CHOMP!NG AT THE BIT: Today's Recap

Where were we...

Lunch break: T$56,000

246 players started
135 remain
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Before I get back to the tournament updates, here is a recap to catch you up.

Registering for the Tournament

As part of the process, you need to have your rewards card swiped and then pay the buy-in fee. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my card/money and handed them to the one of the female cashiers.

She replied, "Oh, honey, I don't need that, unless you are trying to tell me something."

I looked down to my embarrassed surprise to see my room key in her hand NOT my rewards card (they are the same size/shape etc.).

"Oh god, no!" I exclaimed. Realizing my tone, I retreated with, "not that you're...I mean...uh..."

Her colleague teased, "That's okay, we get the message."

To which I replied, "Wow, am I sinking fast!"

Fortunately, all the staff and people in line laughed. Talk about open mouth, insert foot. Chh-OM-P!
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While at the table, conversations ranged from economics to humor.

Produce

The increased demand on local farmers to bring produce to market (re: the cost of fuel to transport cross-country and the flooded crops in Midwest). Think global. Buy local.

Firecrackers

Ted: (joking with one of the players at the table) You're not gonna rush me. You could place a firecracker near my @$$ and you wouldn't rush me.

Sammy: Yikes, now I got to get that image out of my head.

(laughter from our table and surrounding tables)

Sammy: I will never think of firecrackers in the same way.

Gentlemen Sitting Next to Me: Or Ted!

Breaking the Silence

The arena started to quiet after hours of play. A semi-melodic, mumbled horn/tooting type of sound (that strangely resembled a bodily function) broke the silence. Everyone was looking around for where it was coming from...the guy sitting next to me.

Sammy: I hope that's coming from your phone.

(laughter all around)

Another Player: Confess, it was the Mexican for lunch wasn't it.

(the cell-phone offender quickly silenced his phone; no air freshener needed)
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And now for the rest of the tournament.

I remained focused throughout the day and played extremely well.

After the break, I grinded my stack up from T$56,000 to T$62,500. As we approached our next break (two hours later), I continued chipping away. The chattering teeth were perched high atop my stack of T$86,000.

Soon after another table move, I passed the T$120,000 mark. But then I ran into a spell of no cards. I focused, remained present, scouted my opponents while I was out of hands (with the intention to use that information in later hands), and had fun. My stack vacillated between T$100,000 and T$150,000.

As the antes/blinds reached...

Antes 2K
Blinds 6K/12K

...the average chip stack was listed at 180K (my stack: T$122,000).

My new table had the top two chipleaders (one around T$300,000 and the other closer to (if not over) T$600,000). We were in the money (all remaining players would receive cash based on final results) but the blinds would soon reach Ante 3K, Blinds 8K/16K.

From early position, I looked down and debated raising it to T$30,000 or T$35,000 but thought better of it, in favor of an all-in bet. My chattering teeth firmly planted on top of my cards, I methodically slid my stacks of pink/blue chips forward as I announced, "all-in."

Folds all around to the BB who goes into the tank for a few minutes before asking for a chip count (he has around T$200,000). The dealer counts my chips, "T$122,000." The big blind takes a few more minutes before finally calling and flipping up JJ.

(audience at home, care to guess my hole cards? answer below)
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I turn over my KK.

Pot is now over 260K.

KK: 82% favorite

The flop: 8 Q T

KK: 76% favorite

Remember Kindergarten and 1st grade? When you learned the alphabet song (which remarkably resembles the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)? Catchy tune. I practiced hard and it helped me learn my ABCs. Little did I know then, how I would learn to dread the 10th note of that song.

The turn: J

JJ: now a 77% favorite but I still have outs (two remaining Kings, any Ace, or any Ten).

The river: 3

Out 23rd place out of 246 players.

While I did cash in the event, it wasn't enough to pay for the trip. Chalk up another loss.

Thanks for following along throughout your weekend. More to come tomorrow. Off to bed. Up at 4:00AM to catch a plane and then straight to work.

Ch...yawwwn-omp! ~Sammy "The Dentist"