Trip Report- Turningstone Poker Classic Part 1
Mon May 17
Left Oshawa ON at 3pm. My road partner for this trip was my Girlfriend/common law wife Tina. This was our first trip to a tournament together since Foxwoods in march of 2002. Our plan was for me to play 3 events starting on tuesday with $100 limit holdem, Wed $100 no-limit and thurs $200 no-limit. Tina would play the limit holdem tourny on tues as well as the no-limit on wed.
Tina doesnt claim to be an expert poker player but she does have plenty of experience at the poker table. I have taught her to be a very aggressive limit holdem player. In my opinion she has only 2 weaknesses, her hand selection and an unwillingness to fold the blinds to a raise.(she will defend her blind 90% of the time)
Needless to say Tina is not a winning player in live action limit holdem but she has had great success in limit holdem tounaments. Her willingness to gamble in the late stages when the limits are high and her aggressive style can build a monster stack. Tina was confident and excited about playing the limit holdem event and very nervous about the no limit. With very little nolimit experience I can understand her nervousness The only no limit tournys she has played have been online( she does spend a couple of hours a week sitting beside me when i play tounaments on poker stars and we discuss strategies while I am playing) or homegames.
The 5 hour drive goes quickly and we arrive at the casino a few minutes after 8pm. After we check in we head straight for the poker room. Mondays tournament is already over and plenty of live games are running. I see many people I recognize from my last trip here back in Oct of 2003. I came here with some poker friends in Oct for the East Coast Poker Championships. I played in four events on that trip making 2 final tables. I won the $100 no limit holdem(good for $4000) and finished 7th in the $300 limit holdem event. I also won 2 satellites for the $500 main event so I have some fond memories of this poker room and several local players recognize me from my last time here which gives my ego a big boost.
We go back to the room without playing any poker.( this is my usual routine on the road I find I dont play my best after a long drive)
Tues May 18
We wake up around 9am and head down to sign up for todays event.
With a noon start time we have lots of time to sign up and get some breakfast.
The cards are in the air by 1210. I am in seat 5 the tables are 11 handed to start. We get 2000 in tournament chips(TC) to start. The blinds are 25 and 25 the betting is 25 and 50 with 30 min levels. 135 players
I check on Tina just before we start and let her know which players on her table I recognize from my previous trips here and give her some info on those players.
The first hand I play is when I am in the big blind I have QJ. 3 limpers and the small checks to me I check.
Flop is J 3 7 - looks like a nice flop for me so i bet
- 1st limper raises 2nd limper 3 bets other 2 players fold and
so do I. ( I assume I am at best outkicked here)
Turn is 5 - 1st limper bets 2nd limper raises ( i figure he has a set of
7s) 1st limper calls
River is 10 - 1st limper bets 2nd thinks for a few seconds and calls
Showdown 1st limper J 5 off 2nd limper J 3 off
Wow was my read way off. Strap on the seat belt I think to myself.
Those two players ( seats 8 and 10 ) continued to play almost every single hand. They each won more than their fair share of pots and both became chip leaders for the table and the tournament. It was ugly A 2 beats AA, Q 3 takes down a set of Js. The next 2 hours are a blur of bad beats and river hits for many players including me. I am out just after 2 pm. There are still 9 tables left
I find Tina's table and let her know that I will be in the poker room. She seems to be doing well with around 5000TC. I play a couple of hours of 5-10 holdem and am ahead $80 when I decide to miss a few hands to go check on Tina. There are 4 tables left and she is still in there. I ask her if she wants me to stay around and watch or would I make her nervous?
She tells me to stick around. So I go back to the poker room and cash out of the 5-10 game and head back upstairs to the tournament room.
Tina has 9000TC so she is in good shape. During the next break I tell her she will need 14000TC to be an average stack with 2 tables left and 28000TC to be average at the final table. I am very impressed with her she looks calm and confident. By winning a few small pots over the next hour and a half Tina makes it into the money at the last 2 tables with 15000TC. It was at this time that I noticed a player that looked familiar to me. I almost choked when I remembered that it was seat 10 on my table at the beginning of this event.( the J 3 off player who played every hand and he is now chip leader) Since she has been getting alot of respect at the table Tina has been able to win several pots on the flop or the turn just by betting. I suspect she didnt always have a hand but I wont know for sure untill after this is over.
