En Fuego: Congrats CJ!

Editor's Note: I apologize for the delay in posting this recap. I've been on the road all week and finally got back to NYC.

CJ won Satudays with Dr. Pauly Event #3 on Poker Stars! If you haven't been paying attention, or just started your poker blog last week and have no clue about CJ... he's been on a rush playing MTTs. Last week I dubbed on_thg as one of the best blogger tournament players. This week, I'm going to call CJ the "Most Improved Tournament Player" among us. In a short time span he's gone from admitted "dead money" to a top notch tournament threat. He's proof that if you become a student of the game and work on your play, while taking the advice of your fellow bloggers, you can achieve great things at the tables. Congrats again to CJ on a job well deserved. By the way, I can I borrow $2K?

I played in the third Saturdays with Dr. Pauly event in Rhode Island in Senor's basement, with his two-year old running around like bonkers. We were planning on leaving at 4pm to drive to Wallingford, CT to see a concert, so I hoped that the tourney would end as quickly as possible. It last about 15 minutes longer than I could stay, so I apologize that I missed the last 4 or 5 bustouts at the final table.

This tournament was big because it would set the tone for the few remaining players trying to win an iPod (1st place), The Big Lebowski DVD (2nd place), or a Christmas phone call from Daddy (third place). I'm also giving out a special "Boobie Prize" to last place overall. As of now, here's who has the best shot at the iPod:

Top 5 on the iPod Leaderboard:
1. On_Thg 8-1-19 = 28 (Event #2 Winner)
1. Philly63367 12-10-6 = 28
3. Bobby Bracelet 3-25-15 = 43
4. CJ 5-44-1 = 50 (Event #3 Winner)
5. Jen Leo 10-24-24 = 58

Best of luck everyone next week and thanks again to everyone who played this week and in previous events. The next tournament is this upcoming Saturday on Poker Stars! It will be the last one this year. Although I am trying to organize a New Year's Eve tournament on Poker Stars. So stay tuned for those details.

Here are some random notes from event #3:

1:00pm... I found Wil Wheaton at my table to start, but he was sitting out so I assumed he was still sleeping. Here was my first table:

Seat 1: Rod
Seat 2: Pauly
Seat 3: Wil
Seat 5: Mofo888
Seat 7: JenLeo
Seat 8: SoxLover
Seat 9: GCox25

1:05pm... I was quickly moved to a new table. Here's that lineup:

Seat 1: JHartness
Seat 2: GCox25
Seat 3: BG
Seat 4: BadBlood
Seat 5: Bddie
Seat 6: Pauly
Seat 7: JoeSpeaker
Seat 8: Lifesagrind
Seat 9: Whaaaa?

1:22pm... I'm 24th out of 72 remaining players.

1:25pm... I dropped the Hammer at my table with an Ace on the board. JoeSpeaker said he folded K-K.

1:33pm... I raised preflop with 10-9o. I was the first player in the pot. On the button, JoeSpeaker called with 10-10. The flop: J-8-3. I bet out, Joe raised and I moved all-in. He thought for a while and called. I had the open ended straight draw and Joe did not have any of my outs which was good, but it still didn't help me. I was busted in 67th place. Congrats to JoeSpeaker won won a free iTunes gift card!

1:45pm... I started packing for my trip and logged on to play a cash game with Wil Wheaton, Rod, Joanne, CJ, BobbyBracelet and DrChako. I let Senor play for me for a while and he won a few hands.

The Final Table

PokerStars Tournament #14328938
Buy-In: $10.00/$1.00
78 players
Total Prize Pool: $780.00
Tournament started @ 13:00:00 (ET)
Tournament finished @ 16:18:43 (ET)

Money Winners for Event #3:
1: Up4Poker (Lafayette), $234.00 (30%)
2: Crossroads9 (Middleton), $156.00 (20%)
3: SoxLover (Jersey City), $93.60 (12%)
4: TraumaPoker (LaGrange), $78.00 (10%)
5: jerge88 (Ames), $62.40 (8%)
6: phily63367 (lake saint louis), $50.70 (6.50%)
7: Maudie (kebzweb.com), $42.90 (5.50%)
8: Boobie Lover (Vale), $35.10 (4.50%)
9: Joanne1111 (Calgary), $27.30 (3.50%)

CJ: Saturdays with Dr. Pauly Event #3 Champion

That's it for now. Thanks again for playing. See you all on Saturday!