Trip Report
by TIGER123
hiya, folks!
here it is!
the long-awaited report on the "atlarge2 no-limit texas hold 'em
tourney", by your intrepid atlantic city reporter, tiger123! :)
i would have posted this earlier...but i did post my own atlarge
trip report, and (as i am sometimes loathe to admit) i really do
have one or two other things to do in life besides write trip reports!
but, it's here!
it's got frills...it's got bells and whistles...and even alliterative
allusions to allegory a la nolan dalla! just a typical report!
enjoy! :)
tiger
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my notes don't show the total number of participants in this tourney -
i seem to recall that there were 63 entries. last year's winner,
peter secor, managed to show up on time for the start this year!
:::ding, ding! collusion alert!!:::
earlier, peter and i had agreed to swap 5% of our tournament action!
i had 5% of him in the no-limit hold 'em, and he had 5% of me in the
stud tournament. lol! neither of us came close to cashing in!
but i don't play hold 'em and he doesn't play stud! :)
:::ding, ding! end of alert! false alarm!:::
however, k-man lemke and matt treasur (who was my nominee for honorary
a.d.b.) both tried to "pull a secor", and slept through the start of
the tourney. but they were awoken by our host, jerry bear. they showed
up about 15-20 minutes after we started. jerry doesn't have my touch
in waking up tournament players; neither k-man nor matt made it to the
final table!
jazbo had prepared a very special prize for the first player to win a
hand with a "presto"!! sure enough! on the very first hand, andy bloch
calls a raise from david fruchter, who holds A-10 offsuit. the cards on
the board are Q 2 3 - 6 - 9, and it's checked down. andy's superb play
in calling a raise with lousy pair of fives is rewarded by noisy
acclamations of "presto!!!", and jazbo's secret prize is revealed to be a
copy of "casino poker" by that well-known and highly-respected poker
expert (:::koff! koff!:::), john patrick! };)
and on the same first hand, steve "bozo" blackstock is the first player
knocked out of the tournament. he is rewarded by an autographed copy of
lee jones' "winning low limit hold 'em", generously provided by chuck
weinstock of conjelco.
let's skip to the final table! here is the lineup and the chip count:
| 1 | jay sipelstein | 2200 |
| 2 | jim strydio | 4300 |
| 3 | tom mchugh | 500 |
| 4 | paul mcmullin | 5500 |
| 5 | peter segal | 5900 |
| 6 | andy bloch | 2100 |
| 7 | ray didonato | 900 |
| 8 | bruce kramer | 1900 |
| 9 | ed baker | 1000 |
| 10 | al frampton | 7900 |
the blinds are 300/500. on the very first hand at the final table,
ray goes all-in with 10 9 offsuit. jim, holding K Q suited, calls.
tom puts in all his chips with J 7 suited (different suit). the flop
is A 2 3 rainbow; the turn is an offsuit 5; and a 9 on the river keeps
ray alive. tom collects $65! wtg tom!
on the very next hand, jim (having done so well with a K Q suited in the
previous hand) puts it all in with a Q J suited! paul, who holds A 10
offsuit, calls. jim flops a pair and stays alive.
pretty soon, the most infamous hand of the tournament was played. andy
has been busily studying and absorbing john patrick's advice. andy's a
harvard law student! he knows what to do with 5 5 ! he puts it all in!!
and al calls him!!! naturally, the flop comes A A A. the turn is a 4.
and of course, the river is the fourth A. al turns over a pair of 10s,
and andy stands up with $97.50. wtg andy! mitch (bfb) firestone notes
that "he who lives by the presto, dies by the presto!"
later in that round, ed is all-in in the big blind for T200. he's got a
9 4 offsuit. jim and ray call. the flop is Qd Jh 3s. ray goes all-in,
and jim mucks. ray turns over J 10. the turn of Kc gives ed a gut-shot,
but the river 6h ends his chances. ed wins $130. wtg ed!
on the very next hand, paul goes all-in for T1000. peter calls. bruce
goes all-in for T1100, and peter tosses in another black chip. paul's
got a pair of tens, and both peter and bruce turn over A Q. the flop
is K 10 8, giving them a gut-shot, but the turn 4 and river 2 lets paul...
