A Quickie before Xmas

First off, Happy Holidays everyone. Religious views and all that aside, I enjoy this time of year for the food and family stuff. My brother picked up an awesome "Bachelor tree" for us the other day and I just had to post it somewhere.



It kinda looks like that. The camera on my phone is terrible so I won't bother posting the actual pic. Anyway, I rolled into Capitol after work Thursday just in time to watch Tony rake in a nice pot over at 4/8. I was third up on both lists and was ready to grind some holiday pokers. The room was pretty busy, I guess people had already gotten their shopping done.

I sat at 4/8 for a couple orbits, won $9, then made my way over to 6/12 with a rack and a half of chips and a smile. CL, Wayne, Wilson, and a couple other regs were already there, and the action seemed loose. My second hand in I woke up with Queens in LP and raised a couple limpers. We saw the flop five handed and it was something like 633. I bet and got a couple callers, wondering if someone was slowplaying a hand. The turn was a five, so an ugly straight got there, but not much else. I bet, another couple of callers. The river was a ten, a perfect card really. I bet and only Claudia called me. My hand was good and we were off.

After that hand seat four ended up opening up, and Wayne asked me if I'd like to move to his seat (seat three) and he'd slide over for me. Wayne and I have been playing rather consistently together for the last month or so, and he knows I like the corner seats (I was stuck in seat six at that moment) so that was nice of him. I also know that he likes being on the left of me when he can, so part of it was him being nice and the other part I'm sure was that he'd like position. I don't mind him having position, as I know he won't three bet me wide and he's actually a nice guy to sit next to.

So I slid over, played through my blinds, then raised over CL's limp (she limps a wide range, and that's an understatement) with pocket sevens, Wilson defended his SB, BB called, and we saw a flop four ways of 732 with two diamonds. Is it going to be one of those nights? Checked to me and I bet, Wilson raised, called in both places, I three bet, Wilson called along with everyone else. The turn was a five, kinda scary since the wheel draw got there as did 64, but both of those would be gutshot straight draws on the flop, and I don't see Wilson Check raising that nor do I see the limpers cold calling two bets back to them with those hands unless they had diamonds mixed in.

I bet the turn, and everyone called. The river paired the seven, giving me quads. Hah, I had been saying in my head to pair the board, but I didn't expect to pair the seven. I bet and only Wilson called. Later on I wondered what Wilson had in this hand and I think it's a midpair like 99-66 (not sevens obviously). I really like his line in the hand for what it's worth if he did indeed have one of those holdings, unfortunately for him I woke up with a hand.

A few hands later I raised Queens from the BB against an LPP limper in seat nine, CL in seat one, and the SB. The flop came out AK5 though with two hearts. Ugh. I bet out anyway because the two LPPs behind me definitely did not have just aces or kings in their range, but unfortunately both of them called. The turn was ten, and at this point I was fairly content with shutting down for the hand. I had picked up a gutshot straight draw, but I was fairly confident seat nine liked her hand on the flop call. Seat one didn't have to have me beat, but I hadn't seen seat nine do anything super crazy postflop. Both players checked through the turn however, and we saw a six on the river.

The hearts missed, and both players checked the turn...hmm, might I be good? I checked, seat nine bet, and then CL folded in seat one. Didn't bet the turn, but now is betting the river? Probably not an ace, but could still be Kx. Maybe a goofy two pair? I called and she turned over J2 of hearts for the missed flush draw. Hmmm, maybe I should have kept barrelling, I could have gotten bet off my hand on the turn.

I can't remember many other hands that vividly, so I'll stop there. Tony ended up coming over from his 4/8 game, replacing the LPP in seat nine. A couple other LPPs went bust and eventually we had a table full of decent players i.e. no bueno. I was up about $300 for the day and was content with breaking the game, even if it was only 7:30pm. Oh well, the games will be there later. I went home, played some Rockband 3 with the bro, ate dinner and crashed out early.

Happy Holidays everyone, enjoy your families and friends.

A Couple Messy Sessions (Part II: Saturday)

Told you not to hold your breath, man I'm updating this almost a week late. Sorry about that, but like I mentioned, shit was going to be hectic this week. So 6/12 with Tony, Wayne, and Davin went alright. Early on in the session I had a rough patch, mostly against a spewy guy in seat nine who I just couldn't hold against. I was in the game for $700 (three and a half racks) by the time all was said and done.

A few fun hands occurred when I got back from a quick bite to eat with Tommy and sat down on Davin's left. I think this was the first I had seen of Davin, so I posted my missed blinds in the cutoff and Davin raised directly to my right. I looked down on a couple red Queens and three bet. Folded around to seat nine who called and Davin who also called.

