Poker Night 306: Step By Step

Something happened to us in a poker tournament today which hasn't happened in 14 months.  See if you can figure it out, as this hand unfolds at The Red Barn....

BLINDS: 25/50

IN THE POCKET: Ace of clubs - 9 of spades

It's early in the game, and we're in the big blind.  We have about 4,300 chips, after a couple of modest early losses.  We'd be content to limp in with a potentially powerful hand, but a player across from us raises to 400.  It's time to play defense, so we call.  A couple of other players do as well.

ON THE FLOP: Kc-Qc-9d

We're given bottom pair, and 60 percent of a royal flush.  But we check, to see what others will do.  The man who raised pre-flop makes a continuation bet of 400.  OK, we'll take that on.  We call, putting us heads-up.

ON THE TURN: Ah

Now we're up to two pair, and we feel good about it.  But we check again, since our opponent has done all the work so far.  Sure enough -- he bets 1,000.  OK, we'll call again.

ON THE RIVER: 7 (suit doesn't matter; we don't recall it)

We still feel confident about our two pair, and decide it's time to take control of the betting.  We offer 1,000.  Our opponent doesn't hesitate to call.

"I have two pair," we announce as we show.  We were right!  Our opponent has K-4, and we jump to around 8,000 chips.

"I only lost 2,400," our opponent tells another man at the table moments later.  That's easy for him to say -- since he probably is buying round upon round to rebuild his chip stack.  We settle for only one diet soda, for a 2,000-chip recharge.

We lost that 2,000 minutes later, when continuous betting (apparently with nothing) chased us off a potentially winning two pair.  And we didn't win a hand the rest of the night, partly due to failed chases.  Our final 2,000 went in with the big blind in the second hour, and our 9-7 lost to K-Q when a Queen came on the turn.  Final result: 17th place.

So what happened, for the first time in 14 months?  That Red Barn stuff was simply a bluff, because....

We won a tournament outright!  As in first place, with no split settlements -- and not a one-table sit-n-go.  This was a 62-player qualifier for the National League of Poker monthly Senior championship.  We reached the final table in ninth, and gained ground with all-in pushes.  But we had to climb out of a four-to-one "chip hole" to win heads up.

No money was on the line in this tournament, and that admittedly played a factor in how people played at the final table.  The top ten qualified automatically, so the only thing at stake was additional points.  But once the heads-up game was level, we decided we wanted to drive for the win -- and a Jack paired for us on the decisive winning hand.  The way things have been going for us recently, a win is still a win!

MINISTRY MOMENT: At another online tournament, a woman slow-played pocket 6's against us.  It cost us some money, but led to this exchange....



SONDRA won Main pot 2,100 with Three of a kind, sixes
Me: very good
SONDRA: ty
Me: sneaky beast (666)
SONDRA: lol
STURGEONKNG: u got blogged lol
SONDRA: abitsinful yes a beas

It's been a while since we mentioned this subject.  The Bible does warn against that set of three numbers....

Here is wisdom.  Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. - Revelation 13:18, KJV

Many explanations have been offered through the centuries concerning for what that number means.  So let's open the table for discussion: what do you think 666 means?  We'll compare notes in an upcoming post.

UPDATED POKER SCOREBOARD: 108 final tables in 306 nights (35.3%) - 17 cashes.  Our long wait online may be over, but we've now missed ten final tables in a row at live tournaments.