Jax, 6/24

Since I was passing through downtown decided to stop off at Jax. I really like playing there; their trained dealers prevent the stupidity of slow-rolling, stuff like that and the players are better on average. You see a lot less plays like Randy with his chasing runner runner as a good play, less stuff like Boston John playing "drunken monkey poker"...though there are still a wide variety of plays including a guy famous for playing 3/4.

Starts with 10K in chips and blinds of 100/200.

27 players, 3 tables of 9. Nice. Nothing to play in the first 4 hands. 5th hand I was in the big blind. Several limpers, looked down at pocket 9s. Bumped it to 700 total, still got lots of callers. Dealer commented, "Wow, 6K in their" referring to the pot. Flop was nice...Q/7/4. I glanced at the pot and raised to 5K. If someone hit the Queen I was in trouble...but everyone folded. Nice pickup that added 60% to my stack just like that.

Went with the Doyle plan of playing the next hand. Called a small raise with q/9. Regretted it instantly...I just called a raise with a weak hand out of position. But then I got lucky...the flop was Q/9/5 rainbow. I flopped top pair and the only reasonable draw was someone holding 10/J. My first thought was to slow-play...but then I reevaluated. I wanted to create an image where people were nervous about being in a pot for me. I bet the pot. Everyone folded. Nice...

A few hands later I picked up pocket 9s again. Jacked it up 3x the blinds, a couple callers. Flop was all low, someone raised, I came over the top, everyone folded.

At this point I was very happy. I had more than doubled up without ever being at risk...AND WITHOUT SHOWING DOWN A HAND!

The guy 2 seats to my left had limped once and not played a hand past the flop when he did an under size raise. I was one off the button with j/10, not a great hand but with about 4 callers the odds were right. I went ahead and called. Flop came 10/9/6. The guy who raised it checked and it was checked to me. I raised. Initial raiser hesitated, then came over the top all in, everyone folded to me. Time to think.

My initial rating put him on A/10 or better and pockets down to about 6 or so. When he checked I narrowed his range a bit: high cards and afraid of someone having hit the flop or maybe a small pair. This reeked of a bluff but there was still an outside shot I was drawing real thin to Jacks or better. However, there were enough callers initially that I was getting a bit better than 3-1 so I called...and he flipped up Pocket 8s. I was way ahead but he had 6 outs (any 7 or the 2 8s) to win...so I was a prohibitive 39-6 favorite or better than 6-1. Furthermore, the first time I showed my cards I showed people A) I was willing to gamble a bit, calling a raise with J/10 off and B) I was either reading people well to call him or else was a poor player who overvalued top pair...depending on their perception of me.

I won that hand. Now I was in control of the table and people did not want to get involved with me if they could help it. This let me pick up a few small pots, including one that I thought was brilliant.

I had been watching a guy for a while. When he had bottom or middle pair he would lead out with a small bet, a feeler bet. Nobody had challenged him. At one point he limped from the small blind. I thought about raising but elected to check. Flop came, he made one of his small raises, I re-raised him and he folded. I flipped up my irrelevant hand to show the bluff. That, in retrospect, was a mistake. I had a tell on him and may have cost myself chips later by showing a bluff. But on the other hand...I also showed people I did not need cards to win a hand.

After the break we condensed to 2 tables. A guy sat down to my right who had me out chipped but otherwise I was leading the table.

I folded a few hands, then utg+1 picked up A/Q. The guy to my right had limped so I jacked it 4 times the blinds. We were both deep stacks and I could take it down on the flop just by betting. A couple other people called, guy to my right folded. Flop was ugly, all low and diamond, with a raise, re-raise and call in front of me I folded.

A few hands later I checked from the big blind with a weak Q/8 off. Flop came ugly...Q/J/9, 2 diamonds. Guy to my right checked, I raised, everyone folded to him and he went into the tank. Then he started trying to get a reaction to me. I decided to throw off a few false tells by acting super strong...if he knows the tells. I looked pretty uninterested, let my attention wander...and waited until the third time he asked, "You have K/10 already?"

