STTF-HUC update!

[Newt_Buggs]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm pretty confident that I can say a great time was had by all, and the rumblings from the tournament room are that STTF-HUC #2 will take place in Las Vegas on President's Day weekend next February. Hopefully many more 2+2'ers will be able to make it out for that one.


[/ QUOTE ]
You can already count me in, I'm sorry that I missed this one

[skipperbob]

[ QUOTE ]
STTF-HUC Day #2:

Lacky def. Unarmed
Raptor def. Unarmed
Raptor def. Lacky
Lacky def. Raptor

Congrats to LACKY for becoming the inaugural STTF-HU Champion of the World! Mad props also to Raptor for forcing the double-final and placing 2nd in the event, and to Unarmed for his sweet run into the top-3 despite giving away quite a bit in the experience department to most of the other players. I'm pretty confident that I can say a great time was had by all, and the rumblings from the tournament room are that STTF-HUC #2 will take place in Las Vegas on President's Day weekend next February. Hopefully many more 2+2'ers will be able to make it out for that one.

--Zen

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]I have "pre-paid" for my seat at *STTF-HUC #2*...It is now For-Sale [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]Great Group....Tournament organization was waycool..
cool bunch of Kids....the whole deal was "Gold, Jerry, Gold"

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]Great to see Beef & Slacker both torture the "Let it Ride" game....Good Deal that Irieguy "pwn'd" the High-stakes Calcutta = should help offset some of the costs...
Lots of the attendees showed class in contributions to costs

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]Safe to say "Great time Had by All" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Apathy]

[ QUOTE ]


LOL...hardly. Sometimes you just flip heads twice in a row, you know? Both of these matches were tough and competitive and went for a pretty decent number of hands. And for those of you who haven't met him, Apathy is about as good a guy as there is. I really enjoyed meeting him, watching his game and talking a little poker with him.

--Z

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a pleasure sir, I hope to get another shot at you at the next event (hopefully not until the finals next time [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img])

I am having a blast in Vegas, it was great meeting and playing poker with you, I think my live game will improve greatly because of this trip and especially the matches we played.

[skipperbob]

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]Everyone needs to meet "DALIMAN" once in their life [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

But, just once [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[skipperbob]

Very Quiet out there...No "war" Stories?

[raptor517]

[ QUOTE ]
Very Quiet out there...No "war" Stories?

[/ QUOTE ]

i left vegas with more money than i came with. how bout that. thats a first for raptor. holla

[J-Lo]

not possible-- i call BS

[Jman28]

[ QUOTE ]
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]Everyone needs to meet "DALIMAN" once in their life [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

But, just once [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Very well put skipper.

I had a great time. Awesome meeting all you guys, and you can count me in for the next one. If it occurs after January, I will be legally allowed to gamble and drink! (Special thanks to Daliman for asking me if I was a Junior at the poker table. You covered it up though... s'all good)

Mad props (I don't really say that phrase though) to Irie for setting everything up.

If any of you guys are in/near Madison, I'd be glad to put you up. (I know of a karaoke bar within walking distance of my place Dali)

I was pretty impressed with you guys, as I expected to not like many of you, but was very wrong. (I would tell you if I didn't like you too. I'm painfully honest)

(I need to take a class in not using parenthesis)

[raptor517]

[ QUOTE ]
not possible-- i call BS

[/ QUOTE ]

oh its very true. i only gambled for the better part of 2 hours, didnt spend too much on strippers, took full advantage of free drinks while playing craps, and netted around 1200 from the HUC. woot. one day, ill go put 100k on black and be up. holla

[ilya]

First of all I want to say I had a great time meeting everyone & playing in the tournament. Big props to Irie, especially, for turning what could easily have ended up as just a good idea into reality & for making everything run so smoothly. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

