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#724 – Great Moments in Low Stakes History, Part 3 – The Big Grind, or, It’s Britney, Bitch
I’m definitely not out of danger yet, but I am continuing my rebound from the Brink of brokeness. Last Sunday, with a little more money in my account, I was able to consider playing some bigger tournaments on Full Tilt. The only big Sunday event that I actually played was the Sunday Brawl though my own performance in a few other tournaments made it easy to skip all the other big $150-$200 buy-in tourneys.
It was a long day, I played extremely well, I went very deep in two tournament … and ended up with a profit of $100.
YOU CAN’T SAY I DON’T WORK FOR THIS MONEY
At 11 AM local time, I entered the Sunday Brawl and the $24 + $2 $34,000 Guarantee. It looked for a little while like I was going to do some damage in the Brawl. I busted one player early and then, with pocket aces and an ace-high flop in a four-way hand, I collected three more scalps. But I had two big pocket pairs run into bigger pocket pairs and I went out after 2 hours.
The $34,000 Guarantee that I entered at the same time went better. There were over 2,000 players in the tournament and I made the top 64. I was poised for a shot at the big money and I had a lot of chips and pocket aces, but the big stack who moved all-in with pocket threes hit a three and I went out with a profit of about $60.
Because of my run in that tournament and because I went deep in the $200K Double Deuce, I skipped the rest of the big Sunday tournaments. Obviously, that could have cost me a fortune in lost opportunities to win those tournaments. But more likely, it saved me $1,000 in entry fees. And it looked for a long, long time like I might grab one of the gigantic top prizes in the Double Deuce.
The Double Deuce gets approximately 10,000 entries each Sunday and really consists of two tournaments. First, you have to dodge the traffic jam of 9,000 players and all the opportunities for bad luck to make it in the money. The bottom money, however, is only $40 and goes up slowly after that. Second, therefore, you essentially start over when you get into the money, battling to keep and build chips with 1,000 other players for a shot at the real money. First place pays over $30,000 and second place pays at least $20,000. If you make “only” the top 10% of this second tournament, you get $170. That’s a nice return on a $22 investment but not very much when you consider that you finished in the top 1% of a gigantic tournament.
I felt like I played forever in the Double Deuce but finished 36th. Tons of stealing, tons of marginal calls, tons of tough laydowns, mostly good and some bad luck – and I made $400. Other than looking at my balance at the end of the day, it felt like a very good day of poker.
IT’S BRITNEY BITCH
My assistant Shauna was responsible for re-introducing me to Britney Spears. Shauna teaches an exotic dance class and, in helping her transfer a mix CD onto an iPod, I understood why Spears is considered the stripper’s best friend. I started listening to that mix, which coincided from my bounce from poverty. I am now officially hooked on Britney Spears music.
I will hold onto any ridiculous habit or pattern that coincides with good results. (a/k/a superstition) At the World Series two years ago, I turned on my radio while entering the parking lot of the Rio Convention Center and it was tuned to the frequency of a Spanish-language station. I cashed for the first time in the World Series that night. I kept my radio tuned to that station for the next month and a half, even on trips back home where the station corresponded with dead air.
So I am now downloading the expanded addition of Britney’s latest album, CIRCUS. As long as I keep winning, I will defend this woman’s musical legacy and genius with every fibre of my being. (Here is a tidbit. If you want the maximum Britney for your buck, download the “Chris Cox Megamix” from Brittany’s greatest hits album; it’s nine Britney songs in one. If I continue to score with the Britney Plan, I’ll have to start downloading her EPs of multiple mixes of all of her hit songs. And if I win a really big tournament, I’ll track to down in person and ask her if she could please record another album in time for the World Series of Poker.
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