The excitement had been building for more than a month as half the field looked to take down the championship while the other half tried to play spoiler and save some dignity after a season of taking bad beats or in some cases just playing really bad.
The first championship tournament of the DDR league lived up to expectations as we set a record for rebuys (13 rebuys, 12 add-ons) and the prize pool swelled to $740. The deuce deuce bonus was claimed during the match which left $720 up for grabs.
It's worth noting that DoctorLove who made an impressive run in tournament #3 after showing up late decided to walk in the door just before the rebuy period ended. Would this night prove his theory that "winners don't need rebuys"?
The first elimination hand came less than five minutes after the rebuy period ended. StillNotFat decided QT was a good enough hand to push all his chips into the pot preflop with, against Motown who called him down with a more respectable AJ. It held up and StillNotFat shamefully exited almost before the tournament evan began.
Motown didn't have much time to relish the victory, however, when an ironic twist had him all in with 99 up against Mojo's AJ. Mojo won the coin flip and sent Motown packing in 11th. This was the first time Motown exited before the final table and it showed (echos of Mike "The Mouth" Matusow sobbing "I'm the saddest man in poker" during the 2004 WSOP in my head as I observed).
Speaking of whining and crying, next to bust out was MiniMuth. Coopzilla busted him down, but I don't have details on this hand unfortunately. I'm sure it was awesome. The stage was set for the final table. Still in the running to take down the championship and the $260 grand prize was Mojo, Coopzilla, Jodizzle, Manwhore, Katt, and a real longshot for DoctorLove.
My extreme bad luck and timing at the final table continued when I got a free flop in the big blind with the worst hand in poker, 72. DoctorLove to my left had limped UTG (that's under the gun - first player to act preflop to the left of the big blind), and we had one or two more callers including SunshinesBitch. The flop came down K22 and I could barely contain myself. I checked right away, hoping some chump with the king would bet behind me. Sure enough DoctorLove bet out. Right away I started putting him on all sorts of possible hands. KJ? KT? All I could think was "please have a king so I can double up". Now the tough part - SunshinesBitch raises behind Docta. Lemme tell you something about SunshinesBitch... I can't put him on a hand, because he's capable of playing every hand. Let me re-phrase that... he's incapable of folding hands. He could easily have that case 2 but what choice do I really have here? I'm a shorter stack and have a chance to possibly TRIPPLE up on this hand. I push. DoctorLove calls immediately which I expected with his giant stack, and SunshinesBitch lays his hand down. This is it, I'm gonna be a big stack... DoctorLove casually flips over Q2. Seriously? Q2? From under the gun? I have a hard time playing KQ from that position... but not the Docta - he must have known the deuces were coming. CMoney out 9th.
SunshinesBitch was a little crippled after that hand, but managed to scare everyone out with pocket deuces to take down the deuce deuce bonus. That was the only good news for him however, as DoctorLove sent him packing in 8th after flopping top pair with J4 (yes, the Docta was playing some choice hands).
The next knockout was key for a few people - with the 7d6d Mojo saw a cheap flop with Katt. The flop came all diamonds with a Q and the chips all went in. Katt shows QJ and ends his run and chance at a championship - out 7th.
TheCanuck, in his strongest showing to date fell victim to DoctorLove shortly thereafter when he took his top pair J6 on a J high flop all in and got cut down by the Docta's pocket ladies. DL was definitely the windshield on this night.
One more elimination until the money, four of the five remaining players still in contention for the championship trophy. One of the odds-on favorites and most consistent players would bow out in 5th when Manwhore got all in dominated with K4 against DoctorLove with K7. Docta gets a 7 for insurance and Manwhore is out in 5th.
The final four players in contention for the win were Jodizzle, Coop, Mojo, and DoctorLove. Only the Doctor was mathematically eliminated at this point. Mojo needs a 2nd place finish, or he needs Coopzilla to finish 2nd to win. Jodizzle needs a first with DoctorLove in 2nd to have a shot.
Jodizzle would fall victim to DoctorLove (jesus, who didn't fall victim to DoctorLove) and her K9 was taken down by T6. Out 4th and $58 richer.
Mojo had his eyes on the prize - he was focused, playing well, and had two less-experienced players in the game. All he needs is a 2nd place finish to seal the championship. Fate had a different idea. With what has to be some of the worst timing we've seen thus far in the DDR league, Mojo patiently waited for his chance to double up. Finally getting a monster AQ, he pushes over the top of DoctorLove's open raise. Doctor happily calls and shows AK (he could just as easily had Q5). Ouch - Mojo busts 3rd and leaves DoctorLove with a gigantic chip lead over Coopzilla. "That's okay", Mojo thinks to himself... as long as Coopzilla goes out 2nd, the championship would still be his. DoctorLove takes down the $72 bounty for busting the previous month's winner.
The heads up match between Coopzilla and DoctorLove was one for the ages. The Doctor holding a commanding 10:1 chip lead to start the match looked like a shoe-in to win. We reminisced jokingly about Katt's comeback in tournament #2 where Motown had him 10:1. Inexplicably, DoctorLove slowed his game down considerably (hey, if you can play Q2 against a field of NINE players, what kinds of hands won't you play against a single opponent?!).
Before long, Coopzilla had used small stack all-in bully tactics to bring the chips to nearly even. Soon Coopzilla took a small lead, and then opened a 2:1 lead on a bigger pot (not really many showdowns to talk about). The final hand came about 20 minutes into the heads up match when DoctorLove decided A3 was his hand, and Coopzilla took a stand with KJ. Some king lovin' came for Coopzilla... game, set, match. The record-breaking $288 for first was in his pocket, along with the more than $260 for winning the championship. All told, Coopzilla took down $897 during the 1st season and owns the championship trophy. It will be his for the next six months as the league voted to go six months instead of four. DoctorLove's "come late, leave happy" strategy worked for him again. With extra cash in their pocket and adrenaline pumping, there was only one destination in mind...
The finish:
- Coopzilla: $288 [and another $260 for the league champ]
- DoctorLove: $144 [and another $72 for the bounty on Mojo]
- Mojo: $86
- Jodizzle: $58
Congrats to Coopzilla - a well-deserving champion after winning 2 out of 4 tournaments, and placing 3rd in another - amazing run.
Trophy presentation and pictures scheduled for the season 2 opener in June...
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