When the alarm went off off at 7:30am I moved to push snooze and my whole body ached. It’s tough getting old and the previous day’s golf excursion left its mark on my body. Somehow we all got up and made it on the road to the Lago Vista Golf Club, the location of the 2nd Annual WAM Scramble.

The course was in great condition compared to last year although it was a little chilly to start the day. We had plenty of time to hit some balls on the driving range and practice putting. There are always tons of deer on this course so many of us tried to peg a few on the range. The deer were smart and stayed in the middle of the driving range.

Like last year we had 4 teams signed up for the tournament. Because most of us suck at golf, I didn’t waste time trying to balance the teams equally. Last year JJ, Don and myself played on the same team and tied for first place (winning on the scorecard) so I decided to keep the team intact.

The next team was comprised of Mrs. Mookie, Henry (Big O regular) and Steve.

ScottyMc, CK and Scotty’s buddy Mark made up another team.

The fourth team had my sister Anna, her boyfriend Steve and Big O regulars Rico and Bern.

Astin isn’t a golfer but brought out his bad ass camera and drove around taking pictures of the action and surroundings. Most of the pictures on this post are shots he took. I’ll have a link at the bottom of this post to all of his pictures.

We were the last team to tee off and we went to work quickly making birdie on the first hole. The front 9 was no match for our golf skillz and we jumped out to -4 through 9. JJ made it 2 in a row winning the Longest Drive on hole #8.

After grabbing some burgers and beer at the turn we made our way to the 10th tee box. We birdied the hole to move to -5 and we started talking about what we could end up shooting. Last year we won with -4 and we wanted to crush that. So you can imagine what happened the rest of the round. Yep, all pars and a bogey. Doh!

Steve won the Closest to the Pin prize on hole #12 when I couldn’t get inside of his 13 ft. shot on the 180 yd. par 3.

Mrs. Mookie’s team shot +2 while my sister’s team were -1. Scotty and CK’s team brought up the rear shooting +9.

The round took forever due to a couple of slow groups ahead of tourney (although the course tried to blame us at first) so we had to rush home to get setup for the BBQ at the Big O.

Being the bright individual that I am, I completely forgot to put on sunscreen so not only was I exhausted from golf but my arms and face felt like they were on fire.

We made it back to the Big O and quickly showered and changed. There seemed to be a million things to get ready for both the BBQ and poker tournament and luckily I had plenty of help. Rico and Bern took over the grilling duties while I worked with Rocco in getting the poker room setup.

The long round of golf seemed to take its toll on everyone as we were all moving around pretty slow and some people had a tough time staying awake.

Eventually the meat was grilled, people showed up with various side items, desserts and snacks and once again we stuffed our guts.

We took the snacks, dessert and booze upstairs to the poker room. There ended up being 27 players for the $50 “freeze-out” (You could buy back in as a new player if you busted within the first hour). Each player started with 20,000 chips and blinds began at 100/200 increasing every 20 minutes.

It didn’t take long for someone to hit the rail. At table 3 Michael raised preflop and got a couple of callers including MiamiDon. The flop was King high with two spades and Michael led at the flop with Don coming along for the ride. The turn was the Ace of spades and Michael checked while Don bet near the pot. Michael tanked but eventually called. The river paired the board (5) and once again Michael checked and Don went all-in. After tanking for a few minutes, Michael called and mucked his AK after Don showed the 86s. Michael didn’t exercise his option to buy back in and took 27th place.

Over the hour we had two other people bust but they ended up buying back in as a new player. It would be almost an hour and into level 4 before we would lose another player. Sed’s (KngofKngs) cousin John busted in 26th when his Kx lost to Bern’s QQ.

At my table April got coolered when her QQ ran into Rocco’s AA. The flop was all under cards and you could tell she almost folded but eventually called only to be shown the rockets.

Astin was the next to go in 24th when he failed to win a race against Henry. Joel lost a couple of big pots (one to me when I doubled through with KK) and lost the rest of his crumbs to me when I turned a flush with 98h.

Bern joined the growing rail when his baby pair ran into a bigger pair. Henry finished in 21st when his 88 was rivered by AQ. With his elimination we were down to 20 and collapsed to two tables.

ScottyMc moved to my table with a big stack when we collapsed to the final 2 tables when this hand went down. I don’t remember the preflop action but after a QJx all spade flop, Toby, ScottyMc and Steve B got all in. 75s (or something close to that) for Scotty, QJ for Toby and AsX for Steve. The turn was a Q completing a full house for Toby crippling both Steve and Scotty. I don’t remember the hand details but Carol, Steve B., Steve were the next three eliminated.

