It's been a couple weeks since we' ve returned from our trip, but I'll try and recap the highlights (in no particular order...cause I don't remember the order).
Great Food and Show
On Sunday we had booked a dinner/show reservation at Caesar's. We ate at Bradley Ogden (who pioneered the Farm Fresh movement) and then on to the Rod Stewart concert at the Coliseum.
We started with a cocktail at the Shadow Bar, and then over to Bradley Ogden for the Prix Fixe menu. It was simply fabulous!!
We both started with the the Twice Baked Maytag Blue Cheese Souffle. It was magnificent!!! Absolutely fantastic. For the entree I went with the Duroc Pork Chop with Potato Rosti, Braised Red Cabbage and Granny Smith Apple. It was just awesome...the pork melted in your mouth. Merlotgirl chose the Roasted Petaluma Free Range Chicken accompanied with Black Lentil Stew, Lacianto Kale and Chicken Jus. It was the largest chicken breast I have ever seen, and incredibly moist and tasty! To top it all off I opted for the Banana Fosters Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream, Macerated Bananas and Chocolate Clusters. It is profiled on one of the Food Channels "The Best Things I Ever Ate" episodes, and it was incredible!!! Merlotgirl went for the Housemade Ice Cream Selection, which was a sampler of 4 different ice creams and was amazing!!!! We each loved the amuse bouche they served at the start of the meal (which I forget what it was), and then the post desert treat they gave us (which also escapes me). Our night is off to a great start!!!
On to the concert. Neither of us are really Rod Stewart fans, but I've got to say I'm glad we went to see him. The Coliseum is a great venue. This was the last show for Rod at Caesar's and he was in great voice. The band he had backing him up was just outstanding. The backup singers were incredible, the horn section and violinist were fabulous and Rod himself put on a fantastic show. He was very unassuming, gracious and humble which I always find extremely gratifying as a paying customer. He kicked dozens of autographed soccer balls into the crowd, allowed many fans up on stage with him and just really put on a very entertaining show! Two thumbs up to Rod Stewart and his incredible entourage!!!!
Great Food II
One of the nights we decided to dine at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We're big Food Channel fans and love most of what Bobby Flay does, and figured it was about time we ate at his restaurant. I started off with a blue cheese and pear salad which was great, but the star of the appetizers was Merlotgirl's Goat Cheese Queso Fundido with Rajas and Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. It was magnificent!!!!! Merlotgirl went back another night to just have this as she sat at the bar talking to a "working girl".
We both had the same entree. We chose the Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon with Mushrooms and Ancho Chile Sauce. We were truly surprised when our plates arrived. We figured this would be a petite filet, but no this filet was huge. It had to be a 10 oz filet mignon, and it was incredibly tender. The Coffee rub with the Ancho Chile Paste provided incredible taste with just a little heat. It was excellent! We topped the meal off by sharing the Pineapple Buttermilk Upside Down Cake with Caramelized Rum Sauce and Pineapple-Vanilla Ice Cream! The entire meal was just awesome! Two thumbs up to Bobby Flay and Mesa Grill!!!!
Great Food III
One night while Merlotgirl was cashing in a tournament over at The Venetian (details to follow) I grabbed a quick dinner at the lounge at Bradley Ogden's place. When we had dinner there before the Rod Stewart show the waitress told us the House Ground Steak Burger is great, so I decided to give it a shot. It really was one of the best burgers I've ever had. Adam Richman, host of Man vs. Food called it the best burger he had in all of 2010. I can see why. It was fantastic!!!!
Spa Days
Merlotgirl had arranged for two spa days with her friend and master masseuse Gina at the Qua Baths and Spa. She went Sunday (before the dinner and Rod Stewart show) for her first appointment, and then went back for a second shot later in the week. Y'all will have to ask Merlotgirl for the details, as all of this oil dripping on forehead and other tricky spa talk eludes me. I just know that she really enjoyed it!
We also managed to have a couple cocktails with Gina at the Munch Bar one evening! She's great and I think we'll be nominating her as the Official Masseuse of the One Outers. I doubt there will be any naysayers. I know Buck just returned from Vegas and he got another Gina Signature Orang-o-Tang Death Grip with Ass Cheek Rotation massage, so he is on board with this nomination.
Pokering
As I mentioned in an earlier post this was not a very successful trip for me on the pokering front. There are a few stories worth telling though. The day before Thanksgiving I played in the daily noon tournament at Bellagio (Merlot was having a spa day), and Thanksgiving Merlot and I both played in it. It's a great tournament, and I played well...I'm just running bad, and pretty much card dead. I went pretty deep but not deep enough to cash on Wednesday. I did play for a long time with some very good players.
On Thanksgiving Merlot and I both played the Bellagio Noon Tournament. We were at neighboring tables, and at the first break we compared notes. I mentioned to Merlot that the young blonde Irish kid who had just bought in late and was seated at her table was a very good and creative player. I had played with him for several hours the day before and considered him the best player in the tournament. She filed that away for later use. Luckily before break Merlotgirl had won some big pots and basically had tripled up and was likely the chip leader with 30,000 in chips (give or take a few).
We get back from break and she got tangled in a hand with the blonde Irish kid. The kid was the SB, Merlot was the BB and it was the two of them and another player in a hand that was min raised preflop. The flop came Q 6 3 rainbow. The kid bet out, Merlot having 6 3 and flopping two pair raised, the preflop raiser folded. The kid then three bet it all in, and Merlotgirl called. Before the cards were turned over the kid asked if she had Q3 or 63. She turned over the 63 and was looking to lose a third of her chips to the kid who had Q3. She tells the table, "My husband just told me to be careful getting in a hand with you." As the turn card comes a blank, she says "looks like I'm dead to a 6"...as the River card hits the table it's a 6! Yahtzee!!!! She apologizes to the kid, who takes it in stride and handles the beat like a true professional (which I find out he is, from his father who is sitting to my right). So Merlotgirl is now the chip leader.
After another hour or so an Asian woman buys in (you can buy into the Bellagio Tournament through the first 8 levels ...which is 4 hours) and sits at my table. She reminds me of JJ Liu. Very well dressed and coiffed. Impeccable blue nails, and a spectacular sapphire ring to match. We get into a hand where she knocks me out of the tournament when my pocket 9's fall to her rivered flush when we got all the ships in on the turn. As I leave and head over to Caesar's to play in their evening tournament I text Merlotgirl "Watch out for the JJ Liu starter kit...she's a good player".
