2+2ers at the Muck - Straddlefest 2004 trip report (very long)

[nolanfan34]

(Crosspost from B&M. Figured I have to post this in TSC's domain)

After much waiting, and needless one-line posts, last night we finally managed to get a bunch of 2+2ers together at the Muckleshoot, which is a large Indian Casino outside of Seattle.

Nolanfan34, ThaSaltCracka, stabn, schaefer, The Dude, Demana, GoT, Plaster8, bernie, wayabvpar, and bobdibble all made it out at various points. This can best be summed up through a running diary, a la The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons...

3:55 - I arrive at the Muck, and wind my way back to the poker room. I was not carded, but two people in front of me were. "Boy," I thought to myself, "It's a good thing GoT isn't going to try to sneak in." Little did I know...

4:00 - I get my name on the 3/6 and 4/8 lists, and meet 2+2ers Demana and stabn. bernie is already there too, and schaefer is seated at a 10/20. The place is already getting pretty busy, and will only get worse as the tournament approaches.

We all discuss whether or not to play the tournament. The tournament in question, starts at 7:15. It's a $45 buy-in NL tournament, with unlimited $20 rebuys in the first hour, and a $20 add-on. Schaefer says the blind structure sucks, and that it's a total crapshoot. Demana and stabn say they want to play it for sure.

4:15 - stabn and I get called for the same 4/8 game. It's a great passive game, assuming you can avoid getting rivered, which stabn cannot.

I have a good hand early that reminds me it's not exactly Poker Stars: I pick up A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] in the BB. Unraised pot, with about 6 limpers to me, and I check in the BB.

Flop comes J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] . Checked around.

Turn - 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Two checks, someone bets, I call with my OESD/nut flush draw (probably could have C/R'd).

River - a [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. I bet, two folds, and one call, from a guy that turns over Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. stabn notes how nice his flop check was. We decide it was a nice slowplay.

5:00 - wayabvpar shows up and gets on a list that's now about 30 deep. I notice bernie chatting with two unknown guys, and pointing at my table. Turns out to be The Dude and his friend.

Let me note that The Dude looks about as un-dude-like as possible. You guys who are meeting him in Vegas this week will know what I mean. bernie looks more like The Dude than The Dude does.

The Dude and his friend come over and introduce themselves, during a hand where I suck out on stabn with my QJo when I make a straight on the turn, and plan for a tricky C/R on the river. The river puts four to a straight on the board so I bet out instead, stabn pays me off, and The Dude starts heckling me for playing QJo. "I was in the BB," I say. "You gotta fold that trash," The Dude says.

5:15 - Still no sign of ThaSaltCracka. I theorize that he's going to be a no show, fearing the amount of drinks that will be bought for him. "He'll be here," predicts stabn.

5:20 - The Dude gets called for the 10 seat at our table. He plays his first hand by straddling UTG, and stabn double-straddles in the 1 seat. They get on my case to blind cap, which would work better if I wasn't in the 3 seat, as the 2 seat isn't going to comply.

Being the weak fish that I am, not only do I not blind cap, but I look at my cards and see 73o, and muck it. The Dude calls me something that I think is a word for the female anatomy. I'm kicking myself for being a wuss when the board reads KJ73r on the turn, and really kick myself when a deuce hits on the river. Except that stabn, who has led the betting the whole way, turns over 22 for the rivered set, and drags a nice pot.

5:45 - ThaSaltCracka arrives. Turns out "traffic" is his excuse for getting there so late. Whatever.

5:50 - They start taking names for the tournament. It's capped at 100 players, so they take names from ring game players first, then from the general public. The Dude and stabn sign up. I decide to pass and stay in the ring game, since all of the 2+2ers will be in the tournament [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]. The Dude calls me some female name again.

6:00 - The Dude gets moved to a 10/20 game, and gets a call that Guy On Tilt is in fact on his way. I relent to peer-pressure, when I learn that everyone but me is in the tournament, and get on the tournament list. There are 9 tables to start with, and I draw the same table as wayabvpar and The Dude. I table select g00t!

6:15 - I cash out from my 4/8 game, with a tidy $8 profit. I meet 2+2ers bobdibble and Plaster8, both cool guys. The Dude proposes a $10 last longer bet amongst the group, with the winner taking all. 8 of us end up going in on it - schaefer, wayabvpar, GoT, The Dude, nolanfan, bernie (yes, we got bernie to play in the NL tournament [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]), stabn, and Demana.

You'll note the absense of TSC on that list. By getting there late, he not only didn't make it into the tournament, but also has to wait for a ring game as well. I think it was an elaborite plan to keep up this ruse that he actually plays poker.

