"Trip Report" - Nephew's Fundraiserament  

Man, did I draw the table! Was basically the only one who had decent understanding of the game and could actually explain it to a bunch of criminologist ladies. Of the lot at my table, 2 guys kinda knew about Holdem, like, the rules... somewhat. One of them arguing with me that the board was dealt one card at a time, including the flop... That's right, you read right... What the fsck do you say to a guy who looks you dead in the eye and claims rather firmly that you do not deal a 3-card flop??? WHAAAAT!! I was about to call the floor when it dawned on him, and he dropped the expected "Oh, no, you're right... my bad!". LOL. And what a let down when I discovered the dude was NOT an action junkie ;-)...

Anyway... I didn't want to be doing the de facto dealing, but couldn't really help myself with such a table, and my temperament... No dealers in a fundraiserament is a big no-no, in my opinion; no-limit donkaments inevitably bring the numerous split pots, and those will dramatically increase in numbers with newbies AND rebuys, and can one seriously hope a newbie to cope and deal those situations effectively?!?!? I think not, ldo. So, I ended up doing all the work, surprisingly enjoying it :P... And I'll confess I sheepishly tried to let the n00bs have a good time rather than sharkishly attack there inexperience and lack of basic odds understanding. I am not that big of a shark either, I guess, but I do believe this was not the place for that kind of behavior, although the 1500$ payout for first place was indeed kinda juicy ;-).

Ok, so the donkament itself... Wow. Not.That.Great.Actually.
No Felt: Sucks
No Dealer: Sucks
15-Minutes Level: Sucks
No-Dealer + 15-Minutes Level + Newbies = Not.Quite.Poker.

Cards and chips were, to my utter astonishment, quite decent; clean Copag decks with cut card (although I'm guessing some tables might not even have used them :P), and very nice chips that I didn't take the time to properly identify (sorry Nic :P), even though there were cheap, lousy plastic thingies in the mix. First hour 20$ rebuys for 1500 chips, and 3 types of add-ons at the first break (20$ for 2k, 40$ for 5k and 60$ for 10k... but I didn't bring enough dough... nerf me).

All in all, a somewhat typical fundraiserament, with all those incredibly juicy pot odds!! LOL. As for my play, I grinded my way to table chip leader early on, but couldn't grind any decent-sized stack considering my newbie opponents tended to fold every time I raised :S. I got picked up, twice back to back (lol), after the break, and ended up shoving dark from the button against queens and hit 2 pairs, which brought me back to a whooping M of 2.5 :P. Looking down a the KJ of spades the very next hand, I shoved again, ready to go on with the near 2 hour drive back home... Was called by Cowboys (ouch) and Ax of spades (double ouch), and hit the rails, with an opponent going "he can't leave"... Funneh.

In the end, I must admit not being quite satisfied with my take on it all, because I sincerely feel I could have gotten way deeper in this... But, my table draw didn't help I think, with a bunch of passive newbies (not a single action type in there... I was the action junkie, actually, and that's saying a lot :P). And, a circumstance outside of my control also dictated things a little bit, as I could very well might have been left stranded in Lachenaie, with no means of getting back home, other than a rather costly cab ride... Anyway, I can comfort myself with the karma points I got for being there, giving money to a bunch of kids who just want to play hockey, and the thought that maybe, just maybe, someone from my table found a new hobby :).