The flop came out ace high unfortunately, something like AT3. Seat nine donked the flop, Davin called, and I raised. Both called and we saw a deuce turn. Checked to me, and I opted to check it back. The river was a four and seat nine looked like he was going to bet out, then decided to check. Davin said something to the extent of "man don't call me, I don't want to turn my cards up" and bet $12 into the pot. I had planned on calling a river bet from seat nine, but Davin's hand sounded like a set or a straight. I folded and seat nine looked up Davin who had pocket fives for the rivered straight. Seat nine flashed an ace for what it's worth.

The very next hand I picked up Kings and three bet Davin again. "Will you be doing this the entire time?" he asked me. I jokingly snapped back "hey it hasn't worked yet, don't be mad, you won a pot last time." This time there was maybe four or five other people in the hand, and we saw a flop five or six ways for three bets a piece. The flop was something like Jack high with a couple clubs. Checked to me in the hijack, I bet, I got like three or four callers, and Davin said something like "wow I wish I had AT of clubs here" then folded.

The turn was a blank, I bet and was called by a couple more people. The river was an ace...not the prettiest card in the deck, but it wasn't a club and the action ended up getting checked to me. I was in position and figured if someone made aces up they would have bet into me, and while there's a chance the nutflush draw just made top pair, I had to value bet my hand. I opted to bet and only seat nine called me. I showed kings and he mucked his hand, likely a jack that couldn't make two pair.

Sometime a bit later I won another big pot, this time with AJ of hearts against QQ. I raised UTG, a LPP player three bet me, Davin defended his BB and I called. The flop was KQx, I check called a flop bet three ways, then spiked broadway on the turn. Davin checked, I checked, and the lady bet out. Davin tank/folded (I really wanted a call obviously), then I raised. The lady must have known for a fact I had a straight and not two pair, because she only called with her middle set The river blanked out and I had a decent comeback after being close to down $400 for the session at one point. In the end I think I lost a little over $100, not bad considering things had started off very bleak.

Stay tuned, I had a quick session tonight (Thursday) with Tony playing 6/12, and I even had a brief flirtation with the high hand board. First I have to thank him for a couple awesome Xmas presents, as he was my Secret Santa this year (awwww <3 bff). He got me the newest add-on to Red Dead Redemption for when I feel like mindlessly killing Zombies and a 12-pack of my favorite beer. Thanks pal! Oh, I'll also include the gift I gave, a Jets throwback Darrelle Revis jersey for my friend Kenny. I know it's a mirror at work, but maybe I should have shipped some windex along with the jersey haha.

A Couple Messy Sessions (Part I: Thursday)

I've been busy busy busy the last few days or so, and it doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down until this Thursday. Last Thursday I headed over to Capitol for a session after work. Things were rocky at 4/8 yet again for me, as I had a great table with a lot of psychos, but I simply couldn't win a hand.

Things would change up a bit though as my fourth hand at 6/12 I picked up aces in the big blind against UTG's Queens. We capped pre-flop with six players seeing the flop (aye caramba!) The flop came out ten high, something like T73 rainbow. I kinda figured UTG had a hand, though he did seem like an action player. I bet into him and he raised, folded all the way around to an attractive asian girl (NC, I've mentioned her before in the blog) who called two bets cold, I 3-bet, UTG finally just called and NC called.

The turn was a four, somewhat scary if NC has something like 65, but I didn't think she'd call two bets cold with a gutshot on the flop so I wasn't too worried. She checked, I bet, both called. The river was a nine, making the board T7349. Again, not all that pretty, but I figured UTG had something like a pair Kings or Queens and I really didn't want to see a face card on the river. NC checked, I bet, UTG said something to the extent of "oh you have a big pair, let's see how big" and raised me. Wtf? NC folded and it came back around to me.

I paused a little bit and looked at the board. I'm not throwing my hand away in this spot probably ever, but why the river raise on that card? "You can't have jack eight right? That doesn't make sense" I said to him. "Pocket kings huh? You have pocket kings?" UTG asked me as I was debating. Is this guy not afraid of kings? Does he have the other two aces? A set of nines? "Man, I was kind of hoping that's what you had" I blurted out, in response to his question about whether or not I had kings.

"Oh yeah?" he asked in an almost hushed tone. I made the call, pretty much expecting to see a set of nines or tens when he flipped over pocket queens. Phew, I tabled my aces and he told me "nice hand, I was hoping you had jacks." Poor kid, sucks to get queens or kings when somebody else has aces, but you don't have to scare the shit out of me with that river raise. I appreciated the extra $12 I guess haha.

