Showdown

So I played in my first live poker tournament (No Limit Texas Hold'Em) today. It went quite well, but not well enough.

I can't give a clear recount of all (significant) plays, like Wil Wheaton, beacuse DANG! was I nervous, hands trembling and not wanting to screw up the deal when it was my turn or acting out of turn. But everyone was helpful out of the fifteen of us that showed up, playing at two tables in a basement at an undisclosed location. Just ask first if you're not sure. Beverage and snacks available, real clay chips.

I believe the very first hand I was in on, I won. Got pocket jacks and it became trips on the flop, sweet. And for a very long while, it was either fold since it was rags anyway or play and win. No fancy play or bluffing, just playing the cards. There were those who commented on their play or did all-ins or were boisterous, I just sat there quiet as a rock.

Lo' and behold, I make it to the final table! And that was without re-buys or an add-on, quite a few had to resort to that. Continued solid playing by me, I still remember to protect my cards every time, using the same lucky $5 chip I'd used all day for that.

My stack size is second to last but I'm still alive. In late position, I raise by one Big Blind (300) with K9 offsuit, but was reraised and I fold. All-in with KA Diamonds, no takers.

On the button, stack dwindling, I get A2 offsuit. One all-in from another player, then another one and I tag along with my all-in Ace of Spades, two of Hearts. Sort out the pots, turn the cards over and time for showdown. First all-in has pair of jacks. Second all-in has A2 Diamonds and me with A2 offsuit. Weak hand, but not a bad play. The board gives me and the other guy a pair of deuces but not more, the Jacks take it and I'm out at, based on what me and the other A2 guy (there were only guys there, which was not surprising) started the hand with, sixth place.

Sixth place out of fifteen in my first tournament, not bad. If I may say so myself. I don't feel like I wasted any hands or pots and the Ace I went out with wasn't rags. I will definitely play again. And they were all nice blokes.

Had I ended up "in the money", I had my sight set on getting one of these babies. A Mustek DV-5000 all-digital video camera. From the reviews I've read, it's an OK still camera and reasonable video camera. And it uses only memory (SD or MMC) for storage, not DV, Mini-DV or Hi-8. One strong point about it is also its price, which is about a fifth of other (albeit fancier) tape-less or micro-format digital video cameras like the Panasonic SV-AV100 or the Micro-MV Sony DCR-IP1. And those of you that have read earlier postings in my blog know I'm tight and looking for a good deal.

Heck, I'm this -><- close to clicking the order button. I'll post this, and let you know later what I did. I just got a mail that the pay raises are soon negotiated and they're retroactive.