Cherry Poppin' Tart

I popped my poker blogger cherry on Monday night and played my first blogger tourney.

I had arranged to play a heads-up O8 game with Change100 (I won the ‘who is the biggest drama geek who reads her blog’ challenge). Unfortunately the SNG server was down so we couldn’t play, but I was up past my bedtime anyway and decide to try my hand at the Mondays at the Hoy game.

I had a great time…except for the part when my QQ gets crushed by InstantTragedy’s AJ when we get all-in preflop and the flop comes JJx. Bah!

That crippled me and I went all-in shortly afterwards with A10 to get called by IT (I think) with AQ and I go to bed.

Bankwell was a bit grumpy when I lost…he’s watched me play a lot lately, and the other day stopped playing the Wii for a minute and said “you get sucked out on. A LOT”, and why yes, yes I do…but it didn’t faze me on Monday night, because I had a good time.

It was nice to play with people who love poker, and who aren’t full of venom towards each other in the chat window. Although Al did bitch me out for betting into a dry side pot when he and I were in a pot with a third player who was all-in. I’m not convinced that what I did was so wrong. I called the all-in player’s bet with AQ, and the flop was Q high. I was worried that Al might have AK, and then if a K hits, I’ve lost a big pot (the main pot was over 4,000 chips, and I only had about 3,300 back). Al ended up folding, and the all-in player had AQ so we chopped. I know about the whole “checking it down” theory. But in this case I think my bet was justified.

One thing I found interesting was that some of the other players commented on how aggressive I was. I’ve never really considered myself that aggressive, so their reaction was surprising. Although if they saw the hands I was getting (high pockets out the wazoo) maybe I wouldn’t have seemed so aggressive.

In other news I also popped my hammer cherry! Raising 27o, taking it down pre-flop and then showing the hand…oh yes, I’m definitely a blogger now.

And in other, other news - I finally moneyed again in the Thursday night league after a 6 month dry spell. Too bad it was a light game and my third place finish was barely a return on my buy-in....but I'll take it!

MIA

You’d think that with my lack of blogging that I’ve stopped playing…but that is definitely not the case.

Since I last blogged, I’ve continued my losing streak at the Thursday games (haven’t cashed since November), won a bunch of $8 turbo ticket tourneys – and then subsequently lost when playing tourneys with those tickets, played at the same FullTilt tables as Chris Ferguson, Karina Jett, and Chip Jett, came third at Woody’s (Bankwell finished second that night), and won two HORSE tourneys on FullTilt.

The HORSE tourneys were not my biggest tourney wins as far as money goes, but they were my biggest online tourney wins as far as number of entrants. I’ve never had any success at online MTTs…so these two wins (on back-to-back Fridays, no less) felt extremely satisfying.

We’ve also attended and hosted some Saturday night fun games – and they really help me keep poker in perspective. First and foremost for me, I love to play poker. I love trying to read people, I love playing with chips (especially when I have to stack a huge pot I just scooped), and I love talking and laughing with the other players. I have lots of serious games in my poker playing schedule…I need to remember to include some fun in there too.

No Cigar

Another night of solid play, another bubble. There isn’t enough profanity at my disposal to express my frustration.

I didn’t realize how weak my game had become until I stepped up the aggression and started playing some decent poker again. The downward spiral of my poker game went like this….

Doing very well, consistently cashing.

Loosens up starting hands, plays them aggressively

Gets burned

Keeps starting requirements loose, but plays them passively

Gets nowhere

Tightens up starting hand requirements, but still plays them passively

Sucks ass

So I decided to keep my requirements tight, but play them aggressively – like I used to, when I was winning…and my game has been SO much better. I can’t seem to avoid the bubble suckout though.

Last night I really felt strong at the beginning of the game. I was a big stack when we got to the final table when one bad hand against Bankwell (I had 1010, he had AA) cut my stack by a third. I was steaming like mad because Bankwell played me, and I really, really do not like that. Mofo. But I managed to maintain my composure and played tight aggressive to the final 4, where I was unfortunately now shortstacked (but not critical). The player to my right is mediocre…he overvalues face cards and Ace-anything. He raised from the SB, and in the BB I have pocket nines. I know that he’s raising me with anything, and with the blinds quickly escalating, I don’t have to think twice about pushing all-in. He instantly calls and my heart sinks. He must have a high pocket pair. But no, he has the monster of a hand – A 8 offsuit. He, of course, catches the Ace and I’m eliminated.

What boggled my mind was he was nowhere near pot committed with his hand. And if I’m pushing, what hands does he think he can beat? The only hands that he’s ahead of are A-rag lower than 7 and two paint cards like KQ/KJ (which I would never push with, and if he paid attention he’d know that). With any pocket pair lower than 77 it’s a coinflip, and with any pocket pair over 8s he’s an underdog. So how could A-8 be an insta-call? So confusing.

