Mourant Charity Poker Series - Final Two Heats!

Things are hotting up as participants jostle to hit the final table on August 22.

Apart from competing to win the inaugural championship trophy AND the Player of the Year award, the prizes have now been confirmed for the top three finishers:

1. 37" LCD Widescreen TV
2. Digital Camera
3. iPod Nano

As things stand, with two heats still to go, the following players are pretty much guaranteed to make the final table:

• Martin Le Guillou - 20 Points
  
• Jason Derrien - 20 Points
  
• Jonathan Queree - 15 Points
  
• Renzo Hansford (Fishhook Player!) - 10 Points
  
• The Fish (Fishhook Player!) - 10 Points
  

In pole position for Player of the Year is Martin Le Guillou, with 4 bubble points in addition to his 20 points on the leaderboard. He either needs to hit another final table to extend his lead (or of course place in the top three to be clear leader) or he needs anyone with 5 or more bubble points NOT to win a heat, as he will be pipped on bubble points.

Almost tasting the final table but still with things to do with 5 points each are:

• Tony Reed (Fishhook Player!)
  
• James Shwarz
  

The final two heats (the next one is June 27) will see four more players win their way onto the final table, we then have a bubble point seat for the player with the most final table appearances.

At the moment, John Pendergast, Garret O'Brien and yours truly, are tied with 10 bubble points for two final table appearances each, out of the three heats already played. 

I'd prefer to win my way to the final table, but a backdoor ticket for consistency will do me!

I've been happy with my play so far, although I should have won heat 3 easily as I was chip leader for almost three hours. When the tables started breaking-up and the re-buy period had ended, I was sat on over 60,000 chips (starting stacks were only 3000!)

I was still chip leader with only half the field left and then shed most of my stack chasing a nut flush that never hit. I also need to remember that at these games, you ALWAYS get called... absolutely no point attempting a bluff if you are anything other than heads-up and even then, 9 times out of ten, the guy will call with bottom pair no matter how big you make it to call.

One consolation is that I hit my first ever Royal Flush (live or online) and trebbled-up to give myself a second chance at winning the heat. In the very next hand I was dealt pocket 10s and pushed all-in, hoping to win back a very healthy chip stack. Of course a player called with Ace, King and hit a King on the flop kicking my ass out of the heat.

So, I have two heats left to either place in the top three - a win puts me in the lead for Player of the Year with 10 bubble points, or I skulk into the final via the 11th seat by hitting another final table (assuming Garret and John do not of course!)

The play has been pretty good, and there are some familiar faces on the final tables, although only three players on the leaderboard have hit a final table twice. Of course there is plenty of bad play, especially during the re-buy period, but then that's how some players manage to start the freezeout period with tens of thousands of chips!

I'm very happy that three of the fishhook crew are heading for the final table and I hope a few more will make it in the final two heats.

The biggest threat to my final table appearance, is Garret & John, I don't need them to finish ahead of me in the top ten at either heat. Of course anyone with 5 or more bubble points already is also a threat as they could get a high finish (6th or better) and I crash out of the next two heats, putting them ahead of me.

There's a home game tomorrow night at the Fish's place and a cool one on Sunday at Renzo & BTs...

jT

Leaderboard Update

Click on the image below:





I've just slipped ahead of Kermit in terms of league points (3 points for a win, 2 points for second place and 1 point for third) and maintain my lead in terms of equity at £355 up. Kermit's consistency at placing in the top three is always dangerous and Pokerbrat is only a few wins away from sneaking ahead.

Tony Two Cards' immense win ratio is going to be hard to beat but can he maintain it considering how few games he actually plays... we shall see! Can't argue with £200 up!

BT & Renzo's Banquet Home Game

The home game this week was hotly anticipated as BT & Renzo's Mama kindly prepared a banquet made-up of her trademark meatballs, lasagna and lemon shots!

We had six players - BT, Renzo, Pokerbrat, Lenny, Bobby (new to the home game) and myself. Shame the others were otherwise engaged, I hope Kermit and The Fish haven't forgotten how to play poker!

Anyway, in game one, it was business as usual, 30,000 chips with 20 minute blinds starting at 100/200 and re-buys in the first hour.

I had an insane run of hands during the re-buy period and soon found myself trebbled-up.

Against Lenny, I get Jack, 6 in the big blind and two Jacks come out on the flop. Lenny bets into me and I eventually call. The turn gives me my full house with a 6. Lenny bets again and I push all-in. Unfortunately for Lenny he has a pocket pair of Kings or Queens (can't remember) and he calls. Double-up.

Soon after I'm dealt pocket Aces. I flop a set against Renzo and again, they don't believe I have a hand so he calls my all-in, probably because we're in the re-buy period. I end up with Aces over Kings fullhouse and the table curses my 'good luck'.

