Hamilton poker story.
Just thought I'd write a post about an interesting night in Hamilton on Saturday. Poker can take take you to some unusual places, and put you in unusual situations, which is one of the things I love about the game.
The plan was for me and my g/f, Natalie, to go to dinner in Grimsby with my family. Then, we were going to check out a tournament in Hamilton that my friend Mike got roped into 'tournament directing'. Thinking Mike was probably in over his head, I agreed to show up when I could and help out. Dinner ended early though, and when I looked at my watch I figured that if we left NOW we could actually make it in time to play (sorry mom). So, me, Natalie and my brother Jared all sped off to a Legion in Hamilton.
The only way Natalie was going to hang around a Legion for 5 hours was if she was playing (she's not a 'serious' player, but she enjoys it) and the only way she was going to play was if I paid for her. So, my $100 entry fee became $200. We showed up as the second hand was being dealt, and each of us went to one of the three tables. Since it was a Legion, I had to take off my hat (which I wasn't a fan of) but I could smoke inside (which I was a fan of).
They had 24 players--3 tables of 8 each--and they were doing half-price rebuys for half the starting stack for the first hour, no addons. I designed the blind structure, and I think it worked well. They had two dealers who weren't playing (a kid who might have been 14, but was actually a very good dealer, and a waitress from a local bar, who had never dealt or played hold'em before) and one dealer--Mike--who was playing.
As the tournament went on, and people busted out, I balanced the tables. People really didn't want to move though, but I explained the 'table balancing' concept and people grudgingly agreed. Me and Nat busted out around 12th and 13th... I raised preflop with QQ, got re-raised, moved in, and found myself up against KK. All of our hopes were on my brother. Just as they got down to 8 for the final table, this situation came up.
The tables were made of plastic. So, it wasn't a good idea for one guy to HAMMER the table with his fist when he won a big pot. What happened was that all of his chips, all of his opponent's chips, and the chips that were in the middle all kind of piled together into a big mess of unnaccounted-for chips. We tried to figure out whose were whose and who was owed what, but the dude who slammed his fist kept yelling and swearing and calling his opponent a ****sucker and a moth******er, etc... I could tell that this could easily get out of hand, so I did what anyone would do. I threw up my hands, shrugged, said 'I didn't see it happen' (which I didn't) and walked away. I'd tried talking to the guy, but there was no talking to him. I'd tried asking the waitress who was dealing to recreate the action, but she couldn't. So, I left it to Mike to figure out, which he eventually did. (Mike has a much better way of dealing with frustrating situations than I do.) Nobody was happy, but nobody was yelling, so I assigned the seats for the final table, coloured up some chips, and started cheering for my brother.
In the first round at the final table, this hand came up: with the blinds at 250/500, an EP player limped, a MP player raised to 1000, and a LP player called the raise. My brother was in the BB, with a very big stack (he had all of his opponents covered), and he said "Well, I wanna go home boys", and then he pushed all-in. I looked and Natalie and told her I'd bet my bankroll that he had aces. What else could he have? He sees a call, a raise, and a cold-call in front of him, and then he says THAT??? Famous last words of someone with aces. The limper folded, and the MP and LP players went into the tank. Neither were pot-committed, and both, as I said, could be busted by my brother. Eventually, they both called, with JcQc and KdQd respectively. How either of them could call with queen or king-high for all of their chips is beyond me, but that's what happened nonetheless. My brother of course had aces, but when the board went runner-runner diamonds he lost to LP's flush. MP was knocked out, LP won a MONSTER pot, and my bro was pissed off. To his credit, he didn't mutter about anything... he took it like a man. He still had enough left to get back in it.
Me and Natalie noticed some really loud music coming from upstairs in the Legion, and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a stag and doe, and we were in a dancing kind of mood, so we rushed past the table set up at the door and parked ourselves in front of the speaker on the dance floor. After being treated to such stag and doe classics like "Kiss" and "Dancing Queen" and "Stayin' Alive", it was time for them to auction off a pie in the face of the bride, and then the groom. The bride took her position in a chair, center-stage, wearing a garbage bag over her clothes, and the bidding started. It got up to about $280, and I wanted in. There was action, and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to yell out '$300' just to see if anyone would re-raise me, but I didn't, mostly because Natalie wouldn't let me. After watching the pies in the faces, we went back downstairs, and watched Jared make it to the final three.
