What's the buy-in and format?
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Vegas? 
Laid off? :shock: Wow. :?
Not a lot to report for me. Got there around 7:00 (not sure because my watch has been stuck on 3:15 for about a week) and they hadn't yet started to take entrants. No sign of Ron and Don yet. I was about 20th in line and got a seat easily. They allowed some clown a couple spots ahead of me to sign up like 5 people, which I thought was pretty lame. Ron and Don wander in about 20 spots behind me and they manage to get in. I think they were seating 40 or 50 and there were about 30 people on the reserve list (who were allowed to come in during the first 3 rounds as people busted out).
Ron and Don and me went over to a little coffe shop and had some adequate breakfast. It came really fast (you ever notice how when you're trying to kill a few hours service is really fast?) and we chowed and chatted then headed back over to the Derby.
They have 4 or 5 poker tables and they used one of the Carribean Stud tables for the tournament which really sucked (can you guess which table I drew?). I got the 1 seat, which meant I was basically sitting in the "pit" on the corner of the table. I could deal with the unusual seating position except that I couldn't see the players (or their chips, cards, hands) in the 9 and 10 spots. I was always off balance, not knowing when it was my turn to act or anything, so I could never get a rythm going. I got some decent hands right out of the gate, but either wasn't able to see them through due pretty big betting or no help on the flop.
I did mess up the very first hand when I flopped the nut flush draw and folded to a big, but not rediculous raise in front of me. The turn brought an Ace, which would have been plenty, and the river brought the flush. I had no feel for any of the players yet and just didn't want to mess with my stack on a draw on the very first hand. That hand was the only hand I had any post tourney regrets over. After a couple orbits, I decided to test my granite table image and raised from MP with 66. The table folded down and I stole the blinds. OK, they understnad enough to know that I mean business. I didn't get a lot of playable cards through the first couple rounds - I knocked out a player when my 55 flopped a set and rivered a boat, but I dind't show a lot of hands. By the end of the 3rd round I was about doubled up and that would just about be the extent of my success.
I floundered around trying to make something work. Stole enough pots to stay afloat for a while, but was never really able to get it going. With the blinds rising, I shoved from the button with AT (just hoping to pick up the blinds, but the BB was getting short himself and called with J9s (which put him all-in). He caught a 9 on the flop and I got 3 clubs to go with my A. The turn and river were no help so I was down to the cracks in the wall. The very next hand I got a A4 which I decided was good enough to put my last few chips in for. There were about 5 players in the hand, 4 of which were all-in. Oddly enough my A4 was ahead until the river brought one of them a 9 to beat my pair of 4s!. Oh, well. I made my $40 last for 2 hours and had fun. I oulasted Ron by about a half hour and Don was still battling it out, but barely hangin on with about 2 buy-ins worth of chips. I hope he was able to get something going....
I was off to Cache Creek for a day of pillaging the tourists - more on that in the trip report folder....
The tourney was fun, but I don't know that I'll make it a regular deal. Having to get there at 7:00 in the AM just to get signed up is just a bit more effort than I'm up for. (I was up at 5:30 to get there in time!) If it was just a couple of hours later, then I'd probably be more interested. And facing the prospect of drawing that dam Carribean Stud table is another minus. The tourney was pretty well run and the dealer I had was very competent.
Laid off? :shock: Wow. :? Not a lot to report for me. Got there around 7:00 (not sure because my watch has been stuck on 3:15 for about a week) and they hadn't yet started to take entrants. No sign of Ron and Don yet. I was about 20th in line and got a seat easily. They allowed some clown a couple spots ahead of me to sign up like 5 people, which I thought was pretty lame. Ron and Don wander in about 20 spots behind me and they manage to get in. I think they were seating 40 or 50 and there were about 30 people on the reserve list (who were allowed to come in during the first 3 rounds as people busted out).
Ron and Don and me went over to a little coffe shop and had some adequate breakfast. It came really fast (you ever notice how when you're trying to kill a few hours service is really fast?) and we chowed and chatted then headed back over to the Derby.
They have 4 or 5 poker tables and they used one of the Carribean Stud tables for the tournament which really sucked (can you guess which table I drew?). I got the 1 seat, which meant I was basically sitting in the "pit" on the corner of the table. I could deal with the unusual seating position except that I couldn't see the players (or their chips, cards, hands) in the 9 and 10 spots. I was always off balance, not knowing when it was my turn to act or anything, so I could never get a rythm going. I got some decent hands right out of the gate, but either wasn't able to see them through due pretty big betting or no help on the flop.
I did mess up the very first hand when I flopped the nut flush draw and folded to a big, but not rediculous raise in front of me. The turn brought an Ace, which would have been plenty, and the river brought the flush. I had no feel for any of the players yet and just didn't want to mess with my stack on a draw on the very first hand. That hand was the only hand I had any post tourney regrets over. After a couple orbits, I decided to test my granite table image and raised from MP with 66. The table folded down and I stole the blinds. OK, they understnad enough to know that I mean business. I didn't get a lot of playable cards through the first couple rounds - I knocked out a player when my 55 flopped a set and rivered a boat, but I dind't show a lot of hands. By the end of the 3rd round I was about doubled up and that would just about be the extent of my success.
