ATLARGE 2001 - Trip Report - Cactus Kev
This is a long one, guys.
Chris, Dennis and I headed out a little after one for AC, without directions, so we would up getting on some dinky road with lots of traffic lights, 45MPH signs, and interesting farm smells. But we made it there in due course, with plenty of time to park, check in, and down a hearty meal at Burger King, before entering the Trop's $25 limit hold'em tourney. There were 115 players, with first place getting a measley $690, because only $15 of your $25 went towards the prize pool. I made it to the 50/100 level, and from my original T500 of tourney chips, I had only T350 left. Not a goodly amount for that level. I busted out at #58, which was right at the half-way point for number of entrents, but I was happy with my tourney play. In any case, it was good practice for the upcoming ATLARGE-only tourneys scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Oh, before the tourney, I played about one hour of 1-5 Stud in a ring game, and was down $26 when I was called for the tourney. However, after busting out of the tourney, I went back to playing 1-5 Stud. I believe Dennis was at my table as well. We had some "contributors" at our table, so after about 2.5 hours of play, I was tired, but had won $71, so we called it quits. Dennis also had a winning night at that table as well, and he can give you his figures. However, if he had wanted to, he could have had some "action" of a different type that night, because some fifty year old redhead was puttin' the moves on him all during the game. He cleaned up pot after pot by just flexing his biceps or flashing a smile :) So Dennis is leaving our home game of guys-only, and seeking out an all- female home game so he can retire. Get this! In one hand, it was Dennis against a different lady at the table. At 7th Street, Dennis bets his Straight, and the lady just calls with her Full House. She then whispers to Dennis, "If it had been anyone else at the table, I would have raised." Barf!! I'm gonna start calling Dennis "Mr. Tom Cruise". Later, after Dennis had brutally rejected the aforementioned redhead's advances, he mentioned that his friend Chris might be interested. To which she responded, "Is your friend as cute as you are?" Okay, now I'm ready to hurl. On the way out, she walks by Dennis and whispers "It's been a long time, sweetie". Well, it's now midnight, and my repulsive looks have still managed to turn in a winner of an evening, so I'm now at plus $45 for ring games so far.
Dennis and I turn in, but Chris still wants to play. Dennis crashes on the floor, since we *assume* Chris will be returning for sleep at least sometime during the night. Ha! Fat chance. Chris "I don't need no stinkin' sleep" played cards the whole night long, and didn't even bother to call his buddy Dennis and tell him to go ahead and use his bed. The nerve! So we wake up and there is no Chris. We head down to the poker room, and there he is still playing, and not looking too lucid. We drag him away from the table to come eat breakfast with us at Country Kitchen, and then send him back to the room for sleep while we seek out our fortune at the tables again. Well, after a solid six hours of play (11:10 to 5:10), I make exactly zero dollars :/ And no women are hitting on me either. Bummer. In fact, there is very little eye-candy in the poker room at all, with the exception of a dealer named Shannon, and a waitress whose name escapes me. So, after six hours of sitting with crotchety old men and making absolutely no profit, it was time to wake Chris and head over to HOOTERS!!!! We feasted on both food and flesh, and all agreed that the long haired brunette was the most worthy. Reluctantly, we left the lucious ladies and headed back to some more 1-5 Stud action. After three more hours of play, we both had another winning session. I made $66, so I was now up $111 and ready for sleep. Chris was still playing, but promised not to stay up all night. Dennis and I crashed, but were rudely awakened by Mike and Doug banging on our door, letting us know that they had arrived. We told them how we were faring, and planned to meet for breakfast on Saturday.
