I witnessed an interesting occurrence at a tournament I covered last weekend. A four-day tournament that saw more than 200 players stump up $3,000 each came down to a battle between three – all with reasonably similar stack sizes and fighting for a first prize of AU$165,000.
Now, the difference between first and third was considerable – almost AU$106,000 to be exact with second paying around AU$105,000 and third $59,000.
Not surprisingly, given the disparity, the three players agreed to do a deal that ensured each walked away with at least AU$100,000 in order to negate the variance that tournament play – especially in the latter stages when stacks are dipping below 30 big blinds – can bring.
But then something curious happened. With the deal done and the money secure, the three players agreed to shove blind on the very next hand. That is, they all pushed their chips into the middle without even looking at their cards and let fate decide who won the hand.
The result was the slight chip leader won and locked up the title in what was probably a fitting result, but it begs the question – what value do players place on a title these days? I understand players play poker to make money and at the end of the day, if you play your entire career without winning a tournament but with plenty of cash in the bank for your troubles you should be very pleased.
What a difference winning the 2012 WSOP main event has made to Greg Merson’s career
But trophies are also an achievement and it must be satisfying to look back on your career and see some victories on the resumé. I know from winning one very, very small event many years ago the satisfaction a victory can bring so I can only imagine how it would feel to do so in a tournament that matters – and this one did.
At the end of the day, the two “losing” players in question walked away with a healthy payday but I can’t help but wonder if they will look back in a few months’ time and wished they had at least tried to win the trophy.
