Season 3, T2... Another Scotch Evening...

The night was cold but clear, and the revolvers got together again for another night of drunken poker and iPhone porn. Me, I was the bounty for the evening, and battling twelve with 2 newbs in the mix, frankly, I was a little nervous. TheCanuck had something to prove with his horrible showing in T1, followed by the now infamous "skipping soccer to come play cards on a Wednesday." Meatsock and Dice Man, both with big goose-egg scores needed to make up some ground, quickly. CMoney always has a chip on his shoulder, and likely will until he gets better than a 3rd place finish. Coopzilla, he's the old champion, always gunning for another chance to prove his greatness. Dizzle got within spitting distance of 1st place in T1, so her confidence is effectively on steroids.

Fortunately, the fifth of 12 year old Glenlivet I brought from T1 was still sitting in CMoney's liquor stash. A wee dram (well, if "wee" means "good 4 fingers worth") was all it took for me to sit down, relax, and get my shit rolling. A word to all you Coors Light afficianados... breaking out the hard stuff may be the ticket for a better tourney performance.

We started with two six-player tables. Table 1 (the black table) had Coopzilla, Dice Man, DoctorLove, TheCanuck, Meatsock, and Jodizzle. Table 2 (red) had CMoney, StillNotFat, SunshinesBitch, Motown, Kattaclysm, and yours truly. Frankly, we figured that the black table was gonna be the "juice" table, the one with all the action. Tough thing about sitting on the opposite table of Coopzilla is that when the tables join up, he's almost always got a MONSTER stack, and can practically float his way into a paid place. CMoney and I looked longingly over, but team Red proved to be the hotbed of rebuy activity: Kattaclysm, StillNotFat, and SunshinesBitch dropping 2 rebuys each, and Motown taking the lions share with 3 rebuys. Both CMoney and myself, untouched in rebuys-ville.

In what turned out to be a record-tying hour, we built a tourney pot of $740, with 13 rebuys, and 12 addons. TheCanuck continued his T1 tradition of spending $100+ at a $20 tournament. I don't have a lot of info on the black table during the rebuy period, albeit there were some crazy all-ins from our crazy Canuck (one in a heart breaking TT vs JJ tumble that put him on the wrong side of the 4-1 odds.) [Anyone who has any black table info, let me know and I'll post.]

The red table was a pretty harsh one. First rebuy came as StillNotFat walked into a top pair wall, thinking his KT was good against Mojo's KQ on a KJ48 board. The river came out another 4, and Mojo's kicker played. Rebuy! CMoney decided to put the needles to Kattaclysm, reading him correctly for a scared top pair on a flush-draw friendly board. Kattaclysm bet $500 into a $150 pot, and got CMoney figuring "fuck it, it's the rebuy period" on a nut-flush draw. CMoney pushed all in on a board with the A7 of hearts, and picked his 3rd heart up on the river. Rebuy!

Motown walked into the shit more than a few times, but was all over the board stack-wise. CMoney nailed him at the end of the first round, nice and easy, AA vs Motown's 99. Rebuy! Reeling, Motown looked for his spot, complaining about an utter lack good cards, all the while building stack. He got a cheap look on the button with KQo, and flopped trips on a pretty KKJ board. Yet, StillNotFat had done a fair bit of stackbuilding himself, and cool as a cumber, the turn 9 gave StillNotFats T8 some drawing chances against him. The River Q sealed the deal. In a painful war, Motown made a perfect move, pushing all in with a ridiculous overbet of the pot. Had he made a proper "sized" bet, StillNotFat wouldn't have called, but StillNotFat had a straight, and couldn't drop it down. Rebuy for SNF...

