Burldog44 Came Out on Top

It’s fun to see new people coming into the Holdem Affair and tonight was the night for the new faces.  Burldog44 joined the fray tonight and showed that he had what it took to play in this event.  It was an excellent heads up match against ImaRdNkWoman.  Voilentjugga filled out the money table with Woody13 coming in fourth and Rocknfish, two more familiar names, completing the top five.  

Thirty people sat down tonight in a new, early time and we attracted some new faces this week.  I’m sorry I couldn’t make it this week.  The time just didn’t work for me.  I was able to get home for the final table though and it was a good one.  Again it was just before the second hour break when we sat down for the final table.  Here are your leaders:

1. Violentjugga = 12115


2. burldog44 = 8970


3. Hemi Henry = 5720


4. Rocknfish = 4310 (you are becoming a regular)


5. ImaRdNkWoman = 3720


6. keltic12 = 2765


7. Mellow Yellow = 2540


8. Marti = 2130


9. woody13 = 1755


10. bugman22j = 975

Bugman was the short stack and the first to fall.  The very first hand.  I’m sorry bugman but I didn’t catch your demise.

Marti, our beautiful hostess, only made it to the fourth hand.  She had been hit hard in the third hand and was all in with the ante on the fourth holding just  9s 5s.  The flop gave her a gut shot straight draw but it didn’t materialize and she was gone in ninth place.

It was hand 18 when Mellow Yellow pushed holding 7d 5c and the flop showing 7c 2d 8h.  But burldog held 8c 7s and had flopped two pair.  That was the night for Mellow Yellow.

Early on Keltic12 had doubled up on Hemi Henry but Henry doesn’t take well to such behavior and on hand 23 answered back when Keltic pushed it all to the middle from UTG.  Keltic held Qd T, a decent hand to push with but Henry turned over Kc Qc and had him dominated.  A Kh on the flop just sealed the deal for our dragster and Keltic was sent to the lounge to contemplate entering next week.

Three hands later Henry went up against Violentjugga with tragic results.  Hand twenty-seven found him with only 420 chips and the antes 50 and blinds 200/400.  He was dealt Jd Th and decided that was good enough to make his stand.  Unfortunately Woody decided that was a good time to bring his pocket ladies to the dance and Hemi Henry had to settle for sixth place this week.

Hand 41 and Rocknfish raised to 2050 from second position.  ImaRdNkWoman was the only caller.  The flop came 6s 9h Tc.  ImaRdNkWoman pushed in her last 1950 taking Rocknfish all-in.  Rocknfish showed 4s 4c but Ima held Ac 6c and had flopped a higher pair.  The sixes held up and Rocknfish was out of the pond.

We were down to four.  Has anybody noticed that Woody is still in the action?  When we seated the final table he was in ninth place and very short stacked with barely more than his initial allocation.  By hand 52 he was in fourth place but solidly in the running.  By picking his spots and controlling his aggression, he had climbed to the bubble.  This hand he looked down and saw Jh Jc, time to climb the ladder again. When burldog raised to 2100 he was happy to push all 7300 chips to the middle.  Just taking it down there would have put him in second place.  But somehow burldog made the call holding just Qs 9d.  The flop hit the dog hard showing Ad 9c 9s.  That was all it took to send Woody home and leap frog burldog into second place at the money table.

For the next 25 hands they battled hard, and the fortunes turned.  Burldog took the lead and ImaRdNkWoman was close behind.  Violentjugga was losing ground.  Hand 82 and Ima took over the lead.  By hand 98 Ima was dominating and Violentjugga was down to only 6625 with 100 antes and blinds of 400/800.  Burldog raised to 1600 and jugga called to see the flop come 9s 8d 3d.  Burldog laid out his continuation bet of 3500 and Violentjugga said “I like that flop” and pushed all 4925 into the middle.  Jugga was holding Td 9c and had flopped top pair.  But Burldog held pocket Queens.  That was it for Violentjugga.  

We were heads up between Burldog44 and ImaRdNkWoman and they held almost equal stacks.  For three hands they just swapped the blinds.  Then on hand 103 ImaRdNkWoman raised to 2800.  Burldog re-raised to 8600 and Ima pushed it all to the middle.  ImaRdNkWoman showed Jh Tc and Burldog turned over Ad 6d.  The final board spread 4d 3c 3h 6s 2h giving ImaRdNkWoman a pair of threes and Burldog two pair, sixes and threes.  Burldog had survived his first Holdem Affair and had come out in the end with top prize.  Way to go Burldog44.

