The Big Game 003: What Goes Up Must Come Down (Dammit)

“Don't look now, but there's one too many in this room and I think it's you”

-Groucho

I came back from an amusement park and I played a blogger tournament that feels like a roller coaster. A tale of two hours: in the first I was ringdingdongdockrockaroundtheclockulously* hot decked (though I was always ahead when the money went in), and the second hour I was just as horkingflorkingbjorkingkneeknockulously* cold decked -- and now I have to sift through the hand histories to see if I was spectaularly unlucky or just a big donkey. If you are reading this right now, I'm guessing your money is on 'big donkey.' Let's find out, shall we?

*™ hoyazo

The Starting Table

ScottMc: This dentist from San Jose, CA got his 15 seconds of fame by beating up the reigning 2003 National Spelling Bee Champion. When asked about the incident, ScottMc's face will go dark and he'll only mutter, "The horror, the horror." Most of us think the little punk had it coming.

loud423: This guy didn't say a dang thing.

wwonka69: Convicted of greivous enslavement of Oompa Loompas and sentenced to 15 years hard labor, but he was released after seven when he bribed the warden with a Scrumpdiddlyumptious bar. He has a twin. Nobody freaking knows which wonka is which, or precisely how much will a Will will wonk if a wonka will Wonk will, and everybody secretly thinks it's weird that there would be two people named after a fake chocolateer who was played by Gene Wilder as a fey elf and by Johnny Depp as a 9 year old vampire girl.

iam23skiddoo: But I am not.

summer_babe: As previously mentioned, this is Medowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters.

SirFWALGMan: Erudite, sophisticated and witty, this former linksman for the Yale rowing team and duly elected toastmaster of the Skull and Bones society is the man you want to see if you need to select the finest brandy, tie a flawless double-Windsor knot, or to understand which fork is the salad fork and which is the desert fork. When he isn't contributing to his many charities or sailing around the Mediterranean, SirFWALGMan pursues his avocation of self-portraiture using the latest digital photo technology.

DDionysus: I once watched this guy eat seven pounds of Slim Jims on a nickel bet. He's capable of anything, I tells ya! ANYTHING!

Julius_Goat: Got chocolate in your peanut butter, if you know what I mean. If you do know what I mean, let me know, I don't have a clue.

smokkee: Doesn't shop at the GAP. Doesn't get on the tour bus. Isn't interested in pictures of your kids. Adherent of the bushido code, rodeo clown and line dancer extrodinaire. Ladies and gentlemen, there can be only one . . . smokkee.

Here we go. This is my Big Game. There are many like it but this one is mine.


Hand 1: Do You Like Waffles?

Stack: 2,485
Blinds: 25/50

I raise 4x in the cutoff with KK, and am called by small blind ScottMc and EP limper Waffles. Flop: [Jd 3s 4d]I don't like the flush draw and decide to make it unworth the potential chase with a 700 pot sized bet. I am quickly called by ScottMc while Waffles takes some time to think. I use this time to consider what I'm going to do with the all-in push that is almost certainly coming.It comes. I figure that Waffles is probably on the draw, not the set.

I grit my teeth and call, worried about what ScottMc has, but Scotty folds! (After the hand, he confides that he had JT) Waffles shows AdQd. No diamond comes and Waffles begins explaining to Smokkee that he could have had 16 outs.In all fairness, none less a MTT specialist than KOD Chad did advise us:Do not be afraid to shove the occasional draw. Always try to have something else to go with it though, not just a naked draw. Say two over cards and the nut flush draw. Sounds familiar? All I am saying, is give Waffles a chance.


Hand 2: skiddoooooooooooooooooo....

Stack: 5,587
Blinds: 25/50

I made a loosey goosey limp with KcTc in EP, along with DDionysus and loud423. Skidoo raises it 5x from the big blind, DD calls it and with 675 in the pot I feel priced in for 200 more. After I call, loud certainly feels priced in and he makes the call.

"No respeck" is what I type, and then . . .

Flop: [7c Jc 4c]

All the money goes in and skiddoo shows me his set of Jacks. Board does not pair and IA23SGHN. Just gross and sick cold deck for skiddoo. Remember that when I'm whining and puling about bad luck later on in this post.

I'm now the chipleader, and it's by a lot. Not only that, but I have a $120 prize for the last longer I'm in with Chad, Don, Irongirl (gigli'd), and Bayne. Feeling good.

I remind myself to play smart. Only take GOOD cards to the felt.


Hand 3: ScottMcGone


Stack: Approx 13,600
Blinds: 40/80

Well, Full Tilt ate the hand history, so here we go from memory. Hence, all of this with a big grain of sodium chloride. Iggy open raised for half his stack when I had AK. I decided it was a misclick rather than overbetted AA and KK and decided to put him all in. He folded.

I bullied ScottMc with an OESD, and a few hands later put him all in when he raised and I found Big Slick yet again (wow, what a card deck). He called time and finally folded with what he said was TT. ScottMc, he'll tellya what he had. Thanks, Scott.

