Page 10 - July 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Good News and Bad News Sby Jim Mercurio
ometimes I am too clever for my own good. I write about psychology and math and use witty analogies to try to prepare you for the mental aspects of the game. But there is something I often forget. e physical side.
Let me begin with the good news. It seems like my research and work in my series of four articles on how to play in longer events like at the World Series of Poker® (WSOP) paid o . A few weeks ago, I entered into a $330 550-person tournament at Commerce Casino. And like Steve Dannenman said to me a few weeks ago about his run in the WSOP Main Event,“I did so well, because I hardly ever got aces.”
I knew how to play in this situation and I knew that I needed to balance aggression with patience, I found my game slipping. Ironically, I have always been a night person. In my twenties, my best freelance work would be done between 10 p.m. and
4 a.m. But I had put in a ten-hour day, starting with an 8 a.m. breakfast meeting and now I was dead-tired. My 38-year-old body and schedule had caught up to me. I blew it. I ended up going out 6th place and winning $6k. Not bad, considering it
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Jim will be playing a couple of the early events at the WSOP. If you are going to be there, come and say hi.
FANT-2
I had kings once and never had aces or queens in the entire tournament. What were my workhorses? 45 46 67 and a clever usage of 58 of spades. When the high cards and pairs miss you, you gotta nd some
part of the deck to call your own.
Early on, my 46 cracked aces to double up and then
later I hit trip jacks and double up again against an ill-conceived blu . With 40 minute levels, I was able to then sit very patiently over the next 6–8 hours and pick my spots.
Twelve hours later, I made it to the nal table. I
was playing against an all-in player and the chip
leader with a big sidepot. I sensed reluctance in his
call on the turn. A few people were eliminated, and
I decided that I really wanted to play for rst place.
So I made a potentially risky all-in blu against the
Later, I gave out a brutal bad-beat. I was second in chips heads up with the chip leader and we both got all of our money in with a set on the op. Problem was, his three jacks beat my three 7s. I was working hard to be in this Zen state and not really be upset. I got my money in with second best possible hand. But lo and behold, on the river, I hit my one-outer: the nal 7, giving me quads.
I was chip leader and could have probably taken a nap and come back when there were only three players and locked up $15,000 or $30,000 while aiming for rst place of $57,000. In retrospect, I wish I would have dozed o . e tournament started at 7:30 the night before. It was 14 hours later, 9:30 in the morning. I was staying active to try to use my chips to win, but, looking back on it, I realize my brain was mush.
Or, more importantly, my body was completely gone. I was so tired that although theoretically,
chip leader which worked to win me the substantial
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Page 10 July 2006
Poker: Wired Aces and River Rats