MPT 2008 #5 - ECLVA Fall Classic (9/27/2008)

(hand history courtesy of Harv29)

The participants:

• Amazon - Returns to defend her title from this season's Showboat HoB event
• Betdponies - Seeking to regain form from last season's dominant start
• Bigfus - The series' most consistent player, still seeking the elusive trophy
• Ging - Another member of the Betdponies clan joins the fray
• Harv29 - The Tournament Director, looking to turn his luck around
• Mrs. Betdponies - Trying to continue streak of finishing ahead of her husband this season
• RowanB - Our tournament host, hoping for his first "home" victory

The Results:

• Amazon
• Harv29
• Bigfus
• RowanB
• Ging
• Betdponies
• Mrs. Betdponies

Proving her July victory was more than beginner's luck, Amazon fought her way through a field packed full of Mattress Poker Tour regulars to win her second tournament of the season, following up her victory at the Showboat House of Blues in her last MPT outing. Her reckless style struck fear in the hearts of her more seasoned oponents, while her desire to see one of her friends pick up their first trophy seemed to trigger insta-karma of her behalf. Amazon turned up the aggression at the right time and won key races while coming from behind in other important hands to take the title. She modestly attributes this to her desire to return to the "real" gambling in Atlantic City, but it's just that style that makes Amazon a threat to win every MPT event that she enters.

The rest of the field was highlighted by yet another deep run by perennial bridesmaid Bigfus, who avoided extending her record for second place finishes when her pocket Aces fell the Amazon's J-9o. Had Bigfus' aces held, she would have been in excellent position to take her first trophy. Also seeking his first series title, Harv29's runner up finish brought him within a whisker of the season point total, while almost allowing him to return with a trophy for the first time.

The rest of the field featured the tournament host, RowanB, falling from chip leader to a desperation all-in after only a few hands as blind levels ate away at the player's small chip stacks. The Betdponies family also had a disappointing showing, even as the three-time former champ chipped up in the early-going, before falling victim to his new nemesis, Amazon.

So, Amazon joines Betdponies and TSS777 as the only MPT Superstars to win more than one event and puts herself right in the middle of the hunt for Player of the Year. Here's how she did it:

Hand 1 – Betdponies, showed Ace of spades
Hand 2 – Ac8c2h. Ad, 7d. Bigfus 2, Amazon JJ
Hand 3 – 5d3cQh. Bigfus 50, Betdponies calls. Turn Ac. Bigfus check, Betdponies 110, insta call. River 8h. Bigfus all-in, Betdponies shows ace and mucks.
Hand 4 – Qc9s8h. Amazon 10, Harv29 calls, Betdponies folds, RowanB raises to 125, fold, fold, Mrs. Betdponies folds, Amazon calls, Harv29 folds. 8c. Amazon checks, RowanB checks. 3c. Amazon checks, RowanB checks. RowanB has Q10, Amazon has QK, Amazon wins with QQ, K kicker.

Hand 5 – Level 2. Betdponies raises to 50. 7c5dQh. Ging checks, Amazon checks, Betdponies bets 80. Ging calls. Amazon folds. Kd. Betdponies checks, Ging bets 100, Betdponies calls. 4s. Betdponies goes all-in. Ging folds. Betdponies shows a straight.

Hand 7 – Level 3. Qd9d10s. Harv29 checks, Betdponies checks, Ging 100, Harv29 calls, Betdponies folds. 4h. Harv29 checks, Ging checks. 6d. Harv29 checks, Ging checks. Harv29 nothing. Ging has a pair of queens.
Hand 9 – Mrs. Betdponies (83.19%) raises to 130. Betdponies (16.46%) calls. 8d7c10d. Mrs. Betdponies bets 500, Betdponies (96.16%) goes all-in, Mrs. Betdponies (2.83%) calls. Mrs. Betdponies shows AA, Betdponies shows Js9c. 3h. River ? Mrs. Betdponies eliminated.

Hand 15 – 10h7c9s. As. 8s. Amazon bets 1000, Betdponies shows A10.
Hand 19 – Flop: QcAsKc. Harv29 bets 500, everyone folds. Harv29 shows J10

Chip stacks at the break:

• Betdponies – 4,525
• Amazon – 4,225
• Harv29 – 3,000
• Bigfus – 2,425
• RowanB – 2,150
• Ging – 1,175

Hand 23 – 2c2d9d. Betdponies (46.47%) goes all-in 4,125. Amazon (53.13%) calls. Betdponies has Kd10d (54.95%). Amazon Ac6h (44.14%). Turn 2s. Betdponies (29.55%), Amazon (63.64%). River 6.
Hand 24 – Betdponies (37.24%) goes all-in 550. 400 more to Amazon, calls. Harv29 (62.37%) calls. 4sKhJh. Harv29 checks, Amazon folds. Betdponies (78.38%) shows KdJc, Harv29 shows AhQs (21.62%). Turn 7c. Betdponies (90.91%), Harv29 (9.09%). River 10. Betdponies eliminated.

