Poking for a cause

As an avid poker player, it was an honor to receive a seat in Dan Dickau’s Celebrity Poker Tournament, on the eve of his Basketball Classic.

Upon entering the room, I was flanked with names I recognized, whether they be from former Zag teams, the poker world, or from elsewhere: David Pendergraft, Alex Hernandez, Blake Stepp, Richie Frahm, Erick Lindgren, Nathan Doudney, Tony Skinner, Richard Fox, Brian Scalabrine, Rick Lukens, Gavin Smith, Craig Ehlo, Ray Giacoletti… the list goes on and on.

As a HomeTeam Sports writer, I was lucky enough to represent our publication, along with publisher Mano Tabish, in the tournament.

Against 95 players, the field was slightly smaller than the 120 I was expecting, but I was still focused on first place, not for the 50″ TV or signed jersey, but because I’ve got a nasty competitive streak that loves first place more than anything.

The start to the tournament was good… I was able to take down a couple small pots to keep pace with the field. A lot of the interesting action was taking place at other tables: a royal flush for Adam’s dad John Morrison, Lindgren and Smith avoiding the shots taken at them by other players, Zags players fending off the rest of the field. Nevertheless, I was playing solid, not forcing the issue and waiting until I could make my move.

Unfortunately, the cards weren’t helping me out much. I saw a lot of 67o and J3 for a solid hour. With the blinds raising every 15 minutes, I was faced with the chance of blinding out if I couldn’t make something happen.

After being moved to my second table, I was able to survive an all in, as I called a min-raise from the small blind with AQ. I told myself that if an ace hit the flop, I was pushing, hoping I wasn’t up against AK. Well, the flop came A83 and against two opponents, I decided that pushing in first position was the best play, just in case I had a draw wanting to see some free cards. After a fold and call, I saw I was a huge favorite against the raiser, who held AJ. Running queens came on the turn and river, giving me a full house and the pot, putting me back in it.

Shortly thereafter, one spot behind the button and with everyone in front of me folding, I decided to pump the 300-600 blinds to 1500 with KQo. The big blind then pushed for 1400 more and since about half my stack was already committed, I decided to cross my fingers and hope for the best. I wasn’t a huge underdog against ATc, until the flop came Q high, but all clubs. The turn didn’t give me a chance to hope for the boat and I lost about 35 percent of my stack there.

After another 45 minutes passed, I was hurting, until I pushed all in with 88. Stepp called me with AKs and nothing on the flop or turn helped him. Even though I didn’t need it, I hit an 8 on the river for a full house, which doubled me up again.

After an unsuccessful limp with 89d, I found T9o in the big blind. The flop was very interesting: 8TJ, all hearts. My 9 wasn’t a heart, but with a pair and a straight draw, I figured I needed to force the action and pushed all in. I was called by A9, with my opponent’s 9 being a heart… he had an open ended straight flush and the river came 7h, giving him the straight flush and the win, knocking me out.

Despite being eliminated in 24th (the top 20 won a prize) I was happy with the performance and can say for sure that this tournament was the most fun of any I’ve entered previously. I never got a chance to meet Gavin Smith, but I did shake hands with 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, which was a thrill for a semi-aspiring poker player like me. I also had the opportunity to play cards with many of the Gonzaga players I idolized growing up, which was an awesome experience.

Hopefully, I can return in a year and turn in a better performance than I did this year, but I have no regrets, as this experience was one of the best I’ve ever had at the card tables.