As luck would have it she gets moved to Merlotgirls table and while they are sitting there the following conversation takes place across tables. Asian Woman "Hey Slim, how are you doing?" Greeting poker legend and Hall of Famer Amarillo Slim who is at a neighboring table. Slim: "Doing fine JJ. How are you?" Hmmm...not so much a JJ Liu starter kit...JJ Liu herself!!!
So Merlot and JJ get locked up in a hand. Merlot is in the BB with the Hammer 7 2. JJ min raises UTG. the two of them see a flop. The flop come 10 10 7. Merlot checks. JJ makes a continuation bet. Merlot figures her for either a big pocket pair or two overs. Merlot check raises JJ. JJ calls. A blank falls on the turn. Merlot acting first bets out at it with a half pot size bet (representing the 10). JJ calls. River brings another blank, and Merlot does not want to show this hand down. She grabs a stack of 1,000 chips and moves out a 15,000 bet. JJ thinks about it, and then folds. She's convinced Merlot has a 10.
Someone makes a comment about how lucky Merlotgirl is this day. JJ comments that yeah, especially hitting those 10's on the hand against her. Merlot smiles and agrees. At break time she can't hold it in any longer and on the way to the Restroom tells the player next to her that she didn't hit a 10 on that hand. Way to go Merlogirl!!! Outplaying JJ Liu !!!!
Merlotgirl went on to cash that day finishing 6th.
Friday after Thanksgiving we head over to The Venetian to play in their noon tournament. We both play very well, and both cash in this tournament. There were 160 players or so and I busted out 16th, when my 88 ran into 10 10, while Merlotgirl and I were at the same table.
I sweat her the rest of the way, and it was fun watching her on a heater. There were a couple notable hands I saw, and another one she told me about because I missed it when I went to get us something to eat. The first two hands happened while I was still in the tournament. Merlotgirl had a lot of chips she was probably fourth in chips when we got down to 2 tables, and she got into this hand with the guy who was third in chips. She has 9 10 of diamonds in her BB. Gentleman in middle position made a standard raise, and Merlot called to see a flop. Flop comes out 7h 8h 9s. Merlot checks. He continuation bets. Merlot calls. Turn brings a 6h. Merlot hits her str8 and pushes all in for a significant number of chips. She puts him on a big pocket pair, and hopes he doesn't have KK or AA with a heart redraw. He goes in the tank for 5 minutes or so. Eventually he makes the call with KK and no heart redraw. He's drawing dead to a 10 for a chop, can can't win. Blank on the river. Merlot is now second in chips as he's left with just a couple thousand.
About a half hour later she gets in this battle with a shorter stack. SS is small Blind and Merlot is BB. It folds to the SB who completes. They see a flop. Flop comes up 6 7 8 rainbow. SB checks. Merlot bets. SB check raises. Merlot reraises. SB goes all in and Merlot snap calls. SB turns over 4 5 for a flopped str8. Merlot turns over 9 10 for the flopped nuts. Blank. Blank. And we lose a player.
The hand I missed was another big one. Merlot has A8, and checks a flop of AA4. The other player also checks. 8 on the turn. Merlot bets. Other player raises. Merlot reraises. Other player shoves all in. Merlot calls with her Aces full of 8's. The other player turns over A4 for a flopped Aces full of 4's. Ship it!!!! This is what's known as running good!!!
After 9 hours or so of playing Merlot busted out 4th for a nice little payday.
We then ran off to meet up with Stacey and Kurt who had just arrived in town on their way home from Kurt's folks house. We met them at Mandalay Bay and goofed off for a while. The best part was where we all sat at a Roulette Table and were winning a little..losing a little...and then it got exciting. A gentleman joins us at the table and buys in for $300. He gets $100 in color and a couple stacks off $5 chips. He then starts placing them in bunches on numbers. At least $20 on each number he plays. And we spin. He hits nothing. And buys in for another $300. Same thing. Only this time he hits one of his $20 bets, so it pays him $750. Sweet. This ups the antes for him now. It's at least $25 on most of his numbers. $50 on some. He wins another $800 or so. And up we go. The next spin he puts $100 on one of his numbers and we each put a $1 or $2 on it...and it hits. Cha ching for him...$3,500. At which point we're all whopping and hollering, and I dub him "Mr. Roulette". He gets the $500 in black chips and pockets the pretty yellow thousand dollar chips. Next spin he hits one for $150, that we all had a chip or two on...so that pays $5,250...woooohoooo go Mr. Roulette!!!!! He pockets some more of the thousands...plays a few more spins...and then leaves. We left shortly thereafter and headed to Hooters for some Blackjack and 3 card poker. It was very nice to hang with Stacey and Kurt for a few hours. Can't wait to go as a group again!!!!
Diamond Status
While we didn't necessarily have a profitable trip this time, Merlotgirl managed to parlay her slot play into rising from Platinum Status (which she achieved in Tunica) to Gold Status!!! What does this mean you may ask. Well we're not exactly sure. Since Merlot was Platinum Status we managed to get 5 nights lodging at Caesar's comped on this adventure, and only had to pay for 2. So how much better could Diamond be? Well...the night before we're leaving Merlot decides to visit the Casino Host area (she will have her own personal Casino Host assigned to her form now on). So she walks into the room, and is greeted by Big Al. Big Al is a character straight out of the Soprano's. Dapper older man. Slicked back hair. AC Monogrammed cufflinks. Fine tailored suit. Monogrammed shirt. And he is very helpful to Merlotgirl. He looks up her info on the computer and finds that she has $187 in credits she can apply to our room bill (which we charge everything to...spa days..Meals...Room Service...everything). He then says he needs to make a call. So he calls the poobah of Casino Hosts and asks if Ms. Coyle, as a new Diamond Member could have $400 taken off her room bill... Sure she can. Sweet!!!! So that was worth it right off the bat. We still have no idea about everything she's entitled to. But we know we get to check in at the VIP Area, which at Caesars is away from the lobby, has it's own check in process and we can hang out in the Diamond Lounge and drink and eat when we want to. Nice!!! Can't wait till WSOP Trip. We also get offers every other day for junkets to various Harrah's properties that we never got before. So who know what's in store for us over the next year. We'll see what Diamond Status holds in store for us.
Coming soon...Top Chef Dinner!!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Annual Thanksgiving Pilgrimage
Well we've safely returned from our Third Annual Thanksgiving Vegas Pilgrimage. While I would love to say we had a great time and won loads of money, only half of that is true. We had a great time!!!
We left DFW the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and returned the Saturday after. We arrived at Caesar's about 12:30 and immediately went to our room. My back had been bothering me, and we missed the noon tournament so I took a nap. Headed down to the poker room prior to the 7:00 pm tournament to play some cash. Bought in for $200, cashed out for $350. So I was freerolling the 7pm tournament.
