$18,000 Guarantee

Last night while I was looking for a multi-table tourney to hop into, I considered my many options. There was the $20+ 2 90 person sit n go, but that was taking forever to fill up. A 45 person tourney for the same buy-in was nearly full, but I thought to myself, I'm free-rolling off of a $70 win, and I want to challenge myself a little bit.

So, while I sat impatiently in a $.25-.$50 cash game, I saw a pink flash in the comment box: "$18,000 Guarantee ($69 +6) starts in five minutes." I inquired and, what do you know, there was a celebrity sighting in the tournament. The two biggest players of a note were "highplaya", who won a Full Tilt Online Poker Series event and thus got his own avatar, and, more importantly, Aaron Bartley, a player who from time to time I see on television, most recently at the 2006 WSOP, where he finished 137. The fact that they were playing combined with close to $5,000 for the winner heavily influenced my decision.

Throughout the tourney I employed my new T.J. Cloutier strategy for playing these things: chip up and stay out of trouble. The second part was easy; I saw only 15% of the flops during my stay. However, even though I was staying out of trouble, I went completely card dead for almost 20 hands. The good news is I watched several players fall victim to overaggression. The bad news was as we approached the bubble I was running extremely low on chips. In fact, during the time I went card dead, I went from nearly $8,000 to $2,400... without even playing a hand.

With 40 people left in the tourney, I started getting really nervous and found myself constantly checking the tourney info. I was pretty much hovering around 36 and 37. Did I mention that 36 players cash?

I have 5s in the BB with 37 players left. Bartley made it $1,800 to go. I had $2,400 left. I hated the decision but I had to push. Much to my surprise he turned over the Doyle offsuit. "No ten, no ten, no ten."

Ten.

I played for three hours and outlasted 277 players. I needed to outlast 278.

What a waste, but I learned a valuable lesson. Don't be afraid to die. That, and to be honest, if I was going to be busted by anyone, I guess I'm glad it was Bartley.

I just wish he knocked me out with a better hand.