Kate Starbird Does It Again

Kate Starbird, our very own Papoorboy, did it again. Kate showed us again why he is one of the most feared players in the Holdem Affair. Fifty players sat down tonight but Kate showed he was the best of the best. Hazy Cat was his victim in the heads up match. Goodtime Chas, newcomer RipleyBP, and Idblondee completed the money table.

Sorry guys, I can’t give you the scoop on the early tables. I’m afraid that I was off donating my money to a home game. I busted out 8th out of nine. Yech. But the good part was that meant I was home to see the final table of a much better played tournament.

The final table looked like this when I caught up to it on hand four.
1. RipleyBP = 15740
2. Kate Starbird = 14960
3. Goodtime Chas = 9005
4. Hazy Cat = 8010
5. Honda Driver = 7395
6. Idblondee = 7110
7. CowboyWillie = 6830
8. Txmom22 = 3330
9. Rivaturn = 1405
10. msrinny02 = 1215

I got to the table just in time for the big action to start. Hand 4, with the antes 75 and the blinds 300/600, saw Honda Driver open for 1200 and Kate Starbird made the call from the big blind. The flop came 3h 5s Ad. Kate checked and Honda Driver bet 3450. Kate came back for 6900 taking Honda all-in with the call. Honda Driver turned over a beautiful pair of tens but Kate Starbird showed big slick. The pair of aces was all it took to send Honda Driver home from his first final table.

Hand 10 and Msrinny02 is posting the 800 big blind from her 2780 stack. Looking a little thin there rinny. And she agreed. All fold to the small blind and they see a cheap flop come 4s 3h 6d. Msrinny holds Jh 4c and just caught a piece of that very weak flop. CowboyWillie bet 800 and rinny didn’t believe him. She answered with a push. But Willie had caught part of that flop as well – Ad 6c equals top pair/top kicker. Good enough to send Rinny to the rail in 9th place.

The very next hand Rivaturn is trying to hide behind his stack of 430 chips but it just isn’t working for him. With the blinds coming next hand he pushed UTG holding Ad 8c. Cowboy Willie was the only taker but his Ac Ts was good enough. Rivaturn was gone in 8th place. Willie was thinning the field single handedly. That put Willie firmly into third place.

But hand 18 was less fortunate for Willie. Goodtime Chas was short stacked and opened for 2400, half his stack. All folded but Willie in the small blind. The flop came 5s 7c 8h, and Goodtime Chas pushed the rest of his stack – 2230. I can’t say what Willie was thinking but with that piddling flop he had to wonder how it could have helped Chas. Willie held Kc 9s – two overs and a gut-shot. He called. Oops, Chas turned over Ah Ac. And Willie was the short stack.

That hand was Cowboy Willie’s demise. The very next hand, RipleyBP raised to 2400 and Willie called on the button. That left Willie with only 810 chips – he was forced to call any bet from Ripley which, of course, Ripley was happy to provide when the flop came 2h 9c 7h. RipleyBP held Ac 7s and had caught second pair. Good enough for a bet. Willie held Ah 8s. The better hand pre-flop but the flop had missed him. The rest of the board didn’t cooperate either and Cowboy Willie was gone in 7th place.

We were paying five this night so it was bubble time. Who will be the unfortunate winner of the bubble award? The antes were now 125 and the blinds 600/1200. The stacks ranged from Kate Starbird with 29000 to Txmom22 with 3710. Hand 22 and Hazy Cat doubled up through Kate to secure his position. The bubble play didn’t last long this week. The blinds had gone through once and Txmom was UTG and faced with posting the big blind again when she was dealt Ac 6d on hand 29. That Ace will have to do. Mom pushed and Kate called. But Kate held pocket sevens. It was a low board but it danced around Txmom without helping her out. We were down to the money table.

Idblondee went into the money table the short stack but battled hard to stay in the game. Twice she stole the blinds to buy another orbit. But hand 41 found her UTG with only 3035 and faced with 150 antes and the 1600 big blind coming in the next hand. Qh 9h was going to have to be good enough – push was the play. But she got two callers – Yech. Goodtime Chas and Ripley looked her up. When the flop came 2d 6s 7h, Chas pushed as well. I’m sure he wanted Ripley out of the hand. He is well aware of the standard tournament check down play when the short stack is all-in. He was saying he had her beat. But Ripley said, I think I have you both beat and made the call. Oh boy, what have we got here? Goodtime Chas turned over pocket eights for the over pair and Ripley had called with just two over cards, Kd Qs. What a swing for Chas, Idblondee was gone, Ripley had dropped from second stack to short stack and now Chas was firmly in second place. What a big hand.