The Mook (T8) was no good for Mrs. Mookie when it failed to win against Stacey’s A9. She finished in 16th place.

I put a nasty beat on Carter crippling him when my AT sucked out against his AK. Scott R. and Carter were both KO’d by Toby. Rocco finished 13th when he couldn’t suck out with Ax against Sed’s pair.

CK also moved over to my table when we were down to 20 players and she was nursing a shorter stack. With blinds at 3,000/6,000 I made it 18,000 to go with QQ and she jammed her 17,000ish stack with AK. We were off to the races and I flopped a set leaving her only a gutshot to win. Somehow, someway my hand held up and she was out in 12th.

After Megan was knocked out in 11th place by my sister Anna, the remaining 10 players were seated at the final table.

1. Toby: 178,000 chips
2. Sed: 73,000 chips
3. Anna: 63,000 chips
4. Justin: 55,000 chips
5. Mookie: 52,000 chips
6. Stacey: 40,000 chips
7. JJ: 37,000 chips
8. Rico: 36,000 chips
9. MiamiDon: 31,000 chips
10. Mark: 24,000 chips

The blinds were already up to 4,000/8,000 so there wasn’t much play left at this point. The first big pot of the final table ended up being 3-way all-in preflop. Mark held AQ while JJ had KQ and Anna AJ. Naturally the board came KQxxx and JJ tripled up leaving Mark out in 10th place and Anna crippled.

JJ kept chipping up by knocking out Don in 9th place a few minutes later. Anna managed to keep doubling up her tiny stack to stay alive but eventually her luck ran out in 8th place.

With the top 6 spots making the money, we immediately went into deal making mode. I thought paying out $50 to 7th place was pointless since it cost $50 to play. In the end we all agreed upon paying 4th-7th $100 each, 3rd $200, 2nd $350 and 1st $550.

By now the blinds had climbed to 6,000/12,000 and I was one of the short stacks with around 50,000. Toby raised in the cutoff to 36,000 and I jammed out of the SB with AQo. Stacey was in the BB and had just a few more chips than me and called. Toby turned over 55 and Stacey held T9o making me a slight favorite. A 9 hit the flop and I got no love on the turn or river and I was out in 7th place. Yea for the save!

I went downstairs to hang out with Mrs. Mookie and some of the other railbirds. Amazingly it would be another 40 minutes until the next player was eliminated. Crazy!

Rico took 6th place and after taking a couple tough beats JJ finished in 5th place. The one time chipleader Toby missed the next money jump finishing 4th. Five minutes later Justin bowed out in 3rd place leaving Stacey and Sed heads up for the title.

They counted down their chips and they each had the same amount. Since it was almost 2AM they decided to chop up the remaining cash netting them $450 each.

A cash game had been running for a couple of hours but I never got to sit in which ended up being one of my regrets for the weekend. The game had a max buy-in of $100 with blinds at .25/.50 and occasional $1 straddle.

A huge thanks to everyone who made it out for the weekend. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did. I’m already looking forward to next year!

You can find more pictures from the weekend here:

WAM2 Saturday

WAM2 Friday

WAM2 Thursday

Here is Astin’s photostream from the weekend:

Weekend at Mookie’s

Finally here are some of the trip reports from the weekend:

CK

MiamiDon

JJOK

Carter

Steve T

April

Last year ScottMc managed to walk away with the big win at the first Weekend at Mookie’s. He along with Don orchestrated the biggest chop ever at the Big O. This year the list is almost full so if you don’t see your name below, let me know and I’ll get you added.

WHEN: Saturday, May 3rd at 7:00PM

FORMAT: $50 Freeze Out (NLHE) You can buy back in as a new player if you are knocked out within the first hour.

BLINDS: 20 minute blinds

BLIND STRUCTURE
* Level 1 - 100/200
* Level 2 - 200/400
* Level 3 - 300/600
* Level 4 - 400/800
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 5 - 500/1000
* Level 6 - 600/1200
* Level 7 - 800/1600
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 8 - 1000/2000
* Level 9 - 1500/3000
* Level 10 - 2000/4000
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 11 - 3000/6000
* Level 12 - 4000/8000
* Level 13 - 5000/10000
* Level 14 - 6000/12000
* Level 15 - 8000/16000
* Level 16 - 10000/20000

Here are the list of players:

1. Armando
2. Clara
3. Jim
4. Stacey
5. Scott M.
6. Steve T.
7. Don
8. April
9. CK
10. Rico
11. Bern
12. JJ
13. Sed
14. Anna
15. Steve
16. Lori
17. Henry
18. Carol
19. Megan
20. Astin
21. Carter
22. Mark
23. Toby
24. John
25. Rocky
26. Mellissa
27. Scott R.
28. Michael
29. Justin

Once again we’ll provide all the meat for the BBQ on Saturday, May 3rd. If you plan on attending please sign up to bring one of the following: side dish, soda, snacks, dessert.

