Wall Street Profits
Monday, June 23, 2008
Good afternoon, everyone! This post was started last week and just finished today, so excuse the disjointed narrative. Lately, writing about my live poker experiences has been more and more difficult. I haven't been keeping notes on particular hands, which makes these recaps always more difficult. Either I do well and just get into the flow or I do poorly and don't want to relive the loss. Either way, here we go with a quick recap of last week's Wall Street Game's .50/1 NLHE game.
For the second time last week, I returned to the WSG, hoping to undo the $30 loss from Monday's tournament and add a few more dinars for the old poker bankroll. Success was the name of the day, winning more than a buy-in with relative ease. If nothing else, it felt good to be playing live poker and slinging snarky comments again with a great cast of characters.
When I strolled into the WSG a little after 7, cards were already in the air. I scoped the table looking for a place to squeeze in my chair and eventually decided on the 9s, between Bacini Mary and Cheryl. Someone joked that I just wanted to sit between the two ladies, but my seat was actually well calculated. Cheryl, on my right, is maddeningly loose. In fact, my first hand of the night illustrates this point perfectly.
As soon as I sat down, I was dealt TT. Cheryl limped into the pot, so I raised from the $1 to $3. I got two callers, including Cheryl, out of position.
The flop was 457, a fine board for my overpair. It checked to me and I bet out $10, slightly more than pot. It folded to Cheryl who called nonchalantly. The turn was an 8 of Spades, creating a straight for anyone with a 6 and a spade flush draw. Cheryl checked again. I didn't like the draws and bet out $25. She called, reluctantly. The river was a 6, completing the board's straight, and when it checked to me, I checked as well after reasoning that (a) she wasn't folding to a bluffed better straight and (b) if she had the better straight, I could be screwing myself. She didn't have it and we chopped the pot. What did she have? A2o. She thought she had A2s, but nope, A2o. I still don't know why she called on the flop though (or preflop for that matter).
I took that mental note and filed it away. Cheryl confirmed her crazy action later in the night, too, when on several occasions she showed down A4o or some similar Ace-crap card. On at least one occasion, she cracked someone else's KK with A4o...it felt like more than once though.
In stark contrast to Cheryl's looseness is Mary's tightness, which borders on virginal and makes her an ideal candidate for player best to have on your left. Meanwhile, Mary ain't no fool and saw my request, "Who wants me on their left?!" as the real deal it was, immediately motioning me over. I don't blame her either. We get along well and we both acknowledge each others' particular style of game and act accordingly. A loose aggressive player like me is perfect for the role of Guy On Your Right.
After that first hand, I was only a touch annoyed. I recovered though when I practically doubled up with aggressive betting in a hand against Ben, a player I had only met once or twice before. I held QJ and for some reason unbeknown to me, decided to limp in EP. Actually, I knew the reason. I was hoping to see a cheap flop, but that idea was thwarted when someone raised to $3 preflop. I just checked after flopping top pair on a Q9x board, since I was out of position and feared a KQ or some other dominating hand. Ben bet, though, and Cheryl (I think) called, so I called as well.
The turn was a Ten, creating an OESD for me. I checked again, allowing Ben to bet. Cheryl folded and I raised from his $15 bet to $55. I was trying to win the pot right then and there. Ben, however, called, and we saw the river, a King, giving me my straight. Ben only had about $40 left so I pushed all in and he folded. At first I assumed I sucked out, but the general play lat night suggests that I may've been ahead the whole time.
It was a very aggressive game, with bets of over $20 common in later streets, which is a touch off for a $.50/1, $125-max buy-in NLHE game. The action only loosened up once we all saw what some people (cough Cheryl cough) were playing.
I don't recall many other hands, except for a major one late in the game. I held TT again and raised preflop to $10 from the BB or something similar. Most players had already limped preflop, so I wanted to push most but not all of the players out of the pot. I got two callers, Ben and Marco, who was on the losing end of a bad streak of suckouts.
The flop was fantastic, KTx. I bet out $25, a reasonable bet for the pot. Ben called, but Marco stalled, confused by the aggressive bet and the unlikely call. He eventually folded.
