Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Looking back...
So after my successful session at $2-5 NL, I had recouped most of my tourney buy-in and my losses from the Trop on Friday-Saturday. I got some rest and then went back to work at the Borgata tables on Monday around noon. I decided to play some $1-2 NL for this session and I got sat at a mediocre table. There wasn't a whole lot of money but there were three or four guys there that definitely were ripe for the picking given the right situation. But for most of the first few hours I just couldn't find that situation.
About two hours in I pick up Aces one off UTG and make it $12 to go. A tight-solid ex-dealer two seats to my left min raises to $25 and one of my targets at the other end of the table smooth calls. It gets back around to me and I make it $50 on top of the other raise, which elicits a reaction from the tight player. He was clearly uncomfortable with my re-raise but called and I was pretty certain he had KK or QQ. Then the other guy smooth called my re-raise. No clue what this guy has since he's commenting the whole time about how we must both have big pairs. The flop comes down 10 3 3 with two hearts and I move my remaining $150 into the pot. The ex-dealer now is very uncomfortable and starts saying he's certain he's going to need some help and now I'm sure he has Kings. He smooth calls my $150 and then the guy at the end of the table, after more commentary about how we must both have big overpairs, smooth calls also, leaving about $85 behind in his stack.
So now I've got two cards in front of me and waiting to see how two more cards play out, knowing I don't want to see a King and also having absolutely no idea what to root for with this other schmo still hanging around. I settled on two black deuces. The turn was a black five, which in my opinion, was as good as a black deuce. The ex-dealer bets 100 to put the other guy all-in, and he begrudgingly puts his last 85 in the pot. Still no clue. Dealer guy begging for help on the river... and then the river card...
King.
*Vomit*
He immediately turns over his Kings and the other clown pitches his cards and leaves, never to reveal what his hand was. A little shell-shocked I fall back into my seat and pull out money to rebuy as I watch this guy pull in the $900 pot. Such is poker and all, but then the guy on my right says something to the effect of, "Wow, I folded a King..."
Talk about kicking a guy while he's down.
I spent the next three hours making it all back, including making one of the better plays I've made, well... ever. I raised from early position with pocket sevens and took the flop four handed. It came down 10 8 5 with two spades. I bet $20 and got called by one of my other original targets. The turn was a deuce and I bet $40 this time and he called me again. The river was another deuce, but no spade. I was 90% certain this guy was chasing the flush and that my sevens were good. But instead of betting out again, I checked to let him bluff. And bluff at it he did, firing $100 into the $140 pot. It caught me kind of by surprise but after running through all his previous hands in my mind and given the size of his bet I called, and when he didn't react I knew I had him. He looked at me and I said, "I call," again and then he knocked the table and told me it was a good call and turned over KJ of spades.
I usually haven't thought through a hand that thoroughly and given a guy a chance to make a bad play. But most players in that situation don't bet correctly and make a vastly oversized bet instead of one that looks like a value bet. If he only bet $50 at that pot I'd almost certainly have to give him credit for having a ten or maybe even Jacks or Queens. But because he all of a sudden bets so much, it looks like he doesn't want to be called and it certainly doesn't fit the pattern of the hand. If he had such a strong hand he'd likely have been raising me on the flop or turn to find out where he was at, or make a bet to try and get a call due to pot-size on the river. It's a pretty common betting tell, and one that a lot of players don't seem to understand that they are doing.
And then the nightmare began again. I had dwindled down to around $500 in front of me and was trying to decide whether or not I was going to go up and play in the $300 tourney at 11pm in the Ballroom when I got a set cracked by a straight on the turn after getting it in on the flop. The I had two pair and a flush draw miss against a set and for the coup de grace, got my Aces cracked again against a set of nines. In case you're keeping track, that's 1 for 5 with Aces for the trip and the only win netted me exactly $8.
So I hit 11 sets, had Aces in huge pots 4 times and I booked a $250 loser for cash games for the trip. That's pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself.
About two hours in I pick up Aces one off UTG and make it $12 to go. A tight-solid ex-dealer two seats to my left min raises to $25 and one of my targets at the other end of the table smooth calls. It gets back around to me and I make it $50 on top of the other raise, which elicits a reaction from the tight player. He was clearly uncomfortable with my re-raise but called and I was pretty certain he had KK or QQ. Then the other guy smooth called my re-raise. No clue what this guy has since he's commenting the whole time about how we must both have big pairs. The flop comes down 10 3 3 with two hearts and I move my remaining $150 into the pot. The ex-dealer now is very uncomfortable and starts saying he's certain he's going to need some help and now I'm sure he has Kings. He smooth calls my $150 and then the guy at the end of the table, after more commentary about how we must both have big overpairs, smooth calls also, leaving about $85 behind in his stack.
So now I've got two cards in front of me and waiting to see how two more cards play out, knowing I don't want to see a King and also having absolutely no idea what to root for with this other schmo still hanging around. I settled on two black deuces. The turn was a black five, which in my opinion, was as good as a black deuce. The ex-dealer bets 100 to put the other guy all-in, and he begrudgingly puts his last 85 in the pot. Still no clue. Dealer guy begging for help on the river... and then the river card...
King.
*Vomit*
He immediately turns over his Kings and the other clown pitches his cards and leaves, never to reveal what his hand was. A little shell-shocked I fall back into my seat and pull out money to rebuy as I watch this guy pull in the $900 pot. Such is poker and all, but then the guy on my right says something to the effect of, "Wow, I folded a King..."
Talk about kicking a guy while he's down.
I spent the next three hours making it all back, including making one of the better plays I've made, well... ever. I raised from early position with pocket sevens and took the flop four handed. It came down 10 8 5 with two spades. I bet $20 and got called by one of my other original targets. The turn was a deuce and I bet $40 this time and he called me again. The river was another deuce, but no spade. I was 90% certain this guy was chasing the flush and that my sevens were good. But instead of betting out again, I checked to let him bluff. And bluff at it he did, firing $100 into the $140 pot. It caught me kind of by surprise but after running through all his previous hands in my mind and given the size of his bet I called, and when he didn't react I knew I had him. He looked at me and I said, "I call," again and then he knocked the table and told me it was a good call and turned over KJ of spades.
I usually haven't thought through a hand that thoroughly and given a guy a chance to make a bad play. But most players in that situation don't bet correctly and make a vastly oversized bet instead of one that looks like a value bet. If he only bet $50 at that pot I'd almost certainly have to give him credit for having a ten or maybe even Jacks or Queens. But because he all of a sudden bets so much, it looks like he doesn't want to be called and it certainly doesn't fit the pattern of the hand. If he had such a strong hand he'd likely have been raising me on the flop or turn to find out where he was at, or make a bet to try and get a call due to pot-size on the river. It's a pretty common betting tell, and one that a lot of players don't seem to understand that they are doing.
And then the nightmare began again. I had dwindled down to around $500 in front of me and was trying to decide whether or not I was going to go up and play in the $300 tourney at 11pm in the Ballroom when I got a set cracked by a straight on the turn after getting it in on the flop. The I had two pair and a flush draw miss against a set and for the coup de grace, got my Aces cracked again against a set of nines. In case you're keeping track, that's 1 for 5 with Aces for the trip and the only win netted me exactly $8.
So I hit 11 sets, had Aces in huge pots 4 times and I booked a $250 loser for cash games for the trip. That's pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself.