Motown couldn't keep the chips long though. In the third round, he was feeling strong in the BB with AhTd, he called Mojo's standard bullshit-button raise. Flop came all diamonds (KdJd4d.) Motown checked it, and Mojo checked right back. Turn gave us the 7 of diamonds. Motown checked again, and Mojo put out a $2000 bet, figuring to scoop the pot right there. Much to Mojo's suprise (and happiness), Motown reraised to $4000, and after an obvious "god damn it" bullshit comment, Mojo happily called. The river brought out a second K. Motown checked, and Mojo pushed. Motown called immediately, and was brutally rebuffed by Mojo's AdKh. Motown had Mojo covered, but that left Mojo at a very big stack, and a word to the wise, you don't really want to give the bounty-player chips. :)

At the end of the rebuy, Kattaclysm pulled an all-in blind move, and ran square into CMoney's AKs wall.

During the 3rd round, our reigning champion (though inactive) showed up. He even suggested that we let him play, and just zero out his points. He'd play for the cash, and that's it. (He even suggested a "bounty on himself", but honestly, that seems unnecessary in my head.) Watch out for T3, where our reigning champion himself may be sitting across from you.

After the break, the REAL tournament began. At the red table, CMoney and Mojo were the bigger stacks, having ~$35K in chips on them. The remaining players had between 9K (Kattaclysm) and 14K (StillNotFat.)

After some playing back and forth, the two table dynamic was getting tense. The folks on the black table were annoyed that they didn't have a shot at the bounty, and the folks at the red table weren't good enough to be a threat to it (ha!). First blood was drawn by CMoney, in a dubious "flat call for implied odds" bullshit move, he caught a lucky turn card which gave SunshinesBitch two pair. Board read AT4, and the Q gave SunshinesBitch Qs and Ts, but gave CMoney broadway with his KJo. SunshinesBitch couldn't catch his 4 outer, and he busted in 12th place.

After another full round, it was the black table who cracked the game down. In a hand I know nothing about, our first newb scalp was taken by none other than our second newb! Dice Man sliced and (yes, this is lame, sorry) diced him up, sitting happily with KQo, and Meatsock sat glumly, watching his A9 go up in smoke. Dice Man flopped a Q, and Meatsock a 9, but it was the turn Q that did the sock completely in.

And so the tables converged to turn into the "if you go all-in, you'll win" festival that we all know to be so fun and yet, so frustrating. At first, the table seemed normal enough. Dizzle had enough of a stack (and a proclaimed buzz on) to be mouthy and talking shit. Motown was trying to slough off the beats I'd laid on him, and CMoney desperately wanted to catch TheCanuck with his hand in the cookie jar. TheCanuck typically overbets every hand preflop, so you're pushed off your medium strength hands, and end up wondering if you'd have gotten paid off after you've folded, and the flop comes that would have given you your straight/flush/twopair. It's a tad frustrating :)

StillNotFat outdid his brother, barely. Coming to the table with a tiny stack (he got eaten alive on the red table) he made his stand with ATo, but found Motown sitting pretty with JJ. StillNotFat, who is so close to making a few breakaway plays, just needs a bit more felt experience to get him going. I'm half tempted to bring back the $20 online challenge, just to get him that experience.

Still, Motown didn't keep the winning streak alive. In early position, he limped in with a little pocket pair (55.) 4 players saw the flop with him (including our newb in the blind, Dice Man) and the flop came 633 with two diamonds. DiceMan comes out betting $4000 into a $3600 pot. Motown goes for broke and pushes his remaining chips in, and all drop except the dice man, who immediately calls with J3o. The trip 3s hold, and Motown goes away in 9th place.

At this point, the all-ins started occuring. Blinds had gotten to 400/800 and stacks were getting moved. I got a cheap limp on the button with K7s, and flopped top two on a K76 board. I put her all-in on the turn, but she showed me 66 pretty happily, and I doubled her up.

A few hands later, I got the chance to look at QQ from mid-late, and watched as Coopzilla pushed all-in overtop of my preflop raise. I called, and he showed me AK. Board came baby, 256, turn 9, but Coopzilla's river (as it should be so renamed) brought a K, and within 5 hands, I'd gone from a big stack to $3700 in chips. I stopped drinking my beer at that point, figuring that I was close to driving home.

