January Senior Championship: Tight Pockets

Some people take the monthly championships at National League of Poker seriously. Our first table showed that tonight -- as we went seven hands before a single river card appeared. So how did we do during tight times?

:03 IN: We have K-K, and have seen moderate bets bring table-wide folds. So we limp, and bet 60 (double the blind) with a flop of A-8-Q. Sure enough, we win; up $150.

:08 IN: We have K-A in the small blind. But nothing pairs at all on the board, and we have to fold to a river bet.

:11 IN: We have J-K. The flop is A-Q-J, and we call a minimum bet of 40. The turn is a 2, and we fold to another 40 bet. (The river is a Q, and we would have been topped.)

:13 IN: We have K-Q, and call a raise to 120. The flop is 10-J-6, and we call a bet of 110. The turn is a J, and the opponent bets 240. We only have 350 left, and decide not to take the chance.

:16 IN: We have J-4 in the big blind -- and the table folds! (We told you it was tight.) We get a walk, and say "bless you" to our opponents.

:19 IN: We have J-Q. The flop is 10-A-J, and we make a feeler bet of 60 which gains one caller. The turn-river are 8-6. Our opponent has 7-Q, and our pair takes $300.

:26 IN: Finally moved to another table, we have Q-Q under the gun -- but we merely call. When the flop comes 7-3-5, we go all-in with 310 left. A caller has only 10-J, and a Jack on the river isn't enough.

We almost go back to our starting point with a $970 pot. After the blinds, we reach the break with $820 -- 306th out of 408 players still in the game (864 started).

:40 IN: We have 10-A and try to limp -- but a player to our left raises to 780. That practically would put us all-in, and we decide to risk it with 40 more. A second player is all-in as well. Trouble is, the raiser has A-J.

ON THE FLOP: Q-5-Q

No help there. We need a 10.

ON THE TURN: 2

No, not good.

ON THE RIVER: 9

We're outpunched, and wind up in 336th place -- down about 30 spots from December.