Saturday morning, Chris and Dennis passed on breakfast, so I took Mike and Doug back to the Country Kitchen, and then returned to the tables for action before the 2pm ATLARGE no-limit Hold'Em tourney. Three more hours later, I had won another zero dollars. Sigh. Okay, it's time for the tourney. I meet some fellow ATLARGE'rs that actually remember me from the last year. I guess it's the hat :) Chris bets us all that two of us will start at the same table, and sure enough, Chris and I wind up together at table Nine. The rest are all at different tables. I look around to see who else I'm playing against, and I recognize Scott "Bwana" Byron: an excellent player, but who also can be very obnoxious at the table sometimes (in my opinion). I don't want to get into a hand with him heads-up unless I can avoid it. We all start with T500, and I'm playing good poker. After about five minutes, the first player busts out, and a big round of applause is heard. (plus, we're all thankful it wasn't us :) However, as a consolation prize for busting out first, he gets $100. Gee, maybe next time I should bust out first on purpose :) There are some more claps as people bust out one by one, and then I get dealt pocket sevens. I'm hoping to sneak this hand in, and people are folding to the blinds; but then my buddy Chris raises T75. hmmmmmmmm. "Well, it's *only* T75," I muse, so I call his bet. The flop comes Qh 7c Th, and I have three Sevens. *Yes!* Chris bets another T75, and I announce that I'm all-in, and shove my remaining chips forward. "I only have T10 left!" whines Chris, but he calls anyway. I turn over my Sevens, and he turns over POCKET ACES! Gasps are heard all over the room! TK can't believe that Chris only bet T75 on his Aces. Somebody calls Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmeth, and they shake their heads in disbelief. "How could you not go all-in initially on those Aces!???" they cry! Card Player magazine sees me afterwards for an interview. The rec.gambling.poker newsgroup is alive with chatter over this hand for the next month!! Chris vows to tell everyone in Atlantic City about how his buddy Kev busted him out of the tourney with pocket Sevens against his Aces. I go to the bathroom during a break, and the janitor looks at me, reads my name tag, and says, "Say, aren't you the guy who busted your friend Chris out of the NLHE tourney?? That's cruel, man. Real cruel."
Okay, enough humour :) Needless to say, my trip Sevens hold up, Chris is knocked out, and soon after, it's time for a color chip change. Doug was also knocked out before the change as well, but I wasn't at his table of rocks. He had some killer players at his table that play rough. The tally after the five dollar chips were removed was:
Kevin: T925
Dennis: T1000
Mike: T550
As more people get knocked out, they start moving people around to keep the tables full of players. Guess who gets moved to my table? None other than Steve "Buckshot-B". So now I have *two* players whom I know to be much better Hold'Em players than I at my table. In addition, there is still a little "bad blood" between Steve and the 8-2 gang from an incident last year. So my nerves were not in good shape.
We play more hands, I'm playing tight, and Steve raises T300. All fold to me, and I'm the big blind. I look at my cards, and see pocket Kings. Oh baby!!! If ever there was a hand to get against Steve, this was it. I ask Steve, "How many chips to you have left?" He counts them, and replies that he has T325 left. Here's where I make a betting blunder, that in retrospect, probably was to my benefit anyway. My plan is to bet an amount that will put him all in, but in my haste, I count out T325 in chips (the amount he has left) and toss it into the pot. I *then* return to my chips and start to grab T300 more chips in order to match his raise of T300, but the entire table cries out "NO NO NO. That would be a string bet". I realize my blunder, so I've actually only raised Steve T100. If I had just said "I raise", I would have been able to reach for more chips to bet, but I didn't :/ So Steve is thinking long and hard, and finally calls the remaining T100. The flop comes, and I'm praying that an Ace doesn't fall. In fact, I'm praying that NO high card falls, since I'm assuming that Steve has either Aces, Queens, or perhaps an Ace suited with a high kicker. The flop looks like a real rag, so I'm all-in. Okay, now Steve is really thinking long and hard. I'm silently wishing, "Please call me. Please call me. Please call me." Finally, he grabs his chips, says, "What the heck. Let's play", and throws his chips in the pot. He turns over pocket Tens. *Yes!!* I turn over my Cowboys, and he knows he's in trouble. The turn and river don't help him, and YES, yours truly, Cactus Kev, busts out Steve the Hold'Em pro, and nemesis of certain 8-2 club members :) Woo-hoo!! Chris leaves the table to tell the gang what just happened, and I find myself the new chip leader at my table with T1875. [The reason I said that my betting blunder might have helped me, is that had I actually raised him all-in, Steve might not have called to see the flop. When the flop showed nothing higher than a Ten, he must have decided that his Tens might hold up.]
