The Brian Campbell Poker/Drinking/Canoodling Tournament
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 11, 2010 7:30 PM CST
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PrintDirt - The three writers of this site are all pretty goddamn broke, so it's no surprise we couldn't afford to go to Campbell's recent charity poker tournament. Luckily, we have awesome readers, like AirTrafficAJ, who are more than willing to throw down some cash to head to the tournament and report back for everyone. This a great recap of the event.. be sure to hit the jump for some great pictures of the event too.. take it away AJ
So I went and played in the Campbell for Kids charity poker event, thought I would share a bit of it with you. The event itself was packed, with a grand total of 360 players in the tournament. Each player was assigned a table spot, and after the coordinators had people take their seats the celebrity participants came out, one per table. My table had Coach Quennville, and I gotta tell you the guy is a riot. You couldn't ask for a more down to earth, friendly guy. Chatted with everyone at the table. As far as the poker itself goes, it was almost a "speed poker" tournament. Blinds went up every 15 minutes, so if you didn't get good cards, you were not going to last long. I won one hand all night (off Quennville), and lost one hand (to Quennville). Wont give you the play by play action, but I will say that the Q-Stache has some river-ridin' magic in it. Afterwords, he shook my hand and asked if since he beat me, does he get my jersey? Har Har.
After being eliminated, I wandered around and talked to some of the players who had been knocked out. Pretty much the entire team was there except for Madden (probably still in wife-jail after the limo ride). Everyone was willing to chat and pose for pictures. I was once again struck by how young these guys really are. I'm 30, and can still drink like a champ, but these dudes made me feel fucking ancient. More than willing to pose for a picture or chat with you. My highlight of the night came on my way out, when I saw a roulette table downstairs with Barker, Eager, Bolland, and Toews playing. I stopped to watch for a bit, and was asked if I wanted to play by Barker. So I proceeded to drop $100 playing a game I normally hate to play, but on the plus side I got a Heinekin from Barker out of the deal.
Some observations:
All the players were drinking. Versteeg seemed hell-bent on getting his entire table shitfaced.
Buff had the line of the night, standing up from his table and saying "I gotta go take a shit"
Kopecky has zero accent.
Brouwer is absolutely huge.
Kane had no idea how to play poker. Instead of taking a peek at his cards, he would pick both of them up, and hold them in front of his face, thereby allowing everyone watching behind him to see his cards.
There were some serious sluts wandering around, trying to fuck their way to stardom. Can't stand that shit. On the plus side, they were all hotter than the farm girls in the limo pictures.
All in all, it was a great event for an awesome cause. I'm definitely going again next year, unless the meatheads get their wish and Soupy is run out of town.
Some Pics (after the jump):
20 cent showing off his mad poker skillz
Eager pondering the words the concussion voices were whispering in his ear.
Hjammer dropping the hammer.
T-Bone
Frazz drinks away the face-pain. Big cut on the bridge of his nose.
Me and Hossbollah
Once again: Brouwer is huge.
Bur-wood.
Hockey? Serious business. Poker? VERY serious business.
Even playing poker, Huet can't get away from Neimi.
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Now that was the coolest fanpost ever (sorry KofC! ;)
Looks like you had a great time. To say I’m envious would be an understatement of tremendously tremendous proportions. The roulette table shot is such the cherry on top of the experience. Great story. I’d write more but I gotta go take a shit.
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 11, 2010 7:47 PM CST reply actions
awesome post, thanks for sharing
I really like the Brouwer and Kane pictures, and the captions. And the observations.
Met Q at the STH Christmas thing— he’s pretty great, I agree.
Did Versteeg succeed in his quest to get his table shitfaced?
Tweets @ChiBlackhawks and blogs at Blackhawks Down Low.
They were well on the way
When they broke his table up and reconvened elsewhere. Steeger was out shortly thereafter.
"To the BeeMobile!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...yes."
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 11, 2010 11:08 PM CST up reply actions
I seriously have reread your post a few times
in some seemingly feeble attempt to vicariously relive the experience through you. I had commented earlier on another thread that I would have gone in a heartbeat had I known there were going to be so many Hawks there and only a few hundred people.
Too bad your roulette table photo didn’t come out better. I know that must be a bummer for you. Plus Cap’n Marvel’s not in it. Did you get other pics at the table? It’s a tough line to walk sometimes; do I get as many photos as possible or just enjoy the experience?
