Wed. 3/26 Recap

Another poker event took place at 52 Irving on Wednesday night. But before I hook you up with the recap, a look ahead to the upcoming schedule. There are 2 days that look to work out for us quite well, particularly Wednesday, April 2. The game will begin at 11:00 AM with a preferred arrival time of 10:50ish AM, but blinds WILL go on the table when we start up at 11:00. The potential is there for a big game this day, fellas. Assuming the game takes no more than 4 hours (which would be a LONG game) we can get everybody in and out in time for work. Looking at the schedule, this is who would be eligible to attend that afternoon: Brett, Conlon, Fallica, Loucks, Lundblad, Vince, J-Mac, Clutch, McCrystal, Randall and Willis. That's 11 names. Could be a big one. And remember the recently instituted "morning game rule" -- first player out goes on the lunch run.

The other game we can tentatively schedule would be a marathon day of fun on Saturday April 5 -- the day of the Final Four. Those who are off that day are Matt K., J-Mac, Clutch, Vince, Paul Carr and D-Rose. Randall gets out of work by 4 and others don't have to work until late, so we can configure the start time based on player availability.

Anyway, on to Wednesday's action. The action was pretty slow without much fluctuation until Nick, shortstacked, went all in with J/9 suited and it was folded around until Matt Willis (in the big blind) called for only $42 more. Matty showed pocket deuces and the board did not help Nick, who was sent packing first. Again, not much action going around the table until our next all in situation. J-Mac, in big blind faced a Matt Willis raise when it came around to him. J-Mac, shortstacked due to some pretty sloppy play and crappy cards, went all in for $256 with A/Q off suit. Matty flipped over pocket Kings, and while a queen hit on the flop no further help would come as McCallum continues his run of either winning or going out first or second. You might be wondering, "hey, Paul Carr played on Wednesday, didn't he? If it is your first game at 52 Irving, aren't you supposed to be knocked out first?" The answer is yes, except for this night. But Paul would eventually make his exit when he was low-stacked and decided to gamble. An all in raise without looking at his hand… this kid came to gamble, people! Matt Willis called immediately with pocket aces. Paul flipped over one card to show the 7 of clubs. The board ran out and it came down to what Paul's 2nd card was… he could hit a straight if it was a 5… but it was the 2 of clubs. Pocket aces vs 7/2 suited is a winner 85% of the time, and Matt would take advantage of the massive odds in his favor… this time (that's right, there's FORESHADOWING in this recap, baby).

So Willis, Brett, Ketaineck and Bearman remained at the table. There was a lot of pussy-footing around and no major moves as the blinds got higher. Finally, some fireworks broke out, in one of the more ridiculous hands in 52 Irving history. (Quick Flashback to March 12th 52 Irving Game: The last four participants played for another hour waiting each other out until one of the toughest hands seen at 52 Irving crippled Willis. Willis and Ketaineck got into a pot. The flop came JQK. They both checked. The turn came a harmless 4 and both checked. The river came a 7 and this is when the action fell. Ketaineck bet, Willis raised and Ketaineck went all-in and Willis quickly called. Willis flipped over KK to show a set but Ketaineck flipped over A10 to show the nut straight and left Matty very much chip dead.)

This time around, the two did not slow play anything. Without any pre-flop raises, the flop came down 4/7/5 (no flush draw). Ketaineck bet, Willis immediately goes all in and Ketaineck calls even faster. Matt K. flips over Q/7 for top pair and Matt W. turned over a 3/6, having flopped the straight. At this point in the hand, Willis is 95% to win the pot, 2.2% to chop it and 2.8% to lose it. You can guess where this is going… the turn came 5, giving Ketaineck two pair, and then the crushing 7 hit on the river to give him the full house, sending Willis out in 4th place for the night's action. Sometime, Willis will get his revenge for all this and I only hope I am there to see it…

Almost immediately, Brett had to go all in (shortstacked) and Ketaineck called. Brett showed 8/5 and Matt flipped over 6/5, dominated in the hand. Of course, Ketaineck continued his lucky streak by spiking the 6 on the turn and knocking Brett out one place shy of the money.
Going into heads up, Bearman had about $1,000 to Ketaineck's $2,500. Lots of small bets, walkovers, folds ensued, but Matt had chipped away enough to the point that Bearman had to go all in when he got any kind of hand. A flop came out 2/2/3 and Bearman went all in with J/4 of diamonds. Matt called with 3/4. The turn and river came 6/8 and the night's session was over, with Matt K. getting his first win of the season. Ketaineck knocking out Bearman ensured that everybody eliminated in the night's game was knocked out by someone named Matt. (Willis knocked out Nick, J-Mac and Paul -- Ketaineck knocked out Willis, Brett and Bearman). On the night, J-Mac and Edge reached the minimum 50 AB to qualify for the end of season 52 Irving Poker Bonanza.

