Corky Cup V won by...Corky (again!)

The Corky Cup is named partially after Mike (a.k.a. "Corky") and his "unique" style of play, and in a somewhat politically incorrect inside joke, also for an 80's television character (who shall remain nameless.  OK, that's not hard to figure out for anyone over the age of 30).
Fittingly, Mike has now won this tournament twice after taking home top honors on Friday night over a field of 13 players.

He outlasted D. Cook in a heads-up battle that saw several lead changes.  At least twice in that duel, the chip leader was all in with a superior hand and called, only to get outdrawn on.  (This seemed to be the theme of the night, as there were an unusual high number of bad beats).  Finally, Corky got all his money in preflop with A-8 against Dave's 10-9, and an Ace on the flop left him with only a runner-runner possibility standing between him and the Cup.  An eight on the turn, while strengthening Corky's hand into two pair (Aces and Eights, the "Dead Man's Hand" immortalized by Wild Bill Hickok), it gave Dave eight outs on the river.  No such luck for Dave, as a harmless 4 fell, and the 6 1/2 hour tourney was over.

Eric held the chip lead for a good portion of the final table before succumbing in third place ($130).  Ian, a former Corky Cup winner, took fourth place ($90), and Dave T rounded on the money in fifth place ($60).

A very interesting hand and set of circumstances provided the drama for the hand that broke the money bubble.  With the blinds at 2000/4000, Tom pushed all-in preflop for an (unannounced) amount of 27,500 from early position.  Corky, sitting two seats downwind from Tom, then announced "all-in for 27,500".  After everyone else folded, Tom divulged that they had the exact same chip count, and that the four players who folded were guaranteed to finish in the money unless the hand was chopped.  Mike flipped over A-Q of hearts, while Tom tabled 5-5.  Tom and Mike agreed to $30 "insurance" paid to the loser of the hand, as it was a classic race situation (Tom 52%-48% edge).  The flop of 10h-Ad-2h gave Tom only two outs to stay alive.  The turn card of Jh seemed to end the drama, as Corky's flush had Tom drawing dead, but then a Kh fell on the river to give Corky the 4th ever Royal Flush in Donkeytown history.  (Dave T. had a 5th Royal Flush at Greg's cabin last February. Ironically, Tom has been on the losing end of 3 of the 5.)

Dave and Corky also agreed to chop the money at a point in the heads-up match when they were nearly 50%-50% in chips.  With the two deals that Corky made, Dave C. actually took home the most money on the night ($250), while Corky pocketed $220 but also went home with the Cup.  No confirmation to the rumor that he brought it to bed with him.

A.J. Wins Inaugural Donkeytown Summer Series

Congrats to A.J. for winning the finals of the first ever Donkeytown Summer Series!

Early on, A.J. took a good pot with a straight flush, even though he didn't get much action on the river.  He and Ian were the top 2 in chips, both with over 50,000, when A.J. flopped two pair against Ian's pair of aces.  The win in that hand put A.J. over 100,000 in chips and he was on his way.

In the end, he and Darren went heads up for a lengthy battle.  There was a lot of back and forth before A.J. eventually prevailed, taking $146 for first place, with Darren earning $100 for second.  A.J. also regains the title of "King of Donkeytown" from Tom, who finished in 3rd place for $55.  Rounding out the money was Dave Cl., who finished 4th for $30.

Good NIght for the Host

The Donkeytown Summer Series has completed its preliminary games! 

It was a fortunate night for Tom, as he was hit over the head with the deck of cards while simultaneously having a horseshoe shoved up his ass all night.

In the 8-player tournament, Tom took down a pot of over 30,000 chips when the blinds were still 200/400, as his pocket Aces held up against an all-in and another caller, giving him a chip lead he would not relinquish.  Eventually, he and A.J., riding his own hot streak of late, battled heads up for several hands, before Tom was again dealt Aces, and slow played them even after flopping a set of Aces.  On the turn, A.J. called the all-in bet, but missed his straight draw on the river to finish in 2nd place.  Tom took $75 for first, A.J. got $46 for second, and Dave Co. took $25 for his third place finish.

In the cash game, Tom took a profit of over $74, while Dave Cl. was the only other player "in the black" as he earned $15.

Players with less than 20,000 chips in the current standings will be reset to 20,000.  Anyone who wants to play the finals who has not played any preliminaries may also do so and receive 20,000 chips.