After that hand I won a few more nice pots and found myself close to +$300 for the session...unfortunately I cooled off considerably and didn't win another hand for over two hours. I watched my chipstack dwindle from about three racks down to under one; I even had to reload another rack. I came back a little bit after that, but wow what a terrible second half of a session. I spent the majority of my time folding trash hands then the rest taking beats. I'm pretty stoic when I take beats, if anything I think I look dazed or in a trance, not once did I react poorly but NC even commented on how unlucky I was getting and seemed to legitimately feel sorry for me. Too bad she's taken, I would have loved a sympathy hug.

To be honest, at the end of the day I felt like I should have been down three racks based on how poorly I ran, so that cheered me up some. It really sucks swinging that far down though after crushing the table initially. I'll be back to blog about my Saturday session spent with my pal Tony/fender403 where we played 6/12 along with WI, Suzanne, and Davin Anderson. I've mentioned him before in some old 9/18 and 15/30 entries, so we'll talk about a couple fun hands against him. No promises on how soon, I have to work both jobs the next couple of days/nights so it's going to be hectic.

Friday Night with Fender (Part II: 6/12 Action)

So after a fun 4/8 session with Tony I made my way back to the Pai Gow room where they had opened a 6/12 game. I saw a couple familiar faces in the game, including a cute asian girl (KV), John (guy from my earlier 4/8 table) and another reg I'll call CS.

The action was pretty bad early on, maybe the first half hour or so and I debated moving to a 4/8 game with more action. As the table filled up though, our buddy John from earlier started opening up some. I got involved in some hands against him and the mamy callers his raises got. You see, if John was opening with a ton of raises he'd be getting three bet mercilessly in online games, but in low stakes live games? Call, call, call. I was guilty of it early on at 4/8 too, so I can't talk too much, but I was well aware of it during my time with him at 6/12.

I did well early on, flopping top pair and holding a couple times as well as flopping a straight and getting some action, but my big pairs (KK and QQ) both got cracked in some big pots, then I went card dead for awhile. John meanwhile went on a pretty good heater, hitting a lot with his junk and eventually cashed out a rack winner. He said he was going to pick up a Chicago fire pizza and head home to the wife, whom he told he'd be home by 5:30 (it was 5:45 when he said this). The dude is funny and I like him a lot, I wish he'd play more/longer.

Eventually Tony had to go home for the night so I wished him well, then our table got moved from the Pai Gow room back into the main card room. That seemed to be just what I needed, as I engaged the boomswitch soon after we table changed into the main room. Eventually a guy who had been playing NL for a majority of the night came over to the table and sat on my direct right, let's call him CY. He was playing pretty loose and opening a wide range, so I looked to exploit that in spots where I could.

I got a couple AK type hands against him and three bet a few of his opens. One hand I faced some resistance from a different player in the hand, and I failed to even flop a pair, so I had to fold. But the other two I flopped TPTK after a cap pre-flop of at least four players seeing the flop and then a flop lead from CY followed by a raise from me. He looked me up both times after turn and river bets, and he said he only had a small pocket pair both times (more likely he flopped or turned a pair and decided to look me up).

One of my biggest multiway pots I won that night came with CY as one of the main aggressors. Limped in quite a few spots, I limped from the CO with 75 of hearts, WI (older tight reg, plays somewhat passive at times) limped the button, and Feliz complete his SB from seat six. The flop was a jackpot 643 rainbow. Early Merry Xmas for me.

Feliz led out from the SB, called in one spot, CY raised, I flatted (may be a weird line, but I didn't want to three bet and shut anyone out. I figured if I three bet it may give Feliz a chance to fold a pair of sevens or other similar holdings since he knows how I play. WI folded, Feliz three bet, the earlier caller still called, CY capped, I called, as did the other two players.

Four ways to the turn which brought out a ten of clubs. Feliz led out again, the earlier caller still called, CY only called this time, and I put in a raise. Feliz folded, the caller called and CY again called. The river was a queen, still giving me the nuts. Checked to me, I bet, the caller in between me and CY finally folded, and then CY tank called me. I was good obviously and raked in a sweet pot with a flopped straight.

I eventually got called away from the game by some friends hanging out at the Old Tavern (dive bar down the street). The table wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best table I've had lately by a long shot. Feliz is a good player, WI isn't bad either, and everyone else that was there really wasn't playing overly crazy. CY had even attempted to calm down after I had been exploiting his opens for most of the night. I decided making a rack and a half ($300) was good enough, time to go hang out with friends and enjoy a Friday night off from work and poker.

