BritBloggerment 4 - the view from my seat

Here it is, a little late, but I've been busy.

19 people signed up, which was a relief, because two hours before the start there was only 6 of us. As we took our seats, immediately there was something wrong. Not only was BurnleyMik not two seats to my left, he wasn't even on the same table! However, sitting immediately to my left was Al Eleven, multiple winner, and a man with a bounty on his head from BurnleyMik and Acorn.

Early on we had a flop of 2 7 7, but nobody had the hammer that time. Play was tight, with few showdowns. Al Eleven took the early chiplead on our table, but nothing significant. Over on another table Katitude took the wooden spoon, busting out first, and we were down to two full tables. This brought Rosie to our table, who was in an unusually good mood, with far fewer threats of violence than normal. She brought with her far too many chips, having taken most of Kat's before she busted out. Also joining us was The Cloud, who hadn't shown up.

The dealer wasn't being particularly kind to me, so I folded a lot, and set out to steal when I could, raising with such hot cards as KJo. There ws a moment of excitement as Spid went all in on a flop of 2 3 K, and was called by Rosie. The excitement was short lived as they both turned over QK and split the pot.

Next to depart on our table was countryk. Short stacked, he put all his 520 in pre-flop and had one caller in ResdentEvil. Countryk's 99 looked distinctly second best against ResdentEvil's KK, and a flop of 4T2 didn't do much to help. However, a 9 on the turn changed things, but a King on the river gave ResdentEvil the chips.

Acorn followed shortly after. He went down in two stages. Firstly, he raised pre-flop, and was called by Rosie. A flop of 3 Q 9 rainbow and Rosie checks. unfortunately for Acorn its a check-raise. Acorn raises 400, and Rosie using her big stack to her advantage, goes over the top with a raise that would put Acorn all-in if he calls. He folds, and Rosie mucks. Acorn calls her a big stack bully, and Rosie claims to have had tptk. Acorn had a pair of sevens. The next hand Acorn is the BB, and Rosie is the only limper. Flop is 569 rainbow, and they both check. A ten on the turn and Rosie raises 500. Acorn puts his last 695 chips in and Rosie calls. Acorn turns over 4 T, for a pair, and Rosie shows that she was slow-playing a flopped straight with 7 8. Acorn is drawing dead, and a 4 on the river for two pair is useless.

It was about this point that BurnleyMik was knocked out, and he came over to see if his bounty on Al Eleven was tempting anyone.

Cadmunkey was next to feel the Rotweiller's teeth, as his 66 was crushed beneath Rosie's cowboys, and Rosie had twice as many chips as anyone else on the table.

Cloud was eventually blinded out, finishing in a credible 10th place, and we were down to the final table.

Chip Count:

Seat 1: PokerMunk3y (5760 in chips)
Seat 2: mikesaban (1440 in chips)
Seat 3: Spid (1188 in chips)
Seat 4: lousaban (2620 in chips)
Seat 5: ResdentEvil (2450 in chips)
Seat 6: Rosie_m_t (5902 in chips)
Seat 7: SirFortune (4370 in chips
Seat 8: stephenrhall (2675 in chips)
Seat 9: Al Eleven (2095 in chips)

The arrival of PokerMunk3y and SirFortune with their big stacks wasn't good news, and Rosie still hand the chip lead. We were also joined by married couple lousaban and mikesaban. Mike appeared to be getting pushed around horribly by his good lady.

Things were fairly quiet for a while, with no one taking any risks. Eventually Spid pushed all-in preflop, and was called by ResdentEvil. A 4 for Spid, against A T. With his usual keen observation, BurnleyMik stated "u are going to win this spid...." A ten on the flop begged to differ, and Spid was out.

Al Eleven momentarily took himself out of my reach, taking down a big pot against lousaban, but KK on the next hand gave me the opportunity to overtake him again. Shortly afterwards Mike goes out, his pair of tens beaten by ResdentEvil's AK, with the help of an ace on the flop.

On hand 138, Al Eleven finally gets to drop the hammer. Unfortunately for me I'm on the receiving end, as Al's raise of 1400 was too rich for me and I folded.

Lousaban looked to be struggling, but she doubled up courtesy of Pokermunk3y, but he soon gets most of the chips back, courtesy of Al Eleven, who having raised 1000, folded to Pokermunk3y's reraise.

Next hand I'm dealt KK. Having been bitten too many times recently slow playing kings, I go all-in. Just the one caller. Al Eleven. If I lose I'm down to 400 chips. I win and I'm $15 bounty better off. Thoughts of the $15 evaporated as Al showed Aces. A flop of Kc Qs 6c brings it right back again. 8c on the turn gives Al a lot more outs, as he's now on a flush draw. 4h on the river and the champion has gone. 6 left.

Rosie then claims another victim, as Lousaban bites the dust. I then donk off a load of chips by hanging on to AJo too long. The biter is then bit, as Rosie goes out, with AT up against SirFortunes KK.

Bubble Time.

I somehow managed to become the short stack. Taking the initiative, I push with anything half decent, and everyone folds. Al Eleven decides to encourage a few callers, by placing a $10 bounty on my head. Al says that he's rubbing my icon for luck for next week. As it's a picture of a sheep, the obvious conversation takes place, with discussion including wellingtons and cliff-tops. I continue to push, and people continue to fold. However, it can't last. Eventually my K4h is called by SirFortune. A king on the flop would be nice, if he didn't happen to have AK! No fours and not enough hearts and I'm the bubble boy. My highest finish yet, but still no cash. Consistency is all very well, but you don't win anything for it unless your're consistently top 3 in this tourney.

After that it all wrapped up very quickly. ResdentEvil finished 3rd, and SirFortune won the heads-up battle against PokerMunk3y to take the title.

According to my figures, Al Eleven, despite his earlier than normal exit, is still the top player in this tournament. My consistency puts me second, but if it was on cash winnings, I'd be down the bottom.

Thanks to everyone who made it a great night. See you all next week.