Current standings (chip count, [buyin for finals], player):
60,650 [$50.35] Tom
42,800 [$41.40] A.J.
42,100 [$41.05] Jeff
38,050 [$39.05] Dave Cl.
36,875 [$38.45] Darren
26,500 [$31.50] Mike
24,050 [$29.05] Dave Co.
20,750 [$25.75] Dave T.
20,000 [$25.00] Ian, Greg, Eric

Please note that while $25 is the minimum buy-in for the finals, anyone may buyin for less than the amount shown next to their name above, and receive an appropriate reduced number of chips. 

The payout for the finals will be 50%-30%-20% to the top 3 (assuming 7-10 players).  I will also be kicking in free pizza and snacks for the finals.

Donkeytown Summer Series - 2 nights down!

Congrats to Corky for winning the tournament last night! It went late again, but he outlasted Darren (2nd), Dave Cook (3rd), and Tom (4th).


Dave Clark pulled in a $53 profit in the cash game. A.J. and Ian both netted nearly $20 in the cash game as well. Again, no accounting errors (despite my brief inability to do math).

The current series standings are shown near the top of this blog (orange background).

Next game date has not yet been determined. Thanks to all for playing!

Tom

This Thursday is Night 2 of the Donkeytown Summer Series!

Jeff will take his series lead into Thursday's night action!  He emerged victorious in last week's tournament portion to pocket $75 and about an 8,000 chip advantage in the series over A.J., who finished second in the tournament.  Each player's current standing is shown in the graphic above (average "stack" = 30,000).

We should have a full table on Thursday night!

Everyone who participates in at least 2 of the 3 nights in the series will be eligible to play in the finale.  Those who are under 20,000 series chips, or those who don' t play in any of the 3 preliminary nights, will be able to buy into the finale for 20,000 chips for $20. 

Tom

Choppy New Year

I'm a game behind on posting...

On Wednesday, June 29, Ian ($80) topped Juliet ($40) in the second consecutive game at Downtown Donkeytown.  Thanks to both Juliet and Jeremy for hosting!  That game wrapped up the official 2010-2011 Donkeytown season, with Darren squeaking out the money title, over a late-charging A.J., who played just 4 games but profited almost $400, with Tom finishing 3rd in the money standings.

And a new season began Friday night, July 22, with 7 players buying in for $40.  Corky ($125) and Tom ($105) chopped the top 2 spots, with Dave Co. ($50) rounding out the in-the-money spots. 

Downtown Donkeytown

We had 6 players at Jeremy's for the first-ever Downtown Donkeytown game:

Seat 1: Steve C.
Seat 2: Tom H.
Seat 3: Bryan O.
Seat 4: Jeremy J.
Seat 5: Ian B.
Seat 6: John C.

Congrats to Jeremy for winning on his home turf!  He took home, er, was paid at home, $80 for first place.  Tom took second place for $40.  The game was decided on what amounted to a $40 coin flip when Jeremy, with J-10 and about a 19000-18000 chip lead, outflopped Tom's A-9.

There were 2 quads made in the first hour of the game -- Tom rivered quad 9's with his 9-9 early in the game, and shortly thereafter, John flopped quads when a 7-7-3 board greatly improved his pocket 7's.  And, John would've flopped quads a second time when Q-Q-Q hit the board, but he had folded preflop.

Perhaps one more game in the works next week?  Stay tuned...   Thanks again to Jeremy for hosting!

(Last) Tuesday Night Results

Sorry, RaisedByDonkeys readers, I slacked off this week on posting.  Too busy trying to figure out where my money went that night!

The first $20 is easy to account for.  I raised with a nut flush draw, Ian went all-in with his flush draw (for slightly more than my raise), then Eric pushed over the top with top-pair top-kicker, and mathematically I had to call.  Top pair held up, and I was cripplled and gone several hands later, while Eric took a huge chip lead.

The game ended rather quickly as Eric continued his landslide, taking first place in the 8-player game for $90.  A.J. continued his hot streak by taking runner-up honors and $45, while Jeremy rounded out the in-the-money portion with $25 for third place.

Several of us that busted out early joined quite the lively cash game.  It took me a week to figure it out, but I accidentally gave everyone $25 worth of chips to start the game for their $20 buy-in.  You're welcome, Donkeytown customers!

