POTD #284 A Bad Hand in A "Bad" Tourney
A small hand from a small €50k in EPT Monte Carlo
Playing EPTs and Tritons can be a grind. I will give my regular disclaimer that it’s not a grind compared to say, working in the emergency room of a hospital on July 4th in Pittsburgh (Should I start watching The Pitt? I think I should start watching The Pitt). However, it’s still challenging: You have to deal with long hours, financial stress, jet lag, and in the case of EPTs, a ticking clock in the morning. You need to register high rollers before the first hand is dealt to get half of your rake discounted back to you. It might not sound like a huge deal to turn a $100,000 tournament into a $99,000 one, but when ROIs of winning players are often in the single digits, it’s hard to do something more profitable than showing up on time and earning a big chunk of your winrate before the first hand is even dealt.
The rake discount is a way to ensure tournaments get off the ground, even if the tournament begins as a tough tournament without any VIPs at the start. It creates an “If you build it, they will come” attitude amongst the pros, who are willing to start the tournament in the hopes some VIPs will late register. This is especially true in Monaco, where people with no track records of playing high rollers are known to pop in and play a 50k or 100k. Unfortunately, sometimes you build it, and they do not come. This creates a bit of a snow day dynamic; you’re sitting around waiting to see if school is cancelled or if you get to watch TV in bed. Even if the tournament does get off the ground, it might not be worth re-entering, so while you want to play and win the tournament, if you bust, you get a rebate of an off day to explore the beautiful principality of Monaco (give or take a four hour nap to get over jet lag). There was no tournament this trip that I played fewer hours in, but I noted several hands that I misplayed. It’s possible I just ran into tricky spots, but I also think my mind was somewhere else, perhaps eating a Monte Carlo Bay hamburger in my bed.
EPT Monte Carlo 2023 € 50,000 No Limit Hold’em (Event 25)
(1k/2k/2k) (SB/BB/BBA). Registration is Open.
It folds to the button, I don’t know who, but this tournament sucked, it was someone good (100k/50bbs) who makes it 5k, I (100k/50bbs) call in the BB with 8♠️6♣️ .
Flop (13k) 9♣️5♦️ 2♥️: I check, button bets 4k, I make it 12k, they call.
Turn (37k) J♦️: I bet 18k, call.
River (73k) 2♦️: I check and lose (I forget if he shoved or checked, but I’m pretty sure he shoved)
