NLOP Weekly Championship 17: Race Day

Today is "Race Day" in the U.S., with the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. So why not get in some races, to win the Sunday night weekly championship at National League of Poker? The challenges began early....

:00 IN: We open with K-A, and raise 100. The flop is 5-J-J, and a cheap continuation bet of 30 makes the table fold. We win $335.

:07 IN: We have 6-A of diamonds under the gun, and call a raise of 110. The flop is A-Q-2 -- and a player goes all-in for 670. We dare to call, and find ourselves staring at A-9. BUT the turn and river are 6-6! Runners for a full house win us $2,195.

:11 IN: We have Q-K of hearts in the small blind, and triple the blind. The flop is 9-9h-7, and we make a continuation bet of 40 which is called. The turn is 4, and we play a pressure game by betting 80. It's called as well. The river is K, and we bet 200 with two pair. Our opponent doubles to 400 -- and loses, because he only has 2-2. We gain $1,600.

:17 IN: We have 6-6. The board is a blase 10-7-5-3-9. We bet 125 in button position on the river, and scare opponents away to win $305.

:20 IN: We have 8-8, and call when an opponent pushes with 360. Another player calls as well. The flop is a dreamy K-8-K, and we put our opponent all-in for 505. He calls with K-9, and our full house leads. The turn is 7 -- but the river is K, giving that second pusher quads! Ouch, that hurt.

We had a high of 3,080 chips, but wind up with only 1,640 at the half-hour break. The good news is that we're in 279th place, out of 765 in the running (1,364 players qualified).

:35 IN: We have 8-7 offsuit. The flop is 8-J-4, and we call a minimum bet of 100. The turn is J, and we call a bet of 200. The river is J, giving us a full house -- but we smell a trap when our opponent checks. We check as well. But he only has 10 high, and we gain $950.

But we didn't win another hand the rest of the night. Our best chance with 9-9 fell to someone with pocket Jacks, who picked up a third on the turn.

:56 IN: We have 6-5 in the big blind with a very short stack. The flop is A-6-3, and we feel forced to go all-in with 185 left and rising blinds. A player called with A-6, and his two pair hold on to win the pot and send us packing.

Final result: 396th place. In the top half, but not much more.