Some Interesting Hands

For one reason or another, I found a few hands I played recently rather interesting, so I’ll post them in case anybody else does too.  They’re all from the $2/$5 no-limit table.

For the first hand, I was in the big blind.  The first player folded.  The second player called the big blind of $5.  He was a very loose player, seeing a lot of flops, so his call didn’t mean a thing to me.  (Although I don’t believe I will EVER understand why somebody in early position would ever just call the big blind.)  The only other caller was the small blind, another loose cannon.  I looked down to see Queen/Six of clubs – true garbage – so I checked and the three of us saw the flop.

It was Seven of Diamonds, Queen of Hearts, Jack of Clubs.  So I had flopped top pair with rotten kicker, but almost certainly the best hand.  The small blind checked; I bet $5 into the $15 pot and got both players to call.  Nice.

The turn was the Six of Diamonds, and suddenly I had two pair.  Oddly enough, at this point the small blind overbet $40 into the $30 pot.  There’s no way he had me beat; I’d seen him play enough to know that if he had either a set (because of a pocket pair) or a better two pair than me, he’d have bet it earlier.  So I just smooth called his bet.  The third player folded out of the way.

The river brought the Nine of Spades.  At this point, my opponent checked.  I value bet a measly $60 (the pot was over $100) and without much delay, he called.  I showed my two pair; I don’t know what he had because he mucked.  But I brought home a nice $220 pot.

As for the next hand on the agenda, I was in late position.  The player under the gun raised to $20 or four times the big blind.  (Now that is how to come in from early position!)  This guy was moderately tight, so I was a bit concerned about what he might have.  The next player folded; then the one after that called the bet cold.  He was a very loose player and his call didn’t really mean much to be as he had been playing a lot of pots.  Frankly, I put him on two high cards.  The next player folded; I looked down at the two red Queens.  Now, believe it or not, frequently in this situation I would strongly consider folding!  That is, a tight player in first position coming in for a raise, with one player calling the bet cold . . . absent any other information, I’d assume at least one of them had Aces or Kings.  But this was a very loose table, with everybody calling every bet with bizarre hands, so I thought that it was extremely possible that I had the best hand here.   So I went ahead and called.  The player to my left (who was the button) also called – but I actually liked that, because he was a truly terrible player and I saw it as a chance to take some chips from him.  The two blinds folded.

The flop was pretty good for me:  Seven of Hearts, Three of Hearts, Three of Spades.  I thought that it was extremely unlikely that it had hit anybody; with that much pre-flop action, you’d have to believe everybody had cards higher than seven.  The betting round confirmed my hunch, as the first two players checked (at this time I put the UTG guy also on two high cards).  I put $60 into the $87 pot; the button called and the other two players folded (whew!)

The turn was the Jack of Clubs; my Queens were almost certainly still good.  This time I put $140 out (the pot was around $200) and again my calling-station opponent came along for the ride.

River:  Three of Diamonds.  Now, only three hands beat me:  the case Three, or pocket Aces or Kings.  No way my button buddy had those.  I put him all in for another $120 (I had him covered).  He thought a good long time before folding, and the $460 pot was mine.

Big deal, you’re thinking, anybody can play pocket Queens.  And you’re right.  So this last hand is about as opposite a hand as you’ll find . . . in fact, it played out so odd that I just cracked up when I was over.  I won’t tell you my holding until the very end.

I was in the big blind.  The first player folded; the next one limped (he might be the tightest player I’ve ever seen); another fold, then the next player min-raised to $10 (why oh why such a ridiculous raise?).  The one to his left called the raise; it folded around to me.  At this point, with the pot odds I’d have called another $5 with any two cards, so I did.  Mr. Tight also called, so it was four to the flop.

The flop came two black Aces, and the Deuce of Diamonds.

When I see a flop like this, I have two competing reactions: (1) The fact that two Aces came makes it less likely that anybody else held an Ace pre-flop; and (2) If anybody does in fact hold an ace in their hand, it will become pretty clear during the betting that is to come.

