Thursday, January 1, 2009

Yes, we will have poker! First game of the new year on the first day of the new year! See you there.

Shock!

A very rare event has taken place. I was first out and Deb was second! That hasn't happened since the earth cooled. So mark your calendars, historians will write about this for years to come. Chris was out third and the heads up came down to Markus & Shane. It was just Shane's night but Markus put up a good fight. Both earned bonus points, Shane by taking out his mom and Markus with quad 5s. We decided not to play next week so allow me to wish everyone a safe and very merry Christmas.

5. Jeff 1
4. Deb 2
3. Chris 3
2. Markus 6 (including 1 bonus point for quad 5s)
1. Shane 8 (including 1 bonus point for Deb's bounty)

See you all soon.

The few, the tired.....

A small crowd meant few points, thankfully for me since I was first out. We had a tired crew, Crystal being one of the most tired and second out. Next out was Chris. Heads up came down to Nick & Deb. Nick was way behind in chips to start the heads up round, fought back valiantly but was just too tired to keep up with Deb. Still, he did score a bonus point for quad queens, as did Chris for my bounty point and Crystal was scorching us with her aces all night and also won a bonus point for quad aces. One oddity, we had a 4 way split pot when all 4 remaining players each had a 5 to make a straight.

5. Jeff 1
4. Crystal 3 (including 1 bonus point for quad aces)
3. Chris 4 (including 1 bonus point for my bounty)
2. Nick 6 (including 1 bonus point for quad queens)
1. Deb 7

Deb won her first game in Phase 2 and once again retakes the lead. Until next week, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, the old man becomes even more so. Deb did indeed remember to bring lasagna, courtesy of Shane's cooking. And another old familiar face graced us with her presence: Lisa! With our bellies full of lasagna, salad, bread & cake, we snuggled in for a long winters game.

First to exit was Markus. He was raped severely by Nick. I grabbed the Astro Glide but it was too late. Markus ended up with 1 point and a very sore, well, you know.

Next out was Shane. No extra points for cooking great lasagna, sorry.

Chris soon followed, unable to capitalize on his win last week.

Crystal was out next. She kept leaning over, we're not sure why but we kept hearing "poof".

Nick, whose ADD was pretty bad tonight, was out next, after raping several at the table. He also took Chris' bounty point.

Deb surprised us quite a few times tonight. Not only did she drop the "F" bomb, we also discovered she is a connoisseur of 70's porn. She was well aware of who John Holmes was. Another surprise was her leaving us in 3rd place.

Wouldn't you know it. Lisa, after having trouble finding the house, just wouldn't lose. Finally, I had trip 10s & she had 2 pair. The river was 10 giving me quads & Lisa a full house. I went all in, she called and the game was over.

So, for my birthday I got a card & gift card from Lisa, food from Deb, Crystal & Chris and everyone let me win tonight at poker! Woo hoo!

So, it would seem the old rivalry won't die. Once again the battle for first is between me & Deb with Mark bringing up a close 3rd. Here are the stats from tonight's game.

8. Markus 1
7. Shane 2
6. Chris 3
5. Crystal 4
4. Nick 6 (including Chris's bounty point)
3. Deb 6
2. Lisa 8
1. Jeff 11 (including a bonus point for quad 10s)

Hope to see Mark & Justin back at the tables next week. Until then, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Hey

DEB, LASAGNA
Somebody, salad
Somebody, garlic bread
Somebody, iced cookie

Don't ferget!

We're eating this Thursday. Yes, we ate last time we played, we at gobs at Thanksgiving, and yeah we're gonna do it again this Thursday. DEB, BRING LASAGNA! As for the rest of us, salad, garlic bread and one of those cookie cakes would be nice. See everyone Thursday. DEB, BRING LASAGNA!

Happy Birthday Crystal!

