HugePoker

I’ve continued to plug away at triple-crown-worthy tournaments this week. Even though my show closed on Sunday afternoon, I’ve continued to have social obligations most evenings so have not been able to completely immerse myself in online poker like the little triple-crown-hungry poker-slut I so desperately want to be. I’ve had some success so far, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Statistics are in on last week’s near-miss triple crown attempt, which I’m calling “triple crown quest two” (or TCQ2 … TCQ1 was the successful quest back in September). In the week-long TCQ2, I played 19 TC tournaments, cashed in 8, with two near-FT finishes (12th and 18th), one 8th, one 2nd place finish (arggh) and two outright wins, all in fields 140-500 players deep. Overall net profit from those 19 tournaments: $8,622.04. No triple crown for all my troubles, but not exactly a shabby week, and as I’ve repeated enough times to make a dead horse cry “enough!”, 2.5 crowns out of 19 tournaments feels pretty damn good given that most triple crown winners play 100-200 tournaments in their triple crown week (plus they still live with their parents, can’t grow facial hair yet and have never known the love of a woman).

TCQ3 is just past the half-way point, with less than 72 hours left before the deadline. I’ve managed slightly higher volume so far, with 14 tournaments played in 4 days, and there’s been some excitement…

After the all-nighter win on Saturday night that marks the start of TCQ3, the next night I had a good run in a $50 sniper tournament on Ultimatebet, but stalled before the final table, finishing 15^th for a meager $145 … disappointing, but maybe cashing in the very first tournament of the quest would prove an auspicious warmup. It certainly seemed that way the following afternoon when I cruised to the final table of the $50-cubed on Pokerstars with a big chip lead, stayed in or near the lead as players busted out at the final table, but then got a severe haircut with 5 players left when I got an opponent all-in with 88 against my KK (with extra money in the pot from a third player who had reraised me but then folded after the guy with 88 4-bet-shoved and I 5-bet re-re-re-raised), and he nailed an ugly Eight on the flop to triple up and knock me down hard. If I win that hand I have the dominant chip lead with five players left. I fought my way back into contention, and we lost another player to get down to four, but then I came out on the wrong end of an exciting coin flip … chip leader raises, I reshove with Ace-Ten, chip leader calls with a pair of Sixes, and the flop comes King-Jack-Jack, giving me a crazy number of funky outs – Ace or Ten for a pair, Queen for a straight, King or any running pair higher than 66 to counterfeit him … Turn brick, river brick, and I’m out in 4^th place for $2,558.  A nice chunk of change, but sadly the length of my involvement with this tournament caused me to miss the spectacular roast chicken dinner Chez-yer-old-pal-Dan, and the spontaneous home poker game that erupted from said dinner gathering, but they were kind enough to let me come over afterwards and reheat some fabulous chicken and sit in the hot tub to soothe my poker-stiff upper back.  They were not kind enough to let me join the tournament late, but they had been watching my tournament on a laptop, and they did me the ultimate honor of actually pausing their tournament clock and stopping play in order to watch the hand when I got all-in with the pair of Kings … that makes me get all teary, almost.

The next day (yesterday) was dismal … seven tournaments, over a grand in buyins, not playing well, one min-cash in a $109 turbo, bubbled the $50-cubed when my KK was cracked in a three-way massive pot vs AK and 99 that would have bought me the chip lead. What’s with everyone cracking my Kings in big crucial pots??

And today seemed like more of the same crap … I took a shot at the $100-cubed on Stars, which usually feels a little rich for my blood and a little too tough in general – the $100-cubed and the $100-rebuy are where the big boys play, and right when I sat down I had three multi-6-figure-online-profit players on my left, including Tîmex, the young online and live poker phenom, who I played with in Aruba two years ago … poker instructor for CardRunners and sponsored pro at FullTilt … he 3-bet me the very first hand of the tournament and I folded. I had a pretty active ride in the tournament, but ended up losing to ANOTHER suckout when I got all-in with AK vs AJ and the Jack on the flop sealed my fate. And again – if I win that pot I’m one of the chip leaders and I get to start swinging hard with the bigshot cool kids, but instead, another $309 down the tubes.

Break from poker to go to the theatre (“Equivocation” at the Rep, which I recommend to my local readers, although if you go see that and didn’t make it to my own show that’s going to be a little awkward, don’t you think?), and then back home to make the chocolate-sambuca mousse for Thanksgiving, and then downstairs to my poker-man-cave for the 11:40PM $109 Stars turbo with 245 players. This tournament starts with only 2000 chips (others start with 3000), so things heat up pretty fast, and I was in nail-biting “should I shove here?” mode through much of the event, but I made it to the money, and to the final table, and to the final four before getting it all-in with KQs against the maniac chip leader’s ATo, flopping a flush draw and rivering my flush, but sadly the chip leader had already turned a full house, so I was out in 4^th for $2,082.50.

So … partial stats for TCQ3-in-progress: 14 tournaments, 5 cashes, 3 final tables (one win, two 4ths), $6,922.28 profit in four days. Again, not much actual progress towards the triple crown, but better than a sharp stick in the eye for sure. OK OK OK, you’re right, the last win on Saturday night is both the final bell from TCQ2 and the opening bell from TCQ3, so maybe it’s a *little* misleading to brag about two different profit numbers that each include the same prize. Fine! Subtract $3,757 from one of the numbers and get Arthur Anderson to audit me.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I’m certainly thankful for the run of luck, cards, and OK maybe a little skill, that I’ve been riding lately. And for the strange state of the world that allows me to earn a living by pushing cards and chips and mice and pixels around in a globe-spanning game. And I’m grateful for the funny little community of players, onlookers, friends and family I’ve cobbled around me to read my incessant ramblings about suckouts, triple crowns, fold equity, satellite bubbles, tournament travel and brainless opponents.

Enjoy your dinners, your families and your friends … I’ll see some of you in a few hours. Save room for the chocolate mousse.

-huge

I don’t know what possessed me to do it. I had a performance last night (Saturday) and we had our cast party at the theatre after the show. I had made delicious cocktails and had consumed a few of them, and when I got home some time after midnight I realized that there was one more helping at the bottom of the pitcher, and I certainly wouldn’t want that to go to waste, so why not? The final cocktail-dregs returned me to the state of mild-tipsiness I had achieved earlier in the evening, and I was a little wound up after the show and the party and I didn’t think I’d be able to go to sleep soon. There wasn’t any possibility of winning a triple crown, since I only had one crown in the bag and fast approaching was the last possible moment of the qualifying period from the first win last weekend (the first victory was in a tournament that started at 1:00AM last Sunday, and the last time I could play a tournament for triple crown consideration would be exactly one week later) … so even if I was gunning for a miracle there just wasn’t any way this could work. And there’s no award for a “double crown”, so there just wasn’t any sensible motivation to play this tournament. But I was wound, and I had some alcohol in my system, and it was only a $50 tournament, starting at exactly 1:00AM, which seemed auspicious, so I thought I’d just splash around for an hour or so and probably end up busting out quickly and then go to bed. “Best laid plans”, right?

Pretty quickly two things became apparent. The first was that this was not a turbo tournament. Most of the tournaments that I play late at night are turbos – the blinds go up faster, and as a result the tournament goes by pretty quickly (usually two to three hours for the tournaments I typically play), but I don’t tend to play in $50 tournaments, thus this one had been under my radar. So I started to suspect that I could be in for a long haul. The second realization was that there must have been a blinking sign on my avatar, visible to the other players, or at least the unskilled ones, indicating either that it was my birthday or that I was in direst need of charity, so they should all hurl chips at me, in great quantity and with great force. It was frightening, actually, because I was afraid that someone would eventually suck out on me (someone did, eventually) or that someone would actually turn over the big hand they were representing (this fear was never realized).

