Grandma's Implants (AC Trip Report Pt. 3)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Well, I'm back. Going over these hands have been a bit of a welcomed distraction from the upcoming trial. After my client chose to back out of the settlement offer, the Judge was rightfully pissed. The offer is still technically on the table, as far as I know, and my client will hopefully understand that he is now in a much worse position now than he was when he took the offer. It's put me in an odd spot. On one hand, the pressure is off. The case is fucked, so no matter what happens at trial, no one is expecting success. On the other hand, I cannot help but feel upset by the fact that my client is shooting himself in the foot. I shouldn't care, but I do. It isn't just my hard work going to waste, it's also the difficulty of watching someone, who you are trying to help, hurt themselves.
So, instead of focusing on that debacle, I keep marching forward. And so, we shall march forward with some more hands.
Somewhere around $700 or so, I decided to take a brief walk. I wanted to get away from the table and clear my head. Part of me was concerned that I would lose my feel for the table. A lot can happen over a short period of time to change the table's play. But part of me also needed a mental break. I stopped at about 11:30am to get some lunch at Fatburger, downstairs. I opted for a Baby Fat (smaller burger) and chocolate shake. Both hit the spot.
It was now two hours or so later and I felt the urge to check on Alceste, KJ and Mary, who were still playing in the $340, $100,000 guaranteed tournament across the casino in the Event Hall. I walked over and combed the isles, looking for my crew. I eventually found KJ, who pointed me to Mary and Alceste. All were holding up with less chips than they had started with. Mary had already survived a KK v. AA confrontation, which she lost. I also bumped into Wendy, a regular from the Wall Street Game. It never ceases to amaze me the level of degeneracy in our group. It seems whenever I am in AC, I bump into Wendy or one of the I Had Outs-Wall Street Game crew.
After saying my quick hellos, I walked back to the game, downstairs. The Crazian was gone, but his stack remained. His girl and the doof to my left were gone too, leaving their chip stacks in their stead. The table was shorthanded at 5 players. The guy to my right, a quiet guy who read a newspaper for the first hour that he sat down, had left as well. In hindsight, he left before I did, but had yet to return.
I took my seat and counted out the players. 6 players in many casinos means half rake. I asked the dealer if that was true and she replied, "It's half-rake if you request it." "Well, I'm requesting it." And that's how the next hand was half-rake.
6-handed, I was dealt 44 and decided to limp. The button bumped it up to $12. Both blinds called. An EP player hesitated. He finally called. I called as well. The flop was 468, with two hearts, giving me bottom set. The EP player decided to start off the action by betting $20. I decided to thin the herd, particularly because of the flush draw on the board, so I raised to $60. The action folded to the EP player who pushed all-in. I don't remember how much he had behind, but I am fairly certain it was more than $80, but not more than $140.
I replayed the hand, first in my head, and then aloud. When I'm stuck on a decision, I like to talk to my opponent. I turned to him, "I have a good hand. My only concern is that you have the straight." I thought to myself, 'He doesn't have 66 or 88, because he hesitated and looked like he wanted to fold preflop. If I have to worry about anything, it's that he got lucky and hit the straight.' I said aloud, "I'm not too happy about the flush draw either." I considered this all and stared at my opponent. Once again, I noticed the telltale signs of discomfort. I can't recall what it was exactly, but I remember getting the impression that he was squeamish. I asked the dealer if I could show my cards and she said no. I then pulled the trigger. "I call." The river was a blank. I showed my 44 and he showed A8, for top pair, top kicker. Another one bites the dust.
Within the next 30 minutes, I went on a mini-rush. I had decent cards, which I bet preflop, usually got one caller, and would take down with a continuation bet. More often than not, I actually had a good hand. It was clear that my image was established as a dangerous player. Big stacks tend to do that. Also, I guess the table noticed I was making the right calls. Fear was on my side.
With some of my table mates gone, a new crop of players joined the fray. All these players knew about me was what they could see with their eyes: I was sitting on the big stack by a decent margin, and was dressed like a goofball. Those are conflicting indicators that would suggest that I was luckboxing. By demeanor, however, I was running the table, so that could've apprised them of the reality, that I was playing well and in control.
It was about 3:30pm when I decided to have some more fun. I had 45s and after a slew of limpers (maybe 6 or more), I decided to raise to $4 (a min raise of $2) from the BB. A new player in MP, a good looking guy of about 25 years wearing a grey hoodie and a baseball cap re-raised to $6. I could rell immediately that he was a gamer, and by 'gamer' I mean that he plays the game in all its aspects. He had been playing well and by min-raising me, was demonstrating that he could take it and give it. It wasn't threatening as much as it was his attempt to join in the fun.
Everyone and their sister called and by the time it got to me, I decided to end the shenanigans by calling. The Gamer looked a bit disappointed. The flop came down A45, with the 4 and 5 of clubs. I hit an unlikely two pair, but the board was fairly coordinated. I bet $20 straight away, since I didn't want any more free cards. There were a bunch of folds and the last player left in the hand, two seats to my right, called. He was an Asian man with a squat frame and a big round head. He raised to $50. I considered the situation and called.
The turn was another club. Gulp! I didn't think my opponent would bet with just a flush draw. It was all too likely that he had an ace. I checked and he bet $50. I considered raising to rep the flush, but decided that I was still probably ahead and didn't need to tempt fate. I called.
