Oct 21
Today is the big day that I’ve been lookin forward to for the past two months. Texas Station Casino is hosting a freeroll poker tournament with a first place prize of $70,000. Although I don’t need to pay an entry fee I was required to qualify for the tournament by logging 75 hours of play at GVR during August and September.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 people qualified for the tournament, though I expect the number of actual participants will be closer to 1500. Still, despite the enormous field there is actually quite a lot going for me today.
For one, every person who plays today is guaranteed $100. I can show up, immediately give away all my chips, and still win money.
Second, and more importantly, the tournament involves a rotating mixture of various games. In addition to the typical no-limit holdem we will also be playing limit holdem and limit (and maybe even pot limit) Omaha. Beyond simply being a fun way to spend the day, this mixture of games should offer me a serious advantage over most of the field.
The vast majority of today’s players will have qualified by spending copious amounts of time sitting at a 2-4 or 4-8 limit table. They are relatively good at playing a limit cash game, though not necessarily ‘good’, the average skill level in these games is stunningly low. However, most will likely have very little experience playing no limit, and many will have absolutely no experience whatsoever playing omaha. Even fewer will have played these games in a tournament setting. I consider myself highly competent at all of these games and have happily played them all for money: both in person and online, for cash and in a tournament. I hope to be able to exploit that edge, especially when it comes time to play omaha. For those of you who don’t actually know what Omaha is or how to play it, don’t worry. It would probably astound you just how many people I have played with at the casino (and will be playing today) who have never even heard of the game.
Anyway, hopefully today I’ll have some fun and earn some chips. The $100 guarantee is nice, but I’ve got my eye on the $70,000 (as well as the professional sno-cone maker that it will buy).
October 21st, 2006
as a cabby once said, “good luck”
October 21st, 2006
can’t wait until tomorrow until we hear about how some “n00b” put all his chips in against jason as a huge underdog going into the river… and consequently busts jason out on the bubble of big money.
skill means jack crap in a field as big as that, regardless of the games being played and your “experience”
that’s my pessimistic side coming through – good luck.
October 22nd, 2006
I think that, in general, the size of a field has a much smaller impact on skill than does the tournament’s structure. Wading through a thousand person field with a good structure is far, far easier than wading through a 100 person field with a terrible structure.
large field + bad structure = 100% luckfest