Vegas Or Bust Poker League Tourney

We had nine runners sit down to battle in our sixth of sixteen monthly league poker tournaments. At stake is two seats to the 2013 WSOP. Bobby Dee was obligated to attend a family reunion and was not able to attend, so just like in school, he received a zero for the day.

Blinds started at $10-20, with each player sitting behind $1,500T in chips. From left to right on your radio dial were J-Dawg, Philly Phanatic, Lil' Annie Okie, Ollie the Accountant, Dealer Larry, Stamps, Big Daddy, Tin Man, and your humble reporter.

Big Daddy started fast, building a sizeable stack early and began running over the table. He crippled Ollie by rivering a flush after betting on the come the whole way. Ollie called him down with top pair and busted shortly after the hand.

Philly Phanatic was next to fall victim to Big Daddy. I had relieved him of about a third of his stack earlier with my straight beating his two pair. Big Daddy's set felted Philly and his top two pair.

Tin Man fell on his sword in 7th place with Big Daddy doing the deed once again. I had crippled Tin Man when my set of rulers held against his two pair.

Lil' Annie Okie pushed for 8BB with A-K, with Big Daddy making a horrible call with T-5 offsuit. Of course he hit two pair on the flop and boated up on the river. Annie was not amused.

The table executioner took out Stamps in 5th with A-T holding up over Stamps' K-9.

J-Dawg finally stopped the Big Daddy Express when his two pair topped Biggy's top pair. Big Daddy was involved in a lot of pots, with his stack size varying greatly, but challenging J-Dawg, who was the only one at the table that had him covered, proved to be his undoing.

My goal in each league tournament has been to finish in the top three. I have been successful thus far, taking third place in the inaugural tourney, then winning the next four outright. Now down to three players, my goal had been upgraded to trying to win number five. J-Dawg had more than half of the chips and Dealer Larry was down to 3BB, so I decided to wait for Larry to bust before getting too aggressive. Larry managed to double up once, but lost a coin flip to J-Dawg when his pocket fives were run down by J-Dawg's 8-6 offsuit.

Now heads up, but trailing by a 3-1 margin in chips, I started whittling away at J-Dawg's stack. Blinds were up to $500-1000, so with only $13,500 chips in play, I was able to catch up pretty quickly. I won a big pot when my two pair beat J-Dawg's smaller two pair, reducing his stack to $1,300. He pushed with pocket fours on the next hand, and with $2000 in the pot and only $300 to call, I did so blind and flipped over 9-8 offsuit. As I have said in the past, I run goot in these tourneys and this hand was no exception as I paired my eight on the flop, taking the win for the fifth straight month.

Wow.

With the win, I now have a five point lead over J-Dawg, but more importantly, I'm putting a little daylight between myself and third place. I only have to finish in first or second to win a seat, so the further I can put the third place player in my rear view mirror, the better I'll feel!

For the complete standings, click here.

The cash game also went well for me, turning my $2 buy in into an $11 cash out. Big Daddy was my biggest donor, as we got into several large pots with me winning every one. So, it was a great night all the way around :)

Till next time, win the flips.