Home Game Shenanigans

We had a good time last night at our home game. A total of seven people were there playing some poker.

We played lots of different games. Limit Hold 'em, Indian Hold 'em, Omaha, In-Between, 5 card draw, and and seven card stud.

Indian Hold 'em was definitely the most fun game. You play it like regular hold'em, but you hold your cards on your forehead so you can't see them, but you can see everyone else's cards. I won a nice pot playing this when I got some people to lay down some good hands. We got dealt our cards, and I look around, and one person has pocket Queens, and another has Pocket Kings! So instead of folding what was probably a weak holding, I raised it up! Someone else raised it up, and we got the pocket Queens to lay down his hand. Flop comes 4, 6, 9 rainbow. I raised it up again, and got the pocket Kings to fold. I don't remember what the turn and river was, but I took it to the end. So I look at my cards and see A9 and grab the pot with a pair of 9's against the other dudes pair of 6s.

We played a little Omaha, and I have to share this hand with you (Sorry JD!!). Everyone except me and one other person had never played Omaha before, so we had to explain to everyone how it works. You can play two and only two cards from the four that you are dealt, and then must use three of the cards on the board. So we are playing this hand, and the flop is all low cards and rainbow (no matching suits). Turn and River come and people are betting and raising. It gets to the end, and my friend says flush, and shows the 4 diamonds in his hand to go with the one diamond on the board. We all laugh and tell him that he can only play two of his cards. But wait! He ends up taking the pot anyways because he had a straight! LOL!

And then the last hand of the night was the most exciting. We decided to end the night by playing In-Between. If you've never played it, it is a game that can be done really fast, or it will go on forever. The dealer shows two cards, and you bet any amount in the pot to see if the next card will fall in between those two cards. If the card that is flipped over is the same as one of the other two cards, you pay double! We all threw in $0.50. So a total of $3.50 in there. Well, no one could win! People were betting with a 2 and a King, and an Ace would come. I had to throw in a bunch of money when I bet with a 2 and jack showing and another jack came. The pot grew to almost $40! People were digging in their wallets left and right to buy more chips. I even had to break out the black chips! After about 20 minutes of playing, we decided that we better just split it up, since no one was betting very much cause they were all drained of cash.

It sure was a lot of fun though. Next time, I'll probably cap the amount one can bet, so it doesn't get out of hand again (or I'll tell everyone to bring more money....... Hmmmm)

Stuck in neutral

Since my "Best Poker Day Ever" last week, I've pretty much been stuck in neutral. Bankroll has pretty much stayed the same for the last week.

I am blaming most of this on my lack of hitting sets in my NL Ring games. Over at Martin's, I think I am 2 for my last 50 or so pocket pairs hitting sets on the flop. And one of those times, some donk hit runner runner straight on me. He called my pot bet on the flop with nothing. No draw, no overs, nothing. Then on the turn, he picked up his inside straight draw, and called my bet again, and then hit his straight on the river!

One should hit a set with a pocket pair once every eight times. I've come to realize that you win most of your money in NL ring by hitting sets. And right now, they just aren't coming.

I've played five $10 SNGs over at Party Poker the last 2 days. I won two of them, but didn't cash in the other three. I went out in 10th in one when I got Pocket Kings in the SB in level 2. There were at least 4 or 5 limpers, so I raised it up big. At least 6x BB. One caller. Flop is J, T, 4. I make a half pot bet, and he goes all-in. I call, since I'm pretty much pot committed (since you only start with 800 chips at party), and he flips up JTo. He called my big PF raise with that? Ouch

The next one, we are down to 6 people, and blinds are big, so it is push or fold time. I get AKs in the cutoff, but of course the BB wakes up with AA.

And the next one hurt the most. I knock out the 5th place guy and more than double up on another dude when I get Aces, and flop comes A, J, J. I have about half the chips with 4 left. Of course I go out in 4th. Short stacks just couldn't lose there. I finally went out with A6s and pushed, and BB woke up with pocket Tens.

