We planned on playing in each of the tournaments. The tournament schedule went like this:
Wednesday 7PM $100 buy-in
Thursday 3PM $200 buy-in
Friday 7PM $300 buy-in
Saturday 11AM$500 buy-in
Sunday 11AM Freeroll (10K prize pool)
Wednesday
We left right after Merlotgirl got home from work Wednesday. Buck Naked told us the tournament was filling up. We were able to get him to buy us in while we were driving up there and we rolled in about 6:30. We checked into the hotel, dropped off our luggage, and headed down to the poker room. The Casino and the Hotel are beautiful. Everything was incredibly well done. The hotel room was spacious, had a great bed, big TV. The only thing that would have made it better was if there was a tub in the bathroom. Merlotgirl does like to bathe. The shower was great though!!!
We get to the poker room, and it is buzzing. 30 tables, and all of them either set up for the tournament or full of cash players. Great set up. I see the high stakes room, with its 4 tables. Take a walk to the back, and into the players lounge which was very nice. Then back to the room to find my seat. As I sit down I notice the plethora of TV's dropping down from the ceilings. I also notice that the chairs are the adjustable ones that I've only seen at Binions since they remodeled. They are the nicest poker chairs I've ever sat in. This poker room is going to be absolutely awesome!!!
There are a large number of friends playing the tournament that night, so we put together a $20 Last Longer bet. Merlotgirl and I didn't need to worry about it that night, as we were both out in the first blind level. I'm not sure about Merlotgirls hand, but I folded my way through almost the entire 1st blind level. Then I decide if I raise with AJo UTG I should be able to pick up the blinds. So I raise the 25/25 blinds to 200. I get one caller and the button makes it 1,000. He's by far the weakest player at our table, so I fold figuring he has a monster. Other player folds and he shows AA. Next hand, I'm in the BB and wake up with QQ. There are 5 limpers including the player with AA last hand. I raise it to 300. He's the only caller. Flop comes
Q-X-X rainbow. Here's where I screw up. Instead of betting pot, or 3/4 pot I decide I have a monster, and bet just 250. He calls. Turn comes up another blank, no flush draw. Only str8 possibility would be pretty ragged. Another blank on the river. It could make a gut shot, but that is unlikely. I bet 1300. He insta shoves. I lo0k at the board. The only hand that beats me is a 57 that hits a gut shot. I call and turn over my top set. He shows 5 7 for the str8. Interesting. I did outlast Kathy Liebert though.
They were going to cap the entries at 140, but had so many people waiting that they ended up sitting over 60 alternates. They opened several more tables, and ended up with 214 players. Snake, Nawlins and Princess went pretty deep (final 4 or 5 tables). Snake and Nawlins split the Last Man Standing Pot. And Snake catches a $500 plus payday. Sweet!!!!!
Gumbah and I sweated Snake to see his JJ beat AA when he flopped a full house KKJ and Turned Quads. He went out a short time later when his AK never improved against an 88.
You can see Snake in the 5 Seat and follow Final Table Action right here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4635895
Thursday
Thursday morning we wake up and head to the Boot Camp being given by TJ, Kathy Liebert and Tom McEvoy. It was great and streamed live by RoundersRadio.com. They televised the Boot Camps (Days 2 and 3) as well as the Final Tables of the Tournaments.
The Thursday Tournament saw Bobcat, Merlotgirl and I get to the final 2 tables, out of 90 or so starters,but fail to cash. I won the Last Longer bet when I finished 12th. Bobcat and Merlot went out shortly before I did. Merlot got to play quite a while at Kathy Liebert's table, and when they broke from 3 tables down to 2, both of them came to my table.
Friday
Friday nights Tournament was going to turn out to be another large field. $300 + $30 buy-in got you 8k in chips. Half hour blind levels. Ante's kick in at level 4. There were somewhere around 142 players. Paying out 14. As the luck of the draw would have it my seat assignment is Table 1 Seat 6. Right in between John Manby, in Seat 5 (at least I have position on him) and Merlotgirl in Seat 7. We asked the TD Marvin if one of us could get a seat change, but her couldn't do anything about it. He did hook us up by making our table the second to break.
