Las Vegas - Day 2 Part 2

Saturday, December 11, 2004
The Afternoon - WPBT Holiday Classic

The Poker Prof and Dick gathered up the troops and took us downstairs to the poker room for the Tourney. We drew seats and sat down. I was seated at a good table. I looked over at Paul's table and part of me wished I was seated there but part of me was glad I wasn't. If I wanted to win, I knew I'd have to go through some of the heavyweights at that table at some point so why rush it. Charlie, Felicia, Max, Paul, Grubby, and SnailTrax were all at that table. Check out Paul's site for a great write up on the tourney. I was seated at Table 3.

Seat 1: The Poker Prof
Seat 2: -EV
Seat 3: Foiled Coup
Seat 4: Me (Derek)
Seat 5: Julie from the Blue Parrot
Seat 6: Ferrari
Seat 7: F Train
Seat 8: HDouble
Seat 9: EvaCanHang
Seat 10: Maudie

Pics from the WPBT Holiday Classic - Thanks to the Poker Prof and his dad for the pictures.


-EV, Foiled Coup, and Me
Our table was tight as hell and Hank took advantage of that early. He raised some early pots and alot of people folded to him. I was most worried about Hank and Eva. You can't get a read on Eva or Hank. They seem fearless too. Foiled Coup made an interesting comment soon after the tourney started. As people were getting knocked out at the other 2 tables, our table was still in tact. Everyone was just about even in money. He said that either half of us were going to the final table or all of us were going to get KO'd and chipped down once we went down to 2 tables. He was right about the final table part because most of the people who played at my table went pretty far (even Glenn who was the 1st replacement at our table). I chatted with FoilCoup for most of the tourney and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. He also played some great poker in the tourney. The other seating assignments were:

Table 1
Seat 1: Flip Chip
Seat 2: Charlie Shoten
Seat 3: SnailTrax
Seat 4: Brian
Seat 5: Mas
Seat 6: Pauly
Seat 7: Max Pescatori
Seat 8: CJ
Seat 9: Felicia Lee
Seat 10: Grubby

Table 2
Seat 1: Glenn
Seat 2: Bad Blood
Seat 3: Bill Rini
Seat 4: G-Rob
Seat 5: Boy Genius
Seat 6: Linda
Seat 7: Otis
Seat 8: AlCan'tHang
Seat 9: Martin
Seat 10: Bob


From Bad Blood's perspective
Level 1: The blinds started out at 25/50. We got T2000 in chips. The top 5 places were in the money. G-Rob dropped the hammer on the first hand of the tournament. How 'bout that! Nice G-Rob! I heard that Charlie was messing around in the first level. He was raising and re-raising everyone no matter what his hand was. He even made a move on Paul at one point and won the pot when Paul folded. Early on, it was crazy. Within seconds, two people were KO'd. Flip Chip's AA was cracked by Max's AJs. Max hit a flush. Right before that, Al Cant Hang's AQ knocked out Bill Rini's QJ. Bill was KO'd first and won Paul's last place prize . . . the movie Gigli, starring J-Lo. It was shortly after Bill got KO'd that I started to wish I didn't do any shots before I even ate any food. By the end of Level 1, I had a little more than the amount of chips I started with. I was playing tight and didn't want to get into any pots early on. I won a few small pots without trying. I decided that I was only going to play late position hands unless of course I got something huge in the other positions. Unfortunately, you can't play too tight if you want to win a tourney like this (3 tables). SnailTrax beat Charlie at his own game. Daddy made a move on Charlie when he re-raised him with nothing and Charlie folded. Nice!!! You can't beat that, right!


Charlie Shoten and Daddy
Level 2: Later on in this level, I won a big hand off of Julie and severely crippled her stack. I had KQo versus her K7o. I was sitting to her immediate right and I was on the button. Everyone folded to me and I raised it to T300. Julie called and Ferrari folded. The flop came out K-8-3. Julie checked. I bet the pot and she called. The turn was a J. Julie checked again and I bet T800 which might have been too little since there was over T1800 in the pot. Julie called again. Damn, what does she have? I thought she was on a flush draw since there were spades on the board. Maybe she was slowplaying a set? Maybe I was over thinking this. I never played with Julie before so I had no clue what type of player she was. The river came down a spade. We both checked and she turned over a pair of Kings. I outkicked her and won a decent sized pot. I probably should have gone all in on the turn. In hindsight, I believe Julie would've called and I would've KO'd her. Unfortunately, I didn't and she eventually fought her way back and made it to the final table.



Me & Julie
Level 3: This level was also a little crazy. Eva miss read her hand and lost a big pot to Maudie. F Train also lost a big hand. He flopped trips but checked on the flop. Unfortunately for him, Ferrari got to see a free card. Ferrari almost folded to FTrain's all in re-raise but he didn't and called. Ferrari had a full house and crippled FTrain's stack. On the next hand FTrain got KO'd by Eva. She won his bounty which was an F Train tshirt. Cool prize! During this level, Linda's 66 and Bad Blood's KK lost out to Al's AQ. It was in this level where Felicia started her run. She was short stacked after getting bad beated. She pushed all against Paul on the next hand with AQ and beat his Hilton Sisters. Felicia doubled up and I think it was over from there on. She weathered her storm and steamrolled her way to the final table.

