I'm Still Steaming (Old CP Article)

Oh wow it's been awhile since I have been this upset when playing cards, but today was just one of those days. I'll start off by saying I was playing 3/6 Limit Hold 'Em at Cache Creek. I arrive at my table and meet the villain almost immediately. I'm about to sit down at the only open seat at the table, when he says to me from his spot on the immediate left of my open seat, "Hey bud, I was going to move there." Alright, no biggie, people like to change seats all the time, and he was pretty cool about it, so I didn't mind that at all. All this told me was that he was one of those "superstitious players" who actually thinks a seat runs hot or cold.

So, my very first hand, I get KJ suited. I limp with it and flop top pair. A couple people check, and the villain who just took my seat bets out. I raise it up, get a couple of callers, and the villain calls. The turn brings a harmless deuce. So now the board looks like this J-8-4-2. I think I'm still good, and it gets checked to me, I bet, get a few callers. The river is another harmless looking card, a 4. It pairs the board, so I bet out, and only the villain calls. I show him my KJ, and he flips up A8. He says, "damn guess I shouldn't have moved, I knew you had that Jack I knew you had it" Wow, okay, thanks for calling me down with middle pair there buddy. Not only did you allow me to win my first hand that I sit down with, you then decided to pay me off with middle pair. Much thanks :)

Anyway, the night played on as usual for me. I wasn't getting involved in too many pots, but the ones I did get involved in I either won, or lost only a little amount of chips. I was running rather smoothly and feeling pretty good. I was having a good time as the table was loose and fun, except for the villain. This guy was on my immediate right still, and he would not shut up. Talking about how he likes to play alot of hands, and after hitting runner-runner straights, telling me how "they call me gambler." Okay buddy, whatever you say.

Alright well all this builds up to the hand I go crazy on. I had been running kind of cold, so I was ready to play a hand. Not only that, but the villain had just stolen a couple of pots by raising pre-flop and betting out on the flop. Both of his last wins were uncontested, so I knew he was going to raise again this hand. I look down and see Pocket Eights.

A couple players fold, one player limps, the villain raises (Just like I knew he would) and I re-raise it making it three bets to go. Now usually I would respect a player and maybe just cold-call the two bets and try to get players to stack on behind me, so if I hit a set, maybe it would be profitable. But this time, I wanted everyone to fold. I knew the villain had crap, so I wanted everyone else out of the hand. I wanted to isolate this guy with his bad hand, and take down a small pot. Anyway, my pre-flop plan works almost perfectly, as everyone behind me folds, as do the blinds. That leaves only the original limper and the villain, they both call.

The flop comes out 8-3-2 rainbow. I just flopped top set, the absolute best hand at the time, and very likely to hold up against a limper and someone who raised pre-flop. But, I knew the villain could have a wide range of cards, so I took no chances. They both check to me, so I bet out with the absolute nuts. Usually people will check there to try and trap people in, but I find that three-betting Pre-flop and then checking the flop is stupid. I bet out, the limper calls, and then the villain utters some gibberish. "I'm gonna play this hand crazy...we're going to have a crazy hand..." or something stupid like that.

So the villain check-raises it. Hmm, check-raises me while I have the best hand? Works for me. Usually I just call here and let him lead the turn, and then raise it then, but I was tired of this guy trying to run people over. I three-bet it and forced the limper out of the hand so I was just heads up with "gambler." He just calls, which makes me start to wonder what he has. I'm thinking maybe a big pair, maybe AK, maybe 23os, to tell ya the truth, I was kind of lost at this point. All I knew was that I was way ahead of almost every hand he could have held.

The turn brought us a Ten of clubs. Harmless. He checks, I bet, He calls. The river brings out a four. The Villain looks at the dealer and asks,"Is it on me? I bet..." Hmmm...warning bells go off in my head just a little bit. Why is this guy "donk-betting" into me? I have shown nothing but strength trhoughout this entire hand, and now this. Did he just make a set of fours? All I know is that I need to raise it up at least one time. I raise, and then he three-bets. What the fuck? I look at him, and he is staring at me like a freaking psycho. Oh I forgot to mention that throughout the entire hand, this guy was staring me down like he wanted to take a bite out of my neck or some shit. My good friend Tommy says it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. I'm thinking that my total lack of respect for his raises was pissing him off something rotten, and he was trying to intimidate me. I was looking at the board the entire time, generally just trying to avoid this guy's stare and hide the fact that I had a monster hand. Anyway, I look at him and I go into vintage "I'm pissed off because you just hit a fucking four outer on me" mode.

"I can't believe you ran me down with A-5 man. You hit a four outer on me, didn't you?" I just call, and the luckbox holds his cards high up and says, "are you ready for this?" and shows me 56 of spades. Five-six of freaking spades. I knew he rivered a straight, dammit, I hate being right. The guy wanted to do something crazy, so he check-raised me with a gutshot straightdraw and hit it on the river.

For those of you who know nothing about poker, let me crunch some numbers with you real quick. After the flop, I was 85% to win the hand, because all I had to do was dodge four remaining fours left in the deck. When the ten of clubs fell, I was 91% to avoid a four. That is called being in "very good shape."

I guess what I'm upset most about was that I caught this guy red-handed, yet he still ended up winning the pot. Kind of reminds me of the post I just made about playing a hand perfectly but still losing. Let's start at the very beginning. I had watched this guy for the entire time we had been playing together. I knew he was loose and crazy, and I knew that the previous two hands before this he raised pre-flop with junk. So, I did my homework on this guy. He raised pre-flop, I three-bet it so I can get heads up with this guy. Beautiful play, if I do say so myself...Nik Santi 1 - Luckbox 0

Then, I flop top set on the guy. He tries to check-raise me and intimidate me, and it might have worked, had I not known this guy was full of shit and that I had the absolute nuts. I three-bet it and charge this donkey more to see the turn card, no way I am slowing down for this guy...Nick Santi 2 - Luckbox 0

The turn he misses, I bet, he calls while he is only 9% to win the hand from here. He is making a losing call, as on average, he is getting nowhere near the proper odds to call for his gutshot straight draw. Nine times out of ten, I am getting a free six dollars here because of a terrible call...Nick Santi 3 - Luckbox 0

Ahh the river...He bets out, and in hindsight, I guess I could have called. But he's such a bad player, he could be betting out a lower set, a low two pair, AA - JJ, so I raise because I feel it's the right play. Dammit, he three-bets and now I know I just lost to a straight. By the way, I put him on A5, so I lose there too...Nick Santi 3 - Luckbox - 1

I'm satisfied knowing this guy was just donating money to me nine times out of ten there, but it sure would have been nice for that to hold up today. That was a very nice sized pot, and it really cost me alof of chips and alot of sanity. I was very obnoxius after the pot, and kept commenting on "Captain Four-Outers" brilliant style of play. I'm usually good about not berating the bad players, but tonight I kind of lost it. Bad Nik :(

Oh and my favorite dialogue of the night...

"I told you it was going to be a crazy hand, that's why they call me gambler..."

"I'll just call you a bad player. You gotta teach me how to suck-out a four outer like that though, that was pretty nice."

Poor moron probably didn't even know he was behind so far and he probably went home tonight thinking he made a great play. That's okay, that's how I want those players to think. They'll be there next time, and so will I.

Thanks for reading