What happened in this tournament, and the cash game that followed, was really a microcosm of my poker play for the week.
I'm in the 1 seat. Small blind for the first hand of the tournament. Young man in the 2 seat (big blind) doesn't understand he has to put out 2 green chips (50) for his big blind. Finally the dealer convinces him he has to do it. I look down at Ad Qd. British guy in seat 8 raises to 200 preflop. I call. And the still confounded BB calls.
Flop comes As 7s 4d. I check. BB bets 450. Seat 8 makes it 2,000. I call. Clueless Big blind goes all in. Seat 8 calls. I shake my head and concede that I must be beat. So I fold. Big Blind turns over 2 spades for a flush draw. Seat 8 turns over Ac Qh for top pair with a Q kicker (same hand I had). No spade on the turn or river. Big blind is out. Seat 8 is more than doubled up. Great.
2nd hand. My button. I look down at AhAd. Seat 8 raises to 200. Seat 10 calls. I raise it to 750. Seat 8 thinks about it for a bit, and folds his hand with the Ace of Spades face up...which gets me and the dealer telling him there is action pending with seat 10. He apologizes and seat 10 calls. Flop comes 9c 4d 7d. Seat 10 bets out at it for 600. I raise to 2000. Seat 10 pushes all in. WTF???? I call. Guy turns over Jd 9d for top pair, with a flush draw. I was flabbergasted. Blank on the turn. Diamond on the river for the flush. I'm gone. As I looked at him astonished, he says "i had top pair on the flop", as if me having an overpair, after 3 betting it preflop, was an impossibility. Oh well. I want to be playing with these players don't I?
Well Caesar's tournaments are "Re-entry" tournaments for the first hour. So I re-enter. Get seated at the same table in the 5 seat. And watch seat 8 play the same way for the next hour before he busts out when he misses 3 draws in a row. I got none of his chips (or my chips back from him). I bust out before we hit the bubble and go play cash.
I sit down at a $1 / $3 table and buy in for $200. After the first hour I had hit a flopped open end str8 draw on the river and have doubled up to $400. Another hour of play and I'm up to $540. Then this hand occurs. I'm in the 7 seat (UTG +1) and limp in for $3 with 6d7d. Guy in 10 seat (who had been raising with crap all night long) makes it $15, drunk lady in the small blind calls. Flop comes 7c 7s 5c. Yahtzee!!! Before I can begin to thuink of my options the drunk lady pushes all in for $129. Wow!!! I consider pushing all in, but decide I have a better chance getting seat 10 in the hand if I just call her $129. Maybe he'll think I'm on a flush draw. So I call the $129. He asks me how much I have behind. I move my hands so he can clearly see that I have about $400 behind. He says "I'm all in". At which point my chips beat him into the pot. Drunk lady turns over KK. Seat 10 turns over QQ. Neither of them had a club so I wasn't going to get 4 flushed. I just need to fade 4 outs. When Seat 5 says..."I folded a Queen". Cool. I need to fade 2 outs for the main pot, and only 1 out for the larger side pot. Turn is a blank. Case Queen on the river. WTF??? $1,100 plus pot goes to the knucklehead who couldn't lay down Queens. That does it for me. I head up to bed.
To Be Continued....
We left DFW the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and returned the Saturday after. We arrived at Caesar's about 12:30 and immediately went to our room. My back had been bothering me, and we missed the noon tournament so I took a nap. Headed down to the poker room prior to the 7:00 pm tournament to play some cash. Bought in for $200, cashed out for $350. So I was freerolling the 7pm tournament.
What happened in this tournament, and the cash game that followed, was really a microcosm of my poker play for the week.
I'm in the 1 seat. Small blind for the first hand of the tournament. Young man in the 2 seat (big blind) doesn't understand he has to put out 2 green chips (50) for his big blind. Finally the dealer convinces him he has to do it. I look down at Ad Qd. British guy in seat 8 raises to 200 preflop. I call. And the still confounded BB calls.
Flop comes As 7s 4d. I check. BB bets 450. Seat 8 makes it 2,000. I call. Clueless Big blind goes all in. Seat 8 calls. I shake my head and concede that I must be beat. So I fold. Big Blind turns over 2 spades for a flush draw. Seat 8 turns over Ac Qh for top pair with a Q kicker (same hand I had). No spade on the turn or river. Big blind is out. Seat 8 is more than doubled up. Great.
2nd hand. My button. I look down at AhAd. Seat 8 raises to 200. Seat 10 calls. I raise it to 750. Seat 8 thinks about it for a bit, and folds his hand with the Ace of Spades face up...which gets me and the dealer telling him there is action pending with seat 10. He apologizes and seat 10 calls. Flop comes 9c 4d 7d. Seat 10 bets out at it for 600. I raise to 2000. Seat 10 pushes all in. WTF???? I call. Guy turns over Jd 9d for top pair, with a flush draw. I was flabbergasted. Blank on the turn. Diamond on the river for the flush. I'm gone. As I looked at him astonished, he says "i had top pair on the flop", as if me having an overpair, after 3 betting it preflop, was an impossibility. Oh well. I want to be playing with these players don't I?
Well Caesar's tournaments are "Re-entry" tournaments for the first hour. So I re-enter. Get seated at the same table in the 5 seat. And watch seat 8 play the same way for the next hour before he busts out when he misses 3 draws in a row. I got none of his chips (or my chips back from him). I bust out before we hit the bubble and go play cash.
I sit down at a $1 / $3 table and buy in for $200. After the first hour I had hit a flopped open end str8 draw on the river and have doubled up to $400. Another hour of play and I'm up to $540. Then this hand occurs. I'm in the 7 seat (UTG +1) and limp in for $3 with 6d7d. Guy in 10 seat (who had been raising with crap all night long) makes it $15, drunk lady in the small blind calls. Flop comes 7c 7s 5c. Yahtzee!!! Before I can begin to thuink of my options the drunk lady pushes all in for $129. Wow!!! I consider pushing all in, but decide I have a better chance getting seat 10 in the hand if I just call her $129. Maybe he'll think I'm on a flush draw. So I call the $129. He asks me how much I have behind. I move my hands so he can clearly see that I have about $400 behind. He says "I'm all in". At which point my chips beat him into the pot. Drunk lady turns over KK. Seat 10 turns over QQ. Neither of them had a club so I wasn't going to get 4 flushed. I just need to fade 4 outs. When Seat 5 says..."I folded a Queen". Cool. I need to fade 2 outs for the main pot, and only 1 out for the larger side pot. Turn is a blank. Case Queen on the river. WTF??? $1,100 plus pot goes to the knucklehead who couldn't lay down Queens. That does it for me. I head up to bed.
