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|
 See also Jennicide's LA Poker Classic
Super Satellite article and some more
Jennicide photos
So here I am, at my first overseas WPT event, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure which was hosted in the Bahamas this year.
The main event for this tournament was $8000 and I was in for $360 by qualifying through double shoot-outs on
PokerStars. I won my seat on my second attempt.
My [then] boyfriend, Gavin Griffin and I arrived in the Bahamas mid-day January 5th. The island was beautiful! There was a cocktail party at 9:00
for the players and I had to play the next day, so we went to the party and returned so I could get some much needed sleep.
I woke up on Thursday, feeling rather confident about playing this tournament. I walked down to the poker room, which was about 800 miles
away from our room and got my seating assignment. The line was out the door to sign the releases and get seating assignments! Therefore, they did
not start the tournament until about 1:30pm, although it was scheduled at 12:00. The seating assignments were chosen randomly by alphabetical order.
Good thing they have a rule against family members and tournament poker or the three
Mizrachi brothers would all be playing the same table.
We started the tournament with 10,000 in chips and blinds started off at 25/50. Throughout the day I caught most of my hands in late position or in
the blinds and did not get much action on them. As the blinds increased, my cards turned stone cold. Finally, at level 5, the blinds were 150/300 with a
50 ante. UTG raises to make it 625 to go, UTG+1 calls, and it's folded to me. I have Kings! Should I be excited? Well, I count out my chips. I
have an even 6000. I re-raise to make it 2000. UTG folds and UTG+1
flat calls my re-raise. The flop comes Qh8s6c. I move all-in on the flop.
I get called by my nemesis, the evil pocket aces. Ah well! Good game Jen! I do not have a problem going out with Kings like that. The player disguised his
aces well, however, I think even if he moved in on me pre-flop, I committed myself so much into that pot that he was going to surely get a call from me.
 If only my hotel room was closer
to the poker room. The 'walk of shame' was so long and dreadful. Nothing like busting out of a tournament and having to walk across the country to
get back to your room! Later that night, I spent some time with Gavin and had a few drinks. Gavin had to play at 12 the next day, so we didn't stay
out and mingle with everyone that late.
Day 1 for Gavin was quite nice. He played very aggressively against his opponents. His table was pretty soft so his style of play was great for
that. He landed a huge hand which left him with chip lead for the end of day 1. He held AA against KK and QQ. Later that day, I registered for the
$300 side tournament but I didn't make much progress in it, except donating to the prize pool. I got 28th and went out to
quads 8's with my Aces. Twenty places paid for this event.
Now, Day 2 was starting for Gavin and I was left to be the happy cheerleader. I checked up on his status frequently. In a nutshell, it wasn't a good day for him.
Around 7:00 I started another $300 side tournament and an hour later, Gavin was out 86th. After I busted from the tournament, I went back to the room and grabbed
my laptop to play some online lobby poker. This was fun! I was playing online multi-table tournaments on PokerStars and my opponents were right across the room!
I guess that's what happens when you put a majority of PokerStars players in one location. Oh, I didn't win any of those, so I guess that's that.
Day 4 and this is where my trip starts to turn around! I registered for the $300 tournament and placed 11th in the event. There were approximately
130 people registered and 10th was final table. Although the tournament was not very profitable, it was a fun experience. I sat with John Fanning,
who had a very bad start with 50 chips and made an incredible comeback to make it to final table and make a 4 way chop. He's also an enjoyable
person to play against. 11th place paid out $540.
 After laying out on a little beach
and spending some time with Gavin, we both decided to play the $550 side tournament with just over 150 entries. We were playing ten-handed and there
were a few opponents that I kept a close eye on, especially an English gentleman in seat 8 who played in almost every other pot. The opponent to my left
and this man got involved into a huge pot where the player in seat 8 had the obvious nuts. I picked up a few tells seat 8 made when he was strong. The
player to my left eventually folded his overpair. Three hands later,
the blind level increased to 200/400 with a 50 ante. I have about 6300 in chips and was 3rd with chip count at my table. I pick up AQ UTG+1 and raise the
pot to make it 1600. Everyone folds to the big blind and the big blind calls my raise for 1200. The player has me covered by 1300 chips. The flop comes Kc8s3h.
The gentleman thinks for a few moments and leads out a bet of 2600 into a 2300 dollar pot. I count out my chips, and I'm left with 4650 after I made my raise.
I think about how the play of this hand occurred pre-flop. Could he have the King or even a small pair? I went back to remember the hand where he was strong.
He starred the player down, acting incredibly strong, not turning white, making no sudden movements. This was not the same scenario for me, this time, the
gentleman refused to look at me, he sat fidgety in his seat while I stared him down trying to get a few more tells. I count out the 2600 out of my stack and
catch another tell, the man looked almost disturbed that I was going to call this bet. So I pushed all in for another raise of 2050. The player let a large sigh
and says, "Okay, I'll call, but I don't have anything." I turn over AQ and the English gentleman turns over QJ. The dealer dealt out the turn and river
and it was no help to either one of us, and I doubled up through this man's stack.
The rest of the table looked at me astonished how I could make such a move with only Ace High. Another player asked me, "How did you know?" I just
shrugged and said, "Ace high was good!" Had I not focused on how this man acted when he was clearly strong, I would have not been able to make the
same decision. Although, after running through my play over and over in my head, this man could be holding any low pair, acting weak when he was
actually incredibly strong, or just figured he was outkicked as I started counted out his bet with my stack. I took that chance though when I shoved
all my chips in the pot. End result of this tournament, sadly was 11th. AGAIN!!! That's okay this time it was for $1180.
I woke up on my final full day in the Bahamas and decided to spend it in the poker room. Surprise, surprise! I played some wild 1/2 NL while I
waited for my sit and go to fill. I played the $100
sit n go and came first. I then played two others, and took down
another first place and one second place. This was enough poker for me in paradise. I went back to my room to get ready for the farewell cocktail party.
Gavin and I made a brief showing there and said our goodbyes.
This trip was fun and a great experience. I met a lot of great people and players alike. Although the trip went well, my journey home did not. The airlines
decided to kidnap my luggage for the night and hold it hostage until I begged! Not exactly, but it was lost in limbo due to all my flight changes. Nevertheless,
I woke up with a pretty nasty cold in the morning after the night I got in. I'm sure I caught it somewhere in the Bahamas. Thanks for the free souvenir! |
