Folks like me, recreational poker players who are “products of the Moneymaker Boom,” still carry dreams of getting to play on the big stage. Of how cool it would be to square off at the felt against the players we used to watch on the old World Series of Poker broadcasts and the first few seasons of High Stakes Poker. Well, a few months ago I got my chance, in an $80/160 mixed game at Resorts World Las Vegas against Ted Forrest and Todd Brunson.
That’s Todd in Seat 2, Ted in Seat 8, and… me in Seat 5.
Setting the Stage: “The 80 Will Be Running”
Back in late February, in the immediate wake of Cardplayer Lifestyle’s seventh Mixed Game Festival, I had managed to play 67 hours of mixed game poker over the course of a week. Altogether I was up approximately $1,000 primarily playing $4/8, but also with one $8/16 and my first ever $20/40 session sprinkled in. During the latter, I had managed to eke out a $40 profit after having been down for the majority of the session, for as much as $800.
Considering that I usually play about 300 hours of live poker per YEAR, overwhelmingly in my weekly home game, on my poker trips abroad I try my best to get in as much play as possible. Getting in so many hours in a single week, I had shaken off all traces of “ring rust”. In fact, half of my total profit came in my last $4/8 session: 12 hours of play and up five racks ($500). I was ready for the “hot tag,” and very much on my A-game.
Having had the good fortune to have been staked by Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra in half a dozen $80/160 sessions over the past couple years, I was hopeful that another opportunity would arise to play in that game. On the afternoon of Thursday February 29th, Andrew Yeh let me know that “the 80 will be running; probably two tables worth.” Eli was kind enough to offer to stake me once again and with $11,800 in my pocket I locked up the final seat at the “must move” table.
My record in the half dozen $80/160 sessions going into the game was 1 win, 2 breakevens and 4 losses, and I felt primed and ready to improve that record.
The game began at 7:40pm and I settled in for what I hoped would be a long and profitable session. As it turned out, it was, in fact, my longest ever $80/160 session, clocking in at a whopping 10+ hours.
The Big Mixed Game Is Slightly Different
Having played half a dozen sessions in this game before, I already knew many of the players, though the ones I was most familiar with were at the other (main) table.
Coming in hot, thankfully my mental game was also on point. While the stakes might be 20x as high as in a $4/8 mixed game, I always focus on something Eli once told me: “it’s the same games; it’s just chips.”
Well, almost. It was the standard 14-game mix the game always uses, all of them being fixed limit save for one: Big O with a 10BB cap ($1600).
I consider myself to be pretty well seasoned at all the game variants, but admittedly I felt like an underdog in Big O primarily because I’ve played far fewer lifetime reps of it. But again, Eli gave me an incredibly useful tip: “don’t be afraid in the big bet game – go for it!” So, I did.
The Session Begins: A Rocky Start
Things started out on a somewhat less than auspicious note. In higher stakes games there’s a time rake, which proves cost/time effective rather than raking each pot separately. To add a little gamble in the mix, sometimes players randomly draw a card to determine which seat pays the half-hour rake for the table, and I got dinged first, for $74. To put this into perspective, that might sound like a lot for a $4/8 game, but it’s just under four $20 chips in the $80/160 game (i.e., less than a small bet).
A tiny part of me worried “uh oh; it’s going to be one of THOSE nights,” but thankfully things actually worked out as well as possible rake-wise over the course of the session. In fact, I only had to pay rake once more, but I digress.
I can say with absolute certainty that I played as close to “perfect mixed game poker” as I know how over the first 2.5 hours of play, and I’m positive that any highly-skilled mixed game player would’ve confirmed this to be true. My folds, calls, bets, and raises were fully “by the book,” I was aggressive in the right spots, cautious in the right spots, making disciplined folds correctly, etc.
Yet, my A+ gameplay notwithstanding, I got absolutely destroyed.
Sometimes the cards just will not fall in your favor, and that can be pretty disheartening. When the cards don’t come, when your nut draws don’t hit and when you get “outered” on the river, it’s going to cost you – and in an $80/160 game it’s going to cost you a lot, even if you’re playing perfectly.
Two hours in, I hadn’t managed to scoop or win any significant pots. It was stultifying. It’s so incredibly disheartening to “come in hot” feeling like you’re on your A-game, doing everything right, and literally NOTHING to show for it.
Showing Heart and Resolve, Despite Running Cold
The challenge in such situations is to not tilt. To not let your emotions show. In a game full of sharks, they’ll be quick to smell blood in the water. As many body blows as I was absorbing, it was on me to shake them off and not let the others at the table pick on me.
Surely the other players also noticed my horrible run of cards, and how I kept on losing pot after pot. But they also saw me continuing to smile, to play hard and aggressively, to remain chatty. I’m proud of that. Staying on top of your game while enduring that kind of bad run is just as much part of playing well as memorizing charts and GTO play.
