I guess I have to post them

A few people have requested/suggested/demanded I post the few pictures I snapped of Lamont Jordan from last Saturday. This at first seemed a bit unethical to me, but after some thought I've decided to comply. So here we go.

First, we have Lamont Jordan wondering why oh why he didn't check behind on the river.

Second, we have Lamont Jordan studying diligently for a test to be administered by Professor Beli-cheat later that evening.

Like I said, Lamont was a joy to play with, and I'm looking forward to the next time he comes to town.

A few other interesting things happened on Tuesday, including my flopping quads twice in the course of 30 minutes. The first time I had a pair of Jacks in the hole, raised preflop and got almost no action (which is sadly often the case when you flop a full blown monster). The second time, however, a friendly Englishman named Gordan found himself haplessly bumbling through the pot with me. Gordan is a prop player, and boy is he bad. He does strange things, plays too many hands, and in general is a bit clueless for someone who is supposedly a professional poker player. Anyway, I hold black kings and raise it up preflop. Gordan is of the opinion (1) that I am a maniac, (2) that he can outplay me, and (3) that I never have anything postflop. Ever. He is right right on about one half of these things. Anyway, he cold calls next in because as I said he's awful, and a few other people see the flop of:

KKX

I don't really remember what X was to be honest. I bet, Gordan calls, and so does somebody else I think. On the turn something with a little paint on it (or like a ten maybe) peels off the deck and I bet once more. Gordan, seated immediately on my left, looks at me and puts out one hand in a thumbs up motion, then jerks his hand upwards about 6 inches to indicate that he is raising. I have my headphones on and say "raise?" and he says "raise". I 3-bet him before he's done cutting off his chips and he looks kind of sheepish as he calls. The river is a low card which is kind of a shame cause he tells me afterwards he had a straight draw and was attempting to use points (2) and (3) from above. Anyway I bet and he folds and I table my hand for fun declaring "two pair", because the last time I had quads Gordan said nothing irritates him more than when people table quads and declare two pair. This time I figured it was ok since he'd already folded and all....

Shortly after this they open a 4th 20/40 table, and I realize that despite the reeling economy, there is nearly infinite demand for mid stakes hold 'em in San Jose. This puts a big fat smile on my face, as does looking to table 39 to see four two plus twoers on the same table...Good game selection guys....very good.

Wednesday finds me at Garden City, sticking with my plan of never playing 3 days in a row in the same building. I play some 20, then take a shot when they open the must move 40/80 game. Unfortunately I'm second on the list when they call down the game, which means I'm only in the must move game for 30 minutes before I have to pick up my chips and sit down in the main game. The main game, as is often the case, sucks, as it's full of props and regulars who while by no means are experts play well enough not to avoid losing their shirts while playing 40/80 all day long. When you move to the main game, though, you can come in behind the button for free, so I play my free orbit then grab an empty 20/40 seat for the rest of the day.

Around 2pm, in walks Max, one of my favorite Garden City regulars. Max is a full blown lunatic preflop, but he plays semi-non-retardedly afterwards. He also has the "run like Jesus against Jesse" cheat code apparently, and as Professor Ben sweats me I tell him as much. I honestly think I've lost 4 figures to Max over the last 6 months, and hands like the one I'm about to tell you would tend to back me up. But first, an aside....

Professor Ben is awesome. Last I checked he's a Stanford Grad student, but in reality he is a professional gambler of much higher quality than myself. He has played hold 'em as high as 100/200 and bets sports for profit (most recently "devastating" the WNBA season). His recent post on two plus two regarding pushing thin preflop edges should be enough to prove that he knows what he's talking about (or at least more than me). For those who don't want to read the post, the basic idea is this: In sports betting, the Kelly Criteria tells you how much to wager on each bet based on how big of an edge you think you have. Ben's post shows that in a 6 way pot with you holding suited broadways in the big blind, you have a large enough edge that Kelly would suggest you raise to something in the neighborhood of 60 small bets (assuming you have a 300 big bet bankroll). This is because you have about a 26% chance of winning but are only putting in 1/6th of the money.

So anyway, Ben is sweating me and I pick up the King and the Queen of the clubs in the small blind and promptly raise like 4 limpers. The big blind 3-bets and and only one of the limpers goes away, so I cap it up. The hand is uninteresting, as I flop the living daylights out of the sucker when KK4 rolls off the top and bet it all the way. Afterwards as I'm stacking the mountain of chips I turn to Ben and he says:

"Yeah, that Kelly girl's a bitch sometimes, but she's really good in bed so that makes up for it I guess"

Ben takes his 5-200 seat to "donk around with [his] friend" and I proceed to run over the entire table except for Max, who again displays his "run like Jesusness"...to wit....

I try to steal Max's blind with K7 of spades. The flop comes down QT4 with one spade and Max check/raises me. I call. The turn brings a King and I call Max down to be shown J9 for a straight.

Max raises and I defend my big blind with Q9 suited. The flop comes 9-high. What does Max have? Pocket 9s only.

I raise....Max makes flush.

I raise...Max makes flush.

And finally, the real donkey puncher of the day....Max raises somewhere in early position and the next guy calls. I three bet it from the small blind with AKo and Max calls. The other player caps it, which means he has a suited connector or something and thinks I'm retarded enough to check to him on the flop. The flop brings down a glorious, glorious:

Ac Kc 6s

And I "donk" because I'm not in fact retarded. They both call.

6c

Ouch. Now that sure is a fun card. I bet, and Max calls again. At this point alarm bells are going off in my head, but there isn't much I can do. 3rd player now raises because he has made his flush (I know this to a moral certainty). I however have top two and 4 outs at a boat in what is now an 11+ bet pot. I call. Max now unleashes the fury and 3-bets. I laugh out loud and practically point at the cold-calling/back capping idiot sitting next to Max as he calls. Now the pot is even huger and I call again. The river bricks off and I fold my top two after Max bets and the other player calls. What does Max have you ask? Pocket 6s for...quads. Ergo, run like Jesus.