Beaten by a donkey

Wow, what does it say about my alleged poker skills that I was taken out by a donkey? Not a good end to my Mixers night.

We started short-handed, just 5 people per table. To my left was Roman, to his left Mike, to his left Juan, to his left and my right was Amanda. You know I think Roman is as good or better than I am, Juan and Amanda both are very, very respectable players. So for the most part it was a good table.

The first hand I played where anything happened I got into cheap with A/3s from the big blind. 5 handed I probably should have raised but did not. Flop was ragged...and gave me a gut shot. Roman raised 200. The correct play was probably a fold...except I did not think he hit that flop either and was playing 2 high cards, probably paint of some sort. This was a situation where the math was wrong and I was going with my read of a situation. The turn paired my Ace, though I was not proud of my kicker. A strong bet probably would have driven me away but Roman let me know with a shoulder hunch and grimace he did not like it. He checked, I bet, took down the pot.

Stayed out of most hands, limped from late with 9/10 suited. Flop came J/Q clubs and K diamonds...none of which I had. Mike raised 500. I went over the top all in, putting him on maybe a pair. He called...with A/9, no clubs. He was drawing dead to a 10. I was riding high with over 7K in chips when only 15K were at the table. Then Caleb showed up and changed the dynamics of the table.

I raised a few hands with stuff like A/K, K/Qs, etc. Took down a few, lost some. Played a Q/7 from the big blind. Flopped top pair on a ragged flop. Bet it. Got all in with Mike. He rivered me with a 4 to hit 2 pair..6's and 4's. On the one hand, just a pair and getting it all in might not be too sharp...okay, it isn't...but I correctly had him read for a weak pair he was vastly over-valuing just as he had been all night.

I had watched him raise, Caleb call, the flop come ragged & low, Caleb re-raise him, then he put all his chips in to call Caleb's all-in raise on a straight card...with A/K. He hit no part of it. I had no fear of him. I had a good read on him, on his style of play, the types of cards he would play and the value he would assess those cards. Getting his chips was simply a matter of getting good cards and taking his chips with them.

Fold, fold, fold...fishhooks. Because of the rapidly raising blinds, my raise was to 800. He called, leaving himself about 2 - 300. Caleb went all-in for 1200 more. He had made that move before and gotten people to fold. I put him on a good but not great hand. 5 handed (Roman was moved to the other table), I like the fishhooks, I called his all-in and Mike called off his last 2 or 3oo.

This time he had cards, A/Ko. Caleb also had cards...A/9o. And someone had folded an Ace. Had they not, I was 56.21% to win pre-flop (Mike, to his credit, was 33.9 and Caleb checked in at a whopping 8.5%, they had a slight chance of a split.) The first card to roll off was the case ace and I was down to about 4500.

That hurt but I was okay with it. I knew I had gotten in with the best hand (though I did not realize how much better I had gotten them in...) so it did not bother me to get outdrawn. Nor did I criticize either call. 5 handed both hands figure to be the best, though calling with A/9 against a raise and call seems iffy. But then again, Caleb likes to gamble.

Mike was on the verge of elimination a handful of times thanks to more unbelievably bad calls...as Amanda pointed out at one point, he had not folded to any all-in even once...and then coming back with Big Slick after Big Slick. I think he had 6 of them while I was still there. He had other hands, too.

At one point Caleb the quiet raised to about 4 times the blind, a big raise for him. He raised the A/rag/rag flop. Mike was already grabbing chips so I folded. Mike raised. Caleb called. I folded. Turn, river, more raising/calling. Showdown, Caleb had a good Ace...and Mike had A/3, 2 pair. In with the worst hand, out with the best.

The blinds were raising and Juan went out so we were down to 4 handed. I was getting horrific hands. 3 times in one circuit I pulled 4/5. So I was losing 600 chips per circuit. Lost another 1200 trying to put out Mike with my A/10 vs. his 4/6. Yes, he called with 4/6 again. At least this time he did not hit 2 pair. He did trip up, though...

And I had about 2400. I was looking for an all-in. 8/3? No. J/2? no. 8/4? Nah. Only 1800 left, I really need an all-in. Down to 1400. J/10. Amanda all-in for her last 700. Okay, I raised all-in for my last 1400. I like my odds heads up and put her on something like A/middle card since she doesn't often raise. Maybe a good pair but I didn't think so. Of course Mike called as we knew he would. And this time he had a hand, something like A/Q I think. He hit his queen on the turn so my river Jack meant nothing.

Just from watching what he called HUGE raises with...Caleb doubled up off him 2 or 3 times, Amanda once, I think Roman once...all when he called with stuff he should not have been playing...even I doubled up and when I did he was drawing to 3 outs...he thought they were the Aces, I knew it was the 10...but he called off 2400 with an Ace high on a board with straight and flush draws...I have seen him play once before and everything I saw tonight confirmed it. He is a donkey.

And he beat me.


How bad do I suck? I am going to go with pretty bad.