Los Angeles, CA
Despite the late start time, almost Midnight ET, Turkey Cup 4.0 kicked off with 56 runners -- at least six more than I had projected. I'm more than pleased that we surpassed expectations on a day when it's tough to stave off fatigue due to over-eating, traveling, and the combined stresses of the holidays and dealing with insane family members that you're forced to mingle with a couple of times a year. But that's why Turkey Cup is so much fun, because it gives you a chance to blow off some steam and just kick back and relax after a hellacious holiday. As far as online tournaments go, Turkey Cup is by far my favorite.
My performance is something totally different. I was out so fast that I was compelled to create a new private tournament, a second chance event which I dubbed Turkey Cup Reprise. That second chance event was such a big hit, that I'm going to expand Turkey Cup to 55 events next year with the final table of the Main Event delayed until New Year's Day, and it will be televised on Svenka 3, which is Sweden's version of ESPN 3, with Johnny Lodden doing the color commentary in a drunken combination of Swedish, Norwegian, and English.
OK, I'm obviously joking about the final table delay. That was my original vision, but Johnny Lodden is booked to be the grand marshal in a New Year's Day parade in Oslo, and I couldn't nail down a broadcasting contract with the Swedes, so the final table delay will not happen in 2011. And 55 events? Another pipe dream. If I had no social life and didn't have three books and a screenplay to write, I might have a 55-tournament bonanza sponsored by Broke Dick Poker.
In all honesty, next year I'm gonna do a series of four or five events for Turkey Cup 5.0 spread out over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
But what happened in Turkey Cup 4.0? Well, the winner was none other than Dr. Chako. Yes, I'm glad that the Doc won because he knocked me out (and at the time, it thrust him into the chip lead) and my chips went to a worthy cause.
My starting table included... laserguy2020, peacecorn, lhuntertwo, o-hole-ne, heffmike, Raubgraber, and nealdo56. Gigli honors went to lhuntertwo, who had Kings snapped off by Gracie's 9c-8c. She turned a straight. All the money went in on the river, and that's all she wrote.
I busted out shortly after when Dr. Chako got moved to my table. He opened in early position with Ac-Jc. I popped him in late position with Queens, and he called. I couldn't get him away from his hand -- he flopped a gutter and turned a flush draw. I expected my demise would come via one of Chako's draws, but my fate was determined when one of his overs hit and an ace spiked on the river. Out in 52nd place. That sucked. I love hosting private tournaments, but one of the worst things is busting out early from your own tournament.
That's when I decided to create a second chance event -- for anyone who missed the registration for Turkey Cup and anyone else who busted early. To sweeten the event, I made it PLO to attract any junkies seeking a fix at 1am.
Meanwhile, over in Turkey Cup, the top nine places paid out. With ten to go, the bubble play was fierce. I had never seen a bubble last that long in one of my hosted tournaments. As one player observed, "Y'all taking Turkey Cup seriously."
Like most blogger-centric events used to be, they start out breezy and fun oriented until the final table, and then it's cut throat city. The bubble went on forever, and it was Joe Speaker who busted out in 10th place. He secured Bubble Boy honors only a few hours before he was set to get married.
The final table was set and my brother, Derek, had a chance to become the first multi-winner of Turkey Cup. He shipped the inaugural event in 2007, and was seeking a second title. He didn't make the final table without a little luck -- he rivered a one outer earlier in the tournament to avoid elimination.
Turkey Cup 4.0 Main Event - Final Table Chip Counts:Shackedin05 began the final table as the chipleader, with almost 2x as much as Shane Nickerson in second place. But Nickerson would quickly make a run for the lead.
Seat 1: HermWarfare (3261)
Seat 2: funchbox (14373)
Seat 3: Idiottax (12971)
Seat 4: Shackedin05 (24334)
Seat 5: scottc25 (5177)
Seat 6: DrChako (11893)
Seat 7: laserguy2020 (6730)
Seat 8: **GMONEY*722 (2651)
Seat 9: Garthmeister (2610)
You can click here to see a screen cap of the final table.
Derek went on a rush. He busted Garth and Laser to get to 2nd in chips behind Nickerson. He lost a decisive pot with AK against Snuffy's AKs. Snuffy flushed him out and Derek lost his momentum.
Nickerson eventually fizzled out 4th. With three to go, Shackedin05 held a monster lead over Derek and Chako. Derek busted out in 3rd when his A-K lost to A-8. A nasty 8 on river sent Derek home in third and his dreams about becoming the first-ever two-time champion were dashed.
When heads-up began, Chako and Shackedin05 were almost even in chips. The two didn't sit back and try to feel each other out. They quickly rumbled. On the final hand, Chako was ahead with Q-Q against pocket treys. Shhackedin05 picked up a gutshot, but Chako faded the gutter to win the hand, and the tournament, and Turkey Cup!
Turkey Cup 4.0 Main Event - Final Table Results:Dr. Chako is bulletproof. He survived a tour in Iraq, and now he can add a Turkey Cup victory to his resume. Congrats, Doc!
1. DrChako
2. Shackedin05
3. HermWarfare
4. funchbox
5. **GMONEY*722
6. scottc25
7. Idiottax
8. laserguy2020
9. Garthmeister
By the way, I found this pic on Doc's website.
It's circa 2006 Vegas when we officially met each other for the first time (even though we had been playing online together for over a year, in addition to Doc also being a contributor to my lit rag Truckin'). We've known each other a few years, and it's always great when an old friend runs good.
* * * *
In case you were wondering about the second chance PLO event...
I busted in 11th place in Turkey Cup Reprise. I got it all in with top 2 and zero re-draws against Jess Welman's flush draw. I couldn't top the "Ginja Run Good" and hit the road.
Turkey Cup Reprise - PLO Final Table:My brother advanced to two Turkey Cup final tables in the same day. But he failed to make the money, because only the top 3 spots paid out. Derek finished in 5th, while Shizzmoney bubbled and took down Bubble Boy honors.
Seat 1: Shizzmoney (3778)
Seat 2: uscjess (11220)
Seat 3: kcs25 (1323)
Seat 4: HermWarfare (1549)
Seat 5: c2d2 (3130)
Seat 6: HippoCrittic (5473)
Seat 7: JoeSpeaker (1205)
Seat 8: peacecorn (865)
Seat 9: change1OO (5957)
With three to go, Jess held more than 66.6% chips in play. The devil stopped influencing her run good, and she ran out of gas. Jess bowed out in third place, while HippoCrittic beat c2d2 heads-up for the crown.
Turkey Cup Reprise - PLO Money Winners:Congrats to Hippo for dominating PLO and the Reprise event.
1. HippoCrittic
2. c2d2
3. uscjess
And congrats again to Dr. Chako. Thanks to everyone who played the events, and special thanks to everyone who helped pimp Turkey Cup 4.0 -- especially those who didn't play but went out of their way to plug it anyway!
See you next year for an expanded rendition of Turkey Cup 5.0!
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Great write up as usual. I got a thrill again just reading it. I should have my son read it so he can understand why daddy jumped up and yelled, "One time!" right at the end there.
ReplyDeleteI looked so young in that picture. Perhaps it's the lack of the gray facial fuzz. Good times. They're all good times.
See you in a little over a week.
-DrC
Pauly,
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great Tournament. To be honest I threw the HU match. I Joseph Cheong'd it, because I really didint want the Obligations that come with being a Turkey Cup Champion all year. I knew my 3s were dominated, but I went with it anyway. Maybe next year I'll have the fortitude to be the Turkey Champ.