2008 Conshohocken Classic

There are good poker players, then there are great ones. And then there's us - good poker players who think they're great. One of us just took one step closer towards truly being great. S.H. won his second Conshy bracelet in 5 tries and in doing so, etched his name in the local poker hall of fame. I can't imagine this feat ever being repeated, as the field in this tournament will only get stronger.





W.E. and M.B. did an amazing job organizing and hosting the tournament. Most noobies were impressed with the quality, but we are accustomed to such. We were slightly over budget for food and drinks, but thankfully QueenPrussia came through with some home-made chili. We were also able to broadcast the tournament live on the internet using a Windows Media Server. I know of at least two people that watched from out of state.



Major hands for me:
1. Near round 4 UTG limps with a shortish stack, I'm in MP1 and flat with AQo to disguise, and there is another LP caller. Flop comes AK4, shorty pushes all in UTG and I call with a smile, only to see shorty show K4o. Not the way I play K4o UTG but that's just me. Would have been a nice addition to my stack.
2. Near round 8 UTG+1 raises, folds to shorty OTB who shoves. I look down at AQo and fear that EP has a pair and will RRAI. I sheepishly fold, only to see EP call with KTo while B has AQ. I chopped pot would have done me well there but I thought I was behind at least one of the OPs.
3. Round 9 I pick up AKo in MP and raise to 3BB, one called behind, then BB shoves. I come over the top and LP calls again. BB shows A9s and LP shows Q9s. LP calls two AI in front with Q9o. His 9 is counterfeited but he flops a Q to bust us both. I was visibly upset and it's not until later that I realize our tournament needs players like this and I have no business reacting like I did. As I wrote in a prior blog entry, if you can't handle a beat or grow as a result of the downs, then poker is not the game for you. But when you realize it's not likely that you will play an infinite number of hands in your short lifetime, you sort of hope that these outcomes will go your way.

My predicted winner actually finished 3rd, so congrats to B.S. on a "strong" finish. I also predicted at least four of our home team would make the final table, and four were there if you consider B.W. (one of the original members who has not played with us in a long time). In looking over the historical results that we have, our home game has done decently in this tournament. Here are some average finishes among players with at least 3 entries:
1. S.H. average finish 8.33
2. R.W. average finish 11.67
3. T.R. average finish 12.33
It's also worth noting that in 2005 and 2008 we had 4 of us at the final table.