Hand 28 – Harv29 raised 1,000, everyone folded
Hand 29 – Harv29 raises Ging all-in. Ging As3h (57.31%) Harv29 KhQd (40.20%). Ad2s8h. Ging (96.87%), Harv29 3.13%), Turn 6d. River Ah.
Hand 31 – Harv29 all-in – 3,675. Ging calls. Harv29 (70.98%) AdKh Ging Ah10s (24.36%). Flop 4cK?J?. Harv29 82.53%, Ging 16.26%. Turn 5h. Harv29 90.91%, Ging 9.09%. River Jc. Ging eliminated.

Hand 39 – Level 8 7cQs6d. 6s. Amazon goes all-in. RowanB folds, showing two pair.
Hand 43 – Bigfus all-in (56.76%) 10s10d. Amazon calls (42.86%) QcAd. Flop: 5c5h7d. Bigfus (75.96%), Amazon (24.04%). Turn: 5d Bigfus (84.09%), Amazon (15.91%). River: 10? Bigfus doubles up.
Hand 50 – RowanB all-in for 2,100. Amazon calls. RowanB Jc5s (53.72%) Amazon 9d10h (44.97%). Flop: KcKs9c RowanB (18.48%), Amazon (81.11%). Turn: 5c RowanB (31.82%), Amazon (68.18%). River: 4h. RowanB eliminated.

Hand 52 – Bigfus all-in. Amazon calls. Bigfus shows 10c2c (15.36%), Amazon shows AhAc 84.17%). Flop: 10h8s5h. Bigfus (17.58%), Amazon (82.42). Turn: 3d Bigfus (11.36%), Amazon (88.64%). River: 2. Bigfus wins.

Hand 58 – Level 12 Bigfus goes all-in, Amazon calls. Bigfus shows AhAs (82.51%), Amazon shows Jd9c (17.22%). Flop: 10d5d2x. Turn: xd River: 8d. Bigfus eliminated.

Hand 59 – Amazon calls, Harv29 moves all-in for $3,600 more, Amazon calls. Harv29 shows Ks3h (45.38%), Amazon shows 2d2c (53.66%). Flop: Kh7d10s Harv29 (91.21%), Amazon (8.79%), Turn: 8c, Harv29 (95.45%), Amazon (4.55%), River: 2h. Harv29 eliminated.

Note that pocket aces were cracked three times, including twice by J9.

Pictures from MPT 2008 #4

MPT Tournament Director Harv29 hosted the first annual Las Vegas Invitational in his room at Main Street Station in Downtown Las Vegas last weekend. Below are some images from that event.

Players get ready to take their seats just before the tournament begins

Play begins on our largest single mattress event to date
(Photo courtesy of Sionow)


Players look on before a flop early in the tournament
(Photo courtesy of Sionow)


JTinLV collects the first ever MPT "High Hand" bonus, with a Royal Flush on the river to oust former MPT Champion, Mtohio


A closer look at the high-hand winner
(Photo courtesy of Sionow)


Two past champions "race" early in the tournament as Rowanb's pair of 10's falls behind Betdponies' A-K after the flop, but improves on the river to oust the 3-time series winner


Most of the large field survived the early blind levels before play opened up as the blinds rose
(Photo courtesy of Sionow)


Click on the picture to make sure you are seeing clearly, but these two hands ended up all-in preflop in the middle stages of the tournament and Scurvydog attempted a "steal" preflop and had the right price to call Mrs. Betdponies attempt to "re-steal"


Inspired by the setup as the House of Blues suite during the previous event, the MPT now has the capability of displaying the tournament information on the television in any hotel room


This tournament featured another bonus for the winner on top of the trophy and prize money, as the champion earned a complimentary "MPT Las Vegas Spectacular" glass


A close up look at the commemorative glasses from this event.
(photo courtesy of Sionow)


The final hand featured two strong hands for heads-up play with substantial blinds, though Scurvydog's ace did not factor into his winning hand when he made a straight on the river to leave Bigfus with her third second place finish this season


Our new champion, Scurvydog

Scurvydog Wins Inaugural Las Vegas Event

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MPT rookie Scurvydog made an impressive debut on the circuit with a victory is his first series tournament. He bested a field the included several MPT veterans and two other players making their debut on the mattress. Dog folded patiently through the early rounds of the tournament, waiting for the right time to make his move, and turned up the aggressiveness as the blinds rose, accumulating blinds and winning a few key hands to take his first MPT title. He becomes the fourth consecutive person to win their first MPT tournament this season.

