+4 @ The Commerce Casino

Another Saturday afternoon and once again I found myself playing poker. I was the first one to arrive at the newly opened table and I picked seat 8. I don't really care where I sit but I have grown fond of the "corner" seats because they have more room. There was a slight scuffle when one player tried to sit down and this old fellow said "that's my seat". It seems that neither one of them wanted to sit in 5 which was, along with the 7 that they were fighting over, the only seat left.

The first half-hour gave the table lots of aces; three pocket pair (they won two of the three times) and at one point three on the board. I didn't have any of them. My best pocket pair were 10s but they didn't amount to anything.

In one hand I had Q,J of hearts and the flop came A,K,J with one heart. The turn gave another heart, but the flush didn't show on the river. However, a 10 did appear and that was enough to split the pot with a fellow who had flopped the straight. It wasn't very much money since after the turn it was just us playing. In another hand I was the big blind which was the only reason I was playing my 2,5 offsuit. The flop gave us 5,2,K rainbow. I started betting strong but the turn was a second club. When the river put a third club on the board I just checked. It was bet by one fellow so I put my $6 into the pot and, of course, he turned over the flush. The last hand I'll mention is one that I'll be thinking about for a while. I started with K,J suited in early position. I raised and got four callers. The flop gave us 10,10,5 and it was a check all the way around. When a 7 came on the turn (no flush possibility for me), I bet it and everyone folded. I won the pot and can't feel bad about that, and I know that I would have folded if it had been raised. But should I have really been betting it in the first place?