To Be Continued....
Friday, November 19, 2010
Pre Thanksgiving Thoughts
A week before Thanksgiving, and I'm wrapping things up at work before leaving for a week's vacation, and the fact that I have sooooo many things to be thankful for hits me.
The thoughts of the happiest doorman I've ever seen come flooding back to me. Every morning as we walked by him on our way to work last December in Cleveland, in the freezing cold and wind sweeping in off the lake. He was smiling, singing and happily going about the business of opening the hotel door, or the door to a cab. As we walked by he would never fail to ask us how we were doing, and we would ask him as well. His response was always "I'm blessed not stressed." Which brings me to sit and think about the many, many blessings I have in my life.
I don't deserve them all. That's for sure. But God saw fit for Merlotgirl to love me, and I'm not going to argue with that. After all...he knows best. I clearly am blessed to have her in my life, and for her to love me as she does. I only hope she realizes that I love her more. I turly am the luckiest man alive. So it has been blogged...so it shall be. Neener neener.
18 + years ago I was blessed with Rosemary! Not a day goes by that I don't count that blessing. Through all the cuts and bruises, laughing and crying, sports and theater, Indian guides and Video Games, through everything you can think of, having Rosemary as my son is one of the highlights of my life. Hopefully all of the lessons he's learned over the last 18 years (including the rather difficult ones he's learning now as a Freshman in college) will serve him well, and prepare him for a great life! No matter what, I love him more than words can say. I love you man! That's a fact, Jack.
Aunt B and Uncle L, my brother and sister, their spouses and kidlets are true blessings as well. My only regret about being in Texas is not seeing them (and Rosemary) more often. Hopefully they feel as overwhelmed by the blessings the good lord has given them over the years, as I do right now. I love you guys!!!
It goes without saying that MG's siblings are blessings to us as well. While I don't know them nearly as well as I should, they were and are a huge part of MG's life and therefore important to me as well! The blessings just keep coming!
My dearest niece (yes I have a niece), her hubby and son are so amazing! Whether they know it or not, they are the most shining example I have in my life of people who walk the walk. Their faith and love are truly transcendent and a constant source of joy and strength. I am truly blessed to be part of their family. Truly!
I am so blessed to have Bud! Just seeing how happy it makes Merlotgirl when we're getting close to seeing him is worth a fortune. We'll be up to see you in a few months! Only wish we were closer to you as well.
My folks and MG's mom are no longer with us here, but waiting for us with the Lord. All I can think of to say is thank you for all that you did for me, and for MG. Without your love and caring for us we never would have found each other along this broken road. We miss you now, more than you could know. One day we'll all be together and that will be glorious indeed.
Last but not least all of our friends near and far, old and new, whoever you are...you know who you are...we are blessed to call you friend. If we've shared happiness or sorrow, laughed or cried, acted with or hooped it up with, worked or played with, called, raised or folded to, karaoked or scaryokeyd we're thankful that you are a part of our lives. An important part! Thump chest twice ...point one finger out!
That's what I'm talking about! Ship it!
The thoughts of the happiest doorman I've ever seen come flooding back to me. Every morning as we walked by him on our way to work last December in Cleveland, in the freezing cold and wind sweeping in off the lake. He was smiling, singing and happily going about the business of opening the hotel door, or the door to a cab. As we walked by he would never fail to ask us how we were doing, and we would ask him as well. His response was always "I'm blessed not stressed." Which brings me to sit and think about the many, many blessings I have in my life.
I don't deserve them all. That's for sure. But God saw fit for Merlotgirl to love me, and I'm not going to argue with that. After all...he knows best. I clearly am blessed to have her in my life, and for her to love me as she does. I only hope she realizes that I love her more. I turly am the luckiest man alive. So it has been blogged...so it shall be. Neener neener.
18 + years ago I was blessed with Rosemary! Not a day goes by that I don't count that blessing. Through all the cuts and bruises, laughing and crying, sports and theater, Indian guides and Video Games, through everything you can think of, having Rosemary as my son is one of the highlights of my life. Hopefully all of the lessons he's learned over the last 18 years (including the rather difficult ones he's learning now as a Freshman in college) will serve him well, and prepare him for a great life! No matter what, I love him more than words can say. I love you man! That's a fact, Jack.
Aunt B and Uncle L, my brother and sister, their spouses and kidlets are true blessings as well. My only regret about being in Texas is not seeing them (and Rosemary) more often. Hopefully they feel as overwhelmed by the blessings the good lord has given them over the years, as I do right now. I love you guys!!!
It goes without saying that MG's siblings are blessings to us as well. While I don't know them nearly as well as I should, they were and are a huge part of MG's life and therefore important to me as well! The blessings just keep coming!
My dearest niece (yes I have a niece), her hubby and son are so amazing! Whether they know it or not, they are the most shining example I have in my life of people who walk the walk. Their faith and love are truly transcendent and a constant source of joy and strength. I am truly blessed to be part of their family. Truly!
I am so blessed to have Bud! Just seeing how happy it makes Merlotgirl when we're getting close to seeing him is worth a fortune. We'll be up to see you in a few months! Only wish we were closer to you as well.
My folks and MG's mom are no longer with us here, but waiting for us with the Lord. All I can think of to say is thank you for all that you did for me, and for MG. Without your love and caring for us we never would have found each other along this broken road. We miss you now, more than you could know. One day we'll all be together and that will be glorious indeed.
Last but not least all of our friends near and far, old and new, whoever you are...you know who you are...we are blessed to call you friend. If we've shared happiness or sorrow, laughed or cried, acted with or hooped it up with, worked or played with, called, raised or folded to, karaoked or scaryokeyd we're thankful that you are a part of our lives. An important part! Thump chest twice ...point one finger out!
That's what I'm talking about! Ship it!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The End of Hibernation
Not that I think anyone actually reads this...but I'm back to blogging.
Merlotgirl and I started watching Bobby Flay have a Thanksgiving Feast Throwdown with The Pioneer Woman (a renowned blogger) and my gorgeous wife suggested that I should start blogging again. So here I am.
Update for anyone tuning in. Rosemary (the son) is mid semester of his Freshman year at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He's getting used to his new found freedom (we hope...and pray) and working towards getting good grades as a Mass Communications major. We'll see. We're planning his post Christmas visit here and hope to book flights soon. Can't wait to see him...it' s been a while.
Merlotgirl and I are making our annual Thanksgiving sabbatical soon, and will either post updates here or on Facebook. Hopefully it will be as much fun as most of our other tips. Yay!!!!
