MD Live! 2017 - Trip Report - Cactus Kev
Maryland Live! - 2017 Legends Series - Limit Omaha8 / Stud8
Yep, it was a very exciting and lucrative day.
I was still feeling a bit under the weather, but rather than just stay home resting on the couch, I figured I might as well play in a tourney, since poker playing is a pretty low-impact activity. My only concern was if my mind would be sharp or fuzzy.
Anyway, I originally was going to play the Sunday 3pm HORSE tourney, but I decided on the 12:15pm Saturday S8/O8 tourney instead. Earlier start time, and I knew that Ron was playing it as well. Turns out Dennis and Dave Taylor were also playing, so lots of current and former 8-2 Club members were in the race.
It was a $300 entry fee for T10000 chips, and I think everybody took the optional $20 add-on to get an extra T5000 chips.
Since I wasn't feeling top-notch, I didn't keep a good record of hands played like I normally do. Sorry about that.
By the first break, I had increased to T21600. By break 2, I was up to T31800.
I was playing fairly tight, and didn't lose many hands I committed to the river. I did lose two large O8 hands back-to-back, which got me a little upset. An opponent caught a miracle river card that gave him a flush -- he already had a low -- thus beating my high hand of two pair.
Anyway, I knuckled down and played smart poker. There were only 38 entrants and they paid the top five:
1st: $4,159
2nd: $2,537
3rd: $1,522
4th: $1,116
5th: $812
I remember one hand of Stud8. I wound up making a low on 5th street and was betting big the whole time. Dave Taylor was clearly going high, and I wasn't sure what the other guy was going for. Anyway, after the final betting round, I turn over my 7652A low. Dave has the high hand. The other dude turns over... a 7652A low. He made the exact same low as me on the river, so I got quartered. Never seen a tied low in Stud8 before. Crazy!
I fold a hand later but Dennis is in along with four other players in O8. While they bet the river, I look at the board and think "Wow, if you had A3clubs, you'd be scooping this monster with the nut low and nut flush." Lots of betting. Dennis turns over A3clubs! Hahahaha! Monster pot for Dennis!
Ron was never at my table, but he came over around this time saying he had busted out at #30. He wishes us all luck and heads home. I keep him posted on the game via texting and Facebook.
I make it to the 3rd break and advance order a burger from Bobby's Burgers. Breaks are 15 minutes long, so I run downstairs to get my burger and drink. Oh, guess what? They won't let me bring my drink into the casino. No outside drinks allowed, and Bobby's is considered "outside" the casino. Idiots. I drop a perfectly good $2.50 coke into the trash. When I get upstairs, I ask the tourney director to comp me a $2.50 drink, which he does. Cool guy.
Eating my burger revitalizes me! I win three monster pots shortly thereafter. On that third one, I have QQxx while playing O8. I see the flop, which is Q56. I bet and get two callers. Turn is a Jack, and we all bet and stay. River is a beautiful Jack, so no lows are possible and I have Queens Full. I can't believe it but my opponent actually bets into me! Dave Taylor has already been put all-in. I raise my better and he reluctantly calls. I turn over my boat, hoping he doesn't have four Jacks. He does not. I scoop a monster and knock out Dave in the process.
By the way, the dealer at that time was one of the beautiful dealers I've seen. Her name was Juna. I think she was a bit inexperienced with dealing Stud8, but I didn't mind at all.
We eventually get down to six players -- me, Dennis and four others. Somebody suggests a deal. The director crunches the numbers. Everybody thinks they are reasonable except for the chip leader. He's been very aggressive and he wants more money than was offered. No deal. We keep playing. We all chip in $40 for the bubble boy. About an hour later, bubble boy is gone. He takes his $200 profit and we are down to five. Mr. No Deal then proceeds to get hammered over and over and eventually is next to bust out! Hahahaha! Sucker! We're all thinking "guess you're wishing you would've taken the deal back then, huh?"
Once "No Deal" has exited the table, the four of us decide to crunch the numbers again. They turn out to be:
1st: $2820
2nd: $2522
3rd: $2292
4th: $1700
Dennis has the most chips, and I have the second most. We all agree to the deal and the game is over! Took just over ten hours of play. I got my payout and headed right home for some well deserved sleep.
--Cactus Kev