tilted behaviour

I’ve already touched on The Race To 10k, but I think it would be a better idea if I actually elaborate on exactly what it is.

The Race To 10k is a race between two PokerNews bloggers; Heath Chick (Tassie Devil) and myself (thkcduckworth), to see who can reach AUD$10,000 in tournament earnings the quickest.

Both being on the tournament trail as bloggers, it is good motivation to try and find some tournament success . . . in between . . . writing on others tournament success!

So here is what is at stake:
- First to $10,000 = $250
- Reaching a final table = $25
- Most earnings at major tournaments = $100

Conditions:
- Timeline is from 1/1/09 to 31/12/09
- If not successful, no $250 payment is made
- Final table payouts accrue, and are paid out at closing of bet regardless of outcome
- All live tournaments count
- Only $22+ online tournaments count
- Satellites and packages do not count
- Major tournaments account for major championships plus WSOP only
- Swaps do not count, but deals do
- Online final tables and results must be screenshot and posted here
- Final table bonus only counts if NLH with 50-plus entrants, or mixed with 30-plus entrants
- Any result in non-Australian currency is converted to AUD at time of collect

For all the major updates either check Tassie Devil Poker, Tilted Behaviour or Facebook: The Race To 10k.

After Heath collected US$600 in Manila at the APT Head Hunter event, I followed it with a 3rd in the SkyCity Championships PLO Event. Since then however Heath has piled on results (which can be viewed at Facebook: The Race To 10k) to take the current standings to:

thkcduckworth: $2,970
Tassie Devil: $2,092.08

*no final table bonuses achieved as yet

Even though I hold a lead; and maybe a slight edge in tournament poker, Heath has a great opportunity to surpass me and set his own lead as we approach the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series through his online grind.

With the JHDSS not starting till March 8th, there may even be a chance that he ends the race before I even take a second crack!

Stay tuned to Facebook: The Race To 10k, Tassie Devil Poker and Tilted Behaviour for all the action and updates!

The first two days of the Main Event would see 262 hopefuls tackle the felt in the USD$2,700 Main Event. Only 69 would make it through, but some big names would fall including bracelet winners Toto Leonidas and Mansour Matloubi, Sunshine Samson, Wooka Kim, Poker Pack members Quinn Do, Tommy Le and Kwang Soo Lee and Australian’s Vincent Wan, Kent Hunter, Damien Oborne, David Steicke and Heath Chick.

Two of the hopefuls that made it through; Poker Pack members Nam Le and David ‘Chino’ Rheem

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick hasn’t been my friend for a long time, but the countless hours on the tournament floor we’ve spent together makes it feel like we’ve mates since school; even though he is more than seven years older than me! Travelling together and covering all the Australasian tournaments over the past 12 months hasn’t left either of us much time to hit the tournament felt, but finally Heath had an opportunity here in Manila.

With no plans to return to Manila, he satellited in a few days after the new year and was extremely excited to have another chance at tournament glory following unsuccessful attempts during last and this year’s Aussie Millions as well as a few events during the 2008 WSOP.

Things started well when he opened to 150 with A♥ K♦ and found one caller to see a flop of J♦ Q♠ 10♥ where he led for 200 with his opponent making the call. The turn landed the K♥ and Chick bet out 500 before being check-raised to 1,500. He made the call before check-raising to 6,000 over the 2,000-chip bet from his opponent when the 6♣ landed on the river. What looked like a good start ended with a chop when his opponent also tabled broadway holding A♠ K♣.

Heath ‘Tassie Devil’ Chick

Looking down at A♦ A♥ following a raise to 250 and a call Chick bumped it to 875 with both making the call before the action was checked to him on the flop of J♦ 4♦ K♥. Chick bet out 1,500 and the original raiser check-raised to 3,500 with Chick eventually making the call. The turn landed the 4♣ and Chick faced an all-in bet of 5,500 which he eventually called leaving himself around 500 behind. Being shown J♣ J♠ put a sick feeling in his stomach, and finding no two-outer on the river he was left crippled.