The turn was a Queen, so I pushed, since Ben was once again down to his last $40 or so. He called. The river was dealt, King, giving me a full house. We showed our cards, TT v. AJ. That sonuvabitch turned an inside straight draw. Darko, watching this, announced, Oh, SUCKOUT! I corrected him, "Actually, its a suck, re-suck." I still have no idea why he called $25 with an inside straight draw. Ironically, after the hand, Marco admitted what he folded...AJ as well. At least he was smart enough to fold.
Prop bets got started after a while. We did the usual Rank prop bet. I chose Jack, Jamie chose 4, Cheryl had 8 and Tom took 7. In literally three back-to-back hands, I won $24 in prop bets alone. The first flop was JJX, netting me $3 per player ($1 for the Jack on the side, and $2 for the middle Jack), the second flop was JJX again, and the third flop was a simple XJX ($2 each for the middle Jack). CHOO CHOO! Meanwhile, Jamie's 4s were apparently on break, appearing a couple of times early and maybe once over the last two hours.
Dawn (who gave me a quote of the day on her blog from one of my choice lines at the game) joined the poker game a little after me and took the seat on my immediate right, between me and Cheryl. We mostly kept out of each others' way. I introduced her to the Natalie Portman rap from SNL two years ago, easily one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Something about watching the waif Jewess Natalie Portman singing:
Guys: What you want NatalieIs it wrong that I find that incredibly hot? And lemme tell you, as much as my waif Jewess wifey Kim is the shiznittle, I don't think she's ever said anything remotely as bad ass. We need to work on that. Another choice line:
Portman: to drink and fight
Guys: what you need Natalie
Portman: to f*** all night
When I was in HarvardI swear, if this came out a year earlier, it would've been wifey Kim and my wedding song instead of 'Put It in Your Mouth.'
I smoked weed every day
I cheated every test
and snorted all the yay
I gotta a def posse
and you gotta buncha dudes
I sit down on your face and take a s**t
And for those uninitiated, check out Hulu.com, and search for Natalie Portman and you'll see some comedic genius.
Between the prop bets and the Hulu, I have to admit I became distracted by the game, but that was overall a good thing. Hours earlier, at about 8:40pm, I felt a bit of poker fatigue. I remember marathon sessions from days gone by, but lately, I begin fading after a few hours. When my cell phone's clock read 8:40, I was shocked. It felt like 10 or later, easily. I must admit that the proximity to home is also something pulling me from the game. Knowing that wifey Kim is home and just a 5 minute walk away is a temptation in and of itself.
Whatever the case, I decided to stick it out until 9:30pm, at which point, I was really bored with the poker. I was also sitting on a nice stack when I came to the realization that I should not feel obliged to remain at the game, considering that it was a cash game. I made the announcement that I would be leaving at 10:30pm, and at 10:30pm, made the announcement that I would leave at 10:45. It was about 11pm when I exited the apartment, up $150.
This weekend, I played a slew of online poker Sunday while wifey Kim dress shopped around Manhattan. I won a couple of tokens, used one for a 45-person SNG, placed 2nd for $270, took 2nd in an 8-person HU MTT, and won two blogger tournaments (aided by the fact that there were only two people in both competitions). It felt great to have a successful run, and I feel like my game is primed for success.
Tonight, I'm back at the WSG for .25/.50 PLO8, which should be interesting, to say the least. I am also toying with a day trip to AC this Saturday.
Damnit, I love poker. It's just that simple.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 4:33 PM,
4 Comments:
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At 4:17 PM,
Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa said...
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In stark contrast to Cheryl's looseness is Mary's tightness, which borders on virginal
Haha!
I swear, if this came out a year earlier, it would've been wifey Kim and my wedding song instead of 'Put It in Your Mouth.'
hahahahahahahahaha! -
At 4:31 PM,
said...
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Those are some "inappropriate maracas" comments...
shake shake shake
: ) -
At 5:18 PM,
RaisingCayne said...
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Sounds like a good time. Nice write-up, enjoyed the post.
And just for the record, using sexual references for alluding to an indvidual's nature at the game of poker is perfectly acceptable. -
At 3:59 AM,
Renee said...
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Hey dude, sounds like a good time was had by all. I enjoyed the post, fun to read, laughed out loud.
Later,
Renee
