Know when to hold em

Last night I entered in a Texas Hold ’Em tournament here at the college. It was the first time I played in a tournament that wasn’t on a computer.

I was actually nervous. I sat down at a table then a few minutes later the dude that won the tournament last month sat at my table, and he sat to my left. You wouldn’t think that sitting next to a 21 year-old kid and playing cards could make me nervous, but I was.

I really can’t remember my cards for the first 5-6 hands, except that they were bad hands. I was sitting at this extremely small table and it was crowded. I couldn’t get comfortable. Even thought they weren’t looking, I felt like my cards were exposed every time I took a peek at them. I felt rushed in making my decisions as to whether I wanted to fold, check, raise, or call. I felt like I couldn’t look at the table and see what was there and make a decision as to what I wanted to do.

I lasted 45 minutes. I wasn’t the first person out of the tournament (which was my fear) and I wasn’t the first person out at my table (which was my second fear) so hopefully next time I can hang in there a little longer.

I know next time it will be easier, I just have to find a bigger table.