Level 4: Julie's shortstack doubled up against HDouble when her AA held up. Charlie Shoten was KO'd on the same hand as the Poker Prof. They ran into Max's small pair. They had overcards and Max's hand held up. Charlie actually came over to my table and shook my hand and said goodbye and goodluck. After this level, there was only 21 players left. I think we had a break after this level.

The last hand before the break was a big one. I was dealt ATo on the button. As the action moved around the table, Hank bet. Maudie moved all in preflop. She was short stacked and had to make a stand. Everyone folded to me. I paused for what seemed like an eternity (a NY minute). I knew AT was very marginal but I knew I had overcards on Maudie. I had a feeling she had a average pocket pair. She seemed a little nervous even though her face showed no fear. So I knew she didnt have a monster. I looked over to my far left and saw Hank taking inventory of his chips with his eyes. Man, I didn't want to get KO'd right before the break with AT. Maybe AQ but not this hand so I laid it down. Everyone else folded to Hank. He thought for a few minutes and said, "We might have a coin-flip here." Then he called. He flipped over 77 and Maudie turned over 99. Wow. Was that a good lay down by me or a really bad one?? I choose to look at it as a good lay down but I was hurting after the cards hit the board. An A flopped of course and Maudie's pocket pair held up against HDouble's. That would have been an interesting 3 way race. Anyway, I missed out on getting some of Maudie and Hank's chips. Maudie doubled up right before the break!!

Level 5: I believe we were down to two tables now. Glenn and Martin moved over to my table. My original table was down to:

Seat 1: Glenn
Seat 2: -EV
Seat 3: Foiled Coup
Seat 4: Derek
Seat 5: Julie from the Blue Parrot
Seat 6: Ferrari
Seat 7: Martin
Seat 8: HDouble
Seat 9: EvaCanHang
Seat 10: Maudie

Otis, Boy Genius, Bob, and AlCantHang moved over to table 1. They were seated with Mas, Pauly, Max Pescatori, Felicia Lee and G-Rob. G-Rob got knocked out by Felicia. There were 18 players left and I have a little over T2500 in chips. I had been getting chipped down after my win against Julie. I wasn't playing too many hands. And I only played 2 hands where I was splashing alot of my chips into the pot. I was also staying out of EP pots. I know I limped a few times preflop in level 4 and 5 when I should've raised or folded. I hadn't played in a live NL Tourney in quite a few months so I was a little rusty. Obviously, it's way different than sitting around in your underwear watching TV while playing in an online tourney. I think my growing impatience and lapse in my stratgey caused my blow up in the next level. I might've had a few more chips to play with.

Level 6: The Blinds were getting high and I was down to around T1600. Any raise in a hand would have to put me all in preflop or eventually on the flop so I decided to try and make some moves in this level. I raised all in preflop few times and won the blinds. My whole table was tight so I figured it was the right move to make. Glenn worried me a little though. I knew he was tight too but I also had a feeling he was going to try and make something happen and make a run for the final table. Prior to the tourney, I thought he had a great chance to win this thing. I got the chance to see Glenn play in April. He was playing in a WPT satellite tourney at the Bellagio. He was vying for a shot at $2.7 million and a chance to play in the WPT's big season finale event. Glenn was at my table now. I knew that was bad news for someone. I was dealt pocket 10's. I was 3rd to act and I moved all in. Everyone folded. Glenn was in the BB and thought for a little but folded. On the very next hand, I was dealt A4s. I was 2nd to act. Even though I just had TT dealt to me in the prior hand, I thought for a while and wondered if this was going to be the best hand I was going to see for a while. I knew everyone was a little timid with only 2 tables left. I was just starting to get comfortable and thought I had a good chance to make a run. I wasn't even thinking about the AT hand I folded earlier before the break, but something just said to me . . . push it!

I moved all-in and everyone folded. The action went to Glenn and he looked down at his stack and back at his cards. He was in the SB. He said something to me before he acted which I thought was weird because Glenn is usually quiet at the table. He said something like . . . I'm hoping you have just an A and it's not a coin flip. Oh boy! He had a good read on me. I had him covered but I felt a sense of horror because I knew I might be in trouble. Did I go to the well once too often? Glenn called and went all-in with 77. His pocket pair held up and beat my A4s. I had a flush draw going into the river but nothing . . . blanks for me. Ouch. Glenn doubled through. Maybe it was a bad move to push all in but I needed to make a move. I was severely short stacked now and I was UTG. Damn. I was dealt Q9s. I had to go all in because I only had enough chips to cover the BB. Everyone folded to FoiledCoup who was in the BB. Foiled Coup looked over at me and said, "Good luck. I wish I could fold." He checked and turned over 27o. The hammer! I was ahead but a 7 came down on the flop and Foiled Coup won. No Q's, 9's, or diamonds for me. How damn fitting is that! KO'd from the blogger tourney by the hammer. I hate the hammer!



