Texas hold'em -- April 16, 2005

[Disclaimer: Events recalled from memory over a month after the fact.]

Craig won. With only 6 of us, it was winner-take-all.

Clockwise around the table starting with 1st deal: Tom, me, Frenchy, Craig, Clint and Ken.

I don't remember a whole lot about this one.

I think this was the game when we ran into a question about ranking flushes. I think Ken and Tom both had a flush with the suited ace out on the board. There were differing opinions as to whether only the highest card in the flush counted or if comparison continued down through the remaining cards in each player's hand. So we checked partypoker.com and pokerstars.com for their official hand-ranking rules. Found out that the 2nd option is correct -- comparison continues in descending order through the remaining cards in the players' hands. Ken was all-in, doubling up after taking the hand. Tom busted out a couple of hands later.

Craig has earned a reputation for getting dealt monster pocket pairs (8s and above) on a consistent basis. I think it's mostly because he never pushes junk, always folding crap hands if anyone breaks his pot odds, and then he waits for good cards to come his way. All of us have played marginal hands occasionally, trying to steal the pot or bluff it out. But I don't think Craig has ever been caught in an out-and-out bluff. When he bets heavy, it's a good idea to fold and get out of the way.

Anyway, it was Craig vs Ken in heads-up and Craig got the win.