On the bonus front, I have just over 2000 VIP points over at Martin's Poker. So just 1000 more to go. I wanted to get to 2000 VIP by the end of the month cause I can turn those into 30 Euro. I then deposited some money over at Party Poker for their $100 reload. I should finish that one up by early next week. I also deposited some money over at WillHill. They give you 5 pounds per hour (which is like $9), up to 25 per month. That should be fairly easy to knock out.

I'm not sure what I will go after next. Maybe BetFred's $250 bonus. There are a couple other B2B bonus that are out there too.

I'm having some people over tonight to play a little poker. We're just doing nickel/dime type stuff, since none of them play poker regularly. Should be lots of fun!

My First MTT Cash

I cashed in my first ever MTT this weekend. I joined a $10 NL tournament where 607 people entered. It was a lot of fun, and I did pretty good. I was in the top ten for a long time, and ended up going out in 19th place.

Here is how it went:


Level 2: First hand I've played, and I get KK on the button. I raise to 5x the BB. SB, and 1 limper call. Flop comes out 9, 7, 4 rainbow. I bet 3/4 pot and take it down.

Level 3: I limp in on the button with J8s. 4 people see a 3, 4, 6 flop. Checked around. turn is an 8, completing the rainbow. I make a 3/4 pot bet and get one caller. River is another 8. I make 1/2 pot bet and he folds. I'm up to 1965 in chips.

level 3: I limp with 34s. 6 people see the flop of 6, K, T with 2 diamonds. I make a semi-bluff bet of 2/3 pot. Raise and re-raise behind me, so I fold. Down to 1715.

level 3: I limp with pockets 6's UTG (Under the Gun, first to act). 4 people see the flop of A, 6, T with 2 spades. I make a pot bet with my trips and all fold. Up to 1890.

level 3: I'm dealt AQ on the button. UTG makes a min raise. I pop it for 3x his raise. BB and original raiser calls! Flop is4, 5, 9 with 2 spades. Checked to me, and I make a healthy 3/4 pot bet for half my stack committing myself. Both fold. Up to 2440.

Its now level 4, and I haven't had to show down a hand yet!

Level 4: Steal some blinds with KJ and AK.

Level 5: I'm in the Cutoff (position right before the button). It's folded to me and I have K9o. I raise 3x BB attempting to steal. SB goes all in. It's only 750 more to call, so I do. He shows AQ. Flop comes 9 high, and I take it down. First hand I've had to show down. I'm up to 4150.

Level 6: I'm in MP and get dealt AT of clubs. Big Stack to my right limps, and I raise 4X BB. The small stack in BB goes all in (only had a little more than the BB left). Big stack calls. Flop is 8, 5, 5 with 2 clubs. We check it around. Turn is a 2 of clubs, giving me the flush. I bet just under half pot, and big stack calls. River is a blank. I bet the rest of chips, which is about half pot, and big stack calls. He shows an over pair, and I double up. I now have 7200 chips.

Level 7: I'm in MP with AK. I raise it up to 3.5 BB, and get two callers, Yuck. Flop is 7, 9, T, with 2 spades. I check and button makes a 3/4 bet pot. I fold.

Level 8: Blinds 200/400. I have 5429 and an M of 7. Wild big stack to my right bets 3x BB. I move all-in on him with A7o. He folds!

Level 8: I'm in the SB with AKs. EP with about the same stack as me bets 3x BB. I go all-in and he folds. I'm up to 9000 in chips.

I turn on the aggression, and start stealing a lot more blinds. I even steal with 37o from the SB. up to 11,000 chips.

Level 9: I raise 3x BB with 78o from the CO attempting to steal. Button calls. Flop comes out 7, 9, 2. I bet half pot, and button folds. Up to 14,000

level 10, and we are in the money. Woot! I think I am in the Top 20, with about 60 left.

Level 10: Big hand here. I have 18,000, villain has 26,000. I bet 3x BB, 2400, in EP with pocket Tens. Villain raises it 4000 to 6400. I go all-in. Pot is at 25,400. he needs to call 11,600 more giving him odds of 2.2:1. But he folds! Wow! Up to 25,000 in chips.

