Cheers Jimmy Foreigner... I mean Johnny Jet, or wait... thanks anyway!
Today was a bit strange poker wise. Wasn't very strange in any other way, overslept (standard), went to a café with a pal and had a nice sandwich (mozzarella, sundrued tomatos and parma ham) and a latte. Girlfriend joined us and then we went shopping for some supplies for the trip to France (2 packs of dynamite sticks, an UZI and some bottled water). But the poker was indeed a bit odd.
I played a short session in the morning (well, after noon technically but I had just woken up). Nothing very interesting happened but at least I managed to book a $70 win, which was nice considering my recent results. However, in my 600 hands I did not get AA even ONCE, ehich is what I contribute the success to.
The evening session was what broke the mould. First off, I had AA six times in like 700 hands which really is a lot. Second, I of course lost almost 2 buyins on those hands.
Stack #1
LAG raises UTG and it folds to me in the BB, I re-raise to $13 and he calls. Flop comes 673 rainbow. I check, he bets, I check/raise and he pushes. I call. He flips 99 and turn is a 9. Duh.
Stack #2
Folded to me on the button, I make a standard $4 raise with my AA and BB flat calls. Flop comes J84 rainbow. BB checks and I bet, he calls. Turn is the
. He suddenly bets 3/4 pot into me. Wtf? This feels weird... he started with $130 and I have him covered... I figure he most likely has a J (AJ, KJ, QJ or JT). That's what they usually have when they play like this. Well he's drawing to 5 outs so I raise small-ish, like 2 times his bet. He calls. River is the
and he bets half pot into me.
Man... I do not feel my AA is good but can I really fold here getting 3:1? Maybe. But I didn't, I called and he had
[8c] for the runner-runner flush. In hindsight I think the correct play would be to either push the turn or fold the river. Folding the river is probably best since I don't think I want to play for 130bb here.
So, I lost money again with AA. Well, that's been going on for 10k hands now so that's not something new... but here's what's new, I absolutely crushed the deck with my other hands. I was flopping monsters left and right, and getting paid off (and sucked out on of course). Played a lot of big pots in these few hands. Here's some of the bigger:
1 - Big draw
I raise with
[Jc] otb and SB makes a minireraise, I call. Flop comes ATJ with my flush draw so I got a pair+fd+gutshot. SB pots it, I push. He snap calls with AK so it's exactly 50/50, but he wins.
2 - Big bluffer
Button opens to $4, SB calls and I repop to $18 with KK. Button gets out but SB calls. Flop comes 368 rainbow. SB now bets $6. Snuh? Ok, that's got to be a really weak bluff or a monster... I call. Turn is an 7 and he bets $15... oh-kay, I'll play along, I call. River is a Q and he pushes (he started full stacked). Hmm... now I am thinking 67s.. which would explain the betting I guess... but would he really call a re-raise out of position with that preflop? This looks more like a missed AK, or maybe AJs... I call. He shows KQ and I drag. Shesh, way to be behind.
3 - What the...
A guy who looks pretty TAGgy raises to $4, I repop to $11 with ATs. He now basically mini-4-bets me. What the... mkay, I call (but I am not going to town with just an Ace here...)
Flop comes AT8 all hearts. I check, he bets like 2/3, and I push it in. He snap calls (!) with A7o and misses his runner runner.. what the? Is that anyway for a TAG to behave?!
4 - I get no respect...
I've had a bunch of good starting hands in a row at this table and have raised like the 5 last pots and not gone to showdown. Pick up 44 and there's a limper. With my current table image I don't feel like raising it up so I just limp behind. Blinds play and flop comes 347 with a spade draw. The 22/14 player who limped UTG bets out, I raise, blinds get out and he calls.
Turn is a 9 and he check/calls my bet. River is a Q and he checks, I bet $45 into the $60 pot and he calls with
[8c]. No respect I tell you...
5 - You win preflop, I win post flop
QTs is good enough to open with so I raise to $4 on thebutton. SB who started with $60 calls. I flop the joint on a KJ9 board. He checks, I make a small-ish bet and he calls. Turn is another K, he checks, I bet, he calls. River is a 6, he checks...
Well... I guess he COULD be slowplaying a house but I'm hoping he has AK/KQ and I push, he snap calls but TPGK with KQ is not good.
6 - Miniraise heaven...
Button miniraises and SB gets out. I'm in the BB with
[Qd] and a $117 stack. Well a real hand deserves a real raise so I pop it to $8. Well, button doesn't take it well and re-raises to $20. Awww shit. I mull for a while but decide that a 3-bet/fold would just look so weak so I call and hope for the best...
Flop:
[Jd][4d]
Ok. That's pretty good. I guess a royal would have been better but I shouldn't be too picky. Well, he's in the driving seat so... I check.
He bets $20 and now it is time for the mini-raise-revenge! I miniraise to $40. He once again does not take being raised well and puts his money in with QQ, drawing *pretty* slim to a runner full house. That's what you get for miniraising.
7 - A tale of Two Houses, the short version of the Dickens classic
First house I raise with KK, muppet limp/calls with KJ. Flop is KJ9, turn is a 9.
Second house button raises to $3.5, I reraise to $11 with 99 in the BB. Flop comes 89T and we get it in, he has JJ. Turn is a Q but the river brings another Q and ensures a happy ending.
The only other big pot I lost (except for the 2xAA and QTs) was with K9s, the sawmill. Idiot raises in the CO and I re-raise to isolate. He flat calls. Flop comes 4JQ with my flush draw so I have an overcard+fd+gutshot. He checks, I pot it and he pushes. I call. He flips....
[4c]
Nice freaking hand... I don't hit. I got enough equity to call his push even if he has a set (I had 41% here), and sure I am behind but... J4s? Really?
Anyway, the short story is I got hit in the face by the deck and won $640 for the day. Finally getting a reasonable ptbb of 23.
I won't be playing again tomorrow so this was my last session for the month, and it's been a great month. I put in 30k hands, which I think is a record, and made >$5000 which is definetely a record. My ptbb is at 7.55 which I think is sustainable (I am aiming for higher but happy... I guess). With my rakeback deal the total earning of the month should be about ~$6000 which I think is pretty damn nice for 55 hours of "work".
It also shows that I can actually get the hours and hands in, so that 40k hands/month isn't totally unrealistic for the spring, which I don't have school to worry about. My BAR when I get the rakeback should be close to $4000 so maybe I should start looking at the higher games... or maybe Electrolux should just give me the $15k he has won this month before his new GF steals it.