Pendleton Trip Report for Nov. '08 #1

This post says that it was posted on November 9th which is a complete lie. I created the post while I was still down in Pendleton but never got around to writing anything in it. Now it's December 3rd so it's getting to the point where I almost don't even remember what happened when I went to Pendleton so I figured it's time to finally write a few blog posts about it.

#1: HORSEing Around Before Pendleton

So for those of you who don't know, twice a year, a casino called Wild Horse in Pendleton, Oregon runs about the biggest poker tournament series in the Northwest. It is held in Spring and Fall and is comprised of about 14 tournaments with buyins ranging from $200+15 to $1000+15, one each day. This year, JD, my roomate Jeff, and I decided to go for the entire two weeks. I had been there 2-3 times before for a weekend or so, once with Jeff, but it was JD's first time.

The weekend before we were going to head down, MSPoker (group of poker enthusiasts at Microsoft) ran a HORSE tournament (Holdem, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8) with the same structure as the one in Pendleton to give everybody some practice. It was a $100 buy in and it attracted about 24 people so the prize pool was pretty decent.

I started out pretty slow and was struggling to pick up chips in the Holdem and Omaha 8 rounds. I was eager to get to the Stud games as they are the games least played in the MSPoker cash games. When we got to Razz (where you try to make the worst hand possible), where people were limping and calling completions with a Q showing, my chip stack started steadily rising.

We got back to Holdem and then through all the games again before we got down to 8 players for the final table, I had about average chips but the blinds were such that any hand that I played to the end would cripple me if I lost it. I was cautious through Holdem and Omaha 8, waiting for the Stud games again. They didn't let me down this time either as I found myself in quite a curious Razz hand:

3rd Street:
P1 brings in with (XX)K
P2 calls with a (XX)Q!
P3 completes with a (XX)3
4 Folds to me and I call with (23)7 to make sure the guy with a Q stays in.
P1 folds
P2 calls

4th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q4
P3 now has (XX)3K
I now have (23)78

I am first to act and bet, P2 raises! P3 looks disgusted and calls and I obviously 3-bet and both call.

5th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q49
P3 now has (XX)3K9
I now have (23)78K

P2 is first to act and checks, P3 now bets out! So I get to raise and P2 calls two cold and P3 calls.

6th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498
P3 now has (XX)3K9J
I now have (23)78KA

P2 is first and checks, P3 checks, I bet, P2 calls, and P3 angrily folds.

7th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498(X)
I now have (23)78KA(6)

P2 looks and then checks and I happily bet (he can't possibly have me beat given his board). He thinks for a bit and finally calls and I scoop the gigantic pot. Being able to get that many bets in with way the best of it was a big morale booster.

After that, I played pretty cautiously, managed to get lucky a couple of times in key spots and also made a few tough calldowns to get to heads up. On the final hand in Stud, I had a big chiplead and my opponent was down to just a few bets left. I found(6J)6 against (XX)A. I decided off the bat that I was going all the way with the hand unless he caught an Ace on 4th street. He completed and I called. On 4th he had (XX)AK and I had (6J)62. He bet out and I raised, he reraised all in and I called. As it turns out he had a K in the hole and made a pair of kings on 4th but I managed to catch a third 6 on 6th street to retake the lead. The river bricked out and I had won it!

It had been a long time since I had won a live tournament and it felt really good. I was ready for Pendleton!