Mark made his famous enchiladas, Nick his famous Spanish rice and others brought sweets. It was a great evening for Crystal until she started playing poker! And while she wasn't first out, (Nick took a dive for her), she was second. Deb was next followed by Mark. Try as I might I just couldn't make it 4 in a row. This left Justin & Chris in the heads up. A first for Justin in an officially sanctioned TNP event. But after taking all my chips, Chris was just too chip heavy. So Justin settled for second tonight and Chris ran away with the chips and my 4 bointy pounts. Here's the breakdown.

7. Nick 1
6. Crystal 2
5. Deb 3
4. Mark 4
3. Jeff 5
2. Justin 7
1. Chris 14 (including 4 bointy pounts from Jeff)

Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and I wish a warm, safe Thanksgiving to you my dear friends. We'll be back here at the BB&L on December 4th. Deb is making lasagna for our December birthday/anniversaries. Salad & garlic bread & something sweet to go along would be great. Until then, be well.

Brrrr!

It's good weather for enchiladas and Mark has confirmed he'll have em hot out of the oven tonight. Nick to has confirmed he'll have his rice there, maybe a little late but it'll be good. So come on out for some great food, enjoyable fellowship and sizzling poker as we wish Crystal a Happy Birthday and take her chips first! See you all tonight for TNP!

Admiral's Invitational! CANCELLED

TOO MUCH GOING ON THIS TIME OF YEAR Mark your calendar for Friday, December 5, 2008 for the first annual Admiral's Invitational! Marking my 46th year on planet Earth, we'll have a $10 buy in winner take all tourney. Regular TNP rules apply. I'll make stew. BYOB. Starting time 7PM. If you're not a poker player come on over and I'll let you play with my wii!

Steady as she goes......

Make it 3! Yep, won my 3rd week in a row! Poor Chris drew only 1 pot and just couldn't get on track. Justin was out next followed by an angry Mark. Deb royally pissed him off after coming back over the top of his $500 bet with an all in. And after he brought spinach dip AND an absolutely delicious orange cake! YUMMMMM! Markus again made the top 4 but was raped mercilessly first by Deb with a bigger full house then by me. Sorry Markus. Crystal made the top 3. Came down to the two old pros. We started about even in chips, traded back and forth for a while but my pocket aces gave me a huge hand and from there it was just a matter of whittling down Deb's chips. So, next week we'll eat Mark's famous enchiladas for Crystal's birthday. Nick is making his equally famous Spanish rice. And I'll have a bounty of 4 points on my head. Deb now has sole posession of first place but has yet to win a game in Phase 2. Here's the night in numbers.

7. Chris 1
6. Justin 2
5. Mark 3
4. Markus 4
3. Crystal 5
2. Deb 7
1. Jeff 10 (including keeping my own bointy pount)

So remember, we'll be eating at 6:30 next week then taking the Thursday of Thanksgiving off. Till then, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Upsets!

The night was marked with upsets and movement in the leader board. Surprisingly Mark was first out, putting his first place standing in jeopardy. Nick made it tonight but didn't fare much better than Mark. After starting out in a big way Justin was next to fall by the way side. Chris exited next followed by none other than Deb. Markus made the top 3 and Crystal made the top 2. For the second week in a row I won the night adding 2 bonus points by winning a hand with a straight flush! So, next week the double bounty will be on my head. I mean bointy pounts! Anyway, here's the breakdown.

8. Mark 1
7. Nick 2
6. Justin 3
5. Chris 4
4. Deb 5
3. Markus 6
2. Crystal 8
1. Jeff 13 (including 2 for a straight flush and 1 for retaining my bounty point)

See you all next week!

A Quiet Night

With only 5 players making it to TNP tonight, there weren't many points on the line. Still, with only 1 point seperating first & second place any amount can make a big difference.

Mark, Justin, Chris, Deb & myself playing tonight. Poor Justin was first out again when Mark killed him with quad 5s, something Mark enjoyed because it gave him an extra point.

Chris held on as long as he could but finally ran out of luck. Deb soon followed and that left me & Mark head to head for the first time in a very long time. So long in fact I can't remember the last time he & I went heads up.

