Another beautiful spring day still saw 7 of us staying indoors most of the afternoon to play – such is our competitive nature. And the league table being fairly tight meant there was plenty to play for. Tom was hoping to extend his slender lead at the top, whilst the rest of us were hoping to catch up, or even overtake him.
Before the freeze-out, Hadley was accumulating a very healthy chip lead with some great hands, with Rusty not far behind. I don’t think I was alone, but I spent a large swathe of the first hour fruitlessly trying to make something out of nothing. And by fruitless, I mean 2 rebuys and an add-on – exactly the same as Tom.
It was therefore unsurprising that after the break, I chose to push when I picked up a big slick. Tom insta-called with pocket Qs, which looked to be the winning hand when the flop gave me top pair but also gave Tom trips. However, I had a straight draw and the river luckily made me Broadway to knock Tom out in 7th.
Sean had been waiting for a half-decent hand to make a move, and settled on JKo. He got a call from Rusty who had AQs, and then for the 2nd time in the game made a boat of Qs full. Then Janne pushed with his AK, but Hadley called with pocket 9s that held good.
When Uggy’s pocket Qs were met with Hadley’s pocket Ks, I was starting to think it would be her day. I was still in wishful thinking mode, however, and made some moves on both the flop and the turn with bottom pair. Rusty smooth called everything and then crushed my hopes, initially with a flush, and ultimately a Q high straight flush. So much for bluffing.
All of which left Hadley and Rusty heads-up. There wasn’t much between their stacks, and it all came down to an A46 flop. Hads pushed with her top pair (AJ) but Rusty had played 46 and had 2 pairs. With only 5 outs, it looked like game over for Hadley. But a J on the river completed Hadley’s perfect game & destroyed Rusty’s hopes.
Second place nudged Rusty ahead of Robert in the league, whilst Hadley’s victory meant she leap-frogged into third, with more than enough momentum to alarm Tom and Steve. If I were a betting man (and I am – but usually a bad one) I’d forecast Tom and Steve are both in trouble.