Poker++
Another awesome night of poker. After a brief hiatus of not winning, which lasted 1 game, I won again tonight, which brings my winnings to $90 on the week. I must say, making $40 for 3 hours of "work" is something I could get used to.
One hand I was big blind and had J-8. I ended up hitting my straight on the turn, and bet decently. On the river, there was nothing that could beat me besides a higher straight, and I put Queens all in. The funny thing that happens sometimes is everybody wants to play the hand. So they start shooting their mouths about me always buying pots and I might have it, but its a good bluff caus if he calls, the pot is huge already. Well he called with 2 top pair, and needless to say, gave me a very commanding chip lead, which I didn't give up for the rest of the night. Later on, I was pissed at myself for a few hands because I didn't call Jame's all in. I had A-Q, with a gutshot straight draw. I needed the J on the river, and his all in was most of my stack. Counting the odds, it was less than 10% that I hit it, and I folded after some Macbethian thinking (think the hand on the head in deep thought pose). As I folded, I said "Alright, let's see the Jack". And of course, the Jack came out. But I had my sweet revege later when James went all in again. I had slow played my pocket rockets, which almost got me screwed. There was Q-J-6 on the board. He bet pretty big, but I stayed in. Another 6 on the turn. This gave me Aces and Sixes. He went all in, and the only card I was afraid of was another 6 for him to make trips. But this was about a 4% chance, so I called. His Queens and Jacks would have had me beat had the board not paired itself. After that, it was Mark and I. Mark is a pretty loose head's up player, and will typically try to buy the blinds. I folded most of them, being the patient, sage like player I am. I called him once, with suited A-rag, he had A-lower rag. I had him beat, both of us not having anything, untilt the river where he his is low pair. This brought the chip count to almost dead even, I had the lead by 4 chips. Another hand or 2 and Mark goes all in again. Again, I call with suited faces. He had like 10-5. Neither of us hit anything, and I took the pot and the game with like a Q high.
Patience really pays off. Some people say this game is luck. I mean yeah, you can't do too much when you don't get cards to work with. But just being in there, hand after hand, day after day, and you'll see. The same people always seem to hit the amazing hands. Now if you just looked at those hands, you might think that they always hit awesome cards. But you're not thinking about the 10 times before that they folded crap cards pre-flop. Or when they had good pocket cards, but then folded after the flop hit them in all the wrong places. And even when they do hit their hands, the betting is perfectly timed and calculated. You put just enough in to force people out if you want, but don't break yourself if you get trumped. But you get people to call you when you know you have the nuts. A lot of good strategy is more about the hands you fold than the hands you play. Most of the time, if you see a good player going through to the river, and they're playing their hand right, there is a very small possibility to beat them.
One hand I was big blind and had J-8. I ended up hitting my straight on the turn, and bet decently. On the river, there was nothing that could beat me besides a higher straight, and I put Queens all in. The funny thing that happens sometimes is everybody wants to play the hand. So they start shooting their mouths about me always buying pots and I might have it, but its a good bluff caus if he calls, the pot is huge already. Well he called with 2 top pair, and needless to say, gave me a very commanding chip lead, which I didn't give up for the rest of the night. Later on, I was pissed at myself for a few hands because I didn't call Jame's all in. I had A-Q, with a gutshot straight draw. I needed the J on the river, and his all in was most of my stack. Counting the odds, it was less than 10% that I hit it, and I folded after some Macbethian thinking (think the hand on the head in deep thought pose). As I folded, I said "Alright, let's see the Jack". And of course, the Jack came out. But I had my sweet revege later when James went all in again. I had slow played my pocket rockets, which almost got me screwed. There was Q-J-6 on the board. He bet pretty big, but I stayed in. Another 6 on the turn. This gave me Aces and Sixes. He went all in, and the only card I was afraid of was another 6 for him to make trips. But this was about a 4% chance, so I called. His Queens and Jacks would have had me beat had the board not paired itself. After that, it was Mark and I. Mark is a pretty loose head's up player, and will typically try to buy the blinds. I folded most of them, being the patient, sage like player I am. I called him once, with suited A-rag, he had A-lower rag. I had him beat, both of us not having anything, untilt the river where he his is low pair. This brought the chip count to almost dead even, I had the lead by 4 chips. Another hand or 2 and Mark goes all in again. Again, I call with suited faces. He had like 10-5. Neither of us hit anything, and I took the pot and the game with like a Q high.
Patience really pays off. Some people say this game is luck. I mean yeah, you can't do too much when you don't get cards to work with. But just being in there, hand after hand, day after day, and you'll see. The same people always seem to hit the amazing hands. Now if you just looked at those hands, you might think that they always hit awesome cards. But you're not thinking about the 10 times before that they folded crap cards pre-flop. Or when they had good pocket cards, but then folded after the flop hit them in all the wrong places. And even when they do hit their hands, the betting is perfectly timed and calculated. You put just enough in to force people out if you want, but don't break yourself if you get trumped. But you get people to call you when you know you have the nuts. A lot of good strategy is more about the hands you fold than the hands you play. Most of the time, if you see a good player going through to the river, and they're playing their hand right, there is a very small possibility to beat them.