December 4th we have the payoff dinner for our first Top Chef Fantasy League season. Tony The Actor coasted (and I do mean coasted, since he didn't have a chef in the final 3) to the winers circle. Merlot, Diva and I all have to prepare a dinner for the champ (and us as well). We all need to make an Amuse-Bouche, I have the appetizer to make, Diva has the Main Course and Merlotgirl has the dessert course. Wine, and or cocktails will accompany the meal, so a good time will be had by all I assume.
Season 8 The All Star edition begins in 12 days!!!!! Game on. We had our draft the other night at Steve Fields, and this promises to be an exciting competition!
That's it for now...more to come
Merlotgirl and I started watching Bobby Flay have a Thanksgiving Feast Throwdown with The Pioneer Woman (a renowned blogger) and my gorgeous wife suggested that I should start blogging again. So here I am.
Update for anyone tuning in. Rosemary (the son) is mid semester of his Freshman year at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He's getting used to his new found freedom (we hope...and pray) and working towards getting good grades as a Mass Communications major. We'll see. We're planning his post Christmas visit here and hope to book flights soon. Can't wait to see him...it' s been a while.
Merlotgirl and I are making our annual Thanksgiving sabbatical soon, and will either post updates here or on Facebook. Hopefully it will be as much fun as most of our other tips. Yay!!!!
December 4th we have the payoff dinner for our first Top Chef Fantasy League season. Tony The Actor coasted (and I do mean coasted, since he didn't have a chef in the final 3) to the winers circle. Merlot, Diva and I all have to prepare a dinner for the champ (and us as well). We all need to make an Amuse-Bouche, I have the appetizer to make, Diva has the Main Course and Merlotgirl has the dessert course. Wine, and or cocktails will accompany the meal, so a good time will be had by all I assume.
Season 8 The All Star edition begins in 12 days!!!!! Game on. We had our draft the other night at Steve Fields, and this promises to be an exciting competition!
That's it for now...more to come
Friday, June 18, 2010
WSOP 2010 Here We Come!
The excitement has been building for over a year now. We are 5 sleeps away from heading to Vegas, and 7 sleeps away from hearing Jack Effel tell the Dealers to "Shuffle Up and Deal" in Event #45 of the 41st Annual World Series of Poker!
Attendance is down from last year in the $1,500 events. We'll be doing our best to help correct that. Last year we had 13 people on this pilgrimage, with 12 playing in Event #28. Pinky and I were lucky enough to cash! This year we come back in force. 25 of us making the trip to Vegas, with at least 14 playing in Event #45. It could be more if some folks run well in the nightly tournament at Caesar's. We'll be surrounding the city with various people staying at Caesar's, The Rio, Orleans, Hilton Garden Village, and other ports of call. There are many, many questions to be answered.
How many of us will cash? (The Over/Under is 4)
Will this be the year one of us brings home a bracelet (and $600,000)?
Who will win the "Last Longer" bet of $101.27, between Nannuck and Merlot? (I'll be posting odds on this prop bet as we get closer to game time)
Will the ancient accordion player still be at Battista's Hole in the Wall, for our WSOP Eve Dinner Extravaganza? (I'm afraid this is less than even money. He was old. Very very old)
Who will win the "Last Player Standing Not In The Money" (More commonly referred to as the Nannuck Award)? (Odds are good that it could be Nannuck again)
Will Cosmos actually set foot in Vegas? (Odds are 3 to 1 against him setting foot.)
To watch the video of last years adventure you can go to our website at www.oneouterspoker.com and look for the WSOP Event #28 tab.
Viva Las Vegas!!!!!!!!
Attendance is down from last year in the $1,500 events. We'll be doing our best to help correct that. Last year we had 13 people on this pilgrimage, with 12 playing in Event #28. Pinky and I were lucky enough to cash! This year we come back in force. 25 of us making the trip to Vegas, with at least 14 playing in Event #45. It could be more if some folks run well in the nightly tournament at Caesar's. We'll be surrounding the city with various people staying at Caesar's, The Rio, Orleans, Hilton Garden Village, and other ports of call. There are many, many questions to be answered.
How many of us will cash? (The Over/Under is 4)
Will this be the year one of us brings home a bracelet (and $600,000)?
Who will win the "Last Longer" bet of $101.27, between Nannuck and Merlot? (I'll be posting odds on this prop bet as we get closer to game time)
Will the ancient accordion player still be at Battista's Hole in the Wall, for our WSOP Eve Dinner Extravaganza? (I'm afraid this is less than even money. He was old. Very very old)
Who will win the "Last Player Standing Not In The Money" (More commonly referred to as the Nannuck Award)? (Odds are good that it could be Nannuck again)
Will Cosmos actually set foot in Vegas? (Odds are 3 to 1 against him setting foot.)
To watch the video of last years adventure you can go to our website at www.oneouterspoker.com and look for the WSOP Event #28 tab.
Viva Las Vegas!!!!!!!!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Choctaw $550 One Month Later...
Well, Merlot and I went up for the bi-weekly $550 Deep Stack tournament at Choctaw yesterday. There were only 16 players, but still a good tournament. As usual Merlot and I get seated at the same table. It doesn’t matter if we sign up right after each other, or hours apart. Based on this trend I’m sure we’ll be at the same table for the WSOP this year too.
10,000 Starting stack + 500 for an additional $5 dealer toke.
Blinds 25 / 50 with 30 minute levels.
I start out fairly card dead. And when I have a hand to raise with Pre-flop like 88 or AQ, I miss the flop and a player (usually the girl in seat 1) donk bets out into me. And I have to fold. Merlot on the other hand is doing quite well building a decent stack. She is either the chip leader or second in chips at our table.
As we get to break we’ve lost one player from our table, and a couple from the other. And I’m one of the shorter stacks at our table with about 4,800. As the fifth blind level starts, things start to go my way. I decide to see a flop in my BB with Q-10 when the girl in Seat 1 had preflop raised (she was raising about a third of the hands pre flop). The flop came 10 high, and I checked, she bet 1,000 and I pushed in for 3,800. She thought a bit, and then called me with AQ. We hit a Q on the river giving me 2 pair, and the double up. After that I went on quite a bit of a heater. AA, AK, AQ, QQ all in the space of about 10 hands. I raised each hand preflop and won either without seeing a flop, or c-betting the flop and getting a fold.
The next big hand I had, was ironically Q 10 again. Seat 1 PF raised again. I called with Q-10. Flop came 8 9 J. Yahtzee!!!!!! She bet 1,500. I raised to 4,000. She called. Turn brings a K. I still have the nuts. I bet out 6,500….she goes in the tank for a bit…and calls. A 3 on the river. I push the remaining 2,000 I have in the pot, and she calls. Her K 10 two pair is no good to the nut str8. Thanks for the second double up.
