The WRGPT

by Jim Woods

This is the first time I've played in the World Recreational Gambling Poker Tournament (WRGPT). According to Wikipedia, it is probably the largest e-mail poker tournament in the world and the current tourney is the 17th in the event's history. It costs nothing to enter and by the same token, there are no prizes, but it's a fun and very different way to play. All of the action, including checks, bets, raises, all-ins, the flop, turn, and river, and even table talk, is communicated via the Internet. As you can imagine, sometimes the pace is very slow, especially in the beginning (1,133 players registered for this tournament), but the organizers do a good job prompting players when it is their turn to act (and sitting out those who fail to comply, who become labeled "AWOL"). On the other hand, the leisurely pace can be an advantage, because one has time to get assistance from friends, or an odds calculator, before making a move. A player can even go "on vacation," just like taking a meal or bathroom break in a live tournament.

I'm definitely going to register again next September or October, and you can too, at www.wrgpt.org. Many players use pseudonyms, but not me, so if you decide to join the fun, I won't be hard to find.

When the following hand begins, I am tenth out of the remaining 52 players. I'd really like to make the final table...not for the endorsements or the cover shot on "Card Player" magazine, but just to be able to say I did it. Therefore, I'm not ready to "do or die" with my pocket snowmen. It's always a challenge to play a pocket pair when the board contains nothing but overcards. Here is the situation:

• Pot right ($261000), flopping/dealing/drawing cards
• 4 players
• Flopped cards: 9 J J (And they say GOLF is a game of inches! Why couldn't it have been J J 8?)
• Larry is first to act
• Pot size: $261000

1. Napoleon will certainly bet with ANYTHING if we all check to him, especially with AA, KK, or QQ. He's currently fourth in the tournament and only Larry has him covered. In fact, if he doesn't bet, or only bets small, I'll give you 10-to-1 odds that he has a jack, two jacks, or two nines. So my chances of a check-around are slim to none, and if I get one AND draw an 8 on the turn, it might just be enough of a catch to get me knocked out of the tournament.

2. Larry is currently second in chips and in the short time he's been at my table, I rate him as a solid player. More importantly, he has me covered by a comfortable margin, so trying to bluff him out could be suicide.

3. I may have the best hand at this point. I'm pretty sure I was ahead preflop, but neither Larry nor Curly has shown any tendency to defend his blinds at all costs. I don't put them on rags.
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* All names, other than mine, have been changed to protect the loose and tight alike.

4. The odds are that no one has trip jacks, but will someone with a 9 fold if I bet? I doubt any opponent with a 9 has a kicker smaller than an 8, so anyone holding a 9 probably has a straight draw, if only a back-door one.

5. If I bet, what are the odds that no one else has a jack AND I won't get raised? Napoleon would probably raise me with QT, KQ, or even just an ace, and I'll only get him to fold if I go all in or the turn is an absolute blank. All four of us are probably thinking the same thing: Anyone holding a jack will slowplay, so anyone who bets is full of …well, crap. On the other hand....

6. What would someone with trip jacks do against three opponents? Maybe bet small, figuring that the losers will find the pot odds irresistible. My advantages are that I've established a solid, conservative table image and I was the first to enter the pot voluntarily. How about a $50,000 bet? Can anyone who doesn't hold a jack raise me?

7. One thing I can't do is flat call if one of the blinds bets ahead of me. I'll have to raise or fold, because a call would shout "weakness!" to Napoleon, who will be sure to raise or go all in.

8. I have no real straight draw--a ten on the turn could be disaster for me. The ignorant end of a straight is nowhere to be!

Larry and Moe check, so I bet $50,000 (less than 20% of the pot) representing a bad J, a 9, or pocket tens. They certainly aren't putting me on AA, KK, or QQ, and only a lunatic would bet flopped quads. Napoleon quickly folds, confirming my suspicion that his two-big-blinds preflop raise was only a position move. Thank the poker gods that he didn't hit the flop with his garbage hand!

Everyone else folds except Larry, who just calls. That's disconcerting. I'm fairly sure he doesn't have a pocket pair below nines and a hand like 87 or a backdoor flush draw seems out of the question. I hope he has overcards like QT or T8, but he probably would have merely called with a J or a 9, too.

The turn is the 5, which renews my hope that I still have the best hand. As my friend Todd Winkler says, "people who bet the turn usually have the goods," and he didn't, so maybe he doesn't! Ditto for people who check-raise on the turn, so I decide to find out where I am. Besides, if I check, that will be a fairly clear signal that I have neither a J nor a 9. I bet $100,000, deciding in advance to fold if Larry raises. But again he just calls. "Self," I say to myself, "you're either ahead or being slowplayed."

The river is the scary A. No flush or straight is possible, but LOTS of people "chase the ace", especially in a freeroll. As I read the E-mail, I decide to call any bet up to $100,000, since the pot is $561,000 and he may try to bluff. However, Larry quickly checks to me for the third time. Should I bet for the third time? As Rain Man would say, "Definitely not." If he was on a draw and missed, he won't call. If he has J's and 9's or better, he'll call or raise. I check and am pleased to see that he had check-called all the way with an open-ender that added a flush draw on the turn - Q T. Yikes! I had dodged all 18 of his outs! (He probably thought he had 20, but if an 8 fell, he may have put me all-in and been severely crippled by my boat.)

My instincts had been correct. I was ahead the entire hand and had been right to bet and now I was in second place in the tournament. Of course, I was lucky that Larry hadn't bet the flop, check-raised the turn, or made another move that would have forced me to make a tough decision. But luck is part of the game, and you can't win without it!

This article was published at an earlier date on PokerPages.com and is being rerun due to popular demand.

About the Author:
Jim Woods is a middle-aged attorney (but please don't hold that against him) that loves fishing and poker. He has an undergraduate degree... that comes in handy in poker, less so in poker. His one favorite poker fantasy? Using Cling Eastwood's famous line on Phil Hellmuth while having him dominated in a hand: "I know what you're thinking... But what you gotta as yourself is: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well... do ya, punk?