Quest for Gold

Former World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jamie Gold now has his own free poker website.  But today Gold did something unusual -- making himself a "bounty" in tournaments both live and online.

The in-person bounty was at a World Poker Tour event in Jacksonville, Florida.  The online version was a "Gold N Bounty" big-prizes tournament tonight at National League of Poker (and perhaps at other websites; Gold's site and NLOP are part of the same entertainment network).  We stayed home and joined about 2,400 other players in searching for money, wherever it was hiding....

:02 IN: We have 6-4 in the Big Blind.  The flop is Q-9-J.  The table checks.  The turn is 2.  Everyone checks.  The river is 3 -- and since everyone started with a "deep stack" of 2,500 chips, we offer a flat-out bluff of 100. It works!  The table folds, and we win $190.

:07 IN: We have 10-J.  The flop is 2-3-8.  The table is playing tight, and everyone checks.  The turn is 4.  Everyone checks again.  The river is 7.  We offer a bluff bet again of 125 -- and it works again!  Massive folding wins us $210.

:10 IN: We have 10-K.  The flop is 5-9-5.  The tight table checks.  The turn is 6.  Everyone checks again.  The river is 3.  We throw out 120 -- and we're now three-for-three in bluffs!  The table folds; we gain $320.

:11 IN: The next hand brings J-J -- and this time we don't wait, raising 200 pre-flop.  A few people call.  The flop is 5-A-6.  We check, as does everyone else.  The turn is J, and we bet 300.  The table runs off; we gain $1,120 -- and we win four of the first eight pots, while someone named "Horseco" claims the other four.

:14 IN: We have 6-A.  The flop is 8-5-9, all diamonds (we don't have one).  The table checks.  The turn is Jh.  More checking.  The river is 8c.  We offer a semi-bluff 100 (since we do have Ace high) -- and our run ends when a player calls with a winning 9-7.

:18 IN: We have 9-8 in the Big Blind.  The flop is 10-9-7.  We bet the minimum 60 with middle pair, and get callers.  The turn is K.  We offer 60 again, and get doubled by another player.  We call it.  The river is J to give us a straight.  We bet 250, an opponent doubles to 500, we call with a third player -- and we all have 8's!  It's a three-way pot split; we win $900.

Nothing works for us after that until the half-hour break.  We arrive with $1,980 - tied for 947th place, with 1,229 players to go.

:47 IN: We have 10-Q of diamonds.  The flop is K-K-3, with the 3 a diamond.  The table checks.  The turn is As, leaving us hope of a straight.  An opponent bets 200, and we dare to call.  The river is 8d.  We figure we're sunk, but the opponent merely checks.  We check with resignation -- but he has a lowly 2-7!  It's a surprise win of $1,200.

A miss with 7-A follows, along with some low-quality cards.  We survive to the one-hour break with 1,455 chips.  With 702 players remaining, we're well down the list at #625.

1:08 IN: We return from the break with K-10 offsuit.  We call, knowing it's about time to make a move.

ON THE FLOP: 5-8-K

This could be the moment -- and an opponent bets 560 to provoke a response.  We have 1,130 left, and go all-in.  The big bettor calls -- but he shows K-7, so we're in the lead!

ON THE TURN: 7

"Noooooooooooo" we say aloud -- and write moments later.  Our foe hit a second pair!

ON THE RIVER: 9

He won the race.  We're shown the door in 651st place, out of 2,404 entries.  If someone claimed the bouty on Jamie Gold along the way, we couldn't find it in the long list of standings.  He never even stopped by our table to say hello.