2016.03

March came and went with nary a poker game in sight, so the gamblers were itching to get it on by the time the first weekend in April rolled around.  And get it on they did, with a few fun additions for the restart of No Limit Hold-em Tournament poker in the garage around back in 2016.

First of course, this month's Oreo abortion...

Winner of the poll.  They were all gone well before evenings end - I take it they were good.

Also, with so much time on my hand between events, I deigned to try out new tournament clock software.

Eye bleedingly good.

 The new software is indeed awesome, with electronic check in and automatic seating placement, plus a very loud yet very sexy feminine voice that announces the blind levels.  Unfortunately even after testing it thoroughly all day, when evening came there were problems getting it to run smoothly so I had to switch back to the old reliable and boring clock.  Later, after the tournament I discovered what I think the problem was, and shockingly it was most likely operator error.  Hopefully the bugs will be gone next time.

Thanks to the random seating though, I gave everyone place cards, which was kind of fun.

Yes, I stole this from Garner's game too.  Got a problem with that?

And so the action was under way.   There was plenty of action and big pots before the break, but no bust outs.

Jeff contemplates his chips, Ken contemplates life. 

Kiddie table in full effect.

Julie A., was first to hit the rail shortly after the break - this is pretty normal for her, she either goes deep or goes home early.  Rumors are she was last seen making a bee-line to Commerce.'

The third table broke shortly thereafter.

I got moved from the blue to the green table, you can see my pathetic stack in the picture above.  Alas I played poor and my opponents played well, value betting me to death with over and top pairs.  It was indeed death by a thousand cuts.

And by 10:30 it was final table time.

Over an hour passed before the bubble burst, life contemplating Ken was the unlucky recipient of the bubble prize, which these days at PSP is a big fat nothing.

Ken lower left, before his demise.  Rest of the gang was in the monies.

That perpetual ray of sunshine known as Dan G. was the first to hit the rail with cash - in this case he won his buy in back in fifth place.  Since he never plays the bounty game, he left the game with the same cash that he arrived with.  Probably also making a bee-line for Commerce.

Randall was next to head on out, with a fourth place finish of double his buy in plus another saw-buck in bounties.  (Google that young whippersnappers.)

Three way action yo.

Allen Ruby looked to be on the path to a tournament take down, with basically flawless play for the entire final table as far as I could tell.  Expertly timed aggression and thoughtful lay downs saw him accumulating chips with few show downs.  Alas, the mountain he had built up was barely covered by Sheyna who spiked a two outer on the turn after all the money went in to bust Allen in third place with a take home of $120 plus another $15 in bounty action.   Next time Allen!

And then there were two...

Down to bid-ness.

Marc was almost at a 2 to 1 disadvantage when heads up play started at just after midnight, but over the next 45 minutes he held on tenaciously, battling back again and again only to be whittled down by the relentless aggression of the chip leader.   He had doubled up at least once when he looked poised to do it again - he got his money in after the flop as a 77% favorite, but once again a card from hell spiked the turn and it was over - 

Note the super sexy "All-In" and "Call" buttons!

So for the second time in five months, Sheyna S. stood at the top of the mountain!  Marc collected $220 in second place plus another $15 in bounty-ness.

Sheyna grabbed a grip o' cash in first - $300 smackers plus another $35 in bounties for her 6 eliminations over the course of the evening!  Well done Sheyna, you had a mountain of chips early on and never lost it, very much deserved!

TOC Bound!

All in all it was yet another great evening - thanks for everyone coming out and making it a good time.  It was far too long between games, I will try very much to make the next one sooner - the most likely looking date right now is Saturday May 22.  Stay tuned for the evite.  

In the mean time we are having a Step 1 Satellite for a World Series of Poker Seat on a Friday night at 8, April 15.  Entry is only $60 so if you've ever wanted to take a shot at World Series of Poker greatness but didn't want to pony up big bucks, this is a great opportunity at a very low price point.  If you're unsure, just read this post about my first WSOP experience, it truly is a remarkable place to be.  If for some reason you haven't gotten the evite, be sure to track me down and demand it!

EDIT:  This satellite is now full!  There will likely be another Step 1 in early May.

That's it for now, I can't wait to play some cards again soon!  Until next time, peace and we out!