My Peter Hurts
Thursday, April 20, 2006
I played last night at Robbie Hole's home game. In my last two forays there, I came out winner, but this time I was taken out early in both tournaments to lose a whopping $30. That's the beauty of the Hole game. Even when you lose, it barely stings.
As usual, it was a social game. I got to talk some strategy with Peter, one of the newer players, a 40-something guy who loves the game but still hasn't grasped some of the nuances. But hell, he doesn't need nuances, because he ended up kicking my well-studied ass all over the place.
In the first tournament. I watched Pete carefully as he looked at his cards and started to ponder. He looked like he was planning something, and to me, I read it as him having some quality cards. The thing was, I wasn't sure how much quality there really was. I decided to call his minimum bet from the small blind with AT.
The flop was T high, and I decided that it was time to make a bet. $3 to Peter, only to be raised $3 on top. Now I'm thinking, ok, he has me beat. He has JJ-AA. But I don't know. Pete doesn't have the best grasp of the game, and maybe I can make something happen here. I called and the turn was a J. I bet out $5 and Pete called. Good, I thought. He is slowing down. Next card out was a blank, and I decided to bet $5 more to control the pace. He called and I showed my pair of tens. He had 88. I was already doing well...
Yeah, but things didn't go well after that. I don't remember the exact situation, but Pete eventually took me out when I held A5 in the blinds. I was shortstacked after losing a hand to Pete that I, for the life of me, can't remember. The flop came down AhKx6h and I decided that I needed to protect my top pair. Pete raised, but I didn't fear Pete. Again, his betting range is so wide that he could easily have made the move with Kings. It's a loose game, and the two limpers didn't scare me. They could've had anything as well, which is the theme of the Hole home game. If they had an Ace, I was willing to lose. I guess it was partially a case of the awfukkits, but I seriously believed that I could take the hand. I push, Randy Hole calls, and Pete calls. Uh oh, I think, I'm in trouble. The next card was another K. I knew I was cooked. Now I was hoping that they had an Ace and that I could maybe chop the pot with another high card. But Pete bets big, and Randy folds. Randy had QJo, and Pete held K9h. For the hell of it, he also happened to river his flush, and I was out.
Oh, and please, no need to comment on the stupidity of my play. I know it, you know it, Pete knows it. But it was one of those games...
In the second tournament, I ran into trouble from Pete again. Lord, I wish I remembered the situation. I think I hit top pair of Aces with a good kicker. Pete, on the other hand, had 99 and hit his set. The worst part was when I pushed all-in. Pete took a long time to call, giving me false hope. When he called and showed it, I actually gave a mini lecture (I know, bad Jordan). "Pete, when you have a great hand and you are going to call anyway, you don't need to pretend like you have a crap hand. Just call." My error. He really was debating the call, fearing an unlikely straight. Either way, that burst my bubble and I resigned myself to dealing the rest of the night.
It was just one of those games. I couldn't get into the groove. I lost a hand to Robbie Hole where I called his hand. I called it! But I couldn't let go of my AJ on an Ace high board (A65). Sure enough, when we were all in, I said, "you have A6". He did. Reading your opponents, though, doesn't count for shit if you don't act on your reads.
So, I'm not really complaining. I had a great time. Tonight, wifey Kim will be going to LI to pick up a car. She has to drive into New Jersey tomorrow, so that means I'll be free to play until she returns to NYC tonight at about 9:30. Look me up!
The home game set for Friday is coming together. Right now the roster is a bit short though, so I'm doing what I can to up attendance. We have currently 5 players: me, Drewspop, SoxLover and wife, and Hoyazo. Any other NYC-area bloggers are invited to join. The plan is a $40 tourney with one rebuy in the first hour. Afterward, we'll probably play cash games.
posted by Jordan @ 11:28 AM,
1 Comments:
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At 12:14 PM,
said...
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Jordan, btw I'm working on a nice bounty on my head for the DADI tournament on Monday. I'll let you know within the next 24-48 hours what it is. It's pretty cool though.