He had made a HUGE mistake. If he had just come over the top I would have folded. I had top pair, weak kicker on a draw heavy board. But after his talk and trying to draw me out I knew he was weak. If he just called I was raising big on the turn, if he raised I was moving all in. I finally engaged him in conversation.

"I might. Hard to say."
He had no clue how to respond and folded. When he did he inadvertently exposed the deuce of diamonds and I heard him telling someone he had "a real high one to go with it"...I assume the King or Ace. Anyhow, the hand was still being talked about several minuted later.

And here is where I stopped playing well. I had built a great table image...but now I tightened up. That was the first of the 3 mistakes that would hurt me.

The second came shortly when I raised UTG with Big Slick. 3 callers. Flop came Q/Q/9. Guy to my right...who had thought a long time before calling...checked. Every instinct I had said to raise. I meekly checked, essentially giving up on the hand. An old guy I had watched for a while went all in. Folded to the guy to my right who hesitated for a long time. I figured he had an under pair at worst but the 2 queens were just too much. He folded.

I had to think about it. I knew the old guy didn't have a Queen. I actually thought he might have hit the nine. I had watched him play and he was weak tight. He would bet once with middle pair, then hope to check it down. Going all in represented either strength or a stone cold bluff. Even if he had the 9 I was drawing thin to 6 outs. Folding was correct.

And for whatever reason, I looked at the guy to my right and said, "This is a HORRIBLE call"...and called. Old guy ended up having Pocket Jacks and they held up. And I was right...I was not getting the right odds to call, particularly when it turned out the guy to my right had also had big slick and someone else folded a third Ace. I was actually drawing to just 4 outs...

Anyhow, now I was down a bit. The very next hand the woman three seats to my right...who was short stacked...came over the top of a raiser and a caller to go all in. In the big blind I looked down at the Cowboys. I re-raised enough to commit anyone who called as I wanted to isolate her. It worked and I regained a good portion of what I had lost.

Then came the hand I didn't play. UTG the next round I limped with 6/7 suited. A guy who is regarded as one of the better players but whom had been unwilling to play with me. He is a guy I have played before...he was the guy on my left. Anyhow, he had been up and down a bit. Now he was down. After another limper, he raised all in. Guy to my right, as is his wont, hemmed and hawed for a while...and then called.

I desperately wanted to call. I had the chips to play with, though it would definitely cut into me about 40%, I was highly unlikely to be dominated...and I had the first guy read for being on a move. Still, I would be calling with 7 high...I REALLY wanted to call...but for whatever reason...I folded. And the guy was on a move with 3/4 and was against K/10 suited...same suit as my 6/7. Well...the guy paired his 4, I would have hit the straight, and the K/10 never hit anything.

From then I pretty much just got blinded until we collapsed to the final table. Once there I was middle of the pack in chips.

The table was a fast table with a lot of raising and re-raising. One guy took down a huge pot when he jacked pre-flop with pocket queens and flopped a full house. The very next hand he raised, the guy 3 seats to my right re-raised, the original guy raised again, guy to my right went all-in, and after thinking for a while got called. Guy to my right had pocket Jacks. Guy who flopped the boat? Pocket Queens. The Queens held up and guy to my right was crippled.

The next hand everyone limped to the small blind...who was the guy I had bluffed earlier. He limped, I had pocket jacks so raised, he re-raised, I checked the pot...it would about double me up now, I shoved, he called...with Aces. Oops. I was left with 1000 chips and blinds of 1/2K.

Now, here is where tournament strategy comes into play. If I care about the points (I don't) then I don't even look at my cards, I make the guy 3 seats to my right go through the blinds...he has 3K. On the other hand, if I want to see if I can make a comeback, I look for my best hand.

Best part is I now hit a hot streak. If I went all in the first hand I would have quadrupled up. The next hand (2/6 off) I would have flopped 2 pair. Then the tragic happened...I picked up Big Slick. It was the best hand I would get before being in the blinds, I called.

And the guy who had gone all-in with 3/4 called, among others, and flopped 2 pair. 3s and 4s. I was done.

I played really well early...I was aggressive, I played good cards strongly and when I did not have cards I played the players and picked up a couple pots I had no business winning. However, late I became passive, made 2 bad calls...I need to close out stronger.