At this point, the three of them were all about equal in chips... it was damn close. They started talking about a deal, and then something unprecedented happened, at least in my experience. EVERYONE in the room started yelling at them, telling them they couldn't make a deal, calling them ****ies, saying that they'd never be invited back if they made a deal, etc... I don't know how much of it was meant in fun, and how much of it was serious, but I've never seen a roomful of guys so concerned about money that wasn't theirs. One of the player's dad's was there, and even HE was calling his own son a ***sy. ROFLMAO. Since my brother was involved, I said that I've seen countless deals made, that it happens all the time, that it's a +EV move in certain situations, and that it's up to three people, and three people alone, to decide what they'd like to do with their money.
So, the three of them chopped the rest of the prize pool, and my bro made about $600 in profit, his biggest tournament win to date. Attaboy. Then we got out of there, pretty much immediately, and headed to a bar with Mike to go over the bizarre events of the night.
Gotta love poker.
Regards,
all_aces
The plan was for me and my g/f, Natalie, to go to dinner in Grimsby with my family. Then, we were going to check out a tournament in Hamilton that my friend Mike got roped into 'tournament directing'. Thinking Mike was probably in over his head, I agreed to show up when I could and help out. Dinner ended early though, and when I looked at my watch I figured that if we left NOW we could actually make it in time to play (sorry mom). So, me, Natalie and my brother Jared all sped off to a Legion in Hamilton.
The only way Natalie was going to hang around a Legion for 5 hours was if she was playing (she's not a 'serious' player, but she enjoys it) and the only way she was going to play was if I paid for her. So, my $100 entry fee became $200. We showed up as the second hand was being dealt, and each of us went to one of the three tables. Since it was a Legion, I had to take off my hat (which I wasn't a fan of) but I could smoke inside (which I was a fan of).
They had 24 players--3 tables of 8 each--and they were doing half-price rebuys for half the starting stack for the first hour, no addons. I designed the blind structure, and I think it worked well. They had two dealers who weren't playing (a kid who might have been 14, but was actually a very good dealer, and a waitress from a local bar, who had never dealt or played hold'em before) and one dealer--Mike--who was playing.
As the tournament went on, and people busted out, I balanced the tables. People really didn't want to move though, but I explained the 'table balancing' concept and people grudgingly agreed. Me and Nat busted out around 12th and 13th... I raised preflop with QQ, got re-raised, moved in, and found myself up against KK. All of our hopes were on my brother. Just as they got down to 8 for the final table, this situation came up.
The tables were made of plastic. So, it wasn't a good idea for one guy to HAMMER the table with his fist when he won a big pot. What happened was that all of his chips, all of his opponent's chips, and the chips that were in the middle all kind of piled together into a big mess of unnaccounted-for chips. We tried to figure out whose were whose and who was owed what, but the dude who slammed his fist kept yelling and swearing and calling his opponent a ****sucker and a moth******er, etc... I could tell that this could easily get out of hand, so I did what anyone would do. I threw up my hands, shrugged, said 'I didn't see it happen' (which I didn't) and walked away. I'd tried talking to the guy, but there was no talking to him. I'd tried asking the waitress who was dealing to recreate the action, but she couldn't. So, I left it to Mike to figure out, which he eventually did. (Mike has a much better way of dealing with frustrating situations than I do.) Nobody was happy, but nobody was yelling, so I assigned the seats for the final table, coloured up some chips, and started cheering for my brother.
In the first round at the final table, this hand came up: with the blinds at 250/500, an EP player limped, a MP player raised to 1000, and a LP player called the raise. My brother was in the BB, with a very big stack (he had all of his opponents covered), and he said "Well, I wanna go home boys", and then he pushed all-in. I looked and Natalie and told her I'd bet my bankroll that he had aces. What else could he have? He sees a call, a raise, and a cold-call in front of him, and then he says THAT??? Famous last words of someone with aces. The limper folded, and the MP and LP players went into the tank. Neither were pot-committed, and both, as I said, could be busted by my brother. Eventually, they both called, with JcQc and KdQd respectively. How either of them could call with queen or king-high for all of their chips is beyond me, but that's what happened nonetheless. My brother of course had aces, but when the board went runner-runner diamonds he lost to LP's flush. MP was knocked out, LP won a MONSTER pot, and my bro was pissed off. To his credit, he didn't mutter about anything... he took it like a man. He still had enough left to get back in it.