Okay, we finally hit the 50/100 level, and play gets nasty. I'm getting crap crap crap. Finally, I get dealt A5 suited, and everyone folds in front of me. I try to steal the blinds, but the big blind stays with me for heads-up play. The flop shows A66, and after the betting, he is all-in for T825, which I have matched. I turn over my A5, and he reveals AJ. The turn is a rag, and the river is a rag. But CRAP, both rags are lower than a Jack, so we both have AA66 and his Jack gets to be used as a kicker, so he wins. RATS!! That one hurt me. Soon after, I have A6 suited and decide to steal the blinds again. Sure enough, someone stays with me, and the flop shows an Ace. We each commit T225 (I don't think I put him all-in, but I can't remember). He turns over AQ, and the board shows all rags with no pair. Guess what!! The kicker kicks my ass again!!! (Which has given me the wisdom that in future tournament play, I will not play an Ace with a low card in similar situations. The high kicker card really comes into play more times than you think. Chris, you can put that in the book that you and Dennis are writing :)
Well, I'm not the chip leader anymore, and they move me to a new table. I'm sitting next to none other than Nolan Dalla himself. Real nice fellow. I'm playing tight, and pass on those Ace-low hands that burned me before. But I'm getting crap cards, and the blinds at eating me up. Finally I get dealt AK. I'm betting, and put one player all-in. He turns up AJsuited. The flop is raggy, as is the turn. I'm ahead, but then the river is a Jack. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Now I have hardly any chips left, and I see the writing on the wall. It was finally Nolan that put me all-in when I was the big blind. He raises me, and I peek at my hole cards. AKsuited!!! Hey, it doesn't get any better than this. I'm all-in, Mr. Dalla. He's got a goodly stack of chips, so it didn't cost him much to put me all-in. He turns over 86suited. Things are looking good!! Flop is rag rag rag. Turn is rag. River is a Six. I can't believe it. A pair of Sixes win. groan!!! I'm out of the tourney. I check in with Tiger to get my knockout status. Out of 86 initial players, I made it to 29th place, which put me in the top third. Surprisingly, as I was standing up, I saw that Dennis had also been knocked out at practically the same time. So Dennis and I placed 29th and 28th, and had at least made it to the final three tables. Not a bad showing for the 8-2 club!
We rounded up the gang, and all five of us headed back to Hooters so that Doug and Mike could pick their favorites as well. We finally got a booth, and Dennis, Mike and I quickly beat Chris and Doug out of the prime viewing seats :) Gotta move faster, ya old geezers! Doug and Dennis drank some beer, too, which apparently had a different effect on them both, as Doug lost money and went back to the room tired and feeling unwell, and Dennis turned in his biggest ring game profit of the entire trip. We all get different tables, and I get the sweetest table you ever saw. Fish are swimming everywhere. I'm up $65 after a few hours, and finally motion Dennis over to my table when a seat opens up, so that he can share in the winnings. Plus, there is actually a young attractive woman playing poker at a nearby table, and I cleverly ask for a seat change in order to have an excellent view of her. Dennis seats himself next to me on my left, and I point out the key fish. Sadly, shortly after Dennis arrived, things started going downhill. I'm dealt (A5)A, and bet five, getting only one caller, Grandma. Easy money, says I. On fifth street, I get another Five, for Aces Up, a sure winner at this table. I'm betting five the whole way, and Grandma isn't showing a pair, and I don't put her on a Straight or Flush. I decide to be "nice" and not take all her money, so I check. Grandma BETS!! *crap!* what's going on here!? No one is allowed to bet into me, after I've been pushing a hand the whole time and finally check to be a good sport!! So I call, ready to rake in a $50 pot, and she turns over here three hole cards: KING KING KING. *aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!** She was calling with her pocket Kings the whole time, but instead of pairing up for Kings Up (which in any sane universe would have happened), she got the miracle King card on 7th Street. Well, that started my slow spiral down from plus $65 to a losing down $69. How did I lose so much and Dennis win so much you ask?? (Dennis left that night up at least $120). Well, for a brief moment in time at our table, we all entered the "Twilight Zone" of poker.