See you all next week. We will be having a later start this time so I will be able to compete.  Don’t be too concerned though, my tournament game really sucks at the moment.  Who knows, maybe next Saturday night it will turn around.

Peace,

Sunbob

MARTI

If anybody tells you women can’t play poker tell them about this night. Tell them the story of the Holdem Affair final table with five women. Tell them about how the women dominated the table, driving off the men. Tell them about the three women owning the money table. Rocknfish represented the men well but a fifth place finish was all he could muster. Red Hot Poker, one of the most feared players in the Holdem Affair, could only make it to fourth. And what ever you do – tell them about the heads up match between two of the finest ladies on UB, Marti and Jennifear. Twenty-six hands of back and forth action. Marti had the advantage when she took out Daggit13, and Jennifear is one of the best heads up. But tonight, Marti was the better player. Jenny set her traps but Marti sniffed them out. An amazing night of poker.

Thirty-five players sat down to contest this Holdem Affair. We still had 25 when the first hour break came around. And Marti was in charge. Here are your first hour leaders:

1. Marti = 4970


2. Red Hot Poker = 4020


3. Papoorboy = 3585


4. Rocknfish = 3495


5. Jennifear = 3490


6. ThreesRWild = 3050


7. gjones = 2780


8. Snave = 2340


9. Glenso = 2320


10. xxblazer = 2290

As usual the second hour is where the tournament heats up. Marti continued to dominate and the women made their presence known. Also some notables fell by the way side. Jewelcard fell as well as ThreesRWild, Papoorboy, Sengar, and myself.. Maybe I’m not a notable though. One hour and fifty-six minutes into the event we had our final table with five women in the top six. Here you go:

1. Marti = 9980


2. Red Hot Poker = 9705


3. Jennifear = 8425


4. Daggit13 = 5710


5. renequeen = 5055


6. Maronie47 = 3315


7. Glenso = 3020


8. Snave = 2800


9. Rocknfish = 2370


10. winforlife = 2120

Marti wiped out Glenso in just the third hand. Glen pushed his pocket eights only to run into Marti with Aces to finish tenth.

Hand 27 and it was Snave pushing the action. All-in pre-flop holding Kd Qs and Jennifear made the call with her pocket eights. The eights held up and another man bites the dust.

Ten hands later and winforlife is on the short stack. He pushed with pocket kings but Maronie47 pocket aces. Bummer, Sir Poopyhead was gone in 8th place.

This wasn’t a sexist table though. On hand 48 it was Maronie47 raising big pre-flop and renequeen put her game on the line holding Ad Kc. Maronie47 turned over Kd Ks. No ace on the board and renequeen was eliminated in 7th place.

Hand 74 was huge. By now the antes were 125 and the blinds 600/1200. Maronie47 raised to 4950, Jennifear went all-in for her last 5520, and Marti smooth called them both. Maronie47 completed to see the flop come 4d 7s 3c. All three women were in this hand. Marti checked and Maronie47 pushed her last 1420 into the middle. Marti thought nothing of making the call. The hands were flipped over and we could see why. Marti and Jennifear both showed A Qo and Maronie held A Jo. The board missed them all and Maronie was gone in 6th place.

Your money table looked like this, 2 hours 51 minutes into the Holdem Affair:

1. Marti = 20145


2. Daggit13 = 10480


3. Jennifear = 8955


4. Red Hot Poker = 8935


5. Rocknfish = 3985

Do you see this trend? Do you see the name at the top of each and every list I have posted? Yep, our hostess was on her game tonight.

Just four hands later, Jennifear raised to 2555 taking Rocknfish all-in making the call. Jennifear held Jh 4h and Rocknfish had Ac As. Oops, it looks like Jennifear got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The flop came 6d 9s Kh and it looked good for Rocknfish. The turn paired up Jenny with the Js and the miracle 4c gave her two pair. Can you believe it? Rocknfish had to take the bad beat of the night and settle for 5th place money. Ouch. The women were in charge now and Red was fighting hard to stay alive.

