Chips for Charity at
Devin Laubi Poker Tournament!
By Jon Alden
Everythingwestport.com
Saturday,
February 16, 2008
JON ALDEN for
EVERYTHINGWESTPORT.COM
The final table of the Devin Laubi Poker Tournament.
It was 7:05
p.m. as Matthew at table five dealt
the second hand of the tournament. A protected peak at my hole cards revealed
an Ace-King - big slick! Two $100
chips were tossed into the center of the table and the big blind was called.
The flop turned up another Ace-King. $2000 more of my starting $5000 in chips
were committed to the pot. Another $2000 joined the pot as the turn and the
river didn’t reveal any threatening cards. For the first few minutes of the
tournament I was the chip leader! A few minutes later, Mike survived an all-in
bet and captured the chip lead. Kenny from Wakefield, RI was knocked out 8:10
p.m., and the tournament officials started consolidating tables.
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64 players
entered this charity tournament, each donating $100 to receive $5000 in chips. After
registering with the Devin Laubi volunteers and receiving their chips, they
were assigned tables by an Easter Poker Tour representative – nine tables in
all. Volunteer, professional dealers were to handle the cards. Players milled
around, renewed acquaintances, and had the occasional beer. But you could feel
the tension and expectations in the air; they were here to win this event. The
first hand was dealt at 7 p.m.
No-limit Texas hold’em has captivated the imagination of
millions of novice poker players across the globe, popularized by the movie Rounders starring Matt Damon, and the success of amateur
poker players winning the World Series of Poker, starting with Chris Moneymaker
in 2003. The 2006 World Series of Poker champion (an amateur) received over 12
million dollars in winnings, more than Golf’s 2007 Masters champion and all
other individual skill tournament champions combined!
I decided
to investigate this phenomenon by attending the Westport-based Devin Laubi
Poker Tournament on February 16th held at the Elks Lodge in Fall
River
Flops,
turn, river, big blind; it’s all techno-speak to non-poker players. Pot odds,
value bets, on the button, on the bubble; one needed a Roget’s International
Thesaurus of Poker Words and Phrases! And don’t even ask about chip management.
I have been a big fan of World Series of Poker on ESPN, and have watched every
event since 2003. But this was my first tournament. I was as nervous as a wet
hen.
The Westport-based Devin Laubi Foundation raises funds to
financially assist families of children stricken with cancer in southeastern
Massachusetts, throughout New England and across the United States. Parents
have enough to worry about when caring for a seriously ill child. They should
not have to worry about their bills or job security during this time of crisis.
Frightened children need every facet of their parents' attention. The
Foundation's aim is to remove one of the many burdens.
The Laubi
family learned this first hand, with the loss of their six-year-old son, Devin,
to cancer (medulloblastoma, a brain tumor). This was
a devastating loss. The financial ramifications forced them to make decisions
no parent should have to consider: go to work or be where your heart is or
potentially lose your home from the loss of income. Maintaining stability and
normalcy is difficult during turmoil.
Learn more about the
Devin Laubi Foundation.
Learn more about the
Eastern Poker Tour.
From the left: 1. Robin Laubi of the Devin Laubi
Foundation, with her mom Mariette Pearson and Mariette’s husband Bob, registering the incoming players. 2. Table #5 (From the left) Nick of
Miami; Kenny from Wakefield, RI; Ann of N. Kingston, RI; Alex of New Bedford;
Mike from Narragansett, RI; Kevin from Westport; and Nathan from New Bedford. 3.
My first pot of the tournament – chip leader for five minutes! 4. Later at table 5 - Ace/King against Ace/Queen
– always sure to generate a large pot, and an “all-in” (betting all your
chips)!
The
contingent of players was a mix of semi-profession Eastern Poker Tour (sponsors
of the tournament) players, local mid-level amateurs, and folks like me
contributing to a worth-while charity and having fun doing it. Several players
mused over recent tournaments they were in, and there was much talk about
poker. I was beginning to feel like a fish out of water.
The blinds,
the required two bets for each hand of poker before the cards are dealt,
started at $100 (small blind) and $200 (big blind), and were raised about every
20 minutes. This procedure moved the tournament along, and eliminated “short
stacks” (players with few remaining chips) at a rapid clip. 25 players were
eliminated by 8:15 p.m. I was moved to table
one as table consolidation began. Regrettably, I wasn’t “catching cards”,
and my stack of chips was dwindling – the “blinds” would do me in if I didn’t
win a pot soon. Panic attacks were coming at regular intervals! Most of the
remaining players were accumulating chip stacks of $15 to 20 thousand, putting
themselves into position to make the final table.