You’ve mentioned before that you work in Aurora. Do you live out this way too? If so, do you get to many IceHogs games? I’m heading there on the 27th when a handful of the Hawks and Coach Haviland will be there signing autographs. Not quite the same as playing cards and roulette with ’em though. I find it a great way to get my live hockey fix since I no longer live in the city and tickets have gotten pricey.
I’ve only been able to get to about a handful of Hawks games per season in the past few years. I used to have quarter season tickets with a neighbor of mine. 200 section near center ice. Sweet seats. He sold them off without even telling me about it early last season for “economic reasons” (believe me, this guy ain’t hurting), along with what would have been my one Winter Classic ticket. I’m not lying when I say that I haven’t spoken to him since. Also, to this day, and at least once a week, I still mutter to my wife “I can’t believe that prick sold my Winter Classic ticket.” I probably need to either go break out his windows or get over this ;)
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 11, 2010 11:41 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah
I have another roulette photo where all you can see is me and Toews. Everything else is a greasy blur.
I do work in Aurora, in the air traffic control facility right next to the hospital and the ghetto. It’s kind of an odd juxtaposition. You get “car on cinderblocks” neighborhood, then my work (surrounded by a big fence with razor wire), then a hospital. I’ve only gotten to one Hogs game, but would love to go to more.
I have season tix in the 329 section, but can only go to about half the games due to my wacky-assed schedule.
"To the BeeMobile!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...yes."
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 12, 2010 1:12 AM CST up reply actions
I'm almost disappointed that you mentioned Q was such a freindly guy
I was more envisioning that whenever Q was in on a hand that he gave the table the “3 seconds from death Q stare”
and everyone folded out of fear.
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 12, 2010 12:27 PM CST up reply actions
When I heard Tuesday night on the post-game show...
…that everyone was playing and if you knocked a player out, you got his jersey, I kicked myself for not cowboying up and signing up. After seeing the pics and reading this, next year I’m gonna have to do it.
by GenPabloSecobar on Feb 11, 2010 8:25 PM CST reply actions
Thanks
for making me feel even worse that I didn’t find a way to go.
2009 SCH Post Whore
2010 Troll Collector
SCH's Resident Mom
Me too!
We are so going next year, Trixie.
Anyway, thanks for the awesome pics and recap, AJ. Where was the Captain’s jersey?
by Katherine215 on Feb 11, 2010 9:48 PM CST up reply actions
Unless
it was so successful they have another this summer. ;)
2009 SCH Post Whore
2010 Troll Collector
SCH's Resident Mom
I'm thinking he'll have another event
Maybe something other than poker after the playoffs.
by Katherine215 on Feb 11, 2010 10:08 PM CST up reply actions
I'm guessing golf.
"To the BeeMobile!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...yes."
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 12, 2010 1:12 AM CST up reply actions
If they do a golf tournament
it will probably cut down on the slut traffic. Not many chicks are going to sign up to play golf.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
Captain Serious
Had his jersey draped over his chair. While the other players were shooting the shit with everyone else at the table, JT was putting my poker face to shame. You could tell he REALLY wanted to win.
"To the BeeMobile!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...yes."
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 11, 2010 11:09 PM CST up reply actions
Awesome recap
Sounds like it was a blast. Love the Toews pic.
Damn you college for making me poor (not that I could have afforded it before college costs).
"Eager pondering the words the concussion voices were whispering in his ear."
Best caption ever.
Excellent fan account, glad you (and everyone else?) had a great time, and for such a great cause too. Brouwer seems to be super competitive at all the non-hockey stuff…he also won when the team went bowling, curling, etc.
AJ - this was great.
Glad you had a good time.
Just because your friend says she saw me in the club with some other bitches,
sitting in V.I.P,
Smoking, and drinking, and kicking it.
Great post
and big ups on the North Dakota Jersey too…….
"I can't be held responsible for what I personally tell my goons to do...."- C. Montgomery Burns
Ha--Great post
Hammer’s got some serious male pattern baldness going there. Eager looks like a little kid. 20Cent looks like it’s past his bedtime.
i've reread your post like 10 times
all the photos and captions were great (esp eager and toews). now i really want to go.
Great Post
This event looks like it was worth every penny. And you got a free beer from a millionaire all good things.
Ben Eager can beat up your Dad
awesome post.
awesome jersey.
brouwer is a monster. love that guy.
looks like it was a great time. i met q last night on the south side- hilarious guy.