I checked; so did Mr. Tight.  The pre-flop raiser put out a min-bet of $5, and I was the only caller.

The turn was the Three of Spades, and it went check-check.

The river brought the Ten on Clubs.  The pot held just over $50 by now.  I value-bet a miniscule $20 into the pot; my opponent called, and I turned over (what I knew from the flop on was) the winning hand:

Seven/Deuce of Clubs!

I don’t know what my opponent had for sure but it must have been two high cards.

I’m going to be playing at the “Poker Round-Up” at the Wildhorse Casino in the massive metropolis of Pendleton, Oregon next week.  Just a change of pace to shake things up.  I’m going to enter a couple of events there in addition to playing the cash games; I’ll let you know how I did.

I Hate Ace/Jack

I haven’t posted much to my blog lately, and there are two reasons for this.  First (and most) of all, I’ve been pretty busy with my real life.  Work has picked up, which is always a good thing but particularly good when the economy as a whole is in recession.  And second, I’ve had a terrible string of poker sessions lately, and it’s no fun to blog when the news is bad.  It’s just been loss after loss after loss.  Poker is like that sometimes.  When it happens to me, I just have to drop out of the game, go off somewhere, and look at my game really closely to see whether I’ve been playing badly or just have been getting bad cards.  I should probably find a poker coach or poker buddy that I can bounce things off of, but since I don’t have one posting to this blog really helps as an alternative.  (By the way, I’ve decided that my recent results are due to a bit of both – bad play and bad cards.)

Since my luck has started to turn a bit, I’ve got an entry to blog about.

If you’re a regular reader to my blog, you know how much I despise Ace/Jack has a starting hand.  Here’s another example of why I’m convinced it’s just a bad trouble hand.

It was really early in the session of a $2/$5 no-limit game.  In fact, the button hadn’t even made it around its first orbit since I sat down.  I was in the cutoff seat (one to the right of the button).  The action folded around to me, and I looked down to see my “favorite” hand, Ace/Jack of diamonds.  Since nobody else had shown any interest in the pot, I decided to throw a bet out and see whether I could just pick it up without seeing a flop.  I raised to $15.  Everybody folded around to the big blind, who called my raise for another $10.

The flop came Jack of Clubs, Two of Spades, Three of Spades.  I had top pair with top kicker, but I didn’t like seeing such a draw-heavy board.  My opponent over-bet the pot for $35.  I decided that he had a made hand, and that he didn’t want to see me draw out on him.  Big deal, I also had a made hand!  So I flat called.

The turn came Nine of Clubs.  Without any hesitation, my opponent bet $65.  By now, my tell-detector was starting to ring.  From his mannerisms, I could see that this guy really thought he had a good hand.  But I still thought my hand might be better, so I called again.

The river was the Ten of Spades, and my opponent almost beat the dealer into the pot with a bet of $140.  At this point, I was so frustrated I could have bitten a poker chip in two.  My rule of thumb is, when you don’t know how an opponent plays, it’s safer to just assume he means what he’s saying.  It’s a conclusion that I’ve reached the hard way.  And here my opponent was screaming that he had my hand beat.  Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.  But I decided to let the $220-plus pot go, and wait for some other opportunity.  After all, the beauty (and of course the curse) of no-limit hold ‘em is that you can lose one pot, and make it all up on the very next one.

I kept my eye on this guy until he left the table, and I concluded that he was pretty loose pre-flop but excellent post-flop; so consequently I’ve decided that my fold was good, although I wish I’d have done it a street sooner.

This brings us to the very next hand.  I was in the “hijack” seat, one to the right of the cutoff.  It was folded to me, and I looked down to see the King of Spades and Jack of Diamonds.  Again, since nobody else wanted the pot, I put $15 in to see if I could snag the blinds.  I admit it was pretty loose by my standards; maybe I was a bit on tilt from the last hand.  Or maybe I just wanted it to look like I was on tilt.  The button raised it another $10, and it folded back to me.  I wasn’t thrilled now with my hand, but the pot was laying me four and a half to one, so I was obliged to call.