However, luck seemed to come back to me. I watched Kattaclysm survive two all-in attempts (one wasn't called, the other was called by two folks, who both missed.) I pushed my $3700 in when blinds were at 700/1400, got called by Coopzilla (cold-hearted bastard trying to finish me off) to build back up to $9000, then did it again with another coinflip that I survived, pushing my stack back near $20K. Finally, out of sheer gaul, I look down and see AQo (much better than what I'd been pushing with prior), and push again, figuring lady luck was on my side.

Coopzilla grins and happily says "I call." Heads up, preflop, Coopzilla shows down KK, and I'm not looking good. Flop contains a Q to give me a little hope, but the turn A gives me Obama-style hope. No King on the end gives me most of my original stack back, and Coopzilla ends up down near $8K.

Blinds are at $1000/$2000, and there's still 8 left. It's nearly 11:00PM, and it's shaping up to be a late night. Finally, it's time for Kattaclysm to make another stand from the BB. Newb Dice Man makes a nice minimum raise from Mid position, and all fold to me (the SB.) I look down at 55, and decide my stack has a little wiggleroom, and I make the call. Naturally, THIS time, Kattaclysm can't fold, so he pushes all in for a total of $7700. Dice Man makes the call, and what hell, I do too.

Flop comes Q53. The main pot is at ~$24K. With Dice Man's raise from mid, and then flat call of the all-in, I put him on a pretty wide range of hands. Middle pairs? AK-AJ? KQ-QJ? I didn't put him on hand that could beat me, but I figured a lot of hands that he might think were good if he read me as weak at all. Also, he'd call with any Q. So I pushed..., and naturally he folded his middle pair (or something.)

Mistake? Probably. Do I regret it? Of course not. I took out Kattaclysm, so that always feels good. Kattaclysm showed AJ, and the turn gave him a 9, which meant he was drawing dead, and he's out in 8th place.

The Canuck decided to make a stand in the middle here, with a damn fine 22 play which took down 3 limpers, and the blinds. He pushes allin preflop, at the perfect time really, because people couldn't afford to fuck around, and no-one calls him, and he gets his $20 bonus.

Blinds are high, and CMoney can't catch a card to save his life. Finally, he looks down at the fish-hooks, and like the fish he is, he gets hooked. He jams it up preflop, and I immediately go all-in behind him. My KK toasts his JJ like they were marshmallows, and he's down in the flames of 7th place.

DoctorLove made 3 all-in stands (all while primping his hair like a teenage girl), and survived all but the last one. He decided to play a Kattaclysm-like strategy of "fold everything but aces," but got into blind trouble. TheCanuck in the small blind had to make it $2800 (at 1000/2000 blind levels) to see the board with the Doctor, and the board was Canadian-friendly. The Canuck Flops two pair with his Q4, and the Love Doctor walks his A6 away to the poorhouse.

Down to the bubble. 5 players. Dizzle, a fierce strong competitor, lying in the reeds waiting to snatch a few pots. TheCanuck, desperately wanting to show everyone that his Season 2 champion hat is well earned, despite dropping nearly $200 in Season 3 tourney buyins. Coopzilla, the Season 1 legend. Dice Man, new blood who has done nothing to not earn the respect of his DDR members, and finally Mojo, who's devistating good looks are only matched by his modesty. Mojo and Dice Man were the large stacks at the table (around 45K each). Dizzle was the mid-ranger (low to mid thirties), followed by Coopzilla (teens to low twenties), and The Canuck (low teens.)

First hand, Dizzle snatched a pot from Coopzilla, who flat called the BB in early position AGAIN..., and Mojo, the poor sole BB. Then, the second hand determined the fate of the evening.

