NLOP Weekly Championship 15: McAfee and Miracles

We qualified for the National League of Poker Sunday night weekly championship a couple of weeks ago, but had to skip it due to religious commitments. Earning points in games six day in a row this past week earned us another opportunity tonight -- and you had to sit in our seat to see the amazing things that happened.

We won a couple of small pots in the first half-hour, but lost a few and stood at 800. Then we went all-in with 10-10 in the small blind, caught a third 10 on the turn and recovered to 1,465. A few minutes later, 10-Q of clubs turned into a club flush on the river, and we were back to 2,300!

But then trouble came -- because our McAfee computer security decided it was time for an automatic update. We have high-speed Internet, but at the low end of the scale. So the update took 44 minutes and disconnected us from the game several times -- and for several minutes at a time.

With the update in progress at the second break, we could see we were in 226th place out of 297 players remaining. Then the frustration mounted:
+ We see A-6 in the Big Blind. We want to push with 675 in - but the connection problems prevents it.
+ We see A-10 with 225 left, and want to push - but the connection problem stops it again. (We eventually see an Ace on the river would have given us the pot.)

1:26 IN: With the antes at 75 and only 75 left, we're automatically all-in with 10-7. Yet the turn and river are running 10's! We win the pot despite it all, and return to 600.

1:31 IN: With connection problems still occurring, we somehow push all-in in the big blind with 2-K of hearts. It's clearly desperation from frustration, and we're ready to give it up -- yet King high is good enough!! We're back up to 1,375.

1:35 IN: We have A-7 and make another desperation push. Our Ace is a heart. The flop is 6-2h-9h. The turn is Jh -- and we smell it coming. The river is Kh! The nut flush jumps us up to 6,025, even with the hiccups!

The McAfee update ends during the third break, and we have 5,800 chips. We're in 74th, with 113 players left -- and we can't help sharing in chat form:

Me: Miracles happen. McAfee update has prevented me from playing almost anything for 42 minutes....
Me: Yet from 225 to this!! PTL!
(Oops, we actually understated that -- we were at 75.)

1:47 IN: We have A-J of diamonds - but even though McAfee is finished, yet another disconnection occurs! The computer folds us.

1:48 IN: We have 7-7 and feel desperate again. We push with 3,725 left. One person calls -- but with only 7-5! The flop has a 5, but nothing else comes of interest. We're somehow now at 9,550!

1:52 IN: With the computer seemingly calming down, we have 6-6 and call a "min-raise" to 3,200. The flop is 6-A-2, and we go all-in for 5,900 and get a caller with A-J. The turn and river are 10-2 - and we balloon to 25,300!!!! With 81 players left, we're suddenly in 12th (top 12 win money).

1:56 IN: We have A-Q, and it's another player's turn to push. We call a 16,112-chip bet -- only to see K-K. The flop is J-2-3, followed by 3-9. We finally lose a race, and it hurts -- as we drop to about 4,400.

1:59 IN: We have 7-K in the big blind. It's nothing special - until the flop comes 7-K-5! We push with 2,788 left, and 5-7 follow to give us a two-way full house! We're back to 14,776.

2:06 IN: We have A-4 with the blinds at 1,500/3,000/300. A player goes all-in for only 25 more, so we call. That player's 8-10 of spades turns into a flush on the river. Ouch.

2:07 IN: We have K-A, and decide not to wait again. We're all-in again for 9,851, and get a caller. The caller has A-Q! The flop is J-7-3! BUT the turn is Q and the river J. The Queen tops our King, to finally eliminate us.

Out of 1,398 players which began the night, we finished in 50th place. That's up from 66th in our last weekly championship in February -- and we absolutely did NOT deserve to finish that high. Based on the cash matrix of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, we would have earned more than three times our buy-in. We probably should have placed around #250, out of "the money." But we're persuaded God did amazing things for us, to move us up -- and give you this amazing story to share. Praise God for it!