Post-Work Poker Game

Several of us got together after work, to play a bit of poker. We had a good showing, with almost all departments being represented. In attendance: Me, Chris C, AJ, Nisha, Erik, Tim, Mike, Chris, Ben and Matt.

We opted to play as one large table, instead of two groups of five. In hindsight, I wonder if this was the best way to go, as it took a really long time for each hand, and play was kind of sluggish (at least, for the first hour or two).

I got into a heavy hand involving Chris C, Mike and Matt. Here, with the river remaining to be seen… he’s debating whether or not to stay in the hand.

Luckily for me, I ended up winning the hand. Chris C and Mike both had Jack Ace, but I ended up taking the pot with two pair. In hindsight, this seems like it was a risky move on my part. I was a bit blinded by full house opportunities, but an Ace or a two could have easily resulted in a loss for me.

Chris and Mike, both all-in. Mike had 8K Diamonds, Chris had A Hearts, 10 diamonds. Flop was: 5 Diamonds, 10 Clubs, 7 Diamonds.

I don’t recall the specific cards that came next, but Chris ended up losing the hand to Mike (who knocked him out.)

Nisha, at the height of her game, behind a fairly sizable stack of chips. She was up and down for most of the night, and went on some kind of crazy winning streak. She went all-in on multiple occasions, and for a while there… called every single bet made before her. She literally could not be beaten.

Later in the evening, Mike found himself head to head with both Chris C and Nisha.

Mike: 74 Spades
Nisha: 2 Clubs, Nine Hearts
Chris C: A5 Clubs

On the table: 8 Spades, 7 Clubs, 6 Hearts, 3 Hearts. Here’s a video excerpt of the final showdown between all three of them:

That’d be Chris in the background, narrating the final River card… and voicing his displeasure at Mike winning the hand. :D

Amazingly, Nisha survived this round – but just barely. After matching up chips with Mike, she ended up having one 50 chip left over. And from there… she started yet another comeback.

She quadrupled up her next hand, then did so again on the next. After a while, she got to where I think she had more chips than me. Literally unbeatable.

I forget who knocked her out, eventually… because in my memory, all the images I have are of Nisha winning. But I think maybe Mike was the one who finally did it.

At the end, it was just me, AJ and Mike. I went head-to-head with Mike on a hand, when he pushed all-in. I had 67 suited, and was really tempted to play it… but decided not to. Seems like a good lay down, but I’m not sure. I think all Mike had was an ace.

Next hand, I got Jack King unsuited. Mike again pushed all in and I called. He had suited connectors, and ended up catching a pair with no love for me. It feels worse being beaten by suited connectors (when those were my cards, the hand prior)… but I’m happy with the way I played.

Mike and AJ were the final two, and sadly for AJ… it was a slow end to the game. She wasn’t getting any good cards, and kept having to ditch them repeatedly. It got to the point where her stack was pretty low, and she ended up not getting much help from the cards.

I can’t recall the final hand, but I think Mike ended up catching a straight on the River card. Amazingly, AJ pointed out that the last few games she’s lost (four or five?) all happened the saem way – someone catching a straight near the end.

Mike, the new holder of the Lord and Master Stein™.

Mike, impressed by Nisha’s luck and play for the evening… gave her $10 (so she got her buy-in back).

Is it possible that today was our first poker game of 2012? Hard to believe, but the last game I have on record was from December 9th, 2011. That’s kind of crazy.

There was a lot of talk about us having more games, with greater frequency. Kevin and Sam were talking about coming in to town for the next one, and several folks were suggesting inviting alumni back for a large group game.

One of these days… the stein’s coming back home. One of these days…

Related:
The High Is Always The Pain And The Pain Is Always The High
The Lord and Master Stein™