In the
knick of time my hole cards of Ace/Queen survived an all-in bet and elimination
was avoided. Blinds went up to $1500/3000 and more players went home. 20
players remained, and I was one of them! Another hand with Ace/Jack of clubs
barely held up, and my meager stack was refreshed. These bets brought me very
anxious as any loss would send me home.
I was moved
to table two as the remaining tables
were consolidated to two. My first hand - pocket Aces! I slow-played them and
two players raised the call. I raised and they called. I flipped over the Aces.
They held up. Unfortunately my chip count was so low I didn’t win many chips,
and I was eventually knocked out in 13th position, four off from
“the bubble”, or the final table where everybody is in the money. What an exhilarating
experience! It was 9:40 p.m.
At 9:45 the
blinds went to $3000/6000. Kevin from Westport drew a straight flush on the
river, the most dramatic hand of the evening!
The final
table was determined at 10 p.m. There was a break, and play resumed. The
magnificent nine were: Kevin of Westport; Glenn of North Kingston, RI; Richard
from Cranston, RI; Jenn from Fall River; Dave of
Yarmouth; Jay of Fall River; Nick from Pawtucket, RI; Chris of Somerset; and
Dave from Dennisport. All on the bubble, all in the
money! The Eastern Poker Tour people “chipped up” the final table -
consolidating low dollar chips into higher dollar chips to make handling them
manageable. The black $5000 chip was put into play.
Greg Raymer
(fossilman), 2004 World Series of Poker champion, advices not risking your
chips in all-in bets during the early and middle stages of a tournament; let
the other players knock themselves out. Accumulate chips and play
conservatively – avoid elimination. That philosophy would now change. Heavy
betting and all-ins would quickly knock out the short stacks as lady luck took
her due.
10:30 - Richard
and Nick are the big stacks; Jenn is 3rd.
10:40 - The
blinds go to $5000/10,000. After some shrewd playing by Jenn,
she becomes the chip leader.
11 - Blinds
are now $10,000/20,000. Three players remain: Nick, Jenn
and Richard. Fortune changes hands quickly. At 11:10 Richard takes a BIG hit as
a flush on the river by Nick makes Richard the short stack. The death knell is
tolling.
11:15 -
Richard’s luck changes, and he is now the chip leader as Jenn
didn’t survive her all-in bet. She gets up from the table and wishes Nick and
Richard good luck, and prepares to leave. Wait - the dealer calls her back.
When the winning pot is tallied, she has a few chips remaining. Jenn’s on life-support, but she’s got a chip and a seat,
and she’s back at the table! There are now $320,000 chips in play. The blinds go to $15,000/20,000.
11:20 - Jenn and Nick “chop” (split) a pot with Aces. Amazingly, Jenn fights back. From all but eliminated, she regains the
chip lead!
Then Nick
with King/10 goes against Richard’s Ace/6. Nick gets his King and Richard is
crippled. The next blind knocks him out. Jenn and Nick
now go head to head. It is 11:30 p.m. 4 ½ hours of nerve-racking play has tired
these two surviving players: the affable, quick-to-smile Nick and the
no-nonsense, very determined Jenn. Blinds go to
$20,000/$40,000. Loins are girded and lines are drawn.
The next
hand they go all-in; the pot is chopped.
At 11:42 Jenn goes all. Nick agonizes over the call. With the big
blind at $40,000, it won’t take many hands to knock out the short stack. He has
got to make a decision. He has got to go all in. Nick makes the call.
Jenn flips
over pocket deuces; Nick needs to pair the board. The flop comes – Jenn gets “trip” (three) deuces! It’s all but over. Nick
needs running cards on the turn and river to survive. Luck turns her back on
Nick and Jenn wins!
The long
evening of blustering, maneuvering, and chip tricks is over. The deceptions and
tells, straight flushes and high card Jacks are just memories. You couldn’t ask
for two nicer heads-up competitors. Jennifer Carvalho
of Fall River learns she wins a seat in the satellite tournament at Whites
Restaurant; the winner of that event goes to the 2008 World Series of Poker!
She is really energized. “This first prize money means nothing compared to that
satellite seat,” exclaims an excited Jenn. “I can’t
wait for June!”
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Prize money payouts:
1st
Place - $1500
2nd
Place - $750
3rd
Place - $400
4th
Place - $300
5th
Place - $250
6th
Place - $200
7th
to 9th Place - $100 each
“The Devin
Laubi Foundation cleared about $1500,” Robin reported. “We were hoping for a
larger turnout, but these funds will certainly help our organization. Thank you
to all who supported this Charity Poker Tournament.”
To learn
more about the Devin Laubi Foundation,
please contact them at the following address, phone number or email.
Address:
The Devin
Laubi Foundation
c/o 504 Main Road
Westport, MA 02790
Phone: (508)
636-7369
E-mail: mydevin@netzero.com
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