Early on looked like really, really good attendance. But then Pete & Robin decided to move, Alan had Elena this weekend, Brook & Jamie ended up getting called away, Tim elected to purchase cleats, Mark couldn't make it, Kenneth stayed home with Issac, Kevin & Cassie had the impending birth on their minds, and Rick & Jennifer were busy...suddenly we had but 8 people. Was all good, that is a pretty fun number and we had a fun group:
Roman: I know his play and fear it.
Amanda: Tight but becoming more aggressive
Me: Maniac
Tracy: getting better every time.
Phillip; tends to play differently depending on who is there.
Josh; surprisingly good, but can be impatient
Stanica; improving every time out. Still can make some...uh...strange calls, but her play is so much better than when she started it is scarcely believable
Emily; when she plays a lot she is better than me. When she only plays here and there as she has taken to doing she also can make some strange calls
I started out fairly tight, raising or folding. And since I was getting no cards and Roman was starting hot, raising regularly, lots of folding. He hit a couple pocket pairs back to back, he was hot, built a nice chip stack.
Then I got pocket 4s in the big blind. I thought about raising...but checked. Now, there is a mistake. First off, with people limping they are showing weakness. If I hit, I want to get paid off. Let's say I raise to 200, 4 times the big blind. 2 people would fold instantly, maybe all of them, so I either win it outright or at the least lessen the odds someone hits the flop. I also increase my potential winnings exponentially...let's say 4 people limped ahead of me, a not unreasonable assumption...I raise and chase out 2 of them, that adds 600 to the pot (my 200, plus 200 each from 2 callers) meaning the pot is now 1050 chips. I know I am coming out raising if I trip my 4s and with that size pot I can reasonably raise more without scaring people off. Instead I checked like a chump, flop had 3 nice high cards, we checked around. I bet the turn, they folded. Thus by going against my pre-flop instincts and checking I potentially cost myself 400 chips, maybe more. Small plays like that make a difference later in the game. I know better than to play passively but I did so anyway.
A few hands later I did some serious raising with Emily & Stanica involved, got them both all-in...and Stanica and I split the pot to put Emily out first. A bit later I had top/top and Amanda was priced in with second pair.
On the bright side, that started a rush. I raised with pocket 10s, raised, made a nice pile. The next hand Roman cracked my pocket 8s for a nice pot. I raised a couple A/J, A/10 type hands and won them. I was on a real rush. From the button I picked up pocket Kings which I almost prefer to pocket aces based on pure feeling, a dumb way to play. I just "feel" like I am going to hit the Alabama Knight Riders (3 kings, the K-K-K) more than trip Aces. Mathematically incorrect and something that will cost me in the long run since Aces are better. Well, I raised to 300, Phillip & Stanica called. Phillip had just lost a good size pot when he thought he had the best hand and called so he was leery, but Stanica had LOTS of chips. Flop came q/5/....6? I calculated how much Phillip had left and raised 1400, enough to put him all-in. He went into the tank for a long time. I started thinking about what he could have to call. A/q? K/q? Q/rag? I knew he would not stay with rags so no way did he hit the 5 or 6 and no way was he on a straight draw. It was a rainbow so there was no flush draw. I really, really wanted him to call. I figured he had paired the queens and was trying to figure out how I could have him beat.
A couple times he said, "I think I should call, but after that last hand I don't see how I can." That is actually a horrible sentence. His instincts said call. He went against them. Sure, some times our instincts are wrong, but TRUST YOUR READS! Go with them. And what happened the previous hand has no impact on the current hand. I might have raised based on something like A/J, maybe Big Slick, maybe a pair of jacks or 10s or even 8s...I had already showed I would raise with all those. I might have missed completely and been making a continuation bet. He obviously had something good, either queens or something that could beat queens. I don't disagree with his fold, but I do disagree with his reasons. The only reason to fold here is you believe you are A) behind and B) the pot odds do not justify a call. As it turns out, he had pocket Aces...so the ONLY hands I could reasonably have that beat him so bad he cannot justify a call are; pocket 5s, pocket 6s, pocket qs. If I have any of those he is on a 2 outer (Aces). He has seen 5 cards, there are 47 unseen. 45 help me, 2 help him, so 45-2, he would be a 22.5-1 dog and he was getting nowhere near that on his money. However, he did not think that far ahead and laid down Aces to my Kings. Had he made the (correct) call he would have more than doubled up and been a serious threat for some time to come. Instead he had 1400 to play with and a few hands later Josh put him out.
Finally he folded. Stanica thought about it for a while and folded as well. My Kings held up for a good-size pot and a huge psychological edge.
Now I was rolling, building a slim but important chip lead. This was a good time to lay low, play only premium hands and let people knock each other out. Instead I fell in love with K/9 for some inexplicable reason. Normally it is a hand I fold time after time after time. It is a HORRIBLE hand. If I hit my nine...okay, middle pair, good kicker. If I hit my King...okay, good pair, mediocre kicker. If I hit the straight I get crushed by anyone playing Big Slick...duh, someone is ALWAYS playing Big Slick. There are maybe three hands that can hit to make K/9 good...a flop of K/K/9 or 9/9/K or...well, okay, 2 hands. Staggeringly high odds.
And here came example A. I called Roman's raise with it. Rule #1 in tournament play; if you are big stack, don't mix it up with stacks that can hurt you, prey on the smaller stacks that you can scare. If you MUST mix it up, do it with premium hands. Flop came K/blank/blank, all hearts. I raised, he re-raised.
Red flag alert! True, I instantly read him for not having the flush draw, I also read him for having the king and even for having me beat. True, I was priced in...but might be so far behind I could not run him down. I had a pair of kings with a mediocre kicker. If I get out at this point I still have the chip lead and no problems. I needed to lay it down. Instead I decided to try to get lucky. 1000 chips later he showed a King Queen...I was way behind from the beginning. However, I had talked myself into believing he had made a completely out of character raise with K/8 or worse, not hit any small cards, and was somehow behind. I read he had me beat...and paid off a lot of chips anyway. I also read he would lay it down to an all-in...and did not do that. I played a weak hand passively and gave away to the chip lead when I got badly, badly outplayed. Reason 10, 149 not to play mediocre or weak hands.
Finally we got down to 3 players, Stanica, Roman and I. Stanica had me badly out chipped by this time. However, she started making some strange and weak calls and I started playing aggressively...I waited for strong hands, when I hit something I went all-in. This let me steal a few pots (if it is really stealing when you have the best hand) but I got no calls and never doubled up. Still, I built up over 4000 chips from a low of less than 1000 and then Roman took Stanica out.
Heads up I continued to call, then go all-in when I hit something or fold when I had nothing. I was playing well. Then I picked up Roman's favorite hand, K/10. I went all-in pre-flop. That, to me, was a dumb move. I had chips to play with, it is a nice hand, but as of yet it is still King high...it is losing to any pair, even lowly deuces, and is behind any Ace. Since I will pair once out of three hands it is not an all-in hand, even heads up. Well, he called with...K/J. I was dominated, a 3-1 dog. And the flop paired my 10...and his jack. The turn gave us both the King. I needed a queen or 10. I did not get it and was gone.
On the dark side, the pre-flop all-in was stupid. On the bright side...I would have been all-in on the flop anyway with my 10 and definitely on the turn with 2 pair.
I was clearly outplayed in the mid and late stages by both Roman and Stanica until I tightened down and Stanica loosened up. I goofed away a comfortable chip lead by overplaying weak hands and deserved to lose while Roman was playing as well as I have seen him play and deserved to win. It was good to see the improvement in Stanica's play and was a fun, fun night overall.
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