thejimsheet

Ok, to set up the hand, I kinda need to talk about the whole session.

I hadn’t played at Bally’s since moving here, despite Heather working there.   The last time I had played there was with Dave a few years ago, when I twice got it in with a big advantage only to lose the pot.   But, I was dressed a little scummy yesterday, and wanted to go to a smaller room (silly, but that’s me).   So, I thought I’d try Bally’s and if it wasn’t going, I could walk down to Flamingo and/or Harrah’s.   All three are high on rake, but seem to make up for it.

I knew pretty early that I had a good table.   There was one other local grinder there, but he actually packed up and left before I got too involved.   Early on I tried to bully a little, which was the totally wrong tactic on this table.   So, down a little, I reset.   No c-bets unless connected.   No trapping.   Just play.   And, man the chips were moving around.   I get frustrated seeing people play badly and win big pots.   But, I just had to keep telling myself that my time would come.   And, if I wasted any more chips, it wouldn’t matter when it did.

At one point, I have QQ in the BB.   It limps to the sb, who makes it 20.   I don’t want to scare off anyone, and yes, people were limping and then smooth-calling 20.   Everyone folds, and the flop comes K62.   Ok, good flop, he checks.  He was a pretty aggressive player, so checking was a little weird, but it didn’t really set off an alarm for me.   I check.  Turn is a 7.   There is no flush.   He bets 20 and leaves 65 behind.   If I’m ahead, I should move all-in.   If I’m behind, it’s time to fold.   If I’m in doubt, I should probably err on the side of caution.   But, I’m not in much doubt, because he had mentioned being at the table for a long time.   I thought he wanted to give his money away.   He was steepling his index fingers and touching his nose.   I go all-in, he calls, river comes, I show, he mucks.   Sweet.   I’m back over 300 now (in for 400).

I then basically tread water for a while.   A lady in the game is playing and hitting everything.   A guy on the end asks every time it comes to him how much it is, even if the person directly to his right has put out the bet (and, not surprisingly, he calls EVERYTHING - and happens to be down about 600).   A new old guy with a blinky nametag sits down.   He’s in for the convention.   A young Aggie sits next to me.    The crazy old Asian next to me constantly talks about hitting a diamond royal since it’s the current highest high hand jackpot.

I’m sitting on about 240 when a hand comes up.  I’m in the cutoff with Ad6d.   It limps around.   I happily limp, the crazy old Asian limps on the button, and we see a flop 7 ways.   Jd7c5d.   Nut flush draw and backdoor straight draw, plus the Ace.   A decent flop for me.   I might even go crazy.   NO!   No semi-bluffing this table.    So, it checks to the old conventioneer who makes it 10.   Aggie Sam makes it 20.   This is dangerous, because it reopens the betting to the blinky guy.   But, I KNOW he’s not reraising here.   He has one pair, and it doesn’t have to be top pair.   I call.   Old Asian calls.   Lady calls.    Blinky convention guy calls.    Now, we have a pot.   Qh on the turn.   Check check to good ol’ Sam.   He’s a good, but not great player.   Probably the second best on this particular table (of course, I’m the best - duh).    Sam bets 45.   That’s a lot, but less than half-pot.   If my Ace is live, I’m clearly getting the right odds.   If someone else calls, I’m getting the right odds.   He’s acting like the Q didn’t scare him, but only 45?   I ask how much he has left.   He fumbles, shows me, counts it down.   125 more.   I still don’t like the push here, so I call.   We’ll see what happens.   Well, here’s what happens.   All three opponents also call.   WTF?   Now, there’s over 300 in the pot.   The river is the 9d.   Ummm, yeah, that’s a scare card, but hey, I have the fucking NUTS!   I love rivering the nuts in a huge, multi-way pot.   Check, check, Sam checks.    I think (not Hollywood, think).   I push.   Crazy old Asian wants a count.   175.   He calls.   Fold fold and Sam thinks.   He claims to lay down a flopped set of Jacks.   I believe him, but bet more on the turn, son.    I win and all of a sudden have gone from like 240 to 680 in one hand.   Wheeeeeeeeeeeee.

Ok, all that brings me to the hand that caused me to post.   I have QsJs in late position, and limp.   Flop AsTs5h.   Royal draw.   Thank you.   Now, with these chips, and position, I can semi-bluff.   People are now scared of me.   Checks to me, I bet 10 (bets of 12 and 16, and other numbers not divisible by 5, had been getting too much respect).   Button calls, lady calls from the blinds.   We see the turn 8s three ways.   Lady checks, I bet 20, button folds.   She calls.   River is the Ah.   She bets 25.   Ok, so here is where it gets interesting.    This lady had been on a sick heater.   The guy next to me had gone all-in preflop with QQ for 62 and gotten two callers, one of which was her with KTo which hit the KTT board nicely.   That is not to say she’s dumb.   She was smart.    And, she had played before.   But, she wasn’t a poker player.   She was just having fun.   So, I know she has a good hand here, but her range is kinda wide.   Obviously, trip Aces is a REALLY good possibility.   She was not a trapper.   So, her check/calling with two pair on the flop or turn is unlikely.    Same with a set.   Same with the K flush.   I reason it out that she does not have a boat.    I, a lot of times, will just call here.   She has a monster stack, and I just came in to these chips.    But, I think that’s bad.   If I feel I’m ahead, and feel she’ll call, a raise is right.   I rethink it, and raise to 125 (100 to her).   She calls, and actually turned a smaller flush.    Ok, that makes some sense.   Woohoo.   Way to go, Jim.   That’s 100 extra you got there.   Way to go.   Nice bet on the come, good job getting there.    And, nice value raise on the river.   You are a poker god.

But, wait.   You knew this post had this title for some reason.   She had over 400 after betting the 25 on the river.   She only has to call about 20% of the time to make an all-in more correct.   And, obviously, if she’ll call 200 more greater than 1/2 the time, then I should have raised to 225.   My logic was correct.    She has a real hand, but I’m ahead.   And, she’s going to call with most of that range, no matter what I bet, because she doesn’t think in terms of the price the pot is laying.   If she thinks she is ahead, she calls.    That’s what she does.   Now, obviously she calls less the more I bet, because she thinks she’s ahead less often.    But, I don’t doubt that I had greater EV with bigger river raises than with the one I made.   I am glad I got value, but I have to keep playing better.

After that, I talked to Sam for awhile about what bad experiences he had in Lubbock as an Aggie fan.   I fucking hate that.   Oh, well.   When the lady decided to leave, I decided the table just lost some value, so I left, too.

Later.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Poker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.