NLOP Weekly Championship 10: Keep On Pushing

It's not easy for a part-time online poker player to make the National League of Poker weekly championship, with a $500 prize. Sunday night marked only the tenth time we've made it in more than a year. And we had 1,463 opponents, as well....

:00 IN: We're dealt Q-Q right off the bat. But the flop has 10-K -- and even though a third Queen comes on the turn, a Jack hits the river. An opponent goes all in -- and we fear the "Broadway" worst as we fold. We lose 280.

:02 IN: We have J-K in the big blind. The flop is 4-9-5, and we fold to a bet. Trouble is, Q-10 come next and we miss a straight.

:08 IN: We have 5-4 of hearts - but with a lowered chip stack, we choose to fold. Wrong again; the flop is 5-4-3.

:11 IN: We fold J-5. The board brings two more Jacks. (Are you sensing a trend here?)

:13 IN: We have 2-A of hearts, and this time we play them. Tow hearts come on the flop, and a King of hearts hits the river to give us the nuts. We reclaim 680. But at the first break, we're limping at 460.

:43 IN: We have 3-K of spades in the big blind, and decide to go all-in. A caller has 10-Q. Another 3 and two Aces come on the board, and we rebuild to 720.

1:00 IN: Rising blinds force us to push again with J-8 of hearts with only 70 chips left. Jh-Kh come on the flop, followed by 9h on the turn! We're back to 450.

1:02 IN: On the next hand, we push again with J-J. The turn provides a third Jack, and suddenly we're back "in the game" at 1,450 -- but a miss or two leaves us with 850 at the second break.

1:09 IN: We have Q-J of hearts, and limp in with $300 blinds. The flop is a dream-come-true 9-10-K! Of course we push with 525 left -- and the straight restores us to 1,975.

1:12 IN: We have 7-8 in the big blind. The flop is 3s-8d-9s. An opponent checks. Then comes 10d. We smell weakness by our opponent, and dare to go all-in with 1,250. The foe calls with 7-5 of spades. But sadly, he HITS the flush draw on the river with As.

If not for a spade, we would have jumped to 4,100 and been in quite a rally. Instead, we finished 289th. Not bad -- but not even a "top-ten percent."