Home Tournament Trip Report 4/28

[Befolder]

Home Tournament Trip Report

This game has been growing over the last 6 months that I took over hosting. Average attendance a year ago was 11, the last 5 games have been averaging about 15, with the previous game fetching 21 and this one brining in 19. We are quite happy.

Tournament Director runs the show on my 40” flat screen hung on the wall. I actually fixed the damn display this time so it showed well and w/ different rotating screens.

This particular game was short of total donkeys and had far more aggression.

Game Specs:

Buyin: $15 ($10 buyin + $5 bounty chip) T5000
Rebuys: $10 through round 5 (2 ½ hours) T5000
Add on: $10 = T7000

Rebuys rounds are 30 minutes, 20 minutes after that period is over.

With 21 players the pot built to $490 last game. This game made it to an even $500 w/ only 19. I would say that’s due to the aggressiveness of this event, forcing more chips into the pot by the calling station than usual.

Finally, I ended up at a soft table to start. We had three tables of 7, 6 and 6 until down to 17 players since my largest tables are a 9 and 8 seater.

2. To my left was my girlfriend, recent beginner after being w/ me for over a year and finally finding the game fun. She’s tighter than your regular beginner so that helps her. Still calls w/ a weak top pair too much and probably slow plays on boards what are drawy when she shouldn’t. Doesn’t raise enough pf and doesn’t understand Ms at all.

3. Left of her is my cousin’s gf who is a loose calling station. I don’t think she raise all night.

4. To her left is a coworker who also calls way too much.

5. To his left is D’s gf whose boyfriend plays a bit of poker and is a bit arrogant. She is nice though and does know how to raise, mostly post flop though.

6. Rounding out the table is my cousin who is very loose and over aggressive, bf of seat 3. He’d rather push you out of the pot than win w/ the best cards.

We added a new wrinkle to the game by adding the “Show Em” chip.

Show Em Chip

The rules we decided to try were that you could use the chip anytime you were in the hand as you folded. Just pass it to the targeted player and they had to pass you their cards after the hand. No talking or reacting to what they had since only you paid to see them.

The player paid was then able to reuse that chip at a later time. Show em chips would start leaving play as people were busted out. They were not awarded to the hitman like the bounty chips are.

It added some fun without exploiting easy information so we will keep using them.

I ran hot, but also made the most out of my hands. Flopped two sets getting in cheap, got paid to the river.

One difficult hand (not because of the cards). Four limpers to my button. I limp w/ A6s. Flop is 666. All check to me and I decide to check since I have everything in the deck that matters. Turn: Q. I believe all checked to me, I made a modest bet, my gf next to act made a decent raise and I knew she had a Q. She had been playing decent and had worked hard, but there is no way I’m soft playing anyone and I should expect her to not expect me to. I go all in for a lot of chips (I’m leading the table at this point), she had a decent stack and she calls as I likely would also. She is super pissed, but I find out later it’s not at me, which is good.

She doesn’t want to rebuy at first because she is just sick that all her hard work to build her stack was just ruined. She’s still very new to poker and doesn’t have the emotional hardness to deal w/ bad results yet. We convince her to do it though and she’s back in the game.

I was a little sick for having to do that because I didn’t want to ruin her night at our home, but poker is poker. I did my job as the player.

A few people bust and leave and we get seat 5’s bf (D) at our table. He’s arrogant, doesn’t know as much about the game as he thinks he does and is pretty aggressive. He starts to build a stack as mine starts to fall from a mountain to a hill.

I notice he’s very active when it’s folded to him. He’s to my right so my sb is getting raised a lot.

I am getting ready to repop him as soon as I’m sure my read is right. The problem is, not many people in my game know about getting more aggressive as the night goes on and I had only played w/ D once before and not in a tournament setting.

I reraised him w/ TT from the SB and he folds and passes me the ‘Show Me’ chip. I forget it’s supposed to be discrete and just turn my hand showing all and he gets his chip back. Damn!

Later he tries to steal again as the chip bully and I reraise again, but this time w/ 95. He folds.

Anywho, final table of nine gets around and here is the lineup.

