Career High

After all my bitching and moaning...

I entered a WSOP tournament and busted out after a few hours. I mentally flipped a coin to decide whether to enter another one and decided to give it a try. I guess I persevere despite all my complaints.

I stayed about average stack throughout the tournament, but I got into the money with a short stack. The pivot point was with about 20 players left from the total 446 entries. My stack was short. They broke up our table, and I was moved to a new one. One player told the dealer not to deal me into the hand, but I pointed out that I should be in the hand. Any player who moves to a new table is always dealt in, except when seated between the dealer button and the small blind. I jokingly said, “You’re trying to deny me my aces.” I got dealt A♥8♥. A big stack shoved. I shoved. Another big stack shoved. One had 9♥9♦. The other had A♣J♠. The board ran out K♥6♥5♣4♣J♥. I tripled up!

I maintained about an average stack until we got down to the final table. I made my tenth final table of the year! At that point, I started to run incredibly hot. I believe I only lost one hand in the next two hours. I was steamrolling over the table, busting out players one by one until... I won the tournament! This was the biggest cash of my poker career.

This wasn’t a bracelet event, so I’m still on my bracelet quest. But this gives me the confidence to keep going.

Bob Zeidman is a high-stakes recreational poker player. He created Good Beat Poker, a free online poker site using patented technology for audio and video—see and hear the other players at the table if you choose.