2011 WSOD - Event #4 Heads Up Results and Pictures

I had 8 people signed up for the 2011 WSOD - Event #4 Heads Up (double knockout) tournament within a day of the announcement - and almost an equal number of unhappy regrets.  As advertised, if we couldn't hit 16 players commited to the event, I was going to cap it at 8.  And as it was written, so shall it be.

Even though we had our lineup a week in advance, the seat draws happened only 5 minutes before the cards were in the air.

ROUND 1

Game 1  - The Co-Bra v Dandy Bloch - This was a battle that needed to be fought.  They have had some great tilts at the home game with Co confounding Dandy time and time again.  This game was no different.

Winner - Co (1-0)
Loser - Dandy Bloch (0-1)

Game 2 - Big Stack Bob v Schneider - A great tournament rivalry has developed between BSB and I.  We have build quite a history of playing one another or often getting into game within a game situations.  Big Stack texted me earlier in the week wanting to draw me in the first game, and he got his wish.  Neither of us gave up much room and not surprisingly this was the longest match in the first round.  In the end the blinds were up there and Bobby pushed with 44 and I was lucky enough to turn up fishhooks.

Winner - Schneider (1-0)
Loser - Big Stack Bob (0-1)


Game 3 - Geppedo Harvey v V Dub - The recap I got was mid-big hand in my tournament but I think Kailey might've had Queens and Harvey cracked them.  Harvey raved about how well Kailey played and how it could have ended differently if a couple of hands had flopped differently.  Being a fierce tournament player, Geppedo might've rolled with it though - he always seems to be around in the end.


Winner - Harvey (1-0)
Loser - V Dub (0-1)


Game 4 - The Crantini Kid v Dycker - The Crantini Kid is the defending champion in this event, and even though he hasn't played much poker since he moved, he was definitely in the mix to win this thing.  Dycker on the other hand I thought provided him with probably the most interesting matchup as their styles could provide for some interesting hands.  I didn't get to watch any of this game, but when I looked down the table, I saw The Kid with all of the chips.  I would've liked to rail this one!


Winner - The Crantini Kid (1-0)
Loser - Dycker (0-1)

ROUND #2

Winner's Bracket

Game 5 - The Cobra v Schneider - The Co-Bra can play an aggressive style that is relentless, but he can be crafty and make some plays that are impossible to figure out.  I played a trapping game against Co which I felt got me in some great spots to win massive pots, unfortuately for me, Co has a magic coin and it wins hands for him.  In the end, I had to take my bad beat stories with me to the loser's bracket.

Winner - Co (2-0)

Loser - Schneider (1-1)

Game 6 - Gepeddo Harvey v The Crantini Kid - This is a matchup that begged to be played.  These guys have been clashing at our home game as long for as long as we've been playing cards.  They know one another's style and my guess is there was going to be a lot of putting one another to tough decisions. It was over in one hand.  Crantini was unlucky enough to get AA and Harvey (turned) the nut ball straight.

Winner - Harvey (2-0)

Loser - The Crantini Kid (1-1)

ROUND #2

Loser's Bracket

Game 7 - Dandy Bloch v Big Stack Bob - Dandy didn't wear a vest and Bob didn't bring out the gym teacher pose, so neither were relying on their secret weapons.  In the end Bobby got Lindros and Dandy got Gretzky.  Dandy was gushing when his 99 held up over the eights as Bobby was retired from the tournament.  I think that everyone was happy they wouldn't have to face him in the later rounds.

Winner - Dandy Bloch (1-1)

Loser - Big Stack Bob (0-2) - Eliminated in 7th

Game 8 - V-Dub v Dycker - Kailey and Dycker, now this was a match I've wanted to see for some time now.  This is probably not the best matchup for V-Dub, because Dycker knows her style to a T.  Dycker was firing at all times and played "Lemon aggressive".  He whittled Kailey's stack down to nothing and Dycker lives to play again.

Winner - Dycker (1-1)

Loser - V Dub (0-2) - Eliminated in 7th

ROUND #3

Winner's Bracket

Game 9 - The Co-Bra v Gepeddo Harvey - I wasn't able to watch much of this game, but it seemed that Mike had control of the chips from the beginning and Co's stack gradually got smaller until he was sent to the loser's bracket with the rest of us.