I made a nice profit of $66 in the cash game, while several rebuys didn't help an unlucky few.  And unlucky/stupid me lost most of that profit with a costly brain fart...

Game at Jeremy's this Wednesday (tonight as I'm writing this)!  It will be the first "Downtown Donkeytown" game!

Outdoor / Indoor

The weather cooperated in full on Friday evening to allow a 6-player game on the Donkeytown patio!  We had 6 players for a $20 "Turbo" tournament (2 hours):

Dave Ck.
Dave Cl.
Eric
Greg
Ian
Tom

Despite the fact that the average stack for the last 3 players was only 8 big blinds for the last 15 minutes, we could not determine a winner by 9:00pm and chopped the pool three ways:  Ian took $43 for his slight chip lead, Dave Ck took $40, and Tom $37.  And a thumbs up to the mosquito-repelling citronella tiki torches.

After that, we headed indoors and Corky joined us for a seven-player Game 2, with a $40 buy-in.  Corky got his $40 back for finishing in third place, and 2 of the original Donkeytown founders, Greg and Tom, squared off heads-up for the title.  In the seven plus years of Donkeytown tournaments, this was the first heads-up battle between the two, and they very likely broke the unofficial record for longest heads-up battle. 

Tom began with about a 4:3 chip lead, but Greg took a few early pots and eventually built over a 2:1 chip advantage.  Tom battled back to reclaim the chip lead, but then Greg regained the momentum and was back up to over a 2:1 advantage before the fnal hand.  Tom had 7-8 and flopped an open-ended straight on a 9-6-2 flop, while Greg had 7-6 for bottom pair.  A bet by Greg and a call by Tom set the stage for the turn card, a seven, giving Tom the lead with a pair of sevens.  Another bet and call, and when a 6 hit the river, Greg went all-in, and Tom deliberated for a while and called.  Greg's trip 6's were good to take down the $150 first prize, and Tom took $90 for second.

And when there are many beer bottles (and one Bartles & James?) to clean up the next morning, it's always a good sign that a good time was had by all.

A.J. Keeps Rolling

We had 13 players pony up $65 each for Super Bowl of Poker 6 on Friday night:

Aaron
A.J.
Bob
Dave Ck.
Dave Cl.
Dave T.
Eric
Greg
Ian
Jeremy
Mark
Mike
Tom

The first hand of the night on Table 2 prepared us for the wild ride we would see all night long.  On a pot of over 16,000 chips (each player started with 20,000), Eric rivered quad 9's to beat Dave Ck.'s second-nut flush.  Table 2 continued to have big hands, and by far, bigger pots were contested on that table than at Table 1.  A couple hours into the game, Eric, Aaron and Ian got all their money in preflop with KK, JJ and 99, respectively, and Eric's kings held up to take an over 40,000 chip pot.

At the final table, players slowly but steadily dropped out, and the money bubble was burst when Mark's QQ was up against Mike's KK, and the better hand prevailed.  Shortly afterward, Mike again was dealt KK, and Dave Cl. and A.J. were both all-in against "Corky", who would have knocked out both opponents and taken a massive chip lead if his Kings had held up against Dave's 88 and A.J.'s 44.  A four on the river tripled up A.J., giving him the chip lead and knocking Dave Cl. out in 4th place ($100).

Dave Ck. was eventually knocked out in third ($155) despite being on the wrong end of some big pots and coolers, and Corky faced an uphill challenge and a 4:1 chip disadvantage against A.J. going into heads-up.  A.J. had survived the night despite leaving the game for 45 minutes to help his family get into their house, and had avoided elimination and chipped up with some good timing and good river cards.

On the final hand, Corky pushed all-in after a flop of Ad-10h-7d, and A.J. insta-called.  Mike turned over Js-10c for second pair, while A.J. had Ah-4d for top pair and the lead.  However, Corky took the lead on the turn, when he made trip 10's when the 10d fell.  However, this gave A.J. a flush draw and 11 outs to win the hand.  The king of diamonds on the river sealed Corky's fate, giving A.J. his second consecutive Donkeytown win!  A.J. has also taken over the "King of Donkeytown" title from Tom with the 2 victories.

Congrats to A.J. and all the money finishers, and thank you everyone for making it another fun-filled Super Bowl!

