Royal Sampler Play of the Month Award

I travelled to Canada for a month with my partner (who is Canadian) to spend Christmas with her family and to catch up with some old friends (I also went to university for some time in Canada) and thus was deprived of a poker fix for four long weeks. Certainly, I played a couple of ‘friendly’ home games for zero buy-in against people who had never played poker before – and although the standard of play was higher than Party Poker, it just didn’t feel like the real thing. No, I really need to lose money via bad beats from donkeys who think they know what they are doing before I really feel like I’ve played some cards.

(Digression): Canadians, while being generally just too damn polite, are an immensely likable bunch. I mean that - I always have a good time when I go there and I’ve made some great friends. They’re politically aware, generally open minded, articulate, appreciative of a good beer, and usually knowledgeable about the rest of the world (or at least the Western Hemisphere). So kudos to you, Canada, you receive the Royal Sampler seal of approval. Now, the US, on the other hand… hmm, perhaps i'll leave that one for later (Digression ends).

So I got back a few days ago and promptly logged on to Donkey Poker and had a shot at a few tournaments. Two success stories: the Shoot-Out I mentioned in the previous blog and a 20 + 2 buy-in tournament (348 runners) where I placed 7th for US268. I got done on the final table basically by being over-aggressive with 99 on the big blind when the button raised and I thought he was on a steal (how many people get toasted making this same mistake – imagining that someone is making a move in this situation when, as it happens, the button is raising – funnily enough - because he or she has a good hand). Anyway, I was short-stacked after that encounter, but managed to sustain my meagre sprinkling of chips until another three people had been busted. Still, it was satisfying to get to the final table through a reasonably large field.

Key hand: this one gave me enough chips to find my way to the final 10:


***** Hand History for Game 3329907877 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:18974193 Level:12 Blinds (500/1000) - Saturday, January 07, 12:27:11 EDT 2006
Table Multi-Table(562636) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 1: Kynde111 ( $11576 )
Seat 6: Ching0Ching ( $11522 )
Seat 10: fijnedarter ( $55052 )
Seat 2: flyboys3 ( $37242 )
Seat 5: captrrrrrrrr ( $10644 )
Seat 3: aniello72 ( $9216 )
Seat 7: lrtravelbabe ( $25374 )
Trny:18974193 Level:12
Blinds (500/1000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Ching0Ching [ Ah Tc ]
fijnedarter folds.
Kynde111 folds.
flyboys3 folds.
aniello72 raises [2000].
captrrrrrrrr folds.
Ching0Ching calls [1500].
lrtravelbabe calls [1000].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9c, 3s, As ]
Ching0Ching bets [7400].
lrtravelbabe calls [7400].
aniello72 is all-In [7216]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
Ching0Ching is all-In [2122]
lrtravelbabe calls [2122].
** Dealing River ** [ 8c ]
Ching0Ching shows [ Ah, Tc ] a pair of aces.
lrtravelbabe shows [ Qs, 9s ] a pair of nines.
aniello72 shows [ Ad, 5c ] a pair of aces.
Ching0Ching wins 4612 chips from side pot #1 with a pair of aces with ten kicker.
Ching0Ching wins 27648 chips from the main pot with a pair of aces with ten kicker.
There will be a break in 1 minute(s)
Player aniello72 finished in 14 place and received $60.01
aniello72 has left the table.


Of course, AT is not the best hand in the world to make a stand with, but I figured it to be best here and bet accordingly. Perhaps I could have pushed pre-flop - possibly this was the best move - but I figured i'd take a flop and see how I felt about the hand from there.

(Warning - Bad Beat Section - avoid at your own discretion)

Other than that, I was much shat upon for the rest of the weekend by the flock of galahs stinking up the tournament tables at PP. I got two wicked beats (in consecutive hands) in a satellite for the Million Dollar tourney – AA v KK (flop all undercards, K on the turn) then AK v KJ (K on the flop, J on the river). Nice. And I bubbled in a 7-card tournament when a gibbering gonad called my bets all the way down to the river with no pair and no draw save a gutshot. Guess what he hit on the river? I’d made the wheel on fifth street - which I thought was gold against this player (who had proven himself to be a consummate calling station all tournament – he’d have A high and still call you on the river). Well, his straight was higher and my stack was crippled. The same guy knocked me out when my trips Kings (on fourth street) got done by his three Aces (received on 6th street and the river, of course). Fucker.

(Bad Beat Section ends)


But the Royal Sampler Play of the Month Award was achieved during the following hand:


***** Hand History for Game 3333683663 *****
NL Texas Hold'em Trny:18997448 Level:2 Blinds (10/20) - Sunday, January 08, 00:56:23 EDT 2006
Table ($10/1) Million Dollar Qualifier(562731) Table #6 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 2: Mr_Eagle ( $1540 )
Seat 3: MIKEE35 ( $3390 )
Seat 4: Ching0Ching ( $660 )
Seat 5: bigdaddyjz ( $390 )
Seat 8: kirby8050 ( $1545 )
Seat 9: cp6263 ( $895 )
Seat 10: paddy_ryan ( $760 )
Seat 6: ssarkiss ( $1420 )
Seat 7: Laducerm ( $1740 )
Trny:18997448 Level:2
Blinds (10/20)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Ching0Ching [ Tc Td ]
ssarkiss calls [20].
Laducerm calls [20].
kirby8050 calls [20].
cp6263 folds.
paddy_ryan folds.
Mr_Eagle folds.
MIKEE35 folds.
Ching0Ching raises [165].
bigdaddyjz folds.
ssarkiss folds.
Laducerm folds.
kirby8050 calls [155].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2c, 8h, 6c ]
Ching0Ching is all-In [485]
kirby8050 calls [485].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
Ching0Ching shows [ Tc, Td ] a pair of tens.
kirby8050 shows [ 7d, 4c ] a pair of sevens.
Ching0Ching wins 1380 chips from the main pot with a pair of tens.


Yes, that’s right faithful readers: he called a pre-flop raise with 74o and an all-in bet after the flop with no pair and no draw (actually, i've just re-looked at the hand - he DID have a gutshot). Did I mention his call of my all-in bet was an insta-call? Anyway, kudos to you, kirkby8050, you’ve received the Royal Sampler Play of the Month Award.

(Let it be known that I came in a close second for the Play of the Month Award. I tried unsuccessfully bluffing from early position (I think I was the BB) into a field of three players with 95 on a flop of KQJ when it was clear they all had immense interest in the cards that had fallen (and two of these players I also knew to be calling stations). I’m claiming that I was at the end of a 20 hour session and so tired I couldn’t see straight when I made the move, but maybe I’m just a poker douche-bag. You be the judge.)