Brutal Disconnection

The field in the $1050 PokerStars Super Tuesday had been whittled down from 394 to 28. With 10 BB’s, I wasn’t in great shape, but I had a fighting chance. And then the internet at my apartment went out. I tried the usual disconnecting and reconnecting, but it didn’t fix the problem. I turned the wireless card on and off on my computer: nothing.

I have an AT&T air card for situations like this. It wasn’t working either. They’d turned it off last month because of an overage, but we straightened that out a week ago and it was supposed to be turned back on now. Of course I should have checked that it was, but at the time that only made it infuriating.

I carried the computer out to the car and my girlfriend drove me around looking for a public signal we could pick up. Watching an ad got me 45 free minutes on the connection at Boston’s Prudential Center, but by then it was too late. I signed on to find that I’d been eliminated in 21st place.

Given my stack size, odds are that I wouldn’t have done better than this anyway, though that’s small consolation. In all honesty I should have been eliminated well before the money:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

SB (t14871)
BB (t15128)
UTG (t16432)
UTG+1 (t31704)
MP1 (t24730)
MP2 (t6043)
Hero (t7480)
CO (t19829)
Button (t21100)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Js, Ac.
UTG raises to t1000, 3 folds, Hero raises to t7430, 2 folds, SB raises to t14821, BB raises to t15078, UTG calls t14078.

Flop: (t52657) Td, Ts, 7h (4 players)

Turn: (t52657) 9d (4 players)

River: (t52657) 8s (4 players)

Final Pot: t52657

Results in white below:
SB has Qs Qh (two pair, queens and tens).
BB has Ah Kh (one pair, tens).
UTG has As Kc (one pair, tens).
Hero has Js Ac (straight, jack high).
Outcome: Hero wins t52657.

I wouldn’t call it standard to shove AJ into an UTG raiser, but this guy had been active from early position. And some of my chips did come from playing well:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em Tourney, Big Blind is t600 (8 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

CO (t42148)
Button (t40652)
Hero (t36173)
BB (t25314)
UTG (t19739)
UTG+1 (t14817)
MP1 (t34523)
MP2 (t21612)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6h, 6c.
5 folds, Button raises to t1275, Hero raises to t3600, 1 fold, Button calls t2325.

Flop: (t7620) 9c, Tc, 2c (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t3600, Hero calls t3600.

Turn: (t14820) 3c (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t7555, Hero calls t7555.

River: (t29930) Jc (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

Final Pot: t29930
Results in white below:
Hero has 6h 6c (flush, jack high).
Button has Kh Qd (flush, jack high).
Outcome: Hero wins t29930.

It’s not uncommon for me to miss getting dealt into individual hands due to internet blips, but generally the PokerStars disconnection clock gives me enough time to get back on if I’m actually in the middle of a pot. It’s been years since I was flat-out unable to finish a tournament because of a disconnection. The last time I remember was when I was still in college stressing over getting DC’ed well before the money in a $15 daily tournament on Pacific Poker, which was well beyond my bankroll and the biggest game that I played with any regularity.

I’ve been meaning to ditch the AT&T air card anyway in favor of something from Verizon. I think today is the day to do that.