Next hand: I'm BB with A6s. EP bets only 2x BB, so I have odds to call. Flop is J, 7, 6 giving me bottom pair. I bet 2/3 pot and he calls. A Ten comes on the turn giving 3 clubs out there, which I have none of, and I check. He bets small, like 1/4 pot and I call. River king and we check it down. He shows pocket Tens and takes it. Yuck. Down to 19,000

Still level 10: I get pocket 9s in MP and make a 3x BB raise. SB who has 1/3 as many chips as me goes all-in and I call. He shows AK, and I win the coinflip. Up to 28,000.

Level 11: I get AK in EP and raise 3x BB. Small stack in LP goes all-in and I call. He shows A2 and I knock him out. Up to 38,500 chips.

Level 12: I get AQ in MP. I bet 3x BB, and the button calls. Flop comes Q high. I make a half pot bet and take it down. I'm up to 45,000. I think I am about 6th or 7th place.

It's now level 13, and I've been stealing lots of blinds and build my stack up to 52,000.

Level 13: I get TJo in the SB. 1 limper, and I call, so 3 see the flop. Flop is 7, T, Q. I make half pot bet, and dude who has me covered calls. Turn is a 4. I check, and he bets small, like 1/8 pot. I call. River is another 4. I check and he bets 20,000, which is pot. I fold. He shows 67s. I would have won. Damnit, I should have bet that turn. He probably would have folded. he limped UTG with 67s. I'm down to 38,000. If I would have called that bet, I think I would have been in the top 3.

Level 13. Another bad hand for me. 6 people on the table. I get A9 in the BB. Maniac dude bets 2x BB. Big Big stack calls, as do I. Flop is 2, 3, 9 giving me top pair, top kicker. Good flop for me, right? I act first so I bet 3/5 pot. They both call! Yuck! I think I'm done with the hand. Turn is a Ten. I check, stupid maniac guy min bets, and big stack raises, which is only 1/3 pot. I fold, and stupid guy calls. River is another 2. Stupid dude checks, big stack bets 20,000 (about 1/4 pot), and stupid dude folds. I'm pretty sure I played this bad. Do you think I was beat? I had a hard time putting anyone ona hand there. Down to 25,000 in chips.

Level 14: I'm dealt A4s in MP. I raise it 3.5x BB. Dude who has me coverd min-raises. ugg, I fold, figuring I'm beat. He shows pocket 5's.

Level 14. Next hand. 19 people left. I'm dealt pocket tens in MP. I go all-in, as my M is 3. Small blind calls with AK. I'm good after the flop, but an Ace comes on the turn, and I go home in 19th place

1 spot to the final 2 tables. If I would have lasted one more spot, I would have made at least another $30. I did end up making a profit of $25 for my 19th out of 607 place. Going from 6th place to out in 19th in 9 hands. Ouch!

It sure was fun though. I played really good poker up until those last couple hands. I never got dealt Aces, Queens, or Jacks. And only got dealt Kings once. About halfway through, the chip leader at that point got moved to our table and got aces. He said that was the 5th time he got dealt rockets already. Talk about luck.

Cheers!

Best Poker Day Ever

I had my single best poker day yesterday. I won nearly $300!

I won about $250 over at Martin's playing mainly 100NL, with some 50NL. I won a big pot when I flopped a set, and someone couldn't let go of their overpair. I get dealt pocket 7's and limp in. The BB comes in a for a nice size raise, and I call. Flop comes 287 rainbow. I just called his flop bet. After the rag turn, I raised him up a little and he called. River was a Jack, and he bet 10E. I raised him to 35E and he called. I nice size pot there.

The other big hand I got a little lucky, when I was dealt Aces, and got two callers to my Pre-flop bet. Flop came in ugly T, J, K rainbow. Not a flop you want to see when you have pocket aces.

