Another delayed start due to a heated debate over the colours of the new chips Dan had bought from Magen David Adom. While we all agreed that the chips lacked something in terms of quality, the main concern for Dan (who suffers from a rare eye condition called "Stubborness Refusias Visitus Opticianus") was that some of the chips blurred into each other. To be fair to Dan, I find everything blurry when I don't wear my glasses, which is why I wear them.
Anyway, the dispute was eventually mediated to a successful conclusion by Dave, who kindly donated some of his own, more distinctly coloured chips and we got under way at 20.45.
Jude showed some of last week’s form by sending JJ off (10th) to watch his beloved Arsenal’s Champion’s League match, after her AJ hit a Jack, defeating JJ’s AQ.
Dave narrowly secured a doubling up at Sharon’s expense, after he hit 3 Aces with a Jack, beating her 3 Aces with a 10, but it was Charlie who had the narrowest miss, almost scooping the real jackpot with 1 card away from a Spade Royal Straight Flush.
In the most controversial, incredulous hand of the night, Scott folded AK after Sharon went all in. He tried to defend himself for throwing, what was widely mooted as the 2nd best starting hand in poker, showing the persistence of a Graham in the face of overwhelming opposition, even after the cards were shown. Turned out that Sharon had AJ & Scott would have won. But he was still standing by his decision..
Jude did not get put off by the disqualification of her early string £4 raise, and took her second scalp of the night, knocking Sharon out (9th) when her KQ hit a Q to beat Sharon’s AK (well Scott would have folded it....)
IJ survived a near certain exit at the hands of Vic, when he hit 2 top pair on the flop with KQ, but didn’t see Vic’s low straight. Luckily for IJ the river delivered a high straight on the board and split the pot.
Dan boosted his chip stack by tripling up when his 10 high heart flush knocked Scott out (8th). Charlie was out next (7th) to Dan, 78 plays pocket 5s.
Lee gleefully went all in with his best hand of the night, pocket Qs and was happy to see Jude turnover pocket 9s. But the Gods (if they existed) were merely toying with Lee, as Jude hit trips on the river and knocked Lee out (6th).
IJ’s AA held up against Dave’s QQ, who was then knocked out by Vic, AK played A5. Dave out (5th)
Jude just missed out on the points, when Dan’s KJ two pair exposed her A7 bluff. Jude out (4th) IJ soon followed (3rd) after his 57 hit a 7, but Dan’s Q4 hit a Q.
During heads up, the learnings of the MDA Poker Night were applied, with Lee diligently replacing large stacks of chips with new, single £5 ones. There was general agreement that this was a long overdue innovation, but we still had to wait for 25 minutes of heads up action.
Finally, at 23.55, Dan deprived Vic of his second win of this century, when his K6 held up against Vic’s K4.
Well done Dan!
Game 2 – 9 players - (1st JJ, 2nd Dan, 3rd Lee)
The sad loss of Scott was more than compensated for by the arrival of Dean & Paul, which meant a rare 9 player second game. The new chip strategy meant we were ready to roll as soon as the first game finished, an even rarer occurence.
Charlie exited first after going all in with pocket 5s. Upon seeing Dan with A10 Charlie declared prophetically 'I'm ahead, but not for long.' How right he was. Dan hit the nut flush and knocked Charlie out (9th).
The perennial topic of 'Is this a friendly game of poker?' enjoyed a fresh outing after Vic mistakenly called Dave, without realising Dave had gone all in. He was allowed to retract his call, but such leniency drew frowns from disciplinarian Lee, who pressed for strict enforcement of the rules as the only way that people will learn and not re-offend. Although Dean would seem to be the living embodiment of the inadequacy of this approach, a straight on the board proved the whole discussion completely pointless, but then that has never stopped us in the past...
Dave departed next, the first victim of a reinvigorated JJ, who had spiritual powers flowing through his veins after a long stint with the tikun. JJ's AJ ended up as trip Jacks and took out Dave's pocket 10's. Dave out (8th)
Dean was out (7th) after Lee's 88 held up against his Q10. Vic then kncoked Paul out (6th) when 46 proved inadequate in the face of Vic's A10, which hit a 10.
IJ's J2 was outclassed by Lee's pocket rockets, pushing him out (5th).
JJ continues:
There was a relatively cautious 4-way battle before Vic fell, (4th), then a quite tense 3-way battle where Dan got lucky first against me (with a Q on the river) and then against Lee (tripping up with his 2s) before I won the heads-up (the usual up and down encounter).
Final hand saw my 9 10 (top pair on flop) beat Dan's J8 (second pair on flop). I checked my top pair, Dan went all-in and I called.