These two guys sit down together. The cards are dealt, and one of these guys (whom will henceforth be known as "Maniac") raises five. Remember, we're playing at the 1-5 Stud table. So we all give him respect, and fold all our hands. Maniac *slams* his cards down to the dealer, and rakes the money. Interesting. The next hand is dealt, and Maniac raises five again! He gets one caller. They each get one more card, the Maniac bets five, and his lone opponent folds. SLAM goes the cards again, and he rakes in the money. Hmmmmmmmm. Very interesting. Next hand is dealt. Maniac is raising five again! Okay, the entire table is now realizing that this guy simply *cannot* be getting hands worth five dollar raises every frickin' time. So now he is starting to get some callers that take him to 7th street. But this guy is either betting five or calling five (and sometimes raising five) every single time!!! Dennis and I are joking that betting a white (dollar) chip must be against his religion or something. The lady next to me thinks that perhaps he's drunk, or maybe just won five hundred at a slot machine, and want to waste time in the poker room. In any case, "good" players at the table are all thinking the same thing: This is a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to make some decent money fast!!! This Maniac is going all the way to showdown with a pair of Deuces, sometimes only an Ace high!!! People are raking in $25 to $30 for each hand they beat him on. And the guy is in EVERY hand!! He goes through his first $100 in less than a half-hour. Dennis cleans his clock twice with decent no-nonsense poker play, as do other players. I'm *praying* for a hand to stay on!!! I don't care if this guy is playing every hand -- I'm gonna play sane poker. Finally, I get dealt pocket Kings!! YES!!!! Visions of red five dollar chips are dancing in my head. I bet five, waiting for the expected call (or hopefully, a raise). THE MANIAC FOLDS!!! HE LEAVES THE TABLE for a smoke break or something!!!! I can't believe it!!! "Foul!!," I cry! "I deserve a piece of this guy as much as everyone else!!!" I sulk and win a measly pittance of a pot for my pocket Kings. Finally, the Maniac returns (whom Chris later dubbed the "ATM Machine"). Dennis and others continue to win huge pots off of him, and he is down to his last five dollars. We all breathe a sigh of relief as he buys in for another $100. I'm still waiting for my hand, and Dennis nods in approval as I reluctantly fold "marginal" hands that *may* have potential. "Patience," Dennis whispers to my ear. "You must have patience, Grasshopper." Finally, I get dealt (A3)6, all hearts. There are no hearts showing anywhere, and the Maniac has an Ace face up. He raises five, all fold to me, and I call. He gets a rag, and I get a fourth heart. SCHWEEEEETTTTT! He bets five, I raise, and he raises me back!! Oh baby! I simply call, but I hear Dennis grunt behind me, thinking I should have raised him back yet again. Next card gives another Ace to the Maniac, and I get a brick. Oh, this is going to be sweet, I'm thinking. This ATM Machine is going to get Aces Up (a decent poker hand, one that even *he* would realize is good), we'll get in a heads-up raising war, and my Flush will clean his clock! He bets his Aces and I call. Sixth street gives both of us a brick, but he gets my Heart. More scrooching is heard by Dennis, and I feel him chanting a mantra in his head, "Get a heart. Get a heart. Get a heart." I'm still not worried, as I am thinking that *surely* the poker gods are making me wait for that magical heart on the river. However, my logical poker mind is thinking "Okay, he's at least got a pair of Aces, and so far, I don't even have a pair. In fact, I don't even have a Straight draw. So my only hope to win is to get the Heart, because the case Ace was already folded by another player." The river card is dealt down, and of course, the Maniac bets five. There is over $60 in the pot, and when I get that heart, the raising war that will most certainly ensue will yield me at least a tidy $50 profit on that hand alone. Dennis later told me he couldn't force himself to look at my hole card. I lift up my final card, and realize that I've just lost about $30 to a incompentant boob. No heart. It wasn't even red. ANGRY POKER!!!! A couple hands later, I chase Kings that don't improve, calling five every time against the Maniac, and get beaten by a Flush that he got on the 6th street. I get up to avoid going on tilt, and head to my cash deposit box to get another $100 out. I know I'll make up my losses by playing against this guy, and I want to be ready. I come back armed with more cash, and after a few more hands, a Trop dealer comes over and tells the Maniac that his buddy (whom had left earlier to move to another table) wanted him to come join him at his table. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! DON'T LEAVE!!!!!! I've got to win my money back from you, ya goober!!!! I'll pay you to stay here!!!!" Sadly, he leaves our table, and the remaining players all shake their heads in wonderment as to what we have all just witnessed. He had paid out at least $200 to the table before leaving, and I didn't get a single dime. So Dennis and I call it a night, and plan to get a good nights sleep for the 10am tourney Sunday. I'm down $69 thanks to Grandma and the Maniac, but I'm still up $42 for the entire trip in ring games. Dennis is way way up after that experience, and perhaps it was just a hint of things to come.
