Feature

Time stops for no man, so keep an eye on that clock.

Time stops for no man. I know this as well as the next person - but boy did I get an expensive reminder at the poker table recently.

The game was a £50 No-Limit Hold’em satellite tournament at London’s Victoria Casino, aka, The Vic. Up for grabs were seats into the £750 freeze out tournament being held there as part of the British Open.

Now I don’t play that much offline and generally only for small stakes when I do. So winning entry into a £750 buy in tournament would be a big deal. Actually, it would be massive – the biggest game of my life.

Registering for the tournament it was clear the draw of big money had coaxed some faces out to play. There were several familiar ones from television including Simon “Aces” Trumper, a former winner of Late Night Poker, Sir Clive Sinclair, winner of Celebrity Poker Club, and Jac Arama, then reigning British Champion and as unpredictable in his play as he is in his choice of hats and sun glasses!

Settling down at the table all thoughts quickly turned the game and as the instruction to shuffle up and deal came the tournament got underway.

For the next 75 minutes the action was aggressive and fast. Apart from an early re-buy after my full house was beaten by quads I was managing to hold my own – but not making much progress in building my chip stack.

Re-buys finished after 75 minutes, I topped up and it was announced there were 61 runners and 11 places in the £750 tournament up for grabs. There had been 104 re-buys or top-ups.

The game changed noticeably after the re-buy period. Play was now more cautious, decisions took longer to make and players were starting to drop out. I managed to pick up a few small pots but was relieved when I was moved to another table – perhaps a change of table may bring a change of luck?

And it did. Despite a costly early run in with Sir Clive Sinclair I saw some cards, stole a pot or two and my chip stack was starting to look a little healthier. Or at least it was until Jac Arama joined the table.

Jac Arama likes to talk, lots, and he’s good at it. After around 10 minutes of friendly banter it was his turn to deal. He casually announced to the table that this was going to be his lucky hand, dealt the cards, looked at his own and cracked a big satisfied grin.

The table folded round to him and he stuck all his chips in with a great flourish. I called. I had to. With AQ I figured I was probably ahead and would still have chips left if I lost.

Of course, Jac Arama’s A2 beat my AQ even though I made a pair of queens. Three twos beats two queens every time!

But Lady Luck evened everything out quickly and a few hands later revenge was mine as my pocket 9s held up against AJ and I doubled through.

Play continued steadily until there were just 14 players left and the two remaining tables started playing hand for hand.

I was starting to get short stacked as the chip leaders, already virtually assured of qualification, were using their stacks to pressurise those with less. And with the loss of chips had come a change in fortune in the cards. It was a tough spot. Most pots were being raised. The low stacks just had to pick their moments to go all in and hope for the best.

It wasn’t long before we were down to 12. The game would finish when one more player was knocked out and the remaining 11 would get a £750 buy in.

So there I was with 4000 chips and the blinds at 1000 / 2000. There was one stack shorter than me, the small blind, who was going to have to put in his final 1000 chip just to make up the big blind.

And then I looked at my cards to see Ace Jack staring back at me. Now normally with only 6 players on a table I’d raise with this. But after thinking long and hard about it I threw away the hand.

After all, if I went all in I was going to be called by a big stack no matter what cards they had. Sir Clive Sinclair had already done it a few times. I considered at least he would call so I could get unlucky and lose.

And anyway, I figured all I had to do was pass, put in my 3000 in blinds and watch as the short stack had to face at least two, probably 3 all-ins, just to survive in the tournament.

I folded, Sir Clive raised, and the small and big blinds folded. Great! Unless I got a monster I’d just fold my blinds and hopefully watch the guy with just one chip left get taken out when the blinds got back round to him. Qualification was so close now!

The next hand played out quickly and I picked my chips up to put my big blind in on the following hand. But then disaster struck. An alarm clock went off. And suddenly it hit me. The blinds were going up! To 1500 / 3000!! I didn’t have enough chips to pay the blinds and it was me that was now going to have to survive an all in to qualify. This could be my last hand in the tournament.

The table folded round to the small blind who just picked up a handful of chips to raise me with. I looked at my cards. K8 off suit. With 3000 chips already in the pot, the certainty of having to go all in next hand and just one opponent to beat the K8 had to be played. I tossed my last 1000 chip into the pot.

I lost to AQ. I was out. And as the other players commiserated with me while celebrating their own wins I don’t mind admitting I was absolutely gutted! Talk about being so close yet so far. And to compound my misery the buy-ins and top ups bought exactly 11 places in the £750 tournament. So there wasn’t even a penny of prize money for the runner up as a consolation!

Of course, with hindsight it’s easy to say I should have played the AJ. But the real issue is I should have had my eye on the clock. If I had I would have figured I had to play the AJ anyway. But by forgetting to check the clock I was forced to go all in with a weaker hand when the blinds went up.

It was a simple mistake to make. But a stupid one. Checking the clock is a basic requirement of tournament play and in the excitement of the latter stages I’d forgotten.

So I’ve called myself a muppet more times than I can remember since and friends figure enough time has passed to rip it out of me but at least I’ll never make the same mistake again.

I was simply given a harsh reminder of an important lesson: Keep your eye on the clock. Time stops for no man – not even a poker player!