Lydias, 8/13

15 people so I decided to play to make it an even 16, 2 tables of 8. I was determined to A) put people on some sort of hand and B) raise or fold pre-flop.

First hand, I was small blind, picked up a mediocre A/7. Everyone limped in. Every instinct I had was to raise to 200 and get rid of a bunch of them, figuring to raise on the flop (I would probably be first to act) and take down the pot right there. Instead I limped in.

Limping here is bad. People could have literally any 2 cards...A/2 or A/A, they are both playable when you can limp. So is a 2/4 or 5/7, something that can hit.

Well, an Ace came on the flop. I raised, couple callers. That pretty much should tell me I am beat. A 7 is nothing to be proud of. I raised again on the turn to see what would happen, putting him on a better Ace or 2 pair. We both checked the river and sure enough, he had A/J.

I folded a couple hands and then picked up the pocket rockets. I raised to 200. Got 1 caller. Flop was ragged and rainbow. Raised 200, he called. I figured he had something like A/10 or higher, maybe K/J, or possibly a small pocket pair. Raised the turn, he called, I got the idea he was fishing so I raised another time on the river, he folded. I showed the Aces anyway. I wanted to establish a tight image where I was hitting.

A couple of folds and then I picked up the cowboys in the big blind. A bunch of people had limped so I raised another 200, got rid of most of them, raised the flop and turn having him read for a worse pair at best, and he paid me off on the river.

A few folds later I picked up Cowboys again, this time in early position. My raise got rid of a few but Jason stayed with me. And the 8s came out. 2 on the flop. I raised 200, he called. Turn was a blank. I checked, he raised, I called. River was an 8. I raised 1000. He called. He had a boat, 8's over 10s...but mine was over Kings.

A couple hands after I had a King/2 of Spades. Ironically, when someone says, "I only played it because it was suited" I lick my chops. I like to hear that because suited is statistically almost a wash. Well...I played it because it was suited. I limped in with it in late position. Flop came King and 2 spades. Hmm. Top pair, 4 to the 2nd nut flush. I raised. Lots of callers. Turn was another spade and gave a possible straight draw. I raised, a couple callers. Turn could complete the straight draw, I raised, Norm to my left came over the top all in, everyone folded to me.

This is the first time I have played with this Norm...ironically, I was seated between 2 Norms...what are the odds...but he had seemed pretty solid. I had watched him for several hands and knew he would not be on a bluff here. That meant he either had a really nice flush...or the straight. And by when he chose to do that I instantly put him on the straight. So there was no question I was calling.

This was one of those instances where everything together. Without being able to specifically put a guy I had never played with before on 2 specific cards, I was definitely able to put him on a type of hand...in this case, a third nut straight draw. Even before he turned over his cards I KNEW he had a straight, though I could not say why I knew. Just something about his style of play led me to believe that is what he had. Straights don't beat King-high flushes, so he was gone.

Well, at this point I was the clear chip leader...and I leave once it gets down to the final table so I decided to switch up my play and start mixing it up a bit more, limping in and playing hands not quite as good. So I lost a few pots with middle pairs, etc., but won a few pots too. Still, I was clearly in decline, going from a high of maybe 10 - 12K down to about 6 or 7.

Did get involved with an interesting hand with Gary. Gary is a tight/passive player. He will occasionally take a flyer on top pair but for the most part he checks and calls along. He will call with made hands but also with good draws. I had a 4/6 of diamonds. Flop came black 4, 5 and 7 of diamonds, giving me a pair, up and down straight flush draw. I raised, drew a caller. Turn was a black 3, giving me the straight. I raised, Gary called. River gave me a flush, albeit only a 6 high (in my world). I raised, he called, I showed, he mucked. I know he had something good, probably 2 pair, but not good enough to take out a flush. I sure wanted my first straight flush, though.

