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Dave Tompkins

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I just wanted to let those of you curious to know that I finished in 32nd place out of 631 entries at the main event in the 2007 BC Poker Championships. The official results are posted here. I'm happy, but it's hard not to be a little dissappointed considering 32nd place was $4,830 and 1st place was $402,500. I essentially broke even on the week of tournaments because I had entered and busted out of a couple of other events.

The most exciting hand I had was against Gavin Smith. I was not thrilled to be moved to his table (it was around hour 15 of the multi-day tournament). Whereas I was being a bit of a chip-bully-alpha-male on my previous table, Gavin was really controlling the new table. What was really funny about the scenario was that entering into the 3rd day of the tournament, I was in 8th chip position, so that morning I was glancing through the 'Big Chip Stack' chapter in a poker tournament strategy book -- and who wrote that chapter? Gavin Smith. So here I am, competing against the guy whose chapter I was just reading a few hours before. People have been bugging me to document this hand and story, so here I go:

So I'm in the big blind with J-8 offsuit... not a great hand, but not bad for the big blind. Gavin's been pre-flop raising a LOT and sure enough, he raises my blind. Everyone else folded around to me and I decided to call. If I decide to call a hand like this in the big blind, my typical strategy will be to check-fold the flop if I miss, and check-raise the flop if I hit a pair or a strong draw. The flop came out 4-7-8 rainbow: I hit top pair, so I check with the intent of check-raising by about 3x whatever Gavin's continuation bet will be. However, Gavin's continuation bet was a considerable overbet of the pot -- meaning that 3x of his bet was just under half of my remaining chips, making me pot-committed and so I decided to check-raise all-in. I was expecting a fairly quick fold from Gavin, but instead he capped his chips and asked for a count of all of my chips. At this point there was a lot of whispering "Gavin's in a big pot" / "Someone went all in against Gavin" and people started crowding around the table or popping by to see what was going on. People in the observation gallery were crowding around to see what was going on. It was 3-4 minutes that Gavin was staring at me (trying to get a "read" off of me) and thinking about what to do, and in the world of poker that can seem like an eternity. After the first minute I gave up trying to think about the hand and figure out what Gavin had because I had already made my move, and so I might as well just try to relax as best as I can and await my fate. Finally Gavin called my bet: I turned over my Jack-Eight and people were whispering "Gavin caught him" and one guy even said "excellent call, Gavin" until he started shaking his head and turned over his Ten-Eight. Then people went nuts because I had essentially crippled him. Sure enough, he got busted out of the tournament soon after. It was an exciting few moments, and several people came to talk to me about the hand on the next break.

Nothing special... no fanfare, no cake. I just wanted to acknowledge that this is my 500th blog post.

I was recently filling out one of those online personality quizzes, and I was asked:

Imagine that your friends had to choose the best FOUR descriptions for you from the items below. Which four are they most likely to pick?

• Good Listener	• Modest	• Respectful	• Affectionate
• Caring	• Spontaneous	• Physically Fit	• Warm
• Outgoing	• Optimistic	• Dependable	• Romantic
• Creative	• Loyal	• Spiritual	• Kind
• Ambitious	• Articulate	• Rational	• Easy-Going
• Generous	• Happy	• Quiet	• Genuine
• Intelligent	• Hard Working	• Thoughtful	• Sweet
• Passionate	• Energetic	• Funny	• Perceptive

Interesting exercise. Well, I guess I'm asking, friends... which of the above four words would you pick for me? If you send me mine, I'll send you yours ;)

I am currently planning to enter all three events in the BC Poker Championships next week: If you would like to 'invest' in my entry then please email me directly and before Friday, and I'll send you the information. Please note that poker tournaments are risky investments: only 10% of all tournament players make profit. If you are risk-adverse or cannot afford to invest, please do not do so out of some sense of obligation to me.

Wish me good cards :)

Update: With 15 total investors, I've raised the $4900 to enter all three events. Thanks for the confidence everyone!

This is one of those freaky cosmic coincidences I thought I'd mention: There was a power outage here at UBC, and I was plunged into complete darkness. So I grabbed my little portable DVD player and the Ultimate Hitchcock Collection I've been working my way through -- it's a collection of some really old Hitchcock movies. So here is the freaky part -- I grab the next movie for me to watch: Sabotage (1936), load it up -- and how does the movie start? With a power outage: the entire town is plunged into darkness. What an odd coincidence.

Halloween has come and gone and I'm another year older. I managed to bump into the same girl I've seen (and kissed) for the last four years at the same party -- we kissed just to keep the tradition alive, but I lost track of her as the night progressed. I'm sure I'll see her next year.

The outfit this year was a huge hit -- I might even repeat it on Halloween night next year. I was Captain Cockblocker and I spent the night just cockblocking guys. I made up the logo and had some help from my friend Mallora putting the the cape together. The business cards I was handing out were a big hit too.

My best line of the night came when I told a girl I was going to cockblock her ex-boyfriend -- and she replied that he was too good and I couldn't cockblock him. My response?

Does it say Lieutenant Cockblocker on my uniform? No... it doesn't... it says Captain Clockblocker, so get out of my way and watch me work!