Poker in Mount Holly

Last night was this first chance I've had to get together with the gang for a night of poker in about 3 weeks.  We started with a tournament.  Losers started a cash game of hold em until midnight when we changed over to dealer's choice.

My first hand of the tournament was AK suited with me under the gun.  I raise pre-flop and get 2 callers.  The flop was TTK. It gets checked to me and I bet about the pot.  Both callers call.  "Okay," I think, "No aggression" so I think I'm up against a flush draw with 2 clubs on the board.  I'll keep after it until another club hits.  The next card was a J or Q, something that makes a straight possible, so I go with about half the pot.  Call.  Call.  The river brings a small club.  The big blind (one of my callers) checks, I check and Jim completes the hand by checking.  Jim tables a K with a low kicker.  I table my TPTK.  T in the big blind tables two more tens for quad tens on the first hand.  I feel like this is a good sign because I'm not crippled or out on the first hand.

Unfortunately, I don't think I took any more than a hand or two in the whole tourney.  I bleed down to just a few blinds when I got ATo and push in pre-flop.  Falstaff is my only caller and he tables JTh, so I'm looking good until a J spikes on the flop.  I get no Ace and head for the cash game.

Congrats to Big Nick for winning, Dave B for 2nd, and Falstaff for cashing for the 2nd week in a row.

I win the fist hand after sitting down and then go pretty dry here as well.  I manage to eak out a few hands to stay right around my buy-in amount for the next 3 hours.  Every time I got a decent hand, somebody got a monster.  I tried to make one nut flush on a draw, but couldn't hit it or much of anything else. Finally at midnight we switched over to other games.

The stud round didn't do much for me, but Omaha and O8 did great things for me.  I drug some really good pots to end the night up 140 points.

I don't remember much of the conversations.  There was very little talk early.  I don't know if that was because of the daylight or the tourney making everyone concentrate a little harder.  But here's what I remember 24 hours later:

• I'm going to Germany, Jim's going to London
• Vegas in June, October, December
• Bobby B's coming to Charlotte
• I'm going to Paris, Jim's going to London
• 95.3% of statistics are made up on the spot
• A humidifier?  I thought is was a weird water pitcher.
• Garmins and Tom-Toms
• Poker Chip Displays
• The next president is going to be a Democrat, even if it's McCain.