1 March (S&L's house) £20 loss – “Monster chip lead jinx strikes again”

Game 1 (1st Lee, 2nd Ilan, 10 players)

The game started with early excitement as Marc went all-in after a few hands believing he’d hit two pairs (AJ) only to discover he actually had A10. Dave had called the all-in with Marc’s imaginary hand to send Marc to a very early exit.

A series of amazing hands followed. Dan hit the nut flush on the turn and started milking Ilan with £3.50 raises; but Ilan hit a full house on the river (JJJQQ) and should have gone all-in.

A big hand saw off unlucky Dean who had AA versus Lee’s AK suited – with a diamond flush hitting on the turn. Dan’s Q10 didn’t get a look-in.

Barry (AK) saw off Sharon (KK) with a very lucky straight on the river.

Dave and Ilan (both with lots of chips) clashed with Ilan winning a crucial hand with the nut flush versus Dave’s flush – both needed to use both their hole cards to make the flush.

The Jaysons departed soon after as Jude walked into Dave’s very patient full house (10 10 10 66) having paired Kings on the river.

Having survived upto this point by watching everyone else commit card-suicide I raised pre-flop with A5 suited only for Ilan to hit top two pair with KQ suited. With hindsight I should have waited.
Barry (pair of Qs) could count himself very unlucky (and believe me he does) to fall to Lee who tripped 5s on the river.

That left Ilan heads-up with a monster chip lead versus Lee. A run of shocking cards and a big swing-hand chasing a straight that never came gave Lee the momentum he needed to wrap up another win. Bridesmaid Ilan now has 4 second places in 2006.

Game 2 (1st Marc, 2nd Lee, 7 players)

Lee started the second game on heat amassing an astonishingly large chip lead after just 10 hands. Barry was grateful to Dan (you don’t hear those words often) for spotting a sneaky flush on the river against Dave. My evening ended with 22 deservedly losing to JJ (Marc) – not this is Jack Jack.

The game very quickly turned into a three-horse race with Lee, Marc and Barry fighting for position. The end was a long time coming, but Marc held his nerve to take a well-deserved win with Lee second while Barry finished third for the second time.

Lee comments - amazing how I managed to lose all my chips but I take comfort in the fact that at one point I was last in the top 3 with Baz chip leader - only to regain the lead and knock Barry out. The quote worthy of mention was of course Baz to Lee (after going all in then all out on nothing
more than a draw as usual) = "Right next week I am targeting you instead of Sharon.... " cue much
laughter all round and general agreement that Baz is most generous to want to give his chips away
before the next game has even begun!”

Conversation topics

England scraped past Uruguay with a goal from an escaped giraffe and a last minute winner from Joe Cole. The ref took matters into his own hands by pushing the players away – he should have sent himself off. We heard all about Jonah’s PTSD (post traumatic shit disorder) and were captivated by Chantelle’s experience in the German Big Brother house or village as it’s known over there. The tiles are looking good in the Young’s new bathrooms and the poker suite will shortly be ready for its opening ceremony.