Post yom tov play got going at 20:45 without the England-Belarus game on in the room. This seemed to disappoint the ladies more than you'd expect, as revealed in early discussion about whether David Beckham still has a role in an England shirt.
Sharon informed us that "As long as he keeps changing his shirt at the end of the game, he has a role." Jude agreed despite the boys' protestations that they shouldn't be treating a man like an object.
Invigorated by Beckham fantasies, the girls went up against each other, both with full houses. Sharon's turned out to be a better one, but somehow they both managed to avoid putting all their chips into the pot. "Amateur night" was one player's unkind observation but in truth they were probably just distracted by the thought of David getting the baby oil out...
In a later hand, Sharon raised £2.50, which Dan re-raised £3.50, only to be re-raised by Charlie all in (another £8.50). Sharon folded, but Dan called and flipped over AQ. Charlie wasn't fussed: he was holding Aces which held up to double him up.
Sharon would have won had she called which led to speculation as to whether that was Charlie's best ever move in poker? Had he not gone all in, Sharon would have probably called and eventually won. But what if she had put some more chips in and then folded at the flop? Could he have got some more chips out of her?
Thankfully, Jude rescued us from this pointless hindsight poker by getting real poker re-started, going all in after a £3 pre-flop raise from Charlie. In a pattern that was to be repeated with comforting regularity, Charlie folded. Lee called and his 10s held up against Jude's 7s, to knock Jude out (8th). (Quick return to hindsight poker: Charlie would have won the pot if he'd have backed up his raise by calling.)
With 2 3 5 8 on the board, Baz went all in after Sharon re-raised his bet. Shaz thought about it for a long time. Her instincts told her to fold. She had hit trip 3s and it would have been the greatest lay down of her life, but it was not to be. Egged on by the boys, who pointed out how many outs she had, she called and ran into Baz's diamond flush. He doubled up, bringing groans from all the players with an eye on the leader board. Sharon was decimated and fuming.
She re-raised Lee all in on the next hand or so and he called. Lee had AJ which held up against Sharon's QJ. There was to be no getting lucky at her husband's expense this week for Sharon, who went out (7th).
Minus the girls, the boys got on with the serious job of preventing Barry getting any more points. Dan was not proving to be too much of a threat this week: he had thrown away most of his chips early on but still refused to die. He called Mark's all in with J7. Mark's A10 got unlucky, doubling Dan up to Barry's dismay. Our other title contender Lee conceded that he didn't mind Dan surviving or even doubling up again, as long as it was at Barry's expense...
Dan & Mark went at it again, this time Dan with A9 & Dan with K5. Mark got the better of Dan this time, hitting 2 pairs on the flop and doubling up. Dan, virtually wiped out, was still not out saying "I did the right thing, but what the heck? It was evens at the start.."
Without even the blind to call his own, Dan went all in with J9 against IJ's AK. Would you believe it? He hit 2 pair to triple up, although somehow IJ still managed to win some chips.
Clearly intimidated by Dan's lingering presence, Baz raised Mark 2 piles of red with AK. Mark went all in with his K7, which was not enough to beat the Baz. Mark was out (6th). To the great irritation of himself and all the other players, Mark had committed the cardinal sin of giving Barry more chips. He obviously didn't get the memo.
Meanwhile, Dan was still in. He was becoming the new Lee, clinging on to dear life until he got the hand he needed to make his move. Dan said he couldn't be the new Lee as he had not yet got Ks...
....Freakishly, Dan was then dealt pocket Ks and went all in against Lee, who had A9. Dan's Ks won and he doubled up.
IJ did his bit for the table, making a dent in Barry's monster chip stack, with 9s against Baz's 5s.
Charlie then had a good chance at continuing to damage our table leader, calling Baz's all in with AQ. But Barry's 8s held up, giving him even more chips and knocking Charlie out (5th).
Barry increased his pile yet again, finally calling time on Dan. In a JJ like piece of luck, Barry's 2 3 hit a 3 to overcome Dan's A4 and knock him out (4th), leaving the strategy of denying Baz chips in tatters. After demonstrating survival skills worthy of Andy McNab, Dan finally bowed out, passing the baton of responsibility for restraining the Isaacson over to IJ & Lee.
IJ displayed early promise, demonstrating that Baz was mortal. His Qs helped him double up against Baz's 8s, but it was to be shortlived. Lee ensured the burden of stopping Barry in his table topping tracks was to be solely his, knocking IJ out when his KQ hit a Q to beat IJ's A10.
With IJ out (3rd), a tense heads up between 1st and 2nd place in the table started at 23:25. The stakes could not have been higher: a victory for Lee would cut Baz's lead to a mere 5 points. A win for Barry would extend it to a healthy 13.
It is fair to say that while the chip stacks were even, the crowd support was not. Everyone present, minus Barry but even including Eric Clapton on the radio, was routing for Lee.
Barry proved that you don't get to be table leader since May for nothing. He had maintained his lead for almost 6 months & he was not going to let it slip away with less than 3 months to go.
After 20 minutes of drama, Lee went all in with Q9, which Baz called with A10. He hit an Ace and claimed victory at 23:43.
Well played Barry - the group hostility against you may be making you stronger as you claim, but it is too enjoyable to try something different quite yet....
Game 2 – 6 players - (1st Mark, 2nd IJ, 3rd Baz)
Without the pressure of restraining an unstoppable Barry, a more relaxed second game started at 22:52.