Seat 1: Me, probably middle in chips
Seat 2: C, also middle in chips. Tight, straight forward player as far as I know
Seat 3: My gf on a short stack.
Seat 4: J, better than average stack. Aggressive, but values top pair too much and will call off his chips if you hit well enough.
Seat 5: D from the last table (blind stealer) better than average stack
Seat 6: D’s gf. Short stack.
Seat 7: T. Seat 2’s gf. First time playing w/ her. Very short.
Seat 8: Don’t remember.
Seat 9: S, good friend of mine who has been improving more and more. Knows what an M is, but still doesn’t understand the adjustment necessary enough. Aggressive enough.

Seat 7 and Seat 8 go first on hands I don’t remember.

We are paying six btw, so we are now at the bubble.

Here is a hand I remember though. Folded to S in the CO, who raises to 4BB w/ a stack about 2/3 of mine. I look down at JJ, which is good, but my friends range when he raises is fairly narrow in my estimation. I think for a bit and I decide flat calling is best here because if I push, which I don’t need to, he will call off the rest of his chips w/ AK and AQ and probably 99-AA. I don’t want or need to flip yet so I’d rather see the flop and proceed from there if it’s a good one. He can let go of AK and AQ if he misses so I’d have a bigger advantage there.

The BB calls (4). The flop is T82. BB checks, my friend goes all in and I have a tough decision, though now that I’m sitting here it’s not as hard as I think. I’m just suddenly realizing I didn’t think this through. He’s not pushing 99 here, and likely not pushing AK or AQ. I should have folded, but I went all in over the top and the BB called, which I had covered by one 500 chip.

Seat 9: AA
Me: JJ
BB: QQ

The board blanked for us all and seat 9 tripled up and I was left w/ one chip on the bubble. Oops.

Chip and a chair bitches! I summoned up my best memory of my super short stack SnG game and only got T8s which I thought of pushing w/ but my friend had just raised before me so I opted to wait for a better situation. My UTG hand was 84 and I thought my BB would more likely be better than that on average. I ended up w/ JT forced, in and tripled up w/ a T on the flop. Blinds were 1500/3000 at this point and I was forced all in again in the SB.

It was folded to me and I had a nice looking A2s, but the BB had AK. What the hell? However, I caught a 2 and doubled to 3000 and was now out of the blinds.

Two hands later I caught AA for the first time that night and pushed against a limper and quaded up to 12,000.

Then someone busted out and I had survived to the money. I went out 6th on some hand I can’t remember though as I was still super desperate w/ that stack.

The gf went out third for a nice cash after having to survive me stacking her w/ quads. Good for her.

My friend who tripled up on the AA, QQ, JJ hand ended up winning it all for his first time. I was very happy for him.

Game notes: I was more busy than normal doing rebuys on the software and getting chips. I forgot one or the other for a short time on multiple occasions. I have my friend helping w/ the cash part of that and chip up and racing during breaks, which helps things a bit. I may need to employ him a bit more in the future.

[pismeyer]

[ QUOTE ]
my best memory of my super short stack

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounded like a lot of fun, good job finishing in the money on super short stack!

Good Report.

P [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Javanewt]

It does sound like fun.

Most of the home tourneys I play in require couples to start at different tables.

My favorite live tournament was in Vegas at TI when my bf and I started at different tables but ended up chopping for 1/2 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Good job to your girlfriend for coming in third!

[pfapfap]

Yeah, getting someone to handle the cash/chips while you run the software is a Good Thing. Congrats on doing so well while also running the thing! That's hard to do. Nice your gf is into it, and is cool enough not to get mad at you for stacking her. I hope her finish helps her in the future understand the long view of things. And also, yeah, it really sucks when that happens. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Nice trip report. And yay on you for building up the game.

[Befolder]

I gotta tell you she was so pissed when she lost all her chips on that hand and it was difficult to tell if it was at me (which I would be pissed about and we'd have had a talk later, hehe), but she was just disappointed in general. The good thing about that is she cared about how she was doing, but is just too results oriented as beginners usually are. It's easy to feel that way when you only play once every month and a half or so. Her chances of cashing are few and far between where as us internet players play often and can right the ship (cash in an SnG) and erase the bad memories pretty quickly.

Yeah, it is nice to have a girlfriend be even remotely interested in something I'm passionate about. It's enjoyable to mentor someone a bit, though most times she'd rather I not tell her to raise preflop w/ pocket 7s when she's down to three people in a play money SnG.

She was a good sport and I have to give her a lot, and I mean a lot of credit for that. I think most of our girlfriends would expect preferential treatment because in a hand because of that relationship. I'm lucky that we have an adult relationship that isn't complicated by those issues.