Winner - Harvey (3-0)

Loser - Co (2-1)

ROUND #3

Loser's Bracket

Game 10 - The Crantini Kid v Dandy Bloch - 2 amicable guys mixing it up with no history of play between them.  Because I was playing as this game was running I was only able to hear Dandy giggling as he claimed another victim.  The lowlight for all involved was Dandy singing J-Lo "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I've got (I'm still Dandy from the Bloch)"

Winner - Dandy Bloch (2-1)

Loser - The Crantini Kid (1-2) - Eliminated in 5th

Game 11 - Schneider v Dycker - This match was a marathon with both of us having 1/2 of the other guys chips at some point.  We were well into the late rounds when he raised, I shoved and he called and we flipped over a classic confrontation - AK of hearts for me and QQ for Dycker.  The window card was an Ace and the next card was a K and it was over.  A count of the chips revealed that I only had a couple chip lead when we both started with 10 000 chips.  A very very tight match indeed.

Winner - Schneider (2-1)

Loser - Dycker (1-2) - Eliminated in 5th

ROUND #4

Winner's Bracket

Bye  - Gepeddo Harvey

ROUND #4

Loser's Bracket

Bye - The Co-Bra


Game 12 - Dandy Bloch v Schneider - Well Dandy started with a couple of good hands and got me down a few 1 000 early.  I battled back and played aggressive to the point where Dandy's head was spinning and he didn't know where he was in any of the hands.  At least that's what he said.  I also avoided some pitfalls when I had garbage and folded preflop not knowing that Dandy had monsters.

Winner - Schneider (3-1)

Loser - Dandy Bloch (2-2) - Eliminated in 4th

ROUND #5

Winner's Bracket

Bye  - Gepeddo Harvey

ROUND #5

Loser's Bracket

Game 13 - The Co-Bra v Schneider - Round 2!  This was the more important of our matchups because the loser would be eliminated.  Co had a grin on his face and he hoped he still had my number.  I on the other hand was nervous because Co's style is such that he will force you to lose big pots even when you are trying to keep the pots small.  He made a few crafty moves that had me folding some big hands.  A couple of times he bet way more than what was in the pot (2 000 into 1 200) and I asked him why he overbet.  You know what the he said?  "I didn't overbet!"  Very very crafty!  In the end, I was able to hold off his aggression and took it down to exact my revenge.

Winner - Schneider (4-1)

Loser - Co (2-2) - Eliminated in 3rd

ROUND #6

Championship Match

Game 14 - Gepeddo Harvey v Schneider - Our history goes back to the days of 10 cent / 20 cent fixed limit poker in 2003.  In the last home game I outdrew Mike in a hand that he was all in on and he called my cards dead to rights, while others said, there was no way that is what I held.  I on the other hand was on a bit of a roll, having won 3 straight and we both wish we had an easier opponent in the end.  The game really went back and forth and was well played on both sides.  We played until the blinds got very high and we were both willing to move more chips around to steal the blinds.  In the final hand Harvey pushed all in with K9 of diamonds and I called with A5 off which held up.  The game took forever and was a mental strain, but it was finally over.

Winner - Schneider (5-1)

Loser - Harvey (3-1) 

Unfortunately Harvey rolled the dice a little bit mid-tournament and made a commitment for later in the evening.  When I won the first match, he congratulated me and stood to leave.  In all the excitement he had forgotten it was a double knockout!  I reminded him that we had to play again and he couldn't.  He took the championship picture, congratulated me for the win and was out the door.

Winner of the 2001 WSOD Heads Up tournament

Other photos from the tournament...

The Crantini Kid drawing the seat selections

The set up for round #2

The infamous 1 hand match

Crantini's Aces fall to Harvey's turned straight

Game #8 - A matchup we all wanted to see happen

The Co-Bra about to strike

My very best Hollywood

The vestless Dandy bloch dealing for himself for once

On tilt?

(please don't bet, please don't bet, please don't bet...oh crap he's betting)