Gjones Showed Us How

Gjones may be a newcomer to the Holdem Affair but he showed that he could play with the best of them tonight.  He had an exciting heads-up match with that final table regular Sengar but this was Gjones’ night to shine.  Glenso made a good run at repeating his win from two weeks ago but came up a little short to finish third.  The Mellow one made a great showing in fourth and the hostess with the mostess, Marti, was ITM this week in fifth place.

Thirty-four entrants this week in a very competitive Holdem Affair.  The cards were falling pretty wild on my table in the first and second hours.  It definitely wasn’t a night to be holding pocket queens.  Two hands came up on my table that were just plain strange.

1st hand.
DebiMac raises to 300 holding Qc Qh.  MdnghtSn49 pushes his short stack of 540 all-in with Kh 7h.  All fold back around to Deb who calls.

Flop comes Td Jc Ts.  Looking good for Deb.

The turn is Tc. Wow, Deb has a boat.  Looking bad for Mdnght, only three outs to hit that king.

Oops, there is another out. The Th came on the river to give them both quad tens but the king kicker raked the pot.  What a way to have your pocket Queens counterfeited.


2nd Hand involved me, just three hands later, only this time I held the queens.

I’m in CO with Qc Qh.  Swanky126 min raised to 300.  I read it as a strong Ace or hopefully a middle pair.  I only had 1415 left so my standard raise of 3x would have been 900 and more than half my stack so I just pushed, expecting to get heads up.  Jewelcard on the button damn near beat me into the pot, all-in, if that is possible online.  And  Swanky called us both. Wouldn’t you know it?  They BOTH turned over pocket kings.  I wish I could say I hit my queen but it didn’t happen.  It was an early night for me this week.

Your first hour leaders were:

1. Gjones = 5570


2. bugman22j = 5235


3. Marti = 5155


4. Mellow Yellow = 3555


5. ullr69 = 3070


6. winforlife = 2955


7. msrinny02 = 2595


8. Jewelcard = 2505


9. Hazy Cat = 2255


10. unionthug = 2095

It took us a full hour and 5 minutes into the third hour before we got to the final table.  During that second hour Sengar had come from nowhere to take the lead.

1. Sengar = 10750


2. Gjones = 8905


3. bugman22j = 7315


4. Marti = 6530


5. Glenso =  5090


6. Mellow Yellow = 4970


7. ullr69 = 3380


8. Jewelcard = 1735


9. Idblondee = 1685


10. winforlife = 640

With the antes 50 and the blinds 200/400 the pressure was on the shorter stacks to act quickly.  The blinds caught up to Jewelcard by hand five and he was all-in preflop holding Kc Qc.  Bugman22j had applied the pressure and his Jc Jh looked good.  The Jd on the flop sealed the deal and Jewelcard was the first to exit the final table.

The very next hand winforlife was in the same position in the big blind but he was looking at the pocket rockets As Ah.  When Gjones raised he pushed it all into the middle and went to war.  Gjones showed Qh Td.  A little tin to be making that call.  But the flop hit him big falling Th Js Ts. Winforlife was our 9th place finisher.

Hand 7 and Idblondee is posting the big blind holding Ad Ts.  Ullr69 raised to 2000 on what may have looked like a steal attempt.  It didn’t mater because Idblondee held Ad Ts and was going to make the call anyway.  Ullr69 wasn’t on a steal, though, and showed Qs Qh.  No ace came this time for blondee and she was out in 8th place.  Seven hands into the final table and the short stacks were gone.  Everyone else had 10 BB or more and it was time to go to war.

Over the next fifteen hands Glenso started to apply some pressure and Gjones regained the chip lead.  Bugman22j had been holding his own and had a solid stack as well.  Then hand 24 came down big.  Antes 75 and blinds 300/600 by now.  Bugman limped and Sengar raised to 1200, all folded around to bugman who called to se the flop.  Qc 2h 5s.  Bugman liked that flop and bet 3825.  Sengar said he liked it more and pushed all 7650 of his chips to the middle.  Bugman made the call holding Qh Js.  He had flopped top pair with a good kicker.  But Sengar had been trying to say he had a good hand and the pocket Aces he turned over showed that he was not bluffing.  The aces held up, bugman was gone and Sengar was our new chip leader.  Folks, Sengar is dangerous when he has chips.

Hand 26 and ullr69 joined Gjones in seeing a cheap flop come 9h 5c 2d.  Gjones had 5h 3h in the big blind and had flopped middle pair and a backdoor flush draw.  Ullr69 held Kd 9d for top pair and his own flush draw.  This time the Qh Jh decided the hand for Gjones and ullr69 was sent to the rail on the runner/runner beat.  Bummer.