The final table is set and Tina is in seat 10 with 21000TC. The limits are 1000-2000. A cold run of cards sets in for Tina now. An hour has passed there are 6 players left and the limits are 2000-4000 Tina is now the short stack with 10000TC After winning a small pot she losses a big one and is now under the gun with 6000TC. She folds her hand and while a pot is being played comes over to talk to me. We discuss that she should not fold her big blind no matter how bad the cards are since it is the only way she can win enough chips to have a chance to win this thing. She must double up now. This next hand is the turning point at the final table. There is a raise and a call when the action gets to Tina, she re raises herself all in. If she wins this pot she more than triples up as her share would be 19000 TC. The other two players check all the way and the final board is 789 3 6 The first player shows A 5 for straight to the 9 the second player shows A 4 and mucks. Tina turns over K 10 for a straight to the 10. She now has 19000TC. The next 3 pots are all won by Tina with pre flop raises and every one folds. Tina has really opened up now she is winning pot after pot with bets on the flop or turn that are not called she now has 50000TC. Two players go out and they are 4 handed with limits of 3000-6000 when the following hand occurs. Tina is the small blind and it is folded to her, she raises the big blind re raises Tina calls.
flop is Kc 9d 5c Tina bets her opponent raises and she calls. The Turn is the Ad Tina check raises and he calls. The river is the 8s Tina bets and gets called. Tina flips over Kd 8d for 2 pair and takes down his pot. I like the way she played this hand and though she most likely needed to hit that river card( any diamond or an 8) I dont think her opponent had an A so her check raise on the turn was a great play to try and move him off what was probably a better King.
They are now 3 handed with Tina holding 120000TC and the chip lead.
Tina's agressive play wins her a few more pots without a showdown and she increases her lead with 160000TC. They are now playing 4000-8000.
Tina gets the shortest stack all in Tina holds k 9 he has Kd 3d the flop is
Ks 8d 5d turn is 10c river is 8c for a split pot. A few hands later the short stack is taken out by the other player. After a quick count it is determined that the chip counts are almost even. Tina is only 8000TC behind. They decide to chop up the prize money evenly and play one hand to determine the winner for the overall player points. Tina ends up up offically 2nd. 1st and 2nd prize money added up to $7200 so Tina's share was $3600. Nice job Tina!
What a great start to our trip! With 2 more events to go we are looking to make another trip to a final table. I will follow up with part 2 of our trip report in a few days.
Left Oshawa ON at 3pm. My road partner for this trip was my Girlfriend/common law wife Tina. This was our first trip to a tournament together since Foxwoods in march of 2002. Our plan was for me to play 3 events starting on tuesday with $100 limit holdem, Wed $100 no-limit and thurs $200 no-limit. Tina would play the limit holdem tourny on tues as well as the no-limit on wed.
Tina doesnt claim to be an expert poker player but she does have plenty of experience at the poker table. I have taught her to be a very aggressive limit holdem player. In my opinion she has only 2 weaknesses, her hand selection and an unwillingness to fold the blinds to a raise.(she will defend her blind 90% of the time)
Needless to say Tina is not a winning player in live action limit holdem but she has had great success in limit holdem tounaments. Her willingness to gamble in the late stages when the limits are high and her aggressive style can build a monster stack. Tina was confident and excited about playing the limit holdem event and very nervous about the no limit. With very little nolimit experience I can understand her nervousness The only no limit tournys she has played have been online( she does spend a couple of hours a week sitting beside me when i play tounaments on poker stars and we discuss strategies while I am playing) or homegames.
The 5 hour drive goes quickly and we arrive at the casino a few minutes after 8pm. After we check in we head straight for the poker room. Mondays tournament is already over and plenty of live games are running. I see many people I recognize from my last trip here back in Oct of 2003. I came here with some poker friends in Oct for the East Coast Poker Championships. I played in four events on that trip making 2 final tables. I won the $100 no limit holdem(good for $4000) and finished 7th in the $300 limit holdem event. I also won 2 satellites for the $500 main event so I have some fond memories of this poker room and several local players recognize me from my last time here which gives my ego a big boost.
We go back to the room without playing any poker.( this is my usual routine on the road I find I dont play my best after a long drive)
Tues May 18
We wake up around 9am and head down to sign up for todays event.
With a noon start time we have lots of time to sign up and get some breakfast.
The cards are in the air by 1210. I am in seat 5 the tables are 11 handed to start. We get 2000 in tournament chips(TC) to start. The blinds are 25 and 25 the betting is 25 and 50 with 30 min levels. 135 players
I check on Tina just before we start and let her know which players on her table I recognize from my previous trips here and give her some info on those players.
The first hand I play is when I am in the big blind I have QJ. 3 limpers and the small checks to me I check.
Flop is J 3 7 - looks like a nice flop for me so i bet
- 1st limper raises 2nd limper 3 bets other 2 players fold and
so do I. ( I assume I am at best outkicked here)
Turn is 5 - 1st limper bets 2nd limper raises ( i figure he has a set of
7s) 1st limper calls
River is 10 - 1st limper bets 2nd thinks for a few seconds and calls
Showdown 1st limper J 5 off 2nd limper J 3 off
Wow was my read way off. Strap on the seat belt I think to myself.