We traded chips back & forth for a while, almost eliminating each other several times but never able to deliver the coup de gras. Finally we agreed to let the next hand determine the winner and thankfully my luck, missing for so long, has returned. So here's the breakdown.

5. Justin 1
4. Chris 2
3. Deb 3
2. Mark 6 (including 1 bointy pount for quad 5s)
1. Jeff 10 (including 3 bointy pounts for the previous 2 wins by Mark & tonight's)

Mark came up with an idea last week. Since he won the previous 2 weeks in a row the first person to defeat him would take his previous weeks bointy pounts and the 1 for the current game. Hope to see many of our regulars next week. Till then may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters.

Dominance!

The top of the leader board continues to dominate TNP Phase 2 while the rest of us just provide a warm up act for the main event. In fact, except for Nick's slaughter at the hands of Deb whose pocket kings gave her a bigger full house over Nick, the last 5 places are barely worthy of mention. Crystal was out first, then me, followed by Justin, Nick & Chris. We were all quite easily dismissed. The real game began with the final 3 and our top leaders.

Deb, Adam & Mark have owned Phase 2 since it began. Those once close to penetrating the top 3 have fallen by the way side. Deb just couldn't withstand the double team of Mark & Adam and left next. The heads up didnt' last long however. After accumulating a lot of chips from the table he was at, Adam kept winning and losing lots of chips. Playing smart doesn't always mean you win however. He wisely folded a lot of hands that could have paid off big had he stayed for the turn or river however, and Mark fought his way back from near elimination more than a few times, going all in with enough chips to scare off Deb & Adam. Coors Lite must be sponsoring Mark cause he finished off about 12 or 13 of the 18 pack he & Justin brought. Winning the night means Mark gets to keep his bounty point (henceforth and forever more called the bointy pount thanks to Mark). This makes 3 wins for Mark and he won enough points last night to retake first place in the overall standings. His success will be short lived, however, as the upcoming holidays will mean he's going to miss quite a few games. As for now, however, let the Coors Lite flow and congratulations Mark!

8. Crystal 1
7. Jeff 2
6. Justin 3
5. Nick 4
4. Chris 5
3. Deb 6
2. Adam 8
1. Mark 11 (including 1 for retaining his bointy pount)

Hopefully Mark will be playing next week so we'll have another chance at his bointy pount. Till then, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

An Early Finish!

With the night sky chilled and filled with a full moon, the game ended at 10:20 with Mark coming out on top once again. Here's the low down.

Markus, busy doing laundry, bowed out first with 1 point.

Again this week, Chris took an early dive and exited with 2 points.

A tired but releaved Adam went home with 3 points.

I faired somewhat better than last week but could still only earn 4 points.

Crystal came on strong in the beginning but soon ran out of steam with only 5 points.

Heads up came down to Deb & Mark. After a quick check of the score board, Mark determined his lead over Adam to be sufficient to risk a final hand with Deb, winner take all. The chips were about even and Deb, eager to get home, agreed. Mark won the hand easily and left the night with another win and up 2 on Adam, only 4 behind Deb. Deb took Adam's bounty so that helped her maintain her lead.

Here's the breakdown:

7. Markus 1
6. Chris 2
5. Adam 3
4. Jeff 4
3. Crystal 5
2. Deb 8 (including Adam's bounty point)
1. Mark 9

Mark has 2 wins in the new season, Adam 1 but Deb maintains the top spot on the points board. See you all next week!

The More Things Change....

The more they stay the same. Great time last night as we scrambled eggs, slopped gravy, fried bacon & baked rolls to celebrate Justin & Nick's birthday at TNP. Deb didn't get the memo so no pancakes. ;( But we had plenty and lots left over. With our guts full we settled in for some serious poker and here's how it played out.

Justin & I just can't catch a break. Last week I was first out, this week Justin took an early dive.