I get trip Kings soon after but no callers.

The re-buys end and I'm dealt pocket Queens. Someone raises it up, I think it was Renzo and two players call before me. I push all-in. Only Renzo calls and he flips over pocket 8s, so I am in good shape. The first card to come out is another 8, the second is a Queen! Wow, my luck is insane in this game. Renzo's quad doesn't come so my trips are good against his.

I think Lenny is taken out next and then Bobby falls.

Bobby is mostly an Internet player but of all the Internet players we have had in the game (bar Mountain), he is very solid. He took down a few pots and made some good laydowns.

Anyway, Pokerbrat, BT and myself are the last men standing and Pokerbrat is just ahead as chip leader.

I'm very happy to see pocket Kings again, especially three-handed. Pokerbrat calls, BT folds his small blind to me and I check. I flop trip Kings... AGAIN! The Brat bets 5000 and I push all-in. He has a tough decision and I see why when he calls and flips over a King with a pretty good kicker. He's delighted to see my trips and hands over most of his chips (77,500), leaving him just short of a big blind.

He goes all-in blind but gets no callers.

In the next hand he's all-in again for just over the blind and BT takes him out by sucking out a nice pair.

Heads-up.

It goes back and forth for a while and BT manages to get even and then take the chip lead by some way when I lose a big pot. The blinds are now 5000/10,000 so the chips pass between us for about 40 minutes. I just take the lead when I'm dealt a pocket pair and they hold, just missing BT's flush on the river card.

One game to me.

Only 5 players in game two as Lenny continues his love affair with poker and refuses to play.

I'm the only one busted in the re-buy period when Renzo's Queens hold against my Ace, rag.

Bobby attempts to double-up, or go bust and re-buy in the final re-buy hand but gets no callers and turns over pocket rockets! That sucks!

I take him out shortly after with a nice trap. I pair a King on the flop and check it to him. The turn is a rag and he pushes all-in. I insta-call and he flips over pocket 5s.

I'm a little bit behind in chips but soon flop four to a Jack-high flush. The turn completes my flush and BT bets 5000 into me. I push all-in and he reluctantly calls with his own flush, alas only 8-high.

Renzo tightens up and before long Pokerbrat takes the chip lead. Renzo is clearly getting tired as he mucks a flush by accident and then calls an all-in move by the Brat only to turn over his cards and find he didn't have the cards he thought he had so the brat wins with an Ace high bluff!

I'm miles behind in chips heads-up but get pocket 9s. This would double me up nicely and make me dangerous. The Brat calls with King, 7 connected and the flop gives him two more diamonds. The turn misses so I am still ahead but the river kills me with a King.

Game two to the Brat.

We both leave £40 up on the night.

Kermit's Invitational

No Fishhook home game this week, but Kermit put together a game on Friday in honour of his birthday.

The Fish and myself were there, and it was always going to be lively with Tony Two Cards also in attendance.

The first game was going okay, although there were no re-buys, so we were playing for a £60 pot.

I got myself into a situation in the last hand of re-buys against Tony, and it was a dilemna as I could take Tony out, allowing him to re-buy but if I lost, I would be left with only 6000 chips and no re-buys.

Anyway, I called with King, Queen and Tony turns over Ace, 2. He flops two pair and my worst fears are realised. I'm sat on the short stack with 7 big blinds left to my name.

I grind it out and get back to a decent chip stack with about 40,000 chips. I look down at pocket 10s and push all-in. Tony calls me with Queen, 10 and the first card to hit is a Queen. I'm out of the first game and I'm pissed-off as I spent so long grinding back the chips.

The Fish is out soon after, leaving the Birthday Frog heads-up against Tony.

Tony takes it down.

In the second game, we have 7 players.

There is an insane amount of re-buys. I double up and take down a few pots giving me just under 90,000 chips.

Tony, The Fish, Kermit and one of the other players find themselves all-in pre-flop. I throw away Ace, Queen. Tony has the same hand as I had so it might be tough for him to improve. Kermit has pocket Jacks. The Fish has King, Jack and the other player has nothing and is gambling. The Jacks hold, so Kermit is sitting on a nice chip stack.

The beeper goes after the cards have been dealt, so players have to go bust in this hand in order to re-buy. The Fish has already re-loaded once and only has about 9000 chips so I am expecting him to push all-in. I look down at my cards and am very happy to see pocket 8s.

The Fish pushes all-in as expected and Tony calls, I call, Kermit calls and the other two fold.

The flop brings an Ace, rag and my trip 8. Beautiful! I am first to act so I push my remaining 80,000 into the middle. Kermit calls, The Fish is all-in anyway and Tony calls... I am delighted, although only Tony has anywhere near the same number of chips as me. I flip over my cards, showing the trips and both Kermit and Tony show their Ace, rag. Only one Ace left in the deck so I am confident. The Fish only has a King, rag so I am looking good.