The flop was Two of Hearts, Eight of Clubs, King of Clubs.  So I had top pair once more!  I bet $30, just enough to chase away the flush draw.  My opponent raised me another $30.  Again because of the pot odds, I called.  I should add here that I wasn’t getting any tell from him that made me think I was beat, but I was going to be cautious going forward anyhow.

The turn was the Four of Clubs, so the flush draw arrived.  I didn’t really think he had it.  I put out a $80 bet, and this time he just called.

The river was the Four of Diamonds.  I really thought I was the winner here.  I had my opponent covered, and I could see he was a bit nervous.  I put him all-in (a little over $175) and after a short delay, he put in the crying call.  I showed my two pair (Kings and Queens with a Jack kicker) and he mucked, so I don’t know what he had; I’m guessing an underpair to my Kings.  Maybe he paired the flop, with an Ace-Eight.  Regardless, I pulled in a pot of over $600.

So this makes the point how you can lay down a decent hand that might be best but might not be, and surrender a good pot; only to pull in a bigger pot with a better hand later on – maybe even the very next hand, like what happened to me.

Meanwhile, I ended up getting a revenge hand against my first opponent later on.  Here is how that came down:

I was in the cutoff seat once more, and again the bad guy was the big blind.  By now I was the deep stack at the table, just barely edging out my opponent’s chipstack.

The blinds posted ($2 and $5).  The first player folded, the next player called.  Two more folds, then the next player called.  I looked down to see two black eights, so I called.  The button called, the small blind folded (getting 11-to-1???) and six of us went to the flop.

The flop was Eight of Diamonds, Ten of Clubs, King of Hearts – a beautiful rainbow flop that gave me some well-hidden trips.

The big blind – my nemesis – put out a min bet of $5.  The next player called, then a fold, I called, the button folded, and three of us took the turn card.

The turn was the Six of Clubs.  Some draws were starting to come in, and I was ready to take the pot now.  The big blind put out $20.  The next guy folded, and now I was heads-up.  I raised to $60.  He doubled my raise to $120 and I called.

The river was beautiful – the Eight of Hearts.  The big blind bet $150.  I decided how much to raise; ended up pushing all-in for $400.  It wasn’t too much of an overbet, and I was hoping it looked a little desperate.

My opponent went into the tank for ages.  I just tried not to move or anything.  He thought and thought and thought, and just when I had decided that he wasn’t going to call off the rest of his chips, he called.  I showed my quads, he said “nice hand” and mucked, and I brought home a pot of over $1000.

I love poker.

Lay It Down!

One of the biggest weaknesses that I have in my game (which I continually try to improve on) is being unable to lay down a decent hand post-flop when common sense tells me I am beat.  There is no question:  When I consider which hands have cost me the most money, it’s either bad beats (and I can’t do anything about that) or holding onto a good-not-great hand for too long.

I’ve been trying to tell myself two things:  First, it’s better to lose a little bit of money than a lot – so lay that good hand down.  And second, the nature of no-limit hold-‘em is such that if you let this decent pot go now, you will find another decent-sized pot later that you have a better chance of picking up.

So with that thought in mind, I want to post two hands I played recently.

I was at a $2/$5 no-limit table in the small blind, and thanks to some decent cards and nimble play I was the chip leader at the table with about $800 in chips.  A player in middle position who wasn’t that good doubled the big blind to $10, and it was folded around to me.  I looked down to see the Ace/Queen of Spades – a very good hand, but not exactly premium because it is so vulnerable to a bad flop.  So I called the raise for another $8.  The big blind, an extraordinarily tight player, called the raise also (this troubled me a little) and we went to the flop.

The flop was perfect – Queen of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, Deuce of Hearts.  With such a draw-heavy board, I led out for a pot-sized bet of $30.  The big blind doubled my bet to $60 (Danger Will Robinson!), and the other  player quit.  Getting four-to-one on my call, I stayed for another card.

