O8 tourney at the Bike -- trip report

[Truthiness24]

I played in the $335 limit O8 at the Bike last night. There was a LOT more "name" poker talent than I would have expected for such a low limit event, although most of it was B-list. I saw maybe 20 people out of maybe a 13 table field that I recognized from TV, from WSOP, from Cardplayer, or just by reputation.

(I did sit next to Frankie Odell for awhile, that won Event 44 this year. He seemed to represent the high-end talent -- at least that was what he said. He also predicted his own demise -- he said early and loudly that he never goes deep in low stakes tourneys. Indeed, he was out by level 3, a victim of bad cards.)

I saw a lot of people, people who I thought would know better, know how to play, show really awful cards. I saw tight-weak play, I saw good players act like calling stations, and I saw junky hands from any position. This was happening from the very beginning, well before blind pressure kicked in.

My question is this: were these folks just screwing around, not taking the game seriously because it was only $300, or is there something to be said for playing wide open in a limit O8 tourney?

Note: we started with only 2000 chips but 40 minute levels. It was about in level 4 or 5 when the blinds got painful. Overall, I liked the format for a one night donkament -- few chips to start but long levels.