+89 @ The Commerce Casino

First off, does anyone even read these posts? If not, I'll stop blogging about my poker experiences.

Very loose table with a nice mix of young punks and old grizzleds. Not much happened in the first 30 minutes at the table, then it got wild. With J,Q of spades in middle position, it was three bets by the time it got to me. I had been very tight until that point so I decided to play along and see what would happen, even though I knew that it would probably be capped. I didn't cap it myself because 1) The cards didn't justify it (three bets was already very questionable) and 2) I wanted to see who would cap it. It turns out it was someone new; not one of the guys who raised or re-raised. The flop was K of spades, J, blank. Hmm...middle paid with good kicker, and three to a royal flush. I'm still drawing to make a winning hand, but I have a tremendous number of outs. That's worth playing. Once again, it was capped. What the hell did everyone have? Q of clubs on the turn. Checked to me, I bet. Some folds, some calls, but no raises. Interesting. I may be ahead. However, with the 10 on the river I knew that I was sunk. I mucked when it was bet. The pot was split by the pocket A and the AK.

A few hands later I got black pocket K in middle position. I raised and many people came along. The flop was 4,5,6 with two diamonds. Sigh. I bet into it and got raised. I mucked. K of diamonds on the turn, but it wouldn't have helped, especially when a red 7 fell on the river. People three people showed their straights. Down $60 in 30 minutes.

I came back to even with 7,9 hearts as BB. I flopped a pair of 7s, but it kept betting better and better with a 9 on the turn and a 9 (which also made three clubs) on the river. Ka-ching! The very next hand I had A,J with 10,J,_ on the flop. I got raised on the blank turn, then I checked and called the river. I was in third place behind a set of J and pocket A. I of course should have mucked on the turn. The J raised before the flop, but the Aces never raised the entire time. My next three hands of note were AK, JQ and A7 and they all missed. Down again.

JQ made top pair on the flop then turned into trips on the river for a small payoff, but one of the big payoffs of the night was J,K on the button. It was raised by the time it got to me so I called. A,Q,10 on the flop. Nut straight. Cool. However, there were two diamonds showing. I smooth called the raised flop, raised the blank turn, and bet the river. No callers. Up $70 in an hour and a half.

I only had three pocket pairs the entire night and while the Ks and 3s didn't pay off, the pocket Q brought me to $95 up. A,K, raised pot-preflop and QQQ on the flop. Check all the way around. Blank turn, checked all the way around. Q on the river so I bet. I split the pot with another A who called. My last significant hand of the night was yet another J,Q with K,10,_ on the flop. 9 on the turn (no flush) and I get raised! Ok. I made it three bets. One player dropped out, one stayed with me. He bet the blank river and I raised again. He called. Eveyone else knew what I had, but he just had A,K.