The 8s hold and I scoop in just under 300,000 chips, a ridiculous stack. Kermit, Tony and The Fish re-buy and I am VERY happy with my chip position, especially considering we are now playing for the largest home game pot ever - £140.

Despite my stack, I don't play too loose, I am more than happy to let the others fight it out for the remaining 100,000 chips.

Kermit finds himself in a big pot with Tony and by the turn card, a MASSIVE pot. Tony pushes all-in and Kermit finds himself with a real dilemma. I am out of the hand and Kermit shows me he is sitting on two pair. There is so much on the board, straights, flushes and I would probably throw it away for my tournament life. Kermit folds and let's Tony showdown with another player. Both have absolutely nothing! On the turn, Tony had King high and his rag hits on the river and he takes down a massive collection of chips. Kermit is furious and walks it off, grabbing some KFC and pizza on his way back... good man. This is by far the bluff of the night.

A few hands later, The Fish and Tony are all-in against Kermit and the frog takes them all out with a straight. Kermit is heads-up against me with enough chips to keep me sensible. One double up and we would be even.

Kermit plays a good game, applying plenty of pressure, and he grinds away at my monster stack. We both know I am being patient and we both know I like to trap.

I stick to my usual heads-up strategy of calling any two cards in the small blind and sure enough, I flop two pair with some ugly rags. Unfortunately for the frog, he flops top pair with a great kicker, so when I push all-in, he insta-calls and I take down the second game and a pot that is going to look GREAT on the stats tomorrow!

The third game is only three-handed with surprise, surprise, Kermit, myself and The Fish.

With my big win in the second game, I'm keen to apply pressure and take risks during the re-buy period. The other two have already made it clear that they wouldn't be re-buying so I take advantage. I push all-in with King, 10 and The Fish calls me with Ace, rag. He takes it.

A few hands later, I push again with Ace, Jack and The Fish calls again, this time with pocket Jacks... they hold.

Now I'm pissed-off! I've got £30 invested in the pot and The Fish is sitting on 120,000 chips against Kermit on 40,000 and me on 40,000.

Kermit applies the pressure with a horrible board that has two Aces with the flop and the turn out there. He pushes all-in and after thinking for a while, The Fish calls. Not surprisingly, Kermit shows his Ace. The Fish paired a 3 but has a draw too. The river throws out another 3, giving them both a full house. Kermit doubles through The Fish, spreading the chips out a bit.

I grind away and build up a nice stack myself and we're almost all even again.

The Fish is put under pressure when Kermit pushes all-in after the turn card. I think Kermit had two-pair, including an Ace. After a while, The Fish can't help himself and he calls, chasing a 10 high flush. The Fish misses and Kermit is heads-up for a third time!

I don't count my stack by I have more than I think when I double-up, leaving Kermit with about 30,000.

I stick to my game and again, Kermit grinds away some chips, slowly building them back. I flop a full house, but Kermit never catches up and on the river, I make a better full house! I bet the minimum 6000 and am happy when he calls.

Kermit grinds away, and I wait. I flop a crappy flush with 8, 3 suited (the board has a 10, 7 and 2 of spades) and I figure I'm going to check through to take down the blinds again. An Ace comes on the turn and I hope Kermit hit. I check... Kermit checks. The turn brings a Jack and I bet 6000. Kermit pushes all-in and I sit bolt upright and insta-call!

Poor frog was holding King, Queen and hit the nut straight, so he is gutted when I show my 8 high flush.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERMIT!!!

I'm £120 up on the night, Kermit is down £20 and The Fish is down £50.

I'd say that's one of the best birthdays I've ever been too, heh heh heh.

jT

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Kermit is the Man! - Well... the Frog!

Still buzzing from the great game on Wednesday and the ultra hot deck that night, at 4pm yesterday I emailed Pokerbrat with the following:

"Dunno if I can wait until Wednesday for another game!"

The brat came back with:

"Alriiiight... get two more players, jT and we've got a game."

Within minutes, Mountain, Scrooge McDuck and Renzo were onboard with Kermit keeping his options open... we had a game!

At Pokerbrat's place, Renzo arrived, and shortly after - Kermit! Mountain was gonna show at midnight but there was no sign of Scrooge... we shuffled up and took McDuck's blinds.

Kermit's losing streak has been going on so long, we were almost starting to feel sorry for him, and true to form, he re-loaded in the re-buy period.

With the re-buy period over, I needed a double-up and I was more than happy to look down at pocket 10s. I moved all-in and only Renzo called.