6:30 - I decide to get a bite to eat before the tournament. Except all of the lines are too long at the restaurants, so I figure "I'll just eat during the tournament". Mistake #1, which will have ramifications later.

Around this time, GoT makes it in. The Dude went to the entrance to distract security if necessary, but in the end it was much ado about nothing as he waltzed in. GoT is correct - I haven't seen any asians who look like him either. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] GoT immediately starts bitching at The Dude for not having a drink waiting for him when he arrives. They sound like a gay couple arguing (not that there's anything wrong with that). More on this later.

7:15 - The tournament starts. At table 14, wayabvpar is in the 2 seat, The Dude in seat 6, and nolanfan in seat 7.

7:20 - I double up on the 3rd hand, when my 54o in the BB flops a 5, and turns a 4 when it's checked around. Guy with top pair is no good.

7:25 - The Dude is hungry, and I still haven't eaten either. "Let's split a pizza" I say. Mistake #2.

7:30 - After giving some of my chips back, I bust The Dude when he c/r's all-in on an ATx board. I call. His KT no good against my AT. I commend him on his skill getting his money in drawing almost dead. "Q-J offsuit" he says, shaking his head. "REBUY!!!"

8:15 - End of the first hour. All 8 of us are still in, with Demana somehow leading in chips even though he had to rebuy twice.

8:30 - stabn is first to bust out, followed shortly by The Dude.

8:45 - Card dead after the break, I bust out, followed in quick fashion by Plaster and bernie, followed by Schaefer. This leaves wayabvpar, GoT, and Demana as the last men standing for the last-longer pool.

9:00 - They start a new 3/6 table, as the tournament tables continue breaking down. The 3/6 is probably about 50 names deep. TSC, The Dude, and stabn of course sit down. "You guys all got called for seats?" the dealer says. "Sure", they say. They must look trustworty. The Dude buys in for 5 racks and builds a chip castle.

9:30-10:00 - Demana and GoT both bust out of the tournament, leaving wayabvpar as the last man standing, and winner of the $80 last longer bet. Congrats to wayabvpar!

10:15 - I check my name on the 3-6 list, and see I'm still about 25 spots away from getting a seat. My non 2+2 friend who is there is about 5 spots away, and says I can have his seat when it comes up. None of this stops schaefer from sitting down and buying in for 5 racks when a seat opens at the 2+2 table, despite the fact he's not on the list at all.

10:30 - GoT and The Dude are arguing again. This time it's about who owes money to who. I think to myself that since California is a community property state, they're both going to own half of each other's stuff when this relationship ends tragically.

10:45 - I sweat wayabvpar, who is still alive in the tournament, barely, with 11 people left. Top-10 make the final table and get paid. I keep him updated on two small stacks at the other table, and when two people bust out, he makes the final table with 9 people left, and barely enough chips for the big blind.

11:00 - "Mark" gets called for the 3/6 game. That's my buddy's spot, and he lets me take it. I sit and immediately get my name on the board for a table change to the 2+2 table.

11:10 - After dragging two quick pots, I hear the table change get called for "Mark". I rack up, and go over to find that the open seat has been taken by "Gene". "Gene", looks surprisingly similar to GoT. Turns out "Gene" paid $30 to the guy to get up from the seat. "Gene" buys in for 5 racks. "Mark" is now without a table.

11:15 - Luckily, they let me sit back at my old table and I get on the table change list again. The floorperson running the board is very confused, and calls in a higher up floor person. Uh oh.

11:20 - My non-2+2 friend gives me an update on wayabvpar, who apparently posted his last 4500 in chips in the 5000 BB, tripled up with AQ, then doubled up again when the board was checked all the way down, and he takes it down with Q-high. wayabvpar is officially back in the game. My friend tells me that when they had 9 people to go, they talked about a 9-way chop that would have netted everyone $700+ a piece, but one player said no.

11:30 - "Mark" is called for a table change again, and this time I manage to get a seat.

So, the table is set as follows. Cranky Tanya, a young woman who is clearly tired of the table antics is in seat one. She really looks like this is the most painful moment of her life, yet she realized that idiots straddling and restraddling is probably profitable it seems. Doesn't seem to help her mood at all. I'll let the others elaborate.

"Mark" is in seat 2, schaefer in 3, stabn in 4, The Dude in 5, ThaSaltCracka in 6, "Gene"/GoT in 7, and three poor fish who look battered and confused in 8 9 and 10.

