by the First Lady
FAQ: What position?
Every week when someone busts out of the game at a table neither Slim or I are sitting at, we'll yell out from our seat, "What position?" Without fail the response will be the busted player's seat card number, "Seat 2," for instance. With an exasperated sigh, Slim or I get up from our table, walk into the room, figure out what position, and then balance the tables accordingly. In this week's article, my goal is to educate you all on what we mean when we ask "What position?"
When checking in for the game, you pay me $20 and in exchange you get to choose a laminated 4th Street Poker Tour seat card. This card tells you which table you'll be playing at and the seat number. The button is always Seat 1 and you count clockwise around the table to find your seat.
During the game, the seat cards really don't serve a purpose for you, the player. Once you are seated, the fact that you are sitting at Seat 1 versus Seat 7 becomes irrelevant. Keep in mind that we have 3 or 4 tables playing simultaneously, but unless we are down to 9 players and playing hand for hand (more on that in a future article), each table is in many respects playing their own game. In other words, just because you started in Seat 2 and you are, at this very moment, the Big Blind at your table does not mean that all other Seat 2 players at the other tables are playing in the Big Blind.
The reason we have seat cards is to help make the game run smoothly for us, the tournament directors. We ask you to keep the cards in front of you on the table so we can easily reassign seats when we've lost enough players to consolidate tables (going from 4 tables to 3, for instance). The new seating assignment is simple and efficient when we can quickly go to your table, grab the open seat cards, and let players redraw for their new seats.
Since we play tournament style Hold 'Em, it's imperative that we continually balance the tables so everyone in the game is playing nearly the same amount of hands during the blind levels. That means we balance tables as players bust out. For instance, if we were to start with 24 players at a 3 table game, that would mean we'd start with 8 players per table. Let's say Richie and Jun are both at Table 3 and bust out of the tournament in 24th and 23rd place, respectively. Now we have 2 tables with 8 players and 1 table with 6. The tables are now unbalanced and we need to substitute a player from either Table 1 or Table 2 to come play at Table 3. It's at this point that you'll hear us yell out, "What position?"
So, instead of looking down to see what seat card Jun had in front of him - what we're really looking for you to tell us is the seat position Jun was in when he busted in relation to the button. Appropriate and helpful answers would therefore be:
- The button
- Small blind
- Big Blind
- Under the gun
- Under the gun +1
- Under the gun +2
- Under the gun +3 (or 2 behind the button)
- The cut off
Let's say Jun was under the gun at Table 3 when he busted. His seat card was #5. Over at Table 2, Shock G is in Seat #5 but he's sitting in the Small Blind. If we were to move players based on seat card numbers, then G would now owe the Big Blind that he just paid at his table a hand ago. Totes unfair!
To keep the game as fair and balanced as possible, we'll instead move II-Pod who was sitting in the same under the gun position over at Table 2 into Jun's old seat. He'll now pay the Big Blind at this table like he was going to do at his old table. Totes fair!
There will be a pop quiz on this concept during this Thursday's game so study up!
6 Degrees of 4SPT - John "Sir Pick" Collins
I'd be remiss if in an article about position I didn't map out the path to 4th Street of everyone's favorite position player, Pick. Check to the Pick when he's in position and he'll always bet, no matter what. He can't help himself.
Turns out we can chart Pick's invitation to 4th Street within 4 degrees of separation from the OG-8.
- First Lady has a friend named Dana who has a lot of friends.
- First Lady and Slim met Dana's friend Vaughn at a party. Vaughn played poker. Vaughn got an invite to an early 4th Street game.
- Vaughn answered a WSM post on craigslist from a girl named Carmel who was looking to befriend LA poker players. Vaughn invited Carmel, aka the Poker Princess, to 4th Street. She won that game. She played once more and came in third. Realizing 4th Street was far too easy for her, the Poker Princess moved on to bigger and better things. You can now see her sitting in the background of several episodes of GSN's High Stakes Poker watching her current poker pro boyfriend, Daniel Alaei.
- Before she hit the big time, Carmel dated/befriended another LA poker degenerate who just happened to be the roommate of Max "The Factor." She told Max about our "easy game" and RSVP'd on his behalf for one of our early Major events. He showed. She didn't.
