Zoo Stacking

I've started "zoo stacking" my chips, which simply means buying so many and keeping them in such disarray that it's very difficult to count how many of them are there.  I know several live players who espouse this method (and online ones who actually have pieces of post-it note on their screens to prevent seeing their own stack size) and it seems to work pretty well.  You don't spend time mentally taking note of how much you're up or down (or how much you've won or lost since your high or low point...a big one a lot of people hurt themselves with) and that's a really good thing.  Of course you can still tell if you're buried or scorching the earth, but you still don't spend that much time thinking about or torturing yourself over the fact that even though you're up $2200 you've lost $1200 in the last hour or whatever.  Must move games cause a problem for this, since you have to rack up your chips to move, but in general at the bike it seems to work pretty well.  I am trying to do everything I can to avoid stress, and this is one of the small changes I'm making.  Now some funny hands....

Hand 1

Fishy player limps and I raise it up with T9dd.  The big blind defends, fishy player back raises and I decide he and the big blind taken together are bad enough and wide enough that I need a capping range here in position, and if I have a capping range T9s most certainly should be in it so I cap it up.  The board comes down very, very badly.

744r no diamonds

And I do another weird thing and check back.  That's pretty incongruous I know, I'm supposed to be bombing away here convincing them I have kings or something, but honestly I don't think either of them are going to fold for one bet, and I have the ten high no pair no draw so I just check it back and hope it goes bet/raise in front of me on the turn but....

9h putting two hearts

The big blind checks and is clearly done with the hand.  The fishy player bets and I just call (normally I'd raise here, but the live tell was just so unbelievable there was no need her hand was going into the muck to a moral certainty).  We see the river.

Qr

The fishy player bets and I make what I think is probably not a great call but the hand is such a circus show I decide I can't go folding pretty much the best thing I ever have and get shown...QJhh.  Whoopsie Daisy!

Hand 2

Same fishy player is the primary villain.  This hand isn't that interesting except it sets up hand 3 nicely.  Fishy player raises whale calls I 3 bet the KK we see a flop about 4 ways I dunno.  It's J94r and I bet and they all call.  The turn comes an 8 of spades, putting a flush draw along with straightening the board out quite a bit.  The big blind checks and fishy player donks into me.  Now remember, he raised on the preflop, checked and called, and now is donking this scary looking card.  The whale calls and I don't even hesitate for a quarter of a second and raise it up.  Am I making the FSDR?  I am not yet sure, but this guy doesn't have shit right?  Right.  River comes a red deuce or something and they check and I go with my gut and bet and the fishy player...folds.  So yeah, he didn't have anything (the whale paid off with a just wow pocket tens).

Hand 3

I am racked up and planning for this to be my last hand, then realize that I'll be getting must moved very shortly and should probably stay around for that but may still quit and as I'm trying to decide I get the wired pair of 9s in the pocket.  I raise it up and start pleading with the table that it's my last hand, just let me take it down, no harm no foul, blah blah blah and of course get called by the button (who is incidentally the un-named folder in the last two hands she was special also) and then the fishy player calls in the small blind 3 ways

A34tt

I bet, only the fishy player calls.

5r

And he donks.  lol que?  I go into the tank for a minute and think about the hand and my range and what not and realize that actually 99 is pretty far down here (I'd actually have been open limping pairs much smaller than that the game was that good), but I do still have a good bit of unpaired pocket pictures type hands that I'd toss and then I replay hand 2 in my head and squeeze off a call.

8r

He bets I snap call (I mean, it's not like I was drawing) and he shows me the 84s (no flush draw) for...well...just a good old fashioned head-scratcher.  But his play honestly isn't that horrible when you think about it given that in his mind he should never ever fold his hand (when in fact he is behind 95% of the time if I bet the turn) and I am almost certainly not going to raise him given the obvious straight on board.  And I almost folded the winner!  So yeah, strange hand, but he put me in a tough spot, I sorta luckily did the right thing, and then he got bailed out.  Now our last hand, a good old fashioned bad beat.

Hand 4

I decide to post my blind after hand 3 because it's obvious some people are going to be leaving and I'll basically get to play two laps for the price of one here, and pick up the mighty 95o.  EP opens, EP2 calls, the woman who has played every single hand I have posted here and not done a single interesting thing plays this hand also, the fishy player calls, we're 5 ways.

985r

Glory!  I check 'em and EP bets em and they all call and I raise 'em and they all call again.  Maybe the lady who has folded every hand folded I dunno, there are at least 4 of us and it's obvious EP has UI high cards because he'd 3 bet any one pair hand here.  The turn comes a beautiful

Ar

And I...check 'em.  I'm not sure if that's correct, but this way I have a chance to trap the whole field (still 4 strong) for two bets, where as if I continue to bet some things could go wrong.  First of all I might not get raised...and second of all if I do I'll probably just get 3 bets into the pot from one guy instead of 6 from three guys.  Now that could actually be better given the size of the pot, but I go for the fancy play here and sure enough EP bets but then EP2....raises!  That's just weird, right?  He shouldn't have a big ace (he'd have 3 bet preflop and even if he did it should be obvious he's up against a big one also) so his most likely hands are slow played monster (flobaset and flobastraight), and freshly minted aces up.  Honestly I've gone from fist-pimp check/raising the field to thinking I'm boned pretty badly.  The fishy player folds, I decide to call and EP calls.  River....

Qr

We show down three ways and EP2 has the AQ ball for the third place hand on the turn (EP had AK) and Jesse feels just in general a little dispirited, you know?