+94 @ Chez Johnson

At six players it was a smaller crowd than usual at Guy's house. While that meant the blinds came around more often, it also helped us to really move fast because everyone was a serious player. That was helped by having another deck that someone would shuffle while the current one was in play. At what must have been 40+ hands an hour, it was not your typical home game.

There weren't too many memorable hands. People played well and no one was ever really blindsided. I did make a straight flush on the river (four of the cards were on the board) but no one had a high card of the suit and I couldn't get any action. Karen went runner runner to make a straight and beat my flopped trips with an ace kicker. Guy held on to pair the board on the river which made his set into a boat, thus beating my flush. Jerry and I flopped the nut straight and we were able to bring Karen along for the ride until the river.

There were some pretty large swings in pots during the night. I was up $60 in short order, then down $80 an hour after that. Guy was up nearly $250 but then lost $300 in the space of a couple hours. Jeff was pretty strong early on and built quite a fortress of chips. He held onto most of them, but had a slow attrition.

+1 @ The Commerce Casino

I was up over $100 at one point early in the night after a couple big hands, but I couldn't hold onto it and just slowly drifted down. That's ok, I left a winner and that's always a good feeling, especially as I was playing with Guy and we were able to chat.

Small blind A,Q. It came to me as three bets. I called. Q,J,9 rainbow on the flop. I bet and it came back to me as a capped pot. I called. A on the turn. Crap. Even though it made my two pair, I'm feeling less and less confident about this pot. I checked then called. 10 on the turn. No flush, but with four players left there has to be a K out there somewhere. The pot was really big so I stuck around. We all showed and the other hands were a suited middle A, a 9, 10 and a A,10. Send the money! The very next hand I had A,Q suited. A on the flop and he checked then called the entire way. Another pot for me. Up $110 in 30 minutes.

Pocket K on the button. J,9,7. I raised pre-flop and bet the flop. Two callers. A on the turn. Checked to me, so I came out swinging. They folded.

Things really slowed down at that point. Example hands included A,10 with a flop of 5,8,7 or A,J diamonds with a board of 6,7,3,8,9 and only one diamond. Up $40 in about two hours. A,Q clubs with a flop of A,Q,J all diamonds. I was late position and only had one caller on the flop. Turn was 8, river was J. Neither was another diamond and I bet them both. Didn't have to show.

The final hand of note was JJ with a board of 3,4,3,4,5. With a possible flush of course. What am I supposed to do with that?

+256 @ The Commerce Casino

After a busy morning of chores and errands, I was sitting down to play at about 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon. My third hand gave me A,K suited. A,K,9 on the flop with two hearts. I called the raised flop then raised the blank turn. I was a little worried about the flush until the A came on the river. It also possibly gave someone a flush but that's now ok with me. I had one caller who had, in fact, made the flush. Up $90 in just 15 minutes.

Red pocket 6 in early position. I called, then called again when it came back to me as three bets. Of course I was fully prepared for it to be capped. It was. 6,A,9 with two spades. I bet then called the raise. I checked and called the turn (missed a bet there; there was a lot of commotion at my end of the table and I got distracted. Bad play on my part). Just like the last nice hand, the river paired the board and made a possible spade flush. There were still a couple people behind me so I tried being greedy. It worked as I was able to get a couple people to come along with my check raise. Up $160 in about 90 minutes. When the floorman (floorwoman but no one ever calls them that) Gigi walked by she asked how I was doing, then encouraged me to play tight and cash out soon so I can ensure I went home a winner. I told her that I would make sure that happened.

Pocket Q with a board of J,5,2,A,2. Nasty, but I came out it with the pot. Up $220 in an hour. My next set of pocket Q didn't turn out so well though. The board was 7,8,10,8,10. When the second 8 hit I knew that I was toast but I still (stupidly) went all the way. I have a hard time getting away from those big pocket pairs. However, the memory of the Queens did sink in. A few hands later I had black pocket A and the board gave me a inside straight draw on the turn but someone else probably already had the K with how they were all betting. I bailed and was right.

A,5 in late position with a board of A,Q,7,J,A. I was concered about my prospects until the second A hit. Another guy was betting and I figured him for a middle A. I was wrong; he had pocket 7. D'oh.

Later on I had J,K suited in early position. I called then called again when it came back as two bets. The flop was 3,10,10, none of them my suit darn it. Two guys on the other end of the table loved it and they were having a field day while the rest of us bailed out. 6 on the turn. More betting. One of hte guys was asking "why are you raising me? I got you beat" The other guy said he didn't think so. The river was another 3. A quick check then call and the two guys turned over pocket 10 and pocket 3 respectively. Jackpot! The whole table stood and cheered. The winner got $1000, the loser got $3000, and the rest of us at the tale split $1000. That's $143 dollars for just sitting around. Gotta love it.

-5 @ The Commerce Casino

I showed up at the Commerce Casino at about 5:30 and played for about 4 hours. I had a slow first hour and was down about $80 but had three nice hands in a row right when Guy showed up. I wasn't fond of my table (lots of bad attitudes) so I talked to George the floorman and was able to move to Guy's table just a few minutes later. I was in seat 9 while Guy was in seat 8. It was nice to be able to chat.

The table was a good one but I didn't get much traction. Just small swings in the pot. I didn't have many pairs, but instead had a lot of suited connectors. The were all pretty much unmemorable except for my 6,7 clubs in the big blind. Everyone else had folded except Guy as the small blind. He asked if I wanted to chop. I told him I would but I liked my hand. He said let's play and raised! I called. The flop came K,6,7 rainbow! He bet, I raised. He checked the turn then called the blank turn. He check raised me on the river! Did he go runner runner to make his flush or get a set? I didn't think so and put him on Kings. He had that, but he also did go runner runner to make his flush. How annoying.