Taking notes throughout the entire session so I could look back afterwards, review, and learn from my mistakes, I even typed this to myself to psyche myself up: “Haven’t scooped or won a big one yet. It’s about to change 💪 let’s go!!!”
In the eye of the storm, it’s natural for things to look bleak, but keeping a logical mind, you know that the storm will eventually pass. It’s up to you to be ready for when the wind eventually blows cards your way. And so, that thankfully came to pass. But the wind also blew in a Poker Hall of Famer.
Todd Brunson Enters the Fray
Business suddenly picked up in a big way. Todd Brunson entered the game and took a seat at the table.
Over my half dozen $80/160 sessions I’ve had the honor and privilege of playing with number of well-known and highly decorated poker players, including WSOP bracelet winners, WPT champions, and players who’ve racked up millions in tournament winnings.
But when Todd Brunson took a seat at the table, I kind of froze for a minute. I wasn’t mentally ready for that unexpected development. Poker After Dark appearances. High Stakes Poker appearances. A man who won millions against Andy Beal as part of the Corporation. I had never played against a Poker Hall of Famer before.
Todd just felted Beal. They fist bumped and he left the room. They’re done for tonight. Todd wins 5 million. More updates tomorrow hopefully
— Kyle Loman (@Kloman22) January 24, 2015
It took me a couple minutes to settle back down, but I was thankfully able to. At the end of the day, the chips in front of Todd were the same as the chips in front of everyone else. I remained determined to play my best, cold deck and the previous couple hours of runbad notwithstanding. Unbeknownst to me, one more gut punch was headed my way.
Down, But Not Out: In the Foxhole with Eli Elezra
Just after 10pm, yet another opponent got the best of me in another big pot. Up until that point, having played approximately 50 hands of poker, only two pots had been pushed my way, and they were very small pots. I was down over two racks ($4,000) to a new low point, in more ways than one. I had $7,400 left in my stack
It was time to take a break.
Frustrated, and concerned that my exasperation was starting to show, I decided it was time to step away from the table and clear my head. I retreated to my corner, where I hoped that “my own Hall of Famer” would be able to impart some wisdom and provide some encouragement.
Upon my arrival to the $300/600 table, Eli looked up and greeted me with a smile and a laugh: “Why the long face? Who died?”… and, hearing that, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, too.
Needing a proper timeout, I asked Eli if he’d please take a short walk with me, to which he kindly obliged. He listened patiently as I relayed how things were going, including details of numerous hands, all while nodding patiently and asking pertinent questions, which I was thankfully able to answer to his satisfaction.
Once he felt that my cuts and bruises were sufficiently attended to, Eli sent me back to the front lines with full confidence in his fighter. Critically, for me, he also empathized with and understood my disappointment. “We all experience bad luck; it’s part of the game. But so long as you keep playing your game, you’ve got this.”
The pep talk was more than enough to get me back on my feet.
Ding, Ding! Back in Action, and Here Comes Ted Forrest
Fully refreshed, I returned to the table after 20 minutes away and quickly won a $1,200 pot in A-5 Razz, my first scoop of the night. Shortly after, I took down a small pot off Todd Brunson in the same game. My confidence surged as I won a $620 pot in Big O a couple minutes later. Now we were cooking!
About 10 minutes after that I won a $1,600 Limit Hold’em pot, having extracted maximum value from my opponent. I was locked in and fighting back hard.
Then, the competition intensified when Ted Forrest took a seat at the table shortly after 11pm. I had seen Ted playing in the $300/600 game a few months earlier (I took the picture of him and Mike, below)… what on Earth was the 6x WSOP bracelet winner doing in the $80/160 game?!
Holy shit it finally happened!!!!!!
(I wanted to ask him to do the Spider-man meme but thought better of it) pic.twitter.com/7Mo8XnAXHt— Mike Patrick (@MikePatrick98) July 4, 2023
I texted Eli with the new development, and his reply was… well, I guess I should’ve expected it…
Strap In, It’s Going to Be a Bumpy Ride
Four hours into the session, after splitting a Drawmaha high pot, I had managed to boost my stack back up to $9,600. Obviously, the presence of Ted Forrest and Todd Brunson at the table added an extra layer of challenge and excitement to the proceedings, but I had to keep ignoring “who they were” and just keep focusing on the cards and playing my best.
Over the next two hours I bounced up and down. We kept cycling through the different mixed game plaques one after another — Razz, 2-7 Drawmaha, A-5 Triple Draw, and more. I played cautiously when warranted, but antes and blinds will still eat up your chips. I also “missed out” on some scoops, too, like when my rolled up queens in Stud 8 applied as much pressure as possible, but my opponent managed to hit his low on 7th street.
