ATLARGE 2009 - Trip Report - Jhiym
First the thanks:
Thanks to Goldie for organizing another great ATLARGE.
Thanks to the Taj Mahal and the Taj Poker room for having us.
Thanks to Poker Stars for the banquet and your best poker ambassador to speak at our event.
And a special thanks to Tracy & Rick Becker for staying home this year. My chips lasted a lot longer without having to give them all to you two! Actually, I would have gladly given them all up just to have you there with us.
Thursday:
After checking in at the Taj, I went to the Showboat and entered the 7pm NLH $65 (52+12) tournament which they limited to 60 players. Around 730, Uncle Al walked up and we chatted for a bit. He arrived late and was on the waiting list for someone to bust out so he could sit down. About 10 minutes later I had Q5 suited in the BB and got in for free. The flop came QQ7. One guy bet, I re-raised, he re-raised, I went all-in and he called. I turned over trip Queens and so did he. He had a better kicker which played and I was out. Uncle Al sat down in my vacant seat.
Friday:
I got my badge and ATLARGE swag from Goldie and then went and registered for the SOH event.
In the SOH event I got to sit with Raydon, LenG, 8-2 Greg and 8-2 Greg2. Raydon was his usual chatty self which was really fun for me as I love playing with him and listening to him wind people up. I made it to 23rd in SOH out of about 60 of us playing. I was moved to another table and was quickly eliminated by Tanya.
Then I went to the Showboat had some dinner and played in the 7PM NLH $120 (100+20) tournament which was again limited to 60 players with a few more that were added after some people busted out. This time I finished 9th, just out of the money.
Saturday:
We had 120 people in the NLH event. I got to sit with Uncle AL and Chic right off the bat. Chic was wearing a big cardboard sign hanging from his ATLARGE badge that said ”Future 2009 WSOP champion”. After a while PokerDiva was moved to our table and sat next to me and she had a huge stack. A bit later I get pocket queens. The flop comes JXX. She bets and I raise all-in, she has me covered and thinks for a few minutes and calls. She turns over a J for a pair of Jacks and my queens hold up, giving me a pretty nice stack. She was a very solid player and quickly rebuilt her stack.
We got down to 18 of us left at 8pm then we stopped for the banquet. Greg “Fossilman” Raymer showed up just prior to that and had dinner with us all and gave a speech. I had about 97k in chips right before we broke, probably shorter than most players but not as bad as some, blinds were 5k-10k at the time. The banquet was running long so I had to leave early to get back to finish the tournament at 10pm. I caught 4 huge hands in a row as soon as we sat down and I pushed hard with them all, two hands I won uncontested and the other two I knocked out two folks. People starting going out pretty quickly and the next thing you know I have about 400k in chips and we are at the final table. Greg Raymer came back to the tournament table by then and sat with us till the tournament finished. David Kuznick busted out 4th to ActionBob and now Bob had well more than half the chips.
A few hands later I had about 500k in chips and had AK on the button. The blinds were 20k-40k and raised to 200k. ActionBob went all-in and I called. Bob tuned over 88. The flop was AXX, the turn was another Ace giving me a set, then the river was an 8 giving Bob a boat and I was out in 3rd place. A little while later Bob eliminated PokerDiva and won the event. But I won $1400 for 3rd so I was happy.
Sunday:
There were 45 of us playing in the Stud Hi/lo game. I had David Kuznick at my table. Seems I always have to play stud against him. Then Greg Raymer sits down at our table to play. In one hand with Fossilman, I screwed up from 3rd street to 6th street then folded. I should have just folded from the start. Greg guessed my hand and was off a bit so I told him what I had and he said, “oh, then you misplayed third street” to which I said, “no-no that’s not true, I misplayed all the streets” and everyone laughed. David Kuznick’s mother was sitting next to him visiting and every time she came by he would lose. Then Dave and Fossilman got in a hand and some raising started. Dave’s mother says to Greg, “Now don’t you go picking on my boy.” And Greg stared at her and paused and said, I’m about to kick your boy’s ass. And everyone laughed. And he did. We played for about 2 hours then the blinds started getting high and Chic got moved to our table. David Kuznick busted out Greg Raymer and got a real cool signed fossil from him as a bust out gift. I busted out around 13th soon after that.
It was about 3pm at that point so I decided to use my $5 comp and go up to the Poker snack room and get something there before heading home. Greg Raymer was in the elevator going there as well so off we went for some lunch.
As I walked to my car I couldn’t help but wonder if I’ll ever top this weekend. Finishing third, spending time with the champ, seeing old friends again, and making new ones. Getting Raydon and Chic at my tables on back to back days, catching up with Uncle Al. It was never boring for sure.
What an amazing weekend.
DavidK - Good luck in Law School. It won’t be the same without you next year. And, two full houses in a row does not equate to a never ending string of boats. :)