SHHNHB #1 Results
I will have a photo essay to post soon (courtesy of Andrew), but here's the text recap:
Semifinal #1 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
018 - (1) Chang
054 - (5) Andrew
060 - (8) Gerald
102 - (4) Lisa
I somehow managed to shoot the moon on the very first hand, despite a hand that included the AH, QH, and 7H. Nobody wanted to take one for the team, so I was quickly up 26 and cruised the rest of the way with conservative play. Lisa had one of those games where nothing goes right, and she was at 70 within the first three hands, so it was basically a race for second place between Andrew and Gerald. They flip-flopped positions the last 5 hands! It really could have gone either way, and it looked like Gerald was going to pull off the improbable upset, but as you can see from the score, Andrew managed to eek it out, dumping the queen of spades on Gerald on the very last hand to ensure his spot in the finals.
Semifinal #2 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
066 - (3) Hubert
070 - (7) Daniel
082 - (2) Annaka
120 - (6) Rob
Daniel looked destined for 100 quick points while Annaka and Hubert were cruising according to seed with Rob solidly in the mix, but then things changed dramatically as Daniel held steady for 6 straight hands, Annaka had a horrid hold hand that cost her 21 points, and Daniel shot the moon on the second-to-last hand. The very unlikely and shocking end result was Annaka getting eeked out of the final table by Daniel, with Hubert taking the win. Rob was the victim of some unfortunate misplays that required hands to be redone, and he went from in contention to over 100 in three hands. Sadly, the Cubs' curse extends to their fans as well.
Consolation (race to 200, $5 to the winner)
132 - (2) Annaka
132 - (4) Lisa
155 - (6) Rob
202 - (8) Gerald
Weird that all the even-numbered seeds ended up at this table. Lots of moon shots in this game. Two by Annaka, including one to open the round, one by Lisa in between Annaka's two shots, and one by Rob to put the game on the verge of completion and give him a bright spot on the evening. Gerald ended up topping 200 shortly thereafter, and Annaka and Lisa tied for the win and split the $5 prize money. Nice job of salvaging things for those two after disappointing semifinal results.
Championship (race to 200, $25 to the winner)
085 - (1) Chang
086 - (5) Andrew
087 - (3) Hubert
210 - (7) Daniel
Daniel did a nice job just to get to the finals (the lowest seed to make it), and we were grateful that he eliminated our toughest competition, but he took the bulk of the points early, and it quickly became clear that it was going to be a three-horse race. Hubert took the early lead, Andrew led in the middle, and I took control late, though we were always less than a moon shot apart, and usually much closer than that. We always did a good job of nailing the guy who managed to take a lead, so no one was ever able to pull away for more than a couple of hands. And there wasn't a single moon shot; we were just too damn responsible and wary of each other.
Nothing illustrates these two points better than the second-to-last hand, which was the best of the night and set up the dramatic finish on the next hand. I was feeling confident with a 19-point lead over Hubert, 24-point lead over Andrew, with Daniel just a queen of spades away from topping 200, when Hubert made a move to shoot the moon. Being the responsible guy that I am, I had passed him a heart that I could cover, so I wasn't worried. Out came the heart (jack), I played over (king), and that was that. Except that I ended up having to take the rest of the points, too (20 total)! Hubert had set me up to where I either had to let him shoot or take 20 points for myself! Freakin' brilliant, I must say (and aggravating!). Thankfully for me, Hubert took the other six points on that hand, so I was still able to cling to my now-slim lead.
So heading into the final hand, it was 82 for me, 86 for Andrew, 87 for Hubert, and 187 for Daniel. Very little margin for error, and I needed every last ounce of it. Andrew dumped the queen of spades early in the hopes of drilling me (a mistake in retrospect), but it landed on Daniel instead, meaning I would win the tournament if I could prevent Daniel from shooting while taking no more than three hearts myself. He had five hearts in his hand, including the ace through jack, but I had the 10 with four others (I was extremely fortunate to have the requisite coverage), so I stopped his shot on the fifth heart trick and ended up taking exactly three hearts to beat Andrew by an excruciating one point, Hubert by a no-less-excruciating two points.
I admit I had to get quite lucky to win. Over the long haul, the best players will consistently be in a position to win, but in any given game, certain irregularities can have a huge impact on the result. Annaka saw that in the semis, and in the case of the championship, there were 4 hold hands in the round, and I took a mere 10 points on those hands. By comparison, Hubert took 50, Andrew 38. Since the hold hand is where luck most comes into play, it's easy to conclude that I got lucky, especially when you take into account the winning margin. Eliminate the hold hands, and perhaps I finish no better than third. Or perhaps the other guys target me less, and things even out anyway. Regardless, the disparity in hold hand points was critical no matter how you look at it.
