Once again I am blogging for the monthly poker game. I apologize now since I am a little late on this and some things about the night have faded into the background.
As someone famous once said: "Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back it is still a bit fuzzy."
On a more positive note I did actually take notes this time, but the fact that I am so far removed from the game some things are still lost.
One of these days I'll get this whole blogging thing down.
But until then you are all just going to have to deal with it. My god if you want a better blog, write one your damn self.
Onwards.
Again we are an the dastardly lair of misdoings and evil of the Diabolical Mr. Kim. He again tolerates us sofa kings just so he can lose twenty bucks each month.
The usual suspects around the table are Myself, Clint, Nathan, Frenchy, Won, and Ken.
Making a surprise visiting was a good friend and former co-worker Fred Spademan, and finally George made a showing.
We are told that they both will be trying to make a regular appearance.
Finally we again had the ghost of Andrew Higgins.
Seriously I can see that table that night he does show. Won, Frenchy, Ken, Myself, Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, The abominable Snowman and Andrew.
But with my luck I'll get some blurry photo with my camera and no one will believe me.
On to the cards...you do remember this a blog about cards right?
Now I am the returning champ, but since I only won once there is no sidepot right? Wrong they decide that there will be a side pot each month on the last winner. However I add a wrinkle. I put $2 in on the odds that I will win that pot in case no one can knock me out. I'm betting on the fact that I don't think they are good enough to beat me. That's right if I win again I get the pot and the side pot. Granted I have to win it all. But hey. I've won three out of the last five so why the hell not?
Besides it make for a bigger pot for someone if they do manage to bust me out.
The night starts slow and nothing big happens early, though we kept having to tell George that if everyone else is checking you don't have to fold your cards, at least see the flop or better yet, bluff us out.
But sometimes he was determined to throw them away, even if the bet was nothing, zip, zilch, nada.
Hopefully he will pickup the finer points of the game at some point.
Then Won totally sinks any chance Frenchy had of winning that night. No, he didn't take a massive pot off Francois. Rather he boldly predicted that Frenchy was due for a win that night.
Frenchy might as well have turned in all his chips at that point. It was over.
Poor chap. But then again when was the last time you saw a Frenchman win anything?
That is what I thought.
Early I take a small pot from Clint with trip 4s taking down his two pair.
Then Clint gets it again when we see 5h, 3c, Kh. Hit the table, I'm in so far with a Kd & 8c. The turn is a 3h. I fold as Clint and Fred go at it. The river is a As. I'm thinking Clint made his straight or has trips something.
I was right he did have a straight, but the poor bastard is hit hard with Fred's full house. Yup the man turned over Kd, 3d.
Ouch.
Fred was on a roll early taking another pot rather soon off of Nathan.
Then came the hand of the night. Seriously blinds are still around $20 or so and this was the most important hand of the night. No the pot didn't get that big, it was instead the savvy new way of playing poker that Ken developed.
I left early on piss poor cards. I don't remember who raised (it was either Nathan or Frenchy) right after the turn. It comes around to Ken. Who looks at his cards, turns to Fred and asks:
"Are you going to call him? Cause if you are I am going to fold."
Nothing like asking other players what they are going to do so you can figure it out yourself. Might as well not even bother with that annoying betting part.
And yes he came up with this all on his own. No one helped him. Really.
I'm not kidding.
Now having taken a few decent sized pots so far and not lost anything Frenchy has the early chip lead. Two things you need to remember about this.
One, it's still very early.
Two, he is French.
Need I say more?
Now remember that I mentioned that George had this tendency to want to fold, even thought everyone was checking?
Yeah, well he tried to do it on one hand and we kept talking him out of it. Telling him if it isn't costing you anything, hang onto them, why let them go. I think he tried 3 times to bail. Well he stays in with everyone until the end and what happens?
Well there was a pair of threes on the table. No one had another to make a set so it came down to who had the highest kicker.
George had AK.
I kid you not. Really. If you are being checked around the table and you have those cards STAY IN!!!
Then comes a huge hand. George, Fred, Nathan, and myself. I'm in with K5. Flop falls Kh, Qh, Jc. Betting is strong I stay in with my pair of kings. Turn is 8c. People are now betting the pot and re-raising over the top off each other. I bail thinking there is no way my kings are going to hold up. All the rest stay in. River is a 7d. Again pot limit betting and re-raising. By my calculations there is almost 9k in the pot. I missed the exact hands, card were swept to fast. But George takes it with a A - 10 straight. I think Fred and Nathan were playing with a set and two pair. Again I missed who had what.