The biggest hand of the night for me was one I shouldn't have been in. In mid-late position with Q,5 suited it came to me as a raised pot. I called but the guys behind me capped it. Damn. Many players called the capped pot so I decided to join the fun. The flop came Q,5 blank. Wow. I might be able to win this after all. I called the raised flop, then raised the blank turn. It was checked to me on the river, with the board showing three to a flush. I bet and didn't have to show. It was a $120 pot.

-320 @ The Commerce Casino

It actually isn't as bad as it seems since the loss was over three sessions and about 15 hours of play. The first session was a 50 loss, the next session was a 120 loss, and the final session was a 150 loss. My notes aren't that complete since during two of the sessions I was playing with Guy and we spent a great deal of the time talking. Still, I did capture some of the interesting hands. Wait a second...the two big losses are when I was playing with Guy. I don't think that we were in more than a handfull of pots together past the turn, but still...maybe he's bad luck.

Pocket red aces. I raised pre-flop in late position, and got "rewarded" with three hearts on the flop. Still, I bet the flop and got callers. Bet the black turn and got raised. Two of us called. The river was a another heart! I raised it and the guy angrily called. That was a good pot.

7,9 clubs in middle position. I called and the flop came K,5,2 with two clubs. Time to go all the way to the river. The turn was a blank so I checked then called the small blind. The river was a 2 of clubs. I made my flush but maybe the guy had a full house...I went for it and raised when it got to me, only to get re-raised. Damn, he had a boat or the nut flush after all. I paid him off but was wrong about his hand. He had four of a kind twos!

A,10 in late position. Raised pre-flop and on the flop of A,3,9 rainbow. 6,2 on the turn and river respectively. I bet all the way and the last caller reluctantly called...with her A,Q! D'ohh!

J,10 twice in a row. The first time I made a straight on the turn, but there was also a flush possibility. I called the entire way and split the pot with another J,10. The second time I had a suited J,10 and the flop comes 10,Q,8 rainbow. Middle pair with decent kicker, but my only real out is the 10 or the 9 since a J gives a bigger straight. I called, but the turn gave a Q. Time to give up since people were going two and three bets. I would have been in fourth place as the other fellows turned over 10,10, A,A and J,9.

On the last night I was playing for a long time and just couldn't hit. When I finally got pocket 6 in late position I was happy, then ecstatic when the flop came 6,9,J. It was bet and I raised. Got two callers. Blank turn. It was bet and I raised...and got re-raised. Hmm...The river was another J. It was bet, I raised and got re-raised again! What did the guy have? I paid to see. He had pocket 9. Ouch. Guy said he would have lost a lot more money than I did on that one.

+100 @ The Commerce Casino

I have to admit that I've been a little sloppy with my records. This blog contains information from three sessions, including a ~$100 loss playing $3/$6, a $60 loss playing $1/$2, and a $260 win at $3/$6.

Two of these nights I played poker with Guy and we had a fantastic time. That was one of the reasons that we wound up at the $1/$2 table since another one of Guy's friends was along and didn't wanted to play at a higher table. The $1/$2 table was great and even though I lost big (a $60 loss is the equivalent of a $180 loss at a $3/$6) I had a total hoot of a time. I was playing hands that I had no right playing because I could see what would happen for so cheap. Actually, this was very useful.

1) You don't indeed hit the flop any more often when you play sub-standard hands
2) I can now understand why someone might want to play those. When you hit, it is a total rush and nobody puts you on 4,8 for the two pair.

But be that as it may, I was able to leave my loose calls behind when I went back to the $3/$6 the very next week. Guy and I arrived at the same time and wound up at seats 4 and 5 at a very nice table. Generally good players, but not afraid to contribute to a little craziness every now and again. The table was pretty stable too. There's nothing worse than constant turnover. The dealers were friendly and talkative, as were the players.

Best handof the night: Pocket 2 on the button, and it was raised pre-flop. I called. Flop: 2,Q,6 rainbow. I called the raised pot. I raised on the blank turn, but someone didn't learn and bet into me on the river. I raised. I might had gotten nervous if it hadn't been for the fact that the river paired the board and I now had a full house. Send the money!

+128 @ The Commerce Casino

The night started out pretty rough. 10s up getting beaten by a straight on the river, pocket K then get an A on the flop, but the killer was when my medium flush lost to a royal flush! Yowza! I was down about $90 in just over half an hour but felt sure that I could get it back. It was a loose table but wasn't insane. There was an occasional pre-flop cap (which sometimes I was involved with; pocket Q (they got busted by a K on the flop) and pocket A (which held up)) but it wasn't too too wild. Still, I was down nearly $140 after 90 minutes.

I started clawing my way back to even and the turning point was when I had A,4 of clubs twice in a row, then again just a couple hands later. I missed the flush the first time, but flopped the nut flush the next time around. I was in early position and checked the flop but someone else kindly bet it for me. Shortly thereafter AK held up with a board of A,7,2,7,7, and 8,10 diamonds as BB brought me A,5,8 (with two diamonds) on teh flop. I didn't make the flush but I did get a 10 on the turn. That was good enough.

This brought me to even. Then the hand I was waiting for appeared. With pocket 2 as SB, it comes to me as three bets but we know that a cap is almost certainly in the works. I was feeling pretty good so I decide to come along. I call. Of course it is capped. Flop: QQ2. Wow! I check. BB bets. Raise, Raise. I call. It gets capped. I call. There's nothing like having others do your raising for you. There were 4 players still in at this point! Blank on the turn. I check. Bet, call. call. I raise. 4 Callers, but two of them are all in. One caller when I bet the blank flop. I collect a $150 pot. Ka ching! Nobody saw that one coming.