I know you guys are having home games too. I love TRs so start writing them.
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Javanewt]

My boyfriend introduced me to poker about a year and a half ago, and now I'm completely addicted. I play much more than he does. Good thing he's not the jealous type, because I play at least once a week in live games where I'm one of one or two women with 10 to 40 guys [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] He usually has his kids, so he's not there.

I find the man of my dreams and then figure out a great way to meet men. Figures! LOL.

Wish your girlfriend the best of luck, and I hope she keeps on playing!

[Emperor]

"Tournament Director runs the show on my 40” flat screen hung on the wall. I actually fixed the damn display this time so it showed well and w/ different rotating screens."

Link?

[Lottery Larry]

Another good report
[ QUOTE ]
This game has been growing over the last 6 months that I took over hosting. Average attendance a year ago was 11, the last 5 games have been averaging about 15, with the previous game fetching 21 and this one brining in 19.

[/ QUOTE ]
BB&V, please :P


[ QUOTE ]
Buyin: $15 ($10 buyin + $5 bounty chip) T5000
Rebuys: $10 through round 5 (2 ½ hours) T5000
Add on: $10 = T7000
Rebuys rounds are 30 minutes, 20 minutes after that period is over.


[/ QUOTE ]

Is the bounty chip optional? I'd like the rebuys to be for less, or get more chips. If more chips, then add-on is T10k.

As for the rounds- enough chips in play that you shorten the rounds?

[ QUOTE ]

Show Em Chip

The rules we decided to try were that you could use the chip anytime you were in the hand as you folded. Just pass it to the targeted player and they had to pass you their cards after the hand. No talking or reacting to what they had since only you paid to see them.

The player paid was then able to reuse that chip at a later time. Show em chips would start leaving play as people were busted out. They were not awarded to the hitman like the bounty chips are.

It added some fun without exploiting easy information so we will keep using them.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an interesting idea, though I wasn't clear about the easy info part.

This isn't the bounty chip you referred to, right? Is there a cost, or does everyone get one for free? Can you hoard SECs if you want? That could make a particular knock out extra painful for the remaining players.

There could make for some interesting strategy changes as chips are used.


[ QUOTE ]

I was a little sick for having to do that because I didn’t want to ruin her night at our home, but poker is poker. I did my job as the player.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good to see, sir. Also good to see the boss understood and accepted it. You might have a future [cue ominous music]


[ QUOTE ]
Two hands later I caught AA for the first time that night and pushed against a limper and quaded up to 12,000.

[/ QUOTE ]

Incredibly lucky before, even more so now (how did you quadruple up against one player? I assume you meant 7500 in chips that you gained.


[ QUOTE ]
Game notes: I was more busy than normal doing rebuys on the software and getting chips. I forgot one or the other for a short time on multiple occasions. I have my friend helping w/ the cash part of that and chip up and racing during breaks, which helps things a bit. I may need to employ him a bit more in the future.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen, brother- help is nice, isn't it?

[Befolder]

[ QUOTE ]
Another good report
[ QUOTE ]
This game has been growing over the last 6 months that I took over hosting. Average attendance a year ago was 11, the last 5 games have been averaging about 15, with the previous game fetching 21 and this one brining in 19.

[/ QUOTE ]
BB&V, please :P

[ QUOTE ]
Buyin: $15 ($10 buyin + $5 bounty chip) T5000
Rebuys: $10 through round 5 (2 ½ hours) T5000
Add on: $10 = T7000
Rebuys rounds are 30 minutes, 20 minutes after that period is over.


[/ QUOTE ]

Is the bounty chip optional? I'd like the rebuys to be for less, or get more chips. If more chips, then add-on is T10k.


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]The bounty chip is not optional and so far we've had no complaints about the extra cost in five games of using it. If I start to hear grumblings, then we might have to consider making it optional.

A little history on our game to understand that the rebuy isn't less. Historically, this game was a $20 buy in (B.B. or Before Bounty) and the rebuy was $15 or $10. So it was at a reduced cost.

We know that we have a good number of players that are watching their wallets a bit or would just not rather spend $35-50 on gambling, so we decided to try this $10 buy in w/ the rebuys and add-ons being the same. We didn't also move down the other parts because we were already making the overall cost less by hacking the buyin in half. It's worked out well. In three games of this format we've had about 1.5 times the number of add-ons and rebuys as the original attendence. This last game was another success along those lines. 19 buyins and 31 rebuy/adds.[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]


As for the rounds- enough chips in play that you shorten the rounds?


