Although there are fixed rules or venues, DBB Live is generally a cash game with 10c/20c blinds (optional straddle and double straddle) played at the home of David K Lappin ('The Dock') or Rob & Suzanne. Once heads-up, either player may reveal one or both his hole cards in an effort to gain information, hoodwink his opponent, create more drama for the rest of the table or just be an ass-hole. A player may also show, at his discretion, show his cards to a spectator or player already out of the hand. Adding to the drama and silliness, the Seven-Deuce Game is always in effect with a victorious showdown of 7-2 being rewarded with a 1 Euro present from everyone involved in the hand. There is no upper limit to a players buy-in but 5 Euro is the lower limit. Players may re-buy at any time. The game usually starts off fairly politely with the first hour being a sort of 'feeling-out' period. It quickly descends from there into an alcohol induced raise-reraise-rereraise-all-in-tantrum-throwing-crazytime donkfest filled with incident, drama, bad manners and the occasional assault.
The Dock - Saturday, January 31st, 2009
Last Saturday saw the long-awaited return of DBBs Live Game. The table was full, the Bombay Sapphire was plentiful and the Bathrooms were not just clean - they were brand-spanking new! Some new arrivals were welcomed to the Dock - Harry, Rebecca and Padraig all made their debut live appearances. Sadly for him, Padraig 'Padder' Dowling will not be invited back. The young hot-shot showed his inexperience by ruthless fleecing the rest of us throughout the night.
'The night when everyone complimented David
on his lovely new bathrooms'
Padder lured us all into his web. We started with a friendly $5 SNG and he donked out of that in seconds! He, then, shipped LAPPIN and TULLY another fiver in a bit of 3-handed cash-action. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel bad when he took to the streets at just 10pm, 10 Euro poorer, seeking the refuge of my local chippie. Would he come back and donk off another 10 or even more perhaps? I hoped not. I hoped he'd get even.
Ken took 3rd and his money back in the SNG, leaving Rob and Dunk to fight it out for the victory. The blinds were high and it didn't take long for them to get it all-in. Dunk lost and was left with less than a Big Blind. In true Tully fashion, he was told that we didn't have time for him to make a come-back and it was in the best interests of the night to concede so we could get down to the business of cash game poker. To his credit, he didn't put up a fight and so it began.
The first hour was characterised by LAPPIN's spewage of chips. He donated merrily to all who entered a pot with him. Other donators included Rebecca, Harry and Ken. Meanwhile Padder and Rob made solid early headway. Suzanne joined the party an hour in, abusing her tight reputation and making a pair of awesome bluffs to take down sizeable pots. Dunk had his trip-Kings cracked by Rob's rivered flush, LAPPIN doubled up (his 3rd buy-in) with JQ versus the 33 of Tully and all the while, Padder made the right moves at the right time and built a stack.
Dunk hit the hay at 2am a small loser. Harry and Rebecca were on there way when the host insisted that they stay on his bankroll. Harry showed his appreciation for this gesture by raping the host in the next two pots, cleaning him out, forcing him to buy in for a 4th time. Harry's card-rush meant that he and Rebecca combined probably ended the night break-even - a respectable debut!
At 3.30, Rob and Sue were next to depart - They both doubled their money for a nice night's work. Ken threatened to go with them but was encouraged to stay a little while longer. After all, he had amassed a stack of about 70 Euros with some excellent play in the previous couple of hours. Padder, with almost a ton, was more than happy to continue as was the host. Tully was fading into his 5th G and T but said he would keep going for a bit longer. Ken flipped a coin and decided to stay. Three minutes later, Tully was asleep on the couch and it was 3-handed!
LAPPIN had 40 (although he was in for almost 100), Ken had 70 and Padder was over the Hundo. The action was fast and loose. Ken went into bluff-mode and paid the price to Lappin. Lappin went into bluff-mode and paid the price to Padraig. Within an hour, Ken was cleaned out, Padder was loaded and Lappin was somehow even for the night! The young maestro seemed to have the game in his pocket - never stepping out of line, always getting value from his big hands and picking off bluffs with ease. If he wants to do well in this poker-business, he'd be well advised to not humiliate us all like that again!
