At the beginning of this manual, I promised you I’d tell you exactly how I won my biggest prize so far. Well, here’s exactly how I did it!
It’s a long story …. but stay with me to the end. As well as learning about my own big win you’ll pick up lots of tips and hints you can use in your own games ….
One day, just after I’d started to get the hang of Hold’em, my brother told me that there was a big multi-table tourney coming up. It was $25+$2 to enter and the maximum number of entrants was 2,000. The website also added $50,000 on top of the total prize pool so there was a potential prize pool of $100,000! (In the end there were 1650 entrants so the total prize pool was $91,250.) The breakdown – how the prize pool is divided – paid down to 120th place which paid $95 all the way through to first place …. which was a very handsome looking $18,500!
The tournament started at 1700 hrs, with a five minute break every hour and a 15 minute break every four hours. There were 165 tables of 10 players. Everyone started with 1,500 chips. The blinds started at 10 and 15 and they went up every 12 minutes.
For the first 30 minutes I didn’t have any decent hands! Then I picked ace, Queen. The blinds at this time were 25 and 50. I raised 200 on top of the blinds from under the gun (first position) and two people called. The flop came A-7-9 ‘rainbow’. The big blind or BB was first to act. He checked, so I bet 600. The player to my left folded and the big blind who originally checked called the 600. The turn was a 5 again. The BB checked – I was very suspicious of his play so I thought for as long a time as I could and checked as well.
The river was a 2. The BB then bet 200. It was a small bet in relation into the pot and I had to call, considering how much I had invested. (And to my disgust the BB turned over 86 off suit. He had made a 9 high straight.)
I was left with just shy of 500 chips and understandably I didn’t think it was my going to be my day. The very next hand I picked up ace, King. In the BB a player in middle position raised and made it 300 more. Everyone folded to the small blind on my left. He called and raised all in for another 100 odd chips, and they both called.
I was praying for a good flop and I wasn’t disappointed as it came over A-K-4! The two other players checked and the turn was a 9 and again both players checked. The river was
a 9. At first I thought one of them might have had trip 9’s, but they both quickly checked. One had pocket 10’s and was obviously scared of the ace. The other player showed pocket 8’s so I was back in the game, as I took down a 1500 pot with two pairs aces and Kings nine high!
I went 15 minutes or so without really playing a hand. Then I picked up pocket Queens on the button. Everyone folded round to the player on my left. They raised the blinds 400 more which were 50 and 100 at the time. I waited for a short while and then re-raised all in the two blinds, folded, and the original raiser called instantly and turned over 99. The pot size was 3,100. The flop was A-7-10, the turn 3, the river A. So doubled up and was now feeling a lot better about my tournament hopes!
Nothing major happened for the next hour or so (!) but I built my stack up to roughly 5,000 up by wining little and often and stealing the blinds when I could. Then two hands that really put me on my way too going far in this tournament came – one after the other. I picked up ace King in mid position. The player in first position who was sitting on a stack of about 16,000 raised the pot, the blinds at that time were 200 and 400 and they made it 800 more. Everyone folded round to me. I thought for a while then decided to push all in. Everyone folded round to the original raiser who called me in a ‘heart beat’ with pocket Queens.
So it was my ace King against Queens : I had a 48% chance of winning pre flop and to my delight the first card over was a King followed by a 3 and a Jack.! The turn was a 3 and the river was a 10. So with two pairs Kings and threes ace high I took down an 11,000 pot.
The very next hand I picked up ace King again. A player in early position raised it 800 more. It was folded round to me and with my lucky ace King I re-raised another 1,000 on top of the 800. It was folded round to the big blind which was the player whose Queens I had just cracked (beaten). They immediately went all in the original raiser folded and it was left up to me and, believe me, it was a tough decision.
To go all in after a raise and then a re-raise must mean they had a very strong hand, and if I lost I’d have been out of the tournament – and I wasn’t pot committed. But the fact that I had just taken a big pot this player, I thought, might be on tilt …. and the only hands I didn’t really want too see were Kings or aces. So, rightly or wrongly I called and they turned over pocket Kings. This time I only had a 30% chance of wining as I only had one over card.
With my fingers crossed and my heart pumping the flop came over Jack 7 9 – so no help for me. Then the turn was a 4, and with one card to come I was ready to walk as my chances of catching an ace were just 7%. So it was all down to the river. There was a big
Of course, you had to feel for the other player who had just gone out of the tournament after picking up pocket Queens then pocket Kings in two hands. (Oh well that’s poker!) The next break wasn’t far away and when it came there were only 400 people left. The average stack was 6,100, which I was well above. I was in a strong position and now in a good frame of mind to go far in this tourney.
For the next 45mins or so nothing major happened. I was using my stack to my advantage and was taking out a few short stacks building my stack up slowly but surely to a
handsome 32,000. Then I was dealt the hand that every poker player hopes for – ‘pocket rockets’ (aces) and I was on the button – the best position in poker. My only problem was how to get paid out, but as everyone folded around to me my chances of getting paid out felt slim. The blinds were 750 and 1,500 and I raised it 2,000 more. The small blind folded, and with just the big blind left it looked like I was just going to pick up the blinds which I could have done with 7 -. But to my surprise they re-raised me another 6,000 all in and with the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em I called!