Following Justin, Chris. That was a surprise. He's been playing consistantly well but ran into a rough patch, just as the banks have on Wall Street!

I didn't fare much better, leaving early with only 3 points.

Mark, Coors Lite in hand, tried his best to play conservatively, but just couldn't get the cards as he did last week. He had to settle for 4 points and watch first place slip away.

Crystal, trying her best to keep her table from changing music, was thwarted. She took home 5 points.

Markus, arriving in his new truck, played well and ended the night with 6 points.

Bobby, after being away last week, his shiner gone, stayed long enough to garner 7 points.

Nick, when the final table was assembled, had lots of green chips. He made it to the top 3 but exhaustion finally did him in and he earned 8 points.

Deb made the top 2 and went head to head with Adam. Lots of chips on each side of the table with Deb having a decididely large advantage until one hand saw Adam go all in and beat Deb's call with pocket kings. He tripped up with a third on the board and the handwriting was on the wall. Don't feel sorry for Deb, though, her straight flush gave her a couple of extra points and she's back where she's been for so long, in first place.

Adam won the night and took Mark's bonus point. Bobby encouraging him to loose so they could go home, Adam nevertheless maintained his poise and calmness and prevailed to win his first TNP Phase 2 game. His 13 points lifting him into second place.

Here's the night by the numbers.

10 Justin 1
9 Chris 2
8 Jeff 3
7 Mark 4
6 Crystal 5
5 Markus 6
4 Bobby 7
3 Nick 8
2 Deb 12
1 Adam 13

So Adam has the target on his back for next week. Deb is back in first but is trailed by Adam by only 3 and Mark by only 5. It's very early in the TNP Phase 2 season. See you all next week and til then, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

And they're off!

I think the new format for the game went pretty well. I'm going to tweak the blinds upward starting with level 6. But the new blinds/ante scheme worked well and added a little excitement to the overall play. As to our first winner, well let's jump right to it.

I had a rather inauspicious beginning, making the first cut. Deb took me & Mark for a green chip each early on and I was just never able to recover. I won a few pots though so I had fun.

Next out was Justin. He played really well and had a good size chip stack early on but peaked too early.

Likewise, Markus played well and for a long time but soon ran out of chips.

An uncharacteristically quiet Adam left the game next.

He was followed soon thereafter by Crystal.

Chris made the top 3, refusing to die. Mark & Deb ganged up on him and finally did him in but Chris wasn't going without a fight.

Heads up came down to Mark & Deb. Mark had fought back from early hits from Deb and had quite the chip count with lots of greens. I'm not sure if he won because of or in spite of the Coors Light and Keystone Light. Yep, he was actually drinking Keystone. But it must have helped because he finally won the night, taking first place and the first win of Phase 2. Here's the points breakdown.

8. Jeff 1
7. Justin 2
6. Markus 3
5. Adam 4
4. Crystal 5
3. Chris 6
2. Deb 8
1. Mark 11 (including 1 bonus point for quads)

Remember, next week we're having breakfast so let's start cooking at 6:30. See you all then!

Let the games begin!

Ok, tomorrow night we begin Phase 2! I'm excited for the new format of the blog, new style of play and the fact that everyone has a dog in the hunt for first place! There may even be a familiar face or two from the past joining us. Remember, next week we'll be having our monthly meal, "Breakfast for supper". This month celebrating the birthdays of Nick & Justin. Justin turns the big 30! Our condolences to Justin. I'm making biscuits & sausage gravy, Adam omelets, Deb pan cakes. We'll cook them there so don't worry about bringing stuff already cooked. Milk, OJ, other juices, whatever you want to bring. If you have a birthday or anniversary or something you'd like us to know about, leave a comment. Otherwise, we'll see everyone tomorrow night and may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Coming Soon, TNP Phase 2!

On Thursday, October 2, 2008 we will begin the next level of poker at the Admiral's Bed, Breakfast & Laundromat. TNP Phase 2 officially begins when we raise the bar and start a new chapter in Thursday Night Poker.