Lightning Doesn't Strike Thrice

But it only just missed. Week 2 of the Gutshot forum league. I expected a larger turnout than last time and, indeed, there were just 2 more.

This meant that today's winner would net more money/points than me last week so I needed to place in the money to not fall off the top spot.

Once again it was a great tournament for banter and railing. Once again, I was running well. I'll have to check my notes to see what the key hands were, but I didn't lose many races. On the final table, I had AA vs KK to take the lead and at one time it really looked like I would run over the field again.

As it was, I got heads-up with Gutshot666 (omen666 on the forum - the most postingest forum poster of all time). He actually had me pretty well figured out and was playing back at me.

He'd actually made a great move on me, earlier, at the 2table stage: I was on the BB with pocket 8s and raised the multi-limped pot, getting heads-up with him.

The flop was A64-rainbow and I had him well covered. I decided to make a small bet, which I thought would be sufficient to see him off. He re-raised all in and I had more than 4-1 on the call and it was only 20% of my stack to continue.

I so nearly did call but I felt that there was no way he could make that push - given how easy it would be for me to call - without the Ace. So I folded, and he showed KQ. From there, he went from strength to strength.

Last week, the heads-up stage lasted one hand. This time, it was a prolonged battle where I was never in control, really.

The final hand came when I was dealt TT and decided to just call on the button. The flop was 3-4-6 with 2 spades. He checked, I bet the pot, he called. Turn 9d - putting 2 diamonds on board now. He checked, I bet 2/3rd of the pot.

He now raised all-in and I called. He had 5-9 for top pair on the turn with an up&down straight draw as well.

The river: 7 hearts. He made the straight and scooped the $300.

My $180 for second puts me on $460 for the league so far and with only one Monday left in February, it is really only Gutshot666 who can overtake me - by finishing 2nd or better next week. Unless, that is, the field is much bigger then, which is certainly possible. If that happens, then 1st place next week could be enough on its own, or the other money finishers may be able to catch up.

My luck felt sufficiently in that I then played a $35 rebuy on the site (188 runners). I had the most amazing run of cards - KK so many times - and was vying for the lead as the bubble approached.

I was still 5th when the bubble broke at 18th place. It was one of those flat payouts where 18th-10th all get the same (about 5x the buyin - I had no rebuys or addons). Unfortunately, I ran A6into AA and then A4 into AK to crash out in 11th. Afterwards, that seemed quite a disappointment as the escalation of prize money from 9th onwards was pretty significant.

Along the way, I did have one amazing hand where I picked up KK in the small blind. The button raised, and decided to play safe and made a big re-raise. The BB called, somewhat surprisingly, and so did the button. I had them both well covered as I was already 2nd in chips. I was looking forward to the chip lead coming my way.

The flop came KT8 with 2 clubs. I decided to play safe and bet the flop. I was re-raised !! Well, it all went in on the flop and he turned up TT. Unlucky there sir. Turn Ten !!

There wasn't a further miracle on the river so the Quad tens were sufficient. Like I always say, one out is enough.