Newberg tournament, Friday the 9th

Friday the Goose and I went out to Newberg to play with a new group. Turned out to be "Battle of the Sexes" night where if just guys were in the hand you checked it down or got out of their way, if women were in the hand you tried to bust them out.

First hand I was in the small blind so I limped in with 7/10 off. The flop came 6/8/9 rainbow and I flopped the nuts. Since I was under the gun I led out strong and picked up a couple callers. Since there were women in the hand that included men and with minimal investment I about doubled up.

I went into tight mode, limping in here and there but there were a couple maniacs to my left so I did not get in as many hands as I wanted. 3 or 4 times I flopped straights but they bet all the women out so I could not call so I had to fold. Well...when you have to fold your WINNING hands...it does not leave you much to play. Coming down towards where the blinds and antes were clipping my chip stack pretty hard I was looking for a hand to try and double up on...and I got K/Q suited. Not the best hand but good enough to call on...until the guy in second position raised all the women out. The next time I got to go I hit the straight...and he bet the women out. As I folded I flipped the cards face up and got off about my best poker line ever.

"If it weren't for luck and being the worst player at the table I would win every tournament."

The reference to Hellmuth was not lost on many of them and it generated a huge laugh as I hoped it would. Sadly, I was real low on chips and not picking up any hands...and when I did the same guy sensed it (even though I was not looking at my cards until my turn) and raised it up so I finally had to go all in with a mere Q/J suited and, while I did hit my Q, so did the woman to my right and her kicker was an Ace. Basically, had I not been being a team player I would have had a shot at winning the whole thing. Oh, well. It was fun.

Unfortunately I had never shown Emily the mechanics of dealing and to our surprise we rotated the deal. She accidentally flipped a card up and then did not know how to correct it. My fault for not going over the basic mechanics. That got her off her game....but she still outlasted 3 other people at our table and did very well for herself. Despite it being only the second time she played with anyone but me she did really well. I know she does not believe me when I say it, but the truth is...yeah, online I can play circles around her and, for that matter, 99% of the other people I meet. But live? At this moment, she is a better live player than me. Very proud of her.