May Senior Championship: Small or Large?

Poker star Vanessa Rousso talks on TV about playing "small-ball" - winning several small pots to build a stack, as opposed to one big pot. That approach worked for us at the National League of Poker monthly Senior Championship tonight. For awhile, at least....

:00 IN: We begin with A-9 on the button. The 9 is a club, and a club flush develops. We take the lead, with a $480 pot. (We're at a very tight-playing table, so the hands move quickly and gains aren't that big.)

:04 IN: We have 3-3. A third 3 hits the river, and we win $290.

:08 IN: It's 3-3 again. The board shows 6-4-9-2-Q, but no one pairs! It's a $300 win.

:21 IN: We have 8-7 of hearts. A heart flush shows up for us by the turn, and we win a $550 pot.

:28 IN: We have A-7. The flop doesn't thrill at 9-2-Q, but a 7 on the turn allows us to bet the 200 minimum -- and everyone folds.

:31 IN: The big blind gives us 10-5. But a 10 comes on the flop, followed by a 5 on the turn! We bet. They fold. We gain $900.

:32 IN: Next hand, the small blind looks grim with 3-2 of clubs -- until the flop shows 7-A-Q, all clubs! We bet 500, hoping to scare chasers away from the flush we already have. It works; we gain $1,475.

:34 IN: We take a chance on 9-5 of diamonds. We're rewarded by a 9 on the flop, and another on the turn. Our big bet is declined, and we gain $1,300 more!

Those two big wins get us to the second break at 3,070 -- 53rd place. Another 1,300 pot came our way after the break, thanks to A-K of spades. But then came the turning point....

:46 IN: We have A-Q offsuit. The flop is hopeful at 7-K-J, and an opponent bets for us. But when J-Q follow, we lose to an opponent's K-9. Calling minimum 300 bets cost us a lot.

1:06 IN: We've dropped to 650 chips, and go all-in with 9-9. The board brings three Queens, giving us a full house! Trouble is, another player has the "case Queen" for quads! A classic bad beat eliminates us in 116th place, out of 774 players.