Thunder3 Climbed the Ladder to Victory

Thunder3 climbed the ladder and took down his first Holdem Affair title this week. He went into the final table in seventh place but patience and sound play turned him into a winner.

It was a wild first hour on table #3 tonight. Jennifear was leading the way but it seemed like all of us were playing a loose strategy. That made for some wild hands and a lot of action. It must have been at the other tables as well because we started with 37 and we were down to only 24 at the first hour break. Here is your first hour leaderboard.
Jennifear = 4905
Azale = 4830
thunder3 = 3935
Tai pan = 3625
big lar8 = 3295
Holland13 = 3230
Sarge360 = 3175
Hazy Cat = 3020
Sunbob = 2940
WillBeRich = 2595

The action slowed down some with the bigger blinds in the second hour but not really that much. We seated the final table 1 hour and 48 minutes into the Holdem Affair. Big Lar8 was our big chip leader and I had climbed into second when I knocked out Spidey2 with my pocket queens against his pocket eights. Those blind battles can be brutal. Here is your final table.
Big Lar8 = 15425
Sunbob = 7895
Glenso = 5695
msrinny02 = 5610
Hazy Cat = 4790
Luckie in Lov = 4535
thunder3 = 3660
Sarge360 = 3550
Marti = 3510
HolyDuces = 2330

Our gracious hostess, Marti, was the first to fall from the final table when her all-in steal attempt with Kc Jc ran into thunder3 holding As Qh. A QJT flop gave her some hope but it was just a tease.

HolyDuces was the next casualty when Kc 9s just didn’t have enough power to overcome Hazy Cat with pocket tens.

Sarge360 got trapped when his Ad Jd saw a flop fall 2d 6h Js. Top pair and top kicker should be good enough on that board but msrinney02 held pocket sixes and had her set.

Hazy Cat ran into the chip leader on hand 42 when he pushed Jc Ts only to have Big Lar8 turn over Ac Js. The ace on the flop was all it took to send the mouser to the lounge.

We were down to six and paying five again tonight. Big Lar8 had done a good job of staying out of trouble with his chips but I hadn’t been as successful. I was the short stack now and needed to double up to stay in the game. But an ill-advised big blind steal with 7s 6s ran into Glenso and his pocket eights. I can’t tell you how many time Glen has knocked me out of a Holdem Affair but he did tell Marti and I that this was his 8th final table with the two of us. Well, this time he did it again. I was the bubble boy this week.

Money table time and Big Lar8 was still in the chip lead but my chips gave Glenso and solid second place. Thunder3 was right behind him. Luckie in Lov was fourth and msrinny02 was a solid fifth.

They battled for more than 30 hands before msrinny02 pushed in all of her chips with Ad Jh. Big Lar8 entered the race with his pocket eights and flopped a set. Rinny was done for the night.

Another 30 hands and it was Glenso that was feeling short. Pocket deuces should be good for a short stack push in a four handed game but it doesn’t do well against pocket aces. Thunder turned over the bullets and shot down Glenso for a fourth place finish tonight. Thunder was now in the lead with Big Lar8 right behind him and Luckie in Lov was the short stack.

At this point Thunder took control of the table. Luckie battled back and the poker gods laughed at Big Lar8. Thunder took down Big Lar8 on hand 153. Lar8 pushed holding 6d 7d and Thunder called with Ah 6c. The straight draw was there for Lar8 by the turn but the river just didn’t float his boat. We were heads up with Thunder3 in a commanding chip lead over Luckie in Lov, 43635/13365.

The heads up match went for 25 hands and just six hands in, Luckie rivered a full house to turn the tables on thunder. But Thor must have been watching over our rumbler because on hand 178 a pair of ladies held up for thunder and he regained the chip lead. The very next hand saw the flop come Ad Js Qd. Luckie held Jc 5c and pushed her second pair. But thunder held Ah 8s and top pair. We had our winner. Thunder3 had been in third place after first hour but had fallen to seventh by the time we seated the final table. Then he simply climbed the adder for the win. Excellent play Thunder.


PEACE