1 for 1, Royal Flush story...
Tonight couldn't have gone any better. Had a little bit of luck, played great, and on a fun table. I realize why I'm such a better live player than online player. I had let my online bad streak recently get to me and hurt my confidence a little. Thanks to Gene D for the pep talk before playing tonight. Online I've taken some bad beats and I wrongly focused on the losing instead of just making the right plays. It's hard to do when its running bad. Returning to brick and mortar and relying on my reads regained my head. Made two massive lay-downs and got paid off on my big hands.
I didn't get many hands, they were either huge or shit. No getting in the sandbox hands (two faces in position, pairs or suited connectors) so I looked like a rock waiting for playable hands and just agressively playing the strong hands I got. Probably went through a dealer and half until this hand (I love it when patience is rewarded).
KK: Flop is K87 (all spades). Bet, called. turn no spade. Bet called. River no spade put the villian all in. Called. He doesn't show. Slightly worried about the flush. Thought he was so strong smooth calling me that he might have me. Said that before I turned over my Kings (I'm such a donkey) and I hope he didn't think I was slow-rolling him. First hand I played after sitting for probably 45 minutes (after the flop).
Then another handless 45...
Pocket 10s. Flop comes 333. I had raised large preflop, just as I did with my kings, but half the table or more called as they had already limped. I bet. Guy I rate as one of the top two players on the table calls saying "I guess I got two overcards." I look like a rock what's he calling with? He's joined by one other player. Turn is a 9. So far so good. Now a bigger bet. Good player calls other guy folds. River is a 6. I bet, he throws a 100 on top. I count out my chips and have about 250 left. I'm contemplating pushing with my hand. I run through the play by play Aces no, Kings no, Queens no, even jacks no. If he has them he's outplayed me. Just as I'm about to push I hear what he said after the flop echo in my head: "I guess I got two overcards." I look at him and say "You got the three," he smiles and I know it. I don't even call the 100. He says "great lay down" and shows the table the three. I pound the table excitedly. Guy at the other side of the table tells his buddy, that I probably had pocket aces (it's nice to receive that much credit) but we were playing Aces cracked, so for me to fold a 100 bet in a sense a free roll call would have been ultra-idiotic (so maybe he wasn't giving me credit).
Hour passes...
I'm the button and I get 99. Board of qq6. Early position puts out a feeler bet of 15 after raising preflop and getting called by half the table. Two guys call. I bump it up to 65 fairly certain I have the best hand. Everybody folds.
UTG JJ. I limp, limp, limp, raise, call, call, call, I push to 65 again. Everybody folds. I don't show but hint that I had jacks. Guy makes a comment about me pushing hard out of the dark again. I only mention these two hands because of that comment and the set up it creates.
Later I'm BB QdJd. Guy bets out from under the gun. 7 callers. I call. Flop comes KdJs10d. SB bets, I call, call, call, call, RAISE (by the guy who made the comment about me pushing hard out of the dark), call, call. After some thought, I take my near 300 and push all in (actually I left 6 white behind but we ending up running it out like they were in). Folded to comment dude. I want a call here (though I'll gladly take a fold). I know I'm behind... but ahead. I give myself, flush draw, straight draw (straight flush draw obviously) and maybe two jacks. I'm thinking this guy has K10 or a set. He takes too long to decide and I think maybe just a k. He finally calls and turns over J10. Even better. 4 queens to go with A's, 9's, and diamonds. Turn is an 8. River Ad. Royal Flush and another jacket.
He tells me I should give him the jacket like I sucked out on him. I guess he didn't realize I was a big favorite in that hand 65-35. Nice guy, but I was keeping my jacket.
Finally, I have J8 in the bb, I've stayed one more dealer than I wanted, in part because the kid I rated as the good player said that he told the guy next to him, if the dude called my all in, the table would never see those chips again. So flop comes J84. I bet. Called by a guy clearly on the flush draw (two clubs) and by the old rock in the small blind. Turn is an A. SB fires. Huh? I call after considering reraising him. Flush draw calls too. River is a 6 (again no club). Rock (a good player) fires a stack and a half. I mull it over. I stare at him. Earlier in the night when I'm pretty sure he was bluffing I saw his eyes blink really rapidly, this time he sat cool as a cucumber. My gut told me he had me somehow. Set? A8? I show the dealer my two pair and then smack them into a fold on the table. Flush draw folds and says, "how big was YOUR flush draw." I get up to leave and say, no I had two pair. I hear the dealer confirm it as I walk off.