This gives George the chip lead at the moment.
See I told you Frenchy wasn't going to hold that all night.
Now action is all over. Frenchy scares everyone in a hand with a large pre-flop bet. Yes, I know I said the Frenchman scared everyone away from a hand, but scarier things could have happened.
Like Andrew showing up.
Clint takes a decent size pot off of Ken and George to stay afloat. I take a hand off of Won with a set.
Then in a wild turn of events. Frenchy starts folding.
Ok, that isn't the wild part, we are used to that.
But here we are thinking it is a return to the folding form that we are so used to. Then he starts making some moves.
But he takes a pot off of George with a set over George's pair of jacks.
Then even more surprising he takes a pot over Clint with a A - 10 straight. He is again challenging for chip count.
You do remember he is French right?
Just keep that in mind.
Then comes another big hand I'm in, along with Nathan and George. I have Ad, Kc. I bet large pre-flop and they both call. Flop is 5d, Qs, 10h. I think we all check around. Turn is 5s. I bet decently with a pair and an Ace kicker. The again both call. River Ah. George checks, I bet large, Nathan raises. George calls as do I. Thinking I got it with two pair. George shows As Kd, So I am thinking split pot until Nathan shows Ks, Jc. The man has a A - 10 straight. That and he really needed this pot to stay alive. He was rather low on chips at this point so it was a big win for him.
Also for those of you playing along with the home game this is the third A - 10 straight on the night. How often do you see that.
I know it hasn't happened much at this game.
Of course it doesn't beat that crazy flush night we had early in 2005.George "I'm folding even though there is no bet" Baird is the first casualty of the night. Fred takes him down with a boat. Jacks over sevens. George had two pair, Queens and sevens.
Fred then loses a chunk to Nathan who catches 7d, 5s to give him two pairs on the flop and they hold up to Fred's pocket Queens.
I catch a split on an all in. I missed the cards on this one, but I would have been gone otherwise if I had not gotten lucky.
Now we come to our new 3rd rule of poker.
As you might remember rule #1 is know what you have.
Rule #2 is remember that you are the dealer.Now we have rule #3.
Know where you are at in relation to the dealer. We suddenly had a rash of players putting the blinds in when they weren't even in the blind positions. Worst still it was the regular players doing this and not the new faces.
Go figure, after almost two years you would think they had learned the game by now.
Ahhh, sofa kings remember. Just in case you had forgotten.
Then we lose a few more to the war. Clint (AQ), Frenchy (A4), and Fred (AJ). Clint goes all in, Frenchy and Fred, call but with Clint short stacked we have a side pot. Frenchy goes all in not having much left after the flop. I did get Ac, 8s, Kh. But the last cards got swept to fast for me to write down. I do know Fred took both of them and with that the Canadian and Frenchman both were out of the war.
But then are Canada and France every really in a war?
Didn't think so.
Next Nathan folds a large pot to Fred, almost 20k. Table cards showed 8d, Kd, 8s, Qh. No idea who had what, but then it really doesn't matter when someone folds.
I got caught up in this next hand myself so I missed recording the cards. But I got Ken and Won both all in with a strong hand and took them both down. This was a huge boost to me since my stack was getting dangerously low and I really need this hand.
This leave just Nathan, Fred and Myself.
The blinds are now in the $1k range and really hurting. Frenchy then imparts us with his special poker strategy.
And I quote:
"Yeah I hate it when the blinds are this big, that is why I try to get out early."
And you wonder why we rag on him so much.
Well wonder no more.
Now things go around a bit until Fred looses a very big pot and much of his chips to Nathan, when Nathan catches a flush to put Fred on the ropes.
Not long after Fred is out (not sure who finished him off or he was trapped going all in on a blind).
This leaves just Nathan and myself.
Notice I am still in.
Nathan and I go around a bit again. Neither of us really gaining anything significant on the other.
Then I catch a pair of sixes and go all in. Nathan calls with Kd, 10d.
The flop: Kc, 5h, 4h.
Not looking good for the home team.
The turn is a 10s. Yup this looks like it unless I get a 6 on the river.
And...
3c.
It is all over, I'm out and done. But again a second place finish. That is 3 wins two 2nds in the last 5 months. Not too bad and I know I am ahead in money for all the times I've been playing.
Congratulations to Nathan for finally winning the night for the first time in over a year.
But I'll be back in February to retake my crown.