The turn was the Nine of Clubs.  I was really worried about this other player now.  He was so tight, and I could hardly remember a hand he’d played to this point.  But I didn’t want to surrender the action completely, so I put out a “blocking bet” of $60 into a pot of around $150.  If my opponent raised this bet, I was gone.

He thought for a REALLY long time.  Usually, but not always, I’ve found that a long pause means my hand is best.  But then he put out a raise of $80, to a total of $140.

I really hated laying down top pair with top kicker, but I couldn’t put him on a draw with that degree of aggression.  He probably had a flopped set, or maybe two pair.  I wanted to call so bad, but I let it go.

Three hands later, sitting in the “hijack” seat, the following hand came down:

An early player limped in.   I looked down to see two red eights, so I limped also.  The button limped, the big blind checked, and so four of us went to the flop.

The flop was Seven of Diamonds, Six of Spades, Five of Clubs.  So I had an overpair and an open-end straight draw – pretty nice, although with such a crowd in the hand I wasn’t sure what to think.

The initial limper bet $10 into the $20 pot – the kind of bet you make when you don’t know what else to do.  In other words, I wasn’t terribly frightened of it.  In fact, nobody was – we all called.

The turn was the Jack of Spades.  Now the initial limper bet $40 into a $60 pot.  I really didn’t put him on a Jack, so I called.  Everybody else folded, so it was heads-up to the river.

The last card was the Seven of Hearts – what a great card.  My opponent checked, and I thought about what to do.

Because of his scared river check, I still didn’t put him on a Jack, and I didn’t put him on a Seven either (for trips).  I decided that I had the best hand.  The only realistic hands that beat me were a flopped set or a flopped straight – and my opponent hadn’t bet enough to chase out hands that could challenge those holdings with a redraw.  And I didn’t put him on a higher pocket pair either, because of his weak preflop play.

Now many times I would just check behind, ready to show down the hand and move on.  But I’ve been trying to value-bet the river more frequently in these types of situations, so I put out a $60 bet.  My opponent quickly folded, and I brought in a $130 pot.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fox Sports Net has a new program, called “Club WPT”.  I suspect it’s an appetizer for the upcoming season of the World Poker Tour (now on FSN).  This program is ghastly.  They bring five appallingly poor amateur poker players in and they play for the life-changing sum of $5000.  It’s almost unwatchable.

Poker After Dark on NBC is a really good show.  On Saturday night, they broadcast the “Director’s Cut” program, which is a summary of the week’s action interspersed with player interviews that reveal what was their thinking behind certain plays.  But will somebody explain to me, why do they use for background music during the “Director’s Cut” the soundtrack to cheesy porn flicks?  I’m serious; watch this show sometime and listen to the background music.

Canterbury Park and Other Locales

I spent last week in Minneapolis and was able to spend some time at the Canterbury Park poker room.  I have been there once before and I was looking forward to going back.  I was hoping that my coworker Steve could also come with me but he wasn’t able to make it.

I wrote earlier about how the typical Foxwoods player was sort of the stereotype of the East Coast, badda-boom, badda-bing guy.  Well, the Canterbury player was just as much the stereotype of the northern Plains folk:  Really friendly, cheerful, talkative, and with an accent so thick that I could almost tell you a player’s address as soon as they started speaking.  I really had a lot of fun playing there.

Even the jokes at the table were more tame!  Here’s one that I got quite a kick out of:

This lady goes to the grocery store to buy some groceries.  She finished shopping and goes to the cashier to check out.  After she puts all her stuff on the conveyor belt, this guy comes up behind her to stand in line.  He looks at what she is buying and says, “Well, I can tell that you are single.”  The woman is quite surprised.  She looks at her purchases – milk, eggs, bread, that kind of thing, nothing out of the ordinary – and she can’t tell what he is seeing.  So she says, “Yes, I am single, but how could you tell?”  The guy says, “’Cause you’re ugly.”

