The Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Effect definitions:

1. Phenomenon whereby a small change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. (Chaos Theory)
2. Hartnett, Josh. Wooden.

It’s the £50 League at LC. What started as a long day at the office for Shazbo ended with Britney eyeballing me with fury, as if I had just spat on her shoe.

Hand1
I limp for 50 UTG with A♠K♠. 2 other callers, and then Tom repops it on the button to 200. I flat call as does Britney.
Flop Ad, 10s, 2c
I check, as does Britney and Tom as expected fires 350. I make is 1000 to go and all fold.

Hand2
I raise a limper in mid position with A♦A♣ to 400. Maltese Mike calls as does one other.
Flop is 10h 9c 5s I bet 1000 and Mike calls.
Turn 6h (I think) - remember board getting very drawy.
I shove and Mike folds. Lucky I shoved as Mike lays down both straight and flush draws, and would have called most other bets I think. Up to about 8k

2 HOURS EARLIER
Shazbo is having a bad day at work, with meetings over-running which leads to…
…getting caught in the heavy traffic which leads to… …fatigue and stress which leads to…

Hand3
Shazbo raises to 300 in mid position and Britney calls.
Flop is A♠ Q♦ J♣
Shazbo bets 600 and Britney calls.
Turn Ad
Shazbo checks and Britney bets 1k. Shazbo calls
River is a blank
Check Check
Britney states “2 pair” and tables QT. Shazbo in her state of tiredness mucks, before suddenly realising that she has just given away a 3.5k pot with the best hand (QK).
This gives Britney a decent stack which she shouldn’t have, which leads to… Hand4
I raise to 600 with AQ. Britney calls
Flop is K, Q, 10
I lead for 1000 and Britney shoves for 3475 more. Hmm - well I know I am behind, but it’s a question of how far, because I am getting pot odds of close to 2-1. Britney normally plays premium pairs strong pre-flop, so I don’t put her on AA, KK or QQ. Could be a set of 10s, but I fancy KQ for top 2 pair, which is now being protected. That gives me 3 Aces and 4 Jacks for the win, so about 28% chance of outdrawing KQ with the last 2 cards. I can add a few percent for the chance that she has KT and the Queens are outs. If I am right, I might just about have the odds.

I call and due to the chip bonus from the previous hand, Britney has trapped me with Aces! Great - only 2 clean outs or the Jacks for the split.

I miss and am now short stacked on 1.5k…which leads to…a double up in the next level from an Ace rag shove which puts me up 4k which leads to…

Hand5
Blinds now 300-600 so I have to get busy ahead of the final table. Folded round to me and I decide I’m going to shove anything so pop it in with Q5 off. Britney snap calls in the Big Blind with AQ and I am somewhat in trouble. However, like Mr Hartnett at a Hollywood casting session, somehow it goes in my favour and I am up to 8k for the final table. Britney is furious - giving me the silent eyeball treatment much reminiscent of my married years.

Onto the final table we go - I am still below average in chips, but at least we are now playing 9 handed, so the blinds take longer to come around. I get a couple of raises through but then raise Britney’s big blind with 7♥8♥ for 2200. Since I am still in the doghouse I get shoved on by Britney, and decide I have already made one bad call in this tournament so I pass.

This leads to me being short stacked and I shove into an unopened pot with K♠4♠. I get called by Al who has a big stack in the big blind who has QJ. It’s looking good with a King and a Jack on the flop, but unfortunately another Jack on the turn ends my hopes, and I exit in 6th spot.

No points for me, and I imagine that Sir Mike has now opened up a substantial lead at the top following a string of good results. Still, it’s still early days and anything can happen at the freeroll. I’m still well placed, probably in 2nd or 3rd.

I made £80 during 2 hours at the cash table to generate a small profit for the night. It was a pretty action packed table - the highlight being McDee hitting a straight flush and getting paid by The Baron holding top 2. Mcdee had the vanilla straight when the money went in.

Next week is a very busy tournament schedule with games 4 days on the bounce, including the Gutshot Open Main Event and the reinvented Deep Stack City 100. I’m looking forward to getting back in the tournament swing after a quiet couple of weeks.