To continue the compliment parade...
Great post/recap indeed, thanks. Definitely jealous. I haven’t been around that many Hawks since I was a kid and my Dad took me to some practices (he was the Trib beat writer at the time) I’d probably react the same way now that I did then…with childlike wonderment.
"What the hell, let's review it." - Dale Tallon
"They are!" - Pat Foley
"What a farce." - Dale Tallon
"Brouwer is huge"
and yet he still looks smaller than you, gigantor!
seriously, whether it’s just a coincidence or because of all those stupid complaining fanposts over the last few weeks, the regulars’ fanposts have been incredible the last week. the roulette table sounds like a hawks fan’s wetdream.
All right, come on, dummy, you won the game. Come on. Pick up your trophy.
Thanks for sharing, AJ!!
This post is the exact reason why I never talk shit about Barker. He is literally the nicest guy ever. I sit behind a family with two little boys (ages 6 and 4) and got them “backstage” after a game to get autographs. Everyone signed their jerseys, but the only person who hung around and asked them questions was Barker. The 6 year old was beaming when he got to tell Barker his story about playing hockey in the basement with his dad.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
that's really cool
sounds like you’ve got amazing seats. i always wanted to go to games as a kid, but my parents don’t get hockey and were never really excited about taking me. how’d you get them “backstage?”
All right, come on, dummy, you won the game. Come on. Pick up your trophy.
These kids are super cute.
That’s pretty much the explanation for all the “backstage” happenings. We were all hanging out in the Kettle One club after the game (the kids, their parents, me and a friend) and one of the security guards said the kids could come back and get autographs. I, being buzzed and a single woman, volunteered to go with the kids and make sure they were on good behavior. I also made sure to tell everyone they weren’t my kids. Ha!
Barker not only chatted with the boys, he also talked to me for a few minutes while Kane and Toews signed the boys jerseys. Like I said, incredibly nice guy. Even though I don’t think he’s been playing well, I just can’t bring myself to knock on him with everyone else.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
i sat behind one of the cutest kids at game 1 against calgary last year. he was probably 5 and after havlat scored the game winner, everyone from three rows (his, ours, and the one below him) turned around and gave him a high five. he was about as happy as i’ve ever seen anyone ever.
nice job making sure everyone knew they weren’t your kids. i’d probably do the same thing. even though i’m a straight male, i don’t want to close any doors if i’m “backstage” at the UC.
All right, come on, dummy, you won the game. Come on. Pick up your trophy.
by meeshak on Feb 12, 2010 10:43 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs
arbitrarily rec'd
Tweets @ChiBlackhawks and blogs at Blackhawks Down Low.
by chiblackhawks on Feb 12, 2010 11:13 AM CST up reply actions
I rec'd it for the backstage comment
because I’m THAT mature.
I don’t know who else agreed with me, or if that was why they rec’d it too…
Tweets @ChiBlackhawks and blogs at Blackhawks Down Low.
by chiblackhawks on Feb 12, 2010 2:10 PM CST up reply actions
It appears to be an arbitrary attempt
to point out the whimsical and arbitrary nature of greening arbitrarily cute children.
Plus, isn’t it some kind of rule that the politician with the most attractive family automatically gets the vote? I think it therefore may have been a totally unconscious, programmed response that others felt compelled to vote for you, simply due to mention of cute kids.
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 12, 2010 2:15 PM CST up reply actions
Yeah
Meeting these guys was awesome but hard, simply because I sat and shot the shit with Kopecky for about 20 minutes. We talked about the olympics, Q’s mustache, Borat, all kinds of shit. I won’t be howling for his benching now when Burr comes back. But damnit, Eager and Frazz are cool too. And why isn’t Jordan Hendry playing more? I think you should be allowed to play 5 lines instead of 4.
"To the BeeMobile!"
"You mean your Chevy?"
"...yes."
by AirTrafficAJ on Feb 12, 2010 12:42 PM CST up reply actions
I’m going to be seriously bummed out when one of our guys gets traded. I understand that’s the way hockey works but I’ll still be sad.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
Did you catch my rant the other day
about how I dislike mid-season trading? I too would hate to see anyone go aside from Kopecky (but it’s not a total hate thing. He’s new, probably miscast, not talented enough for this team, etc). I like Barker’s potential and hope we have the time and patience to see him develop further, but he’s been stagnate and that time may be running out. He could probably be a decent top four D-man on another team. Steeger obviously has a lot of raw talent, but he’s also miscast and I don’t see how the current lines could be finagled to make him productive. He’s likely a solid 2nd line guy elsewhere. I don’t feel he has much upside potential though due to the apparent gap between his ears.
