Sometimes the river is a very nice place
It's time to realize that passing the Buck is going to be tougher than expected.
Darren Buck, a 32-year-old Michigander, claimed the Week 7 title by beating 4,000 other players all trying desperately to secure a seat in the final tournament. Buck has played poker for just over a year; he's never played in a brick-and-mortar casino and relies strictly on Internet free-rolls to pass his time and refine his skill. He has won his share of tournaments, though, and he's proud to add another one under his belt.
Relying on a strategy that would puzzle most players, Buck slow-plays the majority of his hands, preferring to quietly build the pots and strike when it's time.
"I tend to catch a lot of big pots this way, except when it comes down to the [final tables]."
Buck seems to do very well with the strategy, but acknowledges he will switch up his game just to keep his opponents on their toes. To confuse his opponents even further, Buck plays his starting hands conservatively, but loosens up later.
Midway through the Sunday qualifier, Buck was caught in a difficult situation. Sitting with only ace high, Buck raised pre-flop and then bet out post-flop and on the turn, only to be called each time. Buck was committed to the pot, and when a third heart came out on the board, he went all in. He was hoping for a fold and luckily got it as the hand history proved he was beaten. [Buck says he'd like to personally thank that player.]
Buck's luck did not stop there - or anytime Sunday. The final table was all about the river being lucky for Buck and disasterous for everyone else. Buck eliminated the last four players thanks to a miracle river card. One of the best hands came with four players left and the blinds at $15,000/$30,000.
The player in the big blind, tdjenlens, was short-stacked and went all-in with the ace and four of hearts. Buck and another player, HootyRat, called the small raise of $14,000 and waited for the flop. The cards came down: ace of spaces, king of hearts, seven of spades. Buck held a king of spades and a nine of hearts giving him a pair of kings. Tdjenlens had a pair of aces but a very weak kicker. The leader at this point was HootyRat, who held an ace and a jack off suit. HootyRat went all in and was called by Buck who said, "I had the chip lead with a pair of kings, why not?"
As the cards were turned up, he quickly found out why not. The turn brought a queen of spades, which gave him a flush draw. No flush was needed. A second king hit the board, which gave Buck trips, and ended the tournament for the other two with an onslaught of "wow" posts in the chat area.
If only it ended there. The final hand might have been even more ridiculous. Buck held a pair of eights, and his opponent, Zenmaster_, had a six and a five off suit. Zenmaster_ went all in leading to an obvious call by Buck with his pocket eights. The flop came ace, six, five rainbow to give Zenmaster_ two pair. Buck's second miracle then occurred: a turn jack, and a river jack. This gave him two pair, jacks and eights over Zenmaster_'s jacks and sixes. The chat area once again exploded with "No way" and "WOW".
The most entertaining part of Buck's win: he didn't know there were prizes up for grabs. He thought the seats were the only prizes given away.
"Not knowing there was a prize really enabled me to play loose."
Think he'll be able to convince himself there's no prize when he's playing in the next tournament, where the winner is rewarded with a seat in the World Series of Poker?
As Phil Hellmuth said, "If there was no luck involved, I'd win every hand." Buck was glad luck was on his side and was "amazed. I couldn't believe it."
While luck might have helped him end the tournament, he couldn't have gotten that far without being one of the best that day. Will someone in the finals end his string of luck? Will that someone be you? Join the Degree All In Poker Challenge and see if you can take him down.
Andrew Feldman is the ESPN.com Poker Club's Tournament Director. To contact Andrew, please email andrew.j.feldman@espn3.com
