Sunday, December 04, 2005

Froth Wins Again

Froth did it again this week. He overcame 37 sharks to win this week's Holdem Affair. It was down to Jennifear and Froth in the heads up match but Froth was too much for Jenn tonight.

BTW, Marti has an important announcement that will be coming out soon. As soon as I get the details I will post them here.

This was an average sized field this week but the competition was fierce as always. We were down to 25 by the first hour break. Here are your leaders:
slotcrazy45 = 3745
greatape = 3720
aktim = 3660
Laeshalady = 3195
Kate Starbird = 3180
ThreesRWild = 3040
winforlife = 2035
Fatalis Macina = 2875
froth = 2760
Stevob19 = 2490

We were down to the final table before the second hour break this week. Althoug it was close. My records show the event had run for an even 2 hours when the final 10 was determined. During this time, Aktim had taken the lead and msrinny02, Jennifear and Froth had made strong moves to leading positions when we all sat down. Here are your final table names.
Aktim = 11470
msrinny02 = 9625
Jennifear = 7510
froth = 6860
Kate Starbird = 5990
Jewelcard = 4000
JesusFish = 3835
Sunbob = 2420
Idblondee = 2195
NDIrish60 = 1595

Looks like some pretty familiar names on that list. And, yes kind reader, I did make it back to the final table this week. The frozen one was dominating the tables and those two sharkettes were close behind.

Msrinny02 took a big hit on just the second hand when she was all in holding Ah Kh and the turn board showed 5c 3s 8d Ks. Unfortunately Froth was holding 5d 5h and had flopped a set. The Ace on the river wasn’t enough help for msrinny and she went second to ninth in just one hand. Hand 9 and Msrinny has to push her pocket fives when the flop came 2d 6h 7c. Kate Starbird was the only one seeing the flop with her. Surely that flop didn’t hit her, did it? Sorry Rinny, yes it did. Kate had raised pre-flop holding Ah 7h and had hit top pair. Those sevens were all it took and Msrinny02 was the first victim of the final table.

Hand 16 and another tough beat befalls the field. Kate Starbird raised pre-flop and Jewelcard made the call holding As Qc. The flop looked great for Jewelcard - 8c 7c Ad. He held top pair/good kicker with the backdoor flush draw to boot. All-in was the play and Kate made the call. Oops – Kate only held Ac 5h – she looked to be in trouble. The turn was the Kc and now Jewelcard looked even stronger. Kate was down to just two outs – she had to match her 5 and the 5c would give Jewelcard his flush. But it was the 5s that floated down the river and poor Jewelcard was gone in 9th place.

Hand 27 and now we’ve got some serious action. The antes were 50 and the blinds 200/400. Aktim raised to 1000, Froth called and two of us dove for cover but JesusFish raised all-in for 1690. One more fold and Aktim pushed all of his chips (10095) and Froth made the call. We now have over 22,000 chips in the middle. This is a serious pot.
JesusFish shows 8d 9d.
aktim shows Kd Jd.
froth shows Qd Qh.
The flop came Th Jh 9c. Aktim was still in the lead but JF had a pair and a straight draw to go with it. The turn was the Ah and Aktim was still looking good. The river was the 6h and, oh my goodness, that gave Froth the four card flush. The miracle river knocked out Aktim and JesusFish. The man from the far north had gone from first to seventh. I’ll resist the temptation to make reference to his cards running cold. (Okay, I lied.)

NDIrish60 was short stacked and after posting the small blind, he had to go all-in for his last 565 on the next hand. Qh 8s may not look like much but, hey, you got to do what you got to do. But Kate Starbird showed pocket tens at the showdown and that was all she needed. NDIrish60 was our bubble winner this week. Bummer.

We are now down to five and the money table. Froth was in command with Jennifear and Kate in second and third. I was a distant fourth and Idblondee was down to her last 1765 chips. Idblondee was all in on the next hand and won a 4655 pot. Looking good girl.

Three times at this final table I was all-in only to split the pot. Hand 35 was a classic example of this frustration. I flopped a set holding pocket sevens against Idblondee and her pocket kings. The table ended up 7c 8s 6s 9c 5d and the straight on the table was high hand.

Hand 46 came along and I had Ah As and was first to act. Like an idiot I just limped hoping one of these sharks would raise pre-flop. Jennifear made the call and Idblondee saw the flop from the big blind. The flop came Qc Jc 8d. Well that’s not a great flop for me but maybe not too bad. Okay, all-in is my play – and Jennifear made the call. Well, I got some action but what could Jenny have to make that call? Oh chit – she has Ac Tc. I’m ahead right now but she has a flush draw and a double gut straight draw. I was ahead but actually a 54%/44% underdog to win the hand. The 9c on the turn was just an insult giving Jennifear a straight and a flush. I was gone in fifth place.

Four hands later and Kate Starbird raised to 2400 only to see Froth come along for the ride. The flop was 4h Jc 2c. Froth bet 6000 taking Kate Starbird all-in for her last 2315. Kate had actually hit part of the flop with her Kh 2d and was ahead of Froth’s Kc Qd. It looked good for Kate until the river Qh. Froth had hit one of his three outs and Kate had to settle for 4th place.

Idblondee had climbed the ladder to third place, milking her short stack for all it was worth. But hand 53 was the end of the run. Blondee had Jc 5s and went up against Froth holding Kc 3s. The flop actually hit them both but Froth held the pair of kings and that was enough. Idblondee was out in 3rd place.

The heads up match between Jennifear and Froth was brief. Froth had 41,000 chips and Jennifear had 13,000. I’ve seen Jennifear come back was longer odds than that but this wasn’t the week. The final hand – hand 58 of the final table – was a classic heads up encounter. They saw a cheap flop come 2s 7s 8s. Jennifear had limped with her pocket queens but now it was time to push. All-in and – oops- Froth called. With 7c 5s he had flopped second pair and the flush draw. The 6s on the turn was all it took and Froth had his second Holdem Affair win.

What a great night. This event is so competitive that on any given week just about anyone can win it. And the practice must be good because I’m seeing many of the HA regulars at final tables of other MTTs during the week. Folks this is a tough field. If you win this, or even just make the final table, you know you are doing something right.

Peace,

Sunbob

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