+21 @ Chez Johnson

It was Guy's birthday this weekend and part of the celebration included a matinee poker event. I played for just over 8 hours (dealt three of those hours too) and was pretty pleased with my play. I am also happy to report that I didn't make any major mistakes while dealing. We again played a combination of $2-$4/$3-$6: It starts out as $2-$4 but when all those players are out of the hand the limits change to $3-$6. I played $3-$6 and because of the relatively cheap blind paid to see many more flops. My notes are somewhat scattered so I'll try to reconstruct the interesting hands as best as possible.

KK on the button. Guy raised pre-flop. I made it three bets. A,2,6,_4 for the board. It was checked to me on the flop, I bet and a few callers. Same on the turn but Guy was the only caller. The river made it three spades. He called then mucked after I bet. I put him on a middle pair.

A9 with AK_ on the flop. Sharon's mother Laura was playing with us and she started betting like crazy. Jeff was in the middle of things too. I made my Aces up when a 9 fell on the river. Jeff had AJ. Laura had KQ but thought she had KK for a set. Oops!

Now for an oops of my own. AK in middle position. Guy raises on the button and I make it three bets pre-flop. Well, kinda. It was just the two of us so the limits changed to $3-$6 and there was some confusion at the table about how this worked in the middle of a betting round so I just called. Flop was 4,3,A. Beauty. I bet the flop. Guy called. A on the turn. I bet and get raised!!???!! I called, then checked and called the 7 on the river. I put him on a big A. How wrong I was. He had 2,5 unsuited and flopped the wheel! Never in a million years would I have guessed that. How very very annoying. The next hand I took the pot on the turn when I bet my pocket 7 with a board of J,6,2,4.

With 89 suited the flop was a very scary Q,K,K. The board was made worse when a K came on the turn. Again, we all checked. When the 9 fell on the river Jeff bet. Hmm...he probably wasn't slow playing his K or Q. I pegged him for an A or a 9. Because I can beat the A and I can split the pot if he had a 9, I raised! He thought about it for a while but did finally call. He had a 9. He almost considered folding as he was sure I had the K.

KJ early position and rags on the flop. Checked around. K on the turn. For reasons I don't understand, I checked. It was, of course, checked around. A on the river. I checked again, Guy bet, and I paid $6 to see his A. Why didn't I bet the turn and then fold on the river? That was poor play on my part.

J9 of hearts, and the flop comes 2 spades, 7 hearts, 10 hearts. Wow! I've got a heck of a lot of outs so I decided to bet on the come. I didn't make my hand on either the blank turn or A on the river. I didn't slow down however, and even though I didn't have a hand no body called. That was lucky. Just a few hands later I had J9 suited again. I called the pre-flop raise. J,5,6 on the flop. It was bet, and I raised. I bet the rag on the turn and the last player folded. Karen made a comment as I was writing my notes about how she would have to check this page to see if I really had it. I had enough of a something to win.

At this point I started dealing and I don't have any notes for the next three hours. In general I didn't play very much during that time so there was only a slow blind attrition to the stack. When I got back to my regular seat my heart wasn't into taking notes but I do remember a couple hands of interest.

K4 clubs, with red 4 and J,9 clubs. Time to call all the way to the end. J on the turn and Mike bets. Crap I know he has an J. I call. 4 on the river. Damn! So even though I made my boat, Mike almost certainly has a boat too. He bet, I called, he showed a J. My last big hand of the night was one in which I got outplayed by Jeff. QQ as big blind. I raise. Rags on the flop. I bet, couple callers. Rag on the turn, I bet, Jeff raises!! There is a possible straight out there, but he would have had to have a 3,6 or something. Maybe he had a set? I call. The river misses me, Jeff bets and I fold. I probably should have paid the $6 just to confirm, but Jeff's a solid player. If he's betting it, he's got it. He later confided to me that he was behind pre-flop but ahead on the flop. That tells me it must have been a set.