One of the biggest “problems” with our team is also one of it’s biggest strengths. We have so many players with such individually unique skill sets that it’s hard to put together four concrete lines. On the flip side, that makes them hard to stop because they come at you in so many different ways, with many possible combos.
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 12, 2010 1:26 PM CST up reply actions
So what you're saying is
that we’ve been ripping on Kopecky all this time, when in reality he’s just a very gifted and miscast “5th liner”?
Interesting that he has no accent. I was expecting that he sounded like on of the Festrunk Brothers from SNL.
Well, folks, I want to thank you for being here for the recording of my live comedy album. Funny material and laughter will be dubbed in later.
by ChicagoNativeSon on Feb 12, 2010 12:58 PM CST up reply actions
what!?!?!
i have to be atleast 1% as cute as the kids that sit there… how come u didn’t ask me if i wanted to go “backstage”
fisting barry rozner with every goal!!!
by soupy's spin-o-rama on Feb 12, 2010 10:31 AM CST up reply actions
No offense
but there’s no way you’re even 1% as cute. These kids break the cute scale.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
ouch...
fisting barry rozner with every goal!!!
by soupy's spin-o-rama on Feb 12, 2010 10:39 AM CST up reply actions
Listen
I don’t even think Sharp is 1% as cute as these kids.
"Another successful interaction with a man!" - Liz Lemon
lol
i know i’m just givin u a hard time
fisting barry rozner with every goal!!!
by soupy's spin-o-rama on Feb 12, 2010 10:43 AM CST up reply actions
Hope they enjoyed Barker...
…while they could.
by GenPabloSecobar on Feb 12, 2010 2:45 PM CST up reply actions
really?!
There were some serious sluts wandering around, trying to fuck their way to stardom. Can’t stand that shit.
* insert you’re gay joke here *
Thanks AJ
… throwing my appreciation in with the rest. Thanks for posting—reat read, great pics.
www.mjt.org
Well, we can officially kill this rumour too
TSN reports that Matt Cullen has been traded from Carolina to Ottawa for Alex Picard and a 2nd round pick. An absolute steal of a deal for Ottawa.
"Negative energy is better than no energy at all"- "Iron" Mike Keenan
It's been confirmed
on espn.com
Ben Eager can beat up your Dad
by SouthSideZo on Feb 12, 2010 10:49 AM CST up reply actions
With Cullen becoming a UFA at the end of the season,
I don’t think this is that bad of a deal for Carolina who would have probably lost him anyway.
Competitive violence, that's why you're here!
Shoot me
I can’t believe I missed this… Thanks for the great post – even though I’m kicking myself, a part of me almost feels like I was there. Agreed on the best quota by Big Buf EVER – that guy kills me!
by christina543425 on Feb 12, 2010 11:26 AM CST reply actions
didn't want to pony up the $240 to play
but after seeing this, I wish I had.
Great post.
"In an ideal world I would have all 10 fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching."
I wish
I could of went to this! If I didn’t just buy a house I would of went FOR SURE!! Damn good post though, b/c I bet you anything though it might be more crowded next year unless they raise the admission price.
Glad you had a blast. I would of been the guy buying shots…
Great post.
Makes me even more sad about how broke I am, but it definitely sounds like it was worth the admission price.
Tremendously tremendous!
by allyouyounghockeyplayersoutthere on Feb 12, 2010 2:28 PM CST reply actions
Awesome Post!
great post and the pictures rock too!! soo funny! wish i could’ve been there … unfortunately being broke college kid n lacking poker skills made it a no go!! but def next year! cannot wait to the convention!!! these guys are the coolest, should be fun!! GOOD JOB AirTraffic AJ
putting on the foils! every game! ya want some!?
Best. Fanpost. Ever.
How does Kaner manage to look more twelve in every photo that I see? I swear the kid is aging in reverse.
by spokeinthebandwagon on Feb 12, 2010 5:39 PM CST reply actions
The hat's not helping him look any older.
Tremendously tremendous!
by allyouyounghockeyplayersoutthere on Feb 12, 2010 8:17 PM CST up reply actions
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