I was a bit of a baby and just pushed by chips in a big pile across the table and sat stonefaced for the rest of the game…which I had to sit through because Bankwell finished second. Which was good for the bankroll, but bad for my self-esteem.

I knew I should have been able to just shake it off – but I just felt so pissed that such a bad call gets rewarded. I know, I know – I want him to make terrible calls like that, because I’ll win more often than not. But sometimes I just want to jump across the table and strangle the donkeys.

Tomorrow night we’re going to a friend from work’s house for a poker tournament she’s organized. There will be 12 people – most of whom know how to play, but aren’t there to take it seriously…it’s exactly what I need: FUN poker.

Pauly posted a great entry on balance – it’s a must read for every human trying to live a quality life.

I’m nowhere near balanced right now. Work has been incredibly stressful, and I’ve been using large quantities of Sleeman’s Clear Ale and online MTTs to escape. It’s been work, beer, sleep, poker, work, sleep, poker, work. Add in chocolate & french fries and you’ll get the full sense of my existence over the past month. Not good.

A friend came over last night and told me that he’s getting separated from his wife. They have been married a few short years and have a young daughter. The saddest thing he told me was that there would be days on end when they wouldn’t speak. They weren’t fighting, they just wouldn’t speak to each other. The silence must have been incredibly heavy. It made me want to cry.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the impact that poker has had on my life (thanks to CC’s series of Am I better because of poker articles – a series I intend to do myself). I think the biggest positive impact has been on my relationship with my husband (aka Bankwell). In addition to life, work, family – we now have a shared hobby that we talk about all the time. I can’t imagine a night where we don’t talk and laugh – nevermind days on end.

I’m pretty lucky.

Well, except for on the poker tables lately ;)

Bubbled again in Woody’s on Monday. I was on fire at the beginning of the game. I’d really pumped up my aggression (my game had turned very passive) – and was building a great stack. A few missed flops by mid-game, and then one very bad pre-flop raise (committing myself and considering the stack size of the BB) and I was down to 1,000 chips when blinds were 200/400. Bah.

But I was able to rebuild only to go out 5th when I was a small stack and went all in for 3xBB with A4 and was called by AK. Flop was AX6, turn was 4, river was 6. I didn’t even see the second 6 and thought I had sucked out – but his two pair beat mine and I’m done.

But I actually felt great about the game, because with the exception of that one clear mistake, I played well.

my cup runneth over

Work has been pretty intense for the past two weeks, so not only has my poker playing slowed quite a bit, so has my ability to take the time to write about it.

But Saturday morning I was pumped and primed for an intense day of poker. I was ready to play…..for The Cup.

6 months ago, I played in my first RC Cup – a team based tournament created by a bunch of poker enthusiasts (i.e. poker nerds, like myself) where you compete in 4 different events for points, which combined with your teammates points give a total team score to determine the winning team – and watched our team barely squeak into second last place. But this time was different. Our team was different, and we were ready.

4 events, 4 disciplines. We were all playing Limit HE, NLHE, and Heads-up NLHE, and in the non-holdem round half the team would play Omaha while the other would play Stud.

There was more than money on the line, there was pride.

We bonded as a team over Friday night practices (which contained a lot more alcohol than was necessary). We talked Omaha and Stud strategy. We got cheesy T-shirts made.

We were ready.

AJ arrived at our place at 9:30 Saturday morning – the BusDriver was not far behind him, and we piled into BD’s van for the hour-long commute to the venue. A stop at Timmy’s was in order and we picked up 4 coffees. Roll-up-the-rim is in full effect, and I win a donut. Aha! Karma is on my side already.

We meet the other half of the team there, and the Hill (our team) is decked out in said cheesy T-shirts. I quick trip to the ladies and I, too, am awash with team pride in my white & blue jersey.


Bankwell in our team uniform.


We buy-in for the high-hand jackpots while other degenerates play $5 flipaments., and before too long, the Stud/Omaha round is starting up.

I was on the Stud half of the team, and proceed to implement my strategy of folding unless I have a monster. Well folks, there were no monsters to be found in my hand. Not a buried pair, not a 3-flush, not even a buried Ace. I was card-dead. But, I was out for points (the higher I finished, the more points I got), so I just waited, and waited, and waited.

Our Stud table must have been the rockiest rocks in Bedrock, because we were one of the last two tables going (out of 8 total, 4 Stud, 4 Omaha), and all my teammates had already ended their games. There were still 5 players at my table…and I was the shortstack. Easy, the other woman on our team, sat next to me and I told her I hadn’t seen a pair all game, not buried, not split…nothing. The poker gods must have heard me bitching, because the next hand I’m dealt, I’m showing an Ace with buried 4s. Not the best hand, but with the size of my stack, it’s now or never kids.

