Tournament poker can be a brutal game — if a player is ONLY busting before the money 70% of the time, they are among the best MTT players in the world. Most average players are “losing” in MTTs 80%+ of the time.
That makes it sound like MTT poker is a sinkhole of money, and the truth is, it totally can be without good bankroll management. But players who learn the game will see long-term success even when they seem to lose 80% of the time they buy into a tournament.
While I always play with the mindset that i want to win the game, I am realistic coming into a tournament, understanding that I’ll bust before the money most of the time. That makes the runs into the money, and to the final tables, all the sweeter.
A Poker Excursion
For someone whose life revolves around poker as much as mine these days, it might be odd to learn that I live a couple of hundred kilometers away from the closest place to play live poker, at least in a formal casino MTT setting. Fortunately, one of the closest places for me is also Canada’s hotspot for live poker right now, Calgary, Alberta.
Even before the pandemic, Calgary was heating up as a poker spot with multiple big MTT series per year year including four Super Stack events at Deerfoot Inn & Casino, as well as Deepstack events run by Pure Canadian Gaming. Since the reopenings, however, the Calgary scene has raged into a wildfire with at least seven big series per year supplemented by several more a few hours north in the provincial capital of Edmonton.
Among the Calgary series are three editions of The Grande Poker Series from Ace Airport Casino. As a local live reporter, I am generally working during the biggest series in town, and as such, don’t get much of a chance to play. One of the things I love about The Grande is that, while I have worked the series occasionally, I almost always have time to play at least a couple of events in the series.
This time around, I chose the Mini Grande, a multi-day game with two starting flights for $350. There was nearly $50k in the prize pool by the end of entries on Day 1b, and I was alive and building a stack from my first bullet when the reg-desk shut down.
Lucky River Saves the Day
The one bullet was in jeopardy in bad shape before entries closed, but sweet Mother Variance came to the rescue. I was all-in at risk with pocket kings against the only hand I didn’t want to see – the rockets.
Stand-up equity proved real yet again as I was already grabbing my stuff to head to the rebuy desk when the king slammed down on the river to gasps from the table.
The tournament is an amazing structure for a $350 game, and the post-reg action on Day 1b was great. I went on a particularly great three-hand run (thanks Sean!) late in the evening that saw me double twice and bust a player just by hitting the board.
That gave me more than 400k with a 5k big blind, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The river was just as unkind to me in spots as it was kind in the kings hand that saved my life, but I also found good spots to pick up chips. I was all-in and at risk more than once on 1b, and I check-shoved a couple of spots with fold equity where I would have been at risk with a call.
One particular hand against local grinder Bill Thomson was such a spot, though in that specific case, I chose a smaller check-raise instead of the shove to make it look more like value. It was a semi-bluff spot where I technically had 8-high, but was drawing to straight, flush, and straight flush outs.
Putting Thomson on a pair after a C-bet from me and a call on the flop, I switched to a check-raise strategy on the brick turn. It worked, mostly because my image is such that I’m usually ONLY doing that with pure value, and the surprised look on Thomson’s face when I rolled over [8c7c] proved the point.
A Horrific End on Day 2
end of Day 1b
& Bar with a lovely Guinness
Day 2 started pretty well for me. I put 475k into a bag at the end of 1b, then retired to my room across the parking lot at the Clique which partners with Ace for room rates during these Grande series. The Tonic Kitchen and Bar is open late, so I was able to enjoy a nice post-bag Guinness and meal before hitting the very comfortable room and a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 dawned with a delicious breakfast, again at Tonic, before making the couple-hundred-meter walk to the Ace Casino Poker doors. After a cold and rainy Day 1b, Day 2 was sunny and warm.
At least in terms of the temperature outside. My hot poker run went a little cold for Day 2, and my 5th-place stack, which I had to start the day, could only manage a seventh-place finish. I didn’t run nearly as hot for the second day, but I was still able to survive and ladder up onto the final table, finding a few good, money-making folds along the way.
I wish I could say the game ended for me on a bad beat, or in a spot where “the money has to go in” and I’m just behind, but the truth is, I busted on a horrific play that I never should have made. I didn’t spend enough time thinking about the specific spot I was in and made a move I should have known would not work out for me most of the time.
All that said, even with a less-than-stellar finish, I walked out of a poker room with more money than I walked in with. I always want to win, and I especially don’t want to be the engineer of my own destruction, but I can never call it a bad day at the poker tables if I walk out with fatter pockets.
Panas Hot in 2024
It was only a month ago that Tyler Panas was heads-up for the PPT Main Event title up in Edmonton. He ended up settling for second to Ryan Cairns in that one, but he came through for the win here in Mini Grande.
The final four agreed to an even chop with just the trophy on the line, even though the results reflect the original payout numbers. Pamas chopped it up with Kyle Dery, David Faas, and Kim Tae while Lee Clark (who took the final table photos as its usually me doing the photo work) and Thomson finished in 5th and 6th just above me. Kirk Miller and Bogdan Szafanowicz rounded out the final table.
Day 2 Highlight is Off the Table
More accurately, the Day 2 highlight might have come from the dinner table, instead of the poker table, at least for me. Part of the final table included a dinner sponsored by Ace with three options for players — steak, salmon, or vegetarian.
I went for the salmon, and it was truly amazing. Not just amazing for a casino meal, but amazing in general. Ace generally has top-quality food value, but this salmon went above and beyond.
The visual presentation and taste were so good that I dove in and finished before I even thought to get a picture. I’m clearly a poker blogger and not a foodie.
Ace Series Are Grande Experience
It’s worth considering Ace for tournament poker. The Grande Series at Ace isn’t as big as other local series, in large part due to the smaller available space in the cozy poker room, but that can also be an advantage as much as a disadvantage.
Prize pools will be smaller of course, but with fewer people to get through, it is perhaps easier to cash a smaller game. And I still picked up better than 4x for my 7th place finish, so the 10% payout structure works in the favor of players who make it that far.
With its convenient location near the airport and great hotel options in the same complex, the Grande Poker Series can be a nice diversion for poker aficionados traveling to Calgary for business or vacation. While the Mini Grande typically runs mid-week, the higher-priced Mid Grande and Main Event both tend to be weekend events, making them ideal for a business traveler looking for a weekend poker diversion before a flight back home for work again on Monday.
Even for the dedicated poker traveler, Ace is a great spot. The food options are all reasonably priced, with Tonic in the Clique a bit higher-end than the casino prices, but more importantly, they are open late with accessible choices after a tournament day ends.
With the Calgary poker scene increasingly on the radar, Ace Airport Casino is quickly becoming a solid alternate choice for tournament poker in the city. The Main Event for the August series is still playing out, with Day 1a running as I write this, and the next Grande Poker Series plays out in December. While the weather outside may be frightful then, the poker inside is sure to be delightful, as is Calgary’s typical holiday winter wonderland.
