Sean ran his heat last night, with Karen, Alex and Steve playing
The play started out cagey and tight, taking a little while before we saw any big bets. The first big hand came when Q-9-8 came on the flop then J and A on the river. Sean bet the river with Karen calling and shows Q-9 for two pair against Sean’s KK !
The next couple of levels are steady, although a couple of hands got interesting when Sean raised it up on the flop or pre-flop but both times taking the pot uncontested… this being the main pattern (call, raise, then fold all round)
At the first break, the chip stacks reflect the level of aggression shown so far :-) Sean = 4000, Steve = 3800, Alex=3300 and Karen = 4900
After the break, the blinds start to hurt a little so the action cranks up a notch… although there is still a propensity to fold to a large raise…. until….. we see an unraised family pot, and the flop is K-Q-4 (2 hearts) and all check The turn is 9 and Steve bets 200, Sean raises to 500 with Karen then Steve calling. The river brings 8 and Steve checks, but Sean bets 1000 into the 2300 pot. After a long think Karen calls, but Steve folds, also after a lot of soul searching….. Sean shows A-9 and takes the pot from Karen’s J-9 Steve is gutted as he had them both beat and is now getting low on chips !
We see another family pot and the river of 5-4-2 (all clubs) looks dangerous, so everyone checks. The turn is T clubs and Karen bets out, with only Sean calling. The Qd on the river doesn’t seem to change much but Sean launches one and puts Karen all-in for another 1500 Karen calls without having to think to long and shows Q clubs to take the pot from Sean's two pair !
The next level sees blinds at 500/300 and with Steve down to 800 chips, he goes all in from the button. Karen calls from the BB and shows A-T against Steve’s A-K The first card shown on the flop is a cruel T followed by A-J,leaving Steve needing the Q, but two blanks see the first casualty of the game
Soon after Sean raises from BB and Karen calls on the button. The flop sees T-7-4 and Sean checks to Karen , then calls the 1000 bet. The Q and 4 are checked down, but then a bit of controversy as Sean points out that Karen had put the burn cards on top of her hole cards…. as it is easy to reconstruct the hand, the Tournament Director ruling goes in Karen’s favour, who then shows A-7 against Sean’s A-K to take a good sized pot and the chip lead…. (Sean=4200, Alex=3300, Karen=8500)
The chips start moving around the table though, as the next level has 1000/500 blinds. Alex is soon all-in with Karen calling, but the flop of 3-5-6 had given Alex a straight against Karen’s pair and suddenly Karen chip stack is looking under pressure. Sean is getting more aggressive and taking down pots uncontested again, so is building up his stack
The last level sees Karen and Alex battling it out again, when on unraised flop of 8-8-7 Karen checks then calls Alex’s all-in bet. Alex’s J-7 is ahead of Karen’s T-2 and another J on the turn seals Karen’s fate and we are suddenly heads-up
It is soon all over, as Sean folds the first couple of hands, then Alex folds the next, but the next hand sees Sean all-in pre-flop with K-7 and Alex calling with 8-3 Poker is a cruel and fickle game as the first card shown on the flop is…. yes you guessed it…. a 3 ! This is followed by J-J-2-6 so Alex wins the heat !!
It was a thoughtful and edgy game overall, but the sudden flurries of action made it interesting to watch. The finale couldn’t have been predicted as it seemed Karen had it wrapped up, then Sean but Alex coming in right at the end (when it matters most) so all in all another good game
Well done to all, see you next time
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