The Dock - Thursday, October 11th, 2007
Last Thursday's DBB Live Game was one of the best games of poker ever! Dave 'I am amazing' Lappin took away over €300. There were about one thousand all-ins, hundreds of euro lost on SEVEN-DEUCE, three drunken casualties, about two hours sleep before work the next day, one phone thrown in the bin, one bottle of gin consumed (mostly by Mark!), two accidents on the stairs and one fight. Just another poker night at Dave's.
'The night when Mark hit Dave in the face with a chip'
Poker has come alive with the best week in Bellybusters history as 10 showed up for the online game last Sunday and eight for the live game on thursday.
The live game was a volatile contest with huge pots being contested all night. Players went from winners to losers to winners again in the blink of an eye or the slap of a camera-phone.
Rob O'Connor would get his money in good for the first hour and a half, building up a stack worth 70 euro only to slip back to 40 over the next couple of hours and eventually get it all-in in a big multi-way pot that was taken down by Dave Tully.
Dave Tully blew his initial buy-in in the first hour, rebought (via the wallet of his brother) and played solid poker all night, amasing a stack of 100 euro only to lose half of it to a dubious end-of-the-night call to Mark.
Rob Costello played super-aggressively, betting and occasionally over-betting his draws but the tactic worked as he never came up against a hand strong enough to test him and tripled his initial buy-in of 20 euro. That is until he walked into the flush of Lappin which provoked the beginning of a downward spiral as his 7s walked into the kings of O'Connor and he was forced to rebuy.
Mark Tully was the story of the night. He was brash, provocational and super-aggressive. He started well but the lost it all. He rebought for a double-stack, doubled it, lost half of that, tripled that and lost it all. He rebought (via the wallet of Lappin - who he still owes that 50 euro) and tripled it in 5 hands. He lost a quarter of that getting sucked out on by Dunk who spiked a miracle ace on the river. He lost another big hand to Lappin and was down to 70 before the big hand with his brother.
Those gathered demanded that he face-off with Lappin for at least ten hands of heads-up. Lappin, too, had been volatile all night, shipping his first buy-in to Rob Costelloe, his second to Tully who bizarrely called his check-raised all-in with 6-3 on a K52 board only to find himself not in bad shape against Lappin's 7-2. Tully spiked a 3 on the river to deprive Lappin the first 7-2 success of DBB LIve, an honour bestowed on Rob O'Connor later that evening and repeated by Mark later still.
Lappin rebought again, doubled up quickly, lost a bit, won a big pot and bullied his way to a stack of 230 (mostly stealing from drunkards) by the time he and Mark would square off for the anticipated gruelling back and forth of head-up play.
Heads-up: TULLY vs LAPPIN: Battle of the swinging willies.
HAND 1:
Lappin with 3-5 of diamonds raises to 50c on the button. Tully with the 7-10 of clubs calls.
The FLOP: 467 rainbow
Mark checks. Lappin leads out for 1 euro.
Mark stares at him for a while before re-raising it to 3 euro. (The dicks are in motion)
Lappin stares back before re-re-raising it to 7.50.
Tully looks down at his stack. (The dicks are swinging)
Tully goes all-in for 170 euro. Lappin insta-calls.
The cards are turned up. Tully screams in pain. Tully puts Lappin in a headlock.
Rob deals the turn - It's a 6!
Tully has some outs now. He's about 8% needing a 7 or a 6 on the river. The river comes a 4 and Tully close-lines Lappin over the couch.
The Dock - Thursday, October 18th 2007
Would tonight's DBB Live Game live up to its predecessor? Would Tully exact some on the table revenge against LAPPIN? Of course not. Why would he when there's a perfectly good pile of folded laundry to spoil instead. Confused? Read on and watch the action below! Videos as usual courtesy of Rob O'Connor.