I make a 3/4 pot size bet and both call. I'm not liking where I am at here. Turn is a rag, and I think it got checked around. River was another King, and I am definitely not liking my situation now. I for sure think I am dead to someone holding a King. I make a smallish blocking type bet (about 1/4 pot), and both call again. It turned out the King saved me. One dude had TJ for a flopped two pair. Other dude had Queens.

I won some other nice pots where I flopped the nut straight with 23, and another where I flopped a flush with 89s.

I also took 2nd place in a 45 person $6 turbo over at Pokerstars for a nice $55 profit.

I'm through about 1000 VIP over at Martin's. Just 2000 more to go.

Cheers!

Bankroll above $2000!

I've been playing over at Martin's Poker for the last couple of days. They have a really good bonus going on there right now.

Initial signup bonus of up to 600 Euros, cleared after 3000(or 5X deposit amount) raked hands using the code "novdeposit" (this bonus will be credited 90 days after your initial deposit). Then an additional 200 Euro on a 200E Deposit, cleared after 600 raked hands using the code "novreload". And then, another 50% reload up to 200 Euro (deposit 400Euro) cleared after 10X the bonus amount using the code "decreload" (and credited after 30 days).

The good news about this, is that all of the bonuses can be stacked and cleared concurrently! I did all of these bonuses (the decreload one I only deposited 300 for a 150 bonus), so I will be due 950 Euros in bonus after 3000 raked hands. I am already done with 650 raked hands, and have already been credited with the 200 Euro bonus.

If you read this, and have the bankroll, I would definitely go after this bonus. If you do, use my screen name "LuparFiend" as a referral. You and I will get a few extra Euros.

I've been playing 50NL and 100NL. There are some decent players over there, but you will definitely come across some bad ones. I am up 120 Euros so far. And that's even with suffering some pretty nasty bad beats.

I lost a 120 Euro pot this weekend when I had aces. One raiser in front of me, and I re-raise 3X his raise. He calls. Flop comes [Ad], [5d], [Jc]. Alright! I hit trips, but there are 2 diamonds, so I better play aggressive and charge if he is chasing a flush. He checks, I bet 3/4 pot and he calls. Turn comes a [5s] giving me a full house, and beating a flush out there. He checks and I check, slowplaying my boat a little. River is the [Jh]. He bets about 1/4 pot, and I go all-in, only losing to pockets 5's and pocket J's.

He had pockets Jacks for the rivered quads. He hit his one out and 120 Euros got dragged towards him. That hand was probably one of the biggest pots I've played. And obviously the worst beat I've ever had.

Lost another decent sized pot with set over set. I hit my set on the flop, but dude hit his 2 outer on the turn for a bigger 3 of a kind.

And then this morning, I lost a pot to a small stack with pocket Qs to his pocket 9's. He flopped quads. What is it with people hitting four of a kind against me this weekend?

It's all good though, cause I am still up 120 Euro there, and with the 200 Euro bonus I just received, my bankroll is above $2100!

I'm doing well in SNGs

The month of January has started out pretty good in terms of Sit-n-Go's. I'm still getting in the money about 50% of the time. And I have won my share of $6 turbos. I've also been playing a couple of the multi-table $6 turbo SNGs (The 18 person and 45 person ones). I've made some pretty decent money playing those. Too bad the two $15 SNGs I've played I've been knocked out early. The first was when I hit the nut straight on the turn, all the money then went in, and the guy who hit his set on the flop hit his boat on the River. The next was a set over set loss. Can't really do anything about those.

I was playing a 18 person $6 last night and it was down to three people. I was the short stack, and blinds were so high that it was push or fold mode. I am the button and get A2. A pretty good hand 3 handed. I pushed, and both the SB and BB called. One had AT, the other AK. Ouch! A couple miracle two's didn't come so I took home 3rd place.

