Were there any windows he’d have shown him a few of those. But it wasn’t easy. Hayes had just wanted to swipe the blinds. Such is the nature of tournament poker’s escalation.
Hayes had moved 5,500 chips to the other side of the betting line, while having the benefit of the button in front of him. The small blind had called, sweetening the pot, and Jamie Byrne had moved all-in from the big blind, for around 75,000. A thirty some odd big blind three-bet shove can put a lot of pressure on a button raiser. There were enough chips to it that the dealer had to fan them out, counting and organizing.
When that was all done, Hayes still wasn’t sure. But he made a call in the end, with Ac 5c.
“Great call,” his opponent declared, a good show of sportsmanship. Bryne did not table two napkins though. He had Kh Jh.
The flop was 4s 6c 9s, “pair the board,” the ask from Hayes.
3d turn and again Hayes asked for the board to pair.
It did, and the 6d meant Bryne had to find an exit … or another tournament, or a cash game, or the bar. There is even a golf course. There are a lot of options to manage the passage of time here at CityWest.
