Once again it is falling to me to write up Wednesday's events ... not that harsh a task, but given I didn't even win it somehow seems wrong. Still, I am a tough individual, and I will soldier on ... although it occurs to me now that I really can't remember very many hands at all. Next time I will bring a notepad like a reporter. With any luck that kind of attention to detail would also intimidate my opponents ... imagine the fear.

Anyway, this week there were 6 entire people ready to do poker-based battle. They, myself included, stumped up the traditional 5 pounds, chips were distributed, and play commenced.

They story of the earlier levels was massive chip accumulation by Kris and Adam ... both of them, upsettingly, gaining entire buy-ins off myself. I have to say they each showed a complete lack of respect to myself, my play and my betting ... Adam re-raised my pot-sized flop bet holding only a 9-high flush draw (it hit), and Kris called my all-in with QKo (he hit a King). Disgusting play quite frankly ... some might point to the fact that in both cases I didn't have much of a hand, and they won ... but those people would be wrong.

Adam continued to accumulate chips, and was soon holding a scarily large stack ... Kris though, in an upsetting (for him) imitation of last week, went quite horribly card dead, and started passing his stack back to the rest of the table. I can't remember the specifics of the hand, but his wife-to-be Emily delivered the killer blow, and I suspect she came from behind to do it ... nasty. No matter, one man was down, and we entered the freezeout as a fivesome.

At this point I was shortstacked, with Emily, Graham and Lindsey all about equal on 8,000 or so and Adam way out in the lead. Luckily for me I found KK very early on, and doubled up through Lindsey to make my position more comfortable. Phew.

We then witnessed, I think, our first TCP suicide ... not a pretty sight. People had been hanging around far better than is normal, and at blind-levels that quite often indicated heads-up play there were still 5 .... In short, it was getting late. Emily did not like this development, and so began to speed up her play ... a few all-ins later and she was out. No points or money gained, but instead the ability to go home and sleep, which, when compared to our continued company at a poker table, seems like not so bad a choice.

A few hands later and Graham and I tangled in a large pot. It was folded to me in the small blind, holding Qh2h I called, and Graham checked. The flop came down with 2 hearts, so I bet out hoping to take it down there and then. Sadly Graham had other ideas and went all in. at point I knew I was behind, but the call was only 3,000 into a pot of about 8,500 and I was fairly certain the flush draw was good. I called, Graham showed trips, but once again luck was with me, and the lovely Jh fell on the turn. Graham was understandably upset, but we both played he hand fairly standardly I think ... if anything, my original choice of just calling the big-blind with so marginal a hand was probably the mistake.

Once we were 3 handed Adam and Lindsey decided to go to war. I, holding a comfortable stack of about 13,000, for the most part tried to keep out of it. Sadly however, instead of the short-stack going out when they got all their chips in, the short-stack consistently won. On one hand, when Adam had gone all-in, and Lindsey had called, I made a move for the Phil Helmuth 'Big Lay Down' award. Sadly failing to add, "I've only laid this one down twice before" (instead choosing to agonize and whine like a tiny girl) I eventually folded a pair of Queens. At first I was looking like a poker genius, as Adam paired a King on the flop, but, the poker-gods being the fickle deities that they are, a Queen came on the turn, and I would have wiped out the both of them with trip Queens. Ahh well, such is life ... serves me right for copying Phil Helmuth.

Eventually though, the short stack did lose, and it was heads-up between Lindsey and myself. She had, I think, about a 2-1 chip lead after knocking out Adam. The battle didn't last long ... after about 7 or 8 hands I was getting the horrible feeling that she was knocking me off pots far too easily, and my stack was slowly dwindling. I had that feeling mostly because it was true. I then picked up 55, and was quite happy that it went raise, re-raise, all-in ... I needed to double up or else I was screwed. Lindsey showed QKo, and that was fine ... or, it was until the turn and river gave her two pair :(

So, a fine time was had by all, everyone played well I thought, and Lindsey easily deserved the victory. Sadly I will be away next week, so someone else will be writing the report ... don't be too upset

Phil - Mr Consistent.