Starving Crazed Weasels, August edition

Numbers were weird...looked like we would have just 6....then 10...started with 10 so I split it into 2 tables since 9 is all you can REALLY fit around one of those tables. Well...then 1 took off without ever playing a hand (understandable under the circumstances...) so we had 2 short handed tables instead of 1 full table. Oh, well, short handed can be kind of fun since in short handed the values of hands go up so you can play a lot more hands.

Started out poorly. Raised one hand, bad flop, someone raised ahead of me, folded. Lots more folding. Meanwhile, Tracy had two hands with pocket Queens and another where she tripped queens. It was funny because in the random drawing, all 3 girls playing ended up at the same table and she was ruling with queens. Finally I hit a couple nice hands, took down a few pots and made some progress, actually at one point having 10 - 12K chips.

At one point I was on a rush and almost raised from the big blind with A/4 off (only Tracy called, Alan folded in the small blind) but didn't. Flop came A/4/A. Great flop...except I could see from Tracy's face she would fold if I bet so I decided to let her catch up. Turn was an Ace. We checked it down. I knew she would fold so there was no point to betting and I wanted "High Hand" points. So I won like...75 chips with quad Aces. The next hand people folded around to me in the small blind so I raised and Amanda folded. I won 25 fewer chips with a Jack Benny than I did with quads...how sad.

Then Roman went out first. Hey, happens to all of us sometimes. So we combined to 1 table. I had Amanda to my left, then Kenneth, while to my right I had Kevin, then Alan. Alan likes to raise, so does Kenneth. So I was between a couple action players. No problem, I was clear chip lead. The plan SHOULD be simple; tighten up a lot, play only premium hands, don't mix it up with the big stacks, bully the small stacks.

Well, about the third hand I picked up Q/J. I should re-read the previous paragraph and fold. Being very wise, I raised, Kenneth called. He will do that with a variety of hands, many of them not premium so it could mean a lot of things. I called. Flop came K/J/10. He raised. I put him on probably the kings, but did not bother working out a second card. At this point I was slightly on tilt from having a good night...which is a really bizarre thing to say...and I played this hand like an idiot. Not to say I should not have stayed in the hand...I will find that out in a few moments...but simply...I stayed in for the wrong reasons. Namely...I had a pair of jacks with a mediocre kicker and a straight draw and figured I was behind. But I did not stop to consider the mathematics of the situation, I just got greedy and thought if I hit again I could take him for a ride and if not then no harm done.

But let's look at the math. I think the blinds at this point were 50/100, though they may have been 100/200 at this point. So my raise would have been to 200. So there was close to 600 in the pot. He did one of his "I have a strong hand and want people in the pot" raises so it was maybe another 400 to go? So I needed to pay 400 to win 1000. I was getting about 2.5-1 on my money. I would theoretically improve on any 9 or Ace with my straight draw (8 outs), and on any Jack or Queen (5 outs) for a total of 13 outs. BUT...he could already have the Nut straight (A/Q could certainly be a hand he would raise with...he has looser starting requirements than I do so a Q/9 is not out of the question...He could have had 2 pair quite easily...in other words, his raises represented having a hand that hit the playing zone pretty hard. So it was likely some or most of my outs were counterfeited. It is even very possible that, if I hit my hand, I merely split the pot...say an Ace comes and gives up both the straight. So it is possible...probable even...that not only am I playing from behind (I instantly read that to be the case, though how far behind was hard to say since only twice all night did I bother putting people on specific hands) but EVEN IF I CATCH UP I ONLY TIE! So no...mathematically speaking, had I gone through the number crunching as I know I should, I just called.

That is a serious leak in my game, getting lazy. There was no point to being in this hand. He wanted the pot, let him have it, I have a weak hand.

Well, the turn was some blank that neither helped nor scared me...might even have been a deuce, I don't recall. He raised, I called. The river was the worst card I could catch...a Jack. It gave me trips. So, conceivably, it could have been a good card for me...if he had 2 pair or less. But as we already saw, it is MORE likely he had a straight or better. So by getting a strong hand myself...well...it gets worse.