Later, the good kid, told me when I got up the guy admitted to A6 and indeed the river had burned me.
So not reraising the turn was my mistake. Though at the time, I thought I could let him think his Ace was good to get paid on the river so maybe not that big a mistake. He hit his kicker and I bailed somehow.
I folded until the shift change and left with a good first day.
Another play I'm debating whether or not it was a mistake (though a small one in the big perspective) was this. I had AK second from UTG, I'm called by third to act--quickly. I give him a big hand. Flop comes Ak8. I bet he calls. Turn is a brick. I bet he calls. River is a brick. I ask him how much he has left. He has 71. I'm getting strength all over him. I think because of the pot size he has to call with anything, but if he hit a set he might have to value bet me, and I can call without losing all 71. So I check. He moves all in. I call. Both have AK. In retrospect, if I was going to call the 71, I shouldn't have checked (hoping if he hit his set he'd save me 20 or 30 dollars). If I was prepared to lose the 71 I should at least lead out, and maybe he folds his AK as a guy at the end of the table said... but he's not going to fold his AK (as I thought), so I don't know. Is either play really wrong? I guess it comes down to when in doubt bet. Maybe I push half his stack in and try and mindF**K him with such a small bet? Any thoughts.
Hope my luck holds tomorrow.
I didn't get many hands, they were either huge or shit. No getting in the sandbox hands (two faces in position, pairs or suited connectors) so I looked like a rock waiting for playable hands and just agressively playing the strong hands I got. Probably went through a dealer and half until this hand (I love it when patience is rewarded).
KK: Flop is K87 (all spades). Bet, called. turn no spade. Bet called. River no spade put the villian all in. Called. He doesn't show. Slightly worried about the flush. Thought he was so strong smooth calling me that he might have me. Said that before I turned over my Kings (I'm such a donkey) and I hope he didn't think I was slow-rolling him. First hand I played after sitting for probably 45 minutes (after the flop).
Then another handless 45...
Pocket 10s. Flop comes 333. I had raised large preflop, just as I did with my kings, but half the table or more called as they had already limped. I bet. Guy I rate as one of the top two players on the table calls saying "I guess I got two overcards." I look like a rock what's he calling with? He's joined by one other player. Turn is a 9. So far so good. Now a bigger bet. Good player calls other guy folds. River is a 6. I bet, he throws a 100 on top. I count out my chips and have about 250 left. I'm contemplating pushing with my hand. I run through the play by play Aces no, Kings no, Queens no, even jacks no. If he has them he's outplayed me. Just as I'm about to push I hear what he said after the flop echo in my head: "I guess I got two overcards." I look at him and say "You got the three," he smiles and I know it. I don't even call the 100. He says "great lay down" and shows the table the three. I pound the table excitedly. Guy at the other side of the table tells his buddy, that I probably had pocket aces (it's nice to receive that much credit) but we were playing Aces cracked, so for me to fold a 100 bet in a sense a free roll call would have been ultra-idiotic (so maybe he wasn't giving me credit).
Hour passes...
I'm the button and I get 99. Board of qq6. Early position puts out a feeler bet of 15 after raising preflop and getting called by half the table. Two guys call. I bump it up to 65 fairly certain I have the best hand. Everybody folds.
UTG JJ. I limp, limp, limp, raise, call, call, call, I push to 65 again. Everybody folds. I don't show but hint that I had jacks. Guy makes a comment about me pushing hard out of the dark again. I only mention these two hands because of that comment and the set up it creates.
Later I'm BB QdJd. Guy bets out from under the gun. 7 callers. I call. Flop comes KdJs10d. SB bets, I call, call, call, call, RAISE (by the guy who made the comment about me pushing hard out of the dark), call, call. After some thought, I take my near 300 and push all in (actually I left 6 white behind but we ending up running it out like they were in). Folded to comment dude. I want a call here (though I'll gladly take a fold). I know I'm behind... but ahead. I give myself, flush draw, straight draw (straight flush draw obviously) and maybe two jacks. I'm thinking this guy has K10 or a set. He takes too long to decide and I think maybe just a k. He finally calls and turns over J10. Even better. 4 queens to go with A's, 9's, and diamonds. Turn is an 8. River Ad. Royal Flush and another jacket.