We were down to the money table with Sengar in the lead with 19K in chips and Gjones close behind with 15K.  Glenso 8K, Mellow Yellow 6K and Marti 1380 rounded out the field.  Marti had cashed but needed to make a move quickly if she was gong to move up the ladder.  Hand 28 and Ac 2h looked good enough to push.  Glenso called from the big blind with Kh 8c.  It was looking good for Marti but the flop hit Glen with the Kc and that was the night for Marti.

Hand 40 and the antes 100 – blinds 400/800.  Sengar raised to 3200 UTG and Mellow Yellow pushed all 4820 from the small blind.  It looked like a failed steal when Sengar turned over Kc 9d and Mellow Yellow countered with pocket nines.  But Sengar hit his three outer when the Kd sat down on the flop.  Mellow Yellow had pushed with my favorite hand but it wasn’t good enough this time.

We were down to three and the stacks were solid.  Hand 49  was a big one.  Gjones raised to 2400 and Glenso pushed all 10795.  He was holding Ks Js and it looked like a good play.  But Gjones held Ah Qd. The board ended up 2d Td Ts 9s Th.  Just enough to tease Glenso but not enough to keep him in the game.  And we were down to two.

That hand had given Gjones the chip lead 29K to 21K.  The heads up match lasted 21 hands.  No big hands or big swings.  Gjones was slowly taking command when the final hand came up.  When the flop came 5d 2d 9c, Sengar was holding 9d Js.  He pushed that top pair – the right play heads up.  Only Gjones hand also flopped top pair and had the Kh to go with his nine. It wasn’t necessary but the Ks came on the turn just to make things clear.  Gjones was our winner.

This was another good tournament and another fun night.

Good luck to everyone in your battles this week.

Sunbob

Guran64 Was On A Roll

Guran64 dropped in from winning the 8:00 PM $2000 Turbo just in time to add the Holdem Affair tonight.  The Swede showed us how the game was played.  He was the chip leader going into the final table and never gave up that position as he rolled over 35 of the best the Holdem Affair has to offer.  Idblondee and Slotcrazy did their best to give him a game but it was Guran’s night tonight.

The first hour saw only 8 players eliminated.  That’s sounds very familiar doesn’t it?  Here are your first hour leaders:

1. Idblondee = 4955


2. Papoorboy = 3790


3. VegasSno = 3285


4. hawk39 = 2950


5. xgames4me = 2930


6. Jennifear = 2525


7. slotcrazy45 = 2510


8. goodtime chas = 2130


9. guran64 = 2120


10. Jewelcard = 1965

Guran made his charge in the second hour.  Do you see him there in 9th place at the first break?  He is doing OK at 2120 chips but not getting anyone worried yet.  Some of the big names were falling though.  Jennifear out in 17th place, Papoorboy in 14th, even final table regular, Jewelcard,  just couldn’t get anything going and was gone in 16th.  This was an interesting second hour.  The final table was set 1 hour and 47 minutes into the Holdem Affair and look at Guran now.

1. Guran64 = 16635


2. Idblondee = 8865


3. slotcrazy45 = 8655


4. Glenso = 5295


5. Shmakal = 3615


6. Rocknfish = 2680


7. spideytwo = 2050


8. Sunbob = 1965  (yes, I limped in)


9. goodtime chas = 1660


10. Fisherfries = 1080

By the 18th hand I had climbed into fifth place and was cruising along pretty well with 3250 chips when I ran into spideytwo.  I had raised preflop to 1000 holding Ah Qd and spidey went all-in for 2525 holding pocket eights.  I made the loose call and we were in a race.  The board ended up 9h 4c Jd Ks 4d and I was left with just 665 chips.  The next hand I am UTG holding Qh 4h.  With the antes 25 and the blinds 150/300 I knew I had to push.  I had a face card and they were sooooooted.  Rocknfish called with pocket tens.  Rock flopped a set and I flopped a flush draw.  No miracle card for me this week, though, and I was the first to be sent home from the final table.

The next action came on hand 27.  Slotcrazy and Shmakal saw the cheap flop come Ac Th Kc.  Check, min bet, call and the turn is the 3s.  Shmakal min bet 30 and slotcrazy called. The river was the Qc.  Shmakal bet 300 and slotcrazy min raised to 600 taking Shmakal all-in for his 565.  Shmakal showed Ad 6h for top pair but slotcrazy held Kd  Jd and had rivered her gut shot straight.