Those two players ( seats 8 and 10 ) continued to play almost every single hand. They each won more than their fair share of pots and both became chip leaders for the table and the tournament. It was ugly A 2 beats AA, Q 3 takes down a set of Js. The next 2 hours are a blur of bad beats and river hits for many players including me. I am out just after 2 pm. There are still 9 tables left
I find Tina's table and let her know that I will be in the poker room. She seems to be doing well with around 5000TC. I play a couple of hours of 5-10 holdem and am ahead $80 when I decide to miss a few hands to go check on Tina. There are 4 tables left and she is still in there. I ask her if she wants me to stay around and watch or would I make her nervous?
She tells me to stick around. So I go back to the poker room and cash out of the 5-10 game and head back upstairs to the tournament room.
Tina has 9000TC so she is in good shape. During the next break I tell her she will need 14000TC to be an average stack with 2 tables left and 28000TC to be average at the final table. I am very impressed with her she looks calm and confident. By winning a few small pots over the next hour and a half Tina makes it into the money at the last 2 tables with 15000TC. It was at this time that I noticed a player that looked familiar to me. I almost choked when I remembered that it was seat 10 on my table at the beginning of this event.( the J 3 off player who played every hand and he is now chip leader) Since she has been getting alot of respect at the table Tina has been able to win several pots on the flop or the turn just by betting. I suspect she didnt always have a hand but I wont know for sure untill after this is over.
The final table is set and Tina is in seat 10 with 21000TC. The limits are 1000-2000. A cold run of cards sets in for Tina now. An hour has passed there are 6 players left and the limits are 2000-4000 Tina is now the short stack with 10000TC After winning a small pot she losses a big one and is now under the gun with 6000TC. She folds her hand and while a pot is being played comes over to talk to me. We discuss that she should not fold her big blind no matter how bad the cards are since it is the only way she can win enough chips to have a chance to win this thing. She must double up now. This next hand is the turning point at the final table. There is a raise and a call when the action gets to Tina, she re raises herself all in. If she wins this pot she more than triples up as her share would be 19000 TC. The other two players check all the way and the final board is 789 3 6 The first player shows A 5 for straight to the 9 the second player shows A 4 and mucks. Tina turns over K 10 for a straight to the 10. She now has 19000TC. The next 3 pots are all won by Tina with pre flop raises and every one folds. Tina has really opened up now she is winning pot after pot with bets on the flop or turn that are not called she now has 50000TC. Two players go out and they are 4 handed with limits of 3000-6000 when the following hand occurs. Tina is the small blind and it is folded to her, she raises the big blind re raises Tina calls.
flop is Kc 9d 5c Tina bets her opponent raises and she calls. The Turn is the Ad Tina check raises and he calls. The river is the 8s Tina bets and gets called. Tina flips over Kd 8d for 2 pair and takes down his pot. I like the way she played this hand and though she most likely needed to hit that river card( any diamond or an 8) I dont think her opponent had an A so her check raise on the turn was a great play to try and move him off what was probably a better King.
They are now 3 handed with Tina holding 120000TC and the chip lead.
Tina's agressive play wins her a few more pots without a showdown and she increases her lead with 160000TC. They are now playing 4000-8000.
Tina gets the shortest stack all in Tina holds k 9 he has Kd 3d the flop is
Ks 8d 5d turn is 10c river is 8c for a split pot. A few hands later the short stack is taken out by the other player. After a quick count it is determined that the chip counts are almost even. Tina is only 8000TC behind. They decide to chop up the prize money evenly and play one hand to determine the winner for the overall player points. Tina ends up up offically 2nd. 1st and 2nd prize money added up to $7200 so Tina's share was $3600. Nice job Tina!
What a great start to our trip! With 2 more events to go we are looking to make another trip to a final table. I will follow up with part 2 of our trip report in a few days.
Comments
Good luck in the other 2 events!
Good to se you posting on here.
We met you down there, I was one of the 3 kids from Ontario, not the one who ended 3rd in the limit event.
I cant believe how good the games were there, and tourneys were very well run, can't wait to go back.
Tina cleaned up too, good for her!
Kevin
Kudos to Tina!
Actually I am quite jealous
Congrates on her win and good luck in the next!
Way to go Tina!! 8)
Doesn't it r00l to have a girlfriend/wife who plays cards? 8)
ScottyZ
I am thinking of taking a trip to Turningstone in the next month to play in their Tuesday and Wed. Nolimit weekly tournaments. If any one is interested in going let me know.
Regards,
all_aces