The only hand of note for me was an Ah6h that I overlimped on the button with. I flopped the nut flush and called a flop and turn bet. The player checked the river to me, and I value bet it, but he laid it down. John doubled up fairly early when he raised PF, was re-raised and called. Flop came 7Jx. Player bet. John called his bet. The turn brought a K. Player bet, John raised and I forget if the other player re-raised, and John 4 bet it all in or if the player pushed and John called. Either way they got all the chips in the middle and Johns set of Kings beat the other players flopped set of 7's. Merlot lost a couple of pots, she doubled up when she flopped a set of J's and the other player flopped Top Pair, Top kicker with AK. About the only other hand I win at this table is when it folds to my small blind, and I wake up with KK and Raise Merlot, and she folds.
When they broke our table I was down to about 6,200, and much shorter that John who had around 20K and Merlot in the teens. I move to TJ Cloutier's table. He's 3 to my right, so at least I have some position on him and can stay out of his pots. Although he is in the cutoff, on my BB. I am just sliding along, blinding out when the BB comes to me. Blinds are 300 / 600 with a 100 ante. Along the way a short stack goes all in for 900. The SB, me and 2 limpers call his all-in. so there 5 x 900, plus the 1,000 in antes in the pot for 5,500. I've got 8h4h. The board comes up something like A K 6 2 8. It gets checked all the way to the river, and my 84 is the winner when I hit my 8. Ridiculous. I almost double up.
A little later it folds to me on the button. I shove with KhQh. Get called by the SB who is short stacked. She has AK and I'm way behind, looking to lose half my stack. Then the flop comes QQX, with a K on the turn so she's drawing dead. That hand got me out of Push/Fold territory for the first time in a while.
An orbit later. I raise a short stacks BB when I have a suited KQ again. He calls. Flop comes out Q high. He checks. I bet almost all his chips. He shoves over the top and I call. His KJ is drawing dead to running J's. He had no other draw. As I stack those chips TJ says to me "Don't you just love it when they give you their chips?" To which I respond "Yes sir I do."
We're at 400 / 800 and right before the next break it folds to the Small Blind who raises my BB to 1,900. He's pretty short stacked, so I decide to defend my BB with 7h8h. Flop comes up Q T 8. He C-bets. I call, not thinking he has any of that and my 8 is good. A blank comes off on the turn and I still think I'm ahead. He bets, I call. River brings another blank. He checks this time. I check. He says "If you could call those other bets, you've got me beat." I turn over the 78, and drag a decent pot as his AK hit air.
At this point I've got about 66K, and am in pretty good shape as we are down to about 5 tables. The rest of the night is a struggle. I haven't had many premier hands. Had KK once. Never had AA, QQ, JJ, TT, 99 or 88. Only pocket pairs were 33, 44 and 77. Never had AK or AQ. Had a bunch of crap like AJ and KQ, and somehow got lucky with them at the right times.
Merlot rocks the short stack for a long time when we are 5 tables and busts out when we get down to 3 tables. After a while at 2 tables, I get moved from TJ's table to Kathy Liebert's. I'm 3 players to the right of her, and my stack has blinded and anted down to push/fold size again. Luckily my tight image garners me a lot of folds when I do push. Each time I push and pick up the blinds and ante's gets me through another orbit.
Finally, we're down to 14 and in the money. When we get to 12 I'm moved back to TJ's table. Now I'm 2 players to the right of him. I'm still in push/fold mode as are a couple players at each table. We get down to 11. The Final Table bubble. Blinds are 5,000 / 10,000 with 1,000 antes. My BB. UTG who is Short Stacked with only 13,000 shoves. It folds to me in the BB. There's my BB, the SB, his push and 6.000 in antes in the pot. 34,000. And I've only got 13,000 behind. I look down at J6, and figure while the hand sucks, I can't pass up those odds. Especially since he should be pushing with any two cards. So I call. He turns over J8. Crap. I was hoping I had 2 live cards. Board comes out with a J on it and 2 big cards, so I'm hoping for a chop. Until the 6 on the river does him in. So I quadruple up with my J6 suckout, and we're down to final table.