He flipped over Queen, King and we had a classic race on our hands. The flop was good for me, but ultimately, Renzo managed to catch a runner, runner, runner straight... my trips were what killed me when the 10 on the turn was followed by a Jack and then a 9.

I think Renzo was busted by the brat, when the brat flopped a straight, and so we had Kermit heads-up against Pokerbrat.

What followed can only be described as the Muppet Show. Sure, the brat wasn't catching any cards, but Kermit totally dominated. Every time the brat made a move, Kermit came over the top. Every time the brat called, Kermit had the best hand. It wasn't long before Kermit took the chip lead and shortly after, he took the brat out. On a couple of occasions, Kermit pushed the brat out of the hand with absolutely nothing... the name has stuck but Kermit has found his game and has mixed his style up, no longer super tight. It was the best poker any of us have seen from the frog.

Just before we started the second game, Mountain let us know he wouldn't be making it, but we were joined by Scrooge McDuck and The Professor, so we had a big pot, a steaming brat and Kermit full of confidence.

Renzo got busted early and decided to call it a night, and the brat had to re-load shortly after - not once but TWICE!

Kermit took the brat and The Professor out, and I found myself in a hand with top pair (King) and a crap kicker on the flop. Kermit moved all-in. I put him on Ace, King or even King, 1o and despite being sure, I called and sure enough, Kermit flips over Ace, King. I need to hit my 2 but it doesn't come and Kermit finds himself heads-up against Scrooge McDuck.

Kermit laid on the pressure until Scrooge was forced to call against a stronger hand and the second game was all over, with Kermit taking down two out of two!

I'm looking forward to checking out the leaderboard tomorrow, as the brat has slipped behind again and of course Kermit has eaten into his losing streak.

In the third game there were no re-loads. I took the brat out with a flopped two pair against his top pair and managed to avoid his better kicker.

I took Kermit out shortly after and then eroded away at Scrooge McDuck until he was forced to make a bluff into the nuts.

Great night for Kermit, and I'm back at the top of the leaderboard with £185 V the brat's £140.

Wednesday should be competitive as the brat is only one win away from knocking me off the top spot again and BT is back and no doubt hungry for a win.

jT

Incredible Hands...

... just kept coming... and coming at Wednesday's home game. Pocket Aces hit ten times, and that's no exaggeration - we started counting after they hit for the third time!

We also had numerous pocket Kings, Jacks, Queens and Tens.

Renzo is definitely back, he was on top form in the first game, aggressively building his chip stack with dogged determination.

The fish was also in fine form, sucking out flushes to beat pocket pairs and flopped pairs, much to the chagrin of the brat.

The brat had to re-load three times in the re-buy period making him more determined to win.

Lethal took me out by sucking out a flush, fish-style and Kermit and Fish were out soon after.

The brat was out third, leaving Renzo and Lethal in the heads-up. I thought we were up for another long session of Renzo's luck, as Lethal kept jamming straights with one card or pairing low cards.

In the end though, after a bad call from Lethal, Renzo took it down, really clawing back his cash stats.

The second game saw me re-buying twice in quick succession when my pocket pair was beaten by an overcard and then again when Renzo's 10s held against my Ace, Queen.

I was almost out completely after the re-buy period, again to Renzo, but clawed back some chips when my Pocket Aces converted into a full house (Aces and Kings no less).

Kermit nearly took me out with, yes, pocket Aces, but my flopped pair turned into two pair on the turn and I doubled-up.

Pokerbrat was on top form after re-loading during the re-buy period and just seemed to suck up chips. He took Renzo out with a better kicker when they both flopped a King and then Kermit, calling his two paint cards with 8, 2 and pairing his 8!

The Fish and I had less than 100,000 chips between us, putting the brat on more than 170,000 chips. The last thing we needed was for the brat to put either of us out.

I took a slug of chips off the Fish before the Brat took him out completely, leaving me with 30,000 chips to the brat's 200,000+!

I doubled-up, putting me back in contention, but the brat's aggressive play and the 4000/8000 blinds had me bleeding chips back down to 50,000. I needed to double-up and quick.

I'm dealt King, Queen in the big blind and the brat moves all-in. I take my time and I hate being in this position. Any Ace and I'm in big trouble.

I call and the brat turns over Ace, 8. The dead man's hand.

The Fish stayed to deal and he lays out the cards.

The first card is a Queen - Good times.

Second card is an Ace - Bad times.

Third card is another Queen - Hard on!

The turn is another Ace, giving the brat Aces Full and me an inferior Queens Full... BASTARD!!!

To be fair, the brat went in with the strongest hand and the best hand won.

AMAZING poker tonight and amazing run of cards.

In the grand scheme of things, the Brat is now in first place on the leaderboard and is the man to catch.