I get it all in pre-flop against a buried pair of Kings. Damn.

But wait – I get a 4 on 4th street to more than triple up. Sweet jebus, I’m still alive.

The game continues, and I’m all-in again with several opponents who check it down – I end up with a flush against nothing better and my stack is no longer pathetic. Through circumstances I can’t even explain, I end up heads-up in a game I’ve never played live before (other than team practices).


Stud: Heads-up. My opponent is in the pimp hat

It’s hard to explain what it was like to play that heads-up match – my whole team was behind me, other players were surrounding the table. There were cheers and groans as every hand was played. It was such a “now” moment. Ultimately I was defeated to take second. But it still felt like a miracle.

My Limit match kind of sucked when I got rivered twice early on to lose over half my stack. I did, however, double up with pocket Aces when two Aces came on the board. Huzzah! But it still wasn’t enough to keep me alive for much longer, and I went out in the middle of the pack.

My No-Limit game was horrendous when I made a terrible move with AK when an Ace flopped and my opponent flopped trips. Crikey. I went out first at my table. Unfortunately, 3 of my teammates had already busted first on their tables too – so the three of us, glaringly obvious in our blue & white shirts, had to pass the time while the games wore on. We corralled another bustee to play Euchre with us – playing poker after such embarrassing bustouts would have been much too painful.

My heads-up match was a breeze – I played against a weak-tight player who folded to any sign of aggression. I made quads for the second time of the day – this time to a board of K6K K Q. My opponent held pocket sixes, but didn’t look at his cards until the turn (he was trying to get tricky by playing blind – I don’t know why). He thought he was trapping me, but when I raised him on the river, he got worried that I had a queen, so he only called my raise instead of going all-in. Had he looked at his cards, all our money would have been in on the flop. It didn’t matter though, because I grinded him down until he had no choice but to go all-in with K-high, and my A-high held up.

My team actually won 6 out of 8 heads up matches….but we couldn’t pull out a win. We lost 1st place by 4 points. If our NL round hadn’t been so terrible, we would have won the event. Ouch.

But all-in-all – it was an amazing time. To play with so many people who love poker was just incredible.

The next Royal Cup is in August….and I can’t wait.

Our team picture - as taken by the most inebriated person at the event:

it doesn't always pay to be right

I'm sitting here at work, waiting for a final update on the current catastrophe before I can leave for the day...what better time to mull over last night's game.

It was a smaller game than usual - only 11 players. And I went out an astonishing 10th. This is pretty much par for the course for me lately, but I don't feel bad about last night's game at all, because I know I played well.

In the critical hand of the night, I had pocket 10s on the button, and Jr. raised it from UTG (around 2.5xBB). Jr. isn't a good player. I knew his range of raising hands was pretty wide - any ace, any two face cards are high on his list of premium hands. It was folded to me, and I contemplated a reraise. I decided that I could outplay him on the flop if I got a nice board, and decided to just flat call and see what the flop brought. The blinds folded.

I watched Jr as the board was dealt and he was anxiously watching the cards come out, so I knew his hand wasn't strong, and he needed to hit the board. The flop is 5c, 8s, 2c. He looked at the board for awhile, and then moved all-in for more than 3x the pot!

I said "that's a big bet" and he replied, "yes it is". he watched me intently as I counted out the size of the bet. I had him covered, but would only have about 1,400 chips left afterwards (blinds were around 100/200 I think). I just SMELLED weakness off of him, and pushed the call in. He groaned and turned over Ace 8 unsuited (so top pair, ace kicker, the hand his daddy, Sr. loves to go all-in with). Turn is a 7c, river a Jc. His Ace? The Ace of clubs.

So my perfect read, and perfect call gets kiboshed by a runner-runner flush. Yoinks!

I triple up a few hands later with AK when I go all-in against two players preflop and hit two pair (yippie!), and then a few hands after that, go all-out with pocket sevens to pocket aces. The worst part of that is I hit my 7 on the flop, turn a full-house, only to see an Ace on the river.

In those three pivotal hands, my play was solid. I thought about my options, and made the right move. Unfortunately, the right moves don't always pay off.

I feel better about my game though, and that's the important thing. It's incredible how emotional poker can be. It always baffles me when people say that they don't get affected by the emotional aspect of the game. Actually, it doesn't baffle me as much as I think they are full of it. It's an emotional roller-coaster, and it's so eacy to have your confidence dashed against the rocks, and when your confidence is low, you don't play optimally, which leads to more confidence-crushers. I can see how easy it would be to spiral into a really bad losing streak.

I'm not out of the woods yet. I'm still up for the year, but February has made a big dent in my strong start to 2007.

