SOEST World Series of Poker

27th Annual SOEST World Series of Poker Synopsis

Photo of poker players.

Photo of winner. Click on the above image to see a larger version.

The 28th Annual SOEST World Series of Poker will be 10/11/08 @ my place, please save this date. The prelims will be 1:00-5:00, note earlier time, with the potluck dinner starting @ 5:00 & the finals after dinner. This list is kluged together & undoubtedly contains errors & gaps, please forward to all the SOEST people you think might be interested.

For those wondering how it happened that I’m hosting, here's a synopsis of last year’s tournament. A record was almost set the 1st hand of my prelim table, when John Sinton & I, playing guts, each drew 3 & then started raising & reraising. When the smoke cleared his trip Q’s lost to my full house, & he went out a couple of hands later in modern ($25 buy-in) record time, 16 min. On the last hand @ this table I knocked out both other remaining players, Brian Taylor & Steve Austin, to win all the $ @ the prelim table. Steve had Brian outchipped & so was awarded the coveted seat @ the Final Table, joining Fred Duennebier, Chip McCreery, Jim Potemra, James Foster & me. This was a tough table including 3 other previous winners, Fred, Chip, & Jim, & both James & Steve had made several recent final tables (NB: James has since won twice). I knocked out Jim in LBO, with a pair beating his 2 bluffing pairs, & Fred crippled both Chip & James in a huge hold-em pot, so they were next out, & Fred was way ahead. Fortunately Steve doubled up thru Fred just before I eliminated him, so Fred & I started heads-up play almost exactly even, & history was going to be made, because 1 of us was going to finish 2nd for the 1st time after 11 wins between us. Fred went way out in front again using his normal technique of “skill”, but I came back by using the deceptively simple technique of being dealt good cards (Chip kindly dealt to speed up play) & luckily winning all the many times I was all-in. Eventually, holding a big pair of pocket 2’s (the 2nd time this has been my tournament-winning hand) playing hold-em, I lured Fred into a huge final pot & won this last coin flip. Fred (or as I like to call him, Mr. 2nd Place) (NB: please see update on Fred at the end of the poker section) was gracious in defeat, & he & Terri were gracious hosts, but not gracious enough to go along with the popular opinion that they should host it every year, so Donna & I will be hosting this year, & hope to see you there.

Aloha,
Hey

36th Annual SOEST World Series of Poker Synopsis

photo of poker players

Here’s Dylan raking in a pot against Mebs. Brian is patiently watching & learning, & Fred is philosophically mucking cards but still looks healthy (please see update on Fred at the end of this poker section). Looks like there’s still 6 players at the Final Table.

This is the synopsis from the 36th Annual SOEST World Series of Poker @ my place in 2015.

From the 3 randomly-drawn qualifying tables, 1 of which managed to include all of the administrators, 6 players made it to the Final Table, Brian, Fred, Chip, Mebs, a new player Benedetto (NB: he won in 2018), & me, helped by my (then) 9 yr old son Dylan who played the Texas hold-em hands for me while I helped Donna host. The others @ the Final table graciously allowed Dylan to keep playing hold-em hands for me (while I took some proud father photos), probably assuming they were gaining an advantage. However, before he went to bed Dylan knocked out Benedetto with a straight over his trips, & then Mebs with a flush over his straight. By the time Donna insisted it was long past Dylan's bedtime & ended his amazing run he had built up a huge chip lead, so after Brian eliminated Fred (NB: please see update on Fred at the end of the poker section) & I eliminated Chip in 7-stud low, I started heads-up against Brian way ahead.

Brian then completely outplayed me — it turns out Vice Chancellors/Deans are difficult to bluff @ the stakes we play — & steamrollered me for the championship, joining an elite group who have won multiple championships (all but 1 of whom are marine geophysicists or geologists who spent extensive time @ sea playing lots of poker).

Brian very generously gave some of his winnings to Dylan to thank him for teaching him how to play hold-em, but kept enough to allow him to host this year, hope to see you there — how often do you get to suspect your Dean is lying & still have a chance to get some of his money?

Aloha,
Hey

 

photo of poker players

Here’s another photo from last year — looks like it’s down to the final 3, Brian, Chip & Dylan (me), they’ve gotten rid of the white chips, the ante is $2 so they’re in the 3rd hour of Final Table play, Dylan’s had his shower & is reaching for raising chips, unintimidated by the Dean of SOEST and Director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, who seem to be getting a kick out of it.

 

Update on Fred: As it turned out, this 2015 tournament was the last SOEST WSOP that Fred Duennebier played in. He was too sick the next 2 years & then, after earlier surviving pancreatic cancer, died in 2018 from the prostate cancer he battled long enough to allow him to meet his 1st grandchild.

Fred & I started this poker tournament in 1981, originally called the HIG WSOP when everyone was in HIG, later evolving to the SOEST WSOP after the reorganization, & Fred & Terri hosted most of the early tournaments, not only the numerous ones he won. In many ways this tournament was another result of the Galapagos project Fred, John Sinton & I (left photo foreground in 27th WSOP synopsis) started to study causes & consequences of the rift propagation near the Galapagos hotspot. Possibly because of all the poker we played on our numerous cruises in the years before technology changed oceanographic life at sea, a total of 19 of our tournaments have been won by participants on these Galapagos expeditions, including 5 by Fred, 2 by John, 2 by Fris Campbell, & 1 by Marty Kleinrock.

Fred was a good friend & wonderful person, & my UH workout buddy for 30 years. It was a pleasure to work, sail, & play poker with him. In my opinion he was the best poker player in our group, & certainly was the most fun to play with. In his honor the original championship plaque he designed, which can be seen in the 27th SOEST WSOP synopsis above, & which finally ran out of space many years after we thought it would, has been replaced by the Fred K. Duennebier Memorial Trophy seen below. I’m very glad my son Dylan got to play poker with him several times (as well as croquet & paintgun shooting on Fred & Terri’s “farm” in Kahalu‘u), & will always treasure the photo including the 2 of them in the 36th WSOP synopsis above, the last photo I ever took that includes Fred. RIP.

Fred K. Duennebier Memorial Trophy

Fred K. Duennebier Memorial Trophy

 

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