We move into the High Stakes Room where they have the RoundersRadio.com live streaming video set up, and we redraw for seats.
Seat 1 - Crazy Asian Guy. That's what Kathy Liebert called him. He was at my table earlier with TJ, and then at Kathy's table when I was there and he was gambling all night. Often getting his chips in bad, but sucking out.
Seat 2 - TJ Cloutier. A poker legend. A Hall of Famer. One of the best Tournament Poker players of all time.
Seat 3 - Young Hoodie kid. Very nice young kid. Respectful, and played very well.
Seat 4 - Luckbox. Incredibly loose player that was at the table I was at with TJ for a very long time. One of those players, that seemed to be raising with trash, and inevitably hitting it hard. One hand in particular I recall him raising when he was on the button with 9d 5d and getting re-raised by the Big Blind with AK. He called, and proceeded to flop a diamond flush, getting all the chips in on the flop.
Seat 5 - Yours truly. I felt like i had grinded my way to the final table. Never got any great hands. Just got lucky in a couple of really crucial spots, and managed my push/fold game really well.
Seat 6 - Kathy Liebert. All time Female Tournament Money winner. One of the top Tournament players in the world, regardless of gender.
Seat 7 - Young lady named Kristen. Very good local player. We see her up Choctaw all the time.
Seat 8 - 20 year old kid. Another really good young poker player. No attitude, just a good solid player.
Seat 9 - The other Asian player. Not crazy like Seat 1. Excellent player.
Seat 10 - Older woman. She finished 5th in the $100 buy-in tournament so she has been here before. Very good player.
There are a few shorter stacks then me, so my first thought is to move up a slot or 2 on the payout ladder, and see what develops from there. Only a hand or two into final table action young hoodie kid (shortest stack) goes all in with A5 and gets knocked out.
Several hands later, at about the 10:00 minute mark Luckbox Raises my BB, and I instashove when I wake up with AdAh. I'm thrilled when he calls me with A5. Flop comes up X23, and Kathy Liebert lets out a moan...then comes the 4, and I'm drawing dead to a 5. The river brings a blank, and I'm down to a few chips. I end up pushing all in a few hands later, rather than getting blinded out, and I go out in 9th place. I collect my $1,280 from Marvin, and head off to sleep with Merlot. It's 4 am, and the $500 tournament starts in 7 hours. Time to sleep fast.
A replay of my 15 minutes of Final Table fame can be seen here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4691144
Saturday
It looks like Merlot, Yogi, Cupcake and I are the One-Outer representatives in todays $500 + $60 tournament. We start off with some 60 players or so. My table draw is again at TJ's table. Today starts off much better than yesterday for me. I'm actually getting some hands to play, and I work my starting stack of 10,000 up to 14,000 at first break.
It was in the middle of blind level 6 when blinds were 400 - 800, with a 75 ante, that this hand happened. It folds to TJ who raises to 2,500. I wake up in the BB with AQo. I toy with the idea of re-raising, then decide to flat call and see a flop. Flop comes up A 6 7. I check. TJ bets 3,500. I push all in. TJ instacalls for all of his chips. This can't be a good thing. He shows A7. And while I have him covered, I'm drawing dead to a Q. No Q comes and I'm down to about 600 in chips. I end up going out on the next hand.
Merlotgirl was up napping, after she busted out. When I got to the room we decided to go eat lunch, and I beat myself up about that hand. The quote of the day from me was: "What made me think I could outplay TJ Cloutier after the flop?" I should have trusted my instincts that my AQ had TJ beat pre-flop. After playing with him some 14 hours or so over the week, I know he lays down that weak Ace preflop if I re-raise him.
