Raymer Rules in the Man Cave... Again!

For reasons unknown and unknowable, the Higgins Beach Hold Em Ho Down gets cancelled... but a spur-of-the-moment make-up game at the Man Cave gets 8 to show up? 

WTF???

Out of spite, Raymer decided to bring his A game, and pulled off an unlikely win in Game 1, chopping the pot with Natiq, the Mad Russian (or 'Sputnik' as Rodney, the newbie from Seattle, calls him).

Down to about only a quarter stack after the first hand - thanks to overplaying second pair to the Tank Commander's top pair - Raymer tightened up and got healthy again with hands that left Noodles (a/k/a the Artist Formerly Known as Joey) shouting "F#ck you! F%ck you!",   Noodles should have remembered that Pocket Kowboys almost never stand up, especially against multiple opponents (and especially when Raymer is on a roll & sitting to his left).

Setting an early tight table image helped Raymer later in the game, convincing hangers-on to bow out after Raymer's aggressive bets on the flop caused them to fold hands that could have earned them big pots on brutal suck-outs. It also helped sell a couple of slow play set-ups, once with Pocket Rockets that stood up (against Starvin' Marvin or Rodney?) and a second time with a Trip set of Twos on the turn that earned a triple up. 

The lay down of the night - from yours truly's perspective, anyway - came in a huge 4-way pot, when George "Oh My!" Takei made an over-the-top all-in re-raise of 1,575 post-flop on a board of J-10-9 [with 2 of the same suit] over Noodle's 400 chip bet.  The Mad Russian snap-called, building a pot close to 5,000!

When the flop came out, Raymer (re-named The Professor by Rodney for the evening) was initially loving his hand - K-J suited ['tho not four to the flush] - but Starvin' Marvin's aggression & Natiq's snap call caused a re-think.  Normally, top pair and a gut draw to the nut straight would have Raymer making the do-or-die call.  But with an original bet, Marvin's all-in re-raise and Natiq's snap call already in front & another potential two callers still behind, something smelled rotten in Denmark.  pseudoStuie was making noises like he was considering calling with something like A-J, and somebody had to be four to the flush [probably Noodles, who loves to chase and doesn't seem to recollect the damage done by doing so].  Marvin, who knows: could be pure bluff, or maybe top pair with a weak kicker, maybe straight & flush draws?  The Tank Commander I figured had paired the board and was drawing open-ended; if a Q hit on the turn or river, I would crush him with a higher straight.  Too much danger, too much at risk, Raymer reluctantly laid it down and avoided devastation.

Natiq rebought and came back to take a dominant chip lead, leading 3 or 4 -to- 1 late in the game.  pseudoStuie somehow eked out a 3rd place cash (net -10, as he had to rebuy on credit from Natiq).  But in head's up play Raymer took charge, and grabbed a 50% advantage on the strength of one power bluff on the river and a bit of a run of strong hole cards... before the peanut gallery pressured for the chop.

Your lead is down to 2 wins, pseudoStuie...  do you hear the footsteps?
[Correction:  It's actually down to 1 win!]

Somewhere in Kennebunkport, Noodles is mumbling about all the hands he can't believe he lost with... maybe he'll share an update in a comment hereto?