Lucky or Good?
Which would you rather be: lucky or good?
That was the big question at the Arizona Parrot Head's Second Annual Mom O'Malley Memorial Poker Tournament on Saturday.
First, let me just brag that we raised $1,000 for Hospice of the Valley which is totally awesome!
Pirate Rick and His Wench, Julie, hosted the event at their house. The O'Malley Babes supplied pizza and wings for everyone which was nice. Rick browbeat a bunch of his work buds (several of whom are both cute and single but I behaved myself) into playing with our crazy group. Most of them seemed to have a good time but some of the guys ran into that person who's at every tournament...the Clueless But Incredibly Lucky player.
In this event, it was Sarah.
I wasn't at her starting table but it was reported to me that she actually asked, "Is this single deck?" Since we were playing No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, that wasn't exactly an appropriate question. I also heard the tales of her staying in with a Q-3 then flopping a full house. Meanwhile, the experienced players at her table gnashed their teeth and tried to play around her wildness. She also tended to fold when she could check. After explaining it to her several times, the table just gave up and let her fold.
Somehow, through blind luck and an alcoholic haze, she made it to the final table.
I was out by then, courtesy of playing a couple of hands quite poorly, so I was providing moral support to two of my buds from Rick's group. They were itching to get Sarah out so they could play 'real' poker. I thought for a bit that she was snookering them with the "I'm drunk and I don't know what I'm doing act" (I've played that card before) but then she tripped over the dog and I realized it wasn't an act at all. She tried to blame it on the jello-shots but I think it was the bottle of rum.
She had an amazing run of cards and played so wildly it was hard to counter. She would raise with nothing then raise with A-J which is a decent hand with just four players. Oh yes, four players. I can't recall how many times she asked, "How many players are left?" The answer was always four and she would then have to state who they were and call them out by name. I feel like we went through that on nearly every hand.
Wayne (my pick to win before the evening even started and the guy who ended up with many of my chips) finally busted her out and went on to win the whole thing.
It was a fun night. I like playing with Rick's poker buds because many (OK, most) of them are better than I am so I learn a lot. Wayne's kinda my idol at the moment. I really want to play like him. He does a good job of being patient and plays a mean big stack. I'll be studying him (and the other guys) going forward, for sure.
I guess the answer to the "lucky versus good" question is "good" since Sarah came in fourth and the more serious players placed ahead of her. Though Mary O finished fifth and she's pretty good...maybe the jury is still out?
That was the big question at the Arizona Parrot Head's Second Annual Mom O'Malley Memorial Poker Tournament on Saturday.
First, let me just brag that we raised $1,000 for Hospice of the Valley which is totally awesome!
Pirate Rick and His Wench, Julie, hosted the event at their house. The O'Malley Babes supplied pizza and wings for everyone which was nice. Rick browbeat a bunch of his work buds (several of whom are both cute and single but I behaved myself) into playing with our crazy group. Most of them seemed to have a good time but some of the guys ran into that person who's at every tournament...the Clueless But Incredibly Lucky player.
In this event, it was Sarah.
I wasn't at her starting table but it was reported to me that she actually asked, "Is this single deck?" Since we were playing No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, that wasn't exactly an appropriate question. I also heard the tales of her staying in with a Q-3 then flopping a full house. Meanwhile, the experienced players at her table gnashed their teeth and tried to play around her wildness. She also tended to fold when she could check. After explaining it to her several times, the table just gave up and let her fold.
Somehow, through blind luck and an alcoholic haze, she made it to the final table.
I was out by then, courtesy of playing a couple of hands quite poorly, so I was providing moral support to two of my buds from Rick's group. They were itching to get Sarah out so they could play 'real' poker. I thought for a bit that she was snookering them with the "I'm drunk and I don't know what I'm doing act" (I've played that card before) but then she tripped over the dog and I realized it wasn't an act at all. She tried to blame it on the jello-shots but I think it was the bottle of rum.
She had an amazing run of cards and played so wildly it was hard to counter. She would raise with nothing then raise with A-J which is a decent hand with just four players. Oh yes, four players. I can't recall how many times she asked, "How many players are left?" The answer was always four and she would then have to state who they were and call them out by name. I feel like we went through that on nearly every hand.
Wayne (my pick to win before the evening even started and the guy who ended up with many of my chips) finally busted her out and went on to win the whole thing.
It was a fun night. I like playing with Rick's poker buds because many (OK, most) of them are better than I am so I learn a lot. Wayne's kinda my idol at the moment. I really want to play like him. He does a good job of being patient and plays a mean big stack. I'll be studying him (and the other guys) going forward, for sure.
I guess the answer to the "lucky versus good" question is "good" since Sarah came in fourth and the more serious players placed ahead of her. Though Mary O finished fifth and she's pretty good...maybe the jury is still out?
