A session at Shorty's

I was able to get over to Shorty's to play in the 5-5 NL game there last Friday. The Bad Beat Jackpot is up to $174,000. How great that would be to win that baby. That would finance my tournaments for at least a couple of years without a win. There were some regulars in the game. I got in one hand that I played terribly, and one I played great and wound up a $128 winner on the 5 hour session. No much, but a winner none the less.

The first hand I will talk about will be the one I plyed terrible. I say terrible, but really the only really terrible part was the call after the river. I was in the hand with Big Slick and I made a modest raise to $15. I got 4 callers including a lady on the other side of the table that I have played before. The cards are just running over her, as she was up probably $700.00 at this point. I was able to maneuver my starting $300.00 up to about $470.00. Flop comes Ac-9h-3d.
(Here I will run through the hand and then analyze it from the hindsight) All four check around to me and I check. Turn come the 7d the lady bets out $40.00 and everyone folds around to me. I raise it another $100.00 to make it $140.00 to go, and she smooth calls. River comes Jd and she bets out $200.00 and I call. She shows Ad4d for the nut flush.

Having analyzed the hand with KW, the player to my left, the only thing I could have done to win the hand was "move all in" after the flop. After all, she had top pair with a modest kicker in the 10. We believe she would have called a $50-100 raise. She was up in winnings and she could have put me on making a move with say J-J or Q-Q. After the Turn, she is sitting there with the nut flush draw with top pair and modest kicker. At this point I could not have got her off the hand. Hell, she couldn't;t have gotten me off that hand if the roles were reversed. Yes, I think that moving in after the flop was my only hope of winning. So what could I have done to minimize my lost?

Obviously the play here was smooth calling her $40.00 bet and then folding on the river. Very easy in hindsight. I don;t think the raise was that bad of a play, but after she called, I should have put her on a flush draw. The call on the river was terrible. She never bluffs. Just terrible.
Calling off all the rest of my stack with big slick and top pair is just bad poker.

Ok...now to the good part. I got back in after the above hand with another $300.00. So now I am $600.00 deep in this session. I get Kc-Ks and make a $30.00 raise and get several callers.
Flop comes Kd-10c-3s rainbow. Everyone checks. Turn comes a 9h. This is a "Scare Card" for me as it eliminates the flush possibility but puts the straight out there, and lots of people play Q-J here. I make a $80.00 bet, and one guy from Lafayette calls, and the other from New Iberia raises me another $100.00. I call, as does the other caller. Now we are 3 handed going to the river with a huge pot. The river comes the 4c. I am spooked so I check as does Lafayette around to New Iberia. New Iberia bets out $100.00. I go in the tank, and am just agonizing that he has Q-J and I am about to call off the rest of my chips and am going to leave here a $600.00 loser. I just could not see folding a set of Kings here. I had already put too much money in the pot to fold. I know there are people out there reading this that are saying..."Dude...call, you can't lay down a set of Kings", but you had to be there. I was spooked.

I eventually call saying "I will go ahead and call and donkey off the rest of my chips". I call. Now Lafayette goes in the tank. I am agonizing in the wait. What could he have? I am standing up waiting to walk out the door, and this guy is just sitting there agonizing himself. What could he have?

He reluctantly folds and shows a set of 9's. I say "Good lay down, That ain't good enough". I look at New Iberia and ask him "What do you got Q-J or 2 pair"...he shows a set of 10's.

I say ..."That ain't good enough either", I show my K's and say "Ship it to the colonel".

It amazes me what a roller coaster ride this game is. 2 crucial hands and I go down, then back up.

"You know...That's the way it goes, but don't forget, sometimes it goes the other way too"
Patricia Arquette character Alabama Worley in "True Romanace"