Here is the list of BBQ attendees:

1. Armando - meat
2. Clara - meat
3. Don
4. CK
5. Astin
6. Lori
7. JJ
8. Sed
9. Mark
10. ScottMc
11. April
12. Jim - beans
    
13. Stacey - beans
14. Henry - soda
    
15. Carol - soda
16. Rocky
17. Mellissa
18. Scott R.
19. Anna - dessert
    
20. Steve - dessert
21. Steve T. - soda, snacks
22. Rico - potato salad
23. Justin - cookies
    

We are less than three weeks away from the start of the Weekend at Mookie’s 2. I’ve booked our golf tournament at Lago Vista Golf Club. This is the same course we played last year. I tried to get Crystal Falls but they have a 150 person tourney running the same day.

There is still plenty of time to sign up so if you don’t see your name on the list below and you want to play, be sure to leave a comment or send me an email.

Here are the details for the golf tournament:

WHERE: Lago Vista Golf Club

WHEN: Saturday, May 3rd

TEE TIME: 9:45 AM

FORMAT: 4-person best ball

COST: $45/person (includes hamburger/fries)

PRIZES: Since it’s too hard to balance teams (cause most of us suck), we won’t have any team prizes. There will be prizes for the Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin.

DIRECTIONS: Go HERE for a the golf course address and directions.

Here are the confirmed golfers:

1. Armando
2. Clara
3. Scott M.
4. Steve
5. Don
6. CK
7. Rico
8. Bern
9. JJ
10. Sed
11. Anna
12. Steve
13. Henry
14. Mark

SATURDAY - May 3rd, 2008

It’s that time of year again…time for some Golf, BBQ and Poker. This year the festivities will take place on Saturday, May 3rd. I haven’t finalized the details yet for the golf tournament but things will probably start around 10AM. Here is the tentative schedule:

Golf Tournament (Scramble)

10:00AM - Course TBA

BBQ at Big O

5:00PM

Poker Tournament at Big O

7:00PM

$50 Freeze Out (players can buy back in as a new player if they bust within the first hour)

Cash Games at Big O

$50NL and $100NL cash games will begin after the final table is set.

CONFIRMED (Golf , Bbq, Poker)

1. Armando - G/B/P
2. Clara - B/P
3. Jim - G/B/P
4. Stacey - B/P
5. Scott M. - G/B/P
6. Steve - G/B/P
7. Don - G/B/P
8. Chad - G/B/P
9. April - B/P
10. Riggs - G/B/P
11. CK - G/B/P
12. Rico - G/B/P
13. Bern - G/B/P
14. JJ - G/B/P
15. Sed - G/B/P
16. Anna - B/P
17. Steve - B/P
18. Lori - B/P
19. Wes - B/P
20. Henry - G/B/P
21. Carol - B/P
22. Megan - B/P

As we get closer to the date, I’ll start another list for food items for the BBQ.

Once again we are hosting an NCAA Tourney Challenge on Yahoo. Each bracket will be $10 (you must pay me in person or through a transfer on Full Tilt or Pokerstars (ID is mookie99 on both) and you can enter as many brackets as you like.

If you want to participate go here to sign up: http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

Our group is called “Big O” and the group ID# is “112350”. The password is vegas1.

Your entries must be complete by Thursday morning at the latest. If you decide to play, be sure to leave a comment here or email me with your ID on Yahoo so I can keep track of everyone.

Amelia Carol

Born on Wednesday, March 5th at 8:09AM

She weighed in at 7lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 3/4″ long.

Mom and baby are doing well.

Season 5 kicked off at the Big O and 14 players showed up for the newly formatted tournament. Instead of the usual rebuy tournament, we’ve gone to a $50 freeze-out using the same blind structure and 20,000 starting stacks.

There were no rebuys but if a player busted within the first 4 levels, they could buy back in as a new player for $50.

