May Studs Championship: Fatal Heart Attack

National League of Poker screens show ads around the table.  That's one way "free poker" sites raise money for championship jackpots.  Yet tonight we saw an ad for "women like you" at the May "Poker Studs Championship" - as in men only.  No, we did not take offense to that.  We simply tried to win....

:00 IN: We open the evening with J-7 of clubs.  The flop is 8-2-9, with the 9 a club.  The table checks.  The turn is Kc, and we call a bet of 30 with a flush draw.  The river is a disappointing 4s, and we fold to a bet of 50.

:10 IN: We have Q-K in the Small Blind.  The flop is 3-J-3.  Everyone checks.  The turn is 6.  Someone bets the minimum 40, and we call with "overcards."  The river is a rewarding Q.  We bet 100, get a caller -- and top his 10-6 to win $480.

:20 IN: We have 10-J of diamonds "under the gun."  The flop is A-9-8 (no diamonds), giving us a two-way straight draw.  But someone bets 715, and we fold.  Too bad for us; the river is 7 and would have won.

:25 IN: We have 6-A of spades with the dealer button.  The flop is 2-A-9, so we bet 200 with top pair.  Someone calls.  The turn is K, and for some reason we fear trouble.  We bet only 100, and get called.  The river is 7.  Everyone checks -- but our opponent only has J-2.  We win $950.

:28 IN: We have 10-10, and call when a player behind us doubles the blind to 200.  The flop is 8-8-7.  We bet 100, and call when that same player doubles.  The turn is 5.  We bet 100, and that man seems to get the message; he simply calls.  The river is K.  We check, as does the table.  But to our right, a third player has been calling all along -- and he has J-J!  Laying low wins him a big pot.

That put us at the half-hour break with $920.  We're tied for 273rd place, with 384 players left.

:38 IN: We have 3-4 of diamonds.  The flop is 10-J-9, with the Jack a diamond.  The table checks.  The turn is 5s.  We're ready to fold, but the table checks.  The river is 3s -- and now that we have a pair, we bet the minimum 150 in hope.  Two players call.  But one of them has 10-K, to beat our pair.

:54 IN: We've dropped to 370 chips after a miss or two, with the blinds at 150/300 -- so seeing K-Q, we go all-in. Two players call.  The flop is a hopeful 2-Q-5 -- except they're all hearts.  So is the turn: 4h.  One player bets enough to chase everyone else away -- and sure enough, he shows Kh for a flush.  The river is 8h, but his King makes a better flush.

Our night ends for the worse, at 208th place out of 1,065 players.  That's actually up about 160 places from our last "Stud of the Month" night in February -- but it's nowhere near the money.