Sunday comes, and we all meet for breakfast at Country Kitchen. Glenn "Pubinfoguy" is there and wishes us luck. We get slow service, eat fast, and rush back in order to check out of the hotel, put our bags in the car, and get back in time for the ATLARGE 7-Card Stud limit tourney. This time, Doug and I wind up at the same table. But through a strange quirk, we wound up with only four human players. The remaining three spots of chips were no-shows. (They had paid, but decided not to play). Which meant that we four players always would win against the no-shows, and we always got their blinds. As Doug had stated earlier, I really liked this, but he and another guy at our table wanted some "live" players. Anyway, we started with T300, and shortly after, I jumped to T475 when my Full House kicked "Bigboy"'s butt. By 11:35, I had T585 at the 25/50 level, and was getting good cards and playing well. Finally, they broke our table up, and I got moved to table 3 (no 8-2 members present). Then came the most incredible streak of crap cards I have ever witnessed. Mike had busted out earlier, and was standing at the rail as I showed him my cards over and over. 842 all unsuited. K73 all unsuited. 973 all unsuited. It was horrible, and the blinds were simply KILLING me. I thought about trying a steal, but I realized that people other than me were actually getting good cards, and I didn't want to risk it at this level. Finally, by noon, it was the 50/100 level and I had T200 left. not goot!! Dennis and Chris are still in, though. I finally look at my cards and see (T3)4 of hearts, and there are no hearts out at all. I'm the bring-in, somebody completes, all fold to me, and I decide to call. I get a Five, but not a heart. Okay, I'm trying to remember if anybody had dropped out with a Deuce or Six. I'm low on money. I guess it won't get any better than this. My opponent bets, and puts me all-in. I don't get the Flush or the Straight or even a Pair, so I'm out. Out of 66 players, I place 45th. Oh well, I gave it my best shot. I decide to take a nice long walk on the boardwalk and beach, and breathe in the clear cool ocean air. It was very nice out, and I enjoyed the break from the poker room. Okay, time to head back and see how Dennis and Chris are doing. It's been about an hour since I'm gone, and lo! Dennis and Chris are still playing. And they have some nice stacks in front of them!! I watch for a few minutes, and TK announces that it is time for a break. I quickly count the number of players, and there are 24 remaining. During the break, they color up, removing all T5 chips. Surprise surprise, both Chris and Dennis both have exactly T1150 in chips. Pretty awesome. They are a little under average in chip count (66 x T500 = T33000; T33000 / 24 = T1375), but there are a lot of players that have less than they do.
Okay, back to the game, and we're playing at the 200/400 level. The boys are playing tight. I'm trying to watch both Chris' and Dennis' table simultaneously, and don't want to miss an important hand. Suddenly, I see Dennis all-in on 4th street. The cards are turned up, and his opponent has Kings-Up already. Dennis has AKxT, with the first three cards suited. He pulls a Queen on 5th street, and no hearts appear by 6th street. Things don't look good. He starts to stand up. The crowd announces that he needs a Jack to win. (His opponent had already revealed his entire hand, and his Kings-Up didn't improve to a Full House). I scream, "Come on, Jack!!!" And boom!!! He flips over his card, and it is a Jack!!! Woo-hoo!!! The river wins again! [which would be a recurring theme over and over during the tourney]. After that winning Broadway hand, Dennis had a very impressive chip count, and before you knew it, we were down to just twelve players. And Chris and Dennis STILL had very good chip counts. This is simply amazing that two of our own 8-2 club guys, who had never entered a Stud tourney in their life, have made it to the final twelve! Chris motions me over and asks me to find out the prize money stats. Here they are:
1: $1320
2: $ 759
3: $ 396
4: $ 231
5: $ 198
6: $ 165
7: $ 132
8: $ 99
So if just four more players bust out ahead of them, they will both be in the money at the final table. I spread the news to them. They're playing tight and good poker. They're stealing blinds when they can. Then, we're down to eleven players when our man Chris knocks out #11 with trip Sevens beating pocket Tens. Then, another player is out! We're down to ten! I quickly do another chip count. Chris is way up with T3425, but Dennis has been getting blinded to death with crap cards, and has T800. We're at the 500/1000 level, and it's getting ugly. Chris almost knocks out "Ice" with his pocket Jacks, but Ice stays alive when he hits trip Sixes on the river. Then another player is knocked out, and we have Nine. Chris tries to knock "Ice" out again with TT99x and a three-flusher on five-cards. "Ice" had a pair of Kings. Chris failed to hit his Full House or Flush, but "Ice" paired up on the river by getting an Eight, giving him KK88. FINALLY, another player knocks "Ice" out, and woo-hoo!! Both our boys make it to the final table and in the money!
Here's how the final table looked:
Seat Player Chips
---------------------------
1 Brad 3475
2 Dennis 2250
3 Scott 4350 (Bwana)
4 Chris 2675
5 Glenn 425 (Pubinfoguy)
6 Bruce 1550 (Bigboy)
7 Steve 2975
8 Mordecai 1700
As expected, Glenn "Pubinfoguy" was the first player knocked out. Shortly afterwards, Bruce "Bigboy" got busted out, and they jumped to the 1000/2000 level. Yikes!!! But both Chris and Dennis are assured at least $165 for a sixth place finish. My heart is racing a mile a minute, so I can't even imagine what Dennis and Chris are feeling like. I'm still thinking how amazing it is that *TWO* of our 8-2 club members have actually made to the final six, and they both have an EXCELLENT chance of winning it all!!!
