Most of ye will probably be baffled by this headline. Some won’t. For those of you who are currently scratching the ole noodle, let Caboose enlighten you. (It really does get worrying when the authors start referring to themselves in the third person. And in plural form. Oh dear) Anyhoo as most will know we had our second big (yup we have its baby brother on every Friday night at 9pm.) Scalp tournament on Sunday. We had 2 from Cork, 5 from Carlow, a few from Cahir, 1 loner from Carrick and quite a large contingent from Waterford. Clonmel seemed to be lacking in numbers. We’ll address that later. Hmm hmm. Anyhoo there were 22 runners for yet another enjoyable Scalp tourney and it was eventually taken down by one of the Big Slick Doozers. I like to call him the Fish but he gets upset over that so I will have to stop. Some call him Spud, others call him Smurf. I shall call him Caramon. (If anyone can put this one together then I will give you a cookie!) Top three were getting paid in the following structure.
1. €1,100
2. €660
3. €440
Needless to say a deal was done and €200 was going to go to fourth. Don’t forget those scalps either. They make a nice little cushion for the ole prize money. Indeed. The intrepid 4 were on a break and I said I would sit in to give Lina a break. Those of you who don’t know Lina or weren’t there on Sunday, tsk tsk. So we started back and it took me about 10 minutes to bring carnage to the table. In fairness though I said I would before I sat down. Cobra went in fourth, followed, in the very next hand, by Bo Kent/Clark Duke and it was down to Caramon and A-man-who-can-do-nothing-for-an-Avensis. At this point the delightful Lina took over and I missed the fricking last hand!!!!!! Booooo! I do know that Caramon took the victory, the prize money and the last Lingerie Catalogue.
While this massive skirmish was taking place on our tournament table a mighty cash game had developed quietly in the corner. It wasn’t to be quiet for long though. You’ll understand when you read the guest list. On this very table sat the following renowned players
Mary Poppins
Sideshow
The Diamond Cerebrum
Shogun
The Gentleman
The Cork Rock
The Sulk
Old Father Time
Teddy Ruxpin
Gearhead
Players dropped but the main line up didn’t really change. Hank the Tank sat in as did Jimmny Cricket and Bo Kent. I’ve said in the past that we’ve had some games up there but this was one of the best I had seen in months. Credit goes to all players who were involved. There were no problems and everyone was civil to everyone else and the game was much more enjoyable as a result. The crackers, scones, tea, coffee and soup miraculously stayed off the floor for the entire duration.
Mary Poppins was in attendance again and kept the whole table going as always. The Sulk was seated on her left and they got involved in quite a few pots together. Her name should technically be the River Queen after all the rivers she caught and naturally she caught them against the sulk. The tone of the game was so positive that he brushed it off and kept on playing. The immortal line, uttered by none other than the Sideshow, came when Mary Poppins hit the river against him for about the 5th time in as many hands.
The bi-line from above stems from this phenomenal cash game. It should come as no surprise to learn that Shogun was involved in this hand. I didn’t deal it so I don’t know who the other two individuals were. The action is checked to Shogun who bets. No shock there then. But wait, Clonmel’s favourite move, the Sandbag, hits. He’s raised. More sandbagging as this raise is reraised. Suspense, drama, kids wetting beds, sweaty palms, c’mon Hollywood’s got nuttin on these guys. Shogun folds. The initial Raiser folds. Conversation ensues. Whispers of a flush, or even a straight at least can be heard across the, by now very desert like, table. It is at this point Shogun very gracefully announces; “I had a two”. Jaws dropped, heads are scratched, confused kids who didn’t know whether or not they should have wet their beds or not go ahead and wet them anyway.
We did have another great feud on the table and I was going to devote a separate blog to it but I’m sick and stuck at home with no internet access so this is all you’re getting (sympathy votes!!!). I shall refer to it later.
Right then back to business. Prepare for the scolding. My sleeves are rolled up, my wooden spoon is at hand and I’m ready to deliver swift justice. “Wassssss he talkin’ aboot eh?” What am I talking about!!!???? Where the hell were ye!!!!??? We run these tournaments for ye! Our own players. I know two people who got back to me with work excuses and I know one was genuine as he has done very well in the big tournaments and was gutted when he got the wrong Sunday off. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy with the tournament. It was a great tournament and a great night in my eyes. The atmosphere was brilliant and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I just wished that we had our own players there to egg on as well and that ye experienced a good day and night of solid poker. I love seeing ye do well and I love being able to brag to everyone that a local player went really far. So remember:
Sunday 16th September, 4pm!!!!!
That’s the next one.
Now I must slip into story telling mode (this requires caffeine, nicotine and of course Freddie blaring away in the background accompanied by James and a few more) I hope I do this justice. Anyone who actually is completely lost by what follows and needs an abridged version leave a comment and I shall dutifully respond.
......Er this thing is growing into a mini novel so I shall publish it at a later date. Snoogins.....
So thats it from me
Love
Caboose
***Tip of the day: when going to a poker tournament try and get the right week, let alone day.
