WPBT Stud Event

Filed Under: Poker

I'm not a stud player. I've played stud, but I'm not a player. My limited experience has involved a few home games where we've done a couple rounds and that's about it. With this rudimentary knowledge of the rules in hand I had zero expectations last night. I cracked open Doyle's Super System 2 in the hopes of learning a thing or two, but the section covering stud involved high/low. We were only playing high. I didn't want to muddy the waters for myself anymore than they already would be so I didn't even bother scanning it. I was fully intending to rely on my reads and hope for the best.

Fortunately it became evident rather early on that no one else seemed to have a firm grasp on the game either. We were a collection of hold em and omaha players trying to make due. It amazed me how often 7th street was deciding the outcome of the hands. I would imagine that this was because of our collective lack of experience. I'm sure experienced players have a tendency to not chase as badly as a lot of us were doing.

Feeling confident in my reads, I was making good decisions. By the time we were a quarter of the way through the field I had a big chip stack. At this point I decided to let that stack do a lot of talking. I became as big a bully as I felt I could get away with and it was working.

Going into the final table my stack was impressive. As has been the case in several of these WPBT events though, I can't seem to seal the deal. Marginal play trying to bust the remaining players left me crippled and I finished in 5th.

Better than I expected, or hoped. This combined with a productive afternoon at the tables made for a very nice day. My finish should move me up a spot or two in the rankings. I'll still be a long ways from the leader but without something to shoot for it wouldn't be fun.