One Chip Wonder
By Crystal Osgood-Gray
We have all heard the quote, the poker cheer when you get down to the felt -- “All you need is a chip and a chair.” “You can do it, really you can!”
Yes, it is very nice; meant to inspire hope in those of us down to our last moments of tournament life. But who among us has actually witnessed someone down to one chip actually come back to make it to the final table and actually win a tournament. Well the following true story is for those of you who doubt.
It was the early middle limits of a ladies only tournament at Commerce Casino. I had been playing in the #2 seat for about four hours with four of the original ladies I had sat down with. The woman in the one seat had been playing next to me since the beginning. She was a good player. But she had taken a couple of bad beats here and there, compromising her ability to build her stack for the critical middle limits of a tournament. She was growing frustrated, starting to make impulsive simple mistakes.
She was in first position when she raised three times the BB. A woman in the #5 seat re-raised her to six times the BB when the #1 seat called quickly “all-in”, pushed her chips, and flipped A-10 OS. Her opponent in the #5 seat called instantly and flipped over A-K. The board was dealt and the A-K was pushed the pot. Here is where it gets interesting… The women in the #1 seat looked down and declared “hey, I have one chip left,” picking up the chip that had been capping her cards and showed it to the table. The entire table, absent me, laughed. No one corrected her, called floor, or asked the dealer to correct the situation. Everyone just laughed.
You might wonder how this could happen. I thought about calling for a floor. She did say “all in.” I heard her but I hadn’t been in the hand. I thought the woman who was in the hand would protest, but no -- just silence, laughter, and cards were then dealt for the next hand, including seat #1. Upon looking at her cards seat #1 declares “all-in” again. Everyone, including me assumed that it wouldn’t matter much. But, when called by three players, the side pot of four chips were pushed to her. After about 45 minutes of her going all in several times, suddenly she had recovered her stack and was back in the game.
At the break, talk began to circulate around the room. Several women came up to here with those familiar encouraging words “a chip and a chair… that’s all you need honey!” A couple of other ladies chimed in, “You show ‘em.” “We’re going to call you the one chip wonder.” It was amazing. I saw this woman completely transform herself, going from frustrated to empowered. And now a threat on my table.
Soon after our table broke I went on to accumulate chips and made the final table. Who would you imagine was sitting across from me but “the One Chip Wonder” herself. I smiled at her and we acknowledged her accomplishment. She was tied with me for about 3rd in chips. We remained even as the table melted to five tables. We took a break and I came back to find two red Queens in my first hand. I was two in front of the BB raising it just twice. Everyone folded to One Chip Wonder. She called and we went heads up to the flop. 7 4 2 rainbow -- I moved all in and One Chip called, flipping over A-10. When I showed my Q’s I could tell by the expression on her face she thought I had been bluffing. An Ace fell on the turn and I was out in 5th place. Ouch! One Chip proudly took 2nd place that day.
Although there are many lessons to be taken away here, the point of the story is that it can be done. When you find yourself low on chips don’t give up. You too can be a One Chip Wonder!
Men and Women Welcome