[I'm going to insert a lot of hand histories into this post - I've found a couple of different hand history converters that I'm playing around with, let me know if you have trouble reading the histories.  If you don't want to read the actual poker hands, it should be easy to skip over the colored ink to get back to the story]

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t2891)
Hero (MP2) (t3678)
MP3 (t3000)
CO (t3280)
Button (t2750)
SB (t3430)
BB (t3000)
UTG (t2780)
UTG+1 (t3000)

Hero’s M: 122.60

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 10, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t20, 1 fold, Hero bets t111, MP3 calls t111, 2 folds, SB calls t101, BB calls t91, UTG+1 calls t91

Flop: (t555) 2, 7, 5 (5 players)
SB bets t200, 2 folds, Hero raises to t866, 1 fold, SB calls t666

Turn: (t2287) 2 (2 players)
SB bets t2453 (All-In), Hero calls t2453

River: (t7193) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t7193

Results:
SB had 8, Q (one pair, twos).
Hero had 10, 10 (two pair, tens and twos).
Outcome: Hero won t7193

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 120/240 Blinds 25 Ante (9 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t4593)
BB (t6821)
Hero (UTG) (t7026)
UTG+1 (t4469)
MP1 (t3570)
MP2 (t11039)
MP3 (t36702)
CO (t6227)
Button (t23625)

Hero’s M: 12.01

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 4
Hero bets t555, 2 folds, MP2 calls t555, 4 folds, BB calls t315

Flop: (t2010) 8, J, 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t777, 1 fold, BB calls t777

Turn: (t3564) 5 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t1999, BB raises to t5464 (All-In), Hero calls t3465

River: (t14492) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t14492

Results:
BB had J, 9 (one pair, Jacks).
Hero had 4, 4 (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: Hero won t14492

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 200/400 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t12518)
CO (t21273)
Hero (Button) (t11810)
SB (t10943)
BB (t1200)
UTG (t4340)
UTG+1 (t11963)
MP1 (t28613)
MP2 (t34938)

Hero’s M: 11.25

Preflop: Hero is Button with 3, 3
2 folds, MP1 calls t400, 3 folds, Hero calls t400, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: (t1850) A, 3, 10 (3 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets t1850, Hero raises to t3700, 1 fold, MP1 raises to t5550, Hero raises to t11360 (All-In), MP1 calls t5810

Turn: (t24570) 6 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t24570) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t24570

Results:
Hero had 3, 3 (three of a kind, threes).
MP1 had Q, Q (one pair, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won t24570

Somewhere in the midst of all that carnage, I actually fell asleep in my chair. I remember waking up and seeing that I had KJs in the big blind and thinking that I’d better click the “I’m back” button before I auto-folded it (it was limped to me, I raised and won the pot). At the time I thought I had only fallen asleep for a hand or two, but just now looking at the hand history I can see that I was asleep for almost ten minutes, and missed 16 hands. The guy next to me must not have realized it, because in the middle of that stretch when I had the big blind, he gave me a walk (meaning he folded to me when he could have taken the pot just by limping). This allows me to claim that I can effectively play poker in my sleep.

As players kept emptying their wallets to me, the hours seeped slowly by, and as night gave way to morning light, I was doing very well in the tournament, and was a bit more alert, and by the time someone called my 3-bet with KJ (I had AA) and then shove-raised 45BB on me on the Jack-high flop (hmmmm, let’s see … I re-raised preflop and then bet strongly on a Jack-high flop … hmmm, how good is your KJ now? … you still like it? … really? … well OK, I mean, you could just call and see what I do on the turn, right? … that could be one option … no? … you say you’ve got top pair and you really want to raise? … for all our chips? … you think that’s going to make something good happen? … well, I can’t quite imagine what that might be, but … who am I to deny you?) I had climbed the mountain and was the chip leader as the tournament slowly, ploddingly, hypnotically approached the bubble around 4:00AM.

We made it to the money around 4:30, and got down to three tables (27 players) around 5AM, and I was still the chip leader. A good-natured opponent saw how much fun it was to just give chips to me and tried hard to follow the example (I do give him credit for trying), but his donation went awry:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 600/1200 Blinds 150 Ante (7 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

MP1 (t30043)
MP2 (t40891)
CO (t30065)
Button (t35252)
Hero (SB) (t101518)
BB (t43148)
UTG (t20104)

Hero’s M: 35.62

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
2 folds, MP2 bets t2400, 2 folds,Hero raises to t6777, 1 fold, MP2 calls t4377

Flop: (t15804) 7, 8, 2 (2 players)
Hero bets t13333, MP2 raises to t33964 (All-In), Hero calls t20631

Turn: (t83732) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t83732) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t83732

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and sevens).
MP2 had 7, A (three of a kind, sevens).
Outcome: MP2 won t83732

This knocked me down to 4^th in chips with 20 players remaining in the tournament. When we got down to the final table bubble (10 players) I was 3^rd in chips, but the two bigger stacks were at the other table, so I pretty much just rolled over my table, and when the final table wobbled ponderously into view I was 2^nd in chips behind the monster chip leader, and it was 5:30AM.

At 6AM we had seven players left, with stacks that looked like this:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (58,549)
Seat 4: AceofNor (107,736)

Seat 5: Next Bite (35,156)

Seat 6: hugertilt (88,118)

Seat 7: Luni2007 (85,700)

Seat 8: zondagje (60,395)

Seat 9: paggo65 (479,346)

So kind of a top-heavy distribution – it felt a little like we were all fighting for second place, but then again the guy with all the chips was pretty terrible, so I had hope.

I doubled up with the following hand, after which my opponent typed “fu” in the chat window before busting out one hand later…

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2000/4000 Blinds 500 Ante (7 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t119598)
UTG (t126986)
MP1 (t33656)
Hero (MP2) (t71118)
CO (t71700)
Button (t52895)
SB (t439047)

Hero’s M: 7.49

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, A
2 folds, Hero bets t9555, CO calls t9555, 1 fold, SB calls t7555, 1 fold

Flop: (t36165) 9, K, 8 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t22222, CO calls t22222, 1 fold

Turn: (t80609) A (2 players)
Hero bets t38841 (All-In), CO calls t38841

River: (t158291) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t158291

Results:
Hero had 5, A (two pair, Aces and fives).
CO had J, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won t158291

OK so I got a little lucky on the turn, but we were pretty much a coin flip on the flop – no need to get all pissy and hostile about it. And you could pretty much fold your hand on the turn anyway buddy – I’m not sure what you thought you were beating. OK I guess I could have J, 10 … whatever … nice hand, sorry it didn’t work out for you, don’t go away mad.

So now I’m firmly in 2^nd place, but the chip leader has almost triple my stack. I stay in 2^nd as we get down to 5-handed … the chip leader spews some chips so that I have more than half his stack (normally not something to cheer about, but it seems like luxury at this point). At 6:15AM the chip leader sucks out to knock out one of the short stacks with A6 beating AQ and we’re four:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (164,697)

Seat 6: hugertilt (212,102)

Seat 8: zondagje (75,240)

Seat 9: paggo65 (462,961)

I get a little too creative with a missed flush draw, and my opponent plays it smartly to let me spew off some chips:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 2500/5000 Blinds 600 Ante (4 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t160397)
Hero (UTG) (t202802)
Button (t179580)
SB (t372221)

Hero’s M: 20.49

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 4, 5
Hero bets t12222, 2 folds, BB calls t7222

Flop: (t29344) 7, K, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t16777, BB calls t16777

Turn: (t62898) 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t62898) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t31111, BB calls t31111

Total pot: t125120

Results:
BB had J, K (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
Hero had 4, 5 (high card, King).
Outcome: BB won t125120

And all of the sudden I’m on the bottom rung of the chip ladder. At 6:30AM the blinds go up to 4000/8000 and I’m at my bleakest moment of the final table:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (257,557)

Seat 6: hugertilt (101,842)

Seat 8: zondagje (253,730)

Seat 9: paggo65 (301,871)

The (terrible) chip leader had been limping weakly a lot, and a hand came up where I thought I could push him off a hand pretty easily. It turned out I was wrong, but it worked out OK:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 4000/8000 Blinds 1000 Ante (4 handed) - Full-TiltConverter Tool fromFlopTurnRiver.com

SB (t317444)
Hero (BB) (t159955)
UTG (t176730)
Button (t260871)

Hero’s M: 10.00

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 9
1 fold, Button calls t8000, SB calls t4000, Hero bets t42222, Button calls t34222, 1 fold

Flop: (t96444) 5, 7, 4 (2 players)
Hero bets t116733 (All-In), Button calls t116733

Turn: (t329910) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t329910) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t329910

Results:
Button had 6, A (high card, Ace).
Hero had 5, 9 (two pair, nines and fives).
Outcome: Hero won t329910

And just like that I’ve gone from bottom stack to top stack in the blink of an eye. On the next hand, 6:40AM, our seemingly-unassailable former monster chip leader busted out, which evened out the stacks somewhat for three-handed play.