Oddly, something that gave me tons of confidence was that Forrest couldn’t seem to win. After my rocky start, I was now holding my own while one of the world’s most legendary poker players was struggling. Ted must’ve reached into his bag to grab another $1,000 or $2,000 and reload at least three times. It just wasn’t his night. In fact, in the last hand he played I was the one to scoop him, making a flush in Archie.
Todd Brunson’s 4-Handed Master Class
As I mentioned, my table was the “must move” game. After about 5.5 hours, we got short-handed, with just Todd Brunson, myself, and two others remaining at my table. I learned a heck of a lot over the next 30 minutes of play.
With due respect to the other players sitting with us, Todd had the “dominant presence” at the table, so that’s where I devoted my primary attention. While my chip stack hovered perilously around $9,500 for those 30 minutes, playing short-handed really tested my mettle and poker skill. When the game changes every four hands and the blinds come around with such increased frequency, you’ve got to be able to adjust swiftly and remain laser focused.
What stood out most to me during that half hour, however, was the contrast between how hard I felt the other two players and I were playing versus how seemingly casual and effortlessly Todd seemed to be playing. Like it was just another boring old day at the office.
He seemed to pick up on our every error or misstep and make us pay dearly. I might’ve been able to hold my own, but I felt that my A-game was barely up to Brunson’s “default game”. The man just didn’t make mistakes! Observing his facial expression, mannerisms, and overall demeanor, a casual observer wouldn’t be able to tell whether he was winning pots or losing pots, having a blast or suffering through the session; Todd was a machine… oh, and he was winning, big.
Todd put on a 4-handed master class in mixed game play, and charged us all full tuition. I have to admit it was a bit of a relief when the other table broke and we combined to become a single 7-handed table at about 2am. The action cooled off just a bit from there.
Coming Up Just Short, My Rally Runs Out of Gas
Shortly after 7-handed play commenced, I managed to chip back up to over $10,000 by scooping a Badugi hand. Here I was, 6.5 hours in to an $80/160 session, still down, but fully confident that I could still book a winner.
I held steady once again for the next couple hours, then a Bagudi hand and a huge Limit Hold’em hand brought me back to almost even. Looking down at my chip stack at 4am, I counted $11,400. I was just a few hundred dollars — one stack of $20 chips — short of even, where I had started out about 8.5 hours earlier.
But my euphoria was short-lived.
I began to make a few small mistakes. My opponents, all experienced pros at this point, took note and applied pressure when they sensed I was faltering. Within an hour, I was back under the $10,000 mark and I just couldn’t recover.
It was at that point, 5am, when Todd left the table. He was up a sizeable chunk of change. Unable to help myself, I left the table for a moment and approached him to “properly” introduce myself as he was cashing out.
Away from the warzone of the felt where we had battled for hours, I could finally let my guard down and be that poker fan again. I can only imagine how goofy I looked and sounded…
“It was a true thrill playing against you tonight, Todd. Such an incredible experience. I just had to let you know how much fun that was and that I had an amazing time.”
Todd, ever so gracious, broke out in a big smile and responded “Thank you! Yeah, it was a fun one. Good game. I’ll see you around.”
I’m pretty sure I still had that goofy smile on my face as I retook my seat at the table.
Nothing Left But a Full Rack of Memories
The remaining players and I agreed to call it quits within the next couple dealer downs.
I have to admit that as much as I tried to maintain my focus and eke out a win over the final hour of play, at that point I was frantically playing catch up to try and get as close to even as possible. That didn’t happen, and ultimately I was unable to recover.
I got a bit spewy and bled out about $800 worth of chips before the game broke at around 6am. I cashed out for $8,700 and booked a $3,100 loss for the night.
Putting that in perspective, that’s akin to losing $155 in a $4/8 game.
Despite the ups and downs, I know that played my heart out and made the most of the opportunity Eli had given me. The night was a rollercoaster of emotions, filled with intense hands and invaluable lessons. Just before I went to sleep, I sent Eli a text message letting him know how the rest of the night had gone, and thanking him for the opportunity.
Reflecting on the session, I still feel a deep sense of gratitude for having gotten the chance to play. It was an unforgettable experience that just serves to further fuel my passion for poker.
I’m also resolute in my determination to keep on improving at mixed game poker. My 1 win, 2 draws and 5 losses in the $80/160 game notwithstanding, I genuinely don’t feel out of my depth sitting at that table.
I KNOW I’m getting better with each session and, given the opportunity, I KNOW my record will improve. Hell, I survived a poker night with Ted and Todd, and lived to tell the tale.
A Las Vegas all-nighter I’ll never forget.
Hanging and banging with legends of the game I love.
Grateful for having had the opportunity, and for the memories. pic.twitter.com/V6q1fsVYYN
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) March 1, 2024
