Jude was dealt a gorgeous pair of Aces in the first hand of the first game, which kicked off at 20:50. Play was painfully slow for the first hour or saw, bringing sarcastic remonstrations from Sharon. It may have had something to do with the England Croatia match that was distracting the players. Shaz found herself wishing her household was one of the 28 million where the game was unavailable, due to a lack of Setanta.
Mark arrived and immediately got himself into trouble for not bringing any photos of Lani. He silenced the critics with his poker, virtually wiping Lee out in a major hand. With Q6KA8 on the board, Lee went all in after some monster raises had failed to scare off the new Dad. Lee turned over trip Aces, but Mark had hit the nut flush on the river. Pocket Aces proved costly once gain.
Sharon, who was exhausted before play had even started, spilt her tea on the table. Thankfully we were not in the poker suite, although Dave helpfully pointed out that her tea would never have come so near to the poker table, had we been in the suite.
Lee refused to die, going all in with AK against Jude's KQ. Doubling up brought him back to a respectable level of chips, proving one of the few enduring rules of our poker game: Never write off the comeback king. If Lee has a chip, he has a chance.
In a further heroic act of survival, Lee raised £2.50 and then called JJ's £5 re-raise. After the flop Lee went all in with AJ, needing runner runner for a flush. JJ thought he was safe with AK, but the board saved Lee, splitting the pot much to JJ's consternation.
In a heated dispute, both Jude & Barry claimed to have put the blinds in correctly, and yet there was 50p missing from the pot. Despite no one believing him, Barry was adamant that he had put his 50p in. Displaying world class diplomatic skills, Jude proposed a compromise, suggesting they chuck in 25p each. Barry begrudgingly accepted the deal and allowed the game to continue, much to the relief of Sharon, who was falling asleep at the table. A warm glow engulfed our players. After all, if such momentous issues can be overcome without further ill feeling, perhaps there's hope for some of the more intractable conflicts around the globe. Jude smiled and declared:
"I believe in peace"
"I want my 25p back" was Barry's reply.
JJ was fast becoming a nervous wreck, jumping out of his seat on a number of occasions, in response to Bea's advances. Lee, who was sitting next to JJ, continued to play with Bea, encouraging her excitable scampering, which J found so unnerving. Sharon pleaded for the game to continue, blaming the England game for slowing everything down. But was it Bea's antics or Walcott's hat-trick that was delaying play?
Lee & JJ went at each other again. With A4Q on the table, Lee went all in, called by JJ, who had raised pre-flop. JJ cursed his Ks, which were firmly behind Lee's AJ (pair of Aces). Lee was very much back in the game, while his brother in law's chip stack was devastated. Sharon found the strength from somewhere to knock JJ out (10th).
Meanwhile, post truce skirmishes broke out between Jude and Barry, who refused to accept that it could have been his blind that was 50p short.
K61010 on the table brought an all in from Lee, who was holding AK. Scott didn't use his psychic abilities on this hand, calling with KJ. Only one of 3 remaining Js in the pack could help Scott and in an outrageously lucky escape, the jammy bastard hit one on the river. Lee went out (9th) grumbling that this kind of bad beat always happens to him.
Scott then kicked IJ out (8th), who had gone all in with 8s. Scott had called with AJ and hit a J on the first card. IJ's question "Should Scott be allowed to play anymore?" met with general murmured agreement.
Going above & beyond the requirements of peace, former protagonists Jude & Baz were heard laughing and giggling together. Jude denied she was flirting and a smiling Baz agreed, claiming she had merely been giving him a hand job under the table.
Mark spoiled Barry's fun, going all in with 8s, which Jude called with A5. Baz didn't try to hide his disappointment as Jude went out (7th).
A pre-deal ejaculation of cards from dealer Dan, brought much mirth from around the table, with leery references to Dan's pre-cum. The smuttier tone of the second game had arrived early, despite the presence of ladies, although Sharon was the only one left and she was half asleep.
569 on the flop, brought an all in from Dave, with 34, straight draw. Shaz called with AQ. Missing his straight, Dave nevertheless got lucky, hitting a 3 on the river, to send a weary Sharon to bed (6th).
Dan's KJ went up against Mark's AK, which held up. Dan went out (5th) admitting his all in was a little reckless, but then trying to justify the move by arguing about how it was all in or fold. He failed to convince any of the players, since a raise of a pile of reds or so would have told him he was well behind.
Mark, with a monster chip stack (but no photo of his new born) took on Barry's Q7, with J2. He hit 2 pair to knock a satisfied Barry out (4th) and create more space for his chip battalions, which were now 2 piles deep.
4Q3 on the flop brought at all in from Dave, with 25 and another straight draw. Mark was already ahead with Q10 and ended up hitting 2 pair, denying Dave a 2nd lucky escape. Dave out (3rd).
Heads up began at 23:11, with Scott a mere chip minnow against Mark, the chip blue whale. Fresh from his win last week, Scott showed impressive resilience, as well as a healthy dose of luck. He went all in with Q9, only to find himself a big underdog to Mark's AQ. Mark should have had it sewn up, but Scott hit 2 pair to make a super jammy escape.
The chip lead changed in another great hand for Scott. He went all in with QJ, after hitting 2 pair. Mark, holding KQ, had hit top pair on the river, encouraging him to call, to double Scott up.
At 23:30, Scott completed an impressive turnaround with another golden piece of luck. He went all in with A9, once again a big underdog to Mark's AJ. With only 3 cards to hit, Scott hit a 9 and claimed victory, leaving Mark to wonder what had happened.
