NLOP Weekly Championship 22: How Bad Do You Want It?

What a busy Sunday!  A NASCAR title on the line, a music awards show on TV, the MLS Cup, WWE Survivor Series night -- and if all that wasn't enough, we qualified for the National League of Poker's weekly championship because of top-five and top-50 finishes at mid-week.

To be honest, we didn't plan on getting into this week's "big game" because another project was a higher priority.  But we decided to try a little multitasking, and play online while working on that other thing.  Did it work?

:04 IN: We have 4-5 offsuit, and call a doubling of the blind.  The flop is Q-A-5.  We call a minimum bet with bottom pair.  The turn is 7.  Everyone checks.  The river is K.  Someone bets 490, and we know well enough to fold -- especially when the winner shows J-10 for a top straight.

:10 IN: We have 8-8. The flop is Q-7-9, and we call a minimum bet of 40.  The turn is 6; we call another minimum bet with an open-ended straight draw.  But the river is 4, and we fold another bet.  Good thing; the winner shows a Queen.

:13 IN: We have 10-8 of hearts.  The flop is 7-5-10 (7 is a heart).  Another player in the hand goes all-in for thousands.  With top pair and that other project going on, we dare to call -- putting us all-in with 650 left.  A third player calls.  The big bettor had 7-7 for three of a kind -- and wins the main pot when the turn and river are J-8.  But that river card saves us for the moment; we win a consolation prize sidepot of 180.

:14 IN: We're under the gun on the very next hand with J-A.  With little to lose, we push again.  Several players call.  But the flop is 7-8-Q, followed by 5 and 10.  We missed; a player with 10-K did not.

Oh well -- back to that other project.  We settle for 1,233rd place out of 1,458 players.  But we think there's a deeper lesson in tonight's game; we'll share that Monday.