Bankwell placed 3rd last night, for double his buy-in back. There are definitely positives to sharing a bankroll with your husband!

bankroll blues

I've been playing micro-limit OHL and Razz on FullTilt - I'm down $50 so far, but it's fun learning a new game. I think what I've enjoyed most is reliving those lightbulb moments I had when I was learning Hold'Em. I've been playing the same people in my live games, that I think I go on auto-pilot with NLHE.

Unfortunately, my auto-pilot is stuck on "play like crap".

I played at Fallsview on Wednesday and dropped an entire buy-in. I went into the game not feeling up to it, and just had the feeling that I shouldn't play - but what do I do? Plunk down my $500 like an idiot.

I also haven't had a single decent finish this year at the Thursday league, and last night it really hit me. I'm playing badly. I'm not card-dead, I'm not getting sucked out on (at least not more than usual), I'm playing badly.

I'm playing loose, weak, and passive. I keep getting stuck with second best hands at the river and paying off the best hand. And why do I have second best hands? Because I either call with second-rate hands, or passively let my opponents catch up. I call in stead of folding. I call instead of raising. I check instead of betting. And I pay everyone off. Bad, bad Tart!

I'm such an emotional player - whether I like to admit it or not. How I feel impacts how I play, and how I play impacts how I feel. Lately I've been really stressed out, which leads to bad play, which leads to stress, which leads to....you get where I'm going here.

So what's the answer here? I don't think the stesses in my life are going anywhere anytime soon. I just need to find some better outlets for them, methinks.

No play=good play?

When ever we have an undesirable result at a game, Banky and I always ask each other “How do you think you played?” If we think we played well, then it’s easier to get over the bad result.

Last night I had a bad result – 12th of 17. But I feel unable to evaluate my play, because I barely played. My wrist got sore from flicking my cards into the muck over, and over, and over. It’s strange, because I didn’t get the frustrating card-dead stack-is-shrinking feeling that I’ve had before, because I was able to steal two pots using position. By the end of the 4th blind level, my stack was $25 above starting, and I still had 10xBB.

I then lost two pots calling short-stack all-ins and lost (with the best hand) both times, and then had just over 6xBB. Unfortunately, there were several shorter stacks who kept pushing all-in while I folded 82, J4, 103, etc. Finally I pushed with a King in the BB when it was folded to the SB who limped in, and he slow-rolled me with AJ. I caught my card on the turn and he caught his on the river. Wah wah.

But it wasn’t dramatic, it wasn’t adrenaline filled, and for the first time in awhile, it wasn’t even that much fun. It was fold, fold, fold, lose a pot, fold, fold, out. Anti-climatic to say the least.

So Banky and I went home, watched Survivor and drank beer to drown our sorrows.

Double Bubble

Banky and I finished 5th and 4th respectively last night in a game that paid top 3. Bah!

The night started off great when I got a boat lead of chips from Sr when I had nut flush to his trip Kings. But other than that, there weren’t many memorable hands.

I got short stacked bluffing off some chips to Banky when he had a flush draw and I had a straight draw – we both missed, but I chickened out and didn’t bluff the river. Weak.

After that I survived by stealing pots when I could. Banky busted out 5th when he got caught in a semi-bluff. My bust-out was pretty non-eventful. I went out when I had about 4xBB and went all-in with A10. Got quickly called by 1010 and my Ace didn’t hit.

That’s all she wrote last night.

Back in the online saddle...

I decided to give online poker another try this weekend, and rebought in to Full Tilt. I can honestly say, that although I lost way more than I won this weekend, I had more fun playing online poker than I have in a very long time.

I played a bunch of tournaments, and even won a satellite into the $200 HORSE event on Saturday night. I’d never played HORSE before Saturday, and I loved it. I’d played all the games separately at times, except Razz – which ended up being my favourite of all the rotations. I think I only played “ok” in the big tournament. I went out after about an hour and a half…somewhere in the 500s (520ish?) out of 568 players. I held my own in the early rounds, but was in over my head in one Stud High round and lost a lot of my chips and just couldn’t recover.

I’ve been so down on online poker as of late, because of the horrendous suckouts (which, I know everyone gets, but I find myself more frustrated by them online than I am in real life). But this weekend I just felt differently about my results – I’m not sure if it was because I was playing new games, or because I was playing tournaments instead of cash games – but it was just plain fun.

I also chatted briefly with Michael Craig when we were at the same table in the HORSE super-satellite. I loved his book, so that was neat. And then I, in so many words, was called a donkey by some Full Tilt pro that I’d never heard off (Aaron Bartley, I think?). And that was just plain funny – because I’ve reviewed the hand in question, and I think I played it just fine (not perfectly, but not terribly either). I think it’s amusing that people feel free to criticize you online in a way that they never would if you were sitting right across from them.

I’m definitely going to play more HORSE tournaments (but likely lower buy-ins than this weekend), and try to win my way into Full Tilt’s Sunday night HORSE tourney. But I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to play this week, Banky and I have a lot of poker on the books….

