By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 20, 2015
Continuing my chronicle of championship events…
On Saturday, I had a relatively brief stay in the Buck’s Billiards TOCs tournament. Once, while in the big blind, I checked pre-flop with a hand of seven-five off-suit. The flop came out nine-eight-six, giving me a nine-high straight, which I decided to check.
That was a mistake. The turn was a seven, which I was unhappy to see — it left the board open-ended. Still, I had a made hand — I already had five-six-seven-eight-nine — so I bet something.
Dave folded to my very modest bet of 600; the other participant in the hand, a woman whose name escapes me, stayed in. We were now heads-up.
The river was a 10. This was even worse news for me: The board was now a 10-high straight, rendering both my five and my seven useless.