Red's Ramblings, Event #8 — $50 No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em
by Mark "The Red" Harlan
RGP Open Event #8 was a $50 No-Limit Hold 'Em tourney, and as with all events in the RGP Open, was custom made to their specifications with an ultra-generous 3,000 starting chips and 30 minute rounds. A small but brutal field of 16 players showed, including nearly all the usual suspects in the recent RGP Open Event title thefts.
Three-and-a-half hours into the event, four people were left — namely rhinodash, LADYwithLUCK, dougman, and BigEdJr17 — but only three would grab cash, leaving the fourth with a grimace and fistfuls of air.
Storm clouds gathered when a short-stacked BigEdJr17 was dealt 3c 10c from the small blind, with the two other players passing and a flat-call from rhinodash's big blind. On a flop of 7c Ac Qh, BigEd made a minimal testing bet of 150 with his flush-draw, only to get a call from the rhino. With a turn of 9d, BigEd17 sensed weakness in the rhino's stumpy legs and upped the bet to 600, only to get yet another call. A river of Kc gave Ed the club he'd been waiting for and he stepped his bet up to 900. The rhino, holding a 10h Js thought the poachers had left the savannah and gave his nut-straight a heavy raise resulting in an all-in from Ed. BigEd doubled-through as a result, to be sitting just over 10k.
45 minutes plowed by with BigEd making one uncalled all-in play. Then, sitting with 10k in chips, and pocket 8's, Ed made a triple-blind raise from the button. LADYwithLUCK, holding an over-stack called with 8 10. A flop of 4d 9h 10h gave the LADY top pair and she made a trapping-check. BigEd went for it like a rainbow for a royal coachman with a bet of 1500, and LADYwithLUCK set the hook with a bet forcing an all-in. The turn and river were of no help, sending BigEdJr back home penniless where he's now tauntingly called "BigEdJrJr" by the neighborhood kids.
Several hands later, and with three monied players left, rhinodash was dealt pocket kings on the button and gave dougman's 200 big blind a triple raise. LADYwithLUCK passed, but dougman called with a hopeful pair of 7's. A rainbowed duck-powers flop of 2 4 8, with no high indexes gave dougman confidence, betting a portly 2500. The rhino paused, and thinking dougy had caught a lucky low card, pushed all-in. Dougman, in turn, thinking the rhino was making an over-cards-only charge at the pot, called. The turn and the river couldn't help dougman and he went out in third with $160, his first taste of the oh-so-tasty RGP Open pie.
At four-and-a-half hours of play and with both stacks in the 20k range, the rhino predicted that the tournament would take awhile. But the rhino's soothsaying proved to be roughly as good as his vision. It was less than ten minutes before his pair of 9's on the turn snapped the LADY's 8's on the flop, handing him a decisive 30k pot.
LADYwithLUCK then went into an all-in bar-biting frenzy, making four all-in plays that were uncalled by the endangered species. This, of course, didn't stop an occasional grazing by the rhino in-between, ever-so-slowly whittling the stack of the LADY down.
With her stack at a life-support (not to mention, phone hacking) 2600, LADYwithLUCK pushed all-in with an 8d Kd, only to get called by the rhino's 9s Ks. An 8-rich flop doubled the LADY through.
A few hands later, rhino tried to push the LADY off a pot with a feigned bet on which she'd caught the top pair. Again she doubled through, now sitting at 15k to the rhino's 33k.
The LADY was able to glean another 5k from the rhino's tick birds, and was sitting just below the rhino when she was dealt A 7 on the big blind. The LADY called the rhino's 3x blind raise, only to rewarded with a tantalizing 8 A Q flop. Using the trick she's learned so well, she made a trapping check. Rhino came out firing with a bet of 1500, LADY raised it to 6000, and the rhino charged the LADY's Jeep with an all-in. She quickly obliged with a call, only to see a dashing dead man's hand of A 8 from the rhino. An A on the turn meant the LADY would have no more luck without a river queen, that of course, never showed to make the boat.
This put LADYwithLUCK out in second place with $240. For the record, she made and survived an RGP Open record seven all-in bets, including coming back from being the shortest stack at the table with six players left. She now holds a stunning and unmatched record of 50% of the tourneys in the money. In the past the LADY has taken heat on the RGP boards but while other people's jaws flap, she continues to pocket their money (that is, when her haters even bother to show up to play in the tourneys - many have turned to just so much hot air, but no actual play). Although the LADY's true identity has been the speculation of railbirds, it's no secret that hers has been a truly amazing run.
Rhinodash wins his second RGP Open tourney of this series and takes $400 back to the game reserve. When the final table started, he was low-stacked at 1700 chips (table average over 5k) and managed to survive two all-in's to go on and win. A dark contender in the Open, he's looking brighter by the minute.