Woody’s game tonight, Thursday poker league, Friday at the Bus Driver’s place, and Rama on Monday (we both have the day off). I’m exhausted excited just thinking about it!

If you see it, it will come...

I can either see into the future, or I can’t.

Last night was the first night in the new season of our poker league. For the past 4 seasons either Bankwell (aka Mr.Tart) or I have won the opening game. But alas, it was not meant to be last night.

I didn’t play many hands last night. By the 4th blind level (20/40), I was only down slightly from starting stack (875 vs starting stack of 1000). I’m in the BB with one limper in MP, and face a 150 raise from the SB – I look down and see pocket Aces. Sweet!

I figure the limper will fold, and I’ll face the SB heads-up, so I just call the raise. But MP reraises 600 on top. Oh la la. I’m going to get paid. SB folds, and I go all-in.

I know the MP will have AA, KK, QQ or AK in this position, so I’m very happy when he calls my all-in (which really, even if he was making a move, he’d have to call, because it’s only 325 more). He does indeed flip over KK, but a K falls on the river and I pout for about 45 seconds before getting up from the table.

It’s so weird, because I knew a King was coming. I know that sounds like bullshit – but one of the busted out players was dealing, and I looked at her before she dealt the board, and we both shook our heads. Did I send out bad karmic energy to make the King come, or was it a little psychic moment that gave me a glimpse at the river? I’m not a pessimistic person who always thinks she’s getting beat….but this time, I just felt it.

The exact opposite happened to Bankwell. He was short-stacked and all-in with pocket fives, and got called by KQc. The flop came 8, 5, X with two clubs. His opponent said “I can get the flush!” and Bankwell said – “That’s ok, the 8 is coming”. Turn brought a club, river brought the 8 for the full house. He told me later that he was 100% confident the board was going to pair. Did his confidence have any affect on the outcome, or is this all just poker player whimsy?

Only the universe can tell, I suppose.

Yum

The WSOP needs an official chocolate?

Not that I'm against chocolate, by any means, but what does it have to do with poker?

I can name numerous other consumables that I'd much more aptly associate with poker than chocolate.

Consumerism is evil. In this case, it's evil wrapped in little squares of foil.

The Debut of Mr. Tart!

Mr. Tart recently wrote the following recount of a party we had to celebrate the end of the 4th season of our Thursday Night poker league., which he has graciously given me permission to post here.

For the unitiated: Polish Poker is a form of Hold'em we invented in honour of K, a Polish player in our league, who would frequently lament that he had folded the best hand (i.e. "I would have had full house!"). In Polish Poker, if you decide to fold, but want to "polish" your hand, you place an amount equal to the SB on your cards, and declare that you are "polishing". Should any other player(s) also "polish", you are competing against those players for the best hand after the board is complete. Should no other players "polish", you win! But if there's no flop, all polish bets are off - or as we determined on Friday night: No Flop, No Pole!

And now onto Mr. Tart's report...

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Here is my Season 4 party trip report. Now I know many of you are saying “C how can you have a trip report when it was at your house?”

Well even though it was at my house I was playing on another planet (for those of you that were there you know what I’m talking about)

I get home at 7 from having dinner and see that there is a phone message. I get the message and it goes a little like this (please note this is not a word for word transcript but more of a summary):

“Hi this is J aka The Bus Driver”

At this point I realize that I only know one person named J.

“The wife is working a little late and I am going to be late. I should be there at around 8:30. I am not sure if we are going to be playing a cash game, some Sit and Goes or if it going to be a drink fest so just blind me in or what ever.”

A said he would bring his table so I figured he would arrive between 7:30 or 7:40. The doorbell rings and it is D and E (they’re not A).

Beer is handed out.

A arrives a few minutes later with the table and beer. Table is put in the dining room; beer is put in the fridge.

Beer is handed out.

Chips start being set up. At this point K and S arrive (not sure in the order).

Beer is handed out.

I explain that J aka The Bus Driver called and said he was going to be late for the cash game, Sit and Goes, drink fest and ask what we want to do. Every one agrees to a $10 Polish SnG with blinds going up every 10 minutes.

Beers are handed out.

Game begins, on the third hand E (the Tart) limps in, a few players limp in as well, me on the button raises approx. 4x the BB, the blinds fold to E who re-raises, people fold back to me and I wondering what I should do, the E then says “Why don’t you go all-in?”

I go all-in, E calls, I show Ace King suited, she shows pocket Jacks. The Jacks hold up and I’m crippled early.

Beers are handed out.

Now at some point M arrives with his girlfriend, then J aka The Bus Driver also arrives not sure that order of the arrival.

J takes a seat beside me and asks about the vodka. I give J the bottle and a few shot glasses. J pours a shot and looks at the bottle. J (I assume being a glass is half full type of guy) sees that the amount of vodka left in the bottle is about the same amount in his shot glass so being the nice guy that he is drinks his shot and then drinks the rest of the bottle.