I mostly played $8/$16 limit.  They were running a lot of Sit-n-Go’s the day I was there, and I kept wanting to play one, but the cash game was just too juicy to leave.  It was surprising how quickly the players at that level became more cautious once they saw how I was playing.  It was pretty much like a light switch clicked on about twenty minutes after I sat down.

I have some more work travel coming up, and by coincidence, they are to places that have nearby poker rooms:  Spokane (Northern Quest) and Kansas City (Ameristar, Harrah’s, etc.).  I may be heading out to New York City next month, and if so I may see whether or not I can extend a day or two and drive down to Atlantic City.  I did that once and really had fun there.  And then I am going to Pendleton, Oregon next month for a sort of vacation.  There is a big tournament playing there.

Meanwhile, I got invited to a cash game at my friend Thom in Burien’s house last night.  I was glad that I was going to be in town to play it, as much as I have been on the road lately.  It was really a lot of fun to play there, even though the stakes were lower than what I usually play (specifically, .10/.25).  Unfortunately, I nearly tripled up in only about three and a half hours of playing.  I was merciless at the table, pretty much stomping everybody except for Thom (who is a very good player) and Kim (who I never really had a hand against).  So now I don’t know whether they will want me to come back!  I guess I just can’t keep myself from going for the jugular whenever I see two cards in front of me.

I played one really big hand like a complete donkey and sucked out, felting one guy who deserved better.  I had pocket Aces, and my opponent turned the flush.  Now, I had a read on this guy that was so solid he may have well been playing his cards face up.  I knew he had that flush.  He (properly) went all-in, a huge overbet to the pot.  With the nut flush redraw, I called.  My 15% chance of grabbing another Spade came in, and I took all of the chips.  All I could do was apologize because it was such a pathetic play.

So why did I call the bet when I knew I was so far behind?  I guess for a few reasons, none of which I can really be proud of (and some of which aren’t even very good reasons):

•     I wanted to throw out an image of being kind of a goofball of a player.  I do that sometimes, usually early in a game, to mess with my opponents’ judgment of what kind of player I am. Sometimes it even pays off.
•     If I won, I could maybe put my opponent on tilt, and maybe a few other players too, and then tighten up and rake in the rewards.
•     I felt that I was a better player than most of my opponents, so if I lost a pot I could easily win it back by grinding the rest of the night.

Anyhow, I was pretty embarrassed at how the hand ended up, so for the rest of the night I played a lot tighter . . . and made even more money, although at least in a more respectable way.

Two Hands to start the game with

I'm going to discuss two consecutive hands I played recently at a cash game ($5/$10 no limit).  They were the first two hands I played at this particular table.

I had just barely sat down at the table and had to post the big blind.  I didn't recognize any of the players and I hadn't seen even one hand played out before I posted.

An early player limped in; a middle player raised it to $50.  The small blind called.  I looked down, and saw Ace/Jack of hearts.  Yee-haw!  What do you think I did?  Reraise?  Smooth call and slow play?  (I can tell you that I made my decision instantly, and never second-guessed it for a moment.)

I folded.

What??  Fold Ace/Jack suited from the big blind?  What could ever have compelled me to do something so ridiculous?

Well, of course several things went into my decision.

First of all, I didn't know my opponents at all.  I didn't know whether the pre-flop raiser would play any two napkins, or was super-tight and only played Aces.

Second, Mr. Raiser already had one over-caller.  Another tighty?  Who knows?  I sure didn't!  I could be way behind already; against any pair I am under 50% to win.  Was I willing to commit so much of my hard-earned money on just a guess or a hunch?  No; at least, not until I knew the players better.

Third, as I've alluded to already, Ace/Jack is the kind of hand that can seriously be behind.  Any pair leads it at this point; and against Ace/King or Ace/Queen it is something like a four-to-one dog.  And the pre-flop betting made it seem quite possible that I was up against a bigger Ace; certainly Ace/Ten or worse wouldn't be very likely to raise into two limpers, or overcall a big raise.  The fact that my hand was suited adds maybe a percentage point or two to my chances; unless I flop a flush, or at least a four-flush, the hand isn't really worth taking any further past the flop.

