Excitement was high in The Garage Around Back for the year’s first exclusively cash game event, the Cadillac of poker, the one and only No-Limit Texas Hold-Em, $120 max buy-in with a single $1 blind.
We started right on time with six and then quickly went to eight and then ten. Ten handed play isn't my favorite - but we made it work and still managed to have a lot of action and a heck of a lot of fun!
Jeff S., Lea Anne, Priya, Jeff G, MC, Ian, Art, Bud, Allen R and yours truly started off tentative with small pots and lots limp folding and checking it down. But within the first hour we lost our shyness and the aggression ramped up.
Lea Anne chipped up early and kept up the aggression, spinning up a good sized stack. Jeff G took some big hits and was stuck early on, but things would change before the evening was over.
Then Jeff S and I found ourselves with all the money in the middle pre-flop. I called off with QQ even though I was almost certain that I was beat. I asked to run it once as I felt I deserved to lose as he did indeed have aces. Crazy enough though, I spiked a queen on the flop and all of Jeff’s chips slid my way.
Jeff took the beat like a champ and reloaded. Slowly he would climb back and actually finish well up as one of the nights big winners with over $200 in profit.
The rest of the field as always was a mix of up and down a bit, along with some bigger winners (Lea Anne. and Jeff S) as well as a couple of folks who ended their night with dust.
Your humble host was card and spot dead for most of the night and saw his stack fall off in the wrong direction after the big QQ v AA double up early on. Then towards the end of the night I flopped a monster combo draw and check-raise jammed all in on the flop vs Jeff G who had become unstuck and then some. He eventually called off and we agreed to run the turn and river twice. The poker gods smiled on me and I hit my straight on the first run out and my flush on the second.
So I ended up with a hundred dollar profit and Jeff was down a little I believe.
We all wrapped up just after midnight, another super fun evening in the books! We had Bomb Pots and a Nit Game (Priya was the gracious Nit who had to pay everyone the $2 bounty) and a really great time overall.
As usual, when it’s just one game, and a simple one at that, everyone can relax and concentrate on enjoying themselves and being more than a bit silly. Always a good idea when you play poker for fun!
As always, a big thanks to everyone who came out and mixed it up in the no-limit cash game streets. I really appreciate everyone being so chill and groovy, even as the competition gets fairly ferocious.
Our next poker night is next Saturday at 5:30, yes that means it’s tournament time! Once again it’s the great game of Texas No-Limit Hold-Em. Hope you can make it!
Until then, peace and we out!