Dennis winds up being all-in on pocket Deuces, but they improve to 7722, and he wins. Chris puts someone all-in (T1975) with pocket Jacks, but loses when his opponent gets another Ace for a pair of Aces. It doesn't look good for Chris now, but he wins back a lot of it again when his AA22 holds up on the next hand. Later, Dennis tries to knock out Steve with his pocket Kings that improve to Trip Kings! But Steve *amazingly* get FOUR EIGHTS!!!! We can't believe it!!!! That would have knocked it down to just five players, but now Dennis has lost a hunk of his chips. Finally, Chris is forced all-in on a hand, and Dennis and Brad are also in, playing in a side pot. Whoever wins this hand is going to have a hunk of chips. When the smoke clears, Chris has been knocked out, and Dennis reveals an Ace-High Flush to beat Brad's hand (which I can't remember). So Chris gets a fine 6th place finish, but the good news is that in getting busted out, he at least lost his chips to Dennis. So that gives Dennis a VERY good commanding chip lead at the table. But it also gives good humour, because now Chris can whine that BOTH of his two poker buddies he drove to AC with busted him out of a tournament :)
The play continues, and finally Dennis knocks out Brad with a very ballsy move. Dennis raises, and suddenly Brad raises a hunk to Dennis. Dennis is thinking and thinking. Dennis has a King face up, and Brad is showing a Six. I whisper to Chris, "I assume that Dennis has Kings, but the only thing that Brad could have worth a re-raise is Aces. If you assume that Brad has pocket Aces, what would *you* do?" Well, after much though, Dennis calls. The next cards are rags, and Brad moves all-in. Dennis is committed, so he calls. Sure enough, Brad has pocket Aces, and Dennis has a pair of Kings with a Trey. The remaining cards are dealt, and Dennis catches another Trey for Kings Up. But if Brad catches a pair, he'll win. Wonder of wonders, no pair comes, so Dennis' Kings Up wins, and we're down to three players, with Steve VERY VERY low on chips! At this level, there is a LOT of blind/ante stealing going on, since you can lose a hunk very fast if you don't get a hand. Soon, Dennis puts Steve all-in holding JJTT. Steve shows 5566. Dennis catches another pair of Treys, but no Full House. However, Jacks Up is looking mighty good!!! Only a Five or Six will help Steve, and Dennis has at least one of them as his seventh card. Steve reaches down to peek at his final down card. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Another frickin' Five!!!!! How can this guy dodge so many bullets on the river!!??? To Dennis' credit, he didn't reach over and strangle the guy, or curse him out, or anything such behavior. He simply stated, "Nice hand, sir." I think that if that had been me, I would have hurled on the table, my stomach would have been so full of butterflies from this wild rollercoaster of a poker ride.
Okay, we're almost done. We jump to the 2000/4000 level and Dennis is all-in against Steve. Dennis turns up AKx suited, and Steve shows JJx. Believe it or not, Steve never improved his Jacks. All Dennis needs is an Ace or a King. It doesn't fall. The poker gods are fickle indeed. I guarantee that if Dennis had won either that previous Steve-suckout hand (55566) or this hand, he would have definately won the tourney. Scott was extremely tired, and hadn't slept in 30 hours. Both of them would have had equal stacks of chips. I'm sure a deal would have been made to split the first and second prize money equally. And Scott may have even forfeited the game, since they could conceiveably play on for another hour or more. But it was not to be. Scott won the tourney a few hands later when his Queens Up beat Steve's pair of Fives.
So our man Dennis got himself a nice plaque for finishing third. He treated both Chris and I to dinner afterwards (he had to be starving, as he played thru lunch). I was up $42, Dennis was way up, and with Chris' 6th place prize money, that put him on the plus side as well. Not a bad showing at all from the ANGRY POKER boys!!!!
Kudos to those of you who read all of this. If you didn't go this year, you really missed out on some good times. Plan on coming next year! Hey Chris, be sure to tell Ron S. about that Follow the Queen game the Trop was spreading in the back room. And we almost got our dealer to deal a round of Suffecool :)
--Cactus Kev