Early on the action was much more subdued than usual which was expected given the format. It looked like Mellissa would be the first player eliminated when she got all in preflop with 66 vs. Wes and his JJ, however a 6 on the river kept her alive.

After this hit, Wes found himself on the shortstack and all-in with 3 callers. The flop was Queen high and all diamonds leading Rico to bet forcing the other two players to fold. He held AQ while Wes had T6o with the 6 diamonds. Rico held no diamond so when one showed up on the turn, he was drawing dead giving new life to Wes.

We hit the first break with all 14 players still in and it would be two more levels before the first player would hit the rail. Carol ran into my turned set and was the first one out in 14th.

At the other table, Michael went into full tilt-monkey mode after losing a big hand and called Clara’s all in the almighty A4…which of course wins leaving Clara out in 13th.

After Henry knocked out Megan in 12th and Wes eliminated Jim in 11th place, the final table was set.

Here were the final table players, their chip counts and favorite actor/actress:

1. Rocky - 59,500 / Angelina Jolie
2. Armando - 53,000 / Al Pacino
3. Henry - 40,500 / Tom Hanks
4. Wes - 31,000 / Larry the Cable Guy
5. Mellissa - 23,500 / Patrick Swayze
6. Toby - 23,500 / Jimmy Stewart
7. Rico - 23,000 / Jack Nicholson
8. Michael - 22,500 / Mel Gibson
9. Stacey - 19,000 / Andy Garcia
10. Scott - 12,500 / Mel Gibson

After limping in early position, Michael called Mellissa’s all-in with A8d. Mellissa had AKs which held up eliminating Michael in 10th.

Scott was on a very short stack and was knocked out in 9th place compliments of Toby. Stacey got all in preflop with 99 vs. Wes and his AK. Everyone looked good for a Stacey double up until an Ace fell on the river giving her 8th place.

Rocky knocked out Toby in 7th but then five minutes later would hook up in a huge hand with Mellissa. After a preflop raise Mellissa went all in on a K-4-x board with 2 spades. Rocky went into the tank but eventually called with AK only to see Mellissa’s 44 for a set. Rocky took 6th and Mellissa had a big chiplead.

After negotiating a save the final 5 played on I ended up calling Henry’s preflop all-in from the big blind with T8. He had KQ and I got lucky to pair up on the flop sending Henry out in 5th place.

At this point Rico and Mellissa were the two chipleaders and they tangled up in a hand after Rico raised preflop. The flop was 9 high and all the money went into the middle. 88 for Rico, but 98 and the lead for Mellissa. Her hand held up and Rico was out in 4th while Mellissa’s stack grew even larger.

On the button and on a small stack I looked down at Ax and jammed. Wes quickly called with QQ and I was screwed…until an Ace hit. Wes finished in 3rd and I went heads up Mellissa down nearly 3-1 in chips. It didn’t take long for the chips to get in the middle. It was all over when I called her all-in on a Queen high flop holding QT. Unfortunately for me she had flopped a set of deuces.

Congrats to Mellissa on the big win and for taking an early lead on both the money and points lists.  Something new for this season…if you knock me out with the best hand when the money goes into the pot you are spared from the Hall of Donks.  Mellissa is the first player to have this distinction so far.

Come join us at the Big O Season 5 Kickoff Tournament on Friday, February 1st at 7:00pm.

CONFIRMED (bold names qualifies for bonus chips):

1. Armando
2. Clara
3. Henry
4. Carol
5. Jim
6. Stacey
7. Rocky
8. Mellissa
9. Megan
10. Rico
11. Toby
12. Scott
13. Wes
14. Michael
    

DATE: Friday, February 1st

TIME: 7:00PM

BUYIN: $50 (20,000 chips)

FORMAT: NLHE Freeze-out (NO rebuys and add-ons)

• If player busts in the first hour, they may buy back in a new player for $50 (20,000 chips)

BLINDS: 20 minute blinds

BLIND STRUCTURE
* Level 1 - 100/200
* Level 2 - 200/400
* Level 3 - 300/600
* Level 4 - 400/800
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 5 - 500/1000
* Level 6 - 600/1200
* Level 7 - 800/1600
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 8 - 1000/2000
* Level 9 - 1500/3000
* Level 10 - 2000/4000
* BREAK - 5 minutes
* Level 11 - 3000/6000
* Level 12 - 4000/8000
* Level 13 - 5000/10000
* Level 14 - 6000/12000
* Level 15 - 8000/16000
* Level 16 - 10000/20000

BONUS CHIPS:

• Confirm by Wednesday, January 30th and get 1,000 bonus chips
• Be in the poker room by 7:00PM on Friday, February 1st and get 1,000 bonus chips

We had a couple of late cancellations on Friday night so 14 players showed up for the Big O Tournament of Champions III. Each player bought in for the full amount so that everyone started with equal stack of 40,000 chips. This was a freeze-out tournament so there were no rebuys or add-ons.

