Week 1: Sunday League

This past Sunday kicked off the new Sept. - Oct. Sunday league on Poker Stars. After claiming the top spot last month at the last second by just a hair I'm anxious to repeat. Last league I only played in 7 of the games which left me in a bind for the points race. Going into the last game I needed to claim first AND I needed "The General" Kaartkeizer and new comer Corey to come in no higher than 6th and 8th respectively. That was unlikely.

But, luckily for me they both left the back door open placing 11th and 12th, and I jumped on the opportunity.

This new league I intend to play all 8 of the league games. And With it I hope to keep my league champion title.

Let me give you a rundown of the first game:

They key difference between last league and this one is that there is a partners format rather than a 3-man teams format. The THF Outlaws (Kaartkeizer, Bryan24, and myself) took first in the teams competition last league. It was a pleasure but the outlaws have since disbanded.

Instead this month I selected someone who I've watched their game improve considerably. Going from $3 SNG's to $50 SNG's with success, this is none other than CalifNaughti. We pair as Bonnie and Clyde for the partners race.

Unfortunately my partner was the very first person out when they lost to 7-2aintbad aka Skippy. I believe she had rockets when Skippy hit a set. Don't quote me though it was a couple days ago However I was happy to see Chrisdaman77 crippled early. He is aggressive and I pay for misreads on his style. Though I don't necessarily fear his play, I can get uncomfortable when there are a lot of chips invested in a hand with him. It's not necessarily the fact that he may win the hand, its that I fear losing it as I would have to pay a lot to be in the hand. So when multiple people are in the hand and my odds of winning are slimmer, I have to lay it down more often. Chris lost playing 6's to the river. The flop was Q J x and he bluffed at it, one opponent called, turn came with another Q and chris bet heavy again hoping to push him out, but he called again. Chris landed a 6 on the river for queens full, but his opponent held pocket Js for queens full of Js and Chris was crippled.

I started off folding quite a bit, including ace-mids as I didn't feel the players at my table would pay those off at all. 15 hands or so and I was able to play a 2-4 offsuit on the small blind and semi-bluffed with an up and down straight draw. It yielded very little chips and was obvious i was anxious to get in the action.

I didn't win my first significant pot until I found myself with pocket 9s and Blackstone called me. He layed down his pocket 4s when I shot a pot claiming bet of 300 on the turn. I didn't want to see a river with a 5-8-3-6 board. I was content with a $450 pot.

My second pot was a beauty. I was dealt A8s and called 4xBB. 3 people were in on the flop. Two of my suit came out on the flop and I checked it. Blackstone bet out 200 and Skippy (who knocked out my partner) called. I called with the nut flush draw, seeing the nice sized pot, the possibility that someone else will hit the lower flush and of course to attempt to get vengeance on Skippy. Turn came rag, not of my suit. Luckily both Skippy and Blackstone checked. I put Skippy on a lower flush draw. The river came with my 5th of suit and I made my flush. I bet out 450 and Blackstone folded. Skippy called and lost for me to claim $1875.

Another blind level and about 15 hands later I had received terrible cards and was very ancy to play a hand. I received ATs and came out raising. One caller and the flop was 663. I was happy with my ace. I was not re-raised which usually rules out AK-AQ, I don't think they had AJ and the only other worry I had was a pocket pair. I bet out 200 and was quickly called. Turn came with an 8, still no help. I thought my opponent dudley was just as anxious as me and held nothing. I bet 400, but was quickly called again. I knew right away they held pockets with that call. River was a deuce and I checked it down to lose to their pocket 9's. I was left with about 2200.

I went through endless small pots over the next phase waiting for the final table to break down. I caught a break on a big hand when I was dealt QJ, hit my queen and my opponent only bet 100 on the flop and turn. I flat called sensing I wasn't too strong. I rivered a straight and I pushed them all in having the nuts. Dudley54 was the victim who flopped a set but left the back door open and were knocked out.

We had reached the final table I was sitting in third and ready for the blinds to go up. I was relieved to see Kaart, Chris, Bryan24 and wild freak absent from the final table but I do enjoy their competition. Regards we have quite a bit of competition at the final table.

I won't reveal much of my short handed play but I turned up the heat when the blinds went up, caught a few people on a bluff and took a couple beats.

I was very pleased with my final table play however. I took 3 major beats and only gave 1. That one was against riverdrat. I believe the hand was when I held AJ and he had AK allin preflop. However it was for only about 2k of my 5500 chips and would not have taken me out of the game. I fortunately won it and all three beats I received I quickly bounced back from. I wish I could give more details but it was a couple days ago

I made it to heads up play against Tarheelguy34 and they were a bomb heads up. They loved to push though we both had over 15k in chips. I found myself in a situation: We had been heads up for only 10-15 hands. He pushed all in for the second time preflop. I held pocket 5's. I waited just about 20 seconds before concluding that in those 10-15 hands I had gained over 4k in chips on him and I was confident in my heads up play. I layed it down to grind out some more chips.

I later found myself with T7off and flat called hoping to catch the flop. I nailed the rainbow flop showing a completed straight right away. He checked, I checked. The turn came with a second spade, he checked and I bet 1600. He called. I figure he caught a piece of it. The river came another 8 but no flush possibility. I was slightly worried about the full house possibility. I bet 3200 and he pushed. After a slight pause to contemplate what he may have I called to find he had trip 8s and I crippled him down to near nothing. He was an interesting player to play heads up. I refuse to play lottery with him however by going all in preflop with even stacks.

The rest was history and I claimed back to back wins, one to win the league 2 Sundays ago and this one to start off the points race on top.

Next week starts the partners points race and i'm hoping for a triple to jump start that also. However I don't worry too much about that as my partner Cali should cover me should I fail.

See yall next week in the league, I'm looking forward to the competition. I'm looking forward to running into my old teams mates kaartkeizer and bryan24, both are excellent players, and also hope to clash with the other THF powerhouses. We'll see how it goes.