But that wasn’t the end of Ripley, he doubled up through Chas on hand 45 and then doubled up again, this time through Hazy Cat on hand 47. But by hand 53 the antes were 200 and the blinds 1000/2000. Ripley had 12860 chips and opened for 7800. Kate raised enough to take him all-in. Ripley held Ac 5h and Kate Starbird had pocket eights. Didn’t we see a hand like this earlier? This one ended quickly when the 8c showed on the flop. RipleyBP was our 4th place winner. We were down to three, Kate had 42000
chips and Hazy Cat and Chas shared the other 33000.

Hand 56 and Chas is all in with big slick against Hazy Cat holding 9c 8d. There is a reason why tournament regulars call AK the “Anna Kournikova” – it looks good but it doesn’t win. This time the board ended up Jc 8s 7s 6h 6d – The pair of eights took the pot. Goodtime Chas was our 3rd place winner.

The heads up was one hand. They saw the cheap flop come Th 5c 6d. It went check, raise, re-raise, push, call and all the chips were in the middle. Hazy Cat had flopped top pair with his Ts 4c. I’d push too. But this time Kate held Tc 6s and had hit two pair. No way was Hazy Cat going to push him off that hand.

That was the end of a great night. We crowned Kate Starbird once again and saw Hazy Cat put on a show as well. This is good poker folks. As I look over these hands, there is very little to criticize. You have to be good just to make the final table in the Holdem Affair. And it is getting tougher each week.

See you next Saturday.

Peace.

Takechances Won it all

Twenty-one people sat down tonight to contest the Holdem Affair. But it was the relative newcomer Takechances that lived up to his name and took home the glory. Winforlife, our favorite Warrior was the heads up victim. And Hemi Henry completed the money table tonight with some excellent play.

It was a small field for this week’s Holdem Affair but it was a good one. We were down to 18 when the first hour break occurred. That means we lost only three players. That has to be a new record for the patience of this field. Here is your leader board.

1. coachstove = 4580


2. deadmanshand = 2690


3. Tai pan = 250


4. Sunbob = 2545


5. Takechances = 2260


6. Boomstick = 2080


7. spideytwo = 1915


8. msrinny02 = 1830


9. winforlife = 1610


10. bugman22j = 1510

As usual it was the second hour when the tournament really began. This is when the blinds start to catch up to you and before you now it you are needing to make a play. This week it was just 45 minutes to pare this group down to the final table. I busted out in eleventh place when Papoorboy knocked me out. He did that the night before as well. Did I do something to upset you pa? Here is your final table.

1. Boomstick = 5020


2. msrinny02 = 4750


3. spideytwo = 4165


4. coachstove = 3930


5. Hemi Henry = 3705


6. Tai pan = 2985


7. Papoorboy = 2460


8. Hazy Cat = 1650


9. winforlife = 1500


10. Takechances = 1335

Please note those last two names as this is going to be significant very soon. Takechances started quick to get back into this match. On just the second hand he was all-in for 1035 holding Ac Tc. Spideytwo made the call and turned over As 7s. Spidey looked to be in trouble but the flop brought him the 7d. It was looking bleak for Takechances until the river spiked the Ts and gave him the hand. Chances has doubled up and is now feeling more comfortable.

At least that is what you might think. On the very next hand winforlife opened UTG for 1050 and Papoorboy responded by going all-in for his last 2310. Takechances pushed all 2370 of his newly won chips into the middle in response, and winforlife called all of this action. What have we here? OK, let’s see those hands that brought all of this commotion.
winforlife shows Kc As.
Papoorboy shows 8s 8h.
Takechances shows Qd Qh.
Well now we see. This is going to be interesting? Winforlife and Papoorboy are all-in and Takechances has 60 chips left sitting in front of him. Here comes the flop.
7s 4s 9h – Chances is looking good. And the turn is the 7d. Still looks like Chances took the right chance. And the river is - - - - Kh. Winforlife has tripled up, Takechances wins the side pot of 1620 and Papoorboy is gone – the first to be eliminated from the final table. The winner of the Win’s Warriors Anniversary trophy just the night before is gone from the Holdem Affair. Oh my.