So SUCK IT.

Here are the official results for Wednesday, March 26:
7th place - Nick (1 point)
6th place - J-Mac (2 points)
5th place - Paul (3 points)
4th place - Willis (4 points)
3rd place - Brett (5 points)
2nd place - Bearman (7 points -- 6 points for 2nd, 1 bonus point for cashing)
1st place - Ketaineck (9 points -- 7 points for 1st, 1 bonus point for cashing, 1 bonus point for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/26

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22/20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14/14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .842 48/57 2 4
4) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
4) Vince Masi .750 24/32 1 2
6) Jason McCallum .706 36/51 3 3
7) Chris Fallica .692 9/13 1 1
8) David Bearman .688 33/48 1 2
9) Matt Ketaineck .667 30-45 1 3
10) Brett Edgerton .580 29/50 0 1
11) Matt Willis .538 21/39 0 1
12) Paul Carr .429 3/7 0 0
13) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
14) Nick Loucks .222 6/27 0 0
15) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
16) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $142

Don't forget next event is Wednesday April 2, 11:00 AM. GET IN!

- J-Mac

Tue. 3/18 Recap

Hey Folks -
As always, before we begin I will announce the next tournament. We will play next Wednesday, March 26th at 7:30 PM. It's the best day that works for the most amount of people, incredibly DROSE has another night shift that will not allow him to play (sorry bud!). We might even see a new addition to the 52 Irving Poker League (yes that's right Paul Carr, I'm looking at you while I say that!)

Speaking of new additions, we added a 15th player to the Poker League this evening as Jeremy Lundblad joined the fray for the first time this season. He was among 6 players who braved the sleet to hop into the tournament joining Bearman, Fallica, Masic, Edge and Clutch. Unfortunately for Lundblad, he suffered a similar fate to many a player who have joined the league for the first time. After about an hour of play, Lundblad was pretty chip dead and went all-in Q8, Fallica was pretty much forced to call him because of the odds and he did with K7. When Fallica caught a straight on the turn, Lundblad was done but hopefully he'll be back soon!

Clutch, who was the chip leader throughout much of the tournament's first 90 minutes, suffered a race loss to a Fallica all-in (Q10 vs 88) that gave Fallica over 300 more chips and the tournament was never the same for Clutch or the rest of the field. As the blinds climbed higher, Clutch tried a few all-ins that kept him afloat but when he went all-in with AJ vs Masi's 77, he was forced to the rail when Vince hit a 7 on the flop.

That left the field 4-handed but the worst beat of the night would soon end Edge's night. With the blinds at 40/80, Edge went all-in with his last 325 chips and Fallica in the big blind called him with JQ of spades. Edge calmly flipped over KK and had Fallica dominated. However when two spades hit on the flop, things got worrisome for the Edge. When another spade hit on the turn, the proverbial check showed up in Fallica's column and Edge's night was over and he was left to contemplate how Rutgers could be placed in the same region with Uconn?

That left Bearman, Fallica and Masi with Fallica holding a decent chip lead on his two pursuers. Bearman, starting to get chip dead went all-in on the big blind and Vince called him. Bearman flipped over A4 and Vince showed K10. A king hit on the flop and when a ten spiked on the river, Bearman was sent to the rail and the tournament was heads up and Fallica was guaranteed his first cash of the season.

It was very quiet heads up for a little while as Masi and Fallica felt each other out. There were a few raises but no big hands until we came to the finale. Masi called the big blind of 100, Fallica raised to 300 total. Vince moved all-in and Fallica hemmed a small second before calling. Masi flipped over A10 and in what seemed to be the theme of the evening, Fallica showed 44. The flop came 922 and the turn and river with 6 and 7 respectively as Vince failed to improve and Fallica had his first win at 52 Irving.