Well done Scott on your 2nd win in a row!
Game 2 – 8 players - (1st Dan, 2nd Mark, 3rd IJ)
Mark celebrated the start of the 2nd game at 23:40 with a return to his farting form. He assured us that Lani has inherited his impressive farting skills (and let's hope her mother's looks).
With a rare 3 aces on the flop, Barry made a knee jerk raise, unable to resist the lure of a pot made for a bluffer. Dave & JJ went with him, Dave quietly thanking the creator for the Ace in his hand, praying that one of the other's will hit a full house and try and take on his 4 aces.
Scott assumed the Mr Magoo mantle for this week, confusing how many diamonds were on the table. In a later hand, he confused a 6 for an 8, leading him to wrongly believe IJ had a straight. There was a collective sigh of relief that the new Scott, complete with psychic abilities and balls of steel, was gone and the old Scott, with precious little ability and dodgy eyesight, was back.
New Scott's luck hadn't abandoned him: he got lucky to turn big slick into a straight. JJ's aggressive raises had failed to shake Scott's faith in his AK, leaving JJ mightily fucked off and cursing the Mancunian Flukester: "It's like playing with a fucking idiot."
Scott didn't care. He had a very healthy pile of chips, looked like he might have a shot at a rare 3 wins in a row and had only turned up to watch the football in the first place.
Flouting his confidence in everyone's faces, Scott declared that he was going to win the next hand before he had even looked at his cards. JJ duly went all in with deuces and Scott called with 10s, while Baz got the hell out of the way with 6s. Sure enough, Scott's 10s held up to knock JJ out (8th), who left us with the parting words "Enjoy gentlemen. I hope it's a late one" which just goes to show how well JJ takes these things.
Baz lost a load of chips to Dan, after his Js were outclassed by Dan's aces. Mark then finished Baz off. who again had Js. Mark's K10 hit a K to destroy Baz by a whole 25p (which hasn't been a lucky amount for him of late..) Baz out (7th). As he followed JJ to Borehamwood, Baz cheerily wished "I hope it's a 4 o'clocker!"
Lee was out next when his KQ failed to hit against Mark's 7s. Lee out (6th).
Dave went all in with A2, which Scott called with A4. Dave got lucky and hit a 2, to knock Scott out (5th) shattering his dream of a third consecutive win. Scott left us with the wisdom of his game plan: it was a good call and he was glad he made it, even though he lost, since it meant he could go home at 01:28.
IJ went all in with A10 and was unhappy to see Mark turnover AK. IJ only had 2 10s to hit, since Dan had selfishly thrown one of them. In a lucky escape, IJ hit a 10, doubling up to make a nice dent in Mark's chip stack.
Mark went all in with AQ which Dave called with Qs. Mark proved himself as jammy a bastard as every other player, hitting one of the 3 aces he needed to double up and crippled Dave.
Clearly on tilt, Dave went all in next hand with K9, which Dan called with AQ. The better hand held up, doubling Dan up leaving Dave to despair "I can't win when I'm ahead and I can't win when he's ahead." (Please refer to earlier hands A2vA4 and even 4 Aces if you are at all suspicious of this statement.)
After a couple of double ups that he didn't want, Dan hit a straight flush to knock Dave out in style. Dave took Bea home (4th), who had graciously left the Youngs a foul smelling gift on the lawn.
IJ went out (3rd) after his Q7 hit a Q, but was no match for Dan's pair of Aces.
Mark began his 2nd heads up of the night at 01:45, this time against Dan and well behind in chips. After a heads up battle that lacked energy Dan won at 01:58.
Well done Dan!
2008 Poker Rankings Table:
Another week without points cut Barry's hold on the top spot to single digits for the first time in months. Dan's late night victory delivered him second place, turning his 2 point deficit behind Lee, to a 4 point lead. Only 8 points stand between Dan and first place.Dave's third saw him crawl a point closer to IJ, and Mark's consolation for his 2 second places is that he moves 4 points closer to Sharon.
Scott's 2nd win of the year meant he made further progress away from the irregular players. He has overtaken Charlie in one bound and is only 4 points behind Jude.
Conversation topics of the week:
The woeful failure of Sky or the BBC to win the rights to the England World Cup qualifier, led to some debate about how shite Setanta are and how disgusting it is that they have even hogged the highlights. All present agreed a boycott of Setanta was a great idea.
There was a brief discussion about phobias and their origins. Sharon explained some of the psychology behind the irrational fears while Barry reminisced about how he was scared of buttons when he was a wee nipper.
Is Dean suffering from sleep apnea? He falls asleep as soon as the car starts moving, although Jude reassured us that this is only when he is a passenger. He can stay awake for at least 5 minutes when he's driving...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea
Dan requested that players exercise more care when dealing, so as to not create duff hands when he is on the blind. You know how he feels about duff hands...
Finally, there was some pondering as to who would write next year's blog? While no obvious candidate emerged, the discussion did produce some creative suggestions to preserve the blog's future. How about a split blog, with each game written up by different players, opening up the possibility of one of the girls taking up the strain for the first game?
Jokes of the week:
Here's the Oasis concert clip I was going on about - check out Liam the hard man..
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CX5JBsKih0c
And for those of you interested in some US political satire, here's the voicemail McCain left asking Palin to be his VP:
http://www.236.com/blog/w/lee_camp/mccains_voice_mail_to_palin_le_8644.php
that's all for 2 weeks now folks,
ij
