Back on the Horse

Somehow I woke up this morning before 9am feeling incredibly refreshed (7 hours of sleep is well under quota for me). After a quick workout and finishing "Batman Begins" from NetFlix, it was off to Bay 101 to redeem myself for last night's catastrophe.

I got an 8/16 seat at 12:40 and promptly lost 120 dollars in 30 minutes. I won't really go into much detail because it's not that interesting, but man those people played bad. Sadly, their hands were just better than mine. The prime example is the man who checked the flop holding QJo in late position. The flop contained a Queen, and nary a King nor Ace could be seen. Yet he did in fact check behind, allowing his four opponents to draw for free. Of course I had Q5 from the big blind here and bet it like it was the nuts on the turn and river. This shit doesn't happen at 20.

So at 1:10 they call me for my 20/40 seat (It's always fun when you're at a lower table and they call you for a bigger game. The bigger the gap the better. I was once playing 3/6 and got called for a 20 seat and two people basically fell out of their chairs) and I head right on over. I am seated next to a 2+2 friend and I managed to learn a good bit just from watching him play (if you're reading this Pete*) thanks. He basically gives off an "I don't know what I'm doing I'm just here to gamble" air with every motion and every word out of his mouth. It helped that he managed to table 43 off suit where he runner-runnered the nut 5-high straight, but I think he definitely was getting more action because of his image.

Anyway, Pete* eventually leaves and the biggest fish changes tables, so what do I do? I follow him over to Table 37 and proceed to commit the most heinous hit 'n run of my life. In 20 minutes the following happens:

1. Indian Dude open raises, a cold-call, I find 76 suited and am about to muck it, but the aforementioned terrible fish behind me has already called, so I decide to call. The rule of thumb for a hand like this is that you want at least 5 handed action from players who go too far with their hands and good position. This qualifies. Anyway I flop Yahtzee with a 7-high straight and get paid through the nose.

2. I get a free look from the big blind and flop another 7-high straight (this time with 75 suited). I am paid handsomely again. Note the importance here of having bad players at your table. Sometimes these monsters don't get paid off; today, they did.

3. I raise AK and the flop is KKA. One of my opponents sees the river and then has to buy more chips after the hand muttering "made a full house on the turn....", indicating he too had quite a strong hand.

4. I raise QQ and the super fish pays me off on two streets on a board of A75-2-K. He has 79 off.

5. I look left and see that 2 of the remaining 3 players are telegraphing folds, so I open raise K9s. The button also folds, but Indian Dude calls from the SB. BB folds, not a bad result I say. Flop comes down 832 with two hearts. Gin I say, he can't call two bets here. I bet and he calls the first one. 4 of hearts falls. Uh-oh I say, a normal opponent might have something here. I bet, he calls again. River 6 of hearts. I have officially nothing and check. He checks behind and I smell a glimmer of hope (my hand is probably like 25% to win against two random cards off the top of the deck, but whatever). I table my king-high, and he says "no good" and tables 95 off suite for...a straight. He says "You cracked my aces with 76, I had to get back at you". NH sir...that's a solid strategy there.

* Remember, the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

At this point I've run 960 some odd dollars up to 2300 in front of me and have a mighty mountain of chips. I decide for my own well being that it's time to head home and take the night off (I was due to take tomorrow off entirely, but instead think I'm just going take the next 24 hours off).

Session results: 2.5 hours of live 20/40 (30 minutes of 8/16), +1372 in 20/40, -120 in 8/16. My life time win rate for live 20/40 is almost exactly 41 dollars per hour.