Covering live poker tournaments for a living affords me the opportunity to see countless thousands of hands played out, many of which offer interesting and potentially valuable insights into how players — both amateurs and professionals — play the game. In this ongoing series, I’ll highlight hands I’ve seen at the tournaments I’ve covered and see if we can glean anything useful from them.
The Scene
Last weekend, I traveled to Chicago to play the Heartland Poker Tour Ameristar East Chicago $1,650 Main Event. I failed in spectacular fashion with my first bullet, but I was able to run it up on my second shell and go into Day 2 with a pretty nice stack.