There’s an old saying in poker that “A chip and a chair” is all you need to win. That saying, and a little patience, paid off for me tonight.
I was playing in a SnG (sit-and-go) at PokerStars — $15 buy-in, 1-Table (9 players). I was mostly playing premium hands — pairs and AK or AQ pre-flop and folding other hands and letting the other players weed themselves out. But, as you can see from the graph of my chip level vs hands below, I hit a bump in the road on hand #33.
With the blinds at 75/150 I was in the big blind with 
- still nine players left. One player called and one other raised to 300 - everyone else folded. For the extra 150 and only one caller behind me (who I didn’t think was likely to raise) I decided to call and see the flop.
The flop comes 
and I hit two pair, almost assuredly the best hand at this point. I bet 450, the player behind me (who called pre-flop) raises to 900, then the person who raised before the flop raises all-in to 1105. I figured that the player going all-in had an overpair — maybe Jacks or Queens and that I had him beat with few outs for me to draw on. Also, I didn’t think that the other player had the straight and thought that I could bet him out by going all-in myself, which I did, for 1745. The player behind me then called.
The player who first pushed all his chips in showed 
— top pair with top kicker. The other player showed 
— top pair with a crappy kicker and with an inside straight draw. So, the first player had 6 outs - if an ace or 7 hit he would have the best hand. The second player needed an 8 to beat my two pair or a 5 to make his inside straight, still 6 outs (or a possible runner-runner heart draw). Still, I felt pretty strong about my hand even with two callers.
Of course, the turn was a 
and the board failed to bring a 6 or 4 for me on the river, so both of us lost to the player with 87. The other player all-in was out of the SnG and I was now left with a measly 335 in chips.
The next hand I had little choice but to go all-in. Fortunately everyone folded to me, in the small blind, and I raised the big blind all-in with my awful 
. He called with 
and I won with my 8-high when the board came 
and neither of us hit a pair. So, I quickly doubled up to 670 - still the short stack of the table.
I waited a couple of hands and got looked down at 
. The blinds were now 100/200 and I raised all-in pre-flop, everyone folded, and I bumped my chip level to 970. The next hand I was dealt 
and played the same way to increase my chips to 1270, again picking up the small and big blinds. After folding the next four hands, I looked down at a pair of ladies and again went all in. My chip level was now at 1345 having been chipped away by the blinds and, now, antes on every hand. Unfortunately, I was getting some pocket pairs, but no one was willing to double me up!
Fourteen hands later I was finally able to get some action with my 
. The 200/400 blinds were raised to 1200 in front of me with five players left, two acting after me. I moved all-in for 1370. The two players behind me folded and the other player quickly called the additional 170 with his 
. The board came 
, which didn’t hit either of us, so I won with my pair of nines and the pair of fours on the board. Finally someone had doubled me up and I now had the chip lead with 3465 - a nice improvement from the 335 that I had only twenty hands previously!
The blinds were up to 200/400 with 25 antes and my hands started going cold. I was dealt 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, and 
— almost all hands that I did not want to get involved with. On the few that looked promising, like , I had one or more players move all-in pre-flop. At this point there was only four players left and the top three places paid, so we were all trying to hang around.
Finally, hand #64 brought me 
and I called 565 - yes, I had folded my blinds and antes until I was again in a horrible chip position! Two other players called and the flop came with a 
. One player bet the other out of the pot and the turn card was an A - giving me top pair. The other player had 
(nothing - not even a draw!) and did not catch anything on the river. I tripled up to 1895.
The very next hand I caught 
and moved all-in pre-flop. Everyone folded to me and I collected 1050 in blinds and antes.
Then came the biggie — the one in every 220 hand — 
— in the big blind no less! One other player raised to 1600 (of his 4590 in chips) and I moved all-in for 2945. He called and showed 
. The board came 
allowing my aces to survive and I collected 5990 for my efforts and a chip lead of 2-to-1 over the next place player.
Now down to three I let the two players left battle it out a couple of hands and all-of-a-sudden we were heads-up. I have to admit that I got very lucky on the last hand — I had 
and raised to 2400 and the other player moved all in (for 3920). I had him covered (9530 in chips) and quickly called. He showed 
. He hit on the flop, 
with a king of hearts giving me a runner-runner flush draw and insight straight draw. The turn was 
, but the river brought relief with the 
and I took first place for $40.
In the end, this was a lesson for me that, even when things look bad, sometimes a little patiece and a little luck (or a lot of both) can pay off!
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