As this year's league enters the final stages, the poker gods provided further evidence today that they're either fickle, have a warped sense of humour, or are simply evil personified. Players' views on the subject all depend on which hands they were dealt.
Two re-buys before the break (plus an add-on) had left me thinking it wouldn't be my day. As much as I wanted to blame bad luck, I had to admit to myself I was playing rather too loose in the first hour. I resolved to tighten my game, but only a little.
So when Sean pushed all-in after raising and hitting his big ace on the flop, my deadman's hand (A8) was obviously behind. However, I had the nut draw in clubs and my call flushed Sean's advantage away.
Hadley was kept waiting a long time for a half decent hand (although her much favoured 23 off didn't make an appearance) and as she dwindled to 2 chips and a chair, she pushed in false hope that the gods would help her out. No such luck.
Tom's pre-flop raise with pocket 5s was called by Rusty, who I thought probably had a monster and with K88 showing, Tom probably felt good shoving all-in. At least until he saw Rusty's JK off, which wasn't a monster but still enough to send Tom home – even before a rusty boat appeared.
With 3 left in and blinds at 1k / 2k, Rusty was pushing frequently, and amassed a slight advantage in chips pretty fast. So when he called my raise to 7k (pocket 7s) I was a little dismayed at the AJ2 flop. I made a continuation bet with another 7k to represent the bullet that I wished I had. Rusty deliberated a long time, announcing it was all about who had the better kicker. He asked for a chip count and eventually put me all-in for another 13k.
It was my turn to dwell and weigh up his move. The deciding factor for me was less whether he had a jack (I had mentally dismissed his claim of an A) and more about his frequent raises. I called, and Rusty showed his pocket 3s – there was no reprieve on the river, and the blow proved fatal soon after.
Robert's stack had been dominant earlier, but heads up he was in need of more than a double-up. His first real opportunity arrived with a Jackson 5 flop when he held JT. He pushed and Steve insta-called to win with JK off.
And that ladies and gents, explains the saying, "lucky at cards, unlucky at love.”
I guess JK off isn't so bad after all.