A Poker Tale

I got to play in one poker tournament here on base. It was hosted by
MWR; $20 buy-in. They had nice chips, but it was still ghetto because
we played on cafeteria tables. And the tables were really small, so we
had to push 4 of them together. Trying to pick up the deck and deal was
a serious pain. I busted out in the middle stages, but I was still one
of the best guys there (still got it baby!).

I became the table chip leader kind of early on when I was in a pot with
2 other guys. I had 85 suited and snuck in to a family pot. I had made
trip 5's by the turn, and both of the other dudes were on club flush
draws. I hit the 8 of clubs on the river; the perfect card, giving them
their flushes and me my full house. I was first to act and checked it
hoping to get some free action. The next guy bet, and the third guy
raised. I re-raised again, and got both of them to call!

After that I settled down, because I had this total maniac on my right;
all-in, all-in, all-in. He kept getting lucky and hitting his draws,
and he personally eliminated 4 guys from our table. I just stayed
patient and sat on my fat stack, knowing that sooner or later I'd nail
his ass. The maniac had taken the chip lead, but I was in second place.

I woke up on the button with QJ suited. The little blind raised the pot
pre-flop and me and the maniac tagged along. The flop rolled out K-10-9...
Perfect! The little blind led out with a small bet, and the maniac did
what maniacs do best, pushed it all in the middle. Being the greedy
son-of-a-bitch that I am, I didn't call all in right away, hoping that a
little "hesitation weakness" might get the little blind to come along
for the ride too. He thought about it for awhile, but eventually folded
showing his pocket jacks. Mr. Maniac flipped over 2 pair: K-9 suited.
The turn was a brick, but he hit the 9 of clubs on the river. I guess
since I was the dealer, I got no one to blame but myself. It was a long
walk home. I heard that MWR tries to run a game about once a month, so
at least I'll see some action, until I can get my own game rolling.