the dealer who dealt me the Royal and all those other monster hands $500 on the side (again, another mistake).

A couple "friends" of mine appear at the final table and were cheering me on, and as I'm about to get in my car on the way home, one asks for a little "sumpin sumpin", and I give him $100 to go play NL100. Again, another mistake - railbirds know where to go and how to do their business. It's no different than it is online.

Being "high" after a tourney win like that really makes you lose the value of a few bucks, and I am taking on a new policy. No loans, no freebies, no ridiculous tokes. Since I pretty much fade all of my own poker costs, if people want to consider me greedy or grubby with my money, so be it. If I work for it, I'm entitled to do what I want with it, espescially when a win like this doesn't come along often and pays for several other dozen tourney entries.

All in all, however, I can't be disappointed by not getting the trophy or giving away some money that I shouldn't have. I went in with $200, took 0 rebuys and 0 addons, and came out with a check for just shy of $25000.

I'd just like to say thanks to the 2+2 community for the help in "getting there". It takes a ton of work and sometimes feels like you're just doing something wrong, but eventually you can overcome the variance for a score of your own. I look forward to making another post like this in a preferably-short amount of time.

As far as what I'm going to do with the funds, probably nothing imaginative. Pay off the car, get lasik, put some money towards WSOP.

Oh, and I have Card Player PoTY points now. I'm only 315th in the world. Su-wee!

[drexah]

grats man, i love to see people win/do very well in rebuy tournaments and not even rebuying once, thats my style [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[MrX]

Nice trip report, but innacurate tax advice. When you chop, if you were the "winner" document it and pay taxes on what you really take home. Just like having backers who also shoulder part of the tax burdern for their share of wins.

Of course in your case it would be easy to not record the chop and come out ahead tax-wise, but for the wiiner it is not really an issue.

MrX

[Daxonovitch]

When the casino fills out the W-2G, though, they included the $12000 on his form (and he actually handed us the $3000 and $4500 afterward). Isn't he responsible for the full taxable $12000?

[MrX]

[ QUOTE ]
When the casino fills out the W-2G, though, they included the $12000 on his form (and he actually handed us the $3000 and $4500 afterward). Isn't he responsible for the full taxable $12000?

[/ QUOTE ]

He has to document the deal, then when he files he won't be responsible for it all.

[98romaine]

Congrats on the win...FYI I had a nice cash last year for about $30k after a tournament win...my advice from my accountant was to document the money since there was a paper trail showing a large check cashed...in case there was a tax audit it would be better to be safe than sorry...you have plenty of time (the rest of the year)to gather casino ATM receits etc... to offset the $25k.

[etgryphon]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
When the casino fills out the W-2G, though, they included the $12000 on his form (and he actually handed us the $3000 and $4500 afterward). Isn't he responsible for the full taxable $12000?

[/ QUOTE ]

He has to document the deal, then when he files he won't be responsible for it all.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is correct. The onus is on him to document it. Yu still have to pay the IRS no matter what. You can usually do this with a piece of paper and have all the parties sign and date it with the Tournment Director as the witness. Remember to do this yourself. There are some other considerations that you *can* think about. If someone gives you $11,000 or less in a year, it can be considered a *gift* and is nontaxable.

-Gryph

[Paluka]

Am I the only one digusted that he gave the 10th place finisher 10k? If you are going to be a baby when somebody doesn't agree to a deal in a tournament, you shouldn't play in the first place.

[CCx]

[ QUOTE ]
Am I the only one digusted that he gave the 10th place finisher 10k?

[/ QUOTE ]

He gave him 2k.

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Am I the only one digusted that he gave the 10th place finisher 10k?

[/ QUOTE ]

He gave him 2k.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, I meant 2k. I'm still disgusted.