Final Thoughts
I thought I would add my final thoughts to the 2nd of hopefully many more Royal Cup Events.Â
The Royal Cup Adventure
Pre tournament
 The thought always crosses my mind about why I get involved in setting up such an event a few time through the months, weeks and especially the days leading up to the Royal Cup Events. The time to organize (with the Captain) the teams sending information and mainly helping the Captains scramble to 1) secure venues 2) secure full teams 3) to ensure our structures are as fair and as easy flowing as possible given this is a one day event. I do get the comments like "how do you put up with this", "You have a lot of patience" and I think well nothing is ever easy and any great success has a lot of pain involved with it.Â
The night before
The natural events of people having to cancel due to reasons out of their control took place and two to three teams were scrambling for teammates.  That being said:
 Cam - I know you showed up but I can image your head was elsewhere and I probably speak for everyone there that our prayers are with you and your family and hope everything works out.
Kyle -Â I believe ( but not entirely sure as I didn't get details) that there was a medical situation in your family and again we hope that everything works out for the best for you and yours.
Haddon - I hope your border issues get cleared up so you can travel to and from Canada again
GTA - I don't have anything good to say so I won't bother. I didn't expect you to show up to our "little" event and quite frankly I want to thank Cory for ensuring you didn't.
If I missed anyone I apologize.
The tournament
We started at 11:30ish ( a bit behind schedule) as people were scrambling to fill voids and contact their teammates to get to the venue. All the teams fielded full teams and some players played events that they had never played before with great success.
The Omaha and Stud section was a tricky one. I altered the schedule to ensure more play for the Omaha players while speeding up the Stud games from RC1. I was actually amazed at the final outcome. I personally believe there was a good balance and considering these are 8 person SNGs, 3 hours to crown a winner is hardly unrealistic. There will always be complaints and there seemed to be a lot of them the day of. To those all I can say is the event is what it is, we all play under the same rules and I can only ensure what I feel to be a fair schedule and balance to the event given the restrictions of the day.
The fixed Limit event actually ran a lot longer then I thought. I stretched the blind structure out and got the result I expected. I knew there was a buffer due to the hour dinner break and unfortunately a couple people used that time and I hope you all had a chance to get some food in between the other events.
The NL event went smoothly and also had a stretched out structure. Time wise it ran closer to 4 hours but that was acceptable as 1) it is the game most people play and a more conservative structure allowed more play and 2) the heads up portion could start as soon as two players were available.Â
Heads up
Also ran well as players had their assignments as they were eliminated and could start playing as soon as they wanted.Â
Much like the Ryder Cup in golf which is somewhat the format I used to develop the Royal Cup I want Heads Up to have some meaning to this event and I will defend it's structure as long as I run this event. 10 point for a win is critical to the success of this event. This allowed almost every team yesterday a shot at winning or at the very least finishing top 3. The heads up portion need to mean something and 10 points makes that happen. A couple examples of this is team Waterloo would have had practically no shot at top 3 but under this format they made it happen. Also Guelph fell from 2nd two points from the lead all the way to 4th. Same fate for the HBK's a money shot to 6th place.Â
The teams
GTA Piranhas -Â The Champs of RC2
I am not sure any of the teams saw you coming but everyone knows now the trail that you left. You came into the event as relative unknowns and took control early and pretty much maintained it the whole day. I would like to congratulate you guys again and thank you for supporting the event with table tops and cards and look forward to your participation in RC3.
Lunatics - 2nd Place
One word, One name, One man CORYÂ Need I say more.
Seriously you guys scrambled the night before and the day of to get your team settled but in the end your team came together and brought a lot of 'life-Cory" to the event and I am glad that you showed well. Congrats again and well played
Waterloo - 3rd Place
What more can you expect from a defending Champion. You put up a great effort and in the end I think your captain needs a lot of praise as I think he may have out coached all of us in the heads up portion to get you into the top 3. Congrats Brad on your personal point total improvement and look forward to RC3 and your team making a push for the title again.