Despite Andrew's excellent performance (two second-place finishes to the top seed), he still didn't manage to earn any prize money. It will certainly help his player ranking, but the career earnings list to date now looks like this:
1. Chang - $30.00
2. Hubert - $5.00
3. Annaka - $2.50
3. Lisa - $2.50
After the tournament concluded, most of us commented that the experience was very intense, much moreso than in, say, a Texas Hold 'Em tournament, because the level of competition was so high, and every hand really mattered. There was never an opportunity to take a mental break, because there's no such thing as folding a bad hand in Hearts. 2-7 offsuit in Hold 'Em? No problem. Queen of spades with no coverage on a hold hand or after the pass? Eat it.
It didn't help matters that the championship was such a close, see-saw game, the closest ever in which I've played. And what a time for it. Even the consolation game ended in a tie! It was a great start to the SHHNHB, with the two founders/commisioners (Sea Hang and Heya) finishing top two, and the top four seeds all finishing in the money (how about that for validation of the rankings!). There were also plenty of moon shots, big upsets, ridiculous suit distributions, bone-headed plays...everything you'd expect when you put a bunch of crazy Hearts players in a room together for four hours. We definitely have to do this again. :)
Semifinal #1 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
018 - (1) Chang
054 - (5) Andrew
060 - (8) Gerald
102 - (4) Lisa
I somehow managed to shoot the moon on the very first hand, despite a hand that included the AH, QH, and 7H. Nobody wanted to take one for the team, so I was quickly up 26 and cruised the rest of the way with conservative play. Lisa had one of those games where nothing goes right, and she was at 70 within the first three hands, so it was basically a race for second place between Andrew and Gerald. They flip-flopped positions the last 5 hands! It really could have gone either way, and it looked like Gerald was going to pull off the improbable upset, but as you can see from the score, Andrew managed to eek it out, dumping the queen of spades on Gerald on the very last hand to ensure his spot in the finals.
Semifinal #2 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
066 - (3) Hubert
070 - (7) Daniel
082 - (2) Annaka
120 - (6) Rob
Daniel looked destined for 100 quick points while Annaka and Hubert were cruising according to seed with Rob solidly in the mix, but then things changed dramatically as Daniel held steady for 6 straight hands, Annaka had a horrid hold hand that cost her 21 points, and Daniel shot the moon on the second-to-last hand. The very unlikely and shocking end result was Annaka getting eeked out of the final table by Daniel, with Hubert taking the win. Rob was the victim of some unfortunate misplays that required hands to be redone, and he went from in contention to over 100 in three hands. Sadly, the Cubs' curse extends to their fans as well.
Consolation (race to 200, $5 to the winner)
132 - (2) Annaka
132 - (4) Lisa
155 - (6) Rob
202 - (8) Gerald
Weird that all the even-numbered seeds ended up at this table. Lots of moon shots in this game. Two by Annaka, including one to open the round, one by Lisa in between Annaka's two shots, and one by Rob to put the game on the verge of completion and give him a bright spot on the evening. Gerald ended up topping 200 shortly thereafter, and Annaka and Lisa tied for the win and split the $5 prize money. Nice job of salvaging things for those two after disappointing semifinal results.
Championship (race to 200, $25 to the winner)
085 - (1) Chang
086 - (5) Andrew
087 - (3) Hubert
210 - (7) Daniel
Daniel did a nice job just to get to the finals (the lowest seed to make it), and we were grateful that he eliminated our toughest competition, but he took the bulk of the points early, and it quickly became clear that it was going to be a three-horse race. Hubert took the early lead, Andrew led in the middle, and I took control late, though we were always less than a moon shot apart, and usually much closer than that. We always did a good job of nailing the guy who managed to take a lead, so no one was ever able to pull away for more than a couple of hands. And there wasn't a single moon shot; we were just too damn responsible and wary of each other.
Nothing illustrates these two points better than the second-to-last hand, which was the best of the night and set up the dramatic finish on the next hand. I was feeling confident with a 19-point lead over Hubert, 24-point lead over Andrew, with Daniel just a queen of spades away from topping 200, when Hubert made a move to shoot the moon. Being the responsible guy that I am, I had passed him a heart that I could cover, so I wasn't worried. Out came the heart (jack), I played over (king), and that was that. Except that I ended up having to take the rest of the points, too (20 total)! Hubert had set me up to where I either had to let him shoot or take 20 points for myself! Freakin' brilliant, I must say (and aggravating!). Thankfully for me, Hubert took the other six points on that hand, so I was still able to cling to my now-slim lead.