Hand 84 and Red came over the top of Jennifear pre-flop. Red held pocket sevens and Jenny had over cards with Ac Jh. A Jack on the flop and an Ace on the turn was all it took to send Red to the rail in 4th place. That also put Jennifear into the chip lead.

It took ten hands to get to our heads up match. Daggit13 opened all-in for 14580 holding Ks Qh. Marti rose to the challenge holding 5c 5h. The fives held up and Daggit was gone in 3rd place.

We had a heads up match between the hostess and the heads up expert. For those of you who have been to Jennifear’s web site, you know she has been working on her heads up game. She challenged all comers and was victorious far more often than not. Marti had a 30:21 chip lead and was going to need it all to come out the winner.

Nine hands of dicing and Jennifear had taken a slight lead. They sparred for the next four hands swapping the lead and then Jenn took a good pot and the lead. After hand 115 Jennifear had 34800 and Marti had 17700 with the antes 150 and the blinds 800/1600.

Marti won the next three hands to close the gap a bit, then hand 119 all the chips were in the middle pre-flop. Jennifear had pushed the action holding Ac Jd. Marti had been playing low ball and showed 7d 3d. Hmmmm – interesting. Marti hit a 3c on the flop and that held up. Wow, that was a big hand.

Marti now was in charge on hand 120. Jennifear pushed all 11550 into the middle and Marti called. Marti held Jd 5h and Jennifear had pushed with Kc 8c. Looking good for Jennifear. But heads up is a different game. The flop came 6s 8s Jc giving Marti the pair. That was all it took and we had a winner. Marti had done it again. This time wire to wire.

Another great week. I know this is mainly a social event for many of us, but this is also a very good tournament. Holdem Affair regulars are doing very well in the open events on UB and other sites. Jennifear is doing an excellent job of keeping us up to date on that topic. If you want to see what I mean go to her website, and please let her know when you do well in another tournament. Let the Holdem Affair community know that we are taking over.

Peace,

Sunbob

Jewelcard put it in High Gear

In a finish that reminded me of Hemi Henry in one of his dragsters, Jewelcard put the pedal to the metal and blew past the final four to win his second Holdem Affair. Jewelcard is a regular at the final tables but takes some ribbing for his collection of bubble finishes. But tonight he showed us that he too is a force to contend with in this tournament. He went into the final table in first place and was pretty quiet until the final four. Then he shifted gears and it was over before you knew it. He knocked out Innwny, then Idblondee in back to back hands. He went into the heads up match still behind coachstove but won 6 of the last seven hands to blow away the racers.

Thirty-four sat down this week to battle in the Holdem Affair. The play was very good again this week. I’m sorry that I can’t give you the first hour results but I wasn’t able to be there this week and just made it home to see the final table. I’m told that Jewelcard was an early leader and played strong throughout the event this week.

One hand leading up to the final table was significant. When we were down to about 14 players Jewelcard was in the chip lead (8165) and Marti was second (4435) on their table when this hand came up. Jewelcard was on the button and Marti was in the big blind. Three limped in to see the cheap flop come 3h Ad 8h. Marti led out with 300. She was holding 3s 3d and had flopped her set. Jewelcard was holding Ah 8d and had hit two pair so he made raised to 750. Marti chose to just call here to se the turn bring the 5c. Marti was stringing Jewelcard along and just bet 300 again on the turn. Jewelcard was pushing his two pair and raised to 1500 – Marti called again. The river As filled them both up on the river. Marti check-raised Jewelcard all-in and, of course, Jewelcard gladly made the call. Aces full of eights beats threes full of aces every time and Marti was gone. That set the stage for Jewelcard to go into the final table as the clear chip leader.

The final table was seated 2 hours into the affair. Here are your leaders:

1. Jewelcard = 13950


2. coachstove = 11665


3. Idblondee = 7010


4. Innwny = 3450


5. Hemi Henry = 3215


6. spideytwo = 3070


7. ThreesRWild = 3025


8. inxsdude = 2365


9. Miss UB = 2360


10. DebiMac = 890

The antes were 25 and the blinds 150/300 to start the final table. DebiMac was the first to fall. She was forced to push her Kd Td from the big blind and was called by Idblondee holding Qd Qc and inxsdude holding 9c 9h. The board ended up 4c Ts As Kc 9s and Inxsdude hit his set, knock out DebiMac and double up in the bargain.