He found a double, but was unable to gain another life-line when his Queens were out-flopped by King-Jack to end his tournament in the first level. In a quote from his blog; Tassie Devil Poker, “So now I’m off to drown my sorrows and rue my luck at another lost opportunity” was a real fear for both me and F-Train who couldn’t get into contact with him for the whole day. The funeral arrangements were already being made and the division of assets taking place . . . but eventually we heard from Heath as he continued to drown his sorrows all day and night.

Following the end of play of day 1b F-Train and I headed to the hotel bar to join some of the Aussie boys in Michael Pedley, Kent Hunter, Nik Lackovic and Andrew Scott for a quiet Corona or two before deciding to join Gabby and a few of the APT models at a party.

We all taxied over to the nightclub Myama where one of the APT models was having a going away party. Myama will go on record as the best club I’ve been to because of the spacious surrounds, great music without being too loud, cheap drinks, great atmosphere and plenty of gorgeous asian woman.

The Corona’s were cheap and the vodka flowed fast, and with Nik Lackovic leading the charge he made sure we had a ‘fun’ night. Me and F-Train were left to fend for ourselves which suited him as he danced the night away with two bootylicious-black girls before I decided to call it a night at 3am feeling a little on the ill-side . . .

The team and I have just necked down a beer and a bite after completing Day 1a and 1b of the 2009 Aussie Millions Event 1: $1,100 No Limit Hold’em.

Setting a guarantee is always dicey, but Crown eclipsed the $500,000 mark by over $730,000 and are paying the top 78 with a first prize of $150,000. 112 remain of the 731 starters with local cash game player Dean Blatt leading them into Day 2 with a tidy 145,300 in chips. However what I really want to share with you is a hand I wrote near the close of play to see Blatt surge to the chip lead.

care of PokerNews
Steicke Eliminated As Blatt Confirms Chip Lead
Dean Blatt opened to 5,000 from under-the-gun and with it folding round to David Steicke in middle position he popped it up to 15,000. A short-stacked player in the small blind moved all in for his last 4,400 and then the action was back on Blatt.

Blatt stood up from his chair and hesitated slightly before announcing, “I’m all in” for a total of 82,000 and some change. Steicke sat there looking Blatt up and down from under his colourful pink hat. As a waiter delivered him a beer, he took a big sip never taking his eyes off Blatt. Following a chant from a fellow tablemate of “Skull, skull, skull”, Steicke responded with, “Might have to soon”. He glanced back down at the remaining 28,600 he had in front of him, and then back at Blatt before announcing, “All right, I call”.

Blatt quickly turned over A♥ A♠ and perched his hands on his head in anticipation of taking the chip lead into day 2. Steicke tabled J♠ J♣ and the unknown player turned over A♦ K♣.

The flop came down 2♦ 9♠ 9♦ still leaving Steicke with two-outs and the unknown player a runner-runner draw to out-draw Blatt. The turn of the K♦ changed things slightly, but with the 6♠ falling on the river the pot was awarded to Blatt.

With the unknown player headed straight to the rail, Steicke finished off his beer as he pondered what could have been as Blatt stacked his chips up to over 130,000.

David Steicke Before Elimination

David Steicke is one of my favorite players on the circuit not due to his skill, but just the way he goes about his poker. He is seen as an Australian poker icon and cult hero with quotes of, “You don’t run like God, God runs like you” directed at him and his unusual style of play. Basically when he re-raises with a gutshot, gets there and then eliminates a player, he will shrug his shoulders in a response of, “Well isn’t that how you’re suppose to play the hand . . .???”. Consequently this is why I love him, and had to hold back the tears as I wrote his bust out hand.

Before I go I would like to send out a huge thank-you to my mate and fellow colleague Heath Chick for helping me iron out some of the little glitches Tilted Behaviour had before launching. Check out his blog at Tassie Devil Poker for a glimpse into the life of a poker player traveling the world and working for PokerNews.