Deep-Run Debo
2008-04-21 10:32:02
By: Gene Bromberg
There's a different dynamic to a bounty tournament. When making your decisions there's another variable to account for--the value of that bounty. Not only are you fighting for the chips in the pot, there's money to be made by collecting that scalp. And sometimes knocking out a "name" player (or a player you've targeted for personal reasons) can be more satisfying than mere money could ever be.
Every Sunday during our $200,000 Guaranteed Tournament there's a bounty on each of our Team UltimateBet pros. Knock one of 'em out and you win your $200+15 buy-in back. And who doesn't want a freeroll when you can score a five-figure payday if you make it deep? Which puts a nice, big target on the backs of each of our Team UB pros.
When the other players are gunning for you like that it takes some of the arrows out of your quiver. It's hard to bluff--chances are you're gonna get called down by hopeful players proud of their third pair. Any time you raise (or, God forbid, re-raise) you have to expect that your opponent is gonna put both hands behind their stack and shove it in. Your room to maneuver is curtailed.
But you can also take advantage of this dynamic as well. When you DO pick up a big hand, chances are you'll get paid off by some silly person who's already mounting your head above their fireplace. Once the other players at the table see you show down some big hands they might be less enthusiastic about butting heads with you. And once you build up a big stack other players can't take you out by winning an all-in.
So as if making it deep in a big online tournament isn't tough enough, imagine adding the weight of a bounty on your head. That's what our Team UB pros endure every Sunday, but last night Gary "debo34" DeBernardi hacked his way through the field and made it to the final table. A nice enough accomplishment in it's own right, but then you have to figure that there were 853 players watching his every move like a hawk, waiting for Debo to put a foot wrong so they could claim that bounty. And most of them waited in vain as he marched to an 8th-place finish, good for a $5,000 payday. Hmm, that's almost exactly what the buy-in is for the Aruba Poker Classic. Where it'll be a bit easier for Debo to blend in, without everyone at his table chasing after that bounty.
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