Now at this point details become blurry and confused.

Beers are handed out.

At one point I won a hand with K-9 by getting two pair, A won the same hand in the polish with the same K-9. I realize that either A is very tight or I’m very loose.

Beers are handed out.

I ended up crippling K when my Red Aces held up on a board of 5-6-2 of clubs when K had the Ace of clubs and a 7.

Beers are handed out.

A was kind enough to show me why pocket 7’s are called walking sticks when he busted me out with them. Not sure what happen after but I know A still continues the love of pocket Queens when D cracked his Kings with them when a queen hit on the river.

We discover that A is the master of Polish poker and will be writing a chapter on it in Super System 3.

Someone won and we decided to play a $20 sit and go.

Beers are handed out.

Some how I get short stacked but work my way back. J raises a pot 5x to 200 then claims 5x is like two times more extreme then 3x porn, something with arm pits and eye brows, I say whoa I thought 5x was like sheep and trees.

I look at my cards and have aces and thinking I’m short stacked go all-in for like 1400 (just a little over bet) everyone folds.

A raises to 120 (blinds are 30/60) and like the whole table calls. I am in the big blind and have crap but I’m getting odds to call, but I can’t figure out if I should polish it or not, so I regular call.

Flop come 5h-6s-7h. J checks, I look at my cards, I look at the board. I look at my cards, I look at the board. I count on my fingers and then say all-in.

A says “What?” and I say “All-in”

A looks at the board and then looks at me; I look at the board and look at my cards. A still looking at me says call. Every one else folds. I turn over my 3-4 of hearts and crack A’s Aces and bust him out.

More poker happens more people get busted, J gets busted and then becomes my consultant, advising me on my hands by suggesting things like, go all-in with that hand, fold that and so on. I listen to J and he’s right.

Jeff then leaves the table and D bends me over the table prison style with his pocket Kings against my J-10. (I can’t sit properly for hours afterwards.) Not sure what happens but I place 3rd.

I think either D or S wins.

We play another $20 sit and go, I get busted early and I am sitting beside D.

D after giving it to me prison style decides we should work together and we start playing our (D's) hands together.



More poker happens, more drinking happens and someone wins.

People start leaving at this time.

Some one suggests we play 7 card stud and the rest of us do. I adjust tournament director and we have a crazy blind structure. Ends up the women are the real studs and A and E chop at the end. By this time it is like 4 in the morning and every one goes home.

Over I think I was down like $30 to $50 but lost a lot more and then the money (like respect).

Great time every one, I had lots of fun, not sure if any one else did but all I know there wasn't a lot of beer left.

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And thus ends our Friday night.

Hopefully Mr. Tart will join me for more posts in the future...

cha-ching!

Last weekend I was seated at a 5/5NL game, having convinced Mr. Tart that heading to the casino was a much better way to spend a dreary Sunday than doing laundry!

I was fortunate enough to have another spectacular session and ended up +$505. Mr. Tart was down $85….but he battled back after losing a K-high flush to a straight-flush….so the result isn’t all that bad.

The amazing thing about both sessions is that apart from a few hands, I played relatively ABC poker. I was just lucky that not only did my strong hands hold-up, but I also got paid off. It was actually quite strange – there was one player who paid me off not once, not twice, but three times when he held second pair. The first time I guess I can understand – to see if my betting truly did represent a strong hand - but 3 times? The last time he said "I know this is a bad call". And yep, it was.

My favourite hand of the day was early on when I held AA. It’s raised to $25 in front of me. I re-raise to $75 and get FOUR callers. Holy hell.

Flop comes K-high and I check, hoping to check-raise, and it gets checked around. Ooops.

I bet the turn, and everyone folds. I take down over $300 uncontested! Oh lordy, if only every session could be like this.

We left after 3 hours, and I was on cloud nine again.

The next day we had a Monday-Night Boys game. We started playing this every-other-Monday game a year ago….and it’s a crazy game. Most of the players have been friends for a long time – there’s a lot of shit-talking, but it’s all fun. It's not the most profitable game for me, because of the rebuy structure and magnitude of suckouts. But I’m a sucker for punishment, and love the game, so we keep going. Lucky for me, the guy who runs the game decided to try a freezeout format (which works much better for my style), and I guess I was still on my rush before, because I took this game down.

Frankly, when it got short-handed, I looked around the table and thought that I could beat any of the 4 other players heads-up because they were playing so pasively, but my stack wasn’t very big and I was worried I wasn’t going to make it that far. But I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, stealing the blinds for 2 blind levels, until my absolute dream scenario happened…

I was in the BB when Old-timer limps in. Now to understand Old-timer, you only need to know that he has the record for the number of rebuys in this particular game. He thinks that the game is all luck, and has sucked out on so many players, that he’s legendary. Players both drool and cower when he’s in a hand, because he’s either going to double you up, or send you home bruised and battered. For the most part, I avoid him unless I have something super-strong. So Old-timer limps, SB folds, and I have 59o in the BB so I just check.