Here are final results from Mar. 18:
6th place - Jeremy Lundblad - 1 point
5th place - Clutch - 2 points
4th place - Brett Edgerton - 3 points
3rd place - Bearman - 4 points
2nd place - Vince Masi - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Chris Fallica - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/18

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22/20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14/14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .842 48/57 2 4
4) Jason McCallum .773 34/44 3 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
5) Vince Masi .750 24/32 1 2
7) Chris Fallica .692 9/13 1 1
8) David Bearman .634 26/41 1 1
9) Brett Edgerton .558 24/43 0 1
10) Matt Ketaineck .553 21/38 0 2
11) Matt Willis .531 17/32 0 1
12) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
13) Nick Loucks .250 5/20 0 0
14) Jeremy Lundblad .166 1/6 0 0
15) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $128

Reminder.. Next Tourney at 52 Irving on Wednesday, March 18th at 7:30 PM

Clutch

Wed. 3/12 Recap

Hey Fellas -
Sorry for the delay…It's been a little crazy for me lately but enough of the excuses…
As always, let's announce the next poker tournament. It will be next Tuesday, March 18th at 8:00pm. There's a ton of you off or off early, so GET IN.

OK - now for the March 12th recap…

The chips were flying fast and furious right from the get-go, but it seemed to just be a "pass-the-chips-in-a-circle" scenario as the 6 players played over 2 hours before somebody went out. It should be noted Brett Edgerton won the first 4 hands and was in a position to win a 5th but Nick Loucks pushed all his chips and Edge did not let pride get in the way and backed down.

Speaking of Loucks, who was down to the felt many times throughout the evening, was not afraid of throwing his chips around. Unfortunately he met his demise when he went all-in with QQ only to be called by Willis's KK. When his queens failed to improve, Nick was sent to the rail. Brett, the early chip-leader, was next to go. After lasting a few all-ins, he went to the rail when he called a bet that put him all-in after a queen high flop with Q10. Ketaineck showed QJ and the last 2 cards did not help Edge and he was out in 5th place.

The last four participants played for another hour waiting each other out until one of the toughest hands seen at 52 Irving crippled Willis. Willis and Ketaineck got into a pot. The flop came JQK. They both checked. The turn came a harmless 4 and both checked. The river came a 7 and this is when the action fell. Ketaineck bet, Willis raised and Ketaineck went all-in and Willis quickly called. Willis flipped over KK to show a set but Ketaineck flipped over A10 to show the nut straight and left Matty very much chip dead. His night would end a few hands later when his J5 couldn't beat Ketaineck's Q3.

That left JMAC, Ketaineck and Clutch. Clutch was the small stack but he eventually put himself in near chip lead with numerous all-in calls and some very lucky set hits. But in the theme of the night, he was done in by a very cruel hand. Ketaineck and Clutch were in the blinds and both limped in to see a K106 all-clubs flop. Ketaineck bet 300 and clutch called. The turn came a 6 and clutch bet 300 and Ketaineck went all-in and Clutch quickly called. Clutch flipped over A3 clubs but Ketaineck flipped over 1010 to show a full boat and Clutch was sent to the rail in 3rd place.

This left JMAC and Ketaineck heads-up with Ketaineck having about a 2-1 chip lead. They played heads up for about a half-hour and JMAC chipped away at Ketaineck's lead eventually taking a small lead before the final hand that ended things. The final hand started with a raise by JMAC and a call by Ketaineck. The flop came Q3Q, and both players checked. The turn came 5 and both players again checked. The came an 8 and JMAC bet 500 and Ketaineck raised all-in and JMAC quickly called. Ketaineck showed A8 but JMAC flipped over his set Q2 and was victorious for the 3rd time this season.

Here are final results from Mar. 12:
6th place - Nick Loucks - 1 point
5th place - Brett Edgerton - 2 points
4th place - Matt Willis - 3 points
3rd place - Clutch - 4 points
2nd place - Matt Ketaineck - 6 points (5 points for 2nd, 1 bonus for cashing)
1st place - Jason McCallum - 8 points (6 points for 1st, 1 bonus for cashing, 1 bonus for winning)

52 Irving Poker League
Current Poker Batting Averages Thru 3/12

BA H/AB Wins Total Cashes
1) David Rose 1.100 22-20 2 2
2) Scott Randall 1.000 14-14 0 2
3) Dennis "Clutch" Renno .902 46/51 2 4
4) Jason McCallum .773 34/44 3 3
5) Ryan McCrystal .750 15/20 0 1
6) Vince Masi .692 18/26 1 1
7) David Bearman .629 22/35 1 1
8) Brett Edgerton .567 21/37 0 1
9) Matt Ketaineck .553 21/38 0 2
10) Matt Willis .531 17/32 0 1
11) Kevin Conlon .350 7/20 0 0
12) Nick Loucks .250 5/20 0 0
13) Stu Mitchell .143 2/14 0 0
13) Chris Fallica .143 1/7 0 0

**Poker Bonanza pot stands at $116

Reminder.. Next Tourney at 52 Irving on Tuesday, March 18th at 8:00 PM

Clutch