Tournament 2 in the books

July 2008 -

With summer in full effect, tournament 2 got off to a rocky start. Manwhore forgot what day the tournament was, StillNotFat was stuck in a "fire drill" (more on that later), Coop was off doing... whatever it is that Coop does, SunshinesBitch was a no-show, and DoctorLove continued pushing the limits of being late. For the 7 folks who showed up to play on time, the tardy attendees were the source of some painful dealing and stack management. The net effect was the proposal of a new set of rules which will be outlined in another post.

One other rule change from season one to note - season 2 (and future seasons) will run six months instead of four, and the top two finishers in the league will share the prize (70/30).

After missing the first tournament of season 2, the reigning league champ showed up just in time to sit down, throw his $40 into the pool (buyin + add-on), play five hands, and watch his pocket aces run up against Mojo's 44 on a flop of 224. Since StillNotFat was still en route, the official entry tally was 9 for this tourney - Coopzilla out 9th.

Mojo had been putting on a show during the rebuy period, deciding he'd call every bet preflop and it had been working. Yours truly (CMoney) felt the wrath of Mojo on two consecutive hands all in preflop both times with AQ up against 84o and 64o. Towards the end of the rebuy, seeking some chips to play with, I got tied up in a three way hand with Mojo holding K8, my nemesis Jodizzle holding 77, and I held the favorite with TT. I should have known better than calling 'dizzle, as she spiked a 7 on the flop. Mojo exited the rebuy period with a tiny stack compared to his once glorious 20K+ mountain of chips.

The reigning tournament winner and bounty player, TheCanuck, decided to continue his streak of hitting amazing hands. Mojo had done a great job of establishing a loose crazy image during the rebuy and caught TheCanuck with his hand in the cookie jar, pushing all in with QQ, Canuck calling him with 99. Mojo's joy turned to horror as not one, but TWO 9s fell on the flop. Mojo's only chance was running Qs (1000-1 shot). He did pick up a single Q on the river but it wasn't enough to overtake TheCanuck's quads. Mojo painfully out 8th.

Even though StillNotFat didn't show up in time to play the tournament, he hung out for the cash game. It was about this time in the night when MiniMuth decided to ask him about the "fire". Discussion earlier had revolved around SNF being late because he was running a "fire drill". Turns out MM took this literally. During the conversation someone suggested that we needed a new hand called "The Fire Drill". StillNotFat came up with the winner. From here on out, any combination of K2 (King and a two) is called the "fire drill". Another post will be up soon to explain.

The pattern of big elimination hands continued as DoctorLove played it cool on a flop of KKK (The "Clan"). MiniMuth felt his pocket sevens were probably best and pushed all in. Docta had an easy decision with KQ and busted MM in 7th on the second consecutive elimination with quads.

I was getting short-stacked and decided to make my stand with KJs. TheCanuck remembered how easy it was to bust me in the previous tournament, and called with 88. Coin-flip situation, until an 8 fell on the flop leaving me to draw to some kind of crazy straight. No help and CMoney out 6th (and still no cash finishes, bounties, or DD bonuses).

With five people left, Motown was on a mission, and went on an incredible run. Before this was over, he would single-handedly eliminate all remaining players from the tournament.

The first victim was Kattaclysm. Katt loved his KJ on a flop of JT3, but Motown loved his pocket tens even more and happily called the all-in, busting Katt in 5th.

Next to go was Jodizzle, who we might have to re-name "Bubble Girl". In 3 out of the 6 tournaments played so far, she has finished one spot from the money. She's also cashed in two of the tournaments, showing some of the most consistent play in the league. Getting short stacked she made her stand with A8 and was called by Motown with KTs. The slight favorite was crushed when a K fell on the flop ending Jodizzle's night - out 4th.

Next to fall victim to Motown's wrecking ball was DoctorLove. His QJ looked great with the Q high flop, but Motown was drawing cheaply to a flush with 9c7c and hit before all the chips went in. DoctorLove out 3rd.

The heads up match had more at stake than just 1st and 2nd. Since TheCanuck had won the previous tournament, the bounty was on him. The winner of this match would take both the first place money and the bounty money. The deuce-deuce bonus had not been paid out yet either, which meant if a player could win the tournament with the 22 revolver, they'd take the tripple crown on a single hand.

Both players showed decent patience - both had experienced heads up play before. Motown had dropped a heardbreaker to Katt back in March after starting with a 10x chip lead. TheCanuck had taken down SunshinesBitch in the June tournament. Motown was determined to not let the "Katt Street Nightmare" happen again.

After jockying for 15-20 hands, the finish came on a great turn call by Motown. After a preflop raise/call, the flop came down 53Q. Motown led out betting, and TheCanuck called without hesitation. The turn fell 4, and Motown bet again. TheCanuck pushed all in. Motown went into the tank for a good two minutes before finally calling. TheCanuck showed K5, Motown pocket tens. Both plays were pretty damn good. The all in was a gutsy play with the Q on the board and possible straights. The TT call was even better. TheCanuck finishes in 2nd place - an amazing finish to silence the doubters after his win in June. Motown takes down the elusive first place finish that had been haunting him since March.

Final tally:

1st - Motown: $238 (and the $54 bounty for busting TheCanuck)
2nd - TheCanuck: $130
3rd - DoctorLove: $65

TheCanuck established himself as the clear man to beat in season 2, jumping out to a huge points lead. For the first time ever, the deuce deuce bonus went unpaid. Congrats Motown for the nice finish. SunshinesBitch falls to third place in league points after missing the tournament.