DDR League Tournament #1 Part II

It didn't take long for players to jump into action once the final table started. With blinds moving to 300-600 and some folks with less than 10K in their stack, it was ramming and jamming time. First to fall victim to the carnage would be SunshinesBitch, who unwisely re-raised all in with A8o in the big blind after Mojo raised from mid-position with big slick (AK). Not a very 'bright' play, if you know what I mean - and he busts out in 10th.

One or two hands later, it was time for Manwhore to make a big statement. From UTG he raised the T600 big blind all the way to T2,500. It folded all the way around and he proudly flipped over none other than the 22 revolver - with a shit-eating grin on his face he happily accepted the $20 deuce deuce bonus and pretty much flaunted it the rest of the night next to his ever-increasing stack of chips...


[Notice the $20 bill behind his chips]

With that out of the way, it was back to business for everyone left in the game. A few minutes later TheCanuck quietly exited (I say quietly because I can't remember the hand at all - if anyone remembers how this went down, let me know). A 9th place finish and a few token league points was the only consolation for his effort.

I was to be the next chump to go out, on one of the biggest hands of the night - but I was already an extremly short stack after my old nemesis - Jodizzle - crippled me on a gutshot suckout. With blinds 500-1000 I raised from the small blind to 3000 with K♣8♣. She called without much thought and I figured to be in a little trouble. The flop came down K♥Q♠2♦. I threw out a 3500 feeler bet and she called. Now I knew something was up. A harmless 7♣ on the turn and I decide to check it, ready to give up the hand if she puts any real pressure on me. She checks behind. Hmmm... not so fast - I have got to be ahead here. The river brings a minor scare card, the J♦. I check again, and she bets 2000. The pot is now 15,000 and this is a spot she'd normally bluff in, so I have to call - and she shows me the A♠T♥ for the rivered broadway straight. Ugh.


[My nemesis]

Now - to the hand of the night. I was damn near out of the game, with blinds running up to 1000-2000 soon and me with about 1800 chips, I found myself in the big blind and seeing a free flop four way with A4o. The flop came down 4♥5♥8♥. I check with bottom pair... without a heart... and with 800 left in my stack. Mini-Muth checks behind, and Katt comes out betting. I don't have much choice here, and I call, as does Mini-Muth and Coopzilla. Perfect, I need a runner-runner boat to have any chance. The turn card is a blank (a non-heart Q or something), and it gets checked around. Whoa... maybe the non-heart ace is another out for me - I still may have a chance! The river is the 6♥, possibly the most interesting card that could have rolled off. M-M comes out betting for value, and Coopzilla calls instantly. I expect Katt to lay down here - it seemed to me like he had given up on the turn... not so fast! Katt pushes, and gets TWO callers. Showdown:

Katt: A♥9♣ [ace high flush]
Coop: Some lame ass 7 with no heart (nice call?) [straight]
Mini-Muth: 7♥6♦ [straight flush]
CMoney: A4o [pair of fours]

MM takes out two players with a rivered straight flush over Katt's ace-high flush. Note that MM had flopped the straight and was leading the hand the entire way. I finished 8th due to starting the hand with less chips and Katt goes out 7th. More importantly, MM takes down the bounty bonus of $64 for busting the honorary bounty player (yours truly). Coopzilla was dented but still had a massive stack and could afford the hit. Katt is still having nightmares about his nut flush not being good enough.


[This is an actual photo of the straight flush hand in progress... Katt looks like a damn dwarf sitting between Mojo and Manwhore]

Next to go was Motown in 6th, and I have absolutely no idea what the situation was, or how the hand went down. I was busy busting SunshinesBitch's pocket kings in the cash game. Someone needs to get me the details on this one if they remember - I'm sure he went out in a blaze of glory. Since I don't have the details of the hand, here's a photo shout-out -


[clockwise from my head... CMoney, Jodizzle, Motown, Mini-Muth, Katt, UnknownSoldier (I didn't even photoshop this picture - it came out this way), Coopzilla, Mojo, and Manwhore]

The next hand of significance was another with three-way action. With blinds at 1000-2000, Coopzilla had seen his stack diwndle a bit, while Manwhore had prospered and built up. Coop needed to find a way back in, and this hand would provide all the fuel he'd need and send another player packing on the bubble. With Jodizzle in the big blind, Coop limped from the cutoff after Mini-Muth folded UTG. Mojo folded on the button, and Manwhore called from the small blind. Jod knocks the table and the flop comes down T♥8♣2♦. It gets checked around and a free turn card comes, the 3♣. Manwhore comes out betting, and Jodizzle raises all in. Coopzilla cold calls the all in, and Manwhore calls, building a gigantic pot. A seemingly harmless K♠ on the river, and Manwhore check-calls Coops river bet. Showdown:

Jodizzle: 8♦3♦ [turned two pair]
Manwhore: T♦8♠ [flopped top two pair]
Coopzilla: T♣T♠ [a beautiful slow-played set]

This would send Jodizzle packing in 5th place on the bubble, and Manwhore signficantly crippled, while Coopzilla returned his stack to its earlier glory.

The final four players, in the money:

Coopzilla
Mojo
Mini-Muth
Manwhore

Once in the money, Coopzilla put on a hard-core display of how not to play a big stack - allowing the tiny stacks to survive taking walks in the big blind when they had less than another full big blind behind them. Of course this frustrated all of the other short stacks because they were trying to money up. Mojo decided to demonstrate the power of the big stack after the first seven or eight hands. With blinds at 2000-4000, Mini-Muth pushed his last T9,000 into the pot on Mojo's big blind. Mojo called immediately with 72o (the worst hand in Hold'em) and was shown the A♦Q♦ from MM. Pay attention Coop, this is how you bust a short stack. Mojo will win the hand 30% of the time, and it's well worth risking a tiny amount of chips to bust someone and move up in money. The final board had a 7, nothing for Mini-Muth, and he busts in 4th place for $51. With the additional $66 bounty bonus, he cashed a total of $117 for the night. Not bad for the man who was the extreme short stack with 9 players left (hitting straight flushes helps a lot).

Three-handed play got underway and Mojo started attacking with a standard shallow-stack aggressive strategy. Unfortunately for him he pushed preflop with ATo and was dominated when Coopzilla woke up with AJo in the big blind and called. The board brought no help and Mojo was out 3rd for $76.

Heads-up play started pretty much the same as three-way action. Manwhore was putting the pressure on with a tiny stack, Coopzilla folded. When Coopzilla decided to make a stand, Manwhore doubled up on consecutive hands and was looking like he might stage a big comeback. With blinds at 3000-6000 there was a raise before the flop, which came down AK2. Manwhore tried to make a play at the pot, pushing all in with 55, Coop called pretty quickly with A4o. Manwhore needed to catch the two-outer to take the chip lead. No help came and Coopzilla defies the odds and takes down DDR Tournament #1. Perhaps his patience and allowing the short stacks to survive is some kind of new secret strategy - we'll see how it pans out next month.

Manwhore pockets $128 for his second place finish (along with the $20 deuce deuce bonus), and Coopzilla nabs the $256 first place cash and has the pleasure of being the bounty player for tournament #2 in March.

Congrats Coop, and thanks players for a successful first go. Thanks to DocLove for the phone-pics, I promise next time I'll have batteries for the camera and we'll get some video.