Portland Meadows: From 6.5 Big Blinds to a Trophy

The tournament at a glance.

Event

Portland Meadows High Noon Deepstack, during the Wild West series

Entry and starting stack

$200, 50,000 chips

Field and prize pool

88 entries, reported $17,600 prize pool

Paid places

10

Advertised first-place prize

$5,100, before the final-table deal

Actual amount I report receiving

$2,900 through a four-way agreement

Official finish described in the episode

First place and the winner's trophy, as chip leader when the deal was agreed

The advertised top prize is not what I say I received. The four-way agreement changes the payout, and $2,900 is a gross tournament payment, not net profit after entry costs, travel or other expenses.

Watch the turning points.

These chapter links refer to the 12:13 version 7 edit map, not a promised future upload. If the public video is replaced with a different cut, the chapter offsets need checking again.

1. 0:00, 6.5 BB and 26 players left. At about 4:15 PM, the big blind will be 10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante, leaving 65,000 chips and a stack of 6.5 big blinds.
2. 4:09, the short-stack rebuild. My account says uncalled open shoves and reshoves take the stack from 65,000 to about 148,000 before the bubble.
3. 6:08, 6-4 offsuit against A-K suited. At 13 players with 10 paid, I shove from the small blind, get called, and survive when a four comes. My read about the opponent is not a measured solver output.
4. 9:00, pocket sevens against A-T. Four-handed at the final table, I shove over the aggressive button's raise. The caller has ace-ten offsuit and my sevens hold.
5. 10:47, the deal and trophy. The players agree to a four-way deal, I report a $2,900 payment, and the largest stack receives the official winner's trophy.
6. 11:40, recap and the next-event teaser. The following Survivor tournament is teased, but no second episode is being claimed as published here.

Hand 1: 6-4 offsuit and the money bubble.

Source: Episode 1 at approximately 6:08. Reviewed November 2, 2026. The exact tournament calendar date is not established by the publicly available account.

Stage

13 players remain with 10 paid, as narrated

Blinds and big blind ante

8,000 / 15,000 / 15,000

My reported stack

About 148,000, or 148,000 / 15,000 = 9.87 big blinds before posting if this was the pre-hand chip count

Position and hole cards

Small blind holding 6-4 offsuit; individual suits not reported

Action

Button folds, I shove, big blind calls with A-K suited

Outcome

A four comes on the board and my hand wins; the full board and street of the four are not established

Thinking reported in the video

I describe trying to pressure an opponent who might call tighter near the money bubble. I characterize the big blind as tight-aggressive and say I believed his calling range was tighter than a generic baseline. This is my post-tournament description of the read, not an independently timestamped thought recorded during the hand. The opponent's actual A-K suited does not establish his complete calling range.

What later analysis can establish

I was called by a strong hand and caught a four. The favorable result does not prove the shove was good, just as losing would not prove it was bad. At a reported 9.87 BB, blind pressure matters, but so do the big blind's effective stack, calling frequencies, payout structure, and risk of elimination. My statement that I would make this shove again is a personal judgment, not a verified solver result or a universal any-two-card recommendation.

Unresolved inputs: exact effective stack, complete board, precise pot and ante contributions, all payouts, independent opponent range evidence and a reproducible solver configuration. Those gaps prevent a credible numerical chip-EV or ICM verdict. The stack-to-blind division is arithmetic, not a profitability estimate.

Follow-up study: How tight must the big blind call before shoving 6-4 offsuit becomes preferable to folding? Use the short-stack tournament guide and hand-review worksheet to test the assumptions rather than extrapolate from one showdown.

Hand 2: pocket sevens four-handed.

Source: Episode 1 at approximately 9:00. Reviewed November 2, 2026. The precise tournament calendar date is not independently documented by this companion.

Stage

Four players at the final table, as narrated

Blinds and big blind ante

15,000 / 30,000 / 30,000

My reported stack

About 585,000, or 585,000 / 30,000 = 19.5 big blinds if measured before posting

Position and hand

Big blind with pocket sevens; no suit details are required or reported

Action

Cutoff folds; button raises to 75,000 total, or 2.5 BB; small blind folds; I shove; button calls with A-T offsuit

Outcome

My sevens hold. I report doubling and taking the chip lead, without a complete board in the account

Alternatives described in the narration

I describe the button as aggressive and consider calling, making a smaller raise or moving all-in. I say I disliked calling out of position because overcards often make later streets difficult for a medium pair. That account was narrated afterward; no contemporaneous written decision record is available.

Review without knowing the winner

The 75,000 open is 2.5 BB, and my stated 585,000 stack is approximately 19.5 BB. A reshove can succeed when the button folds and can retain showdown equity when called. Which action has the greatest tournament value depends on the button's actual opening and calling ranges, other players' stacks, the short small-blind stack and the payout ladder. Holding against A-T offsuit demonstrates the actual outcome, not that my shove was theoretically best.

Unresolved inputs: exact remaining stacks, full payouts and prior chip contributions, board cards, button frequencies and a verified ICM or solver solution. At the last break I later report about 1.4 million chips with a 60,000 big blind, approximately 23.3 BB. A four-way deal follows, with my reported $2,900 payment; the advertised $5,100 first prize was not the amount I report receiving.

Follow-up study: How does a 19.5-BB reshove change if the button opens widely but calls tightly, with another player much shorter? Review this through the tournament short-stack guide and private hand-review worksheet, with assumptions recorded explicitly.

How this episode fits the project.

The story is first-person tournament footage and later narrated analysis. It includes a hand I observed rather than played, a recovery without called preflop all-ins, and two decisive showdowns. This companion makes the sequence easier to follow without turning memory or editing decisions into more certain facts than the source supports.

For the player behind the vlog, see Nolan Kido's independently sourced tournament-player profile. For hand notation and the betting order, start with the Poker viewer guide. For the broader free course, visit Poker Foundations.

Source: Portland Meadows Ep1 v7 on YouTube, with the author's version 7 narration and edit map. Prepared with AI assistance and checked against that source; not a professional tournament adjudication or a solver certification. Send factual corrections through Contact, without sharing other players' private information.