Confessions
of a WPT Invitational Newbie
By
Barbara
Feiner
The
invitation arrived by email: “Commerce Casino
Would Like to Know – Are You All-In?”
Jackie
Lapin, the World Poker Tour’s publicist and
all-around fairy godmother, was inviting me to play in
the Inaugural L.A. Poker Classic Media Challenge,
where journalists like myself could compete, with no
entry fee, for a seat at the $200,000 WPT Celebrity
Invitational. According to Jackie’s email, I could
win “bragging rights to be crowned the L.A. Poker
Media Champion” (and get a free lunch, to boot).
This Texas Hold’em event would kick off 10 days of
WPT tournaments, including the L.A. Poker Classic,
the WPT Celebrity Invitational and the Professional
Poker Tour final.
My
first invitational! Sounded great! Just a 40-minute
drive to the Commerce Casino, where I could hit a few
cash tables to earn back my $2.65-per-gallon gas
money. And maybe…just maybe…I could best the
competition and win an opportunity to play against Ben
Affleck, James Woods and other
Hollywood
A-listers at the upcoming Celebrity Invitational. No
worries – the only things on the line were my ego,
reputation and that damned gas money.
I
quickly RSVP’d and went into serious training. I
asked my pals at Excalibur Electronics to send me
their World
Series of Poker Electronic Talking Texas Hold’Em
handheld gaming console so I could take it everywhere
I went. I played while watching TV, while commuting on
Los Angeles
’ congested freeways and while talking to friends on
the phone. I’m sure the other patients in my ear
doctor’s waiting room were annoyed every time I
moaned upon failing to hit an inside straight, but I’d
simply clutch the side of my head and leave the rest
to their imaginations.
When
tournament day arrived, I was in a “bring it on!”
mood. My fellow competitors were a mixed bag – from
old-timers from the top gaming magazines who had
decades of experience at WPT events to local sports
reporters who
didn’t know a poker chip from a hockey stick. I fell
somewhere in the middle: As a journalist who covers
the poker scene, among other topics, I’ve been
playing for about a year. I’m well versed in pot
odds and strategy, but Doyle Brunson isn’t losing
any sleep over me.
As
we drew numbers for table assignments, I settled in
with a well-caffeinated Diet Coke at my side. First
problem: My starting hands were an unending series of
crap: 8-3, 9-2, 7-4 – great if you want to
double-down in blackjack, but lousy for Hold’em. I
mucked the first half-dozen hands.
But
with only $800 in chips and blinds that started at
$25/$50 – and quickly increased to $50/$100 in an
effort to keep the game moving – I decided to call a
few hands as players were eliminated and I faced fewer
opponents. In hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest
move. Overly concerned about losing too much money to
the blinds, I played some starting hands that I should
have mucked: K-6, which ended in a split pot, and K-9,
which put a nasty dent in my chip stack. Feeling short
stacked, I went all-in – and heads-up – when I
thought I had a decent chance of stealing the pot with
K-10 before the flop. It was my best hand of the day,
and I was determined to make an aggressive move.
Unfortunately, my opponent had a better hand, and I
was soon reacquainting myself with the valet parking
guy.
If
I had to do it over again, I would follow the advice I
have long preached in columns:
·
Remain
patient. When I had those kings, my kickers were
lousy. I should have been more disciplined and mucked
those hands, waiting for something better to come
along.
·
Never
allow yourself to feel rushed. It seemed the
tournament director wanted the game to move along
quickly, but I shouldn’t have let this vibe affect
my game. I should have continued playing tight, even
as the catered fruit tray was becoming lukewarm.
·
It
gets frustrating when your hands are of the 7-2
caliber, so it’s tempting to bet when you have
anything remotely decent just to break the monotony.
Wrong! You’ll make a lousy bet that you live to
regret.
·
Continue
to practice. As a writer who interviews top players, I
have access to poker’s greatest minds, and they have
been very generous in sharing advice, which I pass
along to my readers. They live, breathe, sleep and eat
poker 24/7. I’m usually chained to a computer, so I
don’t practice as much as I should. I need to pencil
more practice time into my Daytimer.
·
Lastly,
never beat yourself up for how you play. You should
always embrace the opportunity to learn from your
mistakes, as I did, and it’s genuinely comforting to
watch world-class players make similar bets in WSOP
and WPT events – and, believe me, they do. When I
played tournament bridge years ago, we used to call
strategic decisions “taking a view.” You sometimes
have to follow your gut and take that view – but it
won’t always be right or lucky. This doesn’t mean
you’re plankton in the poker ocean. You’re simply
mastering the game – and you need to give yourself
that luxury.
In
retrospect, I loved participating in the L.A. Poker
Classic Media Challenge and would gladly do so
again. Every tournament experience offers firsthand
lessons that cannot be found in books or even online
events. Playing with real chips in a casino, against
players of all skills levels, is an experience
everyone should try, and I strongly encourage online
players to take the plunge. I’m not sorry about the
“agony of defeat” – and I love the WPT baseball
caps they gave us. I’m a bona fide poker babe –
and damn proud of it.
__________________
About
Barbara Feiner:
Barbara Feiner is a Los Angeles-based journalist who
covers the poker world.