In the first significant hand, Dan raised a whopping £10 after 3 10 Q flop. Mark smelled a rat and called. An ace on the turn saw them both check, with the betting resuming after an insignificant 4 came on the river. Mark bet £8 and Dan, after some protracting deliberating and chip counting, called. He turned over pocket Js, saying he knew he was behind but just had to see what Mark had. Sure enough, Mark's QK, gave him top pair and a monster pot. He had correctly read the big bollocks bets from Dan as a lame attempt to get him off the pot. Dan, massively weakened, didn't deny it.
In another massive pot, J 10 8 8 Q lay on the table after some healthy raises and re-raises. In stark contrast to the girls' full house hand in the first game, Baz and Mark ended up with most of their chips in the pot. Both of them had straights, but Baz's AK gave him a high straight and the chips, while Mark's A9 gave him the low straight and a headache. Baz was roundly condemned from the other players as a total cunt, with the notable exception of a lonely Charlie who commented 'Well played.' Such naivety was put down to the resemblance between Barry's foolhardy calling with nothing and Charlie's traditional style of play.
Re-introducing his unique tactic of the £1 pre-flop raises, Charlie kicked off a massive hand between Mark, with an awesome straight flush & IJ, with a nut flush. IJ was lucky to finish that hand with any chips at all, but Mark's elaborate performance before raising was a clear signal that he had the hand of love, although IJ assumed it was a mere full house.
Back in the action, Mark called Dan's all in. Dan went in ahead with big slick, but Marky's AQ hit a Q to knock Dan out (6th).
Charlie saw some action, doubling up with Js against Mark's 9K, but then bottling out of calling IJ's £8.25 re-raise a few hands later, despite having raised a fiver.
The game was peppered with sexual innuendos, delivered by our very own Mr Garrison, Bazza Isaacson, who saw penises every time someone put in a pile of black chips.
At 00:50, our host Dean arrived, having spent the last hour on his own in his new, unfinished house. With only a month to go before the Jaysons move in, Dean told us at times he had believed it might never happen.
Lee raised an intimidating £10 pre-flop, only to be re-raised a further tenner by bulldozer Preston. After Lee's inevitable all in, Mark turned over Aces, intimidating Lee's AK right back. The Aces held up, knocking out Lee (5th) confirming that the luck and the chips were only ever going one way. Barry told us he would be quite happy to get 2nd, now that Lee was
out, but no one was listening.
Charlie's last stand was an all in with J4, which IJ called blind with A3. The better hand held up and Charlie exited (4th).
In another hand that delighted Barry, IJ and Mark went all in. IJ's AJ held up against Mark's A10, inflicting a near fatal wound on Mark, who was down to 2 piles of chips. Barry revealed that he didn't actually want to win, as it would invoke the Borehamwood Burger rule...
Mark evened the chip stacks up again, going all in with Q8. IJ merrily called with AK, but Mark's luck was rock solid, bringing him a Q to take the chips.
Barry then gave him a load more, folding Mark's re-raise with 2 6 J K on the board, leaving him with dregs.
He went home after calling IJ's all in. Mark called with AJ, but IJ's Qs held up to knok Barry out (3rd) and take the pot.
Going into heads up at 01:58, that hand had given IJ a massive chip lead, while Mark, having not played for weeks and not won for more, determined not to lose. He doubled up in the first hand, after his QK hit a K on the river to beat IJ's A2.
Mark went on to reverse the chip deficit but IJ came back again.
That was how it remained until 2 hands confirmed that no one was going to deny Mark the points, with a lot of raising and folding in between.
IJ learnt the hard way that AK is not called Big Slick for nothing, getting them twice, to cost him both hands and the game.
In the first, Mark called IJ's all in with K6. Domninated by IJ's AK, Marky hit 2 pairs to take the chip lead.
At 02:20, IJ took the fatal decision to slow play his 2nd Big Slick, in a short-sighted attempt to trap Mark, who had been consitantly folding his raises. Mark saw a free flop with a meagre 4 7, which turned into a mighty straight on the river. His expert slow playing, despite the lateness of the hour, convinced IJ who went all in with top pair, taking his 2nd second in as many weeks.
Well played Marky, a sprited win earning you 5 points, a whole 3 more than Spurs have acquired all season....
2008 Poker Rankings Table:
So his impressive first game victory cements Barry's grip on the top of the table. He strides into 3 figures with a monster 105 points, giving him a decisive 13 point lead over 2nd place Lee and at least a week of safety. Well done Barry, it is far from over but at least for one week you can sit back and enjoy the abuse.Extending his lead over Dan to 3 points will be no consolation for Lee, who has a lot more work to do to take a second title.
IJ's point changes little, but Mark's late night win narrows the gap between him and Sharon to a surmountable 6 points.
Conversation topics of the week:
Early discussion centred on the question of should you cherish your children's dirty nappies?
Inspired by the Youngs' yom tov lunch, conversation moved on to whether crunchy peanut butter crumble violated the golden rules of good crumble?
If you think that was pointless, things got worse, when Barry insisted on contemplating whether Charlie could mathematically win the title, assuming he played all the remaining games?
I'm not sure that Charlie is the player that Barry needs to worry about, but then on the evidence of recent weeks it's not terribly clear that any of the actual contenders are going to cause him much stress either.
Jokes & news of the week:
Tottenham finally win a game:
that's all for this week & apologies for the spelling, can't get the spellcheck to work for some reason....
ij