At one point when I was dealing we took a quick break for Guy's birthday cake. I saw this as a golden opportunity. I quickly set the the deck up for Guy, told the people in the room to fold and that I would play against him. Everyone was in on it except Jerry. When Guy came back into the room he made some comments about having the cards already dealt, but changed his tune when he saw pocket K! He raised, and Jerry and I called. The flop came _K_. Jerry and I checked, Guy bet, I called and Jerry folded. What was the turn? Yup another K. I checked then folded when Guy bet. He showed the Ks and we all wished him a happy birthday. He didn't get it at first! We fessed up and after running through a quick range of emotions which included mild annoyance then amusement he generously gave Jerry and I back our money.

+85 @ The Commerce Casino

I thought I was going to still beat the Saturday night rush by getting to Commerce at 3:30, but the place was already in full swing and there were 25 people ahead of me on the board. However, they were going through the names quickly and I was sitting at a table right next to the board by 4:00. Luckily I was in seat 1 so I didn't have tons of people milling around behind me.

By the time the button had moved around the table just a couple times I was able to get a pretty good read on the folks. Seat 2 and 3 were solid players that weren't hitting very well. Seat 4 was a young guy with an iPod who knew what he was doing. Seat 5 was a little loose, seat 6 and 8 were calling stations, and seat 7 and 9 were very very loose. 7 had played the game before and never met a flop he didn't like. Of course he had big swings in his stack. Seat 9 was new to the game and also subject to swings. It was impossible to put her on anything; she would bet when she didn't even have a good drawing hand, and check (but didn't ever raise) when she hit two pair on the flop. All in all it was a great table.

My third hand of the night I had Q,9 suited on the button and it was raised when it got to me. I waffled for a bit then mucked. To my great annoyance I would have made trips on the turn then a flush on the river. This was followed by a numberof hands that didn't hit: 78 suited; A3 suited, A2 suited among them. I was down $40 at this point, but pocket K came along and the pot was capped pre-flop. 10,3,2 rainbow on the flop and it gets capped again with one player all in. The turn was nothing but another player was all in when I bet, and there was another 3 on the river. No flush. I bet it and took the main and all the sides.

My 45 suited caught a bit of the A,2,2 flop but I mucked the turn even though a 4 came up. Just not enough outs to stick around. The next hand I had pocket Q and had every reason to feel good but there was a four flush by the river and seat 7 took it. However, he would sometimes show some sense even when I didn't. A few hands later I had AQ and a flop of J,7,2. I bet on the come and didn't slow down when the next two cards were 7,2. It was only me and seat 7 by the turn and he folded on the river.

My next hand of note was a beauty. Pocket 6 in late position with lots of callers by the time it got to me. However, the guys to my left were making raise noises. I called, the button raised and we all called. 6,2,10 rainbow on the flop. Perfect. We all checked to the button, he bet and we all called. Q on the turn. We all checked to the button, he bet and I raised when it came to me. The button reluctantly called, and seat 4 called after making some comments that I must have a set. He was right. The 7 on the turn didn't help anyone. I bet and got a couple callers. That was a very nice pot.

AQQ on the flop and when seat 9 bet I rasied with my AJ. It was hard to put her on anything but I didn't think she had a Q but instead was holding an A. I figured my kicker was better than hers and I raised the blank turn when she bet into me again. She just called when I bet the blank river. Sure enough, she only had A4. Ka-ching! A few hands later I had AJ again and get totally outplayed. We all checked the K,J,8 flop and when the button bet when another 8 fell on the river I mucked. A couple players went all the way to the end and the button took the pot. With a A,J. Hmm....

With AA I was involved with capping the pot pre-flop with 3 other players. 5,5,Q on the flop. Seat 7 bet, I raised. Everyone else dropped out. He checked then called when I bet the rags on the turn and river.

A2 of diamonds, and the flop came 6 diamonds, 3 diamonds, and a blank. I went the entire way as a calling station but didn't hit anything and mucked at the river.