Vegas Or Bust Poker League Inaugural Tourney

The action was hot & heavy at the VOB Poker Tourney!

We had ten runners for the first tournament of our Vegas Or Bust Poker League. The league will have 16 monthly tourneys and will send two players to the 2013 WSOP in Las Vegas.

The league was my idea and combines players from both of the home games that I play. From J-Dawgs Poker Extravaganza we have J-Dawg, Bobby Dee, Stamps, Ollie the Accountant, and Dealer Larry. The bunch that plays at Tin Man's were Tin Man, Lil' Annie Okie, Philly Phanatic, and Big Daddy.

I lost the first pot I played, which wasn't the start I was looking for. With blinds at $15-30 (we started with $1,500), I opened raised to $90 from the cut-off with A-J offsuit. Stamps called from the button and both blinds folded. The flop was all low cards and both of us checked. The turn was another brick and I checked again, ready to give up on the hand, but Stamps checked behind. The river was a 9, which was the highest card on the board and Stamps checked out of turn, leading me to believe I might be able to buy the pot. I bet $120 into the $200 pot and Stamps hemmed and hawed awhile before calling and tabling A-K.

I got things going against Big Daddy when I looked down at pocket rockets. With blinds at $40-80, Big Daddy had limped from UTG. It was folded to me in the cut-off and I raised to $200, hoping to get a little action. It worked with Big Daddy making the call. The flop was A-J-7 with two diamonds. Big Daddy checked and I bet $300. Big Daddy check-raised me to $600. Sah-weet! I smooth called and put him all-in on the turn. Big Daddy flipped over a J for second pair and was drawing dead to my top set.

A little later I was dealt black pocket kings . . . twice in a row! I got action both times and was able to build my stack to respectibility.

Down to seven players with blinds up to $150-300, I pushed J-J  for $1700 from middle position. Philly Phanatic called with A-Q, but didn't improve. My double-up got my chip stack healthy and I was able to stay alive until we were down to three players.

My final hand was a J-5 soooted (clubs) which I pushed on an A-K-8 flop, all clubs! Both J-Dawg and Philly Phanatic called, so I was thinking about my upcoming triple-up when another club fell on the river. I wasn't too disturbed since I had the second nut flush, but when J-Dawg bet and Philly called, I knew I might be in trouble. J-Dawg checked the river, and Philly pushed all-in, putting J-Dawg to the test.

I read Philly better than any of the players at the table, and I could tell I was beat before he ever flipped his cards. Unfortunately for J-Dawg, he had never played with Philly and made the call. Philly tabled the queen of clubs, beating both my J and J-Dawgs 9 of clubs. Philly had us both covered, but J-Dawg had more chips than I did when the hand started, so he got second and I finished third.

It was a fun evening, but it felt a little strange having both the J-Dawg and Tin Man gangs playing together. Everyone seemed to mesh together well, so I 'm hopeful the league will be a big success.

Congratulations to Philly Phanatic for taking down our first tournament!

Philly celebrating his big win!

I was able to pad the ol' bankroll a little by winning eight bucks in the cash game we played after the tourney. I won a lot of it by busting Philly. As Ms. Duck says, "Paybacks are hell!"

Till next time, win the flips.