Monday, June 20, 2011

We Have a New Record

That's right, I set a personal "best" yesterday at Commerce. Specifically I outstripped the previous record for "Single Day Dollars Lost" by something like 30%, posting a red $6100. The things that had to happen to me in order for such an event to occur were so numerous and preposterous that I will save you most of the details, but I actually think I played super duper well for the entirety of my session and ended up quitting for two independent but important reasons (my bike shift started in 12 hours and I needed to get some sleep, and I was basically out of money). The game I was in was juiced up more than Barry Bonds in 2004, with most of the action flowing through a drunk guy who looked a lot like Chris Farley. In the course of the 6 hours we played he may have consumed 20 Michelob Ultras (normally I'd laugh at someone who weighs 300 pounds drinking ultra light beer, but he literally saved something like 3000 calories I think so good for him), and slowed the game down to a snail's pace. Every one of his "stacks" was filthy, with $5, $1 and even $3 (fucking commerce) chips making their way into the pot every time he chose to call a bet (which was probably 75% of the time he had a chance to do so). He raise/called the river A65-T-T with KQ high. He called a river bet (and a flop and turn bet mind you) with 52 on a KJ8-Q-2 board. And no, he didn't have a flush draw. He called river bets with queen high (in pots that had been capped 4 ways on the flop). And best of all, he always, always, always donked if he improved. Like if he started with no pair and flopped one? Donk. Turned a pair? Donked. Turned two pair? Donked. Donk donk donk donk donk. So of course I sat on his immediate left for 6 hours and lost $1000/hour (MikeL pointed out that the way to get the Bike 40 to actually challenge Commerce likely does NOT involve dumping thousands of dollars of our customers money back into the game...he has...a point). The most memorable hand, which is only because it happened last, was as follows:

Farley limps and I raise with AA. The small blind who's new to the game but has seemed weak tight so far calls two bets cold, the big blind somehow folds (in retrospect he must have not actually been at the table or having a stroke), and Farley back raises. In 6 hours this is the first time he has chosen to back raise, and I actually giggle like a school girl while capping. The sb calls and we see a flop:

T83dd

Farley donks. Great, he has a pair. It could be KK, or it could be a ten. He's had big pairs several times in the last 6 hours and never back raised them, so I'm thinking he may just have a hard on for me and have the JTs or whatever. I raise and the SB...3 bets. Obviously this is terrible as he does actually have eyes and most likely used them to watch me cap a back raiser who's supposed to have aces, and Farley just calls. I call only figuring I can raise a safe turn or reserve the right to pussy out if the turn is....

T83dd-Tr

The SB...checks. Nothing makes sense here really other than a screw play attempt, but I have no choice and must bet except Farley...donks. I tank and decide that a flush draw also makes no sense for the SB and that he's about to c/r with a full house and Farley honestly probably has me smoked anyway so I just call and the SB...calls.

T83dd-Tr-8r

SB checks, Farley bets, I snap call and the SB calls. Farley shows Queens, I roll aces, and the small blind gives us a look of just utter disdain before turning over the K8o for the two outter frag.

Think about what it took for me to lose this pot. First of all, Farley had to decide to back raise for the first time in 6 hours. If he'd raised and I 3 bet I probably could have pried the K8o out of the sb's hands. OK fine, that didn't work. Now I cap it and he's still in there and has to lose his fucking mind on the flop with second pair (which is literally never, ever, ever the best hand when Farley donks and I raise....never. Farley doesn't fold queen high, let alone pairs. Do you really think I have AK or like, sevens, there?). Now for good measure I decide not to cap the flop, giving me one last opportunity to knock him off his hand, and he gets the best turn in the deck besides a king or an 8 and decides to...check. But that turn is so scary and creates such a obvious wa/wb situation that I don't pull the trigger on a raise (which honestly I dunno maybe he calls anyway) and only then, after all this preposterous shit happens, only then does he spike his 2 outter and proceed to check/call with it.

In all though I am in rather high spirits. Up until Sunday I had been on the rush of a lifetime and it had to come crashing down eventually. Life is going well, I haven't gotten fired, and I am still playing a game for a living, which is the entire point anyway.

1 comment:

BigE said...

Raise/fold the turn.