November Senior Championship: A Three-Hour Tour

It may have been the end of U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.  It may have been the night of the 100th Grey Cup final in Canadian football.  Yet the crowd for this month's National League of Poker Senior Championship was larger tonight than one month ago - 934 players, compared with 778 in October.  Would bigger mean better for us, or worse?  Let's check the highlights:

:09 IN: We have J-Q of diamonds in the Small Blind, and accept a raise of 110.  (All the players started with 2,500, providing some more flexibility.)  The flop is 5-10-9.  We call a bet  of 150, since we have an open-ended straight draw.  The turn is K!  Another bet of 150 gets a raise on our part to 500, which is called.  The river is Q, our bet of 300 brings a fold, and we win $1,930.

:21 IN: We have pocket Queens, and happily accept a doubling of the blind.  The flop is 4-10-J, and we happily accept an opponent betting 180.  The turn is 9, and we happily accept a bet of 300.  The river is 6.  Our opponent bets 460.  We warily call - but he has Q-9!  It's a win of $3,170.

We gain in the first period to $4,260 - good for 120th place, with 769 still playing.

:37 IN: We have 8-A, and accept a doubling of the blind.  The flop is A-6-8 - so when an opponent follows on with a bet of 200, we double it to 400 with two pair.  The turn is 4.  Our opponent bets 1,000 - and we call again, albeit a bit concerned.  The river is 6, and we're relieved to see our opponent check.  His A-9 loses to our higher two pair, for a gain of $4,050.

:40 IN: We have 10-K of diamonds.  The flop is Q-7-10, with two hearts and no diamonds.  We call a bet of 250 with middle pair.  The turn is Kh. Now with two pair, we bet 400 and get a caller.  The river is K, and we bet 1,200 with a full house.  Our opponent calls (for some odd reason) and shows 9-J!  We win $3,275.

1:01 IN: After a big bet with A-9 fails and we win back some money with three Jacks, we have J-J and double the blind.  The flop is 10-3-6.  A player bets 200, and we call.  The turn is K; another 200 bet is called.  The river is 3.  This time we double the opponent's bet of 200, and he runs away.  We gain $3,100..

1:03 IN: The next hand brings us Q-J of hearts.  The flop is 10-9-8!  We bet 400 with a straight, and someone calls.  The turn is 10, we bet 800 -- and they run again.  We gain $2,600.

The second period is stronger than the first, as we hit the break at $7,770. Now we're in 69th, with 582 to go.

1:22 IN: After waiting awhile for quality cards, we have pocket Kings.  The flop is 4-10-6, and we think we surprise a player betting 880 by doubling it to 1,760.  The turn is 6.  His bet of 300 brings another double from us, to 600.  The river is 4, putting two pair on the board.  This time we only call a bet of 300 - but our opponent has 10-Q! No full house means a big win of $6,620.

1:36 IN: After claiming a Small Blind battle with 9-7 and another strong pot with K-K, we have A-K in the Big Blind.  We raise 1,000, and get a caller.  The flop is 9-K-8.  Our 1,200 continuation bet brings a push from our opponent for 2,747 - but he only has 8-7.  The other cards don't change the outcome, as we score a huge $8,944 win.

1:37 IN: Next up is 6-9 of clubs in the Small Blind.  The blind is 2-5-9, and our bet of 800 with top pair is called.  The turn is A.  Everyone checks.  The river is Q.  We dare to offer 800 again - and the opposition folds!  We gain $3,650.

A massive third period balloons us to $17,967.  We're in 31st place, with 379 remaining.

1:59 IN: After grabbing three pots in a row with cards which eliminate two players, we have 9-Q of hearts.  The flop is Q-8-5, and an opponent goes all-in for 2,437.  We call, of course - and he has K-8. The turn is 9.  The river is.... 8!  He escapes with three of a kind, and we wonder if our tide is turning.

2:11 IN: After losing again with 8-8, we have pocket Aces.  After doubling the blind, the flop of J-5-Q brings an all-in bet on our part of 4,883.  No one takes us up on it, so we recover to $12,733.

The total is $12,483 at the fourth break.  We've dropped to 80th place, but are down to 137 players left.

2:42 IN: After a long wait for the right cards and facing rising blinds and antes, we have A-3 of spades in the Big Blind.  We're prepared to push with it - but the table gives us a walk! It's a $7,500 stroll.

2:45 IN: Two hands later, we play Q-J of clubs with the button.  The flop is 9c-Qx-10x, and we go for it all by betting 4,458.  An opponent calls, and shows a mere 4-J!  The turn is 10, the river is 6, and we're thrilled to improve to $20,916.

At the end of the fifth period, we're at $20,016 - in 41st place with 63 remaining.  Only the top ten players will win money.

3:10 IN: Rising blinds and antes combine with big pushes by other players to restrict our dreams again - and we're forced to go all-in for our last 1,516 with 4-3 of diamonds.  An opponent calls with A-4. The flop is Q-9-5. The turn is 6. The river is K.  The Ace knocks us out.

Only at the end of the evening does an NLOP glitch occur, and our computer forces us to close the program. So our exact final result is unclear as we post this - but we know we finished no worse than 40th place [UPDATE: it was 35th] out of 934.  We were 57th in October.  So we would have been even deeper "in the money" at a casino - if only this was a casino.