Hand 12 and Takechances is back to being short stacked with 1680 and the blinds 150/300. All-in with Ah Qs but msrinny02 made the call with her Ac Ks. The flop was one those heart breakers - Td Kh Jd. You want to see a king on the flop when you hold big slick but you don’t want to see that jack and ten when you are up against AQ. Takechances flopped the straight and doubled up again.

Hand 16 saw coachstove raise UTG to 900 and Hazy Cat, that famous mouser, push all of his 2100 to the middle. Coach made the call. Hazy Cat had Qs Qc and coachstove had Kc Kh. No help for either on the board and the queens went down on the Kings. Hazy Cat was gone in 9th place and we have a new chip leader in coachstove.

During all of this action you have not heard from Boomstick. He was staying out of the big pots and keeping his chip lead with small pots. Until he ran into our crafty Pacific Islander in hand 18. Boomstick raised to 600 and Tai pan showed his disregard for the min-raise by pushing all 1485. Boomstick accepted the challenge and called with his Ad Th. Tai turned over Ah Qh. This one was over before the river. The flop came Jd 6s Jc and the turn was the Kc. At this point Boomstick was drawing dead even though neither hand had improved. The Ts on the river gave Boomstick the pair but that same card gave Tai pan the straight. Interesting hand. It doubled up the short stack and reeled in the big stack. These stacks were tightening up. Eight players left and six of them had stacks between 3105 and 3810. Coachstove was the leader with 5880. It was still anyone’s match to win.

The antes kicked in on hand 20 this week. This frequently brings a shift in the action. But it didn’t seem to phase this bunch. They danced and sparred until hand 33. Boomstick min-raised to 600 and this time coachstove showed his disrespect with a re-raise to 1300. Boomstick responded by pushing and coachstove was quick to make the call. Boomstick had KT in spades but coachstove held the red pocket rockets. Not a single spade came to rescue Boomstick and he was gone in 8th place. With this hand coachstove jumped to a commanding lead but it wouldn’t last for long. Just two hands later Hemi Henry doubled up through coach when his AK out drew coach with AQ. Then on hand 41, coachstove was still in the chip lead but not by much, Hemi Henry was in second by only 225 chips. On this hand Hemi Henry showed his special talent for extracting chips. Henry just smooth called and drew coachstove into the pot to see the flop come 3c Ts 8c. Coachstove held Ac 6c and had flopped the nut flush draw – he could very well be good here and fired 600 to see. Hemi Henry just min-raised him to 1200 and drew the call from coach. The turn was the 4h and coach checked to Henry who bet 400. The 8h on the river and coach has missed his flush but with Henry acting so weak he had to fire – 1000 was his shot. Henry called and turned over Ah As. He had slow played those aces into a 6750 pot and a commanding chip lead.

By hand 53 the antes were 50 and the blinds 200/400 and the field was bunched between spideytwo with 2000 and Hemi Henry at 6905 – from 5 big blinds to 15. It was still anyone’s tournament to win but it was time to move. And spideytwo picked this hand to push UTG with his Ac 9h. The right play but he ran into msrinny02 holding Ah Kd. The king on the flop was all rinny needed and spideytwo, a winner last month, was gone in 7th place.

Hand 62 and it was Tai pan that made his move. Big slick is the hand to do it with and Takechances made the call. True to his name – Chances had called with 7h 6d. This is actually a decent play in this situation – he can figure he probably has two live cards and is only a 60:40 dog. The 6c on the flop was the deciding card and Tai pan rowed home in 6th place.

Dodge and weave, thrust and parry, do-se-do and tango – the next 15 hands were a war. Msrinny came out of this action wounded and on hand 77 was forced to push with her pocket threes. Coachstove called with his suited king/queen and spiked the king on the river to send msrinny02 packing in 5th place.

We were paying only three tonight and the bubble lasted 30 hands. Thirty hands of intense action. Hemi Henry was down but then doubled up only to see coachstove do the same thing. Then it was winforlife. Then they all did it again. During this time Takechances was doing his best to help one of them exit only to double them up again. He was winning enough of the small pots though to build a commanding chip stack. Finally on hand 117, with the antes 125 and the blinds 600/1200 coachstove was down to 1745 and forced to push after he posted the small blind. But hey, if you have to push Ah Qs isn’t a bad hand to do it with. In fact it was the best hand pre-flop when winforlife called with his Ad Tc. Another one of those evil flops came Jh Kd Qd. Top pair for coach but the straight for winforlife. Coachstove had to settle for bubble boy this week. Yech.