Guess who's back, back again. JJ's back, tell a friend.
I left the last line in for general amusement, but you have to hand it to him: after 12 games, JJ chalks up his first win of the year. Well done JJ - perhaps February won't prove so black after all...
2008 Poker Rankings table:
Dan scooped 9 points from this week's 2 games, propelling him ahead of Lee and Barry, who falls back to 3rd place, from his disputed top spot last week.Dan has an impressive 7 point lead, secured after playing two less games then the max.
Elsewhere, JJ's long prayed for victory pushes him into a more respectable mid table obscurity, while Scott's infallible AK Lay Down strategy, rewarded him with bottom place....
Conversation topics:
Gaby made her own contribution to our knowledge this week, reminding us that anyone who travelled long haul on Virgin or BA from 2004 to 2006, may qualify for a £20 refund per ticket. Check out whether you can get a free week's poker (or 2 if you're a girl)
https://www.airpassengerrefund.co.uk/
Who is fitter Leona or Kelly Clarkson?
What is the worst hand to lose to? (this was a smoking conversation, if you are wondering how you missed it) Lee, smarting from his JJ defeat to Jude's trip 9s, felt it was when someone gets lucky against your hand when you're far ahead. Dave reckoned it is when someone defeats you by accident, without hitting anything.
There was a brief (one way) conversation about the principle of reciprocity in showing cards to players already out. Dan, who was playing, was only prepared to let Dave, who was dealing, look at his cards if Dave would allow him similar privileges in future. Dave's answer was emphatic: he quit dealing and returned to the tv.
Jokes of the week
Thanks to JJ (& Baz shortly afterwards) for:
THE WEDDING TEST
I was a very happy man. My wonderful girlfriend and I had been dating for over a year, and so we decided to get married. There was only one little thing bothering me...
It was her beautiful younger sister. My prospective sister-in-law was twenty-two, wore very tight miniskirts, and generally was bra-less. She would regularly bend down when she was near me, and I always got more than a nice view. It had to be deliberate, because she never did it when she was near anyone else.
One day the 'little' sister called and asked me to come over to check the wedding invitations. She was alone when I arrived, and she whispered to me that she had feelings and desires for me that she couldn't overcome. She told me that she wanted me just once before I got married and committed my life to her sister.
Well, I was in total shock, and couldn't say a word.
She said, 'I'm going upstairs to my bedroom, and if you want one last wild fling, just come up and get me.'
I was stunned and frozen in shock as I watched her go up the stairs.
I stood there for a moment, then turned and made a beeline straight to the front door. I opened the door, and headed straight towards my car.
Lo and behold, my entire future family was standing outside, all clapping!
With tears in his eyes, my father-in-law hugged me and said, 'We are very happy that you have passed our little test.. We couldn't ask for a better man for our daughter. Welcome to the family.'
And the moral of this story is:
Always keep your condoms in your car
And a nice Jewish one from Dave:
The only cow in a small town in Poland stopped giving milk. The people did some research and found that they could buy a cow from Moscow for 2,000 rubles, or one from Minsk for 1,000 rubles.
Being frugal, they bought the cow from Minsk. The cow was wonderful. It produced lots of milk all the time, and the people were amazed and very happy. They decided to acquire a bull to mate with the cow and produce more cows like it. Then they would never have to worry about the milk supply again.
They bought a bull and put it in the pasture with their beloved cow. However, whenever the bull came close to the cow, the cow would move away. No matter what approach the bull tried, the cow would move away from the bull and he could not succeed in his quest.
The people were very upset and decided to ask the rabbi, who was very wise, what to do. They told the rabbi what was happening.
"Whenever the bull approaches our cow, she moves away. If he approaches from the back, she moves forward. When he approaches her from the front, she backs off. An approach from the side and she just walks away to the other side."
The rabbi thought about this for a minute and asked, "Did you buy this cow from Minsk?" The people were dumbfounded, since they had never mentioned where they had gotten the cow.
"You are truly a wise rabbi," they said. "How did you know we got the cow from Minsk?"
The rabbi answered, "My wife is from Minsk."
Sites of the week
Thanks to JJ for:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKL1964100220080219
Where Barry was last Wednesday:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKT4228820080222
Thanks to Baz for:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080223/tuk-50p-bet-makes-a-million-for-punter-6323e80_3.html
That's your fill for 2 weeks, as I'm in Orlando next week and won't be in East Finchley to bare witness to the momentous events around the poker table.
Having said that, since Dean alleges that this blog is entirely fictional, maybe I should blog next week's game without playing.
Besides, at 32 degrees, Florida is almost as hot as the Tropic of Graham....
ilan