They turned over pocket nines and the flop 10-Jack-Queen. The turn was a King and the river was a 2, so with an ace high straight I took down a 20,000 pot. I was now sitting on a stack of 42,000! The next break was 15 minutes away and by the time I reached it I had I stack of 50,000 there were 200 players left in tourney and the average stack was 12,000. I was second on the leader board and was only 80 places away from the money – not that I was interested in winning $95. I was more interested in the $12,500 for second or $18,500 for first place!
Half hour passed with not much action. Then I picked up pocket tens in the big blind which was 4,000. Everyone folded round to the small blind, who went all in for 35,000 total. This was a tough decision for me as the player who went ‘all in’ had been playing very recklessly and had been bluffing a lot.
I thought for as long as my time bank would let me and called, as just didn’t believe he had a hand. It was a massive 70,000 pot and I couldn’t do anything except laugh as he turned over, wait for it…………. 97 off suit! I saved the celebration until after the
community cards were dealt as he still had a 15% outside chance of winning and in poker anything can happen. The community cards were 2, 2 ace, 9, 5 and with that I took down a monster pot and had a stack of 86,000.
When the next break came I had a stack of 100,000 there were 60 runners left in so I was in the money, guaranteed at least $237, the average stack was 41,250 and I was chip leader. For the next 35 minutes I was picking my moments and bulling the shorter stacks then I picked up pocket Kings in mid position there were a few limpers. The blinds were 4,000 and 8,000, so I raised to 24,000 in total everyone including the blinds folded. The original caller re-raised all in for another 10,000. On top of my bet the other limper folded and I quickly called. He was slow playing pocket Queens and was unlucky to run into my pocket Kings.
The flop was kind to me once again, and I was now sitting on a stack of 150,000 and I couldn’t believe how smoothly the tourney was going. By the time the next break came there were only 20 players left. I had a stack of 165,000. The average was 123,000. I was now guaranteed at least $910, but I still only really had eyes on first or second. By the time the break finished the blinds were a massive 10,000 and 20,000, and with the blinds that big it only took 20mins before we were down to 10 players and my first final table. I had 220,000 when I reached the final table. That was just under average the biggest stack had 350,000, so it was all very even.
The blinds were a ridiculous 20,000 and 40,000 so we weren’t seeing many flops. It was either all in or fold. Two players went out quite quickly due to the colossal blinds. There were eight of us left when I picked up ace 10 of clubs. In the small blind everyone folded round to me. I was pretty certain that I had the best hand so I moved all in for a total of 250,000 …. and to my horror the big blind called me in a heart beat with ace King! We were basically even in terms of chips. So, knowing that I needed to get very lucky to have any chance in the tournament I feared the worst. To my amazement the flop came over 6 of clubs, 2 of clubs and 9 of clubs. I screamed out with excitement as I knew they were drawing dead even with two cards to come!
I was now sitting on a chips stack of over 500,000 and with only seven players left I was feeling very confident. It wasn’t long before the final table was down to five as two more players were taken out in quick succession. And that meant I was guaranteed at least $5,000!
I then picked up King 9 of diamonds in the big blind which was 60,000. The player on the button raised it to180,000. The small blind called, as did I. The flop came over 10, Jack, Queen. The player who was first to act went all in for 200,000. I obviously called and to my surprise the original raiser raised another 100,000 all in …. and I called hoping one of them didn’t have ace ten. One turned over Jack Queen and the other had pocket aces. The turn was a 4 followed by a 7, so after I survived the turn and river I had a very commanding stack of 1.4 million.
I was now a strong favourite to win the tournament as the closest player to me had 600,000 chips and the other had 450,000. About fifteen minutes passed before the next player went out. I picked up pocket Kings on the button. The blinds were 40,000 and 80,000, so I raised to 240,000 in total hoping they had a hand or thought I was bluffing. The small blind re-raised all in for another 375,000. The big blind folded and I quickly called. They turned over pocket eights. The flop was kind and my Kings held up. It was now heads up. I had just over 2,000,000 and the other player had 450,000. The blinds were going back and forth for about five minutes. Then I picked up ace 6 and moved all in. They thought for a while and called with ace 5. The flop came over 8, 10, 6.
The turn was a 5. This meant there were two cards in the pack that could save him, giving me a few last-minute jitters. But the river was a ten so with two pairs aces and sixes ten high I took the pot, tournament and a fantastic $18,500 prize!
The final table payout structure was as follows :
10th $1,400 9th $2,200 8th $2,600 7th $3,000 6th $4,000 5th $5,000 4th $6,000 3rd $7,000 2nd $12,000 1st $18,500
Does that sound good to you? Would you like to get your hands on an $18,5000 (about £10,000) jackpot like that? I’m sure you would. You’d probably even be delighted with one of the smaller ‘consolation’ prizes – like $2,200 or $1,400. After all it’s not a bad return for a few pounds staked (and a few hours enjoying yourself) is it?
Well the fact is, it could happen to you too. A few months ago I was just in the same position you are today. In fact, I knew much less – because I didn’t have this manual to help me.
So what’s stopping you?
Now that you’ve reached the end of the manual you have all the basic information and techniques you need to do the same or better! So don’t let your new found skills go to waste. Log onto your PC, register with a site – if you haven’t already – and start practising right away. Within a few short hours you could be playing for money, and
within a few days you could be playing for a pot worth many thousands of pounds.
It happened to me and, with the information you now have in your hands, it really could happen to you too!
Good luck, and my very best wishes