So I folded, as did the early limper.  It was heads up to the flop.

The dealer put a Four/Deuce/Ten rainbow on the board (and no hearts) -- completely missing my hand.

The preflop raiser put a $70 bet into a $120 pot.  The small blind thought for a while, fiddling with his cards while he considered what to do.  He eventually said, "I think your bluffing", and mucked his hand.

I don't know what either player had, but as the session continued that day I determined that the early raiser was moderately tight, and the small blind who called him much looser.  In other words, I don't think the pre-flop raiser was bluffing, and I think I made a good laydown.

++++++++++++++++++++++

The very next hand, I was in the small blind.  The same pre-flop raiser from the last hand raised it to $50.  The player to his left insta-called.  Everyone else folded to me, so I was looking at putting $45 into a $115 pot; in other words, I was getting pot odds of 2.5 to 1.  If my hand was a winner 40% or so of the time, mathematically a call was the right choice.

I looked down and saw Ace of Spades/Queen of Diamonds; a hand only one kicker better than my previous hand.

I decided to call.  Ace/Queen is actually a LOT better than Ace/Jack.  And I trusted that I could get away from the hand if I failed to flop anything.

It was up to the big blind now -- and he popped it up to $100!  A curious little min-raise.

The preflop raiser called the extra $50; now there was $260 in the pot.

The player on his left, who insta-called the initial raise, said, "Well, that's too much for me" and folded his hand!  I was baffled.  The pot odds at that point were over five to one!  I called the raise, and we went to the flop.

The cards came King of Diamonds, Two of Spades, Jack of Spades.  I was first to act.

I had basically garbage at this point.  A gut-shot straight draw, sure; but the Ten of Spades completes the potential flush for my opponents.  With only a 13% or so chance at the non-spade straight, I had lost total interest in the hand.  I checked.

Oddly, my two opponents also checked.

The turn was the Jack of Clubs, putting two Jacks on the board.  Now, my non-spade straight was a 7% possibility; but against the potential full house it was still loser.

I checked -- and again, the two other players also checked.

The river was . . . the Ten of Diamonds!  So, I had rivered my straight!

By now, I pretty much thought that I had the best hand after all.  I didn't think somebody with a full house would have played it that way -- it would have meant that they seriously slowplayed a set (holding pocket kings) or two-pair (say, King-Jack).  So I began to consider how best to get the most value for my hand.

I decided to bet $200 into the $350 pot -- a pretty big bet, maybe looking like a "scared" bet.  I got one caller -- the big blind -- and the other player folded.

I showed my straight.  My opponent showed Ace/King offsuit, and I dragged in the pot of over $700.

Needless to say, I think my opponent misplayed his hand.  His preflop re-raise was good; with Ace/King your goal is to build the pot, and you're not afraid to see the flop.

Checking the flop was a huge blunder.  You've got top pair and top kicker, on a board that is straightening.  Why give an opponent (i.e. me) the chance to catch up?  Put out a bet here and pick up your pot.  I certainly would have folded to a bet here!

After the turn brought another Jack, I can understand the check here.  I don't agree with it, but I do understand it.  Having failed to bet the flop, he doesn't know where he's at in the hand.  And being timid, he just checks behind.  He should have bet here to gain some information.  Again, I would have folded if he had.

On the river, it's too late.  I even think the call was a mistake; any Queen or Jack beats you.

Needless to say, it was a lucrative session at the poker table that night.

Stealing blinds

I've heard more than a few players say that they probably lose more money from the blind positions than anywhere else on the table.  I'm sure that's the case for me also, but maybe not as much as it is for other players.

I'm not really all that connected to my blinds after I post them.  If you want to steal them, go right ahead.  They don't belong to me anymore, those chips belong to the winner of the hand (and it usually won't be me).