The flop comes 6,7,8 with 2 hearts. I flopped the straight and while I might normally check here, I know that Old-timer will check if he missed and I don’t want him to get away cheaply so I bet 3xBB. He says “How much you got there?” and as I start to count my chips he says “Doesn’t matter, I’m all-in”. I instantly call and flip out my straight, he flips over A6 for bottom-pair, Ace kicker. Turn & River don’t help, and I double up, crippling Old-timer. This gave me a monster stack, which was all the momentum I needed.

Once the bubble burst, we quickly got down to heads-up, but that proved was more challenging than I thought. I gave my opponent more credit for hands than I should have – not realizing that he had loosened up quite a bit once he made it into the money. After I realized that his bets didn't always represent strength, I adjusted my play and ultimately won.

I took home over $1100 in 24 hours. Poker is crazy.

Mr. Tart talks about Riding The Wa (a term I think he read in an article by Phil Laak) – I’m not entirely sure what it really means….but for us, it’s about feeling the game intuitively. Knowing that your bets are right, that your folds are good, and your bluffs won’t get called. I’ve been riding the wa. I know that the ride won’t last forever, but I’m sure enjoying it while it lasts.

A big cash game win - finally

Last year Mr.Tart and I started tracking all of our poker play. I created an Excel spreadsheet and, by month, we tracked every dime spent. We recorded date, location, game type, BB, buy-in, and cash-out. This year I modified the spreadsheet to separately track online ring, online tourney, live ring, and live tourney. I also added a column for notes – as I thought it would be helpful to write a few short comments about how I felt about the session, as well as any memorable hands.

First thing I discovered, I am an online donk. Hence, the “break” will continue.

Second thing I discovered was that so far this month, I felt like I have been playing some of the best poker. Every note started with “Played well” or “Played very well” – but I wasn’t bringing home any bacon. Until last week.

I had a meeting in Buffalo on Wednesday that ended at Noon. Since I wouldn’t be driving 4 hours back to work and thus, had the rest of the day to myself, I decided to swing on by Fallsview for a little 2/5NL action.

I got there about 1:00 and there was no 2/5 running, but there was open seating at the 5/5NL game. I initially wanted the 2/5 game because it had a max buy-in of $200, so I could temper any potential losses. To be honest, I wasn’t all that confident about my live casino NL game. But I was there to play, and 5/5 is what was available to me.

The min buy-in was $100, max was $500. The table didn’t seem highly stacked, so I bought in for $300 – with another $200 back in case I needed it. But I didn’t. In a three hour session I was up $550!

I had two really memorable hands. Early on I had KK in LP. EP raised to 20, I re-raised to 60 and got called. Flop was K-xx, no straight, no flush. EP checked, I bet 100 and EP thought for a long time and then called. Turn brought an unremarkable card (but did put two to a flush out there). EP checked again, and I bet 100 again. He thought for a long time and then folded his JJ face-up. I realized, almost immediately, that I misplayed the turn. I think a check there would have conveyed weakness, and he might have bet large on the river. Oh well.

The other memorable hand will go down as one of the best hands I ever played (at least in my own, non-experienced, mind).

The table had been limping A LOT, so I was taking a few cheap flops with marginal hands. This time, I’m on the button, there are 8 limpers before me, and I limp with J8 suited. A little background…the hand right before this had been won by someone holding pocket 9’s, and when UTG limps in, he says “I have the hand you just won with” and then he said to another player “Hear that Joe? I have his hand”.

The flop comes 7, 4, A rainbow (one of my suit). It gets checked to me, so I decide to represent the Ace and bet 20. UTG calls my bet and says “My nines might be good”. The turn is a 9 and everyone laughs. The 9 brings me a gut shot straight draw and I now also have a flush draw. UTG checks and says “I’m going to check my set”. I bet out $40 and he calls. The river brings another 9. The table laughs again, and UTG taps the table. I miss my draws (although I’m still representing the Ace). I pull out a $100 bill and lay it in front of me and say “$100”. UTG goes into the tank and I start silently chanting “fold fold fold fold fold”. I’m not sure what I can do to make him fold, and I then do something that was potentially pretty stupid – a player next to me says “I guess he doesn’t have nines then”, and I say, kind of quietly, “I can confidently say he doesn’t have nines”. UTG shuffles his cards as he thinks, and flashes an Ace before folding, and I scoop the pot. One of the players near me says “She had A9” and I kind of smile and look down.

What made me feel so great was he obviously put me on the hand I was representing, and I was able to sell it, even though I only had Jack high.

