New Mexico State Poker Championship

[SirFelixCat]

Sandia Resort and Casino, Albuquerque, NM.

$95 + $5 entry. 211 entrants.

1st place = $7,435 and the trophy.


My first ever buy-in event higher than $40 (live) and don'tcha know, my pocket 3's held up and I won the damn thing.

It's my "home" casino, even though I live 4 hours away in Amarillo, Texas. I'm there every few weeks, so it was nice to win this thing in my own backyard, so-to-speak.

No doubt there are a few on here with much bigger scores and such, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. Feels real, R-E-A-L good!

Also, beat the $1/$2 NL game ($200 max buy-in) for over $2,000 on 2 seperate nights in the last 4 that I played there. I really feel that I'm on top of my game and playing the best poker of my life.





Guess I better update the blog....

[KronoRed]

Congrats SC

[SirFelixCat]

Funny story on this, too. When we got down to 20 players, I was one of the 3 or 4 big stacks...we were all about even in chips. Before play began again, I went up to one of the other big stacks and asked if he wanted to swap 25% of each other, as the "real" money was only the Top 3 spots. I had played next to him most of the tourney and thought he was a solid player and I guess he thought the same of me as he agreed.

So fast forward to the final table. Before we get started, someone mentions, "Hey, if we split this 10 ways, right now, we all cash over $2k and you only make that much if you get a Top 3 spot". 8 of us were willing and one wanted to play some hands first and the last fellow (chip leader but only by an M of 1) didn't want to have to pay the taxes on the winner's amount.

Then, the floor came up and said that deals were not allowed. Period. I said, "Ok, no problem, just show that to me in writing." That went over like a lead balloon. The floor then goes and gets the poker room manager and he proceeds to, for lack of a better way to put it, lay down the law and said, essentially, "This is my room, no deals. Tough cookies".

So, I back down from my stance of 'this is our tourney, we should be allowed to cut a deal if we want to' bit and ended up knocking Mr. No taxes out in 7th and 10 mins later, knocking the lone remaining no deal guy out in 2nd. And I came to find out that the way the casino works the tourney payouts is not like a Jackpot winner, but that we were winning part of a "prize pool" so no 33% tax like bonuses and jackpots etc. So, bonus


BTW, what's a proper tip amount as far as the dealer's etc. go? I heard everything from "that's what the juice is for" to 10%. I tipped $500 and that seemed to appease everyone. After tipping out and figuring out what my partner's win was (he took 6th and his place paid @ $1,400, I took a little over $5,600 to the safe in my hotel room

[Roy Tucker]

Way to go SC. When will we see you on WSOP on ESPN? Be sure to mention RedsZone. Can we say we knew you when...?

[wolfboy]

Originally Posted by SC Reds Fans

Sandia Resort and Casino, Albuquerque, NM.

$95 + $5 entry. 211 entrants.

1st place = $7,435 and the trophy.


My first ever buy-in event higher than $40 (live) and don'tcha know, my pocket 3's held up and I won the damn thing.

It's my "home" casino, even though I live 4 hours away in Amarillo, Texas. I'm there every few weeks, so it was nice to win this thing in my own backyard, so-to-speak.

No doubt there are a few on here with much bigger scores and such, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. Feels real, R-E-A-L good!

Also, beat the $1/$2 NL game ($200 max buy-in) for over $2,000 on 2 seperate nights in the last 4 that I played there. I really feel that I'm on top of my game and playing the best poker of my life.





Guess I better update the blog....

Man, that is awesome. I'm so happy to hear that things are going well for you. I remember the first time I noticed the blog. I really hoped that it would chronicle a sweet success story. Looks like it's heading that way. Great to hear!

[SirFelixCat]

Here's a pic of the win. Thanks for the kind words. Hope to keep it up...taking 2 weeks off of work to roadtrip to Vegas and LA to play in early August. Should be an eye-opener and hopefully, successful.

[KronoRed]

Get a haircut hippy!

[SandyD]

Congrats SC!

[RBA]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Get a haircut hippy!

That's part of the "act" to play people. If you look like you're all whacked, than the other players are more worried about getting a virus from the wierdo looking dude than playing their cards. Great stradegy, SC Red Fan!!!

[SirFelixCat]

LOL! Actually, I was going to get about 4 inches cut off, but 2 reasons that I'm not:

1) Decided to let it grow out some more and donate it (when it's long enough) to a charity that makes wigs for kids with cancer.

2) I'm like Samson...my poker prowess is all in the hair

[creek14]

Originally Posted by SC Reds Fans

1) Decided to let it grow out some more and donate it (when it's long enough) to a charity that makes wigs for kids with cancer.

Good for you!! I did that a year or so ago.

Congrats on the win.

[RFS62]

Holy Crap!!!!

It's Wild Bill Hickok!!!

Congratulations Eddie!!!

[Hoosier Red]

Nice job SC,

I just lost in my first ever "tournament" (Little Flower Parish, $50 buy in.)

I'm still angry, lost two hands to the same guy who had an A-5 straight both times.

[oneupper]

Real Happy for ya, SC.

Did you actually win with a 2-3 offsuit?

[SirFelixCat]

Originally Posted by oneupper

Real Happy for ya, SC.

Did you actually win with a 2-3 offsuit?

It's actually 33, but yes, I did. And it was unimproved. My first ever tourney with an entry bigger than $40, too. I'm almost exclusively a cash-game player, so this was a very welcome, albeit unexpected victory.

Ya know, it's funny though...I say I'm not a very good tournament player, but I have entered all of 4 at Sandia Casino (7 total) and have final tabled in 3 of those 4, with the 4th being a 17th place finish (all of which had 170+ entries). And here in town, I've played in 3 other tourneys, made two final tables (won once) and the other out early.

Maybe I'm better than I give myself credit for being....