St Cloud Series of Poker

Yesterday was the inaugural event of Central MN Poker Player Association that I am forming with the help of many friends. It was a great success. A few years ago I ran a series of poker events and called it the St Cloud Series of Poker. I wanted to get this restarted because they were fun events. It was a big turn out for our main event. Congrats to winner Dominik Wirz. It was a busy day for me. I worked for a couple of hours in the am and then met to set up by 10:30. It is deer hunting weekend here in MN, so I wasn't sure how many would attend the event. At the last minute I decided that I better bring an extra table just in case to make it 6 tables. I would be very happy with a 60 player turn out. As we were setting up, the first players started to show up. I soon realized that I probably didn't bring enough tables. We ended up with 90 players. Wow! Had to play on two regular tables in another room in the bar as the main room only held 6 tables. Thanks to all that showed up. Gave everyone 15,000 in chips and ran 30 minute blinds. I had a friendly bet with a friend on who would be the first one out. Third hand of the tournament we lost our first player. What! How do you lose 15,000 in chips in three hands. You got to love a bar poker game. My horse went out a little while later, the third player out. He was on my table and played every hand to the river and then folded if he didn't catch his draw. So, I won the bet. Funny thing the other persons guess went out next as the fourth player out! One thing I like about a long format is that people that chase and catch will always get knocked out. It is impossible to get lucky for that long of a time frame. I suppose it could happen, but not as often as a 3 hour game. Playing and running a big tournament is very difficult. I end up missing a lot of hands as I am moving and taking care of issues. I did manage to hang on and went out in 16th place. It was an uneventful day for me. Lost 1/3 of my chips about 15 minutes in when big blind called a raise with 10-5 suited. I flopped two pair. He flopped a flush draw and then hit his flush on the turn. Good thing it was a deep stack tournament. I made a nice come back and then was blinded out at the end with no cards. The final table was full of good players and lasted almost 3 hours. It was a lot of dealing but fun to watch a final table that wasn't a total all-in fest. Results and pictures are on www.cmppa.com Come and check us out. Thanks to all that made it a successful day.