When he has a strong hand he has a thing he does that lets anyone paying attention know he is going to bet. He did that thing. I knew he would bet. So instead of waiting to see how much I decided to bet. However, instead of a prudent bet, I bet a full 1000. This would have been a good bet if I thought I was ahead...but I thought he had me beat! It was like saying, "Okay, I know you are going to call me but I might be wrong so I will try to bluff you off even though I know you can't be bluffed off." Well, he did what any intelligent person would do and re-raised. And like an idiot, knowing there was no way I was ahead, I called. But not before I thought about re-raising him all in. Knowing a bluff would not work. At least I did not do that. Well, he had the boat...he had pocket kings. Again...I never bothered to put him on a hand other than "ahead" but had I done the math I would have been correct about some outs being counterfeited.

It cost me something like 2700 chips. Which hurt, though I was still close to the chip lead. Kenneth might have had a slight edge at that point and Alan was now nipping at my heels.

But I did not go on tilt. I knew I had played stupid and he way outplayed me on the hand, probably maximizing the number of chips he could extract from the hand. If anything, it brought me around to playing well again. For some reason I do not play well with the chip lead. I need to be down a little bit so I think about what I am doing. That is another HUGE leak.

A couple hands later I got involved in a hand with Tracy where she was raising. Well, when she raises, I KNOW she has something good. Problem is...I flopped an open ended straight. And the pot odds said call. Her raises were giving me 8 and 10 - 1 on my money with a 1.86-1 draw. If anything, I should have been betting it to A) semi-bluff and possibly win the pot that way and B) get more money in the pot if I did hit it. Unfortunately, I missed my draw. Missed another one later. Had someone beat my 2 pair with trips. Lost to a flush with a straight. Chips were bleeding like mad.

Then I picked up pocket 6s, my first pockets of the night. I was in the small blind and was going to raise but Phillip beat me to it, raising from middle position. I cold-called and the flop was beautiful. A/6/5. I did the math and bet 1200, enough that nobody on a draw had the right odds to call...but with Phillip's raise I thought he might since that Ace could have hit him. I had him out-chipped so even if he went all-in (which he would have to do with trip Aces) I would call on the long-shot even though I would be drawing dead. However, he did not have Aces...he had pocket Queens. Alan was agitating hard for him to call but Phillip read me as being ahead and wisely folded. In 2 other confrontations Alan thought I was bluffing (on neither one was I) and tried to get people to call.

A few hands later he and I were involved. By now the blinds were at 400. I raised 3 times the blind to 1200. He called. Flop came, I had overcards to the board (A/Q) and I raised another 1200. He came over the top raising to 3000. By now he had more than me and it would put me all in. It looked like a bluff. It smelled like a bluff. The board should not have hit anything he had. I figured to have had the best hand pre-flop and post-flop. I knew I should call. BUT....what if he had a pocket pair? Or even A/K? Then I could be way behind. I would still have about 1700 chips if I did not call...enough to have some fold equity. But I believed he was bluffing.

I folded.

I should not have. Looking back, he was testing me since other people had not been calling. Ironically, NOT showing my hands cost me here. He was testing me and he was afraid I would call. I should have know that when he did not react to my question. Classic "try not to be noticed" response.

He outplayed me because I did not trust my read. I should have doubled up on that hand.

Well, I did make a little bit back but then missed hand after hand after hand. The blinds were getting up there and finally I was all in blind in the big blind. Had about a 52-48 but ended up losing that one, too. All night I lost about every draw, including one where I had top pair, straight, flush, and straight flush draws...I was the favorite but never hit the hand despite being the favorite from the flop on....some nights, those hit and I look unstoppable. Other nights, they miss and I don't do some well.

This night I misplayed 2 hands that really were the difference between having a legit shot to win and going out in the middle of the pack. Then again, on a night where of the 8 people put out, 7 were put out by one person...I think he pretty much deserved to win anyway!

I mixed it up in I think 3 pots I would not have otherwised in attempts to take people out. Not one of them did I hit. I should learn from that...