The action continued to the 23rd hand. During this time Jewelcard was very passive, not contesting a single hand, and Coachstove had taken over the chip lead. On this hand Idblondee pushed her 2370 chips into the middle holding pocket jacks. Spideytwo called from the small blind and turned over pocket aces. The flop came Jh 7c 2d and since Idblondee had him covered, spideytwo was gone in 9th place.

Just five hands later, ThreesRWild pushed from middle position and Jewelcard woke up in the big blind to make the call. TRW showed Jd 5d and Jewelcard held Ah Kd. The flop missed them both and the turn 5c looked very good to TRW but the river Ad gave Jewelcard the hand. ThreesRWild was out in 8th place.

For the next 15 hands or so Jewelcard was a little more active, taking a couple of hands uncontested but he was letting the others risk their stacks. Hand 45 and we have Inxsdude short stacked with only 870 chips before he posts 75 ante and the 300 big blind. Jewelcard had limped but Inxsdude had to push holding pocket sixes. Jewelcard made the covering call holding Ah 9h. The board ended up 6s Kh Jh 7h Qc and Jewelcard had his flush to better inxsdude with his set. We were down to six now. Coachstove still had a slight chip lead over Jewelcard.

For the next 25 hands Coachstove ruled the table and Jewelcard left everyone alone. Hand 70 and the antes 100 and the blinds 400/800. Hemi Henry was the short stack with 1335 chips. It was time for him to make his stand when he posted the big blind holding Ad 2c. Idblondee made the call holding pocket eights. When the flop brought the 8d for Idblondee, Hemi Henry was gone in 6th place and the money table was set.

Here is your money table:

1. Coachstove = 20655


2. Jewelcard = 13930


3. Idblondee = 8550


4. Innwny = 5430


5. Miss UB = 2435

The very first hand of the money table Innwny raised to 1600 and Miss UB pushed all 2435 into the middle. Innwny made the call. Miss UB held pocket nines but Innwny had the rockets. Miss UB had to settle for 5th place money.

They diced for the next 27 hands. Coachstove was the dominant player, Jewelcard played only two or three hands and Innwny and Idblondee were trying to chip away at each other. I was about to go out for a smoke but something said to stick around. I’m glad I did.

We were down to four and on hand 98, I guess Jewelcard decided to put it in high gear. He had been pretty quiet the whole final table, picking his spots very carefully and rather passively. Little did anyone know that the tournament was now over.

Hand 98 and Jewelcard raised to 2300, Innwny called for all his 1865 chips. Kc 3c against Jewelcard holding Ac Qs and Innwny was gone.

The very next hand Jewelcard raised to 3100 taking Idblondee all-in for her last 8050. Idblondee held Kd Js but Jewelcard had pocket sevens. Two eights on the flop, the 7c on the river and Jewelcard had a full house. We were down to heads up. Jewelcard had 24445 chips and Coachstove had 26555. This looked like it would be a war.

Everyone knows that Coachstove is one of the best heads up of the Holdem Affair regulars. But someone forgot to tell Jewelcard. The heads up match lasted only 7 hands. Jewelcard forced the action on every hand allowing Coachstove to take the blinds only once.

The final hand was a classic. Jewelcard played the Brunson (Ts 2c) to see the cheap flop come Td 5d 2s. Bingo. Coachstove held Ah Th. When Jewelcard checked, Coachstove had to think he was going to finally get a pot back. Coach bet 1800 and Jewelcard pushed back 7200 – Coachstove pushed it all with his top pair/top kicker. You can’t blame Coach for the play, it was the right thing to do. But just like Doyle in the WSOP, the ten/deuce gave Jewelcard the win.

From four players to all done in 9 hands. During that rush Jewelcard laid down one hand. Simply amazing. OK Jewelcard, no more ribbing you about your 8th place finishes.

Peace,

Sunbob

Dello is doing well

I took the opportunity to play with an old friend tonight. Some of you may remember Dello from our playchip days. There is an article about him in the archives. He had a heart attack a couple of years ago and I wanted to see how he was doing.

Well he was doing very well. He is feeling great and was schooling the table on how to play poker. I managed to finish up a little bit but Dello was definitely the cream of that table.

WTG, Dale and it was great to see you again.