Merlot got mixed up with the seat 1 girl several times and got the best of her most times. She made some dubious calls, especially, when Merlot bet the Turn on a J Q x x board with 3 spades. Merlot had the As and Jd. Seat 1 had the Js and an A of hearts. They chopped, but not sure why she called Merlot's substantial bet on the Turn, with 2nd pair, and a J high flush draw. Merlot was about 3 minutes away from the blinds going up and putting her at 10 Big Blinds, so she pushed with A 10 (for a substantial amount of chips). Seat 1 called her with 33. Not sure how, or why she made that call either. At best she’s coin flipping, at worst she’s drawing dead to a 3. No A or 10 though, and Merlot goes out on the Final Table bubble.
We get to the final table and someone had busted from the other table as well, so we were 8 handed. Paying 3. 1st = $4,000 2nd = $2,400 and 3rd $1,600. I sit in the 5 seat, and have the second biggest stack with about 36,000. The player to my right is the big stack in the tournament with over 60,000. We lose a couple players fairly quickly. I take a pretty significant ding when the big stack min raises my BB and I have AQ. I reraise another 3,000. He pushes all in and I think about it. My biggest consideration was that if I folded I would still be the second biggest stack, or close to it, and there were 2 or 3 short stacks still. So I lay down my AQ face up and the big stack shows AA. Dodged a bullet there.
Then a short stack pushes all in for 6,800. The big stack folds. I look down at JJ and consider my options. I could just call, and give the 2 players to act behind me the opportunity to call as well. But I decide to push my 28,000 stack in the middle and isolate. The other players fold. The all in turns over J 10. I flop a boat when the board comes up KKJ.
The big stack was sucking out constantly. He knocked 2 players out when his 22, beat 10 10 when a 2 was the door card on the flop (all the chips were in PF). Then his AQ outflopped another players AK, when a Q hit the board, and all the chips were in PF. We get down to 4 players and it’s the big stack, me and another guy in seat 8 with about the same stacks, and the short stack is the girl from Seat 1 at the other table. The guy in seat 8 and the big stack suggest a save for 4th place, where that person gets $600. $300 from 1st place money, $200 from 2nd place, and $100 from 3rd. The short stack declines the offer. Not sure why. It didn’t seem to make any sense.
Big stack raises, to 4,000. I call with 99. Short stack (seat 1 girl) pushes all in for an additional 9,500. Big stack calls. I call. Flop comes Diamond, Diamond, Diamond. A couple of those diamonds higher than a 9. I had the 9 of diamonds. Big stack makes a large bet on the flop. To which I mumble, you had better take her out…as I fold. He had the KJ of diamonds and flopped a flush. The girl had the two 9’s that I did not have. We’re in the money.
That was a sizable dent to my stack and left me short stacked with about 13,000. I pushed several times and didn’t get called. I folded to raises when I had nothing. After about 20 hands of me treading water, I pushed with Ad 5d, and big stack called me with KJ offsuit. He hit the K on a 2 Diamond flop. I didn’t hit an A or another Diamond, so I went out third and collected my $1,600.
During this time Merlot had put $20 in a slot machine and got that up to $700, before getting her 1 / 2 no limit seat. Then she won $85 at the 1 /2 table. All in all a very successful day at Choctaw for the One Outers!!!
Ship It!!!!
10,000 Starting stack + 500 for an additional $5 dealer toke.
Blinds 25 / 50 with 30 minute levels.
I start out fairly card dead. And when I have a hand to raise with Pre-flop like 88 or AQ, I miss the flop and a player (usually the girl in seat 1) donk bets out into me. And I have to fold. Merlot on the other hand is doing quite well building a decent stack. She is either the chip leader or second in chips at our table.
As we get to break we’ve lost one player from our table, and a couple from the other. And I’m one of the shorter stacks at our table with about 4,800. As the fifth blind level starts, things start to go my way. I decide to see a flop in my BB with Q-10 when the girl in Seat 1 had preflop raised (she was raising about a third of the hands pre flop). The flop came 10 high, and I checked, she bet 1,000 and I pushed in for 3,800. She thought a bit, and then called me with AQ. We hit a Q on the river giving me 2 pair, and the double up. After that I went on quite a bit of a heater. AA, AK, AQ, QQ all in the space of about 10 hands. I raised each hand preflop and won either without seeing a flop, or c-betting the flop and getting a fold.
The next big hand I had, was ironically Q 10 again. Seat 1 PF raised again. I called with Q-10. Flop came 8 9 J. Yahtzee!!!!!! She bet 1,500. I raised to 4,000. She called. Turn brings a K. I still have the nuts. I bet out 6,500….she goes in the tank for a bit…and calls. A 3 on the river. I push the remaining 2,000 I have in the pot, and she calls. Her K 10 two pair is no good to the nut str8. Thanks for the second double up.
Merlot got mixed up with the seat 1 girl several times and got the best of her most times. She made some dubious calls, especially, when Merlot bet the Turn on a J Q x x board with 3 spades. Merlot had the As and Jd. Seat 1 had the Js and an A of hearts. They chopped, but not sure why she called Merlot's substantial bet on the Turn, with 2nd pair, and a J high flush draw. Merlot was about 3 minutes away from the blinds going up and putting her at 10 Big Blinds, so she pushed with A 10 (for a substantial amount of chips). Seat 1 called her with 33. Not sure how, or why she made that call either. At best she’s coin flipping, at worst she’s drawing dead to a 3. No A or 10 though, and Merlot goes out on the Final Table bubble.
We get to the final table and someone had busted from the other table as well, so we were 8 handed. Paying 3. 1st = $4,000 2nd = $2,400 and 3rd $1,600. I sit in the 5 seat, and have the second biggest stack with about 36,000. The player to my right is the big stack in the tournament with over 60,000. We lose a couple players fairly quickly. I take a pretty significant ding when the big stack min raises my BB and I have AQ. I reraise another 3,000. He pushes all in and I think about it. My biggest consideration was that if I folded I would still be the second biggest stack, or close to it, and there were 2 or 3 short stacks still. So I lay down my AQ face up and the big stack shows AA. Dodged a bullet there.
Then a short stack pushes all in for 6,800. The big stack folds. I look down at JJ and consider my options. I could just call, and give the 2 players to act behind me the opportunity to call as well. But I decide to push my 28,000 stack in the middle and isolate. The other players fold. The all in turns over J 10. I flop a boat when the board comes up KKJ.
