WOW! What a weekend. Tim, let me first start out by thanking you for getting married, and giving us permission to party. Not that we really needed the permission to do so, but an excuse is always helpful. It was a freaking blast. We stayed the night at a hotel in the Santa Ynez/Solvang area and stopped at AJ something-or-another for diner (excellent steaks and awesome boot pictures). Then went back to the hotel for some poker.
I was the first one out, when I flopped a set of aces with my A-7. I raised post flop to 20 when the flop came up A-8-A. Trevor re-raised me, prompting Andrew to fold. I re-raised all-in and Trevor called with A-8. That took me out. I tried watching Star Wars but I’d had too much beer and went in to go to sleep because we’d be up early the next morning. Rumor has it that Andrew ended up on top that night.
We had six players from our group enter the $20,000 No Limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament in Santa Ynez at the Chumash Casino. The entry fee was $125, and they limited the number of players to their maximum capacity of 154. They also ended up with 14 standby players that also got into the tournament after early exits, so the field was capped at 168.
The tournament registration began at 7AM sharp, with those that were playing at tables getting first dibs on entry. We got there a little after 6:15, and I decided to sit down at the 2-4 limit table to guarantee a spot. My first hand dealt me 9-8 Suited, and I made a full house, almost doubling my chip stack. The second hand was A-K suited, I made a nut flush with someone else holding trips. Another almost double up. These two hands alone almost paid for my tournament.
After registering, we all got Pancakes at Paula’s Pancake House in Solvang. If you ever go, get the Danish Pancakes. They are INSANE and OH so good. We headed back to the hotel to check out and shower and change. We played some poker for an hour or so as well. The tournament didn’t start until 10:15.
Each of us were sitting at different tables. Jordan was the first to exit about an hour into the tournament. His set of 8’s were out kicked. Tim and Andrew went out about the same time about a half hour later. Andrew had his aces cracked by someone hitting a straight. Tim got bounced calling an all-in bet that had him covered with K-Q suited. When the guy turned over A-10, trouble was his. The flop produced a 10, and the river a case Ace. That ended his tournament.
Brian did surprisingly well lasting until the field dropped to about 60 or so. Since we taught him how to play the night before, this may have been the performance of the day. O.K. it was really Trevor, but I’m really proud of this one too.
The field narrowed to 40 and the first break came at 1 PM. Trevor and I were still in it, and both of us had dwindling chip stacks. I heard that at one point Trevor tripled up, although I have no idea what he had. I doubled up when some one called my AK suited with A-9. That gave me 30K, which dwindled over time. With 21 left, I was left with about 12K and pushed all in with KQ of hearts, and was called by A-K off suit. That was the end for me. But it allowed me to get into the money where I finished in 21st place and received $200.
But the real story of the day was Trevor. With 16 people left, Trevor was dealt Aces, and called the big blind (5K). The big blind raised all in, and Trevor had him. That doubled him up to a healthy 40K chip stack. Right after that, two people were eliminated on the same hand narrowing the field to 14. 40 Minutes later, we were down to 12, and Trevor’s chip stack was dwindling. With 11 players left, and Trevor’s chip stack getting low, someone pushed all-in pre-flop, and Trevor called with A-J of clubs. When the guy turned over A-8 off suit, I thought we were in great shape. But alas, the flop produced an 8-blank-blank. The turn and river were no help, and Trevor was the last person out prior to the final table. He took home a $275 prize.
It was an amazing couple of days, with a lot of fun. Sorry to those that weren’t able to make it. There were a lot of laughs and an AWESOME hot tub (it must have been 120 degrees). Good times.
For this week, I keep hearing that we should play both on Friday and on Saturday. I’m cool with that. So we’ll plan on Friday night at my place as usual, and then Saturday is the Tournament at the Mark Erick’s Salon in Northridge.
My place is the usual $5 buy in, and Mark Erick’s Salon is $25 with multiple re-buys.
Thanks again to all the boys that rolled up in our little miss sunshine van, Tim, Trevor, Brian, Andrew. It was an awesome trip. And to Jordan who had a late night at work on Saturday and still managed to make the trip up. My sincere thanks. It was the most fun that I’ve had in a weekend in a while.
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