This game was held at Sandhurst.

Results

Lindz - 1st

Phil - 2nd

Graham - 3rd

TCP Christmas Game - 22nd December 2004

 TCP weakly report (that's not a misprint, its late & I've been conned into this yet again!) Dec 22^nd

The Christmas spirit was in evidence this week, as numerous ridiculous calls were made on the basis of 'donating' chips to opponents. Give em a card and let em whistle for anything else, I say; but the trouble with Christmas is, its infectious. Apparently, there is no natural antidote, which would explain how (late on in the game, miraculously after only one re-buy) I decided that the pot odds were good even though I thought I was behind. Well, that might explain it if you happen to be aged 8 or under, in which case let me save you a lot of soul-searching, arguments with older relatives or friends and the like. There is no Santa.

At least not in poker. Obviously there IS a beardy, gaudily-dressed fat bloke that delivers billions of presents at breakneck speed (not forgetting to eat 2 mince pies and knock back a quick sherry per house) in a flying sleigh with flying reindeer pulling it - jeez, I'm not stupid! But in poker, there is only the harsh reality that lady luck is sleeping with someone else most of the time, and the earlier 'gift' of chips was merely a ploy.. Forgive me if I sound bitter , I am. Only one early re-buy, and I even got to be chip leader for a spell. Such is the way with the poker gods - they lull you into yet another false sense of security, then crap on you from ever greater heights. They must be politicians.

Enough of this I hear you cry (yup, I hear voices too) . "What about the cards? Tell us about all the exciting hands." No. I won't. Or rather can't. I fluked my way into a few nice straights, but the only story of the night was that Kings kept winning. And that's about as memorable as the cards got. But! (there's always a but, isn't there? Especially if you're Rick Waller, but I digress.) For ardent TCP fans (you know who you are, unless you've just got back from the works Christmas do, stinking drunk - in which case, this isn't the telly dumbass!) there was much excitement in the result. I only say that because Emily didn?t win (5^th, I think) which left the door open for Lindz, G, Phil and myself to eat into her lead in our league. Well, I don't sign this thing off as Steve Deadmoney for nothing y'know.

The four of us came back to the table after a break with chips roughly even. It was all over quicker than a Phillipino visa application. My generosity at this time of year has never been greater than it was when I went all-in against Lindz. After only a few hands, Graham felt obliged to follow suit (although he was more leaning back, compared to my head up my own arse). And there it was, the heads up (no arses this time) . Lindz with a huge chip lead vs. Phil. I believe it was the very first hand that Lindz put Phil all-in. She had KQo, after all. Poor Phil. Big blind was a third of his chips . time to make a stand and hope for the best? He thought so , it IS Christmas after all, as Lindz will happily testify. 64o? This was going to take a Christmas miracle.

There may be a Santa, but there was no Archangel for Phil. The Christmas game was won by Lindz, and the rest of us were left to clear up reindeer pooh. Roll on 2005 , maybe we should start a new league table, have a fresh start and run it over the whole year. The leaders (silent B) will no doubt argue, but hey, I've said it now. Lets have a heated debate!

Happy Christmas to everyone, and a prosperous New Year to all (but my opponents)! Hopefully this time next year I'll have learnt how to play properly, and I'll be able to stop moaning about bad luck and other feeble excuses.

Dear Santa,

I?ve been really good this year. Please can I have pocket aces every hand, and a slutty, young brunette to help me celebrate. Mums locked the booze cabinet, but theres a couple of exports in the fridge. No more mince pies I'm afraid ' New Labour say the country's ALL too fat, although Rick Waller says he's just big-boned. Don't forget the brunette, and I'll use the big-boned line myself.

Cheers,

Steve Deadmoney