Win and Henry were pretty much even at this point and Takechances was double them. They danced to hand 123 when Henry pushed on the turn holding 3s Ad and the board showing 4s 2s Js Qc. A flush draw and a gutshot – not a bad play. But Takechances held 9s 5s and had flopped the made flush. Hemi Henry was out in 3rd place. It was great to see you in the money table Henry. I have a feeling we will see you there often in the coming weeks.

With a 24:7 chip lead it was a tough task ahead for winforlife. And I’m afraid it was just too much this week for our warrior. It took 24 hands but this week belonged to Takechances. He lived up to his name and took those chances at the right time. And our newcomer was a victor. Very well played. Takechances went from 10th place to first and winforlife from ninth to second. That is how volatile this final table can be. If you get there you can win. It is the getting there that can be tough with this group.

PEACE

Kate Starbird Wins the Trophy

Kate Starbird (aka papoorboy) announced at the opening table that he was after that trophy and he made good on that claim. Eighty-six others tried to take it away from him but he could not be stopped. But all claimed that the Win's Warriors anniversary tournament was a HUGE success.

It took three hours but we were down to five when the bell rang. Here is your leaderboard.
1. Kate Starbird = 46530
2. Sengar = 36695
3. MagikCowboy = 36520
4. Unionthug = 8140
5. Red Warrior = 2615

It was hand 59 of the final table with the antes 200 and the blinds 1000/2000. Red Warrior was down to his last 2415 when he posted his ante. Ad 3s - you have to push now or never, Red. Sengar and MagikCowboy both called to see the flop come 9d 7h 8s. In true tournament fashion, Sengar and Magik checked it down and the table ended up 9d 7h 8s 2s Ts. It had missed both Sengar and Red but MagikCowboy caught a piece of it holding 5s 2d. He had hoped for two live cards, I guess and he was right. The pair of deuces was good enough to send Red Warrior to the rail in fifth place.

Unionthug was next to go on hand 64. He was down to 10540 and went for the steal holding Js 5s with a raise to 7800. Sengar came over the top taking him all-in with the call. Sengar had a hand this time - As Qh. The flop came Qs 4c Ks giving Sengar second pair/top kicker but Thug had a flush draw. A club on the turn and a heart on the river spelled the ended for our favorite Canadian. We were down to three and it was a dead heat with three equal chip stacks.

But that didn't last long. Hand 71 and Kate Starbird raised to 8600. Sengar responded with a re-raise to 26400. Not a bad play since Kate is known to play any two cards if the thinks the situation is right. And this time Kate fired right back going all-in for his chip leading 50930. Sengar had been put to the test. He was holding Ad 4h. What would you do in that situation. Kate has been stealing and re-stealing all night. Does he have the goods now or just a big sack under that skirt? Sengar almost timed out but made the call. You can't blame him given his hand and the situation but this time Kate had the goods - Ah Kd. This is when the LAG style of play pays off. Sengar was caught. Actually the table missed them both but the King kicker was all Kate needed to take the hand and the huge chip lead.

Going into the heads up match Kate Starbird had 110,000 and MagikCowboy has about 20,000. Magik is one heck of a heads up player but so is Kate and with that chip differential it was only a matter of time. At least twice Magik had the goods but just couldn't get Kate to fall into a trap. The final hand came on hand 92 when Magik limped and Kate pushed back for 7600. Magik pushed it all into the middle in what could have been a steal or maybe a trap. Actually Magik held Th 9h so it was more of a semi-bluff. But that didn't matter to Kate because he was staring at Ad Ah. It was fitting that a tournament of this caliber, one that so many people had enjoyed so much ended on a hand like that.

It was a great match. Everyone had a great time and was grateful to Winforlife for all of the hard work put into the evening.

Way to go Warriors.

Win's Warriors Anniversary Event

Friday, June 30 @ 9:30 UB time. Our poopyheaded friend Winforlife will celebrate the first anniversary of his private tournament. Win reports that there will be several prizes to play for. He has promised that all at the final table will be decorated.

And for the winner there will be a trophy - designed and created by HemiHenry.


I hope to see all of you there. Wouldn't that trophy look good sitting on my desk at work?