Off Week Poker...

Hello once again, everybody! Hope everyone enjoyed their Friday night, I know I did. Last night was the first night we played at Jim's house. I must say that it was a very nicely ran tournament. I enjoyed the way the tournament was played and I think we finally worked out the kinks as far as rebuys go. I still feel bad about the hand I knocked Jesse out on though. I had Js - 9s and limped in preflop. There were 3 players including me and I was on the button. The came up Qh-10c-8c. I flopped the nuts and watched Greg bet $600 only to be raised by Jesse all in to about $3200. I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this, because all the betting was done for me. I pretty much knew what Greg had. I had put him on top pair and a pretty good kicker. Either a king or an ace. I was perplexed by Jesse's hand though. I wondered if he was slow rolling pocket aces or kings, or even queens. I also was conerned about some with the club flush draw. No matter what, I had to call Jesse's bet. I also didn't want greg to now I had a made hand and scare him out of the pot with an all in bet, so I just called Jesse's bet of $3200. Greg eventually folded after some debate, but he did make a very good lay down. He ended up having As - Qd and would have had top two pair. The sad thing that still would've been the third best hand. Jesse had pocket 8's and flopped his third 8. If he had pushed all in preflop, I most likely would have folded. I'm sure that Greg would've called him and Jesse would have doubled up. Jesse had about seven outs to win the hand, but nothing popped and he was out in 10th place. We get to the final table and I was one of the big stacks, thanks to that hand with Jesse. At the final table I wasn't really getting much until I got pocket kings. I raised it from $400 to $1200 and Henry who was to my immediate left went all in for $1100 more. Everyone folded, and I had to call for $1100 more. Henry had pocket 10's and I was relieved that I wasn't looking at aces, ace big, or ace rag. The flop came 10c - 8s - Kd. Henry got really unlucky because we both flopped sets. I actullay thought he was ahead when his ten flopped because the 10 was covering the king when the cards were intially turned over. Nothing else came up for Henry and I won a sizeable pot to help sustain me to the money. We got down to the final four and it was me, Niki, Greg and Jim who was the tall stack. Jim had probably a third of the chips on the table at that point and more than a 2 to 1 chip lead on the rest of us. Greg was the short stack with a little over $2000. Niki and I were doing pretty well at that point. I think I had close to $7000 and she had a little more than I did. The hand that busted me was As - 1oc. I was on the button and I raised it to $3000. Niki had folded in front of me and Greg was the small blind. Greg folded and Jim, the huge stack, would probably call with any two cards and he did. the flop came up Qd - 8s - 4h. I tried to steal the pot with a $300 continuation bet and unwittingly commitedmyself to the pot. Jim raised me all in. I think I had about $1300 left, and I was going to be the big blind next for $2000. I called and sure enough Jim had flopped top pair with the queens. The turn came 10h which paired my ten but the river was a blank and just like that, I was out in 4th place. I made $40 and I had a good time. In heinsight, I probably should have checked the flop, but I was disappointed with the way I or Jim played the hand. I just got unlucky and ran into the big stack. After the tournament, we played a cash game and made some money there as well. All in all, it was a very fun night out for me and I'm looking forward to doing again in two weeks. Next up for poker is Kurt's this Friday. I had a very good night this past week and I want to capitalize on my new found momentum. I am still looking for that ellusive 1st win of the season. Hopefully it will happen this Friday. I will post my top 5 for this week on Thursday. 'Til then, later!

X