League Time

So, Rob and I hosted yet another poker game at our house last night. This time we've also started a league. Anyone is welcome to join but doesn't have to be in the league to play. There were 13 of us last night and pretty much everyone committed to the league, which will run for the entire year.

It was fun as always, but that's the main point of Rob and I running these. We just like our friends coming over and hanging out. I started out really well. Of course it helped I was getting the hands. Fairly early in the tournament, I'm dealt AKs, I believe I was UTG so I raise. I get one caller, then Jeff re-raises. Jeff is a decent player so I know he doesn't have a weak holding. I opt to call, as does the person who called my initial raise. I'm looking to hit an A on the flop, big pockets are a definite concern. Fortunately, the A does come, so I bet out. One fold, then Jeff raises me. Oh oh. Well, I figure AA is a definite possibility, but two A are already out. I'm thinking he quite possibly has AK as well. The other two cards on the flop were blanks, so there are not very many hands I am behind. I decide to risk it and move all-in. Jeff hits the tank to think. He does call and he flips KK. Ouch, depending on the turn and river, I just cracked kings. My hand does hold up. Fortunately, for Jeff he had me covered, but unfortunately, not by much; he's left with 40 chips.

This is a little disappointing because we get points for the league for kills. So if I had taken Jeff out I would have recieved a quick 5 points for the league. And worse, with only 40 chips, it's very easy for anyone at the table to eliminate him. Although, Jeff caught a great hand and was able to get the whole table to call his all in to get a decent stack back. His pocket tens held up against the table. I did double him up shortly after that when my AJ rand into his AQ. By this time he was back up to something like 500 chips.

With a huge stack early in the game, I decide to see more pots than I usually do. I limp with a lot of crappy hands. That works well for me too, as Craig ended up sitting to my right. He's very loose and tends to bet with nothing. So if I hit the flop, I was content to call him down. I did this a couple times and quickly scooped the pot when he showed nothing.

I was able to eliminate two people at our table and after a few others went out, we merged to final table at 8 left. When I sat down, it was apparent I was chip leader. The final table wasn't very exciting. Most of us were fairly tight. Although, there were a few short stacks who were willing to push their entire stacks into the middle when they needed to. I was dealt the great hands when I needed again. Brett moved all in when I had 88. I knew pocket pairs were a possiblitly but so were overcards, so I quickly called. He showed AK and it didn't improve. Then later Brett moved in and I had AA, I slowly called this one. I was in either the SB or BB and the others at the table had limped into the pot. I was hoping if I showed hesitation, one of them would also call. No one else did. Brett showed KQs or QJs, I can't remember which. My hand held up again.

I never really took a hit to my stack once I built it. Rob was also at the final table and he had done well. This was nice for a change, since the last few games, the both of us have been having a hard time making it deep. Adam ended up in third place, and it was Rob and I heads up. I was willing to go all in every hand, since although additional league points would be nice, who won 1st didn't matter much since the money would both be ours in the long run. Rob was against it, so I played serious for a few hands. Then I decided meh, it's getting late and I'm tired, so anytime I got a strong head's up hand, I would push. It only took two all-ins from me before Rob was in too. It was K7 vs JT. I had JT. I didn't improve and Rob won the first league game.