Guelph Polar Bears - 4th Place
I take full responsibility for our collapse I made a couple seating errors that probably cost us at least top 3. That being said I thank you all for putting in a great showing and I am proud to be your Captain (by default)
Haren - your play is always wild and you lived up to the billing. I think your scoring was more of a reflection of 1) your bad streak for the last month and 2) a tough field. Congrats on being a part of the Polar Bears
Mark - a vast improvement from last year and I think your game has been improving weekly. Again a tough/more aggressive field and a couple suckouts against you and you would have had a lot more points. Congrats.
Timmeh - a thought this format would suit you well as you are consistently a top 3 or 4 player. I know you are very disappointed with your showing and that's understandable as most good players take a bad day hard. Remember this was your 1st Royal and under the circumstances you did well and I am proud of you.
Ken - You played as I expected to top form and I am proud of your accomplishments. I take the full blame of your NL demise I made a huge error prior to the event. Again thanks for making it to the event and remember Wheatly is a suburb of Guelph and will be as long as you want to be associated with this gang. Thanks again
Jay - You had a very up and down day. I think in the end you were disappointed to some degree with your point total and as I have said in Tims comments good players are never satisfied with their play. Thanks for coming out and back after running your errands, you had me a little bit scared.
ScottyZ - I am so glad you came out to our event. You proved to be all the player I thought you were and more. You are the epitome of class and its great to have people like you in our area. A couple things I want to add is 1) Hopefully you can make some of our events around town and in KW area and 2) Never ever move away from Guelph
Miranda - Well 1) you are the love of my life and 2) you are a very good poker player and as Mark says 4th is the new first. I am always proud of your accomplishments in a male dominated game and I know you feel your point total wasn't great I am sure you squeezed as many points as you could out of this tough field of players.Â
Kitchener II - 5th Place
Oh Wolffhound what a display. Oh yeah your poker wasn't bad also. Can you hear the chant MVP MVP!!! Brent be proud of your gang, there is a great group of guys in Kitchener with a lot of poker skills. I always have a great time with your gang and your guys should be proud of another great day and back to back 5th place finishes. Â
Heartbreak Kids - 6th Place
A lot of highs and lows on the day for a team that always carries a big target on their backs. That being said you are one of the greatest and most appreciative teams out there as well as some of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Shannon your gang may not have been winners on the felt but your whole team can walk around knowing that your winners in the this game of life. I have a lot of respect for all of you and look forward to playing more with your whole gang. This post BTW is not Whiskey induced. Thanks Again!!Â
Ching Hill - 7th Place
AJ you team was great and everyone I met from your team were class acts. I am glad your gang made the road trip and hopefully everyone enjoyed the day and I look forward to have Ching participate in future events. I can imagine your team is disappointed but the first experience is usually a stepping stone. I hope I can possibly make a road trip sometime to play a game or two with you guys.Â
Milton Rocks - 8th
Jeff you are great and very supportive of me and this event and are always there on MSN when I need some sanity. I know your team was probably disappointed with their result but I hope you guys had a great time none the less. Tell Dave that poker is the new golf and that I look forward to playing with him in RC3. Rocks still left a lasting impression. 1) Captains table - The all in rock move and 2) Wolffhound mentioning "tight is right" I believe that is somewhere in the Rocks mission statement.
Everyone else
I would like to thank the undisclosed venue. It surprisingly turned out to be a great place and location and may be a permanent home for the event.
I would also like to thank Brent as he supplied all the chips and most of the cards for the event. He was also the one that secured the Hall. Before I forget Brent I have a set of your Copags that were pocket. I will get them back to you soon.
Piranha Gang for the table tops and use of some of their cards. It was greatly appreciated.
Last but not least....... ............................  NADINE
In the rush to keep things flowing I forgot to mention my special thanks to you. You were great putting up with all us rowdy's and sacrificing your day for us. I couldn't have done it without you and the day would have not been such a success without you. You mentioned it was a thankless job but that is the farthest from the truth. I don't think there is enough thanks I can give you for all you did. I think i speak for everyone there you are great and THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I missed anyone I apologize.
