Blue Parrot Invitational

Doubled Teamed by Two Women
February 5th, 2005

Is it possible to be doubled teamed by two women and still come out a loser? The answer is yes. The Blue Parrot Invitational kicked off today and I finished in 3rd place. I went up against two females and I lost. And guess what . . . one of them was Julie. Damn Julie!! She did it again but this time she and Toni decided to chop the prize money. Julie got a little more than 50% of the prize pool since she had a slight chip advantage over Toni. Toni and Julie were both last minute replacements too. F Train, Monte Christo, and Joaquin couldn't make it. We played with 9 players instead of 10. Julie finished in 3rd place at the WPBT Holiday Classic event at Sam's Town. Toni plays at the Blue Parrot and occassionally hosts games at her place, the TowneHouse. Julie and Toni both decided to chop it after what seemed like an hour of heads up play. It looked like no one was going to win. They were each winning every other pot. No one was getting any advantage in the chip lead so they decided to end it after we played for around 4 hours. It was a pretty damn long tourney for a single table event. I took third place prize. Our payouts were similar to online SnGs.

We started with T1500 in chips. The blinds went up every 20 minutes until the later half of the tourney when we went to 15 minute intervals. This was a long ass tourney. It was so long that me, Julie, and Toni didn't even to get to play in the cash games that were going on on the side. I think Ferrari and Ugarte cleaned up most of that money.

So Ferrari was kind enough to host this tourney and I must say thanks to him. I had fun though I do wish I was still there right now playing some cash games. People had to take off which sucked but it was great to see Mas and the Blue Parrot gang again. I hadn't seen them since Vegas. I got to meet Toby who is a blogger too. I sat next to her at the PokerStars tourney but this was the first time we ever met. I met Coach and Ugarte for the first time too. It was my first time meeting Toni too.

So Paul and I took the subway to the Blue Parrot. We talked about the possible structure and who was coming since there were a few replacements showing up at the last minute. During the train ride, Paul turns to me and goes, "if Coach raises . . . FOLD!" Supposedly Coach is tight and only bets and raises with the nuts. I knew to steer clear of him and not to get into any pots with him heads up. I had a feel for Ferrari and Julie since I sat at the same table as them at Sam's Town. Paul said that Ugarte was pretty tight too but not as much as Coach. I haven't played too much with Mas. A few times online and at the Excalibur. I had played against Toby on PokerStars but I wasn't familiar with her play too much. I was clueless about Toni. Paul said she's good but gets impatient and becomes a little loose.

We drew for our seats. As always, Paul had his notebook out. Everyone was playing tight for the first hour. Ugarte showed up a little late. We dealt him in the entire time. He only missed one orbit. Mas and Ugarte actually knew each other through a mutually friend which is pretty random. As BG likes to kid me, I was playing tight as shit for the first hour. I can tell you every hand I played in the tourney and I didn't even take good notes.

Seats:

1 - Ferrari
2 - Pauly
3 - Coach
4 - Julie
5 - Ugarte
6 - Mas
7 - Toby
8 - Derek (me)
9 - Toni

I played nothing in the 1st level except the blinds. In the 2nd level, I got KK one hand and raised preflop. Toby was the only one who called. The flop came down A-4-J. She checked and I bet the pot. Toby folded.

In the 3rd level, I got 88 dealt to me on the button. Everyone folded to me. I raised 3 times the BB. Ferrari called in the BB. The flop came down 10-10-6. Ferrari checked and I bet the pot. He called and the turn was a 8. We both checked. The river card was a 5. He checked and I bet half the pot. He folded. I might have played this hand wrong but I won. I was hoping he'd call my small bet or raise it up but he didn't. Ferrari said he had overcards.

I'm not sure what level this happened in but I ended up in a heads up match with Paul. I think I was on the button. I'm not sure. I had AKo. Almost everyone folded to me except for a few people. I raised and Toni and Ferrari folded. Paul moved in and went over the top of me. I thought for a really long time. I didn't want to get knocked out first. AK is such a tough hand. I had a decent amount of money in the pot but not enough to feel like I had to stay. I thought Paul might be steaming from being bluffed out of a pot by Julie earlier. Paul folded earlier when a third club came on the board and Julie moved all in. Julie flipped over her cards and had A high. Both her cards were red. Julie doubled up on that hand and took off from there. She got a great rush of cards. I think she got AA three times. Anyway, back to this hand. I decided to say fuck it even though I didn't want to get KO'd first and I didn't want to KO Paul. But I called. Paul flipped over AQs. I turned over AKo. Wow. I had him dominated. I thought he had a high pair. Ferrari laughed when I announced that. The flop came down A-J-x. The next card was a J. I can't remember the river card but it doesn't matter. We both had A's and J's but I had the K kicker. I was relieved and horrified at the same time. I KO'd Paul and he was the first out.

Paul made a beer run for Mas and the gang. I was dealt 66 and Toby went all in. She was shortstacked. I called. She had A2. I won the race and KO'd Toby. I had the chip lead. Julie was close behind. I didn't play too many hands after that (well . . . at least for a little while). Julie went on a run and KO'd Ferrari, Mas, and Ugarte.

