Slightly surprised to turn up at the club and find our room full of furniture ! Seems like there is some refurb going on, so had to setup the tables in the main club room. Ended up being OK as the club wasn't that busy. Also had the effect that Andy didn't swear or stomp about at all, no matter what happened !!
There were two tables of six this time, with Lee joining us for the first time. On my table were Bill, Steve, Andy, Darren and Simon. The game started fairly typically with lots of calling and at least one person all-in for the first few hands. Luckily for me, when I got involved early on with J-T suited I flopped a straight against Steve and Andy. Despite my going all-in both called me and I pretty much tripled up which set me up for the early part of the game. I was then able to sit back and pick my moments and build up my stack slowly.
Meanwhile Andy was having a bit of a mare, going all-in with almost any two cards, or not hitting the flop when he did have a hand, so was in rebuy city!
Overall my luck went up and down. I don't remember much of the detail now, but was calling with medium hands and raising with good hands so played solidly. Bill amassed a reasonable stack, but then called them off against Darren on some wild chase of a runner-runner flush, leaving him down to the felt and rebuying a lot.
At the break, I had a reasonable stack of around 3500 but Darren had chip leave of around 6000, but the other table had been rebuying more than us and all seemed to have around 5000 or more !
First hand after the break saw Bill chasing with A-T but Darren had hit the flop already and Bill was left with 300 chips. Typical of his luck, I raised from the SB to put him all-in and his 6-3 was dominated by my Q-6 but we both ended up with a straight to split ! It didn't last much longer for Bill as he went out first on the table after a spirited defence
I had been playing pretty tight and was starting to get a little low. There were at least 3 hands where I would have won the pot if I hadn't folded so was feeling a little under pressure. I was a bit card dead so wasn't getting any good spots, but despite my fears other players getting knocked out on the other table suddenly saw us down to the last 8 and I'm in the points !
The final table sees me on the SB with around 3500, 2nd lowest to Andy who has 700. Sean, Alex and Lee join us from the other table, but they all bring a bundle of chips with them. Simon and Darren from my original table are holding their own and Steve in the BB has around 2000 odd
The first hand on the final table sees Steve all-in but gets busted by Alex, who is probably the chip lead by now. Andy is delighted as it gives him another point, but he is all-in the next hand and manages to double up to give him a respite. As it happens it just gives him more chips to give to Alex who busts him out the next hand!
With the blinds up to 500/1000 and still low on chips, I need to get busy so go all-in with pocket 3's. Lee calls with K-5 on the BB and neither improve so I have got a reasonable stack of chips now. Lee is a now the short stack so goes all-in and is called by Sean. Lee's A-A against Sean's J-8 looks in good shape, even when a 8 comes on the flop, but a J on the river takes Lee out in a very respectable 6th place
With the blinds hurting, Simon is all-in with T-T but gets done by Darren's A-K and we are down to 4 players for the last blind level (1000/2000) I start to get some luck at this crucial stage and manage to take Sean out. This also leaves the remaining 3 on roughly the same chip stack.
Play gets a little cagey for a few hands, but with time running out the status quo was not going to last long. Sure enough I get a bit fruity with my Q-J suited, but am behind to Alex's A-K The flop is kind to me by giving me a Q but there is plenty of outs for Alex... luckily for me they don't come and I take Alex out and get a huge chip lead.
With just two hands to play I have the luxury of being able to fold and win... luckily for me I get rubbish cards so don't feel embarrassed by folding both hands face up and take the win for the night
It was a really good game (not just because I won!) and seemed to me that everyone was playing well tonight. I just happened to catch cards at the right time, which gives me the tournament lead for the moment, but there is still plenty of games left for anything to happen.
Roll on next month !
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