A blizzard blew east out of the Mojave Dessert tonight wiping out players from Texas to Iowa and on to Canada. VegasSno imposed his considerable talent on the final table of the Holdem Affair this evening and it was a chilling event to experience. He led when we sat down at the final table and, though several of us tried to quiet the storm, his pressure froze everyone in his path to ice this victory. I was the heads up victim. Unionthug was third. Annieboom was fourth. And our favorite gal from New Orleans, Nutzrus, came back from nearly dead to complete the money table. I’ll be talking more of the amazing play of one of our original members but let it be known that Nutzrus started the final table with only 995 chips and like a Mardi Gras parade, wound her way through the crowd to finish in fifth place.
It was a large field for the Holdem Affair this week.. Forty-eight players sat down to do battle. A wild first hour found only 28 left at the tables. It was two hours into the event when we seated the final table. VegasSno had been working his chilling magic at this table during this time. Our favorite shark, the Tiburon, was feeding well and looking good when we got to this point. I had been down the first hour only to go on a rush that happened to go against Jennifear to knock her out early in the second hour and briefly put me into the chip lead. Then I was moved to a new table and four second best hands in a row put me in the ropes. By the time we got to the final table I was in the middle of the pack. Here is your final table.
VegasSno = 10030
the Tiburon = 9220
Houn = 9050
Unionthug = 9030
Amkaos = 8585
Sunbob = 8570
Hazy Cat = 6910
johnfitz52 = 3440
annieboom = 3170
nutzrus = 995
Watch that short stack. For those of you have haven’t met nutzrus before, she is actually one of the Holdem Affair originals. Welcome back Nutzy, it has been too long. Nutzrus more than doubled up on the second hand of the final table. A 2590 chip pot off Unionthug put her solidly into the action.
Johnfitz52 got hit hard on hand 11 when his AKo ran into Unionthug holding Ad Ac. As a result of that hand johnfitz52 was our first victim on hand 12. Ac Jh ran into the Tiburon with pocket jacks and Johnfitz52 was out the door. Running into back to back dominating pairs will do that to you.
Hand 13 and Houn opened for 1200. I raised to 3400 and Houn pushed the rest of his 6375 into the middle. Houn turned over pocket queens but I was holding kings. A 13000 chip pot vaulted me to the chip lead and Houn to the rail in 9th place.
Hand 18 found annieboom pushing pocket jacks and Hazy Cat looking her up holding Ah Kh. Not a single heart, ace or king for Hazy Cat and he was gone in 8th place.
Hand 19 and we have the Tiburon pushing all-in holding 4s 4c. VegasSno barely had him covered and made the call with Ah Qc. The flop came 5d Jd 3d and Tiburon was looking good. The Ks on the turn and our shark was still swimming strong. But the Tc on the river gave VegasSno the runner/runner straight and the Tiburon was done for the night in 7th place. This game can be so cruel.
Hand 27 and VegasSno had the chip lead with 21530. Unionthug was in second with 19320 and I was third with 16895. Amkaos was in 5th place with a stack of 5235. I looked down at Ac Kh and opened for 2850 in the small blind when everyone folded to me. A simple blind steal was in my mind. But Amkaos held Ks Qh and read me for a steal. He pushed it all to the middle to make the call. No magic queen for Amkaos and a king on the river sealed the hand for me sending Amkaos to the lounge in 6th place. Our money table was set.
Sunbob = 23030
VegasSno = 21455
Unionthug = 19245
annieboom = 4075
nutzrus = 1195
Do you see that name on the bottom of the list? That New Orleans gal had very quietly made her way to the money table. Nothing grand after the second hand. Just a simple steal here and a judicious fold there, and she wound her way through the action to a paycheck. Finally on hand 33 of the final table nutzrus was all-in with the big blind holding a modest 2s 9c. Annieboom made the call with Kd 8h. The flop brought a K and an eight and the river another eight to make it clear that nutzrus was done for the night. Fifth place and a money win was a fitting end for our friend’s return to action.
By hand 39 I had a commanding chip lead with almost half the chips in play. Then, the very next hand, Annieboom picked off my pocket nines with her pocket aces and I was brought down a notch. I took four of the next seven hands, though, and was trying to run away with it.
Then hand 47, the antes 100 and the blinds 400/800. Annieboom pushed her last 3565 into the middle holding pocket sevens. VegasSno made the call from the big blind with Ah Qh. No help for Vegas on the flop and turn. Annie was looking good. Then the river As brought her exit. Fourth place for annieboom this week. Excellent game.
The three of us battled for the next 32 hands. At one point Unionthug rivered a straight and doubled up though me to knock me out of the chip lead and put him back into the action. Finally hand 70. Vegas folded and I raised from the small blind to 1600. Unionthug re-raised to 5100 on what I read as a re-steal. I held Ac Td and moved in on him. Unionthug made the call for his stack holding Qd 9d. The flop missed us both but the turn brought a second diamond for Unionthug. I had visions of being flushed on the river but it was the Jh. Right color but wrong shape. Unionthug was our third place finisher.
Heads up we were pretty equal. I had 36655 and VegasSno 32345. We swapped a few small pots then I took a 10,000 chip pot to take the lead on hand 76. I did the same on hand 77 and it looked like the momentum had shifted. We waltzed to hand 86 and then I fell in love with my AKo and called a push with the table showing 5d 4c Th. Yep, VegasSno turned over Ah 5s for bottom pair. That really was the deciding hand. I battled hard but just couldn’t get it back. Hand 94 I thought I had Vegas when the Qs 7c 4c flop hit my 7d Ac. But VegasSno had Qc 9h for top pair and we were done for the night. VegasSno had his second Holdem Affair trophy and I was done.
It was a great night. The final table of the Holdem Affair is some of the best tournament play I see all week. After two years of regular practice we have developed a pool of players who are in command of their game. Thank you all for the pleasure to play with you.
Remember to get your ideas to Marti for the Anniversary Bash. And don’t miss the action. We want to be over 100 for that night. Let’s make it happen.
PEACE
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