:::ding, ding! alliteration alert!:::
triple through with trips! :)
:::end of alert!:::
the blinds go up to 400/800. al raises T1600 with A 10 offsuit. paul
raises
all-in T2500 with a pair of eights, and al calls. the flop is a rainbow
J 9 2; the turn is a 4; but the river brings an ace, and paul has to say
goodbye to cash in a ticket worth $162.50. wtg paul!
bruce is short-stacked, and puts in his last black chip with Q 3. ray
calls with K 10. the flop helps ray with J J 10, but the rest of the cards
are A - 6, and bruce wins sixth place and $195! wtg bruce!
on the next hand, al raises T2000 and jim calls. the flop is a J 7 6
rainbow. jim checks, al bets another T2000, and jim mucks.
pretty soon, peter is the small blind, and ray is the big blind. sippy
calls all-in with a pair of deuces. peter calls. ray raises T2000, and
peter mucks. ray shows A 6 offsuit. the flop is J 10 8; the turn is a
bullet and the river is a king. sippy's tournament is over, and he wins
fifth place and $227.50. wtg sippy!
several hands later, peter raises T1600. al calls in the big blind. the
flop is 10 10 3 with two clubs. it's check and check. the turn is an
offsuit ace. al bets T1000 and peter calls. the river is the eight of
clubs, and peter bets the rest of his chips (T800). al mucks. peter
shows K 9 of clubs.
later in that round, al raises T3000 with A K suited in spades. peter
calls in the small blind with A J suited in hearts. the flop is Jc 8h 3h.
peter bets T2000 and al calls. the turn is the club ace. peter checks,
and al makes a big bet; peter calls all-in. al's only wins are the three
remaining kings, and the deuce of hearts on the river completes peter's
flush.
pretty soon, ray raises T1900 on the button with J 9 offsuit. jim calls
all-in with a pair of sevens. the flop is Q 8 7, giving jim trips and
giving ray a gut-shot. the turn is a 9 and the river is a jack. ray has
made two running pair, but that doesn't beat trips. jim is still alive!
the blinds go up to 500/1000. on the very first hand of this round, jim
goes all-in with a pair of jacks. ray calls all-in with A Q. the cards
on the board are K 9 7 - 8 - 4. ray wins fourth place and $260! wtg ray!
several hands later, peter raises T2000 on the button. al calls. the
flop is Jc 7d 5d. al makes a big bet and peter mucks.
next hand, peter makes a big raise on the button, but mucks when jim
re-raises all-in.
at this point, the stacks are about even. somebody says something about
a split, and your humble reporter hastily computes that a three-way chop
would yield each player $704. it takes about five seconds for the three
remaining players to smile at each other and shake hands. whew!
suddenly,
all the pressure is off, and the game is fun, again! :)
pretty soon, peter raises T2000, and both al and jim call. the flop is
Kh 10d 6c. peter bets another T2000, and four cards hit the muck. peter
grins and shows K 10.
at this point, tournament director eddie cooper announces that the blinds
would go up to 1000/2000. he laughingly tells the players that he would
have been much softer on them (less of an increase) if they hadn't agreed
to chop! :)
jim, on the button, mucks. small blind peter calls T2000 and al checks.
flop is Kc Qh 8c. check and check. turn is 2h; peter checks; al bets;
peter mucks.
the boys trade some blinds. al then goes all-in with A 3 offsuit. peter
calls all-in with Q J offsuit. flop is 7 5 3. turn is a 6. the river
is a king, and peter wins third place and (officially) $325. wtg peter!
down to head-to-head. the hands are fast and furious, and i don't have
anyone helping me record the cards.
al raises and jim calls all-in. he's got K J offsuit. al shows 7 6.
flop is 4 3 2; but the other two cards are queens. jim doubles through
and takes the lead.
al has about T5000 in the big blind and puts it in. jim calls. i didn't
get the cards, but al doubles through.
al raises all-in with Q 2 suited in spades. jim calls with A 5 offsuit.
cards on the board are 10s 4s 3c - 4c - 3s, and al's flush doubles his
stack again!
next hand, jim goes all-in, and doubles through with a pair of eights on
the turn. jim had 10 8, and al had an ace.
on the final hand, jim has Q 10 offsuit. al has 7 5. the cards on the
board are J 5 2 - 10 - 6. jim's pair of tens beats al's pair of fives!
al takes second place and (officially) $552.50. wtg al!!
and congrats to the winner of the no-limit hold 'em tournament and
(officially) $1235, jim strydio!! wtg jim!!
--------------
once again, i had an awful lot of fun tracking the bust-outs in this
tournament, and even more fun sitting at the final table taking notes
on the hands. and i had an awful lot of fun (and drank an awful lot of
scotch) throughout the entire weekend!! oh yeah. i won some money, too!
by the way, i stopped by resorts cardroom this last weekend. the
cardroom management and staff all had very nice things to say about us.
(hehehehe...well, supervisor mark marino was still mumbling about two
wet tables from something called "rocks and beers", but......)
;)
let's do it again, same time, next year!! :)
tiger