Hand 36 and Goodtime Chas had been struggling to stay alive on a short stack.  He started the hand with only 1385 and the antes 50, blinds 200/400.  After posting the big blind he saw a cheap flop along with Idblondee. Chas held 6d 3h and the flop came Qs 8s 6h. Well, when you catch a piece of a flop like that and you are short it’s time to push so that he did.  Unfortunately Idblondee made the gutsy call holding only 8c 4d.  That was all she needed to send Goodtime Chas to the rail.

During all of this time Fisherfries had been milking his short stack for all he could.  By hand 40 he had built his stack up to 1650 and pushed all but his last 20 chips into the middle holding big slick.  Slotcrazy held pocket fives and turned them into a full house.  Fisherfries was down to 20 chips and the ante was 50.  He actually doubled up on the next hand but was forced again to play Hand 43 holding Kh 8s.  Spideytwo had Ah Ks and there were no miracle cards for FF this time.  He was gone in 7th place.

I haven’t mentioned  Guran yet.  He has been picking his spots and taking down uncontested pots, retaining his chip lead.  Until hand 49 that is.  Four people saw the unraised flop come 9h Ac 8h.  Two checks to Rocknfish and he bet 1900.  Guran raised to 3800 taking Rock all-in.  Rocknfish held As 6d and had flopped top pair. Definitely a hand you want to play in this spot even with a mid-range kicker.  But Guran showed Ah 9c and two pair.  The 6s on the turn was just the poker gods poking Rock in the eye and he was gone in 6th place.

We had made it to the money table. On the very next hand Idblondee and spideytwo saw the cheap flop come 5d 7d 2s.  Idblondee minimum bet 400 and spidey pushed all 4370 to the middle.  At this stage and with that low flop catching any part of it could be good and spidey held 5c 9d – middle pair.  How was he to know Idblondee held Kd 7c and had the top pair.  The sevens held and spidey settled for 5th place money.

Hand 57 and Guran dealt another death blow.  Glenso was the victim this time.  Glen had 5910 when he posted the 600 big blind.  Two folds to Guran in the small blind and he raised to 1200.  Glenso made the call holding 8c Td and when the flop (Qc Ts Kd) hit him he pushed all 4635 into the middle.  Guran made the call holding As 8h.  Maybe a little loose, Guran?  But it worked when the Ad came on the turn and Glenso was gone in 4th place.

We were down to three and Guran now had over half of the chips in play.  Power poker was now the rule.  Guran started pushing hard and he stole eight of the next 11 hands.  During this time Idblondee was doing her best to push back but on hand it was slotcrazy with pocket sevens that rose to the challenge.  All-in for 3820 from the big blind and guran made the call holding 8d 9h.  Looked good for slotcrazy but the flop came Jd Jc 9c hitting Guran squarely on the head.  Slotcrazy had to settle for third place.

We were heads up with Guran holding 37810 chips and Idblondee only 14690.  The end came quickly, just four hands later.  Idblondee pushed with pocket tens and Guran called with Kh Jd.  The flop and turn came 8d 7c Qc 5h, and it looked like Idblondee was going to double up.  But those poker cards are mean and this time the Kc rivered to end the night.

What a great night.  Excellent poker and even better friends.  Who could ask for more?

Peace,

Sunbob

Volunteer Your PC

How many of you are like me – you have your desktop computer running 24/7?  Well if you are running that box all the time then I would like to encourage you to make use of the “down time”.  Donate that unused computer capacity to a good cause. For several years now I have participated in the distributed computing effort.  I started with the SETI project and, right now I’m involved with the Human Proteome Folding Project.

It’s really very simple. You download the program and it runs as a screen saver.  It doesn’t slow down your computer while you are using it.  It just runs when you aren’t using it.  The idea is to combine the strength of a large number of small computers to do what one big computer couldn’t do.  

• Examining the entire human genome for instance could require up to 1,000,000 years of computational time on an up-to-date PC.


• Using a commercial 1000 node cluster would require 50 years and, while faster, would still be impractical.

There are several projects to choose from.  Find the one that appeals to you.  I’m a zoologist by training so deciphering the human genome twangs my twanger but if you want to search for ET go for it.  There are also projects searching for cures for Anthrax and Small Pox or you can get involved in cancer research.

If this interests you at all I have a link to Grid.org on this page.  Check it out and VOLUNTEER YOUR PC.





     

Glenso Starts 2006 with the Win

Happy New Year to all.  Only 15 hard core Holdem Affair regulars saw the New Year arrive sitting at the tournament tables but it was a great match.  Glenso started the New Year with his first win of 2006.  This wasn’t his first Holdem Affair victory though.  Von Ebb was his nemesis in the heads up match.  And congratulations go out to Rocknfish for his third place finish.  He was almost down to his last big blind when we were down to four and showed us how to play the short stack to out last Jewelcard to finish in the money.

