Sunbob Makes It Five

It was a small group tonight. Only 24 players sat down to do battle. And guess who came out on top? Yes, kind readers, it was me. The old Sunbob had some pocket pairs hold up at just the right times and I took down my fifth Holdem Affair title. Papoorboy was my victim in the heads up match. Mellow Yellow was the third place finisher to complete the money table tonight.

We were down to 18 by the first hour break. Our hostess, Marti, was leading the pack. I was languishing in card dead purgatory and was mired in 14th place. Here are your first hour leaders.
Marti = 3550
MeAnisa = 2875
johnfitz52 = 2740
Houn = 2695
Papoorboy = 2450
VegasSno = 2300
rshocker = 3190
Agro = 2170
Mellow Yellow = 2160
Lil Mem = 2120

Over the next half hour my fortunes changed. My cards started to change and I won a couple of races. Three times my pocket pairs held up to challenges from over cards. That will go a long way in building your chip stack. Here was our final table.
Sunbob = 9990
Marti = 4635
ThreesRWild = 4430
slotcrazy45 = 4310
johnfitz52 = 3605
MeAnisa = 2865
Mellow Yellow = 2835
Papoorboy = 1595
rshocker = 1440
Agro = 295

Agro was the first to fall. I’m sorry Agro, I didn’t get the hand history saved. UB has blocked hand grabber programs now and I was still figuring out how to take my notes.

Marti got hit hard on just the tenth hand. All-in pre-flop with Ad Qc against rshocker holding Ac Jd. But the flop brought three clubs for rshocker and matched his Jack as well. The river 3c only sealed the deal giving rshocker the ace high flush and the huge pot. Marti was now down to just 1300 chips. But then she doubled up off me twice in a row on hands 21 and 22. She was getting back into the match.

Hand 23 saw johnfitz52 min-raise to 600 only to have ThreesRWild come over the top for all 2100. This took johnfitz all-in with his call. John turned over Kd Js and TRW was glad to reveal his pocket aces. But poker can be very cruel and this was our first example tonight as the flop came Kc Jd 4h, totally clobbering johnfitz with two pair. No miracle ace on the turn or the river and poor ThreesRWild was in trouble. Hand 34 and ThreesRWild is back again. This time he pushed from late position with Kc Ks and was called by Papoorboy in the big blind. Pa held Ad Td. The flop was death for TRW - Ah Qh As. A king would have been good for TRW but it didn’t come. ThreesRWild was gone in 9th place.

This led us into the second hour break. Papoorboy now had the chip lead with 11215 and I was in second with 8735. Our lovely hostess, Marti, took the break nursing just 450 chips.

After we came back from the break Marti survived until hand 45. With the blinds 200/400 Marti was down to her last bet when she pushed her Kd 4h. Johnfitz was the only caller from the big blind but he held Ad 5d. The board totally missed them both and the ace for johnfitz was good. Marti was out in 8th place.

Hand 58 and johnfitz52 raised UTG to 800. Two folds and rshocker pushed back for all 1880 holding Ah Ks. Johnfitz52 made the call holding Kh Qh. The Qc on the flop was the deciding card. John went into the hand dominated but the Qc on the flop was the exact card he needed to send rshocker to the rail in 7th place.

We battled with 6 for the next ten hands. Then, on hand 69, johnfitz opened for 1200 and MeAnisa called from the big blind. The flop came 7c 8s 2d, MeAnisa bet 3150. johnfitz made the fatal push holding Ks Qh - two over cards. MeAnisa turned over 8h 9c for top pair. The eight held up and johnfitz was done for the night. Sixth place was his reward.

The action was coming fast now. Hand 75, with the antes 75 and the blinds 300/600, I was UTG holding big slick – Ah Kh. I opened for 2000 and MeAnisa had me covered when she pushed 9285 holding pocket eights. I had to call and I was glad I did when the flop came Ac As 5s. MeAnisa was now down to her last 805 chips and now I was back in the chip lead. Hand 81 and Papoorboy raised to 1800 taking MeAnisa all-in with her call. MeAnisa held Ks Td but Papoorboy had her dominated with Kd Qd. The Qd was the deciding card as the board missed them both. MeAnisa was off to the lounge in 5th place. No money table yet as we were only paying three tonight with the small field.

The very next hand found slotcrazy down to her last 160 after she posted the 75 ante. All-in from the button for slotcrazy, I called from the small blind and Mellow Yellow checked his option from the big blind. The flop came 4d 5h 6d and I checked along with Mellow Yellow. I held 4h Td and when the turn brought the Ts, I minimum bet 600 to tell Mellow Yellow that I thought I had this one covered. He got out of the way to see the river Qc hit slotcrazy45 with the Qs Jd but top pair wasn’t enough. Slotcrazy was gone in 4th place. Now we were down to the money table. Papoorboy was in the chip lead with 17215, I was second with 16970 and Mellow Yellow was a distant third with 1815.

The very next hand Mellow Yellow chose to make his stand. With only 3 BB left and he knew he was getting paid, he pushed with Kh 4s. Unfortunately Papoorboy held a big hand – big slick in fact. That was all it took to send us to the heads up match and Mellow Yellow collected the third place money.

We went into the heads up match with Papoorboy packing 19105 in chips and I had 16895. Pa and I battled for 22 hands. It was a good match but the momentum was mine. I eventually caught Papoorboy and took the lead from him. Finally on hand 105, I was dealt pocket fives and min-raised to 1600. paperboy came back for 5000 and I pushed those fives to the max. Papoorboy held Ah Ks and was happy to put his tournament life on the line with big slick. But tonight was my night for the mid pairs to hold up and this hand followed the trend. The flop came low and missed us both. The turn Jc showed some paint but not the right design for pa. The 9h on the river was no help and my fives held up. I was amazed but I had taken on Papoorboy heads up and had won the tournament. We all know how good Pa is so I felt especially blessed.

Thank you all for a great night. See you all soon.

Peace.