Nap, watch a movie, and play cash and drink cocktails in Bobcat and Kathy's suite that night.
Sunday
Check out in the morning. Merlot signs us up for the 10K Freeroll. It looks like it's just me, Merlotgirl, Leo and Kathy Kratz for the Freeroll. Ends up being a 70 player field and they are paying 7. Leo is first gone. I can't get any traction after the first blind level, and bust out next. I then go to play some 1/2 NL. Merlot girl is out next although she made it to the last 2 or 3 tables. Kathy goes deep making final 8 where they chopped the prize. She'll have to tell us what her payday was.
I sit down at a 1/2 NL table. Buy-in for $150. First hand I play I'm in the Cutoff and overlimp for $2. BB makes it $12. I call with Ah3h and the SB calls. Flop comes 6h 7h Jh. Cha ching. SB chekcs. BB bets $25. I Call. SB calls. Pot = $114. Turn comes a blank. SB checks. BB bets $40 and is all in. I call. SB calls. River brings an A. SB decides to bet out $45. I go all in for another $33. He ends up foliding. He had 2 hearts with a str8 flush draw that missed. BB turns over KhQh for the second nut flush, and my A3 wins a sizeable pot.
Several hands later. I get KK in my BB. There are 6 limpers in the pot so I raise to $20. UTG in seat 9 calls...and I'm so tired I don't realize that seat 1 also calls. Flop comes up Q88. I bet $45. Seat 9 folds...since I don't know that Seat 1 called preflop I turn over my cards and show KK. I can see the players in seats 5 and 6 looking at me like, what the hell is he doing showing his cards. Now I don't know if seat 1 saw my KK or ot, but he goes over the top for another $50. I consider it for a moment. Then decide he either saw my hand and is making a play at it, or did not see my hand and has a pretty strong hand on his own. I reriase him another hundred which puts him all in...and he calls. Crap...maybe he did have an 8. The turn and river come with blanks...he turns over JJ...and I win a monster pot. I've now got about $600 in front of me, and while I was unhappy to see Merlotgirl walk in the room (since it meant she busted out), I was very happy to quit good and head for home.
Summary
The new Choctaw Casino and Resort is just beautiful. The Poker Room is incredible. It is truly set up for the players. Warmly decorated. Excellent chairs. Beautiful Lounge area. Away from all of the noise and confusion on the main floor. The only negative I saw was that they allow smoking right outside the poker room where the board is. If they made you go downstairs to smoke, the entire area would be smoke free and just aswesome! As it is, it is a great Poker Room.
Playing poker with TJ Cloutier and Kathy Liebert was an experience that I just can't explain. They are just incredible ambassadors for the game of poker. The stories they were telling and the presence they bring to the table was worth the price of the buy-in. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance at all to play with Tom McEvoy, but I did speak to him briefly a few times. If there is any justice he will be joining TJ as a Poker Hall of Famer this year. His contributions to poker over the years have been huge. The books he's written, the bracelts he's won and his crusading (along with Kathy Liebert) for smoke free poker rooms is something I'll think about everytime I sit down at a poker table.
To sit down at a final table with TJ Cloutier on one side of me, and Kathy Liebert on the other side was priceless. That doesn't happen in other competitive arenas. I can't go play with Tiger Woods...I can't compete with Andy Roddick...but I can play poker with the greats of the game, and feel like I didn't embarrass myself at all. When TJ Cloutier tells you it was a pleasure playing with you , and that you play well (he didn't tell everyone that)...or Kathy Liebert tells Merlotgirl that she played well (she didn't tell everyone that either), it gives you the confidence, and the incentive to keep working hard on your game. As Kathy said at one of the Boot Camps we atteneded..."I spent over $300 on Amazon last week buying poker books...if you aren't working on your game, you're going to lose ground, because everyone else is." She couldn't emphaize enough how important it is to know what other people are thinking.
WSOP Here We Come!!!!
You can see the Boot Camps Right here:
Boot Camp #1
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4642675
Boot Camp #2