Friday Night with Fender (Part I: 4/8 and Fat Tire)

My buddy Tony, or fender403 as some of you may know him, had invited me earlier in the week to play cards with him on Friday night, but I told him I probably wouldn't be able to go. I had been playing a ton of cards lately and Friday was usually one of my busier days working with the kids. I had planned on working from 8a-630p that day and probably wouldn't feel up to playing. That being said, in typical Friday fashion, one of my kids' parents phoned it in and I was heading to Capitol by 230pm. Weeeee.

I arrived and saw that 6/12 was not yet running, but Tony couldn't stop bragging about how great his table was. I got a 4/8 seat in about 10 minutes, but not at Tony's table. I asked him if he minded that I sit with him for a bit and play along with him and he said that'd be cool. He's pretty courteous to me and asks if it's cool to table change over to my tables, so I thought I'd return the favor. The only time I'll tell him no is if the game is not good i.e. no one's gambling...the last thing I need is another solid player at that point.

When a seat opened up at his table it just happened to be directly to his right, so seat three. We hung out and shot the shit for a bit while getting $1 Fat tires from the bar (awesome). He had initially offered a round of diet cokes since we're both little girls trying to watch our figures at the moment, but we couldn't pass up the $1 Fat Tire drafts. In typical Santi fashion, I was tipsy after about half of it lol.



Needless to say I was involved in the action almost immediately. I recognized a guy in seat nine named John, he's a usual 6/12 player (and I'd end up facing off with him later in the night at 6/12), and knew he had a tendency to play loose/fast. My second hand at the table he opened from EP and I flatted from LP with KQos and one of the blinds came along. In retrospect I'd like myself to three-bet John here because of my previous history with him, but at this point in the day I had no idea what mood he was in and what cards he was opening so I just flatted in position.

The flop came AK6 with no flush. The BB checked and John pet out per usual, I decided to raise my midpair good kicker, the BB folded and John called. I've seen John open connectors as weak and low as 76, so I really thought my King was well ahead of his range. The turn was another low card, John checked, I bet, and John check raised me to $16. Hmmm, we have some history together, but a lot of that was a long time ago. I definitely don't remember him ever bluff checkraising a turn, in this spot in the past he has at the very least an ace, most likely two pair or even a set. I released my hand and he took down the pot.

A few hands later I limped behind an UTG limper with QT of clubs. In loose 4/8 games I like limping behind with cards like this because it's very likely that after a couple limpers everyone else will come along with absolute trash. To my delight we saw a flop somewhere around six or seven handed of A87 with the ace and eight being clubs. Awesome flop for my hand. John led out from the SB, called in one spot, I raised, got a few callers behind me, John called and UTG called.

A ton of money in the pot and I have the second nutflush draw, obviously I'm loving my equity in this pot against five other players. The turn brought out a nine of clubs, giving me the second nutflush and putting out a wonderful action board of A987. You think with seven people seeing the flop in a 4/8 game that a few people might have a piece of this board? It gets checked to me, I bet, then a guy in seat five raises. Hmmmm, King high flush? Or a straight? Or two pair? Or a set? An older gentleman in seat seven calls $16 cold, then it folded around to UTG on my right who also called $16. Wow, do one of these guys have the King of clubs? I'm thinking it's a possibility, and I had better charge him the max to try and get that fourth club. Three! I put $16 more dollars in the pot making it $24 to see the river card for my remaining opponents. Seat five only called at this point (why hello straight/two-pair/set), seat seven actually folded (baby straight like 65? One pair of aces?) and then UTG called and said "pair the board!"

Ugh. No, do not pair the board. That's the last thing I want. In fact, I'd rather you put out another club than for you to pair the board. The river was a nine of spades I believe and UTg bet out on the A8798 board. Aye yahhhhh I called and seat five called behind me. UTG showed 98os for runner runner full house and swept in a huge pot. Why couldn't you pair the seven dealer? Or Pair the ace maybe (that might not have been good to be honest, seat five may have had aces up). Regardless, I built a sick pot that would have been mine a good majority of the time and for that I was satisfied.

No other 4/8 pots really came close to that one while I was there, at least hands that I was involved in anyway. I watched Tony go on an absolute tear for awhile and it was cool watching him play well and get to run well. By the time our table lost players and was forced to break I was about $25 below what I started with, which wasn't too bad considering the pots I lost early. 6/12 had actually started a half hour before my 4/8 game broke, but I decided to hang out with Tony rather than jump into a new 6/12 game right away. There was a seat open after the table break though, so I saw that as my opportunity to transition over. Part two should be out tomorrow sometime, thanks for reading.