WSOBJ Finals: Round 1, Match 3

I’m going to need a shower after this, so let’s just get started

So it’s Cali vs. Texas with Joe in between.  Let’s roll.

Kacie gets things started right with a $1500 Blackjack on Hand 1.  Dave tried to think out of the box and cost him an extra thousand (4 total).  Kacie repeats her initial success in hand 3 for $4500, but Alice draws to 21 to give her the 3K lead.  Dave keeps getting bad cards, but his trademark progression finally pays off for 15K to prevent him from bottoming out completely.

Hand 8 is the self-fulfilling prophecy in a way as Norm and Joe get 20, Kacie and Alice get 11, and Dave gets 15 (for 23,000).  However, the dealer blackjack takes out all the fun, even though Norm saved $4000 by taking insurance.

Next hand: Dave has to jump off the progression and bet 1/3 of his stack.  He gets sevens up, but against a 10, he’s forced to surrender just in time for the Knockout Round.

He’s that good, huh?  Anyway, Alice leads the betting with 15, then 1, 22, 49 (all in for Dave) and 2.  Norm gets 14, Joe 11, Dave 13, Kacie has cowboys, and 10 for Alice against a dealer 5.  Alice is able to correct a bad bet by doubling for $5000.  Norm’s hand was irrelevant and gets mucked for 500.  Joe hits straight up to 19.  Dave needs divine intervention, so he Power Chips his 3 into…… a five!  He busts out and swears his way into a 5^th place finish.  Meanwhile, everyone else beats the dealer 17, so everyone ends up within $1000 of each other.  With the leaders at the break-even point and Phase II about to start, it’s like a fresh new game!

Hand 12 and 3-card pokerer Alice makes waves with a set of 7’s.  That hits the jackpot as she’s the only winner and takes a 14K lead.  She follows that up with Pocket Rockets in the next hand, but a dealer Blackjack stops anything from happening, although Joe did manage to push for $8000 on his own Blackjack.  Meanwhile, Norm has been slipping.  A failed double-down in hand 15 drops him to 55 and a quarter.  That forces a max bet in hand 16, but gets 16.  He goes out of the box and doubles for the 5000 and Power Chips the face-down.  He keeps it, joking about how he couldn’t bluff.  (I found it amusing, anyway.  Dealer shows………….17!  Norm will at least push………18!  That’s a win!

Kacie’s now in a tight spot with 86-5.  Fittingly, she gets given the Knockout Card on the way to a crucial bust, but Norm busts as well, while the other lose to Jessica’s 19, so everyone’s hurting heading into knockout round #2.

Alice leads with 25, Norm 39, Joe 15, and Kacie goes max.  Alice will keep her 20.  Norm stands on 15, Joe keeps 18, and so it’s all on Kacie.  She hits to 15……18!  That’ll work, opening 17 and 18 for Kacie to survive and Norm to go home…….19!  One too many for Kacie, which means she gets knocked out in fourth place.  It’s time for the Final Five.

Norm goes all in to start and gets stuck with a 14.  He hits to 18, but the dealer 9 is still trouble.  However, a bust keeps him in the Blue Card Round with 78,250 to play with.  He pushes out 50 for this next hand, but is unable to go nowhere.  Meanwhile, Alice decides that a soft 18 isn’t good enough and Power Chips the 7 away for a 6 which leads to a bust, but she still has the lead!

Norm’s all in once more with 3 to go.  He goes from 14 to 17, but a dealer Queen is bad news 2 times out of three.  She shows 13…15……23!  Norm lives!

Penultimate hand and Alice’s bankroll has remained unchanged since my last toteboard check, but Joe has dropped some.  Norm goes max, Joe halves his 78-5 and Alice goes 30.  Dealer 4 prevents any hitting, except for Joe who does the double/Power Chip combo on a 13 for the full 38-5.  He likes what he sees enough to keep it.  Dealer shows 14……19!  Norm loses, and will this be an irrelevant final hand?  An 18 for Joe says yes.  Joe Fisher’s out in 3^rd place with $3,000 and with a 95-6 lead, Alice Walker will win.  The final hand is an afterthought and even though 85,000 is by no means a scoring record, the 3 Card Poker champ will win $25,000 and a seat in the Semis.  Norm gets into the Wild Card by sheer force of will.

We need a better final.  Will we get one next time?  Basic Strategy says “tune in next week to find out.”