At 7AM I had reached the conclusion that the other two players were pussies, terrified of busting out in third, and that I could pretty much run over them. I’m going to just copy the next several hands here because I think it’s pretty fun to watch (it certainly was fun to play):

——————
HAND #1
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 212,943
Hero (BTN): 302,941
SB: 399,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) T T dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed T T and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #2
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 201,943
Hero (BB): 319,941
BTN: 393,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) K 9 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 26,000, SB folds, Hero calls 16,000

Flop: (57,000) K Q T (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: (57,000) 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets 25,555, BTN folds

Results: 57,000 Pot
Hero showed K 9 and WON 60,000 (+44,000 NET)

——————
HAND #3
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 195,943
Hero (SB): 352,941
BB: 366,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 7 A dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 27,777, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed 7 A and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #4
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 194,943
Hero (BTN): 364,941
SB: 355,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 5 Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 5 Q and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #5
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 183,943
Hero (BB): 381,941
BTN: 349,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) Q J dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 10,000 Pot
Hero showed Q J and WON 13,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #6
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 177,943
Hero (SB): 388,941
BB: 348,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) J K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN raises to 20,999, Hero calls 15,999, BB folds

Flop: (51,998) 6 Q 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets 26,666, BTN folds

Results: 51,998 Pot
Hero showed J K and WON 54,998 (+38,999 NET)

——————
HAND #7
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 155,944
Hero (BTN): 421,940
SB: 337,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 2 A dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 A and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #8
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 144,944
Hero (BB): 438,940
BTN: 331,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) Q A dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 25,000, SB folds, Hero raises to 76,666, BTN folds

Results: 55,000 Pot
Hero showed Q A and WON 58,000 (+43,000 NET)

——————
HAND #9
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 138,944
Hero (SB): 470,940
BB: 305,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 2 T dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 26,666, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 T and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #10
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 137,944
Hero (BTN): 482,940
SB: 294,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 8 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, 2 folds

Results: 25,000 Pot
Hero showed 8 7 and WON 28,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #11
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 126,944
Hero (BB): 499,940
BTN: 288,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 3 2 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 10,000 Pot
Hero showed 3 2 and WON 13,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #12
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 120,944
Hero (SB): 506,940
BB: 287,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) A Q dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero calls 5,000, BB checks

Flop: (20,000) Q T 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks

Turn: (20,000) 9 (2 Players)
Hero bets 10,000, BB folds

Results: 20,000 Pot
Hero showed A Q and WON 23,000 (+18,000 NET)

——————
HAND #13
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 5,000/10,000 Blinds, 1,000 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 119,944
Hero (BTN): 518,940
SB: 276,116

Pre-Flop: (15,000) 5 K dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 23,333, SB folds, BB calls 13,333

Flop: (51,666) A 5 6 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (51,666) 8 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 17,777, BB folds

Results: 51,666 Pot
Hero showed 5 K and WON 54,666 (+31,333 NET)

——————
HAND #14
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 95,611
Hero (BB): 549,273
BTN: 270,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T Q dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 28,500, SB raises to 94,111, 2 folds

Results: 69,000 Pot
SB showed and WON 73,500 (+51,000 NET)

——————
HAND #15
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 139,111
Hero (SB): 535,773
BB: 240,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 J dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 28,888, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 J and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #16
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 137,611
Hero (BTN): 550,773
SB: 226,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed T Q and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #17
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 124,111
Hero (BB): 571,773
BTN: 219,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN calls 12,000, SB calls 6,000, Hero checks

Flop: (36,000) 4 J 8 (3 Players)
SB bets 24,000, 2 folds

Results: 36,000 Pot
SB showed and WON 40,500 (+34,500 NET)

——————
HAND #18
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 151,111
Hero (SB): 558,273
BB: 205,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 24,000, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed K K and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #19
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 149,611
Hero (BTN): 573,273
SB: 192,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) Q 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB folds, BB raises to 148,111, Hero folds

Results: 63,776 Pot
BB showed and WON 68,276 (+51,388 NET)

——————
HAND #20
——————
Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 270,999
Hero (SB): 529,385
BB: 114,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 5 dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #21
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 269,499
Hero (BTN): 521,885
SB: 123,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 3 9 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB folds, BB calls 16,888

Flop: (63,776) 3 A A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 33,333, BB folds

Results: 63,776 Pot
Hero showed 3 9 and WON 68,276 (+39,388 NET)

——————
HAND #22
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 239,111
Hero (BB): 559,773
BTN: 116,116

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 Q dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed 2 Q and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #23
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 231,611
Hero (SB): 568,773
BB: 114,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 Q dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero calls 6,000, BB raises to 113,116, Hero folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 28,500 (+28,500 NET)

——————
HAND #24
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 230,111
Hero (BTN): 555,273
SB: 129,616

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K 8 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 28,888, SB raises to 128,116, 2 folds

Results: 69,776 Pot
SB showed and WON 74,276 (+51,388 NET)

——————
HAND #25
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 216,611
Hero (BB): 524,885
BTN: 173,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 6 3 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed 6 3 and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #26
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 209,111
Hero (SB): 533,885
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 2 4 dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
BB showed and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #27
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 207,611
Hero (BTN): 526,385
SB: 181,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) A 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 24,000, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed A 7 and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #28
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 194,111
Hero (BB): 547,385
BTN: 173,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) T 6 dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds

Results: 12,000 Pot
Hero showed T 6 and WON 16,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #29
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BTN: 186,611
Hero (SB): 556,385
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 3 K dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN folds, Hero raises to 26,666, BB folds

Results: 24,000 Pot
Hero showed 3 K and WON 28,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #30
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

BB: 185,111
Hero (BTN): 571,385
SB: 158,504

Pre-Flop: (18,000) K 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 26,666, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
Hero showed K 3 and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #31
——————

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 3 Players

SB: 171,611
Hero (BB): 592,385
BTN: 151,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 7 5 dealt to Hero (BB)
BTN raises to 149,504, 2 folds

Results: 30,000 Pot
BTN showed and WON 34,500 (+22,500 NET)

——————
HAND #32
——————

BTN: 164,111
Hero (SB): 578,885
BB: 172,004

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 7 A dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN calls 12,000, Hero calls 6,000, BB checks

Flop: (36,000) A 3 5 (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN bets 24,000, Hero calls 24,000, BB folds

Turn: (84,000) Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (84,000) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets 12,000, BTN calls 12,000

Results: 108,000 Pot
BTN mucked T K and LOST (-48,000 NET)
Hero showed 7 A and WON 112,500 (+70,500 NET)

So at the end of my reign of terror the stacks looked like this:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (114,611)

Seat 6: hugertilt (641,885)

Seat 8: zondagje (158,504)

…and I was liking my chances. A few hands later one of the short stacks shoved with QJs, the other one surprisingly had enough balls to call with AA, and the AA held up:

Seat 2: 4_trelaze_49 (338,114)

Seat 6: hugertilt (576,886)

I bullied him pretty well, whacking him down to 100,000 until he lucked out to double up with KJ beating my A5, but then I finished him off with this hand, a nice little twisty-turny suck and resuck hand to finish an exciting tournament:

Full Tilt, NL Hold’em Tournament, 6,000/12,000 Blinds, 1,500 Ante, 2 Players

BB: 203,396
Hero (BTN): 711,604

Pre-Flop: (18,000) 5 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to 24,000, BB calls 12,000

Flop: (48,000) 5 3 2 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 686,104, BB calls 177,896

Turn: (403,792) Q (2 Players)

River: (403,792) 3 (2 Players)

Results: 403,792 Pot
BB showed 7 J and LOST (-189,896 NET)
Hero showed 5 3 and WON 406,792 (+210,896 NET)

So that’s it … victory in the end for $3,812.50 … a second crown at the last possible second, in a tournament that started exactly one week after the last victorious tournament started. I can honestly claim in this triple crown quest to have legitimately won two tournaments outright and finished second in a third one, but I can’t quite throw a tantrum about how I would have won the triple crown if only I had been able to finish off my opponent in the middle tournament – because both that tournament and this most recent win were on FullTilt, and in order to qualify for a triple crown the three wins need to be on three different poker sites. I’m still going to strut around saying that I won 2.5 out of the three needed crowns and just hope that no-one gets too picky about it.

I managed about two hours of sleep because I was meeting my family for lunch before my closing matinee show. 6.5 hours after finishing the tournament I was on stage, and somehow I managed to remember my lines and didn’t go into a daze (in fact it was one of our better shows, which is always nice for a closing). Another walk on the boards is over and I’m back to being just a poker player.

While this tournament doesn’t nail me a triple crown, it does reset the clock on another one. So if I can win two more in the next week (as I’m finishing writing this it’s Monday afternoon, so I’ve got 5.5 days) I’ll bring in another TC. I’m getting a little less cautionary in the way I look at the triple crown hunt - I used to say “I’m sure I’ll never win another one, but it’s fun to try - that first one was kind of a fluke”, but after last week I think I have to give myself more credit than that (while still acknowledging that it will always be a longshot), and I’ll give it my best shot this week. I’ve already had one solid run … last night I finished 15^th out of 305 in a $55 sniper tournament on UB, and I almost certainly would have final-tabled it with a very good stack if not for this hand with 20 players left:

Ultimatebet NL Hold’em, $1.00 BB (8 handed) -

MP1 ($17978)
MP2 ($7931)
CO ($14708)
Hero (Button) ($14415)
SB ($51386)
BB ($16886)
UTG ($7874)
UTG+1 ($24505)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
UTG raises to $7774 (All-In), 2 folds, MP2 raises to $7831 (All-In),1 fold, Hero raises to $14315 (All-In), 2 folds

Flop: ($23937) 8, 5, 9 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($23937) Q (3 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($23937) 7 (3 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $23937

Results:
Hero had A, A (one pair, Aces).
UTG had 6, 6 (straight, nine high).
MP2 had A, K (high card, Ace).
Outcome: Hero won $228, UTG won $51244

ARRGGGHHH.

As I prepare to hit the “Publish” button on this post I’m well above average in a $50-rebuy on Stars, with 114 of the original 255 remaining…

Stay tuned for further updates on Crown Quest #3.

-huge

Some of you can probably guess what the title of this post means. Actually I’m a few days late in writing it, so take yourself back to the day after I wrote my last post, still chasing the 2nd part of a triple crown, on the heels of a disappointing 12th place finish, falling just short of the final table and the real money (not to mention any chance of the actual crown/victory). So I’m at it again the next night, actually swinging away in two tournaments that started two hours apart: $75 and $55 buyins, each with a little over 300 players. I ended up having good runs in both tournaments, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever finished as well in two cash tournaments I was playing simultaneously (I’ve won multiple simultaneous satellites, and two years ago I very nearly won two WSOP seats at the same time, but that’s a different beast). Again I’ll copy and paste the string of quick email messages I fired off to my inner circle of poker cronies while I was playing – sometimes some of them will tune in and watch the tournament on their own computers, though these messages started around 3AM so I was pretty sure I was on my own…

———————————————————————————
Subject: double header action

I’m 6th in chips out of 16 remaining from 324 starters in the FullTilt $69+6

40th out of 95 from 343 starters in the FullTilt $50+5

Really should be able to win at least one of these

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

Final table 2nd in chips in the $69+6 – massive pot with AJ>AT on AJT flop

Still plodding along in the other one – 80 left, paying 36

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

Chip leader at the Final table … just barely … got to report it while it’s true

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

2nd in chips with 8 left, was solid chip leader but got rivered 2x in a row … now 7 left

Doubled up in the other one, 5th out of 53

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

Lost massive pot with KK < 44, now 5th of 7

3rd of 45 in the other one

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

3 left – 2nd in chips but we’re all close

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

Heads-up, 3:2 underdog

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

turned the tables on him … better than 2:1 lead

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

Blecch … JJ overpair loses on 9933x board, KK has to fold vs Ace on river … he has me 2:1 again

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

DAMN IT got it in with K9 vs KJ, caught 9 on the flop, counterfeited on the river 2nd for $2744 still in the 50+5 with 24 left but now under average after mostly ignoring it for the last hour

———————————————————————————
Subject: RE: double header action

And the run is over … got all in in the 2nd tournament with a flush draw, pair and gutshot, called by better 2nd pair and gutshot, no help. That crippled me to 300 chips when we were at 1000-2000 / 250 ante … climbed back to 14,000, shoved with A3s and got called by T6s, flop 789, but the turn brings me a flush draw, and out in 18th for like $128.

Pretty exciting … never been that deep in two tournaments at once before. Really wish I could have closed out the second crown.

sigh
———————————————————————————

So yeah, 2nd place … no crown … bummer, dude. But I can console myself with the $2744 for 2nd place. When we got down to heads-up and my opponent had a big chip lead over me, he offered to make a deal (the poker software allows you to click a button to discuss a deal in the chat window, and if both players agree they can enter the amounts they would agree to take and finish the tournament that way). But I told him I wanted to win the thing outright and wasn’t interested, which was sort of fun, even though in the end it probably cost me almost $1000. I guess I should have offered him a deal when I had the chip lead, since if he had accepted I probably would have been logged as the winner and nailed down the 2nd crown, but honestly it didn’t occur to me and at that point I really thought I could just finish him off.

It’s always tough to finish 2nd, especially when you’re going after a triple crown (but that’s not NEARLY as bad as when you’re playing in a winner-take-all satellite for a WSOP seat, which long-time HugePoker fans will remember has happened to me more than once … or twice … or thrice). I can’t complain or beat myself up too much – in the 6 heads-up matches I’ve reached in the past two months, I’ve won 4 of them, lost one, and suffered a nasty bad beat in one (live at the Wynn in Vegas) resulting in an even chop of the prize money, so I’m closing things out pretty well when I make it to heads-up, and I have to feel good/lucky about the fact that three of the wins came in the same week back in September to land me the first triple crown – if I had finished second in the last of those you’d probably still hear me whining.

In this week I’ve played in 18 triple-crown-qualifying tournaments (including the first one that I won on Saturday night to start it all off), plus one rebuy tournament that ended up with only a $9870 prize pool (it needs to be $10,000 to qualify for the triple crown – that would have SUCKED if I’d won that one!). I cashed in 6, final tabled 3 (plus one close-call 12th-place finish), and got heads-up in two of them, but in the end, only one crown on the mantle. And I’ve turned a profit of just under five grand, which ain’t nothing to sneeze at. On a less tangible front, I’ve rustled up some enthusiasm for multi-table cash tournaments, which was sagging a bit … perhaps I should start every week pretending that I’ve just won a tournament and I’m going after another triple crown.