A complete tournament summary will be available after the tournament reporter gets some sleep for a couple nights to recover from his recent week in Las Vegas.

MPT Tournament Structure

Since 2007, each Mattress Poker Tour event has been played using this structure. Please note the Todd Shrader Memorial Level 5.

All tournaments, unless otherwise noted, will be No Limit Texas Holdem. Each player will start the tournament with $2,500 in chips.

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	Ante	Start Time
Round 1	10m	$5	$10	$0	0:00
Round 2	10m	$10	$20	$0	0:10
Round 3	10m	$15	$30	$0	0:20
Round 4	10m	$25	$50	$0	0:30
Round 5	10m	$35	$70	$0	0:40
Round 6	10m	$50	$100	$0	0:50
Break 1	5m				1:00
Round 7	10m	$75	$150	$0	1:05
Round 8	10m	$100	$200	$0	1:15
Round 9	10m	$100	$200	$25	1:25
Round 10	10m	$150	$300	$25	1:35
Round 11	10m	$200	$400	$25	1:45
Round 12	10m	$300	$600	$50	1:55
Round 13	10m	$400	$800	$50	2:05
Round 14	10m	$600	$1,200	$75	2:15
Break 2	5m				2:25
Round 15	10m	$1,000	$2,000	$100	2:30
Round 16	10m	$2,000	$4,000	$100	2:40
Round 17	10m	$4,000	$8,000	$200	2:50
Round 18	10m	$8,000	$16,000	$200	3:00

New Statistics Now Available

Thanks to the accurate record keeping of the somewhat biased, but always honest, representative of the reputable national accounting firm that works part-time as our Tournament Director, we now have a multitude of statistics available on this site to track the progress of your favorite MPT Superstar.

In addition to the point leaders from this season, you can now see the money leaders - both for this season and for all-time - in addition to the all-time leaders in wins, cashes, and even "losses". Over time, we have records of additional statistics that will eventually be available on this site, including leaders in "kills" (number of players busted) and all-time points leaders. Let's check who has been paying close attention to the MPT series. Try to answer the following question; which two MPT Superstars are tied for first place in all-time points earned in series tournaments? Please post your guesses below.

In the meantime, try your hand at speculating about the upcoming Las Vegas MPT event by answering the new poll question. However, beware that the polls close on August 1st and precisely 8:08 PM EDT.

Pictures from MPT 2008 #3

Last weekend, former MPT Champion Baccarat King (formerly known as mtohio) hosted the third MPT event of 2008 in his fabulous House of Blues Suite inside the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.


Players chat in the suite before the event begins



The feature table was where the action was early in the tournament, with frequent all-ins fueled by our host's first class bar



Multiple MPT Champion Betdponies deals, as "E" and Bigfus look on



The defending champion loses on the river, as Dave wins a big pot and collects a $5 bounty on the satellite mattress early in the tournament


Before the final table was finished, a lot of bottles sacrificed their lives for the benefit of the players; below is a look at some of the casualties



The second consecutive lengthy MPT heads up battle featured "E" surviving a series of all-ins against the big stack of Amazon



The blinds rose high enough that the players could not afford to wait for premium hands late in the tournament



Betdponies, Baccarat King, and Dave join the peanut gallery while enjoying the final table action



An impromptu break during heads up action as Amazon was needed relief from the bottle of Grey Goose that she vanquished



The bottle of Grey Goose wasn't Amazon's only victim during this afternoon, as fans react to her victory over "E"



The final heads up hand



Our Tournament Director, Harv29, presents the trophy to our Newest MPT Champ, Amazon



The Champ with her Designated Chip Handler, Mrs. Harv29

Pictures from MPT 2008 #2

Event #1 champion rowanb hosted the third MPT event outside of Atlantic City this June, with the first annual ECLVA Spring Classic in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. The following photographs are courtesy of Mrs. Harv29.


Rookie players and MPT veterans prepare to compete in the largest field in our history.



The tournament host chats with Mrs. Betdponies, his sister, and Bigfus



Players enjoyed chocolate covered strawberries, courtesy of MPT newcomer, Amazon



The first big pot of the day came when Bigfus flopped three 9's against her friend's top-pair top-kicker, as she patiently extracted maximum value calling each street



A few hands after taking most of her brother's chips with QJo against his AA, Rowanv eliminates Rowanb after calling his short-stacked preflop all-in with A-7 and having the hand hold up against an open-ended straight draw and flush draw after the flop



The winning hand, as the blinds forced Bigfus to move in with a weak hand, ending an epic heads-up battle where both players held commanding chip leads at different times



The new champion, Rowanv, poses with her trophy and prize winnings