I also tried something new for me in a regular $6 turbo. It got down to 4 people, and I had the chip lead. I decided that if I was the first into the pot, or there were only limpers, I would raise with any two cards. button and SB limp? I'll raise you up 4X the BB. And if I was the BB, and there was a raise in front of me, I would always defend. Sure, sometimes someone would come over the top all-in. But with the chip lead, it was easy to just throw away the hand if I didn't have a good hand. After every flop, I would throw out either a half pot to 3/4 pot bet, and most of the time, that was enough to take the pot.

I easily went on to win the SNG. I think this is a pretty good strategy for me with the chip lead with 4 or people left. I'll have to try it some more.

I cleared both bonuses that I have been working on. The $100 re-load over at Empire is done, as is the $100 initial sign-up at casino.net. Wow, I hate those Boss Media sites. The play there is soooo slow. Good bonuses, but bad play.

I think I am going to try my hand at the Martin's Poker bonus. 800 Euro for only 3000 raked hands. I'll post more info on that one when I start playing there.

Cheers!

Home game fun

I got invited to a big home game on Friday night. It was only my 2nd time ever playing live, so I was a little nervous. There were a total of 24 people playing, and I ended taking 3rd place, and profiting a nice $50!

The structure was pretty nice (coming from someone who has played live twice). $10 started everyone out with 20,000 in chips. Blinds start at 100/200 and go up every 15 minutes. Everyone was allowed up to two rebuys up until the 2nd break, and then an optional add-on for $5.

My nervousness was extremely apparent on the very first hand. I get KT of hearts and limp in middle position. A couple other limpers, and 5 total people see the flop. Flop comes Qh, Jx, 3h, so I have an open ended straight draw and the 2nd nut flush draw. Someone makes a smallish type bet and I call. The turn comes the beautiful 9s, giving me the nuts. Our host, who was in the BB leads out for a bet, and I re-raise him a little bit. I'm sure my hands were shaking because I was so excited to hit the nuts. He called my raise. The river came, and it was a low card, and I was so excited, that I didn't pay much attention to what it was. He bets again, I re-raise a significant amount, and he then says "I'm all-in". I quickly call. He says, " I think you got me" and shows a Queen with no kicker. I show my cards and say, I got the nuts. I won the hand and doubled up, but what I didn't notice, was that the river was another 3. Obviously I didn't have the nuts, as a number of hands would have a full house. Fortunately, he didn't have one of those. I still felt like a fool for not even noticing what came on the river. The other people at my table must have been licking their chops.

So, I'm off to a nice little start by doubling up through our host to 40,000 chips. I wasn't involved in too many more hands the first hour. The 2nd hour was a little more exciting, as I was playing a little more hands with a nice chip stack.

I get the hammer, 27 offsuit, and raise it up to 3x BB (blinds at 500/1000). The button and SB call. Flop comes out with a 2 and rags. We all check around. turn is another blank, and it's checked around again. And the river is another blank. I decide to bet 2000 into the 10,000 pot. They both folded! I showed my bluff, and the button said he folded pocket 4s, and the SB had nothing. I was pretty happy with my "dropping of the hammer".

Later on in the 2nd hour, I flopped 2 pair with K8 out of the blinds, and forced another player to rebuy when he only hit top pair. I has a nice chip stack of around 55,000 chips when the last hand before the re-buy period came up. I'm dealt pocket Kings on the Button. MP raises it up, and I re-raise 3x his raise. He thinks for a while, and goes all-in. He had about 35,000 in chips. I was really worried about him having Aces, but I called anyways, and he showed AK. No ace came, and I ended the re-buy period at 90,000 chips, and the chip lead in the whole thing!

I didn't take the add-on after the first break. I figured that an extra 10,000 in chips wasn't really worth it for me with the chip lead. The only hand I was involved in when before it broke down to 2 tables was with me getting dealt pocket Qs. I'm in the blinds, and UTG raises it up. I re-raise a significant amount, and he goes all-in. He had a healthy chip stack, so I was committing a little over a third of my chips if I called. I did call, and he showed AK. Unfortunately, I lost this race when a King came on the river. Ouch!

