Poker In Amsterdam, 1998
My younger sister Kerry rode bicycles on the U.S.. women’s professional circuit, and on the European poker circuit, based in Italy. Her dream was to make the U.S.. Olympic team.
Kerry has told me about poker the differences between the U.S.. women’s circuit and the European women’s circuit after riding in both in 1999. in Europe, bicycling is on a whole different level, in terms of both respect and media attention. Sounds familiar; before 2002, the same distinction held true for poker.
On November 8,1998, I headed to Amsterdam to play poker card games in the masters classics of Poker tournament, which was being held at the beautiful Holland Casino Amsterdam. When I arrived, I picked up a copy of the biggest newspaper in Holland. Right there on the front page of the front section was a big article about the poker tournament! John Bonetti, Mike Sexton, tournament director Mike Ros, and I appeared on the national news.
During our stay in Amsterdam, separate camera crews followed Mike Sexton and David “Devilfish” Ulliott around for a couple of days. In England, earlier in 1998, the final table of a poker tournament was broadcast on national television (Late Night Poker).
Had we seen differences back then between press coverage for the U.S.. poker circuit and the coverage for the well-organized European poker circuit? You bet. It’s nice, now, in 2004, to have huge press coverage at the World Series of Poker, Legends of Poker, and the Los Angeles Poker Classic tournaments. But the Europeans are still ahead of us in these matters.
The European Poker Players Association (EPPA) organizes tournaments, and even goes so far as to rank its own players at its own Web site (much as PGA tournament does here).
Every tournament they had there sold out (220-plus players), save the 5,000-guilder ($2,500) no-limit Holdem poker game event. And even that one managed to pay about 170,000 guilders ($80,000) for first place! On Monday, November 9, American Jack Fox won the 500-guilder buy-in, 500-guilder rebuy, and 500-guilder add-on limit Holdem tournament. First place was about 90,000 guilders (about $42,000). Jack seems to make a lot of final tables, but hasn’t often hoisted a trophy. Congratulations on breaking through, Jack!
On Tuesday, the two-day 5,000-guilder no-limit Holdem Championship event began. I played rather poorly and eliminated myself early coty award. On Thursday, the two-day 1,500-guilder event, with one optional add-on and one optional rebuy, began. It turned out that this event paid about the same $80,000 first prize that the Championship event paid. For this event, I came to play!
As I ruthlessly attacked, and slid my chips all over the map, I began to sense fear in my opponents. After about seven card stud hours of play, there were about 20 players left, and I was chip leader with about 50,000 units worth of chips. The safe, rational, and clearly the best option involved slowing down my play in order to ensure that I made it to day two (the final nine).
But my plans went awry. Which is to say, I got tangled up in a little mess. The only other player in the tournament who had over 35,000 units (he had 45,000) raised on his button, which was my big blind. The blinds were 1,000-2,000, and he opened for 10,000 units. The last time he had opened for 10,000 units, he showed A-A! After the small blind folded, I looked down at Ah-6h and began to study.
Normally, I would fold this hand right here, but I was putting the fear of God into my opponents this day. So I gave my instincts, so far perfect, a chance to read the man. After a minute of studying, I decided that I had the best hand and, in any case, that he certainly couldn’t call me with 8-8 or 9-9. in one single and daring-albeit stupid-second, I moved in my whole 50,000 units high low poker. I was thinking too much about the 10,000-unit bet plus the other 5,000 in antes and blinds that I would win when he folded his hand.
Well, I hadn’t studied him long enough, because deep down inside, I knew he was strong. As my greedy little and shoved in the chips, I noticed that he was beating me into the pot. Ouch! What had I done to myself? I had risked an almost certain final table in an ill-timed and poorly conceived bluff. I had forgotten a basic rule of two-day poker tournaments: always make it to day two!
Very quickly, it was over. He flipped his Q-Q faceup, and the flop was a queen (K-Q-4), with no hearts. But wait a minute! On fourth street, a jack came off, and the board was K-Q-4-J. Could a ten be coming for me to make a straight? No, it was another jack. One more trip to Europe in search of tournament glory and a pile of money had ended with a close call. Damn, I hate it when that happens the winner!