Trip And A Chair
Friday, February 18, 2005
As I mentioned in a post last week, over the next few months, when my schedule allows it, I'll be playing at a local brew pub each Thursday. The tournaments are free and there are prizes each night for the final 3 players as well as tournament points for the final 8 players. At the end of it all, a certain number of players with enough points will play a semi-final tournament to make it to the final tournament of champions. The winner of the tournament of champions will receive a seat to the WSOP Main Event. Last week was the first week and I came in 3rd place out of 75, collecting a load of beer to take home and 50 points towards the semi final tournament. Now for last night...
Maybe it was the beer, or the fact it's a freeroll, but damn I had a kick ass time last night. It doesn't hurt when your playing well and the cards are falling your way too. This is quite the opposite from my online play which - as of late - had been been poor to quite poor. I think a big part of my doing so well live is I'm not concerned with the outcome...though I'm definitely happy with the results so far. Last night I did the best I have ever done with a short stack. There were 50 people at the start and, with about 25 people left I lost almost all my stack against a guy who turned QQ into quads on the river against my straight on the turn. With three $100 chips left, I began the difficult task of getting back in the game. Luckily, I had just passed the blinds and had some time to try and catch a hand. Not long after, and on my big blind, I looked down at K9o. At that point I couldn't even meet the big blind, but I was very happy to see numerous callers. I knew my chances of winning the pot were slim, but if I could I would quadruple up. The flop brought me a K and the turn brought a 9 and I took down the hand. I felt bad when one of the guys flipped over AA and thought he had won the hand. At the time, we were both basically all-in (though he might have had $20 left) so it was a tough one to take for him. I on the other hand, was still alive though I was still barely treading water. The chip leader was at my table so I knew I would have to hopefully catch a halfway decent hand and push it all-in if I wanted to stay alive. We were down to 14 when - on my big blind of $800 - I could only post my final $600. The chip leader dealt the cards and I was extremely happy to look down at AJo. That was until it was realized she had not dealt herself into the hand. I jokingly gave everybody grief for my bad luck, then resolved to not let it get to me. Still it stung a little inside. When the cards were dealt again, I unhappily looked down at 9 2 of diamonds. I did laugh inside when I thought about a shirt I had seen with two cards - a 5 & 2 - with a caption that says "But They Were Suited!" There were 2 callers and the flop was beautifully showing all red...I had to look a little closer and then realized they were all diamonds. The guy to my left bet big and when the other person folded I was happy to see he had no diamonds in his hand. No miracle came for him and again I had yanked myself from the grip of defeat to play on.
From then on I played my shortstack like I wanted to go home with the few chips I had. At one point I asked everyone at the final table if any of them had a nipple I could put on my chips since I had been nursing them all night. That one caught a good chuckle from everyone, but alas, no one offered the goods. In the end, I nursed my chips to the point of no return and - in the small blind - looked down at J 5 of spades and pushed in. Having a ton of chips, he easily called and made my chances dwindle when he showed Q 6 of spades. Still, I knew I was in o.k. shape since we were not sharing any cards. Alas, the cards didn't save me again and I was out in 4th place. A good spot to pick up some tournament points, but one spot out of the restaurant prize. As I mentioned earlier, last week I took a good bit of beer home for 3rd place. Specifically, it was 2 "Growlers" which are huge jugs of their signature brew, Red Oak. After getting the boot in 4th, I went over to the restaurant manager who was watching and - in my clearly drunken voice - said, "if 3rd place got me 2 Growlers last week, it just makes sense that 4th place should get me 1 Growler." I gave her my sad puppy dog eyes and she couldn't resist, calling for the bartender to set me up. Life was good at that point.
I must say, I did not go into these tournaments striving for a seat to the WSOP. Rather, I did it because it was free, a chance to get out and have some beers with friends, and because it sounded like fun. At his been a ton of fun, but along the way I've actually accrued some unexpected points. Amazingly, the lady who won it last week was in the final 3 this week, though I left before I could see how she did. In fact - including myself - there were 4 people from last weeks final table that made it to last nights final table. All in all it has been a great experience and the people at last nights table were an absolute trip. I can't recall a table that was more fun to be at. I'm sure it was the beer talking, but it seemed like every time someone said something, the whole room was laughing. And I think I was everyone's sentimental favorite for the night since I had been the comeback kid so many times. Every time I was all-in it was as if people knew I was going to stay alive. At one point, people were singing the song "Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin Alive, Stayin Alive" Good times. Good beer. Good gracious I have to get back to work.
posted by TripJax @ 7:20 PM,
1 Comments:
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