Me during the tournament
-EV and EvaCanHang both had less chips than me when I got KO'd. They both fell shortly afterwards. At Paul's table, Bob's AJ lost to Max's AA. The pace started to pick up. People were dropping out left and right. I took a quick break from the poker room with Daddy and we got hammered . . . . errrr wasted. When we returned to the poker room, Paul was the chip leader. He ran into some monster hands along the way to his big stack. He got AA dealt to him when Al Cant Hang bet a good portion of his stack UTG. Bad news for AlCantHang. Al made a great showing and made it to the final table a little later on. Go ACH!!!! The AlCan'tHang factor baby!!

Al had ATo and Paul doubled up against him. Paul had over T10,000 in chips. Ferrari was knocked out by 10-10 and the tourney was down to 12 people. Pauly's pocket Jacks KO'd Otis' Big Slick suited. Boy Genius knocked out Mas. It was breaktime again for the tourney. It was also Final Table time for the 1st ever Live WPBT!!!


The prize money
Level 7: The Final Table

Seat 1: Felicia
Seat 2: Max
Seat 3: Foiled Coup
Seat 4: Pauly
Seat 5: AlCantFold
Seat 6: BG
Seat 7: Glenn
Seat 8: HDouble
Seat 9: Julie
Seat 10: Martin


Those are all of Paul's chips in that rack next to Julie & AlCan'tHang.

ACH made a great run but he ran into AA again. This time it was Max. BG, Martin, and Hank fell eventually. They all played great. We were down to 6 and Paul was doing great! He ran into Julie from the Blue Parrot twice and got KO'd. Ouch. I feel slightly responsible for that. I should've beat Julie earlier in the tourney. She was down to the felt against me and I failed to put her away. She was very resilient. She stormed back and took down the chip leader. Paul moved all in with 66 on the button. Paul hadn't seen a flop in awhile. Julie thought for a long time and called with KQs. It was a coin flip. The flop looked great for Paul until the river when a Queen came out. Damn! Paul didn't look too happy. He had Julie slightly covered but he was down to very few chips. He got A3s in the next hand and moved all in. Julie called with A7. Paul lost and got KO'd. While he took off for some SoCo shots at the bar with Al Cant Hang, I took some of his play by play notes for him. He bubbled out and was super pissed. I've seen the look before. He wasn't a happy camper.

Level 8: Glenn and Foiled Coup went next and finished 5th and 4th respectively. It was now a 3 way battle. Max, Felicia, and Julie from the Blue Parrot. Julie did pretty well for someone who's never played in a NL tourney before. The back and forth battle between the 3 went on for a while. Max eventually knocked out Julie. She took third place. Julie did a great job "representing the Blue Parrot" (Daddy's quote). Felicia ended up winning the whole thing. Congrats to Felicia for winning the WPBT Holiday Classic at Sam's Town!! She KO'd pro Max Pescatori when her K7 beat his AJ. Felicia steamrolled her way to the 1st place prize and a cowboy hat (provided by fellow NYC poker blogger Joaquin). Rodeo Week baby!!


Felicia, my brother, and Max Pescatori
The Top 5 made the money. Here are the final results.

1. $600... Felicia Lee
2. $310... Max Pescatori
3. $230... Julie from the Blue Parrot
4. $130... Foiled Coup
5. $80... Glenn

6. Dr. Pauly
7. HDouble
8. Martin
9. Boy Genius
10. Al Cant Hang (A walking party)
11. Mas
12. Otis
13. Ferrari (lives at the Blue Parrot)
14. Maudie
15. Bob (KKowboy Bob)
16. -EV
17. Derek
18. EvaCanHang
19. G-Rob
20. Charlie Shoten
21. Poker Prof
22. Brian
23. CJ
24. Bad Blood
25. Grubby
26. Linda from Poker Works
27. F Train
28. SnailTrax
29. Flip Chip
30. Bill Rini

So the day was great. The breakfast was fun. I had a blast even though I didn't win. Meeting everyone for the first time and then sitting down for a 3 table tourney was unbelievable. It was such a great experience. Watching the final table was cool as shit. Paul filmed a little bit of it. Too bad we didn't get more film footage. That would have been fun to watch. Thanks to Dick and The Poker Prof for all their work. Thanks to the pros for showing up. Also, thanks to Check n Raise who helped sponsored the event. Thanks for the cool jackets. All N Poker also deserves some kudos for giving away shirts to the final 8 players. Dick Gatewood did a great job by setting this thing up at Sam's Town. Thanks again Dick!!

My next trip report will be the "The Late Night" edition.

Stayed tuned . . . .