We broke to two tables, and the blinds started creeping up. I finally made a stand with pocket 3s when I was UTG. It folded to the BB who had me covered, and they called and showed AQ. An Ace came on the flop, so I was drawing real thin. The turn is a heart, and oh wait! There are 3 hearts on the board. I have the 3 of hearts, and my opponent has none! 11 outs for me on the river, and a beautiful heart comes, keeping me alive. What a suckout! Off to the final table!

I didn't get too many hands at the final table. I stole just enough to keep my chip stack from dwindling too much. With 7 people left, I am dealt pocket 7's. Early position raised it up, and I pushed all-in. Player behind goes all-in too ( I just have him covered). EP calls and we flip over our cards. EP shows AK, I have 77, and player behind me has QQ. But wouldn't you know it, a 7 comes on the flop and I triple up!

It gets down to three people, and I am the short stack. I get pocket 8's and go all-in and the extreme big stack calls with Q9. Flop comes J, Q, x. Turn is a Ten, giving me 3 more outs (two 8's and three 9's). But alas, none came on the river, and I go home in 3rd place.

I had a lot of fun that night. The host had a great set-up and plenty of room. A couple things I learned: I need to be a little bit more aggressive. I should have stolen blinds a lot more. I also through away some decent hands like AQ - AT in early position. Oh, and pay attention to the board and don't say that I have the nuts when it's obvious I don't!

Also of note, I'm trying out the Haloscan commenting code, so feel free to throw in a comment or two to see if it works. Click on the comments link right below this.

Confidence is Rising

I think I'm starting to get out of my SNG funk. I feel like I'm in the flow. The force is starting to flow through my body again. In my last ten or so SNGs, I am in the money greater than 50%! And a couple of those have been wins! With one of them being a $15 turbo.

The first win was in a $6 Trubo at Stars. I played extremely tight in the beginning, and when the blinds started creeping up to the 75/150 point, I started stealing blinds aggressively. I built myself from below average to 3rd in chips with 5 left, and blinds at 100/200 ante 25. I then got QQ two hands in a row, the first time against the big stack and I doubled up.

I get QQ in the BB, and the Big stack limps. I raise 3.5x BB, and he calls. Flop comes Kc, 2d, Td. Not a great flop for me. I bet 600 into the 1700 pot, and he min-raises me. I just had a feeling that he didn't have a K, and maybe was on a flush draw, so pushed all-in. He called and flipped over pocket 3's! He told me that he thought I was on a draw. Thanks for the double up! That put me in the chip lead.

Next hand, I get QQ again, and knock out the short stack. Few hands later, I get AQ and knock out another Short Stack who pushed in with A5. It's nice to see those dominated hands hold up again. We get down to Heads up, and we both have about the same chip stack. I ended up winning with 99 and him calling my flop bet and re-raises with bottom pair.

I was feeling pretty good, so I had started up a $15 Turbo SNG. My first one in a while. During my losing streak, I moved down in limits, so it had been a couple weeks since my last one.

I was only involved in two hands the first 5 levels. First one was with AK and I hit TPTK and take down the pot with a continuation bet. The 2nd with A3 on the button hoping to steal the blinds, but getting called by the SB. I took down that pot with another continuation bet.

It got down to 5 people, and blinds starting creeping up, so I started stealing more blinds and stayed around average chip stack. Took down a decent sized pot from the BB (blinds 200/400)with a few limpers when the flop came 5, 7, 7. I had a 5 and min bet and won, lol. This gave me the chip lead with 3700 with another player. I knocked out the 5th place short stack with A5 against his K5. Another dominated hand held up!

Then I got involved in a hand I probably should have folded. I get TQs in the BB, and SB with 40% of my stack goes all-in. I call ( I had to call 1400 in a 2800 pot, 2:1 odds) and he shows AK. I hit a ten on the river to take it down :) It gets down to heads up, and I easily wrap up the win.

I get to go to another home game tonight. This one should be pretty fun. I guess last time this guy hosted, they had enough for 2 tables, so it should be interesting. This will be only my 2nd time playing live, but with my new found confidence, I hope to do well. I'll make sure and write a report later.