The Royal Cup Adventure
Pre tournament
 The thought always crosses my mind about why I get involved in setting up such an event a few time through the months, weeks and especially the days leading up to the Royal Cup Events. The time to organize (with the Captain) the teams sending information and mainly helping the Captains scramble to 1) secure venues 2) secure full teams 3) to ensure our structures are as fair and as easy flowing as possible given this is a one day event. I do get the comments like "how do you put up with this", "You have a lot of patience" and I think well nothing is ever easy and any great success has a lot of pain involved with it.Â
The night before
The natural events of people having to cancel due to reasons out of their control took place and two to three teams were scrambling for teammates.  That being said:
 Cam - I know you showed up but I can image your head was elsewhere and I probably speak for everyone there that our prayers are with you and your family and hope everything works out.
Kyle -Â I believe ( but not entirely sure as I didn't get details) that there was a medical situation in your family and again we hope that everything works out for the best for you and yours.
Haddon - I hope your border issues get cleared up so you can travel to and from Canada again
GTA - I don't have anything good to say so I won't bother. I didn't expect you to show up to our "little" event and quite frankly I want to thank Cory for ensuring you didn't.
If I missed anyone I apologize.
The tournament
We started at 11:30ish ( a bit behind schedule) as people were scrambling to fill voids and contact their teammates to get to the venue. All the teams fielded full teams and some players played events that they had never played before with great success.
The Omaha and Stud section was a tricky one. I altered the schedule to ensure more play for the Omaha players while speeding up the Stud games from RC1. I was actually amazed at the final outcome. I personally believe there was a good balance and considering these are 8 person SNGs, 3 hours to crown a winner is hardly unrealistic. There will always be complaints and there seemed to be a lot of them the day of. To those all I can say is the event is what it is, we all play under the same rules and I can only ensure what I feel to be a fair schedule and balance to the event given the restrictions of the day.
The fixed Limit event actually ran a lot longer then I thought. I stretched the blind structure out and got the result I expected. I knew there was a buffer due to the hour dinner break and unfortunately a couple people used that time and I hope you all had a chance to get some food in between the other events.
The NL event went smoothly and also had a stretched out structure. Time wise it ran closer to 4 hours but that was acceptable as 1) it is the game most people play and a more conservative structure allowed more play and 2) the heads up portion could start as soon as two players were available.Â
Heads up
Also ran well as players had their assignments as they were eliminated and could start playing as soon as they wanted.Â
Much like the Ryder Cup in golf which is somewhat the format I used to develop the Royal Cup I want Heads Up to have some meaning to this event and I will defend it's structure as long as I run this event. 10 point for a win is critical to the success of this event. This allowed almost every team yesterday a shot at winning or at the very least finishing top 3. The heads up portion need to mean something and 10 points makes that happen. A couple examples of this is team Waterloo would have had practically no shot at top 3 but under this format they made it happen. Also Guelph fell from 2nd two points from the lead all the way to 4th. Same fate for the HBK's a money shot to 6th place.Â
The teams
GTA Piranhas -Â The Champs of RC2
I am not sure any of the teams saw you coming but everyone knows now the trail that you left. You came into the event as relative unknowns and took control early and pretty much maintained it the whole day. I would like to congratulate you guys again and thank you for supporting the event with table tops and cards and look forward to your participation in RC3.
Lunatics - 2nd Place
One word, One name, One man CORYÂ Need I say more.
Seriously you guys scrambled the night before and the day of to get your team settled but in the end your team came together and brought a lot of 'life-Cory" to the event and I am glad that you showed well. Congrats again and well played
Waterloo - 3rd Place
What more can you expect from a defending Champion. You put up a great effort and in the end I think your captain needs a lot of praise as I think he may have out coached all of us in the heads up portion to get you into the top 3. Congrats Brad on your personal point total improvement and look forward to RC3 and your team making a push for the title again.
Guelph Polar Bears - 4th Place
I take full responsibility for our collapse I made a couple seating errors that probably cost us at least top 3. That being said I thank you all for putting in a great showing and I am proud to be your Captain (by default)
Haren - your play is always wild and you lived up to the billing. I think your scoring was more of a reflection of 1) your bad streak for the last month and 2) a tough field. Congrats on being a part of the Polar Bears
Mark - a vast improvement from last year and I think your game has been improving weekly. Again a tough/more aggressive field and a couple suckouts against you and you would have had a lot more points. Congrats.
Timmeh - a thought this format would suit you well as you are consistently a top 3 or 4 player. I know you are very disappointed with your showing and that's understandable as most good players take a bad day hard. Remember this was your 1st Royal and under the circumstances you did well and I am proud of you.