A little later Jason was down to 400 chips with blinds of 1 & 2. I picked up J/9, a hand I love to raise with into multi-way pots. It is a great drawing hand. Sure, I will lose with it 6 times out of 7 or whatever the odds are...but I will make more on the one I hit than the ones where I lose because it is such a sneaky, deceptive hand. So if I risk, say, 400...I will lose 400 6 times. But the 7th time If I make just 3000 then I have made a profit. (7x4=28, I lost 2800 and won 3000, a gain of 200 chips). And how easy is it to make 3000? If I raise to 400 and get, say...3 callers, there is 1200. Raise the flop 400, say 1 folds and 2 hit something. There is 2000. Now I have to make just 1000 at the turn and the river to make my 1000 and if they stayed with me that long, they hit something and the money in the pot means they are priced in to calling.

Well, I flat out said, "Jason, if this weren't your big blind I would raise this hand." He grinned...and John went ahead and raised it to 400 from the small blind anyway. 3 of us called (Jason was not one of them). Flop came 9/9 rag. I raised. One guy briefly considered re-raising...and my table image worked against me. They others said, "If he raised, he will call you or put you all in." So he folded instead....as did everyone else. I still made 1400 on the hand...but would have made much more had I not had such a tight image. The real irony was I had shown a couple of bluffs not too long before that.

Got down to 10 players and a guy went out at the other table, so I called last hand before final table, then would step out. Naturally I picked up Q/J suited. I raised. It went around to John, a guy who really likes to talk poker with me and has great respect for my game. He debated between a fold, a much, and going all-in. Someone else, fooled by my early table image, said I would definitely call him if he did. He hesitated, then just re-raised me.

Now, at this point something did not smell right. I had seen him hesitate to call several times and usually it was a good hand, well worth playing, but he just did not have the will to see it through. I figured he had a couple nice high cards, maybe a medium pair. Flop came all rags. I raised to guage his reaction. He said, "Why you putting me at risk?"

Something about the way he said it, I revised my estimate of his hand. If he had two nice cards he would fold there. I know his game, I know what he would do. So that meant he had a pair. It also meant they were higher than the board and high enough he was not fearing any overpair I might have. I checked and he raised on the river. I called just to maintain my image, he showed the rockets, I mucked.

Then I was done as we were down to the final table. For the night I played very well. My reads were pretty spot on (in one hand I had I think A/J and Todd called my raise. He is prone to call with any two cards, almost preferring a 4/6 to an A/K). Flop came 4/8/J, I raised 600, he reraised another 1000. I instantly put him on a 4...and I would believe 4/8 or 8/J. If he had one pair I could run him down. If he had 2...I was all but drawing dead. I talked it out aloud, stuff like "I know you have the four...but if you have 2 pair you have me crushed." He said, "I guarantee I don't have A 4." Right then I folded. I had seen him do that once before and he had trips. Sure enough, he showed his cards...pocket 4s. It would have been easy to call that and lose a big chunk. Later I was watching the final table and on the end John did his face scrunching routine, then made a huge overbet trying to induce a call. Someone laid down 2 pair, kings and Jacks, and said, "I will probably regret it." "Nah, " I said, "John had the queen." which he then flashed. He hit his straight on the last card. I worked back through how I knew that. When the flop came A/K/J something in the way he check/called led me to believe he had a close card but had missed. Then when a 10 hit on the river he went all-in it looked like a crying call type of raise where he wanted people to think he had the 10 or worse...but I did not think he would have stayed in to a raise and 2 callers with 2 unders unless he had a draw. There was no flush draw at the time he made his first call. If he had no pair, as I believed, or at best a weak pair, maybe the Jack, another possibility, then he had to be on a straight draw so I put him on something like the q/j if he had a pair, q/something if not. As it turned out he had a q/2.), I raised and folded where appropriate, I bluffed a few times, even getting caught once or twice...but still made money on them. I built my desired table image and then used it to my advantage. Had I wished, I could have won that one, of that I have no doubt. So I felt pretty good about my game.