POTD #322 Madrid Monday: I Make a Faux Pas vs Phil lvey
While I am trying to get called on the felt, I get called on the phone.
One of my leaks in my live poker game is also a life leak. I am on my phone too much. You’d think that playing poker for a million dollars, or seeing my son ride a tricycle, would override watching an Instagram Reel of a clip of a podcast I’d never listen to, but sadly it does not. In poker tournaments, especially Tritons, I can at least justify my phone addiction as a positive. The Triton App has tons of information, including the number of players remaining, the stack sizes of everyone remaining in the tournament, and hand histories played throughout the tournament. I am not in the throes of phone addiction; I am getting reads on my opponents.
The poker world might end up plugging this leak for me. Phones are no longer allowed on the rail. They are taken away at final tables and soon could be banned at all times. If these rules are implemented, I will be more present at the poker table, but there will be an ancillary benefit. I will not embarrass myself at the table– well, embarrass myself less often in one specific way. I embarrass myself by dropping my phone on the ground in the middle of a hand, or needing to be told it’s my turn to act, or, as was the case in today’s hand, have my phone start ringing as I’m in a big pot on the turn and being stared down by Phil Ivey. I’ve played enough SHRs vs. enough of the same people that I am rarely intimidated at the table, and I have completely given up on “looking cool” at the table, but Ivey is the exception. Trying to play a big pot vs. him while flustered because I did something that would make me feel shame at a restaurant or in a movie theatre is not ideal. So I punted this hand from a general etiquette and impressing a legend of the game perspective, but let’s see how I did poker wise.
Triton Madrid 2022 - Event #9 €100K NLH Main Event
(10k/15k/15k) (SB/BB/BBA) 26/93 Left. 13 Cash. Average Stack is 900K. 7-Handed.
I (840k/56BBs) make it 35k UTG with Q♥️Q♦️, Phil Ivey (845k/56BBs) calls next to act, everyone else folds.
Flop (110k) 7♠️5♣️2♥️: I bet 60k, Phil calls
Turn (230k) 6♦️: I bet 115k, my phone starts ringing on the rail, I fumble around and hang up, Phil calls.
River (460k) 3♦️: I bet 140k of my remaining 550k, Phil calls and mucks.
