Pass The Cheese

I am at the Borgata for the Cabot Dairy charity event to benefit the New Jersey food bank. It feels good to participate in such a worthy cause. Last year they donated over 5 million pounds of food to those in need and they make that famous sharp cheddar cheese. They had several of those helped by the food donations at the event and it felt both good and bad to meet and talk to them. I had the feeling that we who are able don’t do enough, me included.

The tournament was expected to draw a good field at $300 each, the actual number turned out to be just under a hundred. Of the nine that cashed, seven donated a portion of their winnings to the food bank. The tournament even had a decent structure, what else would you expect from the Borgata. Starting chips was 10,000 and Cabot provided cheese and crackers for the breaks. What made it especially worthwhile is Cabot added a seat for the winner to the September WPT main event at Borgata. There was a young Borgata regular at my table Jarrett, who played well. He and I played a decent size pot early where I raised 3 BB’s in the lo-jack seat and he called from the button. The flop was A Q 8 and I continued with a pot size bet. He called and a blank came on the turn and I confidently bet the pot again. He remarked that he had a big draw and reluctantly folded. I showed 2 4 of clubs, which brought some remarks from the table. A little while later, also in the lo-jack I raised again, this time with JJ. He called and the flop came J 8 7. I bet the pot and he called. A king fell on the turn and I bet the pot again. He thought for a bit and raised me, and I moved in for not much more. He had K 10, top pair and a gutter ball which I dodged.

I chugged along pretty well and with 3 tables left I moved to a table with Steve Dannenmann on my immediate right. At the start of the event Steve and I agreed to donate half of any winnings to the food bank. A short time later Steve opened from the hijack with a standard raise and I called with KQ suited. The big blind re-raised about half the pot. Steve called, which brought me in as well. The flop came K Q 7 and after the big blind checked Steve moved all in for about 40k. I called and after the BB folded Steve showed A9 suited, and failed to improve. We quickly played down to 9 players and although I was the chip leader with 20 left I fell to second, and then went ice cold. I survived with the occasional steal until I got pretty short with 3 of us remaining. The leader had 500k, 2nd 250k and I was down to 85k when I the 2nd place guy completed from the small blind and I checked in the big blind with 6 2 off suit. The flop came J 6 2, and using the Jedi mind, control I got him to move all in and of course called. He showed Q 6 and I was able to escape without a Q falling. A few hands later he was gone and we went to heads up with me having around 220k to his over 600k. I took my time and eventually took the chip lead. I then raised from the button with 88 and he pushed, and I called. He tabled A 4, and with no waiting an ace was in the window. I couldn’t find an 8, and was now down to 110k in chips. With the blinds now 10k/20k and a 3k ante I was on life support. After he completed from the button I moved in with A 10 suited and he called with a small ace, and I prevailed. I then doubled again with K 10 suited versus Q 9 and was once again in the lead. He had played reasonably well up to this point but now seemed a little frustrated. After I raised from the button with A 8 he moved in and I called. I am embarrassed to say I forget his exact hand, but it was something like K 8 and I won. Although it wasn’t a big tournament, it was still a sweet win, particularly with the added seat for next month’s WPT event. The folks from Cabot where terrific and all in all it was a huge success for the food bank.