Whenever I hear advice to defend your blinds or (worse) "protect your children", I cringe.  Protect your children?  It's not your children fool, it's a couple of clay chips.

I've lost way more money "defending my blinds" than I ever have letting somebody with garbage steal them.  I've even played games where the same player would raise (or re-raise) whenever I was in the blind position so that I would fold and he would take the blinds.  Go ahead!

But I have to add, if I wake up with a decent hand (say Ace/Queen, or a pair of Jacks or better), I WILL play back.  And I consistently find that when I am up against a thief who is taking my big blind every round, and I am patient enough to wait until I have a playable hand before I try to defend, I end up winning in one hand much more than what I lost surrendering all those other hands!

And ... what's more ... I confess that I'm not the least bit above stealing blinds myself!  If I see that the big blind is really tight, and I am in late position (or sometimes even middle position), I will from time to time toss in a raise with a wide range of hands and try to pick up the pot right there.  If I do, that makes me feel better about letting all my blinds go.

Back from Foxwoods

Well, I spent the weekend at Foxwoods, and except for getting a flat tire on my rental car, I had a terrific time (as always).

On a dare from my co-worker Jon (who wasn't able to come down with me after all), I joined 37 others in playing the $560 buy-in Saturday afternoon tournament.  The tournament lasted about six hours!  But unfortunately, for me it only lasted about three.  Even though I made it through over half the field and played good poker, I didn't get the helping of luck I need to make it into the money.  My last hand happened when I shoved my short stack from middle position with Queen/Eight offsuit.  I was called by a pair of sixes, so with two overcards my chances were just under 50%.  But another six flopped, and I was down to less than 5% to win.  The last two cards were blanks, so it was off to the cash games for me.

A couple of hands will illustrate how I did playing cash poker.  Both times I had pocket queens.

The first time, I bet big against a guy who had flopped a flush and consequently donked off way too many chips.  I don't know what made me think my hand was any good . . . I know better than that!

The second time, I put my opponent all-in after the flop came three low cards (I had him covered).  He had pocket kings!  The board was a five-card straight, so we ended up splitting the pot.  Whew!

One more hand stands out and it is truly pretty sick.  I had six/five offsuit on the button, and joined six other limpers.  The flop came nine-eight-seven with two spades.  I had flopped a straight!  Now, I think straights are really vulnerable hands.  The big blind bet out and got two callers, and when it came to me I popped it up big.  The big blind now re-raised all-in (he had me covered), and I called.  He had two spades, Jack high, and roughly a one in three chance to win.  Do I need to say what happened next?  The flush card came on the river, and I was felted.

Foxwoods is such a fun place to play.  It was not very busy, however.  Folks attributed the small crowd to the fact that there is a big tournament going on at the Borgata right now, so a lot of players are going there.  Also, college has started up again so a lot of the kids are back in school.

The people who play in the poker room at Foxwoods are a total hoot, at least to this kid from Nebraska.  They are basically a caricature of the East Coast tough guy, like they just stepped out of an episode of The Sopranos.  One guy literally referred to his cousin Vinny.  Another guy was directed to "fuhgettaboutit"!  All I needed was for somebody to say "Badda-boom, badda-bing" and the picture would have been complete.

And of course, each hand was a macho contest, with nobody able to back down from anybody else.  Now for me -- who years ago gave up any pretense of being macho -- it was no problem at all for me to fold my blinds or call a bet without raising.  But for the other players, what can I say?  The standard pre-flop raise was anywhere between $30 and $50 (in a 2/5 game!), and five or six players would stay in.  Pots routinely came close to the $1000 point by showdown.  It was a very unusual environment for me, and while I never really got frustrated with this style I was baffled most of the time on how to adjust.

Later this month, I will be in Minneapolis so I'll have a chance to check out the Canterbury Park club.  I've been there before and it is a really nice, fun poker room.  Really bad players, which is the most important element of course!  I'll be there with my co-worker Steve, and I'm sure it will be a great time.