Johnny Poker Returns to Vegas, Part 4: Taking a Mulligan

The troublemaker

It’s all Julie Rath‘s fault.

As you may have read yesterday, our otherwise amazing men’s fashion expert took me to task for dressing like a “dork” at previous World Series of Poker events.  Her words:

I don’t mean to be harsh, but the words that come to mind are Fashion Train Wreck.

Jonathan, I suspect your reasoning was to dress like an amateur so the pros would think you were easy prey, but did you also want them (and everyone watching on TV) to think you were a dork?  Now of course I know you are NOT a dork, but please make a note for future reference, wearing sports jerseys in general, much less on multiple days in a row, is not a good look.

So let’s put the past behind us. This year, I urge you to know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, and when to step away from the sports jerseys. Try a Hawaiian shirt instead. It has a lower dork-factor but still sends the message that you’re a casual player.

So I listened.  And I found a beautiful Hawaiian shirt in my casino’s galleria, and sent Julie a photo for approval.   And I entered “The Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em, the second largest competition of the World Series, behind the Main Event of course.

(This is really a special event.  10% of all proceeds are sent to One Drop—a non-profit organization established in 2007 by Guy Laliberté, Founder of Cirque du Soleil.  One Drop strives to ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever by developing integrated water-access and management projects around the world. In the U.S., One Drop is a public charity that undertakes innovative activities in which water plays a central role as a creative force to generate positive, sustainable change worldwide.)

And I played really great.  30 minutes into the event, I ran into some horrible luck.  I flopped a set of 9s; and there was an Ace on the board, meaning that I probably could extract a lot of money from an unsuspecting opponent with a good hand, like an Ace/King or an Ace/Queen.  However, when I went all in, I was called by a set of 10s.  Oops. My chip count went down to a pitiful 800 or so.

But I didn’t lose my composure.  Over the next 8 hours, I slowly and methodically built up my stack, employing some ridiculous bluffs when I had good reads on my opponents, and eight hours later, I had a decent sized stack, around 8000 chips.

I was dealt an Ace/King, and when the first four cards were turned up, I had an ace high flush.  Sirens!  I went all in and was called by someone with a Queen high flush. Only one card could beat me — if a 9 of diamonds appeared on the river (final card) — my opponent would defy all odds and defeat me with the best hand of all, a straight flush.  (He had roughly a one in 30 chance.)

And guess what?  Straight flush.  I was busted.

My lucky outfit

The good news, is that the One Drop tournament offers a second chance — a mulligan, in golf terms.  I will rebuy in a few hours and start from scratch.  And the One Drop charity gets a little more of my money.

Of course, I blame the bad luck entirely on Julie.  So I will return to being a dork, and wear my luck Cincinnati Reds Joe Morgan jersey, with No Labels ball cap, the same outfit that I wore on my luckiest Day 2 from last year.

I’m also headed to the gym, to take on my third day of weight training under the long distance training of the world’s great poker physical fitness expert, Josh Bowen.

Check it out below, and I will keep you updated regularly as always on my progress at my Facebook Page and on Twitter.