Offtopic: Live freeroll poker play at a Local Pub...

Before I get the "hate mail" stating that live poker play at a bad is not "offtopic," I'm going to preemptively disagree. Only once have I ever witnessed such a grossly horrible absence of poker skill from my collective opposition as I witnessed over the previous two Monday night sessions at my friend's bar. By the way, unless anyone is keeping score, the only other time I've seen worse... or as bad, I should say is when I was playing "SuperDonk" heads up.

So Monday night I roll in from my live session "down the street" and the "Bat phone" rings, as SuperDonk is calling, wanting to know if I'm going to play tonight at the bar. I tell him that I'm going to go and get hands dealt, but I highly doubt that I'll actually be "playing" there. SuperDonk is a bright guy, but he didn't get that one, so I sell him a clue and inform him that in case he's forgotten, its rare that with the ridiculous "play" (very loosely used term in this context) that anyone with half a poker brain will ever make the final table there. This totally goes over SuperDonk's head as he retorts, "Well, I made the final table last week!" Point proven... Actually, I did as well, and I was quickly put out of my misery (thank god). So, I tell him I'll meet him there in twenty.

A word about the tourney structure...

To preface my commentary here, I know that these tourneys are just for fun. Additionally, one should not expect to run into "professional" or top notch play here. That being said, first place pays out, top four make it to the "monthly final," which is this weekend... I'll be going to amuze torture myself on Sunday to watch the "monthly final."

The blind structure leave a lot to be desired. Starting chip stack is 50 chips, each worth 1. Blinds are 1/2, which starts ya out a bit short stacked, and very shortstacked if you've not made a move by round three. As a sidenote, it is rare that people will "recognize" a move when they see it. For example, round two of the second tourney blinds 2/4 (they run two tourneys a night on mon and sat), a good poker player (there are a few that play there... but only a few), raises preflop with ace ten, and gets one caller of said raise (the big blind). Flop comes 10-5-2. BB min. bets. The good player pushes allin. She had just doubled up on a set of aces a few hands prior. So, she pushes out 100 plus chips, giving the min. better horrible odds to call. There's 26 chips in the pot from preflop, he bets 4, making it thirty... So, with her allin bet, he is putting his tourney life on the line to win a minimum amount of chips. He of course calls, though he wouldn't "have to." He flips over queen five offsuit, pulls a queen on the turn and takes down the pot. Didn't quite have the odds for him to call, but I don't think he had a clue... oh well.

So, my partner in crime was ousted from the tourney. We had fun though, as we purposely sat down at the same table to surround this one moron in particular and just torture him. We indeed did torture him. Though, the price to pay by sitting at his table, was to sit at the same table with every other "poker lawyer" in the place. They all seem to sit at the same table and litigate, arguing every single little thing. I think they just like to argue and hear themselves explain how right they are.

(note: if this post seems somewhat unorganized, that's because the game as a whole was unorganized. Which, apparantly thinking about that game has thrown my story-telling pace off as well).

I managed to outlast most of the "table lawyers" at this table. Blinds went up and I was again "shortstacked" and slid allin with J-10s. I got not one, not three, but five callers. Flop comes Q-10-10. Turn is a two, and river is a nine. I'm ousted by a boat, twos over tens. NH gg... Other hands of note in this donk-fest: K-7o, KQo, 7-5s, 6-6.

Tommorrow is the mailbag and some more info on the leaderboard tourneys. Two more tourneys remain before the end of the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour. Tonight, a freeroll at River Belle Poker, and tommorrow the "Last Call" $5+.50, $100 added tourney, also at River Belle poker. These two events are the final chance to obtain leaderboard points for our big end of the quarter events.

Mike




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