NLOP Championship 6: Dare and Double-Dare

A couple of nice SNG wins Friday and Saturday helped us qualify for tonight's National League of Poker weekly championship, with $500 for the winner. All you have to do is defeat 1,403 other people! Let's see how we did....

:00 IN: We open with 10-J of hearts, and call. It winds up being a heads-up flop with 10-J-K. We bet a modest 60, and a fold makes us the table leader with 1,030!

:01 IN: We have 6-6. A pair of 7's comes on the flop. But a King on the river costs us the hand, to a player with a King.

:06 IN: We have A-Q and limp. The flop is 10-A-K. We bet 60 (double the blind), and a couple of players call. We bet 60 again after 6 on the turn, and even K on the river. It works; we win $690!

:14 IN: We have A-K and double the blind, betting 80. Several players call. The flop is 8-4-6 -- but another player goes all-in, and we feel compelled to fold.

:15 IN: We have A-8. A player ahead of us doubles the blind, and we call. The flop is A-10-9. The player before us bets 180, and we call. The turn is Q, and our opponent goes all-in! Fearing he bet with A-K, we fold.

Those two hands cost us a good deal of chips. We don't know for sure what the other players had; perhaps they were testing our chutzpah, or perhaps they really had us topped.

:21 IN: We have A-9 and call. The flop is A-K-8, and a player ahead of us goes all-in with 335. We dare to call, and look at Q-10. Our opponent is on a desperate draw.

ON THE TURN: 9

We mistakenly think for a moment this gives the opponent a straight. Thankfully not -- but a Jack still will.

ON THE RIVER: A

Instead we make a full house, and win $1260! But bad chases follow from there, and we stumble to the half-hour break with only 430 chips.

:38 IN: We have A-Q, and choose to limp -- ready to push if forced. Other players merely call. The flop is 2-7-K. Everyone checks. The turn is 3 -- and when a player bets the minimum 150, we make a frustrated fold.

:39 IN: With 9-9 in the big blind, we go all-in with 280 left. Another player pushes as well. The flop is Q-7-6. J-4 follow -- and that other player has Q-J to gain a big pot; our pair earns a meager side pot of 165.

:41 IN: We have little choice in the small blind, holding A-3. We push, and 2-10-9 come on the flop. The turn gives us hope for a straight with a 4, but a 2 on the river leaves us out of the game. We finished in 590th place -- top half, but nowhere near the money.