Play was no tighter than usual and during the 3rd level we had our first casualty. In a battle of the blinds, Mellissa and Megen went to war and after the river card was dealt both were all in. Mellissa had a straight but Megen’s full house was best and Mellissa was out in 14th place.

It would be nearly an hour before the next elimination. This time I got all in against Joel preflop holding KK to his JJ. No lucky Jack for Joel and he took 13th.

Live by the suckout, die by the suckout. That pretty much sums up Jim’s night as he managed to get lucky by hitting a set of 3’s after getting all in preflop with 33 vs. Rico’s KK. Unfortunately he got unlucky when his QQ fell to Michael’s set of 7’s and finished in 12th place.

After losing to Jim’s set, Rico hung around for awhile on a shortstack but eventually fell in 11th place after losing to Clara. Nearly 4 hours after the start of the tourney, the final table was finally set.

Here were the top 10 and their favorite fast-food restaurants:

• Megen - 125,000 chips / Chick-fil-A

• Clara - 101,000 chips / Wendy’s

• Armando - 64,000 chips / Chick-fil-A

• Stuart - 52,000 chips / Taco Bell

• Scott - 52,000 chips / Chipotle

• Stacey - 45,000 chips / McDonald’s

• Rocky - 37,000 chips / Mama Fu’s

• Henry - 30,000 chips / Whataburger

• Carol - 30,000 chips / Wendy’s

• Michael - 25,000 chips / Whataburger

With blinds all the way up to 4,000/8,000, it didn’t take long for sparks to fly. About 30 minutes in to the final table action Carol, Michael and Stacey got all in preflop. Stacey’s AA held up and she knocked Carol out in 10th while Michael was left with crumbs. Henry took those the very next hand and Michael finished in 9th place.

Ten minutes later another huge 3-way all-in pot happened when Rocky (AQ), Henry (TT) and Stacey (AK) jammed preflop. The first card in the window was the Ace of spades and Stacey took down a huge pot while sending Henry and Rocky to the rail in 7th and 8th place.

Play continued for another 30 minutes and blinds were up to 5,000/10,000. I managed to stay afloat by just jamming preflop here and there and was sitting on about 72,000 chips. Under the gun, I pushed with 66 and Clara was sitting on 55,000 chips and called with 88. Evidently I’m the only one who can lose to her in these spots as I didn’t hit my two outer.

The very next hand Stuart pushed all-in preflop and I called the extra 7K dark in the big blind. He rolled over JJ while I actually had a hand, TT…albeit a dominated one. Once again I couldn’t hit a 2-outer and I was out in 6th place.

I wasn’t going to Photoshop Stewey since it was just a mercy killing, but then he went and pulled a Mr. Bean move and I couldn’t resist.

Besides the hand Clara doubled up through me, she still hadn’t raised preflop or played a hand outside the blinds at the final table. She then caught KK and QQ raising preflop and taking blinds while showing the hands to the table. Sitting on almost 100,000 chips with blinds at 8,000/16,000 Clara raised half her stack to 50,000. Stuart had her covered and pushed all in and she of course called expecting to see her AQ dominated. Surprisingly he turned over KQc and the flop brought an Ace and one club. Turn club, river club. Ouch! Mr. Bean was rewarded while Clara bubbled in 5th place…

In the money and down to the final four play continued for another 30 minutes until the next confrontation. Scott went on a little run and chipped up. Megen tried to make a move in the SB with A9s pushing all in preflop. Scott called with AQ which held up leaving Megen out in 4th place.

For some reason I can’t remember what happened between Stuart and Stacey but she came out on the wrong end of that hand and finished in 3rd place.

This left Scott and Stuart heads up with Stewey leading the way with a near 2-1 chip lead. They battled for the bracelet for nearly 20 minutes and Scott could never find that double up hand. After some preflop raising they saw an Ace high flop and got all in. Stuart had top pair with AJ and Scott held KQ for second pair and gutshot straight draw. No help for Scott on the turn or river and he took 2nd place.

Congratulations to Stuart for taking first place along with the coveted Big O Tournament of Champions III bracelet.