Even starting with only 15 players it still took 50 minutes to get down to 10.  There just isn’t a loser in this group anymore.  Your final table looked like this:

1. Jewelcard = 5030


2. Glenso = 2740


3. aktim = 2655


4. von ebb = 2505


5. Rocknfish = 1870


6. Papoorboy = 1815


7. Sunbob = 1810


8. Marti = 1785


9. Stevob19 = 1270


10. Jennifear = 1020

Stevob19 was the first victim of this shark tank on hand 33 when his pocket kings ran into Jennifear and her vicious Tc 3c.  Unfortunately for Stevob19 the flop came 9c Td 3h and there was no way to see what was coming.

Just two hands later Papoorboy was short and pushed his 760 chips holding Kc 9c. Jewelcard called with pocket sixes and they held up.  This was a tough hand for me as it turned out because I laid down pocket eights.  With an all-in and a call in front of me I figured those eights were no good.  That was the last decent hand I would get.  Oh well.

Hand 45 and I’m down to 1250 chips and UTG with Ad Jd.  I pushed all-in and Jennifear called.  For the second time in three weeks Jenny had pocket aces when I needed to steal to stay alive.  I was out in eighth place.

The very next hand Marti was down to 340 chips and all-in with Jh 8h.  Two callers and she was dead to Rocknfish holding Ad Qc.  Two more aces on the flop made quick work of this hand for the Rock.

Things are moving fast now.  Hand 50 and aktim pushes holding Ah 2h.  Glenso made the gutsy call holding two black threes.  No ace for Tim and he was gone.

Down to five and the battle goes on.  Hand 71 and Rocknfish has only 925 chips.  The other four are bunched up with 4800 to 5900.  Rock stayed out of this hand but Jennifear opened for 750.  Von ebb raised to 2400 and Jennifear was quick to come back for all 4870 of her chips.  Jenny held 8d 8c, and von ebb held Ah Jc.  The flop landed in von ebb’s lap showing 2h Jh Ac.  Jennifear was gone in 5th place.

Hand 76 and Rocknfish has only 1075 chips with the blinds 150/300.  He posted the big blind and saw the cheap flop come 7h 7d Ts.  Rock pushed his last 775 chips and Jewelcard looked him up holding 4s 4d.  But Rock had caught part of this flop with Th 9s and doubled up.  Now he had 2450 chips.

Three more blind steals and Rocknfish is still alive by hand 93.  Jewelcard is UTG and looks down to see Ac Ks. He opened for 1000 and Glenso called.  The flop came 7c Ah 4s.  Glenso checked and Jewelcard bet 2150.  Glenso came back over the top for all 5890 and Jewelcard was quick to push his chips to the middle.  You can’t blame him with TPTK.  That is the flop you want to see when you hold big slick.  But Glenso had called with Ad 4d and had caught the miracle flop of top and bottom pair.  Jewelcard busted out on the bubble on a very tough beat.  Good game for this final table regular but it wasn’t meant to be tonight.

We were down to the money table now with Glenso holding 11430 chips to von ebb with 9370 and Rocknfish with 1700.  Twenty-three hands earlier Rocknfish was down to only 3 big blinds and we were at five players.  Now he was getting paid to play tonight.

He lasted three more hands when he was in the small blind holding Ad Td.  With only Glenso in the big blind to contend with he raised 3X BB and Glenso re-raised him all-in.  Easy call against just a random big blind hand and he made the right call.  Glenso showed Qd 6h.  Rock was right, Glen was bluffing.  The flop came As Jd 2c and Rock was looking great.  The Qs on the turn hit Glen but still left him with only 5 outs. But the river can be fickle and tonight Rocknfish was the spurned one.  The Qh came out and Glenso took the hand with three queens.  Great game Rocknfish.  That was a tough one.

The heads up match was between Glenso with 12830 and von ebb holding 9670.  Both are very good heads up and those of us in the observers lounge were looking forward to a battle.  We weren’t disappointed even if it was brief.  Glenso took the first hand but von ebb doubled up twice in the next two hands.  They battled to hand 106.  Von ebb held Ah Kd and Glenso Ac Js.  All the chips were in the middle before the flop – wow what a concept.  The flop came 8c 9h Td.  Von was still looking good.  The turn brought the 6c and it was looking bleak for Glen on this hand.  Oh my goodness that fickle river again.  This time it was the 7h – Glenso had rivered his straight jack high to von ebb with the ten high straight.  Glenso was our New Year’s winner.

What a great way to see in 2006.  I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.  

Happy New Year and

Peace,

Sunbob