As I’m writing this I’ve just busted out of the “turbo hundo” ($109 buyin) tournament on FullTilt. At this point it’s pretty much impossible that I’ll be successful in the current quest. I would have to win two tournaments in the next 24 hours, and the final evening performance of my show is tomorrow night (our actual final performance is a matinee on Sunday at 2PM, for which I can set you up with free tickets if you haven’t seen it yet, or if you have and would like to see it again), so I think I have to just put this one to bed. Thanks to everyone for the support, crossed fingers and held breath, and the comments in the blog (I direct everyone to the comment left by Matt “Scare Card” Smith, improviser, teacher and auctioneer extraordinaire, and poker player of entertaining demeanor and questionable judgment … it’s one of the funniest comments I’ve ever received, and helped get me through those long lonely poker nights without cramping up in the mouse-wrist).

I’ll let you know when another crown quest materializes…

-huge

In the 72 hours since I won the tournament on Pokerstars I’ve been playing whatever tournaments I can to try to capture another feather/notch/gem/stepping-stone on the path to another triple crown. I’ve played 11 tournaments, I’m a half hour into a 12th and I’m about to start a 13th. By one measure I’ve already failed – two months ago I secured the triple crown on the tenth tournament after my first victory, so I can’t match that feat, but that feat is so absurdly unlikely that I’m almost certain I’ll never match it as long as I live, and even though I was there and have the account records to prove it when it happened the first time, I kind of half-suspect that I must be lying.

OK, so I haven’t won another triple crown yet, but the quest has not been without some excitement. I already wrote briefly about a final table in the first 24 hours of the crown hunt on Sunday night. Monday started off with a disastrous bloodbath of a rebuy tournament (thankfully at only $20 per rebuy) in which I got all my chips in with the best hand pre-flop FIVE TIMES against THE SAME MANIAC and lost each time, resulting in five double-rebuys, plus the initial rebuy at the start of the tournament, plus the addon, for a total of THIRTEEN TOTAL BUYINS or $263 for a “$20” tournament. Just to keep things consistent, I busted out of that tournament by getting all my money in with the best hand again, though this time on the flop:

[if you’re not a poker player and want to skip the hand histories and get to the pithy commentary, just skip over the hand history text files – I promise there will be some serious pithy, racy and even lewd stuff coming up]

Full Tilt Poker Game #16073276791: $24,000 Guarantee (Rebuy) (117917894), Table 3 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold’em - 16:53:37 ET - 2009/11/16
Seat 1: steahlthfish (8,442)
Seat 2: opie711 (4,451)
Seat 3: salfab (3,440)
Seat 4: pokerdiller (29,401)
Seat 5: afrodueces (20,997)
Seat 6: kmhisr (4,433)
Seat 7: hugertilt (3,698)
Seat 8: bami88 (29,046)
Seat 9: GreyViper (9,902)
steahlthfish antes 25
opie711 antes 25
salfab antes 25
pokerdiller antes 25
afrodueces antes 25
kmhisr antes 25
hugertilt antes 25
bami88 antes 25
GreyViper antes 25
kmhisr posts the small blind of 120
hugertilt posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hugertilt [As 6d]
bami88 folds
GreyViper has 15 seconds left to act
GreyViper raises to 480
steahlthfish folds
opie711 folds
salfab folds
pokerdiller folds
afrodueces folds
kmhisr calls 360
hugertilt calls 240
*** FLOP *** [Ks Ac 6s]
kmhisr checks
hugertilt checks
GreyViper bets 720
kmhisr raises to 1,440
hugertilt raises to 3,193, and is all in
GreyViper raises to 4,946
kmhisr has 15 seconds left to act
kmhisr folds
GreyViper shows [Ah Qd]
hugertilt shows [As 6d]
Uncalled bet of 1,753 returned to GreyViper
*** TURN *** [Ks Ac 6s] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Ac 6s Kh] [5h]
GreyViper shows two pair, Aces and Kings
hugertilt shows two pair, Aces and Kings
GreyViper wins the pot (9,491) with two pair, Aces and Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,491 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks Ac 6s Kh 5h]
Seat 1: steahlthfish folded before the Flop
Seat 2: opie711 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: salfab folded before the Flop
Seat 4: pokerdiller folded before the Flop
Seat 5: afrodueces (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: kmhisr (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: hugertilt (big blind) showed [As 6d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 8: bami88 folded before the Flop
Seat 9: GreyViper showed [Ah Qd] and won (9,491) with two pair, Aces and Kings

I don’t know why it hurts more to get counterfeited with the King than it would if he had sucked out “legitimately” by hitting his Queen, but it seems to be a universal bias among poker players that after getting counterfeited you feel the need to take a shower and maybe get some blood work done. A straight suckout is like getting hit in the jaw and having your wallet stolen … getting counterfeited is more like being served a cocktail that tastes yummy at first but it has kind of a weird, oily aftertaste, and then you wake up in a bathtub with some organs missing. I’ve got some other counterfeiting metaphors in the printing press (yes, I know they’re similes … shut up, I’m on a roll here) but I’ll save them for the next time I get slimed.

So that tournament was just ugly all over.

I got back on the rebuy horse later that day and thought I was in for an even more painful blood-letting (this was a $50 rebuy, so every time I lose all my chips and take the double rebuy to stay in the tournament it costs me a cool C-note) when I run into this maniac and this hand:

Stage #2002131640 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 30 - 2009-11-16 16:26:42 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #1 is the dealer
Seat 1 - _POKERSPACE_ (6,020 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHNIN (1,280 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (2,613 in chips)
Seat 4 - THEONE23333 (1,500 in chips)
Seat 5 - GOFYCLAIR (6,245 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (2,970 in chips)
Seat 7 - RONCINDY (280 in chips)
Seat 8 - ANGUILLA222 (1,500 in chips)
Seat 9 - 8BALLDELUXE (2,970 in chips)
CASHNIN - Posts small blind 15
LRH - Posts big blind 30
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [Kh As]
THEONE23333 - Folds
GOFYCLAIR - Raises 60 to 60
FELDLISS - Folds
RONCINDY - Folds
ANGUILLA222 - Folds
8BALLDELUXE - Folds
_POKERSPACE_ - Calls 60
CASHNIN - Folds
LRH - Raises 1,440 to 1,470
GOFYCLAIR - Raises 4,425 to 4,485
_POKERSPACE_ - Folds
LRH - All-In 1,143
GOFYCLAIR - returned (1,872) : not called
*** FLOP *** [6s 6d 3d]
*** TURN *** [6s 6d 3d] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [6s 6d 3d Qd] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LRH - Shows [Kh As] (One pair, sixes)
GOFYCLAIR - Shows [2d 6h] (Three of a kind, sixes)
GOFYCLAIR Collects 5,301 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(5,301)
Board [6s 6d 3d Qd 9s]
Seat 1: _POKERSPACE_ (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CASHNIN (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, sixes [Kh As - B:6s,B:6d,P:As,P:Kh,B:Qd]
Seat 4: THEONE23333 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: GOFYCLAIR won Total (5,301) HI:(5,301) with Three of a kind, sixes [2d 6h - B:6s,P:6h,B:6d,B:Qd,B:9s]
Seat 6: FELDLISS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: RONCINDY Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: ANGUILLA222 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: 8BALLDELUXE Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Obviously I had found another rebuy maniac, or he had found me, and it looked like it might be another long hemorrhagic experience. So that’s one hundo completely flushed away and I have to pull out another one and wave it around just inviting someone to punch me in the jaw and take it. But instead I used it like a matador’s cape and planted barb after barb (after barb after barb, four barbs total) in the maniac GOFYCLAIR (same villain from the previous hand) as he kept charging past me:

Stage #2002138522 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 30 - 2009-11-16 16:30:03 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 1 - _POKERSPACE_ (5,960 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHNIN (1,265 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (2,970 in chips)
Seat 4 - THEONE23333 (3,030 in chips)
Seat 5 - GOFYCLAIR (7,433 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (2,970 in chips)
Seat 7 - RONCINDY (280 in chips)
Seat 8 - ANGUILLA222 (1,500 in chips)
Seat 9 - 8BALLDELUXE (2,970 in chips)
THEONE23333 - Posts small blind 15
GOFYCLAIR - Posts big blind 30
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [Ah 4h]
FELDLISS - Folds
RONCINDY - Calls 30
ANGUILLA222 - Raises 135 to 135
8BALLDELUXE - Folds
_POKERSPACE_ - Folds
CASHNIN - Folds
LRH - Calls 135
THEONE23333 - Folds
GOFYCLAIR - Calls 105
RONCINDY - Calls 105
*** FLOP *** [Jh As 2s]
GOFYCLAIR - Bets 30
RONCINDY - All-In(Raise) 145 to 145
ANGUILLA222 - Raises 260 to 260
LRH - Calls 260
GOFYCLAIR - Calls 230
*** TURN *** [Jh As 2s] [8c]
GOFYCLAIR - Checks
ANGUILLA222 - Bets 120
LRH - Calls 120
GOFYCLAIR - Calls 120
*** RIVER *** [Jh As 2s 8c] [7s]
GOFYCLAIR - Bets 1,840
ANGUILLA222 - Folds
LRH - Calls 1,840
*** SHOW DOWN ***
GOFYCLAIR - Shows [3h 8s] (One pair, eights)
RONCINDY - Shows [Ad 9d] (One pair, aces)
LRH - Shows [Ah 4h] (One pair, aces)
LRH Collects 4,385 from side pot-1
RONCINDY Collects 1,135 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(5,520:1,135,4,385)
Board [Jh As 2s 8c 7s]
Seat 1: _POKERSPACE_ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CASHNIN Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH (dealer) won Total (4,385) HI:(4,385) with One pair, aces [Ah 4h - B:As,P:Ah,B:Jh,B:8c,B:7s]
Seat 4: THEONE23333 (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: GOFYCLAIR (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, eights [3h 8s - P:8s,B:8c,B:As,B:Jh,B:7s]
Seat 6: FELDLISS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: RONCINDY won Total (1,135) All-In HI:(1,135) with One pair, aces(nine kicker) [Ad 9d - B:As,P:Ad,B:Jh,P:9d,B:8c]
Seat 8: ANGUILLA222 Folded on the RIVER
Seat 9: 8BALLDELUXE Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Stage #2002141983 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 30 - 2009-11-16 16:31:45 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 1 - _POKERSPACE_ (5,960 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHNIN (1,265 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (5,000 in chips)
Seat 4 - THEONE23333 (3,015 in chips)
Seat 5 - GOFYCLAIR (5,078 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (2,970 in chips)
Seat 7 - RONCINDY (1,135 in chips)
Seat 8 - ANGUILLA222 (985 in chips)
GOFYCLAIR - Posts small blind 15
FELDLISS - Posts big blind 30
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [4h 3h]
RONCINDY - Calls 30
ANGUILLA222 - Folds
_POKERSPACE_ - Folds
CASHNIN - Folds
LRH - Calls 30
THEONE23333 - Calls 30
GOFYCLAIR - Raises 165 to 180
FELDLISS - Folds
RONCINDY - Calls 150
LRH - Calls 150
THEONE23333 - Calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2d Ah 10h]
GOFYCLAIR - Bets 30
RONCINDY - Folds
LRH - Calls 30
THEONE23333 - Calls 30
*** TURN *** [2d Ah 10h] [Kh]
GOFYCLAIR - Bets 840
LRH - Calls 840
THEONE23333 - Folds
*** RIVER *** [2d Ah 10h Kh] [10c]
GOFYCLAIR - Bets 2,520
LRH - All-In(Raise) 3,950 to 3,950
GOFYCLAIR - Folds
LRH - returned (1,430) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LRH - Does not show
LRH Collects 7,560 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(7,560)
Board [2d Ah 10h Kh 10c]
Seat 1: _POKERSPACE_ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CASHNIN Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH collected Total (7,560) All-In HI:(7,560) [Does not show]
Seat 4: THEONE23333 (dealer) Folded on the TURN
Seat 5: GOFYCLAIR (small blind) Folded on the RIVER
Seat 6: FELDLISS (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: RONCINDY Folded on the FLOP
Seat 8: ANGUILLA222 Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Stage #2002150179 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 30 - 2009-11-16 16:35:42 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #7 is the dead dealer
Seat 1 - _POKERSPACE_ (5,960 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHNIN (1,205 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (8,825 in chips)
Seat 4 - THEONE23333 (2,775 in chips)
Seat 5 - GOFYCLAIR (2,793 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (2,925 in chips)
Seat 8 - ANGUILLA222 (925 in chips)
Seat 9 - MCMATTO (3,000 in chips)
ANGUILLA222 - Posts small blind 15
MCMATTO - Posts big blind 30
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [Kc As]
_POKERSPACE_ - Folds
CASHNIN - Folds
LRH - Calls 30
THEONE23333 - Raises 120 to 120
GOFYCLAIR - Raises 435 to 435
FELDLISS - Folds
ANGUILLA222 - Folds
MCMATTO - Folds
LRH - All-In(Raise) 8,795 to 8,825
THEONE23333 - Folds
GOFYCLAIR - All-In 2,358
LRH - returned (6,032) : not called
*** FLOP *** [Ad Qh Ks]
*** TURN *** [Ad Qh Ks] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Qh Ks 2h] [3c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LRH - Shows [Kc As] (Two Pair, aces and kings)
GOFYCLAIR - Shows [5d 2c] (One pair, twos)
LRH Collects 5,751 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(5,751)
Board [Ad Qh Ks 2h 3c]
Seat 1: _POKERSPACE_ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CASHNIN Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH won Total (5,751) All-In HI:(5,751) with Two Pair, aces and kings [Kc As - P:As,B:Ad,B:Ks,P:Kc,B:Qh]
Seat 4: THEONE23333 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: GOFYCLAIR HI:lost with One pair, twos [5d 2c - B:2h,P:2c,B:Ad,B:Ks,B:Qh]
Seat 6: FELDLISS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: ANGUILLA222 (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: MCMATTO (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS

Stage #2002209567 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 60 - 2009-11-16 17:04:43 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 1 - _POKERSPACE_ (5,700 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHNIN (965 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (11,613 in chips)
Seat 4 - THEONE23333 (1,285 in chips)
Seat 5 - GOFYCLAIR (2,760 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (2,125 in chips)
Seat 7 - BEACHRAT1946 (7,910 in chips)
Seat 8 - ANGUILLA222 (1,140 in chips)
Seat 9 - MCMATTO (2,410 in chips)
THEONE23333 - Posts small blind 30
GOFYCLAIR - Posts big blind 60
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [Ah Qs]
FELDLISS - Folds
BEACHRAT1946 - Folds
ANGUILLA222 - Folds
MCMATTO - Folds
_POKERSPACE_ - Folds
CASHNIN - Folds
LRH - Calls 60
THEONE23333 - Calls 30
GOFYCLAIR - Raises 180 to 240
LRH - All-In(Raise) 11,553 to 11,613
THEONE23333 - Folds
GOFYCLAIR - All-In 2,520
LRH - returned (8,853) : not called
*** FLOP *** [8h 4c Js]
*** TURN *** [8h 4c Js] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [8h 4c Js 3c] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LRH - Shows [Ah Qs] (ace high)
GOFYCLAIR - Shows [5s Kc] (king high)
LRH Collects 5,580 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(5,580)
Board [8h 4c Js 3c 9s]
Seat 1: _POKERSPACE_ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: CASHNIN Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH (dealer) won Total (5,580) All-In HI:(5,580) with ace high [Ah Qs - P:Ah,P:Qs,B:Js,B:9s,B:8h]
Seat 4: THEONE23333 (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: GOFYCLAIR (big blind) HI:lost with king high [5s Kc - P:Kc,B:Js,B:9s,B:8h,P:5s]
Seat 6: FELDLISS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: BEACHRAT1946 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: ANGUILLA222 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: MCMATTO Folded on the POCKET CARDS

In the midst of all this I wondered whether “GOFYCLAIR” might be an abbreviation for what he wanted to say to his ex-girlfriend after she dumped him (I’ll leave it to my readers to work that one out for themselves in the interests of keeping the blog’s PG rating), and if that were true, whether her reasons for departing had anything to do with his lovemaking skills possibly paralleling his poker prowess (again, I’ll exercise discretion and allow you to imagine for yourselves what that might look like, but in my personal version Clair got extremely tired of saying “umm, honey? What are you trying to do, exactly?”), and if THAT were true, then I imagine that if he ever did manage to say “GOFYCLAIR” to her, then her response would be something like “what do you think I’ve HAD to do for the past 6 months?” (I can get away with a veiled masturbation reference and still be PG-13, right?). Maybe, just as he did with me, GOFY got lucky with Clair on the first try and performed well by accident (please admire my restraint here in avoiding any jokes about “sucking out”) and she failed to realize that when evaluating a poker player you should always take a close look at the technique and never be “results oriented”, especially not on the results of a single hand, or any other body part.