- Max worked at Gladstone's in Malibu as a valet parking attendant where he became friends with a waiter named John Collins. John liked poker. Max invited him to the game. John showed up with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. A nickname was born and he's been raising in position ever since.
Another interesting fact about balancing tables. When we are breaking down an entire table and moving several players at a time, as opposed to the one player balancing, a player cannot move into that table BETWEEN the small blind and the button. They can be the small blind and they can be the button but they cannot come in between them.
Posted by: Slim | Tuesday, March 06, 2007 at 17:44
And in this situation you assume all responsibilities of your new seat. If you just posted the big blind at the previous table and that table break moves you into the big blind of the new table then you have to post the big blind. Same applies to redraws, which we do for the Final Table only.
Posted by: Slim | Tuesday, March 06, 2007 at 17:47
most of what i got out of that story is that richie and jun busted first and i was still in the game because i am better than both of them. other than that, very well written and i think anybody who fails the pop quiz should be banned forever for their apathy toward the fantastic directors of this Tour and what they have to offer by way of educating the masses.
Posted by: jamie | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 00:24
Carmel actually dated my old roommate, Robert Shaw. He worked at Gladstones and the irony is he met her online like Vaughn. Weird. Weird is one way to describe creepy Carmel. I played poker with her at Max's a couple times. She and my roommate were pathetic together, kissing after every hand they won. She was a freakshow. One time after we battled each other on several tense hands she looked at me in her hypnotic, strung out C Meth stare and said, "I am better poker player than you." That night I told my roommate she was banned from our place and I would kick her out if I ever saw her there. They broke up soon after. Good times.
Ready to Raise if you Check,
Pick
Posted by: Pick | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 01:06
Posish, Posish, Posish. My favorite part was where Richie and Jun busted out early. Unfortunately, DILIH, you were 25th. Sounds like Johnny had a little crush on the mysterious Poker Princess. Can't wait for tomorrow; I've got a special treat for all of you.
Posted by: Most, The | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 08:47
Perhaps I shouldn't call myself the 4th Street Historian, because clearly I don't have all my facts straight. Perhaps I should instead be known as the 4th Street Historical Fiction Writer. Sorry!
Posted by: First Lady | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 08:59
Great article, First Lady! Just to be clear, when you call out for a seat position, do you want us to provide you with the position Jun was in when he busted, or what position that seat will be in the next hand?
Posted by: II-Pod | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 09:23
SO MUCH TOUGHNESS, SO LITTLE TIME...
That is how I feel about the 4SPT in the past week. So many tough people being tough that it's hard to narrow down the list for toughest guy in town. If you look at the pictures for the last major you will definitely be witness(as the first lady was) to the toughness of Pick curling, or Al downing Bushmills...so tough. Or my favorite picture "The Most Sad" not for it's toughness but for it's accurate description.
But easily the toughest thing I witnessed over the week does indeed bring us back to the Bushmills and the man that killed that bottle with extreme prejudice. Some may say that his apology kills all claims to toughness but I say that the copious amounts of whisky and slurred words still put him over the top for the T.D.G.T of the week. Also impressive was the forethought of "I have a bottle of Bushmills and I'm going to destroy it, but still get picked up so that I don't have to drive/vomit simultaneously."
Or something along those lines. Congrats Will Shake, good (and safe) times had by all.
Posted by: Storm | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 09:25
Chad: You should say "Jun was just under the gun"... or you can also say "Jun will be the big blind on this hand".
Posted by: Slim | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 09:39
Ultimately we would like you to say "send us the big blind"
Posted by: Slim | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 09:44
Can the next article please exlpain how/when to put your blind and/or ante's out? Some people still don't know how to do that properly.
Posted by: The Cooler | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 11:27
can the article after that explain why Keith is such an unconscionable ball-buster?
Posted by: Most, The | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 13:52
I am honored Storm, now if only someone could tell me what happened on Saturday. I recall the following, losing to Pick followed by waking up at home and having to go to Shock G.s to pick up my car. Anything in between is blank.
Posted by: will | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 14:21
You put on a hell of a show on Saturday Will. I have never seen someone put a beating on Bushmills the way you did on Saturday.
Posted by: Storm | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 14:53
Nickname change request.
From: Will Shake
To: Bushwills
Just a thought....
Posted by: Pick | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 18:46
finally someone else is on my level with the nicknames.
Posted by: the cooler | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 19:57