Me and Natalie noticed some really loud music coming from upstairs in the Legion, and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a stag and doe, and we were in a dancing kind of mood, so we rushed past the table set up at the door and parked ourselves in front of the speaker on the dance floor. After being treated to such stag and doe classics like "Kiss" and "Dancing Queen" and "Stayin' Alive", it was time for them to auction off a pie in the face of the bride, and then the groom. The bride took her position in a chair, center-stage, wearing a garbage bag over her clothes, and the bidding started. It got up to about $280, and I wanted in. There was action, and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to yell out '$300' just to see if anyone would re-raise me, but I didn't, mostly because Natalie wouldn't let me. After watching the pies in the faces, we went back downstairs, and watched Jared make it to the final three.
At this point, the three of them were all about equal in chips... it was damn close. They started talking about a deal, and then something unprecedented happened, at least in my experience. EVERYONE in the room started yelling at them, telling them they couldn't make a deal, calling them ****ies, saying that they'd never be invited back if they made a deal, etc... I don't know how much of it was meant in fun, and how much of it was serious, but I've never seen a roomful of guys so concerned about money that wasn't theirs. One of the player's dad's was there, and even HE was calling his own son a ***sy. ROFLMAO. Since my brother was involved, I said that I've seen countless deals made, that it happens all the time, that it's a +EV move in certain situations, and that it's up to three people, and three people alone, to decide what they'd like to do with their money.
So, the three of them chopped the rest of the prize pool, and my bro made about $600 in profit, his biggest tournament win to date. Attaboy. Then we got out of there, pretty much immediately, and headed to a bar with Mike to go over the bizarre events of the night.
Gotta love poker.
Regards,
all_aces
Comments
i thought it was an obvious tell from 'Mike' chip leader, when :
"Well, I wanna go home boys", and then he pushed all-in
after a raise and a cold call (i think) that its safe to say he has AA almost definately with possibilty of KK but seems like his opponents didnt know much.....lucky for the guy who hit the flush......tough break there.....still he came out up money so no complaints there i bet
Pretty sure it was his brother, Jared, that said that. Tough beat but it happens so often. I try to look at it as, I made the right play but got unlucky. Sounds a little like Hellmuth. Glad to see he's improved that much and was able to cash out!
Did you guys at least wear poppies?
my bad i misread or lost my train of thought
i was reading the post/writing response while techin some americans pc, must of forgot during the post while the american babbling to me that they were computer illiterate
One time in a tourney, a MP player said something to the effect of wanting to go home, and pushed all-in. Folded to me on the button with AA, so I don't really have to think too hard about whether her statement is real or Hollywood. (On the surface it seemed real, but hindsight is 20/20.) Naturally, the opponent flops 2 pair with her 62s and isn't yet able to leave.
Very next hand, she just calls (doesn't want to go home now?) and I shove in with KK (nice pull two in a row!) from the cutoff. She calls with ATo, spikes an A on the flop, and I flop a 4 flush. The river completes my draw, and I get my chips back.
Gotta love poker.
ScottyZ
again, just my 2 cents
the person in your case scotty, i assume wasnt the chip leader and probably generally meant it if the they pushed in w/ 62 heh
Pigga
now that's what i call having the poker gods on your side
I agree with Scotty...If everyone knows that that phrase is a tell, many people will use it in reverse. But with a raise and a call already, you can be pretty sure that anyone pushing all in after that, has a pretty damn good hand. I think what really gets me is that LP still called when MP had already called. LP had to have put at least one of the players on AK (if not better), which leaves him with only one live card and a second best flush draw.
Ahhh yes... I forgot, some of you have met Jared when we played at Zithal's in the summer! Yes, he's been working on his game, beating up on his friends in low buy-in tournaments.
As for your story, Scotty, I guess when some people say they want to go home, they really DO want to go home! Like Astroboy said, though, when he says that and moves in after all of that action, he's got the goods.
Glad you guys enjoyed the story! It was a pretty cool night, a nice change... I forgot one part: at the bar after the tournament my brother wanted to play a game of pool. He's slightly better than me, but we were hammered which kinda levelled the playing field, so I suggested we play for $20. He said $30, and I came over the top with $40, and capped it there. We had a good game, and he scratched on the 8 ball... at least, I thought it was a scratch. He missed the 8 completely, trying to sneak it into the side pocket. Then he said that, in tournament rules, it's not a loss of game, and that it would be ball in hand for me. I said that, since we were in a bar, we should probably go by bar rules. I didn't give him a chance for a rematch.
Regards,
all_aces
ScottyZ
Actually it depends which rules you play by. If you play BCA (Billiards Congress of America) scratching on the 8 results in a ball in hand. If you play CPA (Canadian Poolplayers Association), scratching on the 8, if you call a pocket, results in a loss. Plus if you were playing tourney, you'd probably get a handicap.
&?$$ies when it came down to chop...
Poker @ The Legion.....wow