1/20 Game report written by Bill

This past weekend 8 of us from the Dirty Dirty Poker Tour, City, GOAT, T-Chill, Frank, Chrissy, Code Blue, Jihad, and I got together at Frank's for some unsanctioned tourneys in preparation for the DDPT Championship Event on February 3. We were joined by some of Frank’s relatives and the GE Money poker crew. A total of 16 people played in two tournaments and one mini-tournament “side game.” There were winners and losers, but all had a great time. Thanks to Frank for hosting the event! The following is a very biased report on how my night went down.

I need to pay my credit card on time, as GE Money took enough of my cash on Saturday. Game one began for me in the Frank’s basement, with six other players, including fellow DDPTers T-Chill, Code Blue and Chrissy, with Abby, Dan, and David filling out the septet. The others played were eight-handed upstairs, with the plan being to combine the two tables when the field narrowed to eight. The hand that set the tone early started off with Code Blue being dealt A 10 and a flop of KQJ, giving him the nut straight. Dan stayed in all the way, calling Blue’s all-in and turning over KQ and top two pair. With Blue ready to rake in the chips, I say, “Wait, he could still fill — oh.” The queen comes on the river, giving Dan the boat and an early chip lead. This was just another in a season of bad beats for Code Blue, but we all know he’s due for a big game as the DDPT Championship looms. Dan, meanwhile, used his winnings to build up a monstrous stack for himself. He took me out after I pushed with A 10 and an ace and rags on the board. When he turned over AK, I was headed for the showers. Dan, who we started calling “White Chip” because he was only betting with the $1,000 white chips, the largest denomination, mowed down David, and Jihad, who had been shifted over to our table. When Frank joined the table, he relieved Dan of a good portion of his chips just before the tables would combine.

The ensuing side game, consisting of myself and five other early knockouts, plus “Slow Play” Jay, who arrived late and missed the beginning of the first game, was more of a “victims of Dan and Mike” support group (Mike having ran most of the upstairs table). It was small consolation for us that neither of those guys would even finish in the money. The all-DDPT final three consisted of GOAT, Chill, and Frank. In the heads-up, Chill faced Frank in what many pundits figured to be a preview of the final match up for the DDPT championship. There was no stopping Frank this day, as he thawed out the big Chill, and the DDPT was spared a slew of “I’m getting hot just in time for the Championship” posts from Chill on their blog.

In the side game, the big hand happened without me, as I had folded my slop and went behind the bar to grab a Snapple. When I came back, I was in the final three. Jihad had knocked out the rest of the field, and acquired about 90% of the chips on the table, with quad sixes. Don and I were left with short stacks to battle for second place. Don pushed and lost, and my desperation all-in on the next hand didn’t work, but I was good enough for second place.

In game two, most of the GE Money crew had gone home, but I still had to deal with Frank’s relatives. First was Frank’s sister-in-law, Lexy. With pocket tens and a ragged flop, I made a large bet, and she called. This was not unusual, as she had called so much that we were calling her “the operator” and “always in.” With rags on the turn and river, I figured my tens were still good, so I bet larger amounts and, true to her nicknames, “the operator” called. At the end of the hand, she turned over her pocket aces, and half my stack was gone. “Great,” I’m thinking, “Keep slow playing those aces. See what happens.” Sour grapes or prophetic genius? Before you decide, consider this: On the next hand, Lexy is dealt pocket aces again, and ends up pushing against her big sister, Lisa, who turned over pocket kings. It looked like it was all over for Lisa, but she showed why the older child is the wiser, or at least, the luckier. A king falls on the river and Lexy’s night is done. Just desserts for her? You decide!

In any case, what Frank’s sister-in-law didn’t take from me, his brother-in-law David did. I had AK with a ragged board. He bet, I raised, and he went all in, so I folded. I was anemic after that until GOAT finally took me out. On a later hand, David went all in with absolutely nothing. I’ll remember that for next time Dave! Jihad, who was on life support, busted out on the bubble when the blinds were 800/1600. He only had about 2 or 3 BB left, so when the BB fell on him, he pushed with 3-5os and got called by Lisa who held A-7. No need to tell you how that one played out! The final three came down to “Slow Play” Jay, Lisa, and City from the DDPT. Jay won the heads up match against Lisa, while City cashed for the first time in a year in which he played few games.

All in all, it was a fun and entertaining evening!