Ken - You played as I expected to top form and I am proud of your accomplishments. I take the full blame of your NL demise I made a huge error prior to the event. Again thanks for making it to the event and remember Wheatly is a suburb of Guelph and will be as long as you want to be associated with this gang. Thanks again
Jay - You had a very up and down day. I think in the end you were disappointed to some degree with your point total and as I have said in Tims comments good players are never satisfied with their play. Thanks for coming out and back after running your errands, you had me a little bit scared.
ScottyZ - I am so glad you came out to our event. You proved to be all the player I thought you were and more. You are the epitome of class and its great to have people like you in our area. A couple things I want to add is 1) Hopefully you can make some of our events around town and in KW area and 2) Never ever move away from Guelph
Miranda - Well 1) you are the love of my life and 2) you are a very good poker player and as Mark says 4th is the new first. I am always proud of your accomplishments in a male dominated game and I know you feel your point total wasn't great I am sure you squeezed as many points as you could out of this tough field of players.Â
Kitchener II - 5th Place
Oh Wolffhound what a display. Oh yeah your poker wasn't bad also. Can you hear the chant MVP MVP!!! Brent be proud of your gang, there is a great group of guys in Kitchener with a lot of poker skills. I always have a great time with your gang and your guys should be proud of another great day and back to back 5th place finishes. Â
Heartbreak Kids - 6th Place
A lot of highs and lows on the day for a team that always carries a big target on their backs. That being said you are one of the greatest and most appreciative teams out there as well as some of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Shannon your gang may not have been winners on the felt but your whole team can walk around knowing that your winners in the this game of life. I have a lot of respect for all of you and look forward to playing more with your whole gang. This post BTW is not Whiskey induced
. Thanks Again!! Ching Hill - 7th Place
AJ you team was great and everyone I met from your team were class acts. I am glad your gang made the road trip and hopefully everyone enjoyed the day and I look forward to have Ching participate in future events. I can imagine your team is disappointed but the first experience is usually a stepping stone. I hope I can possibly make a road trip sometime to play a game or two with you guys.Â
Milton Rocks - 8th
Jeff you are great and very supportive of me and this event and are always there on MSN when I need some sanity. I know your team was probably disappointed with their result but I hope you guys had a great time none the less. Tell Dave that poker is the new golf and that I look forward to playing with him in RC3. Rocks still left a lasting impression. 1) Captains table - The all in rock move and 2) Wolffhound mentioning "tight is right" I believe that is somewhere in the Rocks mission statement.
Everyone else
I would like to thank the undisclosed venue. It surprisingly turned out to be a great place and location and may be a permanent home for the event.
I would also like to thank Brent as he supplied all the chips and most of the cards for the event. He was also the one that secured the Hall. Before I forget Brent I have a set of your Copags that were pocket. I will get them back to you soon.
Piranha Gang for the table tops and use of some of their cards. It was greatly appreciated.
Last but not least....... ............................  NADINE
In the rush to keep things flowing I forgot to mention my special thanks to you. You were great putting up with all us rowdy's and sacrificing your day for us. I couldn't have done it without you and the day would have not been such a success without you. You mentioned it was a thankless job but that is the farthest from the truth. I don't think there is enough thanks I can give you for all you did. I think i speak for everyone there you are great and THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I missed anyone I apologize.
Comments
Mike
PS. did anyone have the guts to polar bear anyone at the event.
PSS. Nice sucking up to miranda
What did you get yourself in trouble and have to make up for it??
- Dustin: #11 in points in the Pirana Poker Tour (PPT); team cheerleader
- Willie: top 5 in the Mississauga region; winner of the RC2 high hand jackpot
- Ryan: #2 in Mississauga region; my assistant strategist and statistician
- Cory: tournament director who brought in the 8 table tops and extra cards; winning online player
- Pac: website guru; regular casino player; winner of NL table and went heads-up against Wolffhound for the MVP title
- Sien: PPT executive; I specifically selected him for the critical heads-up match against the Lunatic Fringe that ended up determining the championship
- Terry: top 2 player in PPT; team MVP with 43 points; my teammate for next month's PPT team championship event and we are looking for one more player.