He tells me I should give him the jacket like I sucked out on him. I guess he didn't realize I was a big favorite in that hand 65-35. Nice guy, but I was keeping my jacket.
Finally, I have J8 in the bb, I've stayed one more dealer than I wanted, in part because the kid I rated as the good player said that he told the guy next to him, if the dude called my all in, the table would never see those chips again. So flop comes J84. I bet. Called by a guy clearly on the flush draw (two clubs) and by the old rock in the small blind. Turn is an A. SB fires. Huh? I call after considering reraising him. Flush draw calls too. River is a 6 (again no club). Rock (a good player) fires a stack and a half. I mull it over. I stare at him. Earlier in the night when I'm pretty sure he was bluffing I saw his eyes blink really rapidly, this time he sat cool as a cucumber. My gut told me he had me somehow. Set? A8? I show the dealer my two pair and then smack them into a fold on the table. Flush draw folds and says, "how big was YOUR flush draw." I get up to leave and say, no I had two pair. I hear the dealer confirm it as I walk off.
Later, the good kid, told me when I got up the guy admitted to A6 and indeed the river had burned me.
So not reraising the turn was my mistake. Though at the time, I thought I could let him think his Ace was good to get paid on the river so maybe not that big a mistake. He hit his kicker and I bailed somehow.
I folded until the shift change and left with a good first day.
Another play I'm debating whether or not it was a mistake (though a small one in the big perspective) was this. I had AK second from UTG, I'm called by third to act--quickly. I give him a big hand. Flop comes Ak8. I bet he calls. Turn is a brick. I bet he calls. River is a brick. I ask him how much he has left. He has 71. I'm getting strength all over him. I think because of the pot size he has to call with anything, but if he hit a set he might have to value bet me, and I can call without losing all 71. So I check. He moves all in. I call. Both have AK. In retrospect, if I was going to call the 71, I shouldn't have checked (hoping if he hit his set he'd save me 20 or 30 dollars). If I was prepared to lose the 71 I should at least lead out, and maybe he folds his AK as a guy at the end of the table said... but he's not going to fold his AK (as I thought), so I don't know. Is either play really wrong? I guess it comes down to when in doubt bet. Maybe I push half his stack in and try and mindF**K him with such a small bet? Any thoughts.
Hope my luck holds tomorrow.
Comments
Good laydown against the quads. Why was his comment about the overs suspicious? Because he kept calling?
The J,8 hand would have worried me when the ace came. A,J or A,8 would have been enough for the rock to stick around post flop. Why did he stick around post flop anyway, was his A,6 on the club draw? Otherwise a terrible postflop call by him. Never would have put him on the 6 at the end though. Maybe a set, but not A, 6.
As for the other guys comment about the overs it hit me like a ton of bricks before my fold because as I reviewed the hand I thought why say that? Who gives away the strength of their hand? A few players do. Now how many players you rate as good do that? Very few. So clearly he's not being honest, there are places to do an honest mindswerve on somebody but I don't think that was one.
Therefore I review two options. Option 1, he doesn't have two overs and maybe a mid pair looking me up and trying to keep me honest. That way I back off if a big card hits and he knows he's either already ahead or can bluff me, but if I keep betting he knows he's behind. However, the cards weren't threatening, and he still fires at me on the river after I've shown strength the whole way. Pocket 9s? Maybe but I think he's smart enough to raise to protect earlier in the hand. Then he'd probably go into some kind of act when he hits second nuts on the turn. No act.
Option 2. He's flopped the nuts and wants people to stick around. If I think he's got overs I'll bet into him and maximize his profit. I'll bet to protect my hand which I think is best but is second best. So the fire on the river confirms option 2. Then when I realize this and ask him, he can't contain his hand. At that point, from his smile, I knew he had the hand.
For the final hand, the pattern of betting made AJ suspect to me. He very well could have had that but I think he'd try and clear out the field a little bit preflop. I'd limp with AJ but he seemed more paint by numbers and he might overvalue that hand. I really was thinking weak A on the turn and I'd get him to pay me off on the river. Ultimately, the physical read made me lay it down. I knew I was beat somehow but not quite sure how.