I floundered around trying to make something work. Stole enough pots to stay afloat for a while, but was never really able to get it going. With the blinds rising, I shoved from the button with AT (just hoping to pick up the blinds, but the BB was getting short himself and called with J9s (which put him all-in). He caught a 9 on the flop and I got 3 clubs to go with my A. The turn and river were no help so I was down to the cracks in the wall. The very next hand I got a A4 which I decided was good enough to put my last few chips in for. There were about 5 players in the hand, 4 of which were all-in. Oddly enough my A4 was ahead until the river brought one of them a 9 to beat my pair of 4s!. Oh, well. I made my $40 last for 2 hours and had fun. I oulasted Ron by about a half hour and Don was still battling it out, but barely hangin on with about 2 buy-ins worth of chips. I hope he was able to get something going....
I was off to Cache Creek for a day of pillaging the tourists - more on that in the trip report folder....
The tourney was fun, but I don't know that I'll make it a regular deal. Having to get there at 7:00 in the AM just to get signed up is just a bit more effort than I'm up for. (I was up at 5:30 to get there in time!) If it was just a couple of hours later, then I'd probably be more interested. And facing the prospect of drawing that dam Carribean Stud table is another minus. The tourney was pretty well run and the dealer I had was very competent.
Early morning poker
Well, I would say I did a little better than Ron and Mark. I just played solid most of the day and got some decent hands. Early on I caught a real good break when I was holdin AQs and raised pre-flop. I had two callers. The board comes 10,J,Q all different suits, and the small blind caller bets 500 (a big bet early). The next guy folds and I cold raise to 1500. The old guys mulls it over for a second then anounces "I smell a straight" and folds, showing his pocket jacks. I give hime a wry smile and say "nice laydown", meanwhile knowing I was toast but would take the nice pot.
My cards went a little stale for a while and at one point was back down to 1600 in chips. Then I started to catch a little rush. It was about that time Ron was knocked out in about 40th+/- position. About an 1/2 hour later Mark walks by and says goodbye.
I started getting some solid starters including many pocket pairs. I had changed tables for the third time and I had the most chips on the tale (about 10,000) I started puishing the table around and was winning almost every hand. A real dusey was when I was in the Big Blind I had 92o with no preflop raise. The board came Q92 of course, and I came out betting 3000. I got raised all-in (another 1000) and called. He had AQo and the river flowed another 9 for the boat. Well about a half hour later we broke down for the final table and I drew the button from the get-go, was the chip leader with about 30,000 with several real short stacks left. I was still on a decent rush and before long we were down to four and I had around 50,000 in chips.
The next hand I'm in the big blind (4000/8000) with a 94o. The short stack behind me calls all in, and the small blind limps in. The flop comes Q94 (sound familiar) and the person to my right (who's in second chip position with about 40,000) checks. I bet 16,000. He say's "come on, check-check, let's knock him out. I have to call." I just smile. The next card is a 5 for the second diamond on the board. He checks, and I bet another 16,000. He say's again "I have to call". The last card to come is a 9 of diamonds. He turns his cards up and says "all in" showing his QJ of diamonds with his last 5 chips. I call with the boat to knock 2 players out and to swell my chips to well over 100,000. Three hands later it was over.
I cashed for $895 in my first real tourney win. It took a couple of lucky hands, but I played solid all day. Don
Well, I would say I did a little better than Ron and Mark. I just played solid most of the day and got some decent hands. Early on I caught a real good break when I was holdin AQs and raised pre-flop. I had two callers. The board comes 10,J,Q all different suits, and the small blind caller bets 500 (a big bet early). The next guy folds and I cold raise to 1500. The old guys mulls it over for a second then anounces "I smell a straight" and folds, showing his pocket jacks. I give hime a wry smile and say "nice laydown", meanwhile knowing I was toast but would take the nice pot.
My cards went a little stale for a while and at one point was back down to 1600 in chips. Then I started to catch a little rush. It was about that time Ron was knocked out in about 40th+/- position. About an 1/2 hour later Mark walks by and says goodbye.
I started getting some solid starters including many pocket pairs. I had changed tables for the third time and I had the most chips on the tale (about 10,000) I started puishing the table around and was winning almost every hand. A real dusey was when I was in the Big Blind I had 92o with no preflop raise. The board came Q92 of course, and I came out betting 3000. I got raised all-in (another 1000) and called. He had AQo and the river flowed another 9 for the boat. Well about a half hour later we broke down for the final table and I drew the button from the get-go, was the chip leader with about 30,000 with several real short stacks left. I was still on a decent rush and before long we were down to four and I had around 50,000 in chips.
The next hand I'm in the big blind (4000/8000) with a 94o. The short stack behind me calls all in, and the small blind limps in. The flop comes Q94 (sound familiar) and the person to my right (who's in second chip position with about 40,000) checks. I bet 16,000. He say's "come on, check-check, let's knock him out. I have to call." I just smile. The next card is a 5 for the second diamond on the board. He checks, and I bet another 16,000. He say's again "I have to call". The last card to come is a 9 of diamonds. He turns his cards up and says "all in" showing his QJ of diamonds with his last 5 chips. I call with the boat to knock 2 players out and to swell my chips to well over 100,000. Three hands later it was over.
I cashed for $895 in my first real tourney win. It took a couple of lucky hands, but I played solid all day. Don
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