Julie KO'd Ferrari on a big hand. His AK lost to her KJo. Julie took down Mas next. He moved all in with pocket 8's. Julie called with AQo and KO'd The Genius of Poker. Ugarte then ran into Julie's AA. Julie limped preflop and Ugarte raised all in with AJo. Julie took her time and called. She turned over AA and we were all shocked. As Mike Sexton would say, "Beware the limper!"

Ferrari, Mas, Ugarte, Paul, and Toby started a side game while the rest of us continued. I was having a blast so far. It was cool sitting around the table and chatting it up with everyone. I got to talk to Mas a little more than I did in Vegas which was great. I wish I took better notes on each hand but things were moving fast.


On the Bubble
Julie had the chip lead by now. I was 2nd in chips. Toni was third and Coach was shortstacked. From what Paul had been telling me on the subway . . . this was the perfect scenerio for me. The rock was shortstacked and I was close in chips to both Julie and Toni who are much looser players than me. By now, we were pretty much raising all in when we did raise. Very few flops were seen. I limped a few times in these stages which was a mistake because each time, Toni came over the top of me. I think it happened 3 times. Each time, I had marginal hands and folded. One time I had A2s but we actually saw the flop. The flop was Kd-7d-10c. I missed it completely. I checked and Toni bet a really small amount relative to the pot. She got real quiet and looked down at her stack. I had her covered and thought about moving her all in. But as I started to look over . . . I see her separate her chips a little more so I could get a better count. I thought that was weird since I never asked her to count her chips or move them. She wasn't even looking at me so how would she know to do that? After she bet, she looked immediately down at the table. She was staring down at her chips and couldn't have a clue as to where I was looking. Then she started to goad me into calling. I knew she was loose but could she be bluffing? She might fold if I move all in but she plays enough poker to know that she didn't have enough chips left to fold. I folded and she took down the pot. She said she had a pair. Who knows?

I was starting to get chipped down as Julie started to build a bigger lead. I decided to make a move. Julie limped and I pushed all in with 49s. Toni and Coach folded. Julie thought for a really long time and played with her chips for what seemed like an eternity. She grabbed her chips and called. I moved all in on her two times earlier when she limped and everytime she folded. This time she caught me with nothing and called. To my horror, she flipped over AKo. I turned over my 49s and figured it was cigarette time for me since Julie had me covered. Coach was dealing. The flop was 8-9-9. Wow . . . I was on the verge of bad beating Julie!! What luck! The turn was a 7 and the river was a 2. I took down the pot with 4-9 sooooted! I barely stayed alive and doubled up against the chip leader. Coach and Toni started to make a run. Julie was starting to get shortstacked. A few hands later, I moved all in with KJo. Julie called with AJo and hit a pair on the flop. I lost and she doubled up.


94s cracks Julie's Big Slick
Coach moved all in with JTo. I called and flipped over QQ. Coach thought he was done but karma came back to bite me. Coached flopped trips. The board came down T-T-6-2-4. Coach stormed back but Toni took him down a little later. Toni was playing pretty aggressively and took down a bunch of pots in the 4 way action. She started to build a very nice stack after she pulled off a runner runner flush against Julie. There was a betting war preflop until Toni moved all in. Julie called and had K6o. Toni had pocket 10's. One of the 10's was a heart and she caught her flush on the river after Julie flopped two pair. Ouch but nice win for Toni!!

Julie, Toni, and I made the money with Coach's exit. Let the three way begin. The three of us kept going back and forth with the chip lead. At one point, I had a huge single tower stack in front of me. Round and round we went and eventually the girls ganged up on me and chipped away at my stack. I was shortstacked and went all in KTs. Julie had limped into the pot and called me right away. Damn! She had AA again. Double damn! I was KO'd in 3rd place. Ouch. I thought I had a good chance to win when it got down to four but I got beat. I couldn't contend with Julie's hot cards. Oh well, I had a good time. I won some money which was better than nothing.

Toni and Julie went heads up. They went back and forth forever until they got board and decided to chop the prize pool. Julie had the slight chip advantage and got a little more money than Toni did. The final standings were:

1st place - Julie
2nd place - Toni
3rd place - Me

4th - Coach
5th - Ugarte
6th - Mas
7th - Ferrari
8th - Toby (KO'd by yours truly)
9th - Paul (KO'd by yours truly)

I had a lot of fun today and I can't wait for the next event. Too bad the other guys couldn't make it. Maybe next time! I still have to finish my Vegas trip reports. I've been super swamped and haven't had the time. I hope to have those stories posted soon.


Mas and Paul's stack

As a side note, Mas dropped the hammer during the side game. He flopped two pair and hit his full house on the turn. Go Mas!!!

Oh yeah . . . congrats to the Poker Geek for winning a seat in the PPM cruise. I watched him until 3AM last night. I eventually got tired and crashed. I missed his 11th place finish. Congrats!!!! Great job!