A really bad session, at least to start with ...

I played a session last night that was truly brutal. In short order, I went through over $100 in some pretty tough beats. Here are the details.

I sat down at the $2/$5 no-limit game in the cutoff, posted by big blind, and got dealt in. I picked up the Ace/Spades, King/Diamonds … not bad for my first hand! It was folded all the way around to me, and since I was new to the table, I just checked my option. The small blind called, the big blind checked, and we went to the flop.

The flop was Ten/Spades, Jack/Spades, Ten/Hearts. I’d seen better flops overall, but I did have a gutshot straight draw and two overcards. The blinds checked; I bet $8 into the $15 pot and got only one caller (the small blind).

The turn was the Deuce/Spades, so now I had a flush draw to go along with the straight draw and overcards. But I didn’t have any read on my opponent, so when he checked to me I just checked behind. 

The river was the Nine/Spades, so now I had the nut flush. But for some reason, I felt really uneasy about the hand. If my opponent held Jack/Ten or Ten/Nine, I was dead. He overbet $40 into the $30 pot; since there were so many other hands out there that I could beat (a lower flush, a straight, trips) I went ahead and called. Sure enough, my opponent held the Jack/Hearts, Ten/Diamonds for a flopped boat … I’d been drawing dead practically the entire hand. All I could do was silently congratulate myself for not having lost more.

A bit later, I picked up Six/Clubs, Six/Diamonds in the big blind. The player to my left called the $5 blind, everybody else folded, I checked, and we were heads-up to the flop. King/Clubs, Five/Spades, Seven/Diamonds flopped. A King was very much a possible holding for my opponent, so I checked to see what he would do. He min-bet $5 which I thought was rather odd. I went ahead and called.

The turn brought the Ace/Clubs, another scare card, as my opponent could have an Ace if he didn’t have a King. I checked again, and he checked behind. I was starting to realize that I might just have the best hand. 

The river was the worst card possible: Six/Spades. It gave me a set, and no flush was possible. I put out a pot-sized bet of $20, and was immediately raised another $20. That’s when I figured out that my opponent could have rivered a straight. I paid it off, and sure enough, he rolled over the Nine/Spades, Eight/Spades for the straight. So between those two hands, I was down around $50.

Could it get any worse? Of course! Some time later, I picked up Ace/Clubs, Jack/Hearts in the cutoff. I’ve blogged before about how much I hate this hand, but when it was folded around to me I figured that I just had to play it. I raised the bet to $15, and got only one caller – the small blind, a really loose cannon who could be playing with any two cards.

The flop was Deuce/Diamonds, Deuce/Hearts, King/Clubs. My opponent checked. Sometimes I will continuation bet and sometimes I won’t; this time I didn’t, because I figured that my opponent would call whatever I bet, and with such a rotten hand, why bother?

The turn hit me nicely; the Ace/Hearts. I bet $20, which was around two-thirds the size of the pot. My opponent called.

The river was the Nine/Hearts. Now, my opponent woke up and put out a $40 bet. Had he hit the runner-runner flush? Floated a flopped set of deuces? Or did he have a lower two pair, or a raggedy Ace for a split pot? Naturally, I had to call. Naturally, he had the Six/Hearts, Four/Hearts for the rivered flush. Say buh-bye to another $60-some dollars; now I’m down over $100.

Even though I’d hit some of the toughest beats I possible could (although I probably could have played these hands a little better), I stuck with the game, and believe it or not … by the time my session was done, I was actually winner for the night!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I went to the World Series again this year at the Rio; I actually spent about two weeks out there. I have to say, the cash games during the Series are not what they used to be. Maybe it’s because I was out there so late in the Series; but at times it was actually tough to find a game. I ended up having to head over to Caesar’s or Bellagio just to get some action. Quite a disappointment. On the other hand, I did final-table one of the Venetian Deepstack events, which was pretty nice. Also did well in a Binion’s Poker Classic tourney downtown. Here’s a list of the poker rooms I visited while I was out in Vegas this month, in no particular order: Rio, Orleans, Venetian, Mirage, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, O’Sheas, Excalibur, Hard Rock, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Aria, Binion’s, Golden Nugget.