Night of the Coolers
As O.A.R. put it, “That was a crazy game of poker”. The finale to the Winter Quarter was chock full of so many insane coolers that it reeked of a rejected second-rate fan-fiction script for Rounders 2. But before discussing all the craziness of the evening, congratulations to Jim Pinball Wizard Perugini for surviving the madness and winning last night. Further congrats to Georgeanne Blondie Parag for coming back from being crippled twice to finish in second. At the final table, she was down to 2k in chips with the blinds at 1.5k/3k. Damn impressive comeback. Despite being eliminated in 4th, Tie-Dye Matt Darron accumulated enough points to win the Winter Quarter and his first stack for Nationals in Vegas. Congratulations brother, most definitely deserved as you, by far, played the best and most consistent poker of the group. And lastly, Tie-Dye Matt, Gonzo Gary, Michael T-Rex Maczynski, and Pat McStat McVeigh all earned a seat in the DE States tournament to be held in Oct/Nov. All of whom done so without winning a single tournament this quarter. Congrats guys!
Now to the absurdity. The stage of the evening was set on the very first hand of the game. Patrick Kelley raised under the gun 4x to 200. Spyros Ouzo Apessos, Gonzo Gary, and Sonny Delight Cieslak all called. The flop was 8h5s3d. Patrick bet all-in, Spyros called, Gary called, and Sonny folded. Patrick flipped over AhAd, Spyros flipped over 5h5d, and Gary flipped over 8s8c. At this point, Matt fished out his cards from the muck and showed he folded pocket 3’s. Turn was 4c and river was 7s. Sonny sighs and says he would have hit the straight. Doing some quick google searching, flopping three sets should occur once in every 166k hands or so at a full ring game. Adding the pocket aces and the turned (or rivered) straight: I’m unsure how crazy rare that is. Regardless, it was an absolutely bonkers hand of poker.
But it wasn’t’ the only set over set we saw this evening. Sonny D got involved in a hand with Blondie with a AJ3 flop, 5 turn, and 9 river. Sonny D bet into Blondie on each street until they were all-in and she called. Sonny D flipped over crabs (33) and Blondie turned over rockets (AA).
But sets over sets were not the only coolers of the evening. We had not one, but two AA’s vs KK’s hands. The first involved Tie-Dye Matt vs. Dan The Berserker Stanley which ended Dan’s evening early. The second was at the final table where Blondie doubled up through Tie-Dye Matt. In both cases, the AA’s held up.
The final hand I’ll discuss involved Sam Dancing Deuces Jacob and Blondie. With a Qs6c5s flop, the two ladies got it all-in. Sam flipped over a suited Super Gus (Qd6d) and Blondie showed cowboys (KK). The turn was the 5d giving Blondie a better two pair. But what the turn giveth, the river taketh away: as the Qh falls on fifth street, resulting in the first crippling of Blondie mentioned above.
Spring Quarter starts next week, hope to see you all on the felt.