December 2005 results

The Good News: I profited $513.02 in December.

The Bad News: I was negative in the poker playing category.

Total Profit: $513.02

Total Bonus Received: $705.00

• PokerStars Reload: $100
• SportingBet Initial: $70 (total of $100, but $30 was received in Nov)
• PokerRoom: $40
• BoDog Reload: $95
• Party Poker: $300 (Initial Signup, one reload, and PPA Bonus)
• Empire Initial: $100

Total Poker Profit: -$191.98

• PokerStars: -$133.55
• SportingBet: $4.43
• PokerRoom: $168.05
• BoDog: -$208.71
• PartyPoker: $125.82
• Empire: -$148.02

No Limit Ring Profit: $80.61

• $10 NL: $9.05
• $25 NL: $296.42
• $50 NL: -$207.86
• $100NL: -$17.00

Limit Ring Profit: -$17.55

• 0.25/0.50 Limit: -$27.20
• 0.50/1.00 Limit: -$12.25
• 1/2 Limit: $21.90

PL Omaha: $17.66

SNGs: -$211.70

• $5 SNG: $41.00 (9 Total)
• $6 Turbo SNG: -$61.20 (35 Total)
• $10 SNG: -$71.00 (25 Total)
• $15 Turbo SNG: -$54.50 (11 Total)

SNG ROI: -27.4% (OUCH!!)

There you have it. I had one good week, and that week was after Christmas. My SNG game went down the toilet. If you go back and look at my November results, you will see that I made a massive amount of dough in SNGs. January is starting off ok in that category. I am probably a little on the positive side.

Also, I got destroyed over at BoDog. Usually, I do really good there, because the players are so bad. I got a ton of bad beats over there. It's too bad too, I really like that site.

I added some link over at the right of some of my favorite poker blogs. Go check them out.

Rough Poker Weekend

December hadn't been a great poker month up until Christmas. I was contemplating a little break from poker. But I started playing better, and I had positive days every day last week.

But then the weekend came. I was getting destroyed in the $50NL tables at Party Poker.

Here are the big hands that I lost.

I have 66 and flop a set. Calling station calls all my bets and hits his inside straight draw on the river.

I have 66 and it folds to me on the button. I just call. I flop a set, but 689 board is a little dangerous. I slow play it a little bit ( I know, I shouldn;t have slow played this). The turn is an 8, giving me a full house, so I don't fear the straight anymore. Unfortunately, the BB had 89 giving him a better boat.

I have [Ks] [Tx] and call a small raise. Flop comes [7s] [Ts] [Qs]. Check Check. Turn brings another T, giving me three tens, and a draw to the 2nd nut flush. I bet pot and dude calls. River comes the [9s]. I bet pot, he min raises and I call to see him holding the 8s for the rivered straight flush. He drew to his one out. Ouch.

I get KK in middle position. A couple limpers in front, and I go all-in ( I might have been on tilt from a previous beat). Dude behind me calls! one of the the limpers calls! Guy behind me has AA. Donk in front of me has A2o!! I get a king on the flop and I am way ahead. But the turn and river give the A2o guy runner-runner flush! Thankfully, this guy had a smaller stack than the other two of us, so I ended up the hand around even from getting chips from the AA guy. But come on! Calling two all-ins with A2o?!?!1?!!

I raise it up to 4X BB with KQs. I get a couple callers. Flop comes with two Qs. I bet $4. Villain min raises to $8. I re-raise to $20. He thinks a while and calls. Turn brings a Ten. All our money goes. Of course he has QT for a boat. Nice two outer sir!

I have AA versus KK. 4 spades come, and he wins with a flush.

On the bonus front, I am chasing a re-load bonus over at Empire, and I signed up at casino.net. Both of them are worth $100 and should be cleared in the next couple days. I'm doing good over at Empire, even though it has turned into a rock garden. I'm not doing so hot at Casino.net. Some of the beats listed above are over there.

I'll be putting up a December recap soon. Maybe even today.