11:45 - The button comes around to Cranky Tanya, so of course it's blind capped pre-flop before the cards are dealt, which I'm gathering is the norm. TSC ends up all-in on the turn, after making a comment like "this could be my undoing". He drags a monster pot away from GoT when his K5o two-pair holds up. As consolation, he tosses a chip to GoT, and is immediately repremanded by the floor who has been lurking near the table.

"No exchanging of chips between players" the floor says. "Can I give you one" TSC asks? The floor is not amused. Cranky Tanya isn't amused either.

12:00 - Now that 6 of us are finally at the same table, which has taken 3 hours to achieve, of course we decide that instead of giving the Muck our money, we should just go back to TSC's place and play a home game instead. All 6 of us rack up at once, and single-handedly almost break the table.

12:15 - I check in with wayabvpar, who is still in the tournament, which is now down to the final 4. He declines on the home game, as he's going to need to leave immediately after the tournament. Turns out his wife is gambling elsewhere in the casino, and he's just hoping to get out of there breaking even, tournament winnings included. I hope he'll post the final results, because I don't know how he finished up.

Anyway, TSC, bobdibble, stabn, GoT, The Dude, The Dude's friend, schaefer and myself leave, with Demana and bernie to eventually follow.

After about 10 minutes of driving, I decide to call it a night and drive back to Olympia, because I'm getting a migraine, and the Muckleshoot pizza isn't sitting very well in my stomach. This turns out to be a good decision, as I don't even make it all the way home before I have to stop on the side of the road, and re-deposit the Muck pizza on the side of the small back-road on the way to Oly. Turns out the pizza was a severly -SV (stomach value) move for me. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

So, this thing is long enough, and others will have to fill in the details on the home game. It was great to meet everyone though, and I'm sure I'll think of more funny moments I'll have to fill in later.

[ClaytonN]

Good read so far, though you might want to change the river ace in that AT hand to a heart.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Good read so far, though you might want to change the river ace in that AT hand to a heart.

[/ QUOTE ]

It meant to read as just a random diamond, not an ace. I made a flush on the river.

[jakethebake]

Great read!

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
Good read so far, though you might want to change the river ace in that AT hand to a heart.

[/ QUOTE ]

its not A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] it's "a" [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], as in another [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

[ThaSaltCracka]

crazy Tanya lived and died by here 18% chance to hit the flush on the river, simply astounding. Everyone hated us on this table too. There was a hand where The Dude blind raised Stabn's blind raise of Schaefer BB, its basically folded all the way to the SB who calls, its of course capped by Schaefer, STabn calls, Dude calls. Before we see the flop, The Dude shows me his cards, he has the nuts 9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].

Flop is J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img],
of course its capped.
Turn is Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
The Dude bets, now only the SB is still in, he raises, The Dude 3 bets, SB calls.
River is 7 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
The Dude bets, SB raises all in, the Dude calls.

The Dude in all of his drunken stupidty screams out "THE NUTS!!! BRING IT".

The old man he just totally sucked out on looked battered and bruised, sort of like he just found out his mom died.



Early in the game this guy across from me(whom "Gene" bought his seat from) asked me what the Dude did for a living while he was busy arguing with GoT. I said he "professional poker player", the guy just laughed. At this point, The Dude had boughten in for roughly $400 had a huge pile of chips, and hadn't won a pot.

[nolanfan34]

Happy B-day BTW. How was the home game?

[stabn]

See your other thread [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Wasn't got involved in that one though with the old man? I thought he flopped a flush with 53 suited, and dude sucked out on both him and the old man (who i believe had KQo for the Q high flush). I could be mixing up a couple of hands though.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
11:45 - The button comes around to Cranky Tanya, so of course it's blind capped pre-flop before the cards are dealt, which I'm gathering is the norm. TSC ends up all-in on the turn, after making a comment like "this could be my undoing". He drags a monster pot away from GoT when his K5o two-pair holds up. As consolation, he tosses a chip to GoT, and is immediately repremanded by the floor who has been lurking near the table.

[/ QUOTE ]
I had K5, flop came K5J, I bet out saying "this could be my undoing" , GoT raises, a few smooth calls, then I three bet, everyone laughed. i didn't though, I rationally explained to everyone that was a value bet. Apparently no one knew what I was talking about.

[nolanfan34]

Couple of notes I forgot about:

- During the tournament there was a hand where it was folded all the way around to wayabvpar's BB. He flashed the ever powerful Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. The table knew not to mess with the Granny Mae!

- At the 2+2 3/6 table, I'm in the BB and schaefer announces that he's straddling. I point out to him that it's not really straddling when you look at your cards first. I'm such a nit. He took down a nice pot when he kept firing all the way to the river, got a fish to fold, and tabled his A-high.