The big stack was sucking out constantly. He knocked 2 players out when his 22, beat 10 10 when a 2 was the door card on the flop (all the chips were in PF). Then his AQ outflopped another players AK, when a Q hit the board, and all the chips were in PF. We get down to 4 players and it’s the big stack, me and another guy in seat 8 with about the same stacks, and the short stack is the girl from Seat 1 at the other table. The guy in seat 8 and the big stack suggest a save for 4th place, where that person gets $600. $300 from 1st place money, $200 from 2nd place, and $100 from 3rd. The short stack declines the offer. Not sure why. It didn’t seem to make any sense.
Big stack raises, to 4,000. I call with 99. Short stack (seat 1 girl) pushes all in for an additional 9,500. Big stack calls. I call. Flop comes Diamond, Diamond, Diamond. A couple of those diamonds higher than a 9. I had the 9 of diamonds. Big stack makes a large bet on the flop. To which I mumble, you had better take her out…as I fold. He had the KJ of diamonds and flopped a flush. The girl had the two 9’s that I did not have. We’re in the money.
That was a sizable dent to my stack and left me short stacked with about 13,000. I pushed several times and didn’t get called. I folded to raises when I had nothing. After about 20 hands of me treading water, I pushed with Ad 5d, and big stack called me with KJ offsuit. He hit the K on a 2 Diamond flop. I didn’t hit an A or another Diamond, so I went out third and collected my $1,600.
During this time Merlot had put $20 in a slot machine and got that up to $700, before getting her 1 / 2 no limit seat. Then she won $85 at the 1 /2 table. All in all a very successful day at Choctaw for the One Outers!!!
Ship It!!!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Choctaw $550
Merlotgirl and I played in the biweekly $550 tournament hosted by TJ Cloutier at Choctaw Casino this past Sunday.
30 players.
30 minute blinds
10,000 starting stack
Antes start in level 4
Paying top 3
$15,000 prize pool
TJ Cloutier (who is now the spokesman for the Choctaw Casino Poker Room) was the first player to bust out when his flopped 2 pair runs into a full house, about 5 minutes into the tournament. He wasn't at my table (but there was a $550 bounty on his head) so the player who knocked him out (a dealer from Winstar) was freerolling.
I knocked the second player out of the tournament and doubled up about halfway through the first blind level. It folds to me in the Hi Jack seat and I rase 3XBB with 10 10. The BB calls. Flop comes A 7 7. BB checks, I throw out a 3/4 pot sized C Bet. and the BB calls. Damn. He has an Ace, I need to shut it down now. The turn is a Q. He checks. I check. River is the prettiest 10 I ever saw. He makes a pot size bet. I triple it. He pushes all in. I insta call. He slow plays his 777AA flopped full house, into me hitting a bigger boat on the river. Sweet!
I mixed it up a few times with the player immediately to my right (who played about 80% of the hands) he would either limp and call a raise, or raise to begin with virtually every hand. I had one big hand with him when my Kc Qc flopped 2 clubs. I called a sizable c bet by him. The most beautiful card in the deck fell on the river (Ac) giving me the nut flush (and the nuts on this unpaired board). He bet about 4,500. I took half my 500 chips and half my 1,000 chips and spilled them over the bet line, making it somewhere in the neighborhood of a raise to 11,000 or so. He folded, saying he had a set of 9's. I don't beleive him.
This guy's stack went up and down like a roller coaster. He had a pretty significant stack when he got into this hand with another player. He limped UTG. 3 other callers until it got to the short stack, who put about 2/3's of his stack in (raising about 5X the BB). Guy thought about it...then came over the top for about 3 times the guys raise. it folded to the original raiser, who couldn't get his chips in fast enough. Original raiser showed JJ. Overbetting LAG shows 2 4 off suit claiming he thought he could push the guy off his hand. Uhhh....he had more than half his chips in the pot already. Not sure how you came up with that play. JJ doubled up (and eventually made final table).
I get moved to Merlot's table. Blinds are 400 / 800. UTG raises to 2,400. I wake up with AA in MP and reraise to 6,000. It folds to UTG. He goes in the tank. Asks me if I'll show him my cards if he folds. I tell him..."My wife's father told her never to show anyone your cards unless you have to." He says...that's her, not you. I say "Goes for me too." Then I remember what we talked about at one of our bootcamps. People want to call. They just need a reason to. So I looked away...looked nervous...scratched my face...anything i could think of to get him to call. Finally, he laid it down. Grrrr....
I get moved to the other table. We're down to 2 tables, and my stack is dwindling. I'm somewhere around 16 - 18 K. Blinds are 500 / 1000. I'm BB with Q 9 offsuit. UTG calls. It folds to the SB who calls. flop comes up with two hearts and Q high. SB checks, I bet 2,500. UTG Pushes all in. I go in the tank. I don't beleive he's got a bigger Queen. He would have raised with AQ, KQ and possibly QJ. Why play QJ or Q 10 out of position. He could have flopped a set. I doubt it was 2 pair, on the pretty raggedy board. His bet would leave me with about 8K if I lost. I thought some more, and decided he most likely had heart suited connectors and was trying to push me off the hand on a semi bluff. I thought for another minute or so and decided I was pretty sure i was ahead. So I called. He had 8 10 of hearts, and missed on the turn and river. whew.....that was helpful.
Merlotgirl and I both made final table. One of the relatively shorter stacks asks if everyone can agree to a “save” where 4th through 9th get their buyins back, and they recalculate 1st, 2nd and 3rd. One player, the big stack at the time, an old rancher says no. He is the only “no”. I have no problem with this…he has friends at the table, and they say he never chops. That’s fine. The second biggest stack, mentions that it’s bad karma not to…and off we go.
A few hands later, I have KK and raise under the gun, the rancher (immediately to my right in the big blind) goes all in. I insta call. He has QQ. He gets no help and he has now gone from biggest stack , to shortest stack. Karma at work.
Probably a half hour later, Merlotgirl finishes him off. I don’t remember the details, but she knocks him out. With him gone we are able to make the deal, so everyone left gets their buy-ins back.
After my KK hand I go card dead for the next three blind levels. During that time, Merlotgirl gets crippled and is sitting with 2,600 and the blinds are 2,000 / 4,000. she’s BB for less. She gets one player to call…and with me in the SB, I come along for an additional 2,000. The other caller and I check it down. He paired the 9 on the river. There were 2 Kings on the board. Merlot flips over her cards. The first card she turns over is a K…cha ching….she’s tripled up and then some.
Next hand she has 55….and pushes all in to take the blinds and antes.
