Greg's back from Alabama Game

Greg writes:

Very good day of poker with up to eight at the table and Dewey and Gregg til 7:30pm

One of the great getaways of all time -- son Peter, with an inside hit for a straight flush beat, Dad Dewey who was holding the Ace high flush.

Despite this loss, Dewey got his Mojo back, up over $200 til Gregg got a lucky river at about 7:30pm and took half of his fortune away, which gave Gregg a plus $3 for the day.

Game next Wednesday begins at 1pm.

Thanks Bruce for hosting the game last week and I hope that Dewey gives us a few more details of today's game.

PS: a lot of Alabama jokes today!

Well, I'll toss in what I remember. Toss back what I have missed and I'll add it to this blog.

Fortunately, Blowers was out working on his next book or his movie or something, so he was not there to take all our money this week.

I managed with one buy in to collect almost $250 and then I lost a good bit of it back, especially to the Pokermaster Greg in the last hour and a half.
In the day's last session, Greg was at one time at a low of $30 and he wedged his way back up with skill and courage and endurance to a point at which he and I were about even, and then I begged him to let me go home. He is a kind pokermaster and he gave me a break this time.

Peter too was a winner, catching about fifty dollars profit. He played good solid poker and laid down second best hands. It was a joy to see his good play.

At one point the river gave me an ace high heart flush. Peter, acting before me, went all it. I groaned thinking I now was going to deplete him of his winnings, thinking he held the king. No full houses were possible.

"Well, now you go home, boy," I said, " I call."
"Straight Flush" he announced. That was his fifty dollar win right there.

A few hands later the pot was huge and I held pocket kings while Gregg held pocket fours and Peter held A-Q. My kings held up and I got back most of my losses from son Peter.

Bruce and Phil got hit pretty bad. Ed came and when my pocket aces hit for trips on the river I took his profit out with an all-in bet he called with K-9.

I think Jerry left with a slight profit. He was up and down during the afternoon.

Chuckmonk showed for this game and it was a joy to see him as always. He did not fare too well. He took some pots, but was beat in the end.

Greg did not make money, but he had bought in so many times it was a win for him to have his profit of $3 and felt like a win. On our final hand I held 6-7 of spades and had a straight. He held 9-10 of spades. 3-4 of spades was on the board, so I had a straight already and a straight flush draw. The 8 of spades showed on the river and the Pokermaster squeaked out again. that hand was worth $100 to the winner.

More than the winning I felt in the groove, felt like I was seeing what could be done and getting out when nothing could be done. Of course, John was not there to represent his 7-5 as pocket aces.

I needed a win. I have been losing so much lately. Friday is a day trip to Foxwoods with old school chums. Even Elizabeth is going on this one, but will lose her money at the spa. I hope to do better at the limit tables there.

And there were lots of Alabama jokes, as Greg says. I asked him where was the banjo on his knee. If he'd really "Come from Alabama" then he should have one and I wondered had it "rained all night the day he left."
And it got worse from there. But he seemed to have had a great time and been well received as well. Perhaps a week off put him out of the poker groove. It sure seemed so at the game beginning when he was the only one who needed rebuys. I can't imagine that there ever was a time when he bought in for $100 in recent memory.

Lots of rules discussed and debated. Lots of questions about blind straddles most of which none of us could answer with authority.
Gregg lobbied for open freedom to talk at any time, with cards or not, but Bruce objected too strongly and the issued was dropped. Of course, Bruce was the first to speculate on another's hand when he did not hold cards, so he got pounced on. After that he was quiet. He decided just to mime the day away and it was pretty funny until he got tired of it.

The limit of three raises per round was inforced a number of times. That is rare for our group. In one case when raises were just a dollar it gave Phil a good chance to kill any possible raises after his with just a dollar. That was a rare play and a good one.

Gregg's rule of dealing cards up from the front of the deck rather than from the back, so all see them at the same time, was inforced again. I think that one is here to stay.

Gregg got a bit annoyed at me when I suggested we never know what might happen at his games, but he had said earlier that we decide on the rules "each week," and I think we do make changes often and allow some pretty unusual things at times. Then if Blowers shows there might be any number of quirks, like multiple straddles or a bonus chip for winners who hold a 7-2.

Oh, straddle bets were determined to be double as they progressed. So the first straddle is two chips, the second is four chips and the third is eight chips. No one straddled that far this week. Gregg did most of the straddling.......maybe all of it........I did not see it give anyone an advantage.

Well, this game continues to be a good bit of fun. Add in remembered hands or comments if you like and I'll put them in the blog.

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