Score one for the Mystery Backer

My homegame's a pretty cool affair. The cashgame on Thursday, and the rebuy tourney on Sunday are generally well-attended. We talk a lot of poker. Neagreanu flopping the nuts during High Stakes Poker and getting beat, or Molina being a little bitch during the WSOP..

Recently, I had a regular at the game marvel at the fact that I've never played for real money at Party Poker. I'm not one to ask too many questions, but I'd imagine he's flush with cash. Why? He offered to stake me on Party. His proposal: I receive $99 on Party, and play three $30+3 single table sng's. At the end of those three sng's, I'd return the $99 to the Mystery Backer, and keep 50% of any profit (if it existed). If I went busto, it was on the MB. If I turned that $99 into something less, I'd return what I could. I actually argued for five $20+2's, but he was adamant about the $30 level.

My Mystery Backer wants to remain anonymous. There are plenty of players in my game with more skills and ego than bankroll, and MB doesn't want to have to field questions. I'm fine with that, and more than a little flattered that he'd pick me.

Why me? Well, MB thinks my tight, fundamentally sound style is a good fit for the insanity that is Party sng's. I cut my teeth on $5 sng's, and I have a decent understanding of short-stack play. I'm patient, and bad players and tough beats don't tilt me. I have a pretty good grasp of short-handed and bubble play. I'm perfectly happy limping a short-stack into the money, rather than busting on the bubble in a big confrontation.

It's fairly obvious why I would accept this deal. I have no money on Party, nor a Neteller/Firepay account. I don't have any spare cash to put into another online site. I have plenty of options - UB, Full Tilt, Titan, and I can't forget my nine bucks on bodog. For every site out there, I play all the money I have there like it's the last I'll ever have. Nine on bodog, one hundred on Stars, or eight hundred on Full Tilt? If it's gone, I'm done with the site. (As an aside, this is the main reason I don't play more blogger events on Stars. For the longest time, I lacked any sort of bankroll there.)

Tonight was the transfer. My Backer wanted to watch me play a tourney, so I obliged. I sat in a $30+3 standard sng, and played. I was absolutely shocked that the fiirst hand I played, I won, especially because I was semi-bluffing on the flop and turn. UTG with AQ-clubs, I make a modest 2.5x the BB raise. Four callers, yay, and I flop a multi-draw. Broadway and the nut flush draw. I fire a bet, and three drop. The turn is a red baby, and I fire again. The last guy folds, and the pot is mine. Thank you for not making me show down a hand.

I picked up several more chips when I checked top pair to the button on the flop, turn and river. With 32s, the button couldn't help but bluff at it multiple times. When checking induces bluffs, it's a beautiful thing.

Play is insanely fast in these sng's. Before I knew it, we were down to 4, and I was third in chips. I had plenty, so I was looking to buckle down, and money. With my backer watching, I was not about to donk out of this thing on the bubble. The other players obliged, with the big stack knocking out the smallest one. In the money, oh yeah...

The big stack then busted the 3rd place finisher, QJs vs AQo. Your jack is good, luckbox.

14K to 6K heads-up with the BB at 400? No problem. Feel free to double me up on a gutshot semibluff when I have top pair. You let me have the chiplead for one hand, and refused to let your K7o go in the face of my all-in reraise. I had A8o, and it ended up winning the whole tourney. Done and done.

First pays $150 in these things. In one shot, my Mystery Backer recouped all of his investment. Even if I donk out of sng's #2 and #3, I've still made my sugar daddy some cash.

At the end of this, I'm guaranteed to have at least a pittance of my own money on Party. And that's pretty cool. The journey is nice too.