Week's Wrapup
Friday, March 06, 2009
Ever since this weekend, I've been exhausted.
Saturday night was wifey Kim's 30th birthday. Since she's a twin, it was also bro-in-law Marc's 30th birthday. The plan was to have a birthday party for both of the Wonder Twins at a bar in NYC called Mason Dixon. It's a country-themed bar with a lot of space and a bucking bronco for entertainment.
Men, if you want to meet women in NYC, go directly to the nearest Crumbs Bakery, order 50 cupcakes and walk around just about anywhere. Crumbs' containers are clear plastic, and their bags are clear plastic too. Amazingly, cupcakes work better than puppies. On my short 5 minute walk from bakery to home, every single female I passed had to make a comment. Two cute chicks were coming out of a deli when they saw me walk by with a plethora of cupcakes. "Can I have one?", the cute one said. The other one added, "What are they for?" I answered, "My wife's birthday...gotta go!" Yeah, not so much a lethario. The other highlight was the 40-ish crazy lady who looked at the bag with wild eyes and asked several times, "Where are you going with those ice creams?" (And yes, she referred to the cupcakes as ice creams, with ice creams in the plural.) With her crazy eyes, I just tucked my head down and kept moving.
Drinking got the best of me and I was exhausted all day Sunday. Of course, that Friday, wifey Kim and I, along with her whole family, were invited to a quickie wedding scheduled for Sunday night. We assumed it was a ceremony and a small dinner, since the bride was knocked up and everything was last minute. In reality, the family had somehow planned a complete 7 hour Sunday night wedding, complete with a Cabaret Show at the oddest Russian wedding venue I'd ever been to. It was like being at a hybrid wedding/foreign variety show. I expected a drunk bear to come out on a tricycle wearing a fez at any moment. Just surreal.
Yeah, so I'm exhausted.
It doesn't help that I am just starting a big trial and have two more trials ready to go. In the life of a litigation attorney, you really don't try many cases. The vast majority settle. If I have 3 cases going to trial from my case load all year, it's a lot. To have three this month with another one or two coming is a fuckton. But a man's gotta do.
What else does a man gotta do? Play poker, of course. So last night, exhausted from a long day at the office, I arrived at the weekly 1/2 NLHE (no limit hold'em) Wall Street Poker game. We started off shorthanded with 6 players, which to me is an absolute dream. There is just so much more game to be played with less players. I really cannot comprehend the players who will not play unless the table is full (not that there was anyone like that last night). I figure it makes sense if you are super tight, since the more players at a table, the more hand selection matters. But who the hell wants to play super tight poker? Not me. Any of you feel this way?
I found a new seating groove, which is nice. It used to be standard that I'd sit to Bakini Mary's right. Since Bakini is so tight, I like her on my left, since I don't have to worry about what she's doing. 9 times out of 10, she's folding and the other time, I'm folding. She wasn't there, though, so I opted for a seat to the immediate left of Sean, one of the regular 1/2 players at the WSG. Keep in mind, the WSG's 1/2 game is slightly different than most of the games there, since it was designed around some corporate guys. These corporate types tend to give more action and, quite frankly, are not as good as some of the lower-stakes players at the WSG.
Shawn and I get along very well. We both have an unhealthy knowledge of shitty movies and a sarcastic sense of humor. I've also learned his game quite well. I'm praying that he doesn't read here, because I don't want to give it away, but I sincerely think I have him pegged. I alternatively knew when I had to check it down because he was slowplaying his K8 on the KKx board and when to get more chips out of him through bet sizing when I flopped a set and turned a river.
With his play pegged, I merely had to figure out the rest of the table. Since I'd played with most of them before, it wasn't too difficult. Of course, it also helped that I was getting paid out when I made hands and had the intelligence and patience to fold when card dead. Here are some of my better hands:
In one of the first hands, I was dealt 44 and limped. A late position player raised to $7 and there was one or two calls before me, including Sean, so I decided to call.
The flop was Q74, rainbow (i.e., three different suits), so I had hit my set immediately. Sean checked, I checked, and the preflop raiser bet $15. I expected a continuation bet, hence my check with my set. Sean called and I decided to call as well. I didn't want to push anyone out of the pot since very few hands scared me. The turn was a low card, maybe 5 or 6, and Sean checked. I checked as well, hoping that the preflop raiser would take the bait, but he correctly checked. The river was another 7, giving me the full house. Sean bet out $23 and I raised to $55. The preflop raiser folded and Sean took a while before begrudgingly calling. When I showed my full house, he mucked. Easy moneys.
I had some more easy money when I was dealt AA. I decided to raise preflop to $10 from EP. A player two seats to my left had joined the game fairly recently and opted to call. I don't remember this guy's name, but he had been at the game once before. As I recalled, he did not have much money on him last time and seemed very tentative about playing as high as 1/2 NLHE. He seemed to have the same vibe this time. The guy was in his 30s, most likely, slightly overweight and bald, with the whole horseshoe hair thing going. By the way, guys, if you are going bald, just shave your head. Trust me. He was reminiscing with Jamie about how Jamie's home game started with $10 tournaments, which used to be the highlights of everyone's week. It was clear that in all that time, Baldy had gotten rusty, assuming he ever was very comfortable with the game.
So, Baldy calls as done, you guessed it, Sean. We saw a flop, 653 with two clubs. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. Sean checked and I bet $25. To my surprise, Baldy came over the top for another $35 or so, all-in. To my bigger surprise, Sean called.
"SHIT," I thought. I may've said it too. My biggest concern was that someone played 66 and got lucky. Still, I could easily see the weak Baldy playing an overpair to the board, which I obviously had beat. Sean called, which was confusing, but if he was strong, he would've re-re-raised. I opted to call, and for safety sake, checked it down. In hindsight, I should've bet the turn, because Sean was apparently on a draw (although not the flush draw). At showdown, I took down the pot. Baldy had 77, so he had an overpair, but barely. Easy moneys.
I had AA one more time. There was a $5 straddle and one caller, so I raised to $20, getting two callers, including Sean. I continuation bet the Qxx flop for $55 and took it down. I hit a set of 6s once, and got paid off as well, although it never reached showdown.
After amassing a bunch of chips, I went utterly card dead. I was never happier to be card dead. I had already announced that I was leaving early, at 9pm. I was so tired from Court and partying from the weekend, even though it was several days later. Finally, at 9, I cashed out, up $320. I said my goodbyes and returned home.
This has been a great year so far. I'm almost reached my total profit last year in the first two months of this year. I still need to get in more play at higher limits, but at least I'm feeling my groove.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 11:53 AM,
1 Comments:
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At 4:44 AM,
Cory Albertson said...
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Hey nice blog, love the header image. I'd like to share with you an idea of a small bit of work we could do together. If you could, shoot a blank email to cory@pokertipsDOTorg and I'll shoot you the details.
Thanks!
