My First Multi-Table Win

Path to my First Multi-Table Win, Thanks PSO!

Back in College I had played Hold'em a few times in home games with some friends and needless to say I was the fish and after busting out pretty much every time I called it quits. Then in the last year or so I started watching the WPT and the spark for Poker was re-kindled, however I was unsure of playing online. I then saw The Party Poker Million event on TV and thought that if they were sponsoring a WPT event they had to be legit and I would give them a try.

I kept putting off signing up until one day while browsing a deal forum I came across Poker Source's free 300 Chipset offer. This offer gave me the motivation to sign up with Party Poker. I deposited my initial $50 and by the time I had completed raked hand requirement I was about breaking even. I then tried my hand at some $5 Sit and Go's and placed in the money in a few of them. I was rather high on myself and my self taught skills so I moved to the $10 Sit and Go's and blew my bankroll. I re-bought for another $50 and decided to try my hand at the $1/$2 tables and quickly busted out again.

At this point I remembered how big a fish I was back in College. So I went out and picked up Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pro's and read and studied it and used it to refine my game plan. I also did alot of research on the web at various poker sites and forums. I then signed up for Pacific Poker with Poker Source's Free WPT DVD offer and decided I would use my $100 deposit to refine my skills on the $0.50/$1.00. After 2 days of play I was reading people well and knowing when to make calls and when to fold and was up $110.

I then decided it was time to try and port my game over to Multi Table Tournaments. Poker Source had announced the $10,000 Free Roll on Royal Vegas so I went over and signed up for an account so I could play in the Freeroll. Royal Vegas kindly gave me a free $10 for doing so, so I went to work.

The first Tournament I entered on Royal Vegas was a $1 No-Limit Rebuy tournament. I played my game the way I had honed it on the Pacific Poker $0.50/$1.00 tables and found myself in the Chip lead after the first hour without having to do a rebuy or an add-on. I wound up making the final Table about 5th in chips but busted out on a bad beat in 8th place winning $7. I then went into a $3 Freeze out and placed 16th winning $5. I felt pretty confident in my skills and entered another $1 Rebuy No Limit tournament. At the end of the first hour I found myself 5th in chips without having to do a rebuy, but I was also seated at the same table as the chip leader. He requested the final add-on, so I did as well to keep the gap between us the same. I continued to build up my stack and went into the Final table with the Chip lead. Won some big pots and lost some big pots at the final table and eventually when the dust settled I finished 2nd taking home $76.

I was on top of the World, I had only been back playing poker for a little over a month and I had already placed 2nd in a multi-table tournament. The next night I entered the $1 rebuy again. This time things didn't start out so well in the beginning and I busted out within the first 10 hands. I thought, heh the night is still young so I rebought and things turned around for me. At the first break I found myself up to 5000 chips which was a little over the average. I requested the add-on.

The next hour was brutal, I didn't play a single hand unless it was my Big Blind and there were no raisers. I saw my stack dwindle down to a little over 3000 chips and was in dire need of a hand to play. I finally got dealt a decent starting hand and made the plunge all in, got one caller and doubled up. Next hand I went all in again, got a caller and doubled up again. I now felt comfortable with about 13,000 chips and sitting in the top 20. I played tight until we cleared the bubble. Now that I was in the money I shifted gears and started playing very aggressive. I was reading the other players at my table well and double up a few times calling people down on their All-In bluffs. When we hit the Final table I was the Chip leader with a little over 120,000 of the 750,000 total chips. First hand at the Final table I'm dealt AA under the gun. The blinds are at 2500/5000 so I raise it to 10,000 to go. Everyone fold up to 1 off the button who has about 50,000 chips and he re-raises to 20,000. I in turn re-raise to 40,000 and he goes All-In. I quickly call, and to both our dismay we were both dealt Pocket A's and split the Pot. The very next hand I'm in the Big Blind and am dealt AJh, I look at my roommate and say "No one is stealing this blind." There is 1 caller in early position and the the guy I went heads up with the previous hand raises 20,000. I ponder for a minute and think he's trying to buy the pot so I re-raise him another 20,000 and he goes all in. Since I have a strong hand and the chip lead and it's only going to cost me another 10,000 to see flop I call. He turns up his cards, KQh, against my AJh. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing I'm the big favorite here. Flop comes up rags. Turn comes a Queen. At this point I'm sure my cursing wakes the neighbors, but the River comes up an Ace and he's Eliminated. I went on to bust out 2 more people over the course of the next few hands and found myself in a commanding chip lead. Eventually it came down to the final 2. I had 500,000 in chips and my opponent had 250,000 with blinds at 5000/10000. I pushed him around stealing his blinds and re-raising his raises until I had a 600,000 to 150,000 lead and I was dealt Pocket 10's. He raised, me and I called. Flop came Q-10-Rag and he went all-in. I happily called and took down the Pot and my first ever tournament win and the $142 that went with it.

Since signing up through Poker Source a little over a month ago because of their great promotions I'm now up over $200. Plus I have a chip set and the DVD set to show for. So all I can do is thank PSO for their great promotions as I continue to improve my game and build my bank roll. Hopefully many other PSO customers and potential customers will be able to share my good fortune......just not when they're sitting across the table from me!