I think I’ve taken that one about as far as it can go (maybe farther). I’ll just close by saying thank you to GOFYCLAIR for infusing me with so many chips, and to my imagined, frustrated but resourceful and self-reliant Clair, wherever you are, I’m sorry that GOFY’s fumblings were not as satisfying for you as they were for me.

OK wait … what was I talking about? Sometimes I get a little carried away. Oh yeah, poker…

So I was in good shape after the rebuy period ended … poor hapless GOFYCLAIR got tired of stumbling around in the dark with me and threw his remaining chips at someone else, but then another big stack went a little insane with his Q9 on a nine-high flop when I was holding Kings, doubling me up to 30,000 chips and exclusive control over the chip lead. We had started with 142 players and probably had about 50 remaining at this point. I treaded water for quite a while, briefly climbing up to 40,000 but dropping back down to 30, losing the chip lead in the process but staying above average, when I made a weird aggressive move on someone who had been raising a lot, and it worked out pretty well for me – it turned out I was right about him not having much of a hand, but very wrong about what he would do with it:

Stage #2002609795 Tourney ID 4886918 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit 1,600 - 2009-11-16 19:41:41 (ET)
Table: 22 (Real Money) Seat #3 is the dealer
Seat 1 - MINOOKALEE (21,924 in chips)
Seat 3 - LRH (32,942 in chips)
Seat 4 - QUICKKUTA (38,572 in chips)
Seat 5 - RENSTER21 (22,788 in chips)
Seat 6 - FELDLISS (9,786 in chips)
Seat 7 - KLT (34,595 in chips)
Seat 8 - BUSTEDFLUSH41 (29,912 in chips)
Seat 9 - BKLYN99 (50,961 in chips)
MINOOKALEE - Ante 150
LRH - Ante 150
QUICKKUTA - Ante 150
RENSTER21 - Ante 150
FELDLISS - Ante 150
KLT - Ante 150
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Ante 150
BKLYN99 - Ante 150
QUICKKUTA - Posts small blind 800
RENSTER21 - Posts big blind 1,600
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to LRH [8c 10c]
FELDLISS - Folds
KLT - Folds
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Calls 1,600
BKLYN99 - Folds
MINOOKALEE - Folds
LRH - Raises 6,677 to 6,677
QUICKKUTA - Folds
RENSTER21 - Folds
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Calls 5,077
*** FLOP *** [8d Kh 8s]
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Checks
LRH - Checks
*** TURN *** [8d Kh 8s] [9c]
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Bets 16,954
LRH - All-In(Raise) 26,115 to 26,115
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - All-In 6,131
LRH - returned (3,030) : not called
*** RIVER *** [8d Kh 8s 9c] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LRH - Shows [8c 10c] (Three of a kind, eights)
BUSTEDFLUSH41 - Shows [7c 6c] (Two Pair, eights and sevens)
LRH Collects 63,124 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(63,124)
Board [8d Kh 8s 9c 7h]
Seat 1: MINOOKALEE Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 3: LRH (dealer) won Total (63,124) All-In HI:(63,124) with Three of a kind, eights [8c 10c - B:8s,B:8d,P:8c,B:Kh,P:10c]
Seat 4: QUICKKUTA (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 5: RENSTER21 (big blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: FELDLISS Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: KLT Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: BUSTEDFLUSH41 HI:lost with Two Pair, eights and sevens [7c 6c - B:8s,B:8d,B:7h,P:7c,B:Kh]
Seat 9: BKLYN99 Folded on the POCKET CARDS

After that I was the chip leader again, but only briefly … I floated between 50,000 and 70,000 for quite a while until I tried another brazen move with QT, and this time it didn’t work out so well, with my opponent holding KK. That knocked me down below average stack size, and I survived until we were down to two tables, getting close to making the final table and another crown shot, but I busted out in 12th place for $366 when my measly A4s ran headfirst into the not-at-all measly quad Queens.

Disappointing. I need to draw a better line between putting difficult pressure on my opponents and throwing way too much of my stack into risk at crucial spots in tournaments – like approaching the final table. The top three milestones of fun, excitement and profitability in tournament play are (1) winning a tournament, (2) making it to a final table with a healthy stack so you’ve got lots of room to maneuver, and (3) making it to the final table period. So busting out in 12th after several hours is about as funless a result as is possible.

There’s more … since the 12th place finish I’ve had a couple more exciting runs, one particularly so … but I’ve spent so long writing this one and in the meantime I’ve busted out of the two tournaments I was playing (one with a small min-cash, finishing 27th out of 214) and it’s time for bed, so I’ll throw this post on the wall and see if it sticks…

huge

It’s 3:30AM. I had a performance this evening and went out for drinks with the cast and friends afterwards, got home around 12:45AM, decided I wasn’t ready for sleep yet, and I knew there was a 1AM turbo tournament on Pokerstars so I took my contact lenses out, grabbed a doughnut and headed down into my poker man-cave.

I haven’t been playing a lot of online poker lately – the show takes up three nights a week plus the all-important Sunday afternoons, and then too it’s just difficult to split focus between theatre and poker. When I have played I don’t think I’ve played well – not focusing, being impatient, forcing the action, etc. But the nice little live score in Vegas on Tuesday perked me up a bit, and I’ve been wanting to get back into poker mode.

So tonight, or this morning I guess, I started off slowly in the $109 event, but then got a bit lucky on a semi-bluff: called a min-raise from the big blind with J7o, flopped a double-gutshot straight draw and checkraised the initial raiser all-in on a K-T-9 flop, caught the magic Queen on the turn and knocked out my inexplicable opponent with K-5-off (Dude! A min-raise with K-5? What are you trying to accomplish there?)

From that lucky springboard I was off and running. When I captured the chip lead I started emailing my poker cronies with quick updates … I’ll just copy the chain of messages, starting with the hand history that made me chip leader:

Subject: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

After this hand:

PokerStars Game #35378579117: Tournament #219010187, $100+$9 USD Hold’em No Limit - Level XIX (600/1200) - 2009/11/15 2:38:54 PT [2009/11/15 5:38:54 ET]
Table ‘219010187 2′ 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: strike1 (33851 in chips)
Seat 2: danx420 (7165 in chips)
Seat 3: The Cyne (10523 in chips)
Seat 4: archjazz (7092 in chips)
Seat 5: Speedpokah (43762 in chips)
Seat 6: d.quang (26647 in chips)
Seat 8: SmArTeEeE (3905 in chips)
strike1: posts the ante 150
danx420: posts the ante 150
The Cyne: posts the ante 150
archjazz: posts the ante 150
Speedpokah: posts the ante 150
d.quang: posts the ante 150
SmArTeEeE: posts the ante 150
danx420: posts small blind 600
The Cyne: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to strike1 [Qh Ac]
archjazz: folds
Speedpokah: folds
d.quang: folds
SmArTeEeE: raises 2555 to 3755 and is all-in
strike1: raises 29946 to 33701 and is all-in
danx420: folds
The Cyne: calls 9173 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (23328) returned to strike1
*** FLOP *** [8h 5h 9h]
*** TURN *** [8h 5h 9h] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [8h 5h 9h Jd] [3h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
The Cyne: shows [Qc Ad] (high card Ace)
strike1: shows [Qh Ac] (a flush, Queen high)
strike1 collected 13236 from side pot
SmArTeEeE: shows [As Qd] (high card Ace)
strike1 collected 12915 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 26151 Main pot 12915. Side pot 13236. | Rake 0
Board [8h 5h 9h Jd 3h]
Seat 1: strike1 (button) showed [Qh Ac] and won (26151) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 2: danx420 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: The Cyne (big blind) showed [Qc Ad] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 4: archjazz folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: Speedpokah folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: d.quang folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 8: SmArTeEeE showed [As Qd] and lost with high card Ace

Subject: RE: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

Still leader with 10 players left, nearly 2:1 lead on 2nd place…

Subject: RE: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

Dropped a bit, now back to chip leader with 6 left…

Subject: RE: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

Heads-up. Other guy has 3:2 lead

Subject: RE: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

Now I’m 2:1 leader

Subject: RE: chip leader in 1AM $109 turbo on Stars

Ding. $3440 for 1st.