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]It basically takes my whole set of a 1000, and then the blues from my old set to run the game when the numbers get up past 15. I may have to make it a T2500 because I'd rather stay within one set. The problem with that is the blind levels get weird early on while making the initial climb since they don't cut in half exactly and my smallest chip is a green $25, largest being a yellow $1000. I get levels like 50/75 and stuff like that and aesthetically I don't like it, but I also don't like dipping into the other set. Something will have to give with these competing obsessive compulsive factions. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

We've already adjusted the structure a bit to end earlier for next month. The rebuy session felt really long last time so we're cutting out a whole level while it will still be a full two hours long, which is longer than most. We'll sacrifice a bit in pot size to make the game more managable. We'd rather not shorten the rounds yet since it can be hard enough to get many hands in a level w/ all the slowness of shuffling. Our folks are not yet ready for the 2nd deck being added for speed. A more fun and relaxed game is more important to them.[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]


[ QUOTE ]

Show Em Chip

The rules we decided to try were that you could use the chip anytime you were in the hand as you folded. Just pass it to the targeted player and they had to pass you their cards after the hand. No talking or reacting to what they had since only you paid to see them.

The player paid was then able to reuse that chip at a later time. Show em chips would start leaving play as people were busted out. They were not awarded to the hitman like the bounty chips are.

It added some fun without exploiting easy information so we will keep using them.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an interesting idea, though I wasn't clear about the easy info part.


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Since this was our first use of it, we weren't sure if it was going to be overused since the chips didn't leave the game after being used. What we didn't want was cards being shared constantly. So far it's worked well and people were trying to use them strategically. It caused no problems and added more fun, which is perfect.[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]


This isn't the bounty chip you referred to, right? Is there a cost, or does everyone get one for free? Can you hoard SECs if you want? That could make a particular knock out extra painful for the remaining players.


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]This is separate from the bounty chip so we now have two special chips in play. There is no cost for it, though some sites suggest that. We've made a lot of gradual changes to the game. It's still a bit delicate and keeping the game going is number one right now. We didn't want to add any additional cost.

You could hoard the SEC yes. I think the most anyone had was three at one time and if you got knocked out, those left the game w/ you. Only the bounty chips was transferred.

We started w/ 19 SECs and only about 5 or 6 made it to the final table. A different outcome could happen in future games and it could get interesting yes.[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]


There could make for some interesting strategy changes as chips are used.


[ QUOTE ]

I was a little sick for having to do that because I didn’t want to ruin her night at our home, but poker is poker. I did my job as the player.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good to see, sir. Also good to see the boss understood and accepted it. You might have a future [cue ominous music]


[ QUOTE ]
Two hands later I caught AA for the first time that night and pushed against a limper and quaded up to 12,000.

[/ QUOTE ]

Incredibly lucky before, even more so now (how did you quadruple up against one player? I assume you meant 7500 in chips that you gained.


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] I had 3000 at that point which was the BB so it was basically a call from three other players and my hand helf up to boost me to 12,000. Did I report that I was still at 1500 at that point?


There was a hand in between my one chip triple up to 1500. I was AI the next hand w/ A2 vs AK and caught a 2 to get to 3000.[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]



[ QUOTE ]
Game notes: I was more busy than normal doing rebuys on the software and getting chips. I forgot one or the other for a short time on multiple occasions. I have my friend helping w/ the cash part of that and chip up and racing during breaks, which helps things a bit. I may need to employ him a bit more in the future.

[/ QUOTE ]

Amen, brother- help is nice, isn't it?

[/ QUOTE ]

[Lottery Larry]

[ QUOTE ]


[ QUOTE ]
Two hands later I caught AA for the first time that night and pushed against a limper and quaded up to 12,000.

[/ QUOTE ]

Incredibly lucky before, even more so now (how did you quadruple up against one player? I assume you meant 7500 in chips that you gained.


[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] I had 3000 at that point which was the BB so it was basically a call from three other players and my hand helf up to boost me to 12,000. Did I report that I was still at 1500 at that point?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I read you as having about T3k, based on your original report. Read the bolded part- you didn't mention the position or extra callers (not that important, just checking).