Who despises the day of small things?.... - Zechariah 4:10We're admittedly lifting these words out of context. When you see what happened to us at the monthly National League of Poker Senior Championship, you'll understand why.
:01 IN: We have K-A, and double the blind to 60. The flop is 7x-8x-5s. We make a continuation bet of 50 and get callers. The turn is As, so we bet 100. One player calls. The river is 4s, putting three spades on the table. We check, and our opponent responds by betting 110. We dare to call -- and sure enough, he has 10s-Qs. The running spades give him a flush.
:18 IN: After a series of lousy cards and misses in the blinds, we have J-Q with 505 chips (everyone starts with 1,000). We play them, but the flop is 6-3-10. An opponent bets to put us all in, and we have to hold.
:22 IN: We have 8-Q of hearts in the Small Blind. The flop is 8x-7h-K, so we have middle pair and three hearts. But an opponent bets 240, and we concede. (Another heart comes on the turn, but a bigger bet takes the pot.)
:25 IN: We have A-9. The flop is 8-3-4. We check, as do two other players still in. The turn is J. Everyone checks. The river is 5, and the play checks to us. Our opponents are the biggest stack at the table and a Big Blind where the player never showed up. We probably should bet for the pot and force the Big Blind out, but we play it safe and check. The "M.I.A." player has 3-K, and steals the pot with a pair.
The half-hour break finds us with 285 chips, and a lot of frustration. Very few playable hands have come our way - and with 678 players remaining, we're #673. On top of that, poor cards then come in the blinds to knock us down to 135.
:37 IN: We have K-10 of hearts, and try them for the minimum 100. The flop is Qx-6h-4x. The big stack bets 730, and we sigh in sadness as we fold. (He shows Aces.)
:43 IN: After waiting through more hands along the line of 6-2 and 2-3, we're forced to go all-in for our last 35 in the Big Blind. But we have A-K! The flop is 4-Q-K. The turn is 6. The river is 5. Two callers have nothing better than J-J, so we stay alive by winning 140. "Finally," we write.
:49 IN: We have Q-A after folding the Small Blind, and push again with 65 chips left. Everyone folds except an M.I.A. Big Blind, with only 6-2. The board is 7-9-7-5-K, and we escape again by winning 195.
:51 IN: We have A-8 under the gun. We push again. The flop is 6-10-3, all clubs. The turn is Qc -- and oh yes, our Ace is a club! The river is 5, and our nut flush pays off for 540.
:55 IN: After another failed round of blinds, we have K-K. We push - and the table folds! Now we're up to 615.
:56 IN: The tide of bad cards clearly is turning, because the next hand brings A-10. The flop is A-10-8. We bet the bundle, and everyone folds! We're nearly back to the starting line at 915.
:58 IN: The Big Blind brings an ugly 7-2. But the table folds, giving us a walk! We gladly take a $100 blind bonus.
1:00 IN: We have A-J. The flop is 8-3-K. We bet the minimum in hope, and are rewarded with folding. We win 975.
1:04 IN: After 9-9 in the Big Blind doesn't pay off with bigger cards on the board, the Small Blind brings us 8-A of diamonds. The flop is 6-8-9. A player bets the minimum 200, and we call. The turn is 8. We respond to another 200 bet by going all-in for our remaining 715. The opponent calls -- and shows 8-J! Our kicker card is best, and we win $1,600.
We're thanking God for a big recovery at the second break - from 35 to 1,600. Now we're in 174th, with 464 players left.
1:10 IN: We return from break with Q-10 of clubs. The flop is Jc-5s-7c. An opponent bets 300, and we call. The turn is Jd, pairing the board. We call another bet of 300. The river is 6c - and we say "Yes!" to that. We go all-in for our remaining 700. Our opponent calls - but only has 3-J of spades. Our flush beats his three of a kind, and we jump to $3,650!
1:20 IN: We have 3-A. The flop is 9-Q-4. Everyone checks. The turn is 2. More checking. The river is 6, and we offer a minimum 300 bet. Everyone folds except a M.I.A. player, so we win a sidepot of 825. (The "bot" wins the main pot with K-Q.)
1:29 IN: We have 9-9 in the Small Blind. The flop is 3-6-K. Everyone checks. The turn is 7. We off the minimum 300 - and the table folds! With antes now required every hand, this pot is worth $1,725.
1:31 IN: We have J-K. The flop is 7-A-Q, giving us a big straight draw. Everyone checks. The turn is 9. More checking. The river is 7. No one's betting, so we offer the minimum 400. Players call -- and King high is good enough for a side pot of 1105, and a $530 split of the main pot with an opponent who went all-in with 10-K.
1:37 IN: We have A-9. The flop is J-10-A. We bet the minimum 400. A player calls, going all in. The turn is K. The river is J. Checking continues - but our opponent has 7-8. He's out, and we win $2,142 to put our total above 5,000!
The third break has us marveling at the mountain we've climbed - from 35 to $5,302. Now we're in 67th place, with 158 players left. Can we keep growing?
1:46 IN: We have an ugly 4-7 in the Big Blind, but no one raises. The flop is K-4-4! We bet the minimum 600, hoping to lure players in -- but a man with a huge stack raises, and then a third player goes all-in!
We now have another all-in decision, with 3902 left. We realize our kicker card is weak, but we decide the other players aren't playing with that missing 4. So we call -- only to discover Mr. Big Stack has K-4! He hit an amazing full-house flop, and 6-2 on the turn and river won't save us.
The miracles finally run out. But by not giving up when we had a puny chip stack (even though it was tempting), we end the evening in 147th place out of 880 players. And we parlayed those 35 chips into an evening-high 5352 -- an increase of 15,291 percent in about one hour! If only the stock market worked this way....
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