The bulk of my preparation for the tournament consisted of lowering my expectations to the point where I felt quite calm about the prospect of going 0-2. After my first match with Lucky, however, even 0-2 seemed a pretty optimistic prediction. One big problem was that Lucky clearly knew what he was doing. Another was that I was much too sober to overcome my natural timidity. The highlight of the match was a brilliant all-in call with Ace-high that I made only as a consequence of misreading my hand. Thinking that I was holding AdJd, I happily went berserk on a rag flop with 2 diamonds. Only after calling Lucky's re-(re?)-raise for my last few chips and flipping over my hand did I realize that my actual hand was AHEARTSJd. Luckily for me, Lucky was on a flush draw himself....not that it mattered in the long run, as I was playing so passively that winning a big pot could only delay the inevitable.

While drinking some Heinekens and waiting for my 2nd round match, I ran into Jman. He'd seen me call down with a vulnerable top-pair hand in my first match, and told me that if I was gonna have any chance I would have to start raising some hands besides straights and flushes. Fortunately, the Heinekens had bolstered my courage to the point where I was ready to follow Jman's reckless advice. Still, after drawing Dali in the loser's bracket, I was pretty sure my tournament was about to come to a quick end.

I decided that if I was gonna lose I'd rather do it because I was playing too agressively, so I went crazy from the beginning, raising most hands from the small blind, and playing back on the flop with big raises. It didn't hurt that I was catching good cards preflop & hitting a lot of flops. Then a wonderful thing happened. Having established a laggy image, I flopped tripsTK on a 334 flop. Even better, Dali flopped an overpair. I raised pot on both the flop and turn (there was a flush draw besides) and thanks to my image managed to get a call. I was learning as I went. From Jman.

This upset clearly called for celebration in the form of several more Heinekens. Now that I'd won a match, I wasn't worried about getting too drunk to think rationally. I had exceeded my own expectations and (at least on the surface) avoided ignominy, and I was now more concerned with having a good time than anything else. And I was starting to develop a new theory: more beers would actually make me play BETTER by supressing my natural cowardice.

Bolstered by a few pints of liquid courage, I kept up my agression in the 3rd round rematch against Lucky. I don't remember many hands from that match because most hands we played were won preflop or on the flop, but I do remember thinking that I was doing a much better job of holding my own this second time around. It didn't hurt that Lucky seemed to be a bit on the drowsy side. After about half an hour of back-and-forth play, I had a small 120-80 lead when I caught AsTc in the SB. I raised to 5 or 6 and Lucky flat-called. The flop was Ax3c4c and after I bet pot Lucky made a medium-sized check-raise. I thought about re-raising right there but thought that if I were re-raised I'd have to call when I was either a bit ahead or a lot behind, so I decided to just call and prolly raise/bet large on the turn unless it was real scary. The turn was the Qs, which looked pretty safe to me....until Lucky bet 18 into a 50-ish pot. I thought for a long time and almost folded, but eventually raised instead and Lacky re-raised the remainder of his chips. I called, he showed A3, and I caught a Ten on the river for my big suckout of the day.

Ok this report is getting too long so I'll skip to my big hand against Raptor. If you were there and you've made it this far, you can stop reading now. I already annoyed you about this hand.
Anyway, Raptor'd been whittling me down with super-agressive preflop play and had a healthy lead when I caught 44 in the BB. Rap made it 5 to go, which meant he probably had at least 1 card. I flat-called, which Irie has now convinced me was a mistake. My plan was to flop a set or to make a big check-raise if the flop wasn't too scary. Cards came 339. I checked, planning to CR, but Rap checked behind. Uh-oh.
The turn was a lovely, lovely 4. I decided that one mistake per hand wasn't enough, so I checked again. This time Rap bet pot. Hooray! I promptly raised pot. Rap flat-called. Hmmmmm.
River was a 9, making the board 933(4)(9). UGH. The pot was maybe 10 chips smaller than my remaining stack. I checked. Rap bet pot.

Ohwellthere'salwaysnexttime.