Pardon our lateness in posting this -- but due to Lil Kim's Cove being closed for Thanksgiving Day, we played in the Wednesday night tournament at Soho Bar and Grill. We actually checked before we left home, and found we'd made four final tables there in 22 tries. The "drive for five" had a bold beginning....
BLINDS: 25/50
IN THE POCKET: A-J offsuit
We're second in the betting order, and play by our credo: "Limp early, bet late." We call -- and unlike other early hands, so does most of the table.
ON THE FLOP: 10-K-6
We miss -- sort of. There's a "gutshot" straight draw. The table checks to us, and we're happy to join the wave. We're a bit relieved when the entire table checks.
ON THE TURN: Q
Put us on Broadway! But we don't want to shine our neon light too much, so we check again. A player to our left bets 1,000. A man across the table calls. Good.
"I raise," we announce -- and add another 1,000. The man to our left thinks for a moment, smells trouble and folds. The man across from us calls.
ON THE RIVER: 2
As we recall, this put three clubs on the board. But we don't think our opponent is waiting for a flush, so we bet 2,000 directly at him. The man thinks it over for several seconds -- then disgusting throws his cards right in front of us. He has K-Q, but that's a two-pair fold. We never show how he was topped.
That big chip gain was followed by a lengthy drought -- but in the second hour, things happened. Another A-J led to two pair, and a double in our stack when we went all-in. A later push with K-Q of hearts led to a pair of Queens, which held up. Then we pushed with A-K of spades, made Aces and 3's and advanced our stack to 100,000.
We reached the final table with 115,000 chips -- then made a flush from J-9 of diamonds to jump to 225K! But then came a big loss and rising blinds. Forced to push again with A-7, we lost to a flush. But we went home feeling good -- as a fourth-place finish was our best since Labor Day.
MINISTRY MOMENT: "I'm ready to eat a drumstick," a man to our left said during the tournament.
"So what are you thankful for this year?" we asked. He proceeded to run down his Thanksgiving menu, as if he didn't understand our question.
"Soho Bar!" another man declared when we asked what made him thankful. A few minutes later, he revised that answer: "I'm thankful for every blessing of every day." Now that's more like it; see the post below this one for why we say that.
UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 86 final tables in 210 nights (41.0%) -- 15 cashes. Three final tables in a row is a much more pleasant streak.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF POKER TOTAL: Five-player sit-n-gos - 7-11-7-3-2. Full tournaments - 91 point wins in 485 games (18.4%), 37 final tables, two cashes.
We returned to sit-n-goes last weekend, hoping to gain enough points to make the Sunday night weekly championship. A first place finish helped; a third hurt.
POKER STARS.NET TOTAL: Full tournaments - three "top ten percent" finishes in 13 games (23.1%). Pretend cash games - $23,059, down $540.
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