The Company Game

11 people showed. Kenneth was the only one I had played with before. We got a horrendously late start, but once we got going we had a table of 5 and a table of 6.

To my right was Travis. Travis is relatively solid but fairly predictable. I picked up his betting pattern early and had a solid read. To his left was Nathan, a wild bluffer who freely admitted that. To his left was Jeff...erratic, but predictable. To his left (and my right) was Mike.

Early on I could not catch a hand. I pretty much was only playing the blinds and hitting nothing there. Nathan bluffed me off one hand, then I called with 2 pair and he had a flush so I was down about 2000 (started with 5). I worked my way back up, finally caught a few hands. Won one with a bluff. Then came a couple key hands, both involving Nathan.

In the first I was in the big blind, he raised to 3 times, I immediately put him on a high pocket pair, a couple callers and I had K/8 so I called it. Flop brought a pair of tens and an 8. I bet it, he and Jeff called. Right there I figured anything but another 8 and I was done with the hand. Turn brought a 10 giving me a full house, 10s over 8s. Nathan bet into it. Jeff called. I folded. That's right, I folded a full house. And at the showdown Nathan busted Jeff out when Jeff called again and Nathan had the pocket 9s.

Not too much later I picked up A/Q and jacked it up 3 times the blind. Flop gave me top pair and 2 rags. I raised. Nathan reraised. I called. Turn was a blank, I raised, he re-raised, I called. River brought a possible flush. I checked. He raised 2000. I thought and thought and thought. Finally I looked at him and said, "Hit your flush?" He said nothing but his eyeblink rate increased a lot. Finally I convinced myself he was bluffing and called off about half of what I had left, putting another 2000 into a pot that was already about 15 or 20. I shamefully flipped up my Queen Ace....and he flipped up a hand of nothing.

From there I was cruising and wiped out the rest of my table.

At the final table, the last 5 of us it was tough. They would raise and call like maniacs. It was almost impossible to get a read on them. They were playing 15 and 20K pots with Jack High...or a flush. They showed down every hand. Being short-handed the blinds came fast so I was blinded and bet off about half my stack.

Got to heads up and we had 7 straight hands shown down...and she won every one of them. That put me on a short timer. When I got A/8 I went all in for about 4K. She called with 9/3, spiked the nine on the turn and I was done, finished in 2nd.

I think I played really well overall. Very few mistakes, got good reads, was putting people at the first table on the hands they actually had (twice correctly putting people on Big Slick).