2nd March 2005
Hey folks. I'm afraid this week's report will be written by me and not the usual witty Steve 'Deadmoney'. I'm not even going to try and match Steve's witty style (well, ok, occasionally witty) so bare with me whilst I try and remember what happened... I know I know, it was only last night, but that's a full 15 hours ago!
Anyway, let's get to it. After battling through the snow to get to Wokingham (which, incidentally stopped as soon as we hit Bracknell - must be something to do with snow being pure and Bracknell being far from it) we arrived, and amazingly, we weren't first for once, and Pete was already there!! We soon drew cards and I ended up on a table with Steve 'Deadmoney', Lindz, QuadsMarty and Pete.
Having 10 players meant playing on two tables, a first for TCP, and it worked really well.
Play began slow, with the flops continuing to show low cards, with no picture card in attendance for quite some time. I ended up taking the first pot, always a good sign, even if I only took the blinds! Play continued, with poor Steve bearing the brunt of the backlash from the cards, having to rebuy a fair few times before anyone else had a chance to even play their cards... this was thanks to Lindz, who was in great form, gaining a big chip stack (courtesy of Steve) very early on.
Pretty soon the other table had its first grand play of the night, with G slow playing pocket As, and being beaten, quite to his disgust, with three Ks.
Unfortunately, the lack of luck that was affecting the beleaguered Steve was also intent on taking out Kris, who was the first casualty of the evening, when, after his 5th rebuy, saw him losing with AKs.
The freezeout came about quickly, after we all decided to only have 80 minutes of play before the event. At this point I had rebought, and was not in good shape, and was quite low-stacked. Lindz, on the other hand, had a massive stack of over 20k, if memory serves, and was a dominant force on the table. However, the cards had other plans. Lindz downfall came in the form of pockets 8s... twice.
I had gained a few chips at this point, and looked down to pocket 8s, with the flop coming 8, 6, 6. I slow played, only betting around 1500 chips ( I think blinds were around 300/600 at this point). Lindz called as did others. Next card was low, and I bet low again. Lindz was drawing (though she never admitted to what) and reraised, which was called by the other player (I am so sorry not to remember who it was, I think it was Martin). I saw my chance and went all in. After a long deliberation Lindz and the other player folded, but I took down nearly 20k chips. The very next hand saw Lindz beaten once again with pocket 8s, this time being held by Steve, who also hit the full house, 8's over Js, and she was out. Very unlucky.
Pretty soon we were down to the final table; myself, Phil, Dave, Pete and Steve. Me being me, I can't remember anything, but the final three was myself, Pete and Phil. I called all-in a couple of times and doubled up, with poor Pete bearing the brunt and going out third. Phil had around three times as many chips as me, and made it known, raising blind after blind, causing me to fold numerous good, but not good enough, hands. One hand of note was when I took about 5 minutes deciding on whether my pair of 6's was good enough to call Phil's all-in. Bear in mind that Phil had shown me a couple of hands of absolute tosh after raising substantially, so I had fair reason to think he was bluffing this time! I folded, with Phil showing a pair of 9s, justifying my case!!
The turning point was me holding KJo. Phil raised on the small blind, and I quickly called. Flop came K,Q,10. The pot was around 20k, after Phil bet 5k, when I reraised all in. After thinking, and thinking, Phil folded, but it was too late and I was now chip leader.
After playing for another 10 minutes or so, we decided to split the pot, with me taking the larger of the prize fund. I was more than relieved when Phil agreed, as I think I am most afraid of Phil heads-up than any other TCP player! (don't get a big head now Phil!!)
Thanks to G for holding the game at such short notice when the game got too big for our house!
By Emily
bravenet.com