This left Iggy and Scott half stacked, and when I caught top pair at the same time as he did, we got the money in to discover I had the stronger kicker.

That's three busts and a half-stacker. I have about 14,000 chips, and the number 2 guy is Alan with around 7,000.

I remind myself to play smart. Only take GOOD cards to the felt.

I remind myself to play smart. Only take GOOD cards to the felt.

I remind myself to play smart. Only take GOOD cards to the felt.


Hand 4: Unneccessary Roughness

Stack: 16,630
Blinds: 80/160

Oh, here's a badly played hand!

Double D is short stacked and opens to 560. I have 77 in the big blind. I call.

What an awful call. I should sometimes be calling here if I am up against a big stack hoping to get paid on a set, but DD only has about 1700 more behind. This is fold or shove time, probably shove. I'm just not paying attention on this hand at all.

Flop: [2c Ac Ah]

I like the paired Aces; it makes the Ace less likely for him. I bet the pot, or around 1200.

What an awful bet size. If he doesn't have an Ace or a big pair, he'll fold to a much smaller bet. If he does have one of those, he'll push all in and I've priced myself in I've essentially trapped myself. In a 1200 pot, I much prefer 600 to 800 here.

He pushes. Dang it. I call and he shows AQ. I don't improve.

I'm still by far the big stack, but that one woke me up, I hope.

I think that's the worst hand I played last night.


Hand 5: GoatPuncher

Stack: 13,495
Blinds: 80/160

This one hurt. I get queens UTG and raise it up 3x. DonkeyPuncher, fairly short but still with an M well over 10 pushes all in for 1900 more.

I feel I am ahead of his range. I call. I'm right. He has Jacks.

Jack on the river. I've lost the chiplead, though I don't really care about that. What's very Concernicus is that I'm down a third of my chips from the break.

I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this. Too much good fortune too early. My M is still nice and solid, though. I resolve to keep playing only good starting cards so I have bullets to fire when we get into steal country.


Hand 6: Hello . . . Newin

Stack: 11,385
Blinds: 120/240, Ante 25

AKo in the big blind. Leftylu and NewinNov limp, so there's 1065 in the pot. I make it 1300 all day, perfectly happy to take it down.leftylu shoves.

Newin RE-shoves.I probably should have laid it down, but the limp threw me. See, lefty reshoved with sevens, hoping to race me with whatever she hoped I had (probably AK, actually).

But Newin? That little gecko limped cowboys.

That sucked. Now I am an M of 10 just like everybody else, right as we enter shove-weasel territory.


Hand 7: TripJax Pushes (1)

Stack: 8,307
Blinds: 150/300, Ante 25

I raise in a bald steal with 23s, and TripJax pushes all in. Easy fold.


Hand 8: TripJax Pushes (2)

Stack: 7,782
Blinds: 200/400, Ante 50

I raise with A8o in MP and TripJax insta-pushes. Again with this mockery.

I smell a rat. I think I'm ahead. I don't think he's got much.

Finally, I don't call because a) even if he is horribly weak (say the hammer), we're still racing, and b) I'll have plenty of chips still even if I fold, c) it will make Trip feel like he can do this again. He and I are fixing to play a pot, as Doyle would say. Next time I come, if Trip pushes, I'm coming with a big hand.

I'm going to fix his little red wagon.

Hand 9: GypTracks

Stack: 6,482
Blinds: 200/400, Ante 50

My M is becoming a problem. I need to steal or double up, but I've got a guy who I think will just play back at me at this point.

Luckily, I have Jacks. Normally I'd push and be glad for the steal, but I'd rather see if old TripJax wants another poke at me, so I just 3x raise.

Trip doesn't hesitate. All-in. I couldn't be calling him more than I am now. Bill Frist couldn't send enough stormtroopers to keep me from the 'call' button.

Trip has Aces. I do not make TripJacks vs. TripJax (would have been a much catchier hand title, though).

That lucky little . . . well, he's actually a nice guy. And at least he went on to take the whole thing down. Good job, Trip.

____________


Memory is funny. I've been wailing and lamenting my bad luck (and to be sure there were a couple harsh beats in there), but I could have sworn Trip had come over the top on me one other time. Hand history don't lie, though, it was only twice.

And I should have my head examined, I suppose, trying to steal with 23, even soooted. I guess the best thing you can say is it's easy to get away from.

I was right with the A8 hand, by the way. Trip has posted it, he had 97. All in with 97 is a dangerous game, but it was a correct read by him. I don't begrudge him.

I built a huge stack by holding slight margins. Then I lost a little on a total donk play vs. Double D, a significant amount more (relative to stack size) on a bad beat to the Donkeypuncher, and then really a lot more on a nicely timed (if questionably wise) limp from Newin with a big hand and a questionably wise (if defensible) call from me.

And Don won the last longer. Dang.

I'll see everybody in the Freeroll. Viva la BBT!