Yes it went from 6-handed to heads-up in 4 minutes. In fact we played 1 hand 9-handed, 3 hands 8-handed, 3 hands 7-handed, 5 hands 6-handed, 1 hand 5-handed, 3 hands 4-handed, zero hands 3-handed, and then a whopping 66 hands of heads-up, during which we were only all-in 3 times.

Now I have to play a bunch of tournaments to try to win another triple crown. So tiresome. Sigh.

————————————————————————————

So two months after my first triple crown I have a (distant) shot at another one (yeah, and $3440 in my pocket). It is, as always, a serious longshot even after winning the first tournament, but it’s definitely a fun quest, and if I could win a second triple crown so soon that would be a major, nay stunning, accomplishment.

I’m writing this 24 hours later, after the longest poker day I’ve had in a while, chasing crown number 2. I played several tournaments that would qualify, had good runs in three of them, and even made the final table in the last one, so had a legitimate shot at the elusive crown, but ran smack into Aces at the final table, finishing 8th out of 229 players for $665, pretty much leaving me at breakeven for the day. If my back’s not too sore I’ll go at it again tomorrow…

I’ll let you know if I make any progress in the quest. Visualize multiple Huge crowns…

Rachel and I just got back from a whirlwind 3-day trip to Vegas. I had a travel voucher left over from the world series and two good friends of ours from New York were on their first visit to Vegas for their first anniversary, so we decided we should go and show them the town. I’m still a bit stuffed from two buffets in three days, plus one of the best burgers I’ve ever had … at the “Burger Bar” at Mandalay Bay – I restrained myself from ordering the $60 “Rossini Burger” (Kobe beef, sautéed foie gras, shaved truffles, on onion bun with a rich brown Perigord sauce) … I almost ordered it, but decided it needed to be the prize in my next prop bet with everyone’s old pal Dan, so I called him from the restaurant and read him the description on the menu. We’ll probably have a weight loss bet where the loser has to take the winner out for a Rossini burger and watch them eat it – maybe the loser can have a veggie burger or something. I found a more drooly description on the web: “Feeling flush?: Order the Rossini Burger. It’ll set you back at $60 a pop, but it’s pretty much like sex between a fresh baked onion bun with Kobe beef, sautéed foie gras, shaved truffles, and Madeira sauce” (I guess the sauce changes from time to time) and in my searching I stumbled onto a list of the 5 most expensive burgers in the world in which the Rossini Burger only gets an honorable mention.

I got to watch the crowning of the 2009 WSOP champion live at the Rio, in the Penn & Teller theatre – it was pretty strange to sit in a 1200-seat theatre watching two guys play cards with eight million dollars in cash piled up between them on the table, with the audience oohing and ahhing every time someone would raise, and jumping to their feet when someone would go all-in.

I played two tournaments, both at the Wynn, and one cash game session at the Flamingo, where we were staying. The first tournament ended badly – we had 57 entrants and I made it to the final 15 (they were paying 9) when I got all-in with JJ vs AJo, and everything looked rosy in the 100,000 chip pot until the dreaded Ace on the river. I’m not sure whether it made it worse that the guy who sucked out on me was a dwarf. (Not joking)

Second tournament (yesterday) went a bit better … this time they were only paying 5 spots (the tournament started with 45 players) and I made it to the final table with a good stack. My chips continued to multiply in spite of losing pots with KQ vs K7, with AK vs 43s (with an Ace on the flop), and another bad beat that I’ll describe in a moment. The other players wanted to make a deal when we got down to 8 players, first suggesting that we just chop it eight ways, which I first just ignored and then laughed at, and then the one guy who was the most aggressive in his whininess about wanting to chop the prize pool said that they could each take $1,000 and give me the extra, and I laughed some more and said “naah, I like to play poker – I know that sounds weird, but let’s just keep playing”. I said I would take $2100, which was the prize for 2nd place, but I only even suggested that because we had tickets to see the Lion King and I was afraid that the tournament might take too long and I’d miss the show. So the guy kept whining and I kept laughing and 8th place busted out and 7th place busted out and I kept accumulating more chips. He kept saying how I would change my tune in a few minutes and with the blinds so high things could change in a heartbeat, blah blah blah. He was pretty tiresome – Rachel and our friends were watching at this point and she hated him more than I did, thoroughly badmouthing him to our non-poker-playing friends. I was generous enough to agree to a deal in which $50 would be removed from each of the top prizes so that the 6th place finisher would get $250 – $25 more than the tournament entry fee. Whiny guy busted out on the pseudo-bubble and slithered away with his $25 profit.

I continued to dominate as the next three players busted out, but the last guy to bust out gave his chips to the other short stack, so when we got to heads-up I only had about a 2:1 advantage. My opponent was pretty good – all through the final table he seemed like the best of my opponents – but I felt pretty confident playing heads-up with him, and I generally chipped away at his stack until I had a 3:1 lead. We got all-in with my A-9 suited against his A-2 suited, and it looked like a solid clear victory until he hit runner-runner diamonds for the flush on the river, and suddenly we were close to even in chips, and I was very close to missing the Lion King, and I suggested that we chop it, and he agreed, so we each took $2510 and I jumped in a cab, rushing into the gift shop at Mandalay Bay to grab a Snickers bar so I wouldn’t faint from hunger during the show (though I did fall asleep for a bit and I’m still unclear on how Simba’s father died). We all enjoyed the incredible puppets & costumes in the show and we all rolled our eyes in artistic superiority at the stupid Disneyfication infusion. And WHY THE HELL do big casino restaurants close at 10PM when they have a huge theatre show that gets out at 10:15?? We went past like 10 restaurants that were either closed or not interesting before finding the Burger Bar, though that turned out to be a happy discovery in the end. When we got back to the Flamingo at 1AM I decided I needed one last nibble of poker before flying back home, took the elevator down to the small poker room, bought into a 1-2NL game, built up a few chips, and then coolered a guy with my AA on an A-6-6 flop vs his 7-6, so picked up another $350 in the 3AM cash game … a pretty good day all around.

I think I’ve finished 1st or 2nd at the Wynn tournament 8 or 9 times now - it seems possible that I could make a living just playing that one tournament every single day.

But now I’m back in cold grey Seattle, and I’ll be back on stage tomorrow night. I just got email indicating that 2-for-1 tickets are available for this weekend for friends of the cast – let me know if you’d like to come and I’ll either arrange tickets or let you know how you can get the discount. We got a pretty good review in the Seattle Weekly and a positive but odd review in the Seattle Gay News in which one of my characters is described as a “batterer and possibly an incestuous pervert”. Yeah!!

I’ll get in trouble again if I forget to mention that if you haven’t seen Rachel’s brilliant adaptation of “Emma” at Book-It, you should see that too. Both shows run through a closing matinee on November 22.