I had the opportunity to play in a three-player team tournament at Queen of Hearts poker room in Woodhaven, Michigan last week and talked about my experience in the latest Michigan Poker Monster. Before the tournament I was curious about what the team format rules would be for this kind of poker tournament, and it turned out to be nothing like what I expected.
First of all, the tournament runs just like a standard charity room tournament. Each player buys-in, the room and charity take a cut, and then the prize pool is shared by the winners. 50% of the prize pool goes to the winning team and the other 50% is split by the top 5% of the tournament finishers. In the tournament I played in there were 60 runners in 20 teams, and the top three individual players were paid out.
Starting stacks were surprisingly deep: 50,000 chips starting at 25/50 blinds. It was 15 minute levels, but with so many starting chips (1,000 big blinds deep at the start) this led to very slow knock-out rate through the first break. After the first break some of the regulars commented that it was time for knock-outs to start, but we were surprised that it was still slow going until about the second level after the first break.
Most players came to the tournament with a pre-made team, but for those of us that just wanted to play there was a sign-up list for people looking for teams. I ended up joining forces with two nice gentlemen, John and Don, who I was told by the floor were decent players. Most everyone I played with was incredibly friendly and seem to enjoy the fact that they had a new player in their midst. I felt very comfortable because of this, and I appreciated all the guys at my table, Ralph, Frank, Matt, Jim and Mark, showing me the ropes.
One of the unique aspects of playing at the Queen of Hearts is that during tournaments, the dealer will inflate the pot if a Queen of Hearts comes on the board. 3,000 extra chips were added to the pot for the queen of hearts on the flop, 4,000 if it was on the turn, and 5,000 if it came on the river. At first I thought this was pretty exciting, but in retrospect, earlier in the tournament when 3,000-5,000 chips is a meaningful addition to the pot it really skewed the bet sizing that the players had to make to win the hand, which could change on any streets if the Queen of Hearts showed up.
Anyway, back to the team event. The way the event works is each players gets points based on what place they bust out. So if you go out in 60th place, you get 60 points. The team with the fewest points at the end of the tournament wins the team prize pool. Your team is pretty much done if any of your team mates bust out in the first 20 spots. My team mates busted out in 53rd and 54th place (they were at different tables), and I quickly was saddled with 107 points. Once that happens you are pretty much playing for individual prizes.
Now early on I think I made some mistakes not splashing in pots when we were super deep. I was following traditional tournament strategy where you value your tournament chips more at the beginning of the tournament and less as blinds go up. As a consequence, I stayed right about starting stacks for the first 8 levels of the tournament. I think this was an okay strategy in a tournament where survival is the key. Not that that’s not important in every tournament, but more than in other tournaments, there was a sense that you didn’t want to let your team mates down with too much loose play and crazy gambles.
I got switched tables three times, and after the second break the blinds got really big. I was hovering around 10 big blinds for a long time, and the final table I was at didn’t seem to understand why I was shoving all-in with 9-10 big blinds. It was as if I had been transported to some tournament in the past and none of these players new that limping or min raising pre-flop to see a flop with less than 10 big blinds was an easy way to bust. They were teasing me with, “is that the only move you know?” and after limping in and having me shove over them wondering, “this guy, always shoving pre-flop.” I guess standard play is not always standard in some rooms.
Eventually one fellow with about 20 big blinds looked me up after limping in with KTo. I had pocket sevens and he caught a king on the flop. I busted out in 22nd place out of any money, but still had a pretty good time and felt pretty good about my play with the exception of the early levels where I think in retrospect I folded too many hands pre-flop. I would definitely play at the Queen of Hearts if I was in the area again. Friendly staff and friendly players make for a fun time.
