The Fifth Incarnation of the Ironman of Poker (IMOP)—"A Wolfpack of 12"—is dedicated to a celebration of the movie “The Hangover”. After all, some guys just can’t handle Vegas.
When: March 4-8, 2010 (though many savvy Ironmen will arrive on March 3 to get their poker and drinking sea legs).
Home Base: Venetian. The Ironmen return to the gold standard for poker room rates, landing huge Rialto View Suites at a bargain price for a place to nap 2-3 hours a day. Of course, forcing two Ironmen per room grind out a total of six hours of poker play per day will be a chore …
Pledges: This year we have a total of five pledges—Mr. Chow, Fat Jesus, Colt, Baby Carlos, and River Joe. The pledges will face an IMOP knowledge test at the Opening Ceremonies, with the losers facing severe penalties.
Jacket Dinner: Nob Hill at MGM Grand. Nob Hill features the cuisine of James Beard Award winner Michael Mina, which may be nearly as good as the Denny’s by Casino Royale.
Group Tournaments
Planet Hollywood, Friday, 2:00 am—The Ironmen jump right into the fray just a few hours after the official Opening Ceremonies.
TI, Friday, 2:00 pm—A great “wake up call” tourney for the Ironmen who will either be operating on 4-5 hours of sleep, or in the case of the team “last to sleep” prop bet competitors, a second tourney to play on Red Bull.
Mirage, Saturday, 11:00 am—Another early tourney to avoid conflicts with juicy evening cash games. The Ironmen return to Mirage after a three-year absence, hoping to find Mike McD still grinding away.
Aria, Sunday, 1:00 pm—The Ironmen check out the brand spankin’ new Emerald City poker room, hoping to tilt rich d-bags.
Team Events
New to IMOP-V is the group competition. Points will be earned by Ironmen based on their team performance in various events. Teams are captained by the three IMOP champs, who drafted the teams at the January IMOP home game.
Lucky Charms
Lucky (Captain)
JBDIA
Bonnie
Colt (Rookie)
Burning Sensations
Santa Claus (Captain)
Mr. Chow (Rookie)
Fat Jesus (Rookie)
River Joe (Rookie)
Ragin’ Cowbells
Grange (Captain)
Sahara
Barbie
Baby Carlos (Rookie)
In addition to points being awarded to the team with the player who goes furthest in the group tournaments, team points will be awarded for the following events:
Up All Night—Each team designates a player who must stay awake as long as possible after Opening Ceremonies.
2/4 War—Each team designates a player to play a session of 2/4 LHE. Rules for the game:
1) Players buy in for $60, no rebuys allowed.
2) Each player must play for: a) 60 minutes, b) until four drinks are consumed, or c) is felted, whichever comes first.
3) Must either bet/raise, or fold. Checking and calling are not allowed, including in the blinds. EXCEPTIONS—Calling is allowed on the river or any round which is heads up and uncapped (however, checking is never permitted even in these situations). Calling is permitted on a capped betting round since it is illegal to raise.
4) If all players make it to the end of the event without being felted, standings are determined by dollars left. If two or all three of the competitors are felted, the number of minutes played determines the order of finish.
Designated Drinker—Each team designates a player who attempts to consume the most free drinks beginning with the Mirage tourney and ending with the Jacket Dinner.
Where’s Waldo—A scavenger hunt list will be provided to each team. The team with the most pictures of items is the winner. Hunt begins at 9am Sunday morning and ends at midnight.
Individual Points
Main Events (Points = 100 / 70 / 50 / 30 / 10)
Most $$ Won—Overall
Most $$ Won—Cash Poker
Most $$ Won—Tournaments
Most $$ Won—Pit Games/Slots/Video Poker/Sports Book
Basketball Bonus Bracket (Picking the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney and various random college basketball games)
IMOP Prop Bets (see below)
Minor Events (Points = 50 / 30 / 10)
Worst concert T-Shirt
Worst sport jacket worn to IMOP dinner
Leprechaun Events (Points = 25 to winner)
Most $ won in single hand—cash poker
Worst rationale/response given for playing trash*
Best Overall Poker hand (cash or tourney)
*Must be done with straight face in order to attempt to tilt the table. For instance, see Mr. Chow's thesis on the rationale of playing three-gappers because you are twice as likely to make quads and three times as likely to make a straight. Will be judged for absurdity and comedic value/result.
Bonus Points
Win a tournament outright (+100 points)
Chop for first place in a tournament (+50 points)
Cash in a tournament (+20 points)
"I put you on aces"** (+5 points)
Felt a player in a cash game (+5 points)
Mighty Deuce-Trey*** (+5 points)
Last Ironman standing in tourney (+5 points)
Knock Ironman out of tourney (+10 points)
**Ironman must audibly say, "I put you on aces" as they stack the chips from winning any pot over $100.
***Win any pot holding 2/3 as hole cards. Hole cards must be tabled whether called or not, even if there is no other Ironman at the table.
IMOP Prop Bet Competition
Each Ironman starts with 100 points to wager. Unwagered points are forfeited. Maximum bet on any single wager is 20 points (in other words, each Ironman must lay at least five bets). An Ironman may not wager on himself.
Pick the Ironman (odds vary by Ironman)*:
High Hand Winner
Last One to Go to Bed
"Best" Losing Hand (best hand at showdown that does not win a pot)
Most $$ Won Overall
Most Tournament Cashes (not limited to group tourneys)
Winner of Pledge Hazing
Most "Feltings" Given Out
Over/Under (number varies by Ironman)*:
Tournament Cashes
Number of “Feltings” Given Out
Net Profit for Trip (gambling wins and losses only; money spent on food, taxis, giant green hats, and money stolen from man purses left in bathrooms don't take away from profit numbers)
Deuce-Trey Wins
Agree/Disagree (reverse odds for “Disagree”):
Santa will drink at least one beer (Even)
Grange will only have alcohol at ugly jacket dinner, nowhere else for the trip (9/1)
Barbie gets felted playing Deuce/Trey (3/1)
Sahara will play a poker room other than V, PH, Mirage, TI, and Aria (2/1)
An Ironman will win a poker jackpot of some kind (bad beat, quads, etc.) (4/1)
Bonnie will lose an object worth more than $5 during the trip (4/1)
JBDIA will lose a pot holding a full house (12/1)
An Ironman will get in physical confrontation with non-Ironman (15/1)
Lucky will have something spilled on him by non-Ironman (14/1)
* Complete prop bets and odds can be found HERE.
Miscellaneous and Sundry Rules:
First Ironman knocked out of tourney must immediately play 2/4 LHE (or the lowest LHE game in the room) for one hour OR must buy round of drinks at Jacket Dinner.
Honor system is an absolute must. This year's penalty for cheating is one hour of dancing shirtless in the Pleasure Pit at Planet Hollywood.
Sharing information about the events with outsiders for the express purpose of cheating is forbidden. However, manipulation of outsiders (without sharing the contest details) to gain an advantage or put other Ironmen at a disadvantage is acceptable (and potentially funny).
All disputes will be settled by vote of Ironmen not involved with said dispute.
Side wagers between Ironmen are perfectly acceptable so long as they don't directly influence the outcome of the event itself. For example, two Ironmen could not wager the Ironman points they have accumulated to that point, but could have a side wager about who would win a particular tournament.
