Bally's Free Roll Poker Tourney

Highlight of Thursday was my appearance at Bally's monthly free roll poker tournament which began at 6 p.m.

Prior to the tourney, I got to the poker room about 12:30 to log some hours toward next month's tourney. And it was a rough day at the felt. I lost $125 over the course of 3 hours. Some dismal highlights included my queen-high flush losing to a king high flush and my Queens with a king kicker losing to queens with an Ace kicker.

So by 4:30 or so I took a break and got a pulled pork sandwich to eat before the tourney. I was feeling pretty low after losing all day and was not in the best mental mood for the big tourney, which pays $500 to the top 40 finishers. I called Helen and told her about my losing efforts and she gave me a rousing pep talk about how good a player I am and how I can turn it around during the tourney. She's always supportive of my poker efforts!!

There were 74 people who logged the required 45 hours of play, but only 72 of them registered for the event. When the tourney began, each player starts with 5,000 in chips and the blinds start at 50 and 100. Every 20 minutes the blinds climb, first to 100-200, 200-400, 500-1000, 1000-2000 and finally 2000-4000.

On the third hand of the game, I was dealt A-K both spades, a strong starting hand. One guy bet 400 and everyone folded except me - I just called. The flop came 4 and 5, both spades, and the 8 of hearts. So I had a big flush draw, plus two over cards. But the turn and river never brought another spade and I had to fold. The guy showed 5-8 for two pair.

So 5 minutes into the tourney I was down 1500 in chips. I soon lost another 500 in a hand that didn't pan out. So now I'm down to 3000 in chips. And soon after I lost another 600, leaving me with only 2,400 in chips. It wasn't looking too good.

But then I look down and see Q-J of diamonds smiling back at me. At this point, the blinds were 200-400 and one guy had bet 400, building the pot to 1,000. I realized I couldn't hesitate any longer and announced "I'm All In" and shoving my 2,400 toward the pot. I'd be happy, I thought, to just take the 1,000 that was already in the pot.

But one guy called - my old nemesis Leo!

For those who don't recall, I've whipped Leo out of his stack on a few occasions and it's set him on tilt once or twice. He hasn't responded like a gentleman and mutters about my plays as I stack the chips that once belonged to him, but now were mine.

In this situation, I show my cards and Leo smugly flips his over -Ace-King of mixed suits. I was trailing and could easily be knocked out of the tourney, because Leo had about 1,000 more than I did when the hand began. But the flop came 3-8-Q and my two queens held up!

I now had about 5,500 in chips and was back in the game. About 20 minutes later I won another big hand, bringing my chip total to 11,000 when the average stack was only 7,500. Meanwhile players, including Leo, were getting eliminated and we were down to 47 at this point. Only 7 more to knock out and we could each collect $500.

Our table had 8 players at it when the 41st player was eliminated and we all cheered and high fived our victory! After the payouts they held a drawing and gave away 10 seats at a World Series of Poker event in June, but I didn't get one of those.

So for the day, I made $375 in poker after subtracting my early losses. It was great fun and I look forward to playing in the next event in early April.

We have some friends - Gail and David Molby - who arrived last night from Traverse City. They are staying at the Venetian for 5 nights and we're meeting them for dinner at 7 p.m. at the Planet Hollywood's Spice Market Buffet. Should be tasty!

And so our adventure continues...