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Raise All-in
By Al Spath 

Short-stacked with two full tables' remaining in a local limit hold-em tournament is not the best position to be in, but it certainly beats early elimination. As each table is dealt a subsequent hand the tension mounts and players are swiftly dismissed without as much as a dime for their efforts. Two hours into the tournament and only eleven players left, four others at my table and six at the table adjacent to ours. 

When the tournament started I wanted to play smart, make all the correct moves, survive the maniacs, and pick off short-stacked opponents when the opportunity arose and the cards favored me. Now I was the one being stalked as I gazed down upon my stack that consisted of three black ($500) chips, and six ($100) white chips. With blinds still at $300/$600, the next few hands would indeed seal my fate. We played on. 

Our dealer was a bubbly Hispanic lady, nicknamed Smiley. Her unmistakably high pitched laughter was how the entire San Manuel Indian poker room knew she was working and having a great time interacting with the players. She was fun to be around and her smile was infectious, but the cards she dealt me during ring games were deadly. For some reason she unmercifully came up one card short, leaving me time and time again, D.O.A. at the river. 

A few hands passed and with hardly any chips left, I found myself a prohibitive underdog. Saddled with a dealer who believed I should be given a beating every hand, I felt like my fate was cast. As the tournament director boisterously announced an increase in the blinds to $500/$1000, I visibly looked frazzled and anxious. This was not the table presence I wanted to display, but I was getting desperate. As the two tables alternated the deals in hopes of eliminating one or two players, I sat and plotted a final strategy. What strategy! I was on life support and with very few chips remaining, had to play anything having a possibility of prolonging my tournament stay. 

I had two hands before I was the big blind and needed to catch something soon or I was just another statistic. The cards slid effortless across the new green felt tabletop like a sharks fin slicing through water. A Qs, Ts, with three other players yet to act behind me, $1500 in the pot, and I have only $1800 remaining; that was my immediate predicament. It wasn't AA, but it sure looked like the best hand I might get before the cost of the blinds busted me out. I fired in my remaining chips and declared "Raise, All-In." The button quickly and surprisingly folded, and the small blind likewise decided not to test the waters with her medium stack. Unfortunately the big blind was the chip leader, and without hesitation his eyes widened as his thoughts immediately sensed a short-stack kill was in order. Hell, his $800 call might just knock out one more threat to his final table reward. He certainly sensed my desperation and knew I was making a final stand! 

With heads up action and one player all-in, local tournament rules dictate we turn over our cards and he held Ad, 10h and clearly was the hands down favorite to win. Smiley burned one card and neatly unveiled three rainbow cards, a 10d, 9h, and 2s. We both had a top pair, me with three spades, but his kicker was that mighty Ace. The turn brought a Kc and I held my breath. He was clearly the statistical favorite with thirty-seven outs to my seven, and I felt paralyzed waiting for the last card. With a wide smile on her rosy checks and a slight wink of her eye, the dealer turned over a Jd to give me a king high straight and $4100. I was still alive, barely! 

The other table played another hand and two more opponents went all-in in an attempt to survive. Neither was as lucky as I was and nine players remained. Final table, time to redraw for a new seat. Although slightly embarrassed about the way I pulled off a last ditch inside straight, I had a stronger pulse and wanted to have a strong finish. I was assured of winning some portion of the monthly $15,000 Free-Roll prize money and was feeling increasingly better. 

Unbelievably I was not the low chip holder and was actually in 7th place at the final table. A couple of players with smaller chip stacks than mine quickly asked to chop the fifteen grand prize money. Nothing doing insisted the chip leader with over $28,000. We quickly played two hands, me winning one, while in the process eliminating two players, leaving seven. Sitting in seat one, I then caught Kd, Kh in the big blind. Seat two popped the pot and the dealer called. I decided to uncharacteristically call and wait for the flop. 

Qs, Qd, 7s. Not exactly the flop I hoped for and play continued at a feverish pace. I checked and the chip leader in seat two surprised everyone and checked, thinking one of us might have the queen and his pocket pair of black tens was surely beat. The button smoothly entered the pot without a raise, and I just figured; what the hell, only two players, two queens remaining, I may still have the best hand. I again went "Raise, All-In." Damn it, they both called. 

The turn brought another terrible card, the Ah, and my heart sunk. Neither player bet and I gained a glimmer of hope. Both players then mistakenly thought their hands were stronger after seeing no bets on the turn. The river brought a 5d and I felt somewhat relieved until seat two bet and seat seven raised his bet. Damn, the button must have had a pocket pair of 5's, sometimes called "Presto." There used to be a card room in London called the "Presto Club," at 55 Victoria Street. The locals there used to call 5-5, "Presto," because of the address. One year they went to the WSOP and they used the term and the Americans caught on to it. But back to the action. 

Seeing a raise, Seat two folded and the button flipped over Ks, 7h; queens up, king kicker. Not bad, but second best! Whew. Another close one and with five players left, our payoff was growing quickly. A few hands later, with one more opponent gone and everyone with a similar chip stack, the table agreed to chop the remaining prize money and play on to decide an ultimate monthly champion. It didn't turn out to be me, but I had played fairly well, had my share of luck and most of all gained some limit hold-em tournament experience. All I need now is another good table change. 

Oh Floorman!