The quarterly £10 special is always an interesting game and one I always make special effort to win. Despite being only 9 players (or perhaps because of it), this time was no exception.
I start off cautiously as normal and the whole table seems to be playing fairly tight, except Sean who needs his 2nd chance within 10 minutes ! His refreshed stack of chips lasts….. less than 10 minutes so Sean is out just on the end of level 1 !!
My stack is going down with no real hands to play. I limp in a couple of times, but not really getting anywhere. I play aggressive against Simon on my right when we are Blind V Blind and my K high manages to win a pot! My good fortune comes on the last hand before the break when I limp in with Q-Ts and see the K-J-9 flop (with two spades) Alex shoves, I call, then Andy shoves behind me… happy days ! Alex has one pair, but Andy’s two pair gives me a sweat and I don’t really need the flush that comes for me on the end, but have won a huge pot and am chip leader going into the break.
After the break, play is a still quite cautious on the whole table so with chips to burn I open up a bit and end up making steady progress.. maintaining my chip lead by hitting cards and taking out Derek and Andy. After that I quieten down a bit as can sit back to wait for a hand.
It’s surprisingly quick when we get down to three players, with two levels left to play. I have about half the chips and Karen and Darren are about even. The chips move around the table a bit, then after Darren folds, I raise Karen with A-Qo and she calls. The A-8-5 flop looks good for me, but with two hearts on the board I bet out, with Karen calling. The heart on the turn makes me nervous so check and get even more nervous when Karen puts in a sizeable bet… so after tanking for a while, decide to fold…. making Karen chip leader!
A few hands later I am short stack with 12’000 chips (blinds 2000/1000) and after Darren folds, I raise my SB against Karen again… this time with 9-6o (hoping to take the blinds) but Karen calls. The K-9-4 flop looks good for me, so bet 3000 but Karen calls. I am ready to give up, but the 6 on the turn makes me think I’m ahead so put in another 3000 with about 4000 behind. After much deliberation Karen calls again. The T on the river doesn’t change my plan of shoving the rest of my chips in, and again Karen calls…… showing Q-T (!!) Phew, thought I might be in trouble, but am now safely chip leader again.
After I can be a bit more aggressive and take a few blinds/small pots (You were right Darren, I was bluffing the 5 on the turn 
) and am back up to having half the chips.
In the last level of blinds (4000/2000) no-one can really afford to give away their blind, so Darren and Karen are soon all in against each other, with Darren taking Karen out at the start of the last level.
We both have around 25’000 chips and about 15 mins to go, so a bit of play left in the game… however after a couple of hands Darren raises 10’000 with A-8o and I shove my 4-4 and we have a race for the winner…. luckily for me, my 4-4 holds up and I take it down.
Phew, it was a great game and am very happy to have won it as it was a very tough fight all the way through.
It also makes the league standings very interesting, as with half the season gone, the top 7 players are separated by only 10 points, so all to play for !
Well played all, see you next time…
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