IHO is not the WSG, so I made my way to Brooklyn. The train ride was uneventful, once I realized I was traveling in the wrong direction. Even with that detour, I arrived only 10 minutes late. By then, there were only four people (myself and host Dawn included), so we killed time with a quick, free 4-handed NLHE tournament. I went out first since there was no money on the line.
Once there were enough people, we all bought in for the max $50 for the .50/1 game. Some would argue that $50 is too small for a .50/1 game. Traditionally, 100x the BB is the most common max buy-in. However, I found the slightly shorter stacks rather comfortable. It wasn’t as though we were buying in for 10x or 20x the big blind; and the slightly shorter stacks made for some more action.
Case in point: In the first hand, I am dealt KK. UTG, Dawn raises to $3. I re-raise to $8. Everyone folds to Dawn, who calls. The flop was QJ8, all spades. I had the King of spades in my hand. Dawn looked at her cards which told me that she likely didn’t have a flush. She then checked. I believe I bet $15 or $16. She called. The turn was an offsuit Ten, giving me the 2nd nut flush draw, an open-ended straight draw, and an overpair. Here, Dawn bet out $20. If you do the math, you’ll realize that her bet was just about all-in for both of us. So, I pushed. She called. I showed my KK and she showed 88, for a flopped set. I was behind the whole time, but on the river, a King came down and I felted her, set over set.
From there, I just played my game. Ron Lad showed up and livened up the table a bit. He has probably the second loosest table image at the game, behind me. Naturally, if Ron and I are at a table together, this means that we are also often in pots together. Call me crazy, but when I see someone playing lots of hands, I want to get in there and mix it up. I have confidence that my post-flop abilities will pay off when I need the time comes.
I was fairly tuned in on the table, and was able to continue the momentum set up by the initial KK v. 88 hand. I had amassed a nice stack when I took a smoke break on the balconey and returned to the weirdest string of hands. While I was outside, the game was continuing on, so it was like walking into the middle of a party already in session. I sat down, unsure of what happened over the last 5-10 minutes. This seems like a little thing, but its really the opposite. The mood at a table can change within minutes. If a player gets sucked out, his play might completely change. If you rely on your old reads, this can be very costly (or, conversely, you might miss the opportunity to make some easy money). If the table chatter is light and friendly, that also gives a hint to how the game is playing. There are times that I sit down at a table and its like playing poker in a funeral home. Everyone is quiet and dour. There are other times when half the players are falling off their chairs drunk, and everyone is laughing as they are stacked repeatedly. Even though I was playing in the game 10 minutes before, it almost felt like my reads were wiped out. And then I’m dealt,
The Hammer. The hammer is a hard hand to play in the best of circumstances. In this case, I was in early position with no reads on the table. I raised to $4, hoping to rely on the slightly inflated raise (I generally raised to $3) and my table image as the big stack lucksack. Everyone folded, surprisingly, and I tabled the hammer face up. I expected to go back to folding away, until I was dealt,
The Aces. The absurdity of the situation was not lost on me. One of the primary reasons to play the hammer is to set up a loose image so you get paid off when you have a hand. So, I did exactly what I did the hand before, and raised to $4 in EP, hoping to convince my opponents that I was pulling the same move again. I didn’t expect everyone to call with crap cards, but this was a situation where I could probably get AK or AQ or ever AJ to pay me. Any high pair from TT up would also take a swing at that bet. It felt like an instant setup, until everyone folded. I showed the Aces. At this point, it was clear that I was getting no action at this table. I decided to play tight and redeem my image, since I’d only be called by strong hands. I expected to fold for a while, but my plan was thwarted, for the very next hand, I was dealt
The Queens. When I saw my hand, I was floored. It had been a while since I had seen good cards, and here I was getting dealt 3 out of the 5 best hands possible in a row (the complete 5 being AA, KK, QQ, AK, and 72o). I wasn’t getting any action, so I just did what I did the last two times, betting $4. This time, though, Ron came in with a raise to $14. Ari calls and for some reason, I didn’t know what to do. QQ is a great hand, but I had visions of KK, AA, or AK dancing through my head. If it was just Ron, I might’ve been more bold, but Ari was playing a fairly conservative game from what I could tell. I can’t remember being in any other hands with her. And remember, this is the table where $4 took down the pot preflop twice. Suddenly we had a raise to $14, and an overcall! When it got back to me, I opted for a flat call. I wanted to see what I was getting myself into.
The flop came down T98. It wasn’t the best flop, but it wasn’t the worst either. I obviously had my overpair. I doubted anyone had two pair or a straight. My only concern was that they had AA, KK, TT, 99, or 88. If they had any of those hands, they would show it in their action. There was only one problem. I was first to act. I checked.
Ron checked behind me. This led me to believe that he had given up on the hand. I can’t tell you what it was other than his overall demeanor. Whatever the case, his check was followed up by Ari’s bet, $25. This was a pretty high bet for a .50/1 game with $50 max buy-ins. I took my time with my decision. If she had AA or KK, she would’ve probably re-raised preflop. If she has a set, I can still draw out on an inside straight draw. In the end, I felt that she could very easily have a lesser hand like JJ or she could even have nothing. After all, she had position and we both checked the scary flop. There was too good of a likelihood that I was ahead, and I had enough chips to follow my hunches. If Ron looked done with the hand, then it was just Ari and me and I liked my hand a lot better heads-up. I raised it up to $60. This surprised the table. Ari even gave me some light razzing about keeping it friendly. But if she bets $25 and I want to raise her, $60 is not so crazy. Ron folded and Ari thought. She looked pretty distraught, but I still internally fought with whether I wanted her to call or fold. Eventually she called. The turn was a 9. She only had another $25 or so, so I pushed all-in. She called. The river was another 9, giving me 9s full of Queens. She flipped over AT, for 9s full of Tens. I was ahead the whole way, but it was one of the trickier hands I’ve had to play due to the weird hands that preceded it.
After a while, we split to two tables. I was sent to the kids table, where the challah is stale and there is no salt for the matzoh ball soup. It was very interesting seeing the two tables. It was all done randomly, as it should, but our table had a bit more serious players. It made for tighter action. Meanwhile, it seemed like most of the loose players were at the TV table. The competition at the new table was a lot more dangerous, so I played a more conservative game. I eventually cashed out around 2 a.m. with over $300 profit.
I’ll be playing at the Wall Street Game tomorrow night, and hopefully I can keep this streak alive and build my bankroll. I found a clever way to buy wifey Kim her Hanukkah gifts without her noticing on the credit card and debit card bills. I’ve been dipping into the poker wallet, and its actually been a bit fun. Especially since I plan on replacing it after the gifts are given. Booya!
Until next time, make mine poker!