'The night when Mark threw Dave's boxers in the bin'
The newly rejuvenated Live Game lived up to its reputation for controversy spilling over into some schoolyard silliness. Was it to be chip-throwing? Phone-smacking perhaps? Would Rob's digital camera, brought to capture some more great all-in moments, be sat on, or possibly eaten? No. It was to be the underwear of the host that would take the brunt of Mark's rage. Neatly and lovingly folded on the table, they would be scattered about the room, on the floor and in the bin.
Anyway, down to the poker.
The story of the early part of the night was Ken Cleary, amassing a healthy stack at the expense of David Lappin after calling his two pair on the flop to Lappin's flush-draw (the first of many questionable plays by Lappin, justified by him as motivated by guilt at winning so much a week earlier).
Lappin's rebuy would go to Luke Ginnell after he flopped a set of 4s on a 346 board only for Luke to show up a set of 6s. Another rebuy, this time for 50 would be reduced to 25 as Lappin played loose and got punished for it, shipping chips to Rob O'Connor and more to Cleary.
Meanwhile, Mark Tully was quietly building a stack as was Dave Tully whose solid style kept him healthy for the majority of the night. Sadly for Mark, these positive in-roads would count for nothing as Cleary and 'CRAZY-TIME' would conspire to walk Mark into a monster. Crazy-Time, for the uninitiated out there is a special period of a poker game, a time when the importance of normal poker conventions must submit to that of the timetable of Iarnrod Eireann, a time when any two cards are good for an all-in wager because the player would rather double-up or lose everything before the long journey home.
And so Crazy-Time was declared, like a gauntlet being thrown down but like a gauntlet in the face, Cleary had been dealt aces and the pocket 8s of Tully and the Ace-King of Ginnell didn't know what hit them. Cleary departed with a net gain of 60 euro.
Mark rebought and he topped up and interestingly, opted for a more solid style once Shaunta arrived. He would eventually get unlucky making a superb call with AJ on an AK9 (all hearts) board when Rob re-re-raised all-in on the flop holding Kojac with the Jack of hearts. The turn was no help for Rob, reducing his chances from 39% to 19% but like a dagger to the chest Mark dealt himself a King on the river and Rob would take down the pot. Rob would also take out Dave Tully after going into the tank and eventually calling Tully's all-in re-raise on the river with a set of Jacks with the board reading J-3-10-5-9. Tully had 2 pair and Rob was the new chip-leader.
Rob Costello would have a Costelloesque evening, betting his draws strong, bullying people out of pots and always willing to make a big bluff and put his opponent to a big decision. Unfortunatley for him and as is the nature of No-Limit, his fine evening's work was undone in a flash as he tussled with O'Connor for a 70 euro pot. Rob had pocket Kings on a Q63 rainbow board. Costello bet 2.50, Rob made it 7.50 to go. Costello called. The turn brought the 7 of clubs and stealing the lead in the betting from O'Connor, Costello announced all-in. O'Connor hated it. Did Costello have a draw? or possibly AQ? Or did that turn bring him two pair, making him big favourite. The stone-cold bluff seemed unlikely but O'Connor mused and cogitated, giving this decision the time and respect it deserved. He eventually called and Costello showed up his King 7 for second pair and only 2 remaining outs. He didn't hit and O'Connor sat before a Taj Mahal of chips.
It was then that the 3-handed game began between Lappin, Dunk and O'Connor. Lappin had won some medium sized pots in the interum and his stack had recovered to about 70 euro. Dunk had 40, having doubled up through some aggresive play. The three tussled for a couple of hours and in the end split up the pot with Rob taking home 110 for a 70 euro gain, Dunk took 60 for a 40 gain and Lappin took 70 for a 20 loss.
In a final note, as I walk from cafe to cafe this week (no doubt trailed by dogs drawn to my garbage-smelling pants), I will think of you Mark, with your freshly laundered pants (no doubt cleaned and starched for you by a kind chinese woman) and how when we are skiing next February and you are very vulnerable, a newbie on the slopes, I plan to make you to fall in a variety of tibia-cracking, fibula-shattering ways.