The river was a final club, creating a four-club board. I checked and he checked. At showdown, he showed 45h. We had the same hand. It chopped and I exclaimed, "All that work for nothing!" People love that shit.
A minute later, I was involved in two back to back hands with QJ. The first one, I flopped a Queen and bet out, getting one caller. I bet the turn and took down the pot. In the second, I also flopped a Queen. My caller called me down this time, until I rivered two pair and got paid off. I am a bit light on details, but I was steamrolling the table. I had reached over $1000 in profit. But that wouldn't last for long.
At this point in the proceedings, I was running the table. I was on a mini rush of cards and most of my reads were accurate. I considered walking once I hit $1,000 in profit. I even texted wifey Kim as much, but once I hit the number, I wanted more. Why not, after all? If I was able to accumulate three buy-ins with relative ease, what's to say that I'm not a favorite to win a tad more.
After my QJ hands, I instantly limped in the next hand with J9d, hoping to extend my rush. The flop came down KTx with two diamonds, giving me a flush draw and an inside straight draw. I liked the results, particularly because I was on a rush. A player bet the flop and I called. I was the only caller. The turn was another Ten. It wasn't an ideal card. My opponent bet out again, this time, I believe $25 (the first bet was in the $10 range). He had a shortstack with only $80 or so behind after his $25 bet, so I called once again. The turn was a Queen, offsuit. It gave me an extremely well-hidden straight. My opponent bet out $30 again and I considered my options. I could flat call and leave it at that, or I could raise all-in and take his last $50. I figured my straight was well-hidden, so my opponent wouldn't be concerned with that river. I cannot tell you why now, but I also recall that I did not think that he was happy with the flop. I just couldn't place him on a flopped set, and that was my only concern. Or so I thought. I pushed, he called, and I showed my hidden straight. He showed QQ, for a rivered fullhouse. I suppose I was never ahead in that hand, but I had a good drawing hand. Little did I know that when I hit one out of the 12 outs I sought, it would actually be one of the two cards that he would need. And don't hurt your brain on those numbers. It's all relative. Whatever the case, I misplayed the hand and admitted it fairly aloud. At this point, I had new neighbors and we all got along just dandy.
On my left was a female player who had a good grasp on the game, even though she wasn't able to get much going with her lackluster cards. We chatted lightly until she mentioned that she played with me on another occassion. "Are you a sports writer or something?" "Well, not really." I hesitated and then outed myself, "I write about poker at a website, though, HighOnPoker.net." That didn't seem to ring a bell for her, but I have a fairly distinctive look and personality, so I tried to think up more reasons why she might think I write about sports for a living. "I may've told you that I am a freelance cartoonist for the New Yorker. It's not true, but I tell people that every once in a while." That didn't ring a bell either. "How about my shirt? Was I wearing a Superman shirt?" No dice there. Oh well, she probably did play with me. She seemed familiar too.
I mentioned that I really couldn't do much about the J9d hand and then corrected myself. "Actually, I could've just called the river bet...or folded preflop. Shit." I didn't like how I bled some chips. I had hit my $1000 profit mark and then just fell off of it. I was down to about $885 when I finally assessed the damage. "Damnit." I joked with my female neighbor and the new guy in the 10 seat, a friendly guy with a dark beard. He was chatting with the female neighbor, so we all began chatting and got along fairly well. The dealer was also playing along with some of the table banter. "I need to win another $115 and then I can leave." The portly, bubbly blonde dealer looked at me quizzically. "I'm trying to win $1000 for my grandmother's operation..." I paused for a beat, "She needs new implants." I got some laughs from my corner and the dealer. For the rest of the night, $1000 was referred to as new implants. When I lost a pot, I'd say, "Grandma is going to be pissed." When I won one, I would say, "Grandma is getting double D's baby!" Ironically, I got the whole one-two punch of (1) playing for grandma's surgery (2) for new tits from another player years ago. I love found shtick.
I recovered from the J9d hand by remembering that I was well in the black and that barring small losses, I'd been accumulating chips for hours. I knew I could turn it all back around, or at least I'd try.
More fun stuff coming up, including some odds and ends I missed from earlier. I still have a half-dozen or so hands to discuss, although I don't remember anything particularly exciting from here on out. Or maybe I'm wrong. It has been several days and the high of poker may be fucking with my recollection.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 10:53 AM,
3 Comments:
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At 11:46 AM,
Unknown said...
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I loved the trip report, that's when your best stuff comes out. Great job on the trip too.
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At 4:20 PM,
RaisingCayne said...
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Nice write up. Sounds like a good time was had.
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At 12:22 PM,
Alan aka RecessRampage said...
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On the 45 hand, why didn't you raise the turn?
"The turn was another club. Gulp! I didn't think my opponent would bet with just a flush draw. It was all too likely that he had an ace. I checked and he bet $50. I considered raising to rep the flush, but decided that I was still probably ahead and didn't need to tempt fate. I called."
Your read was that your opponent didn't have a flush draw and that he more likely had an Ace. In which case, unless he has two pair, the best he can have here is a A and one club. On the turn, you should be raising here, not to rep the flush (because if you are, you're turning two pair into a bluff which is silly), but for value. I think you're missing a lot of value here.
Also, on the river, when the 4th club comes, now that you just simply called, why not bet out? Your two pair is now so vulnerable but if you bet, he would have to fold hands like A9-A6 (with 6-9 being spade) or even a better two pair like A5 or A4. Maybe this didn't have to be a split pot... esp since you just called, it's very likely you have a flush.