Next hand she’s all in again. 2 callers. Board comes up with a couple face cards, and a 9…the river is a 7…which matches the pocket 7’s she has in her hand. Another triple up and then some….now she’s sitting on 36,000 or so.
From 2,600 to 36,000 in 4 hands.
It gets better. She doubles up one more time when she raises with AA, player to my right goes all in, and she calls. He has KK and doesn’t improve. So now she’s sitting on 76,000. And probably the second biggest stack. About 8 hands after she couldn’t post her BB.
My 60,000 stack got blinded and anted down to about 28k when It folds to me and I have 88. I push. The guy 2 to my left in the SB wakes up with AA and calls. I don’t hit. I bust out 7th.
Merlot runs into a guy who flopped two small sets, and she eventually busted out 6th.
So we played 7 and a half hours, and got our money back. It was a great tournament. The overall quality of play was much, much better then the usual $200 or $300 tournaments. It was great practice.
30 players.
30 minute blinds
10,000 starting stack
Antes start in level 4
Paying top 3
$15,000 prize pool
TJ Cloutier (who is now the spokesman for the Choctaw Casino Poker Room) was the first player to bust out when his flopped 2 pair runs into a full house, about 5 minutes into the tournament. He wasn't at my table (but there was a $550 bounty on his head) so the player who knocked him out (a dealer from Winstar) was freerolling.
I knocked the second player out of the tournament and doubled up about halfway through the first blind level. It folds to me in the Hi Jack seat and I rase 3XBB with 10 10. The BB calls. Flop comes A 7 7. BB checks, I throw out a 3/4 pot sized C Bet. and the BB calls. Damn. He has an Ace, I need to shut it down now. The turn is a Q. He checks. I check. River is the prettiest 10 I ever saw. He makes a pot size bet. I triple it. He pushes all in. I insta call. He slow plays his 777AA flopped full house, into me hitting a bigger boat on the river. Sweet!
I mixed it up a few times with the player immediately to my right (who played about 80% of the hands) he would either limp and call a raise, or raise to begin with virtually every hand. I had one big hand with him when my Kc Qc flopped 2 clubs. I called a sizable c bet by him. The most beautiful card in the deck fell on the river (Ac) giving me the nut flush (and the nuts on this unpaired board). He bet about 4,500. I took half my 500 chips and half my 1,000 chips and spilled them over the bet line, making it somewhere in the neighborhood of a raise to 11,000 or so. He folded, saying he had a set of 9's. I don't beleive him.
This guy's stack went up and down like a roller coaster. He had a pretty significant stack when he got into this hand with another player. He limped UTG. 3 other callers until it got to the short stack, who put about 2/3's of his stack in (raising about 5X the BB). Guy thought about it...then came over the top for about 3 times the guys raise. it folded to the original raiser, who couldn't get his chips in fast enough. Original raiser showed JJ. Overbetting LAG shows 2 4 off suit claiming he thought he could push the guy off his hand. Uhhh....he had more than half his chips in the pot already. Not sure how you came up with that play. JJ doubled up (and eventually made final table).
I get moved to Merlot's table. Blinds are 400 / 800. UTG raises to 2,400. I wake up with AA in MP and reraise to 6,000. It folds to UTG. He goes in the tank. Asks me if I'll show him my cards if he folds. I tell him..."My wife's father told her never to show anyone your cards unless you have to." He says...that's her, not you. I say "Goes for me too." Then I remember what we talked about at one of our bootcamps. People want to call. They just need a reason to. So I looked away...looked nervous...scratched my face...anything i could think of to get him to call. Finally, he laid it down. Grrrr....
I get moved to the other table. We're down to 2 tables, and my stack is dwindling. I'm somewhere around 16 - 18 K. Blinds are 500 / 1000. I'm BB with Q 9 offsuit. UTG calls. It folds to the SB who calls. flop comes up with two hearts and Q high. SB checks, I bet 2,500. UTG Pushes all in. I go in the tank. I don't beleive he's got a bigger Queen. He would have raised with AQ, KQ and possibly QJ. Why play QJ or Q 10 out of position. He could have flopped a set. I doubt it was 2 pair, on the pretty raggedy board. His bet would leave me with about 8K if I lost. I thought some more, and decided he most likely had heart suited connectors and was trying to push me off the hand on a semi bluff. I thought for another minute or so and decided I was pretty sure i was ahead. So I called. He had 8 10 of hearts, and missed on the turn and river. whew.....that was helpful.
Merlotgirl and I both made final table. One of the relatively shorter stacks asks if everyone can agree to a “save” where 4th through 9th get their buyins back, and they recalculate 1st, 2nd and 3rd. One player, the big stack at the time, an old rancher says no. He is the only “no”. I have no problem with this…he has friends at the table, and they say he never chops. That’s fine. The second biggest stack, mentions that it’s bad karma not to…and off we go.
A few hands later, I have KK and raise under the gun, the rancher (immediately to my right in the big blind) goes all in. I insta call. He has QQ. He gets no help and he has now gone from biggest stack , to shortest stack. Karma at work.
Probably a half hour later, Merlotgirl finishes him off. I don’t remember the details, but she knocks him out. With him gone we are able to make the deal, so everyone left gets their buy-ins back.
After my KK hand I go card dead for the next three blind levels. During that time, Merlotgirl gets crippled and is sitting with 2,600 and the blinds are 2,000 / 4,000. she’s BB for less. She gets one player to call…and with me in the SB, I come along for an additional 2,000. The other caller and I check it down. He paired the 9 on the river. There were 2 Kings on the board. Merlot flips over her cards. The first card she turns over is a K…cha ching….she’s tripled up and then some.
Next hand she has 55….and pushes all in to take the blinds and antes.
Next hand she’s all in again. 2 callers. Board comes up with a couple face cards, and a 9…the river is a 7…which matches the pocket 7’s she has in her hand. Another triple up and then some….now she’s sitting on 36,000 or so.
From 2,600 to 36,000 in 4 hands.
It gets better. She doubles up one more time when she raises with AA, player to my right goes all in, and she calls. He has KK and doesn’t improve. So now she’s sitting on 76,000. And probably the second biggest stack. About 8 hands after she couldn’t post her BB.
My 60,000 stack got blinded and anted down to about 28k when It folds to me and I have 88. I push. The guy 2 to my left in the SB wakes up with AA and calls. I don’t hit. I bust out 7th.
Merlot runs into a guy who flopped two small sets, and she eventually busted out 6th.
So we played 7 and a half hours, and got our money back. It was a great tournament. The overall quality of play was much, much better then the usual $200 or $300 tournaments. It was great practice.
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