Lydias, 8/20/07

So fresh off my sub-par performance at the league edition, we were low on people so I played so there would be 2 tables of 5 each. Then 2 more people showed so we had 6 at each table.

My first hand I was small blind. It was a family so I completed the bet instead of raising my pocket 3s. That was a mistake. I was playing "friendly" instead of smart. It would come back to bite me. The flop was 8/9/8, a dangerous flop. No fear. John bet. I called. Barbara called...and she doesn't call unless she has something. Then we all checked it down to the river. I showed my 3s. Barbara showed the 8 she had caught. John laughed and flipped up...pocket 3s.

I said not raising them was a mistake. Well, had I raised, I would have taken both of them right out of the pot pre-flop. By letting Barb in particular in for cheap, I let her mediocre hand win a hand she should not have been playing. Poor play on my part. By not doing what I knew I should, no matter what my excuse, I priced in a hand that beat me.

Then it was fold, fold, fold. John, who is trying hard to figure out my game, said, "Playing kind of tight tonight, eh Drew?"

Next hand, under the gun, I raised to 3 times the blind. I used to raise 4 but I was experimenting a bit. Randy called. Flop brought low cards, I raised. He called. Turn paired the board...deuces. One guy, a quiet but solid player whose game I respect, commented, "There are your deuces, Randy." referring to Randy hitting them an inordinate amount of time...or at least seeming to. Sure enough, he re-raised me. I commented, "Well, if you have the threes, you have got me. I almost folded...then decided it looked like a bluff. I called. River was another 3. I had a boat, 3s full of aces. I raised. He called pretty quickly. One thing that drives me nuts is people slow-rolling, showing half a hand, and other non-sense. If you made the bet, show your cards and don't waste time. So I flipped mine up. Pocket Rockets. He looked at them, looked at his cards, and mucked. I took down a nice pot.

A lot more folding. Picked up A/K of diamonds. Flop was beautiful...K/r/r rainbow. Raised. Danny, a conservative guy who pretty much checks and calls, picked up something and called. Flop, turn, and river all saw me raise, him call. I had him on an Ace with a lower kicker. We will never know because I flipped mine up, he mucked.

Won with a straight. Had plenty of chips. Got down to where 3 people on the next table all went out at the same time which meant we were at final table. I put my chips away and moved over to the consolation table.

There I hit a couple hands where I bet top pair, mediocre kicker. It was good enough to give me a comfortable chip lead. Then I started goofing around, making sure I did not put anybody out. I thrice called with horrid hands when people were all-in "just to give them chips to play with." They got the chips.

I had done what I wanted to do. In a group like this I can wait for good cards, bet them, and get calls from good hands. Very few suck-outs...though one person playing a K/10 stayed in against my 2 pair and hit a straight on the river...but didn't bet it so I got out pretty cheap on that one. It was nice knowing I could build a chip stack almost at will. And it was a valuable, valuable lesson in one thing; PATIENCE. Wait for good cards. The game is pretty easy when you have good cards. Conversely, with mediocre cards you end up with tough decisions.

Case in point. John got into a hand with A/6 of diamonds. Flop came 6 high. One person went all-in, a second person came over the top, also all-in. He showed me his cards and folded. They flipped theirs up. Sure enough, he would have had the best hand...but how can you call 2 all-ins with either a pair of 6's...too easy to have overcards against you...or a pair of Aces with a 6 kicker? Sure enough, someone hit 2 pair, so his fold saved him a ton of chips. But it illustrated why weak hands should find the muck.