I was the small blind (1.5K), and Coopzilla was the big (3K). Dizzle in early position (well, for 5 handed poker, it's not terribly early, but still) decides to flat call the blind, and Dice Man comes along behind. Seeing the chance for a few cheap cards, TheCanuck uses his button to flat call. I look down and see 43o. Woohoo a great hand (not)! But I'm getting nearly 9-1 on my money, and I had a big stack, so what the hell... call. Coop checks his option away, and the flop comes K of Hearts, 4 of spades, and 3 of spades.

I have to bet at this pot now. With 5 people in here, I need to put some potential draws to the test. With the pot at about 15K, I figured 10K would make tiny stacks push any draws or Kings, and since there were 3 small stacks to worry about, that was my bet.

Coopzilla looks at his cards, his stack, and folds.

Dizzle immediately folds.

Big stack newb Dice Man flat calls. (Thought to self... "FUCK!! Wrong guy.")

Canuck lays it down, expecting to see sparks fly.

I didn't want to see Dice Man call here. Every draw there scares me. He could have spades, 56, any king. Damn near everything is wide open to him, and I don't have good position on him. Turn comes 5 of hearts.

Out of every hand I put him on, there are two that I'm scared of now. A2 of spades, or K5. Figuring it's better to attack than to try to defend, I say "all in."

$36.6K bet into a $35K pot. Every second he sits and thinks, I'm loving life just a little bit more. I knew my two pair was good, I just didn't know HOW good. If he had something like KQ of spades, he was a 1.6-1 dog. K6 (or the fire-drill) of spades giving him the open-ender as well, he'd be a slight favorite (51% to win.)

He thought and thought, and said "do you go with your heart or your head." He went with his heart, and showed us K8o. The 8 didn't come, nor a 5, nor a K. I went from a 45K stack to having over 100K in front of me, and Dice Man goes out a respectable 5th place, with two scalps to show for it.

The final four went fairly quickly, as Mojo decided to show everyone how to play with a big stack when the blinds are high. Mojo was a massive chip leader, and spent most of the time bullying folks with high preflop raises (it helped having hands too.) TheCanuck went out 4th with Q5s against Mojo's AJo (all in preflop), when the flop contained an Ace.

In third, Coopzilla, who was under a great deal of stack pressure. Though he doubled up once, Mojo was able bust him (A2o vs J6s), when Mojo spiked a J on the turn.

Final two was another match between Jodizzle and Mojo. Mojo started with nearly a 7-1 chip advantage, and the poor girl didn't have a chance. She doubled up once, but Mojo ended the match with a run of VERY good cards (lady luck favors the lucky) and Dizzle went out 2nd... running her QJo into wall of AKs.

With 2 tournaments in the books, Mojo and Jodizzle seem to be leaving everyone else in the dust. Mojo racked up two first place finishes, sending him into 100+ point lead over Jodizzle (and her consecutive 2nd place finishes), and a 300+ point lead against Coopzilla. I'd talk shit about having 100+ points on Dizzle, except she has proven herself to be a force to contend with, and has the highest "average place taken" of all DDR members (including our prior S3 favorite, Manwhore.) I see a trophy in her future.

Thanks should go heartily out to TheCanuck, who was able to force the issue with his rec-league buddies, and we were able to have a good full tournament because of it. Dizzle, thanks for getting the food, and Meatsock, thanks for being just like your brother.

Expect some new "stats" pages on your profiles. Now that we have 3 seasons worth of data, I'll be creating a few new pages and queries so we can do some more advanced "side betting" on our fellow DDR horses.

Due to the fact that our primary website isn't working (due to host issues, that should be worked out soon) the below table shows the current DDR point standings:

Player	Points
Mojo	658.47
Jodizzle	547.41
Coopzilla	332.24
DoctorLove	275.48
Motown	233.32
TheCanuck	211.22
Kattaclysm	175.57
Dice Man	167.74
CMoney	123.07
StillNotFat	72.68
SunshinesBitch	11.43
Meatsock	10.08