Tao of Poker

I Run Good and the Return of the Hammer

By Pauly
Atlantic City, NJ

That Run-Good Challenge? Despite being hyper-distracted, I finished in second place and won $300. I was very close to collecting $600 for first place, but I lost a grueling 140 hand heads up battle against Dan from PokerListings. He was a classy opponent. You will soon discover why.

So did I really run good? Not really. Talk about suckout city. I was the suckout king. Suckout. Suckout. Suckout. I even cracked the Hilton Sisters with the Hammer. What the fuck? Is this 2004 or something?

I wanted to play in the Run-Good Challenege. Badly. Several of my friends were playing and it was free money! But I also had to work. I covered a final table at the Borgata and tried to play at the same time. Lucky for me, Tropical Steve and Friedman covered for me so I could try to win the $600 first place prize.

We had 11 players for Event #1. The top three paid out (600,300,100). Sweet prize pool for basically an SNG.

My Starting Table:
Seat 1: Matt from PokerListings
Seat 2: Spaceman
Seat 6: Michele Lewis aka the Cougar
Seat 7: Short-stacked Shamus
Seat 8: YOUR HERO
Seat 9: KidDynamite

Change100 took Gigli honors. I played a couple of hands early on, then headed back to work. When I returned, I managed to advance to the final table.

Run Good Event #1 Final Table:
Seat 1: PokerShrink (580)
Seat 2: Michele Lewis (1220)
Seat 3: Dan from PokerListings (5590)
Seat 4: KidDynamite (1235)
Seat 5: Shamus (2675)
Seat 6: Amy Calistri (2560)
Seat 7: Michalski (95)
Seat 8: Your Hero (1015)
Seat 9: Spaceman (1530)

I was 7th in chips when the final table began. Michalski had overslept and missed the start. When he woke up, he had 95 chips left. He was out soon after.

I got super short when I moved all in with the Hammer. Kid Dynamite woke up to Queens in the big blind. KidDynamite4 said, "HAMMMMAH." Spaceman replied, "Hiltons vs hammers."

The flop was innocuous and I grabbed my notebook and pen ready to rush out onto the floor of the Borgata to return to work. The turn was a 2s. I miraculously sprang back to life. I sat back down. Then the 2d spiked on the river.

KidDynamite4 said, "Aiyahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

To which Amy Calistri added, "But of course"

Runner runner suckout with the Hammer. I was up to 1.6K. Back from the dead. Resurrected. Second life. A couple of hands later, I busted KidDynamite. My 8-8 held up against his A-10. I actually won a race.

Suckout + Coin Flip = third in chips.

I won another hand and moved up to second in chips. After Spaceman busted, I went back to work. There was five players left. When I returned, I discovered that I was heads up with Dan from PokerListings. In a true display of sportsmanship, he also sat out as action posted and folded to the big blind. I dunno long that went on for, but I gotta give Dan from PokerListings huge props for that level of sportsmanship. Total respect, bro. The guys at PokerListings also cover tournaments so they understood my situation. Seriously guys, thanks for accommodating me.

The rules of the contest specifically stated that Dan or Matt from PokerListings could not win any prize money. If they happened to win, that money would get rolled over into next week's contest. So either I was gonna win $300 or $600 and depending on what place Dan from PokerListings finished, either $300 or $600 was getting added to next week.

Dan from PokerListings had a 2 to 1 chiplead when I found Jacks. We got it all in preflop. He showed A-7. The fop was Qh-10h-8c and I was still ahead. The turn was an unfortunate Ace. Alas, I had some outs and spiked one when the King of hearts fell on the river. My Broadway straight doubled me up. I took the chiplead for the first time in the tournament.

Too bad, I coughed up the lead. That was just the beginning of a 140 hand rollercoaster ride. We exchanged the lead several times. It seemed like whenever someone was short stacked and all in (usually me), they'd win the pot and magically stay alive.

I slowly pulled away until I lost a big hand when Dan slowplayed Kings. He regained the lead, but I got it back.

I had 11.6K to Dan from PokerListings' 4.8K. We got into a raising war preflop and got it all in. I had Ad-8s. Dan from PokerListings showed pocket nines. The flop was Ac-8h-7s. I flopped two pair and was way ahead.

Dan from PokerListings said, "gl me."

The turn was the 6s. Uh oh. I felt it coming. That queasy feeling in my stomach churned up. That's when the 10c fell on the river. He doubled up with a straight and regained the chip lead.

It was my turn to issue a bad beat. We got it all in. I had A-7. He had A-9. I flopped a seven. It held up and I doubled up and seized the lead.

I squandered the lead. Again. I was back down 2 to 1. I flopped two pair and slowplayed 8s-7s and beat Dan from PokerListings' J-9o. I got paid off and guess what? I had the lead again. Shamus had counted that we had 120+ hands of heads up play. Wow.

Alas, the time had come for me to quietly exit. I spewed some chips and missed a couple of big draws. On the 140th hand or so, I busted out. I was super short and made a stand with A-8. Dan from PokerListings called with K-Q. I was ahead on the flop and turn. I typed, "Keep it kosher," into the chat box. That's when the Qd fell on the river.

Fuck you, PokerStars.

Dan from PokerListings won the first event in the Run Good Challenge. And me? I finished in second place. $300. I'm also happy with free money.


I had tons of fun playing. The best part was the incessant chat. We taught Michele Lewis some new slang. Also, at one point, we tried to configure the dirtiest word that would slip through the PokerStars censors. My favorites that I use are... asscock, cumstain, and pandaclit. You can say those and it won't get flagged. Everyone had a good time trying to out do each other.

Kid Dynamite summed it up best...

As Pauly and Dan from Pokerlistings got into a lengthy (120+ hands!!!) heads up battle featuring numerous suck-resuck scenarios, the busted players, myself included, got involved in what turned out to be a very fun game of "type the dirtiest word you can that Pokerstars won't censor." Believe me, it's more fun that it sounds.

Thanks again to the gang at PokerListings for a sensational time. I can't wait until next week!


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