Does this mean that the defending champs won't get to choose the location from now on?
Sandro,
My dad died unexpectedly this week and I didn't feel like dealing with all the immature persons on the forum that felt like travelling back in time to high school the night prior to this event. I had every intention of showing up, but after comments from some on the forum I just didn't feel like dealing with it after having one of the worst weeks of my life. Thanks for your comments behind the safety of your computer. Perhaps one day you could actually make an insghtful post about the game of poker.
I realize that there is some not so veiled biterness on the forum towards my being a winning player at stakes which are higher than some members play. I am by no means the best or nearly the highest playing player on the forum, nor have I ever claimed to be so. It really doesn't affect me as I play poker as a second source of income, not to create a new clique of friends due to limited social circumstances. I make 2-4k a month playing poker, so what...it's just money. I used to come on the forum for some insight into the game, now it is rare to find any post that involves anything close to strategy.
I don't believe that I have ever disrespected anyone on the forum and I can't see folded's remarks as joking, as he had made a similar comment a month or so back in some thread where someone asked an appropriate 10 20 bankroll and I responded 6k. I have no clue who that guy is nor do I really care given his attitude towards me recently and in the more distant past. I do acknowlegde and appreciate his apology, but I just don't get where his initial barbs came from.
My lack of attendance at the event had nothing to do with the buy-in/stakes involved. I play much lower limits than my "earning limits" all the time for fun and to play with people whos company I enjoy. It had everything to do with having a terrible week involving having my father get acutely ill and then quickly deteriorate and die. Having to decide based on my medical background to discontinue his treatment, watch him die, arrange his funeral and cremation and deal with many other things that I would never wish upon anyone. Coupling all that with the attitudes the night prior to the event, it honestly didn't take too much to make me not want to play. Perhaps I usually would have just shrugged it off, but I was in no mood for any of that crap.
Thanks again for your backhanded commments, I'll look forward as always to your insightful posts regarding interpersonal issues.
Sandro - great event. great post. kudos to you.
Sandro great event, I posted my thanx somewhere this morning before work.
And it was a great selection! I played with Sien in the NL sng....tough player and a pleasure to sit at the same table with him. I have to say Buddy....of all the people from the forum I met for the first time yesterday, you were the least like I expected you to be
I always thought that the winning team would be able to select to next venue too ?
Sandro, I expressed my thanks in another thread....but it won't hurt to say it again. So THANKS!
As a side note, I thought it was spelled "piranha", but I looked it up before I put my foot in my mouth and... both are acceptable. Congrats to the Piranas/Piranhas!
/g2
Sorry to hear about your lose. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. I speak my mind and I don't need a computer screen to discuss any issues. You can PM me and come by and have a talk anytime if you feel that is the case. In a PM by you about 2 weeks ago you stated
" I really dont care enough about the event to be in charge of anything, if a team needs a player i'll come out thats all.
Thanks though..." so that is my basis for you backing out. Of course this tragedy is above any other event that can ever be planned and above poker itself. Maybe a bit more clarity on your part may have helped to defuse the situation. But in all honesty I don't think it's even any of our business. The fact you originally passed it off on other issues lived up to your typical response to most posts. I may not add anything to this forum but I have yet to see really anything helpful or positive from you on this forum either. Once again I hope your family copes with their lose as best they can.
As for positive input on the forum, on the very rare instance that there is ever a poker-related question I do my best to give a decent and insightful answer. Unfortunately, this is no longer much of a poker forum and more of a kill time at work posting videos and talking about upcoming events forum and , I believe, you see that reflected in the loss of almost every higher-limit winning player on this forum. All anyone is interested in lately is calculating rake, complaining about rake, finding the best bonus, etc... Even the successful members who are still present such as Sir Watts and Dead Money rarely post here.
I don't believe that I've ever seen a post from you regarding strategy in any sense of the word. And that seems to me the pattern followed by many new members.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and good luck in your future poker endeavours.
I have come to realize that this forum while once fairly beneficial to my poker game has lost any benefit to me as a poker player and that was the main reason for my participation.
Porn Box
Geez...
He didn't wanna be called "Internet" okay?
Mark
Well I wasn't going to name names ok Pornie?