It took long enough...

...but one of those nasty sick beats came back and bit me at the worst possible time. In the TOC. More on the hand in a minute.

TOC Saturday was a blast. 17 players filled the seats in the satellite tourney. Brent (who, going forward, will now be referred to as the "B-Dub Express"), ended up winning it, after posting all sorts of smack talk at our league site leading up to the event. He backed it up, with a sick rush of cards to claim entry into the TOC. He played well, got out of the way when things were sticky, and swung the hammer when he needed to. It was really amazing to watch. Well done.

In the TOC, well, it was just weird. I have never been witness to something like that ever. I know I have gone on rushes when the deck seemed to slap me between the eyes for a while--say a blind level or 2. Never have I seen the deck just crush a player (in a positive way) as I saw in the TOC. I have to give credit to Korrie for being on the receiving end of the deck whipping. She caught every card she needed to when she needed to. Whether it was the hand she was dealt (one instance, player in mid position raises all in with AQ, she's in BB with KK--auto call there--plus she had a huge stack at the time), or whether she made a call with a semi-marginal hand (yes, I am referring to a beat she put on me--and it's my blog so deal with it!!! ;) ), the deck just seemed to bail her out at the right time. Some say, "that's poker."

Here's my bail out hand story:
I'm in late position, round 1 (blinds 25-25). All fold to me in the cutoff. I have 10-10. I raise 100 making it 125 total. There is 50 in the middle with the blinds. She is in he SB and calls the 100.

Flop:

J-8-X rainbow.

I bet out 100, she calls.

Turn:

10 (makes my set)

I bet 200, she raises me another 400 (or 500, I forget). I flat call thinking she may have 2 pair.

River:

blank (no clue what it was).

We both check, she rolls over Q9 off suit--made straight on the turn.

Yes, I was steamed. Yes, I was in disbelief. Yes, I got up from the table. I did some other things too, which won't be repeated here. Luckily, our starting stacks were T4000, so I didn't get crippled, just bloodied a little.

I dragged a few smallish pots after that, Korrie outflopped me later when her Q7 suited made trip 7's on the flop--I limped with AJ off, and should have raised, so I take the heat for playing that hand poorly.

Couple levels later, I'm in late position with QJ offsuit. Again, all fold to me, I raise it up 300 (level is 50-100), only the BB calls.

Flop:

A-K-10, 2 spades in there.

BB leads for 1300. I have 2700 left, with a flopped Broadway straight. Of course, my stack goes into the middle. BB autocalls, and I KNOW I have the lead. At best he hit trips, at worst, he has 2 pair or a flush draw. He had AK suited (clubs).

Nice. I have the made hand with 2 cards to come--he has 4 wins in the deck, and hits one of them on the river (a K) to give him the house, K's over A's.

Poof. Game over.

Nothing to do there, except shake his hand and leave the room. I told him later I would have done the same thing, and I would have. That hand, the chips were going in and I was either doubled up, or done. Same for him. He either busts me on a re-draw, or is crippled.

Season 3 starts in 2 weeks, and we have revamped the points structure to put more emphasis on winning, and high finishes. We will only pay out points to the top 15 finishers. We'll see how it all plays out, but I think it should do the trick to identify the best season had by a player. Of course, any system will have its faults. As a league, we just continue to evolve, and hope to make things good for the entire group.

Some highlights from the day:
Larry showed up in a tux rather than in one of his technicolor shirts. Nice look, sir!

Joe G. played us a tune written about the league--some of the funniest stuff I've heard in a while.

Our beloved EC member emeritus conjured up entrance music during the table draw--some fitting, others....well, BV knows what I am talking about.

The line of the day belonged to Jason C., who said, after pushing all-in to a small pot in the satellite, getting no callers, and revealing his pocket Queens after winning the hand: "I slow played Queens for 17 years, and it cost me $480,000." No, he's not a pro, he was referring to his divorce!

A great time spent with great folks, and I am excited to get season 3 underway.

Good luck and good cards,

~M