As I checked through my notes and wracked my remaining brain cell, I realised that the first game of December was most notable for its lack of notable hands. Either that, or I'm not able to remember. Usually there are a few boats, occasional quads or straight flushes, but this week provided only meagre fare. The game was mostly about patience – drama was in short supply.
Sean and Ug both fell after the break, whilst Zack and Robert were both accumulating healthy stacks - right up until the moment that they clashed. With a pair of Qs on board, Zack pushed hard, and Robert happily called. On the turn with no obvious draw, Zack pushed again and Robert went all-in. I concluded that either they both had trip Qs, or else Robert was on an inexplicable, disbelieving, chip-dumping suicide mission. Zack showed his Q, and Robert got up and left - without explanation. Mission accomplished (?)
The problem that hand created was the almighty chip lead held by Zack. Robert may have erroneously believed that Zack was bluffing, but with this huge advantage it was going to be tricky at best - and fatal at worst - for anyone to call Zack from this point.
With a dearth of decent hands and dwindling stacks, Rusty's pre-flop all-in with AT suited was logical, but Steve called with his best hand of the day – pocket Ks. True to form, the gods' cat and mouse play with our fortunes gave Rusty his A on the flop, before crushing his hopes with a K on the turn.
Hadley crept into a hand with 45, and was rewarded with 2 pairs on the flop. She slow-played it, and Zack's big slick paired his K on the turn. Hadley was all-in with only the river to come, leaving Zack with 5 outs to save him. Obviously, he then hit a bullet to send Hadley home (that really IS poker).
The remaining stacks were dwarfed by Zack's, and Tom chose to shove with A4. Unfortunately for him, Zack was holding TT, which tripped and Tom was gone. That left Steve as David versus Zack the Goliath heads-up.
There may have been a lack of boats, but there was a raft of nondescript hands. Zack employed his advantage to bully, and with punishing blinds and few options, Steve had to make a couple of dubious calls that miraculously helped him slowly turn the game. In the deciding hand, nobody hit a pair – both players were all-in on the same double gut-shot chance that never materialised. Zack's Q high was pipped by Steve's A high – game over.
There may have been a lot of weak hands, but there's always next week.