The Decatur Poker League scheduled session 5 to be played in John's new poker room. The players all enjoyed playing in the frigid conditions of John's basement, it sure beat the conditions of the garage at my house. Some players even asked if the next game was going to be played outside, uh, NO!! Steve Larry was enjoying the new poker room quite well, he was getting premium starting hands early in game and getting flops to go with them. When Tom Basil flopped two pair with his K-8, he thought he was good enough to cripple Steve's stack and gain momentum for the final table. After slow playing the flop, Tom raised All-In after the turn and Steve insta-called, Tom witnessed how hot Steve was when Steve turned over K-K and Tom was drawing dead. Steve rode that hot streak all the way to heads-up play against Mike Patterson. Before I finished updating the standings the showdown was over and Steve defeated Mike with A-A and the nut flush. Along with Steve and Mike, the other two finishers in the top 4 were Bob Willenborg and Pete Kates.
Like the quote from the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it, he will come", I thought he would tweak it a bit and make the revised quote, "If you build it, it will come", considering that I built the poker room for my dad. It has been since the first (inagural) DPL session in 2008 since I had won a game on the DPL. While game two progressed, I was able to win my races against Pete and David Kates. Right before winning the race against David Kates, I was put to a decision against my father. After there were several players in the pot, I looked down at J-J in the small blind. Since there is no right way to play pocket jacks, I decided to smooth call since someone else had made the raise for me. When the flop came 2-7-9 rainbow, I felt that I was very good. I bet 3,200. Chad and Steve folded around to my father and he raised All-In. After everyone folded it around to me, I was forced to a decision. I had enough to cover the bet, but I would be crippled if I lost the hand. My gut feeling against my dad was he has a higher over pair to the board or hehit a set, either way, I'm beat. After I showed the Jacks, Dad flipped over and showed the Aces. I was able to get heads up against Tom Basil. Tom kept raising me all-in, trying to entice me into calling. In his defense, he stated he kept getting good hands, worthy enough of all-ins. Finally, I got a hand I felt worthy enough and said all-in and was quickly called by Tom. I turn over K-J and Tom revealed A-9. The flop cam Q-2-9, pairing Tom and giving him a bigger lead. The turn brought a 10 to give me a straight and that ended the match. Along with Tom and myself, the other two finishers in the top 4 were Steve Larry and David Kates. |
