The key is gaining experience

In late July, I made my first poker trip to the Hawkeye State for the Mid-States Poker Tour Iowa State Poker Championship, a tournament that attracted 451 players.

That turned out to be a state record for largest major tournament (defined as any tournament with a $1,000-plus buy-in), and I was ecstatic to walk away with the title and $104,627 in prize money.

Of course, winning wasn’t easy. In fact, with three players remaining, the win almost slipped through my fingers. It happened in Level 29 with the blinds at 40,000-80,000 plus a 10,000 ante.

I raised to 200,000 from the small blind holding the J♦ J♠, and my opponent, Cory McCarthy, called from the big blind. I had nearly two-thirds of the chips in play, and I led out for 300,000 on a flop of 3♠ 9♦ 7♥. McCarthy called.

The turn came 4♥ , and I bet 600,000. McCarthy moved all in for 2.31 million total. I quickly called with the overpair, and I was an 88.6% favorite against McCarthy’s K♣ 9♠ with one card to come. McCarthy needed either a nine or king on the river to stay alive, and much to my dismay the 9♣ spiked.

“I’m cursed,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I’m cursed.”

Before the Iowa event, I had made three MSPT final tables only to finish third, fifth and seventh. What made it especially painful is that I held the chip lead at some point in all of those events. I didn’t want it to happen again, but it seemed as if fate had a different plan.

Fortunately, there was a break immediately after this hand, giving my friends time to console me. They reminded me that I still had chips left — 1.9 million, to be exact — and that I had by far the most experience of the remaining players. Indeed, I had been at MSPT final tables before. My opponents couldn’t say the same.

With my confidence restored, I returned to the table determined to bounce back. After Randy Perkins busted in third place, I entered heads-up play down by a 5-to-1 margin. I got lucky to double up with 7♥ 6♠ against A♣ 4♦ and then did it again with the A♦ 2♦ against A♥ 6♠s. At that point I was leading by a 5-to-1 margin, and I finally sealed the deal when my pocket nines held against McCarthy’s openended straight draw.

In poker, as in life, experience goes a long way. Had I not been there and done that, there’s a good chance the nine on the river would have ruined me. A lot of players would have tilted and given away their remaining chips. That was my initial instinct, but being familiar with the emotional turmoil that comes with a bad beat helped me swiftly recover.

The great thing about poker is that the more you play, the better you get. Whether it’s dealing with bad beats, playing a final table or battling heads-up while down in chips, there really is no substitute for experience. Sun is an accountant and recreational poker player from Milwaukee. He is 14th on the Mid-States Poker Tour all-time money list with $190,949 in winnings.