A.J. Outlasts Field of Seven

On Friday, April 22, we had 7 players pony up $40 for what was supposed to be a 3.5-4.0 hour game:

Seat 1: A.J.
Seat 2: Bob
Seat 3: Tom
Seat 4: Corky
Seat 5: Dave T.
Seat 6: Ian
Seat 7: Greg

A.J. got off to a fast start, winning many early small pots before doubling up with AA against Tom's KK.   Pocket kings were also unkind to Greg, as he had them cracked by Ian's pocket queens.

Ultimately, Corky took third place money ($50), and A.J. began the heads-up match against Dave with a comfortable but not overpowering chip lead.  And we appeared to be on schedule to end the game at about the prescribed time.  I did not record the time when the heads-up match began, but I believe it lasted for about an hour.

Dave took the chip lead after winning a few small hands early, and I believe the chip lead was traded three more times.  Eventually, A.J. prevailed for first place and $140, while Dave took $90 for second place.

It was a good tune-up for the Super Bowl of Poker VI, coming up this Friday, May 6.  I wish I had not been still hungover from Thursday night so I could have enjoyed the camaraderie better (and possibly sniff out A.J.'s aces)!  All seven participants from tonight's game are signed up for the Super Bowl, so it should be a great game! 

Are You Donkier Than a 5th Grader?

We had 12 players who set out to get a positive answer to that question on Friday night, as they took on Dani, the resident fifth grader.  Each player bought in for $15, with the question of donkier/not donkier being determined by who had more chips at the end of 7 levels of play. 

As it turned out, 11 of the 12 players were "not donkier", as Dani busted out during the 7th level, on the same hand that Darren busted out.  Truth be told, they may or may not have been out-donked by Dave Cl., as Darren later pointed out, "The worst hand won."  The other 11 players thus collected $5 for having more chips.  Dave Cl. also took the most money at the end of the 7th level for having the most chips.

The 11 players finished at one table, tournament-style, with the top 5 earning the rest of the prize pool.  To make time for the second game, the last five players decided to chop the pool.  Christy T. had the most chips and took the biggest piece of the pool, but Dave Cl., on the strength of his earlier chip stack, finished with the biggest profit of the game, followed by Dave C., with Christy 3rd, Greg P. 4th and Ian B. 5th.

Most importantly, Dani had a great time.  I would like to thank everyone for being so nice to her and helping her out.  It is great to know that the same group that provides great poker games and a great time from an adult perspective is also the same group that I feel good exposing my stepdaughter to.

The second game was a straight-forward, 9-handed, $25 buy-in tournament.  Jeremy J. came back from an early deficit to dominate late.  After a few hands of heads-up against Tom H., and after Jeremy pointed out to the host, "You know, Tom, it IS after 1:00," the two players decided to play all-in on every hand.  Only took one hand, though, as Jeremy's K-6 was better than Tom's 7-6, and a King on the flop sealed the deal to give Jeremy the $110 first place prize.  Tom took $70 for finishing 2nd, and Ian again rounded out the in-the-money positions by taking $45 for third.

It was a fun night!  I apologize to all who may have been overtired on Saturday after the late night.  The empty cans and bottles scattered about the first floor of Donkeytown indicate a great night was had by most, if not all!

Poker Retreat 6 at the Fly Away Cabin!

We had another successful and eventful weekend at the Fly Away Cabin!  Thank you so much to Greg for hosting for the 6th straight Super Bowl weekend!

Quick recap of the Fly Away Classic on Monday:

Ted took first place for $400 and the bracelet!  He maintained a moderately healthy stack throughout most of the game, then took the chip lead by doubling through Tom when it was down to three handed, then held off....

...Greg, who finished as the runner-up for $240.  I don't know most of the hand-for-hand details, as I was off cleaning up my stuff and blowing off a little steam. 

I (Tom) finished third ($150) after blowing a huge chip lead...oy.  Still no bracelets, cups, or trophies for me.  :(   My ability to win races early in the game didn't continue, but I had a fun run while it lasted.

Dave C. finished 4th for $90.  SIX cashes this year for Dave C., *slightly* better than last year!

Congrats to Jeff for winning the high hand on Saturday (KKKAA, $40).  And Dave T. not only had a Royal Flush on Sunday, but overkilled the high hand pot by also making quad 7's later in the day.

I think we all had a lot of fun!  On the strength of Monday's win, Ted emerged as the biggest money winner in the 9 official tournaments held over the weekend.