Las Bagshot – 26/10/2005

OK –you whippersnappers stop scratching your backsides and listen up!!

One of the problems with increasing age is that your memory gets worse, so if you’re expecting a lucid, closely reasoned report about the poker at Las Bagshot last night you are in for a disappointment. (Some might say that it’s not age effecting my memory but the quantity of Old Peculiar poured down my gullet over the years!) I can’t remember where I left my reading glasses for chrissake!

Before we get to the poker I’ve got to mention the monumental traffic jam some of us had to struggle through, even to get to the venue. I started queuing in Bracknell before the Sports centre roundabout and initially I put it down to the sheer weight of traffic. However it was solid past Sainsburys and round the Coral Reef roundabout and then stop and start down the dual carriage way to the Swinley Forest roundabout (at least that’s what I call it). Half way down the dual carriageway we all pulled over to let a paramedic through with blue flashing lights, closely followed by two ambulances. As we had been virtually stationary for 45 minutes by this time I rather hoped any casualties were not waiting on this assistance. It took me 70 minutes to make a 20-minute journey.

However, eventually I arrived at Las Bagshot to find the game only just started and I sat down to find I was under the gun with 26off. Still waiting for Nick and Stu who arrived soon after.

OK, back to the poker. Two tables with Phil, Marty, Andy, Craig, Stu, Jonathon and me (New Pete) on one table and Dave, Baz, Str8Pete, (yet another)Pete, Mark(?), Del and Nick on the other, for a total of 14 players.

Blinds were 15 minutes, which meant they were going up rather rapidly. Before the freeze-out a couple of hands stood out.

Stu found, what seemed over the evening to be his favourite hand, and went all in with 78off against someone (Can’t remember who – could have been Phil) and flopped the straight to cries of  “You must be joking!” or words to that effect.

In fact Stu was great entertainment value and started to accumulate the biggest stack on the table, although Marty was doing his normal routine of mixing good hands with talking us out of the pot. “I’m gonna call for value although I know I’m beaten” was heard more than once.

Craig wasn’t firing on all cylinders and had to re-buy a few times as did Jonathon. In fact these two were involved in one memorable hand when Jonathon, being rather short stacked, went all-in pre-flop, with two callers. After a the flop and turn showed a club flush draw the side-pot got interesting before the river turned up another club. On the showdown Craig had 2 clubs for the flush headed by a 10 and Jonathon flipped over A7 of clubs to take the main pot!!

At the end of re-buys and top-ups, on our table Marty and Stu were chip leaders, Jonathon and Phil (who had been very quiet) were short stacks with everyone else in between. No idea of the situation on the other table except I heard that Del had a few re-buys (very strange).

Time for tea.

On to the freeze-out and I seem to remember that the “Walk of Shame” was Phil, but I could be wrong – perhaps I will be corrected. Soon afterwards Baz went and then Dave took his chairs and crept off into the night. Our genial host, Andy also lost his chips (to Stu I think) and then took over the dealing duties. Nick joined us from the other table. Jonathon also crashed out sometime around here (Although Andy put him as 7^th in his forum post I’m pretty sure be wasn’t on the final table.)

With Andy dealing and very few flops being seen we were motoring at great speed through the hands, such that we thought the other table were just rattling their chips and waiting for us to knock each other out!! Who would think such a thing?

Down to 9 and Marty took a blow to his stack, which until then had been pretty healthy. I can’t remember the details but the next hand I got dealt QQ and pushed all-in and Marty immediately called, also all-in. Cards on their backs: QQ versus AA – very ugly. Unfortunately for Marty the flop showed the third Queen and it was an early bath for the Irish.

Final table looked like this: Craig, Str8Pete, Stu, Del, Nick, New Pete, Mark(?), (yetanother)Pete. Chip leaders probably Stu and New Pete.

The low stacks; Mark and (yetanother)Pete went fairly quickly before Str8 Pete, having doubled up once tried again against Stu and got busted. Del had been playing, very uncharacteristically, quite cautiously also departed – can’t remember the details I think it was AQ v AK with nothing on the board helping either player.

Now down to four, with Craig and Nick short stacked – around 12000 each and Stu shading me as chip leader.

It got a little sweaty for Nick and Craig and I can’t, for the life of me, remember how Nick went out. Perhaps he will tell us.

Down to three. Craig played a hand against Stu and was on his feet and walking when the river hit and saved his bacon. Finally Stu saw him off.

Heads up now with the stacks fairly even; and for a while I thought the hands had dried up for me completely until I picked up Tens. Stu raised in the small blind and I went all in before Stu called with his favourite 87off. This time there was no straight and a serious dent was made in Stu’s stack. The end was somewhat of an anticlimax when Stu, down to 11K went all-in with rags. Unfortunately for him I had picked up AQ and that was that.

In summary a very enjoyable nights poker with great plays coming thick and fast.

So whose round is it and mines a pint of Old Peculiar?