So heading into the final hand, it was 82 for me, 86 for Andrew, 87 for Hubert, and 187 for Daniel. Very little margin for error, and I needed every last ounce of it. Andrew dumped the queen of spades early in the hopes of drilling me (a mistake in retrospect), but it landed on Daniel instead, meaning I would win the tournament if I could prevent Daniel from shooting while taking no more than three hearts myself. He had five hearts in his hand, including the ace through jack, but I had the 10 with four others (I was extremely fortunate to have the requisite coverage), so I stopped his shot on the fifth heart trick and ended up taking exactly three hearts to beat Andrew by an excruciating one point, Hubert by a no-less-excruciating two points.
I admit I had to get quite lucky to win. Over the long haul, the best players will consistently be in a position to win, but in any given game, certain irregularities can have a huge impact on the result. Annaka saw that in the semis, and in the case of the championship, there were 4 hold hands in the round, and I took a mere 10 points on those hands. By comparison, Hubert took 50, Andrew 38. Since the hold hand is where luck most comes into play, it's easy to conclude that I got lucky, especially when you take into account the winning margin. Eliminate the hold hands, and perhaps I finish no better than third. Or perhaps the other guys target me less, and things even out anyway. Regardless, the disparity in hold hand points was critical no matter how you look at it.
Despite Andrew's excellent performance (two second-place finishes to the top seed), he still didn't manage to earn any prize money. It will certainly help his player ranking, but the career earnings list to date now looks like this:
1. Chang - $30.00
2. Hubert - $5.00
3. Annaka - $2.50
3. Lisa - $2.50
After the tournament concluded, most of us commented that the experience was very intense, much moreso than in, say, a Texas Hold 'Em tournament, because the level of competition was so high, and every hand really mattered. There was never an opportunity to take a mental break, because there's no such thing as folding a bad hand in Hearts. 2-7 offsuit in Hold 'Em? No problem. Queen of spades with no coverage on a hold hand or after the pass? Eat it.
It didn't help matters that the championship was such a close, see-saw game, the closest ever in which I've played. And what a time for it. Even the consolation game ended in a tie! It was a great start to the SHHNHB, with the two founders/commisioners (Sea Hang and Heya) finishing top two, and the top four seeds all finishing in the money (how about that for validation of the rankings!). There were also plenty of moon shots, big upsets, ridiculous suit distributions, bone-headed plays...everything you'd expect when you put a bunch of crazy Hearts players in a room together for four hours. We definitely have to do this again. :)
posted by Chang Kim at Sunday, June 05, 2005
16 Comments:
it boggles me how much u detail you remembered in one night...freak, but congrats and i hope Lisa kicks your ass the next time =D
Geesh, I wish I had a life, too! Sigh...back to diarrhea, hairiness, and HIV :(
*sigh* I blame Andrew for the final mis-directed Elaine of spades ;)
It was fun, although altogether too much thinking involved for a Saturday night.
Btw, I just realized why I like your blog's template, it's the same one I use at work for all of mine. :)
Most of us have that kind of attention to detail, which is what makes us good Hearts players in the first place. :)
Well, G, there is the two-week Japan trip you are about to take, and the Hawaiian invasion upon which some members of this blog ring are about to embark. So fun is just around the corner!
Yeah, Andrew was a little hasty, and it ended up saving me. The two of you would have otherwise been battling it out for the win on the next hand.
It was definitely a tense night. We probably won't do another for a few weeks. I am tentatively slating SHHNHB #2 for June 25th.
When you switch to Blogger, you might as well use this template since you are already using it at work. It was the cleanest one I could find from which to customize.
crap, i need a life as well. all i can talk about is the lives of other ppl...
i sewed up a guy's busted face today.
i also took care of a woman who was fooling around with another man, then got caught by her husband...then when she tried to drive away, he ran her car off the road into a tree, then came over and busted the window (and her head) with a crowbar...then kindly drove her to the hospital...where he was arrested.
Wow, that's a great story. :) You definitely don't want to be writing stories like that about yourself though.
Scratch the 25th. Looks like we won't be holding our second SHHNHB until July.
You know what? I know that Jer's story is so wrong and messed up, but I couldn't help laughing. When are you coming to HI, Jeremy?
aw boo, chang won. i wish i were there to school all of you, but im too busy eating gelato and tiramisu!! hehe ;). miss yall...
This entire tournament was rigged! Why do you think the two hosts ended up first and second with a margin of victory of 1? You've all just been PUNK'D!
when did you switch decks? bastards.
please, no silly deck swapping. sleight of hand, my friend.
did you guys really think i'd throw down the queen when it was so obvious both hubert and chang could play under? i had to throw it at that point so that the top 3 scores would be within 1 of each other.
Yeah, brilliant Andrew. Now shut up. First rule of SHHNHB: never talk about SHHNHB. Second rule...you get the idea.
please, you're not that smart ;)
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