Nothing much happened after that hand, until I went on a mini-rush and won three pots in a row with good starting hands that actually hit the flop. I lasted a few more orbits, and left the table just before paying my 7th session fee.

It was a great feeling to have such a profitable cash session. Over the past year my live cash games have been just above breakeven or losers. I drove home on cloud nine, and couldn’t wait for Mr.Tart to come home so I could regale him with stories.

Those stories, however, inspired great envy in Mr.Tart – and it was quite easy to talk him into heading to the casino for the day.

But that’s another post…

thisclose to the final table!

Oy. How can winning $150 feel so crappy? When you're the "final table bubble" that's how!

The tourney on Saturday featured my best performance to date, but I left feeling frustrated and mad at myself.

The game started late due to some technical difficulties, and we ended up having to grab random seats. Yikes. I end up in the 2s at a table where I know one of the players (a very methodical mathmatical player aka MMP) but the rest were unknowns. I win the first two pots of the game and build up a nice little stack when I river a straight and go all-in (I don't get called, but my opponenent bet quite a bit before folding to me).

There were a few memorable hands - mostly played against MMP. Twice he raised me, and twice I went all-in against him. Both times he put be on Kings, and he was wrong both times. My hands weren't nearly that strong, but I knew I could get him off his hands, and I was successful both times. That felt amazing.

Then, I'm not even sure what happened, but I ended up down quite a bit. In retrospect, I don't remember losing any large pots, but I guess a bunch of little pots along the way add up.

My table breaks, and I get moved to a table with KS - one of the other few women at the tourney, who I've played with briefly before. She has a great reputation (which is well deserved from my observations), and she has a MONSTER stack. Somewhere around 100,000....compared to my measly 12,000. But then, for some reason, chips start coming my way. I go all-in with top pair shitty kicker only to be called by someone who THOUGHT the Jack on the board was a King to go with his KQ. Holy hell, that was sweet.

Then I get involved in a hand with KS. She bluff-raises me on the turn and I smooth call, then go all-in on the river. I knew I had the best hand, and she gave me A LOT of chips. I thought for sure she would call the river (which would have been fine for me), but I read her wrong. She told me later she was on a OESD & flush draw. I put her on trip 8s. So although I was very happy to win the pot, I'm not happy that I got the wrong read.

I made it to the dinner break (24 players left...top 11 pay), and after the dinner break KS busts out, leaving me as the only woman left. And then I RULE my table. The fold to every bet or raise I make. It's like a dream.

Then it's 2 tables. The money bubble bursts. Yippie! My best finish so far! Then another player goes out, and we're down to 10. Final table is 9. And I get moved.

Bah!

My new table starts to bully me (one player in particular) and I fold repeatedly. Then I limp in with 56s (miskate #1), get raised 3xBB and then IDIOTICALLY go all-in, get called quickly by AQo, and his hand holds up, so I go out and miss the final table.

I wish I knew exactly what prompted me to go all-in. Part of it was, I think, that I was sick of getting pushed around. The bully had a huge chip-stack and used it against me. I was right to take a stand, but probably should have done it with a stronger hand. I was so bummed because I had PLENTY of chips. I could have posted & folded and made it to the final table without difficulty.

I feel frsutrated just thinking about it.

But my lesson was learned. I can still take a stand against a bully - I just have to pick my moments with a little more clarity.

My time will come. But aparantly, it will not come on APLady or Titan. I dumped $200 into APLady on Sunday morning and promptly lost is playing 3 tournies and way above my banroll. Cripes. Then I tried to sign up with Titan, only to be given the crazy runaround with my deposits, and am now down about $15. Ugh. Titan's Customer Service is terrible, and I can't seem to win a pot. I'm considering cashing out entirely and giving online a REAL break....not just 2 weeks.

We shall see if Titan ever responds to my email.

the curse of the re-suckout

Last night was the Season Finale in our Thursday Poker League - the culmination of the past 12 weeks of play, in which the top 16 players (i.e. earned the most points during the season) get the battle for the big pot ($2000). With 50% going to first place, it's a sweet payday.

This is season 4 of the league, and the very first time that I haven't been at the top of the league. That honour, this time, goes to Mr. Tart. I was actually 4th this season...despite having only moneyed 3 times.

The game started out well for me, and I won several smallish pots, but then lost a big chunk by raising on the river when i could have just called.

I was on the button, and UTG+1 raised 3xBB. I had KJc and decided to call, since I had position and a decent stack. SB & BB fold, so it's just UTG+1 and I. The flop comes K, Q, 4. UTG+1 bets 3xBB, I smooth call, putting her on either a K, or a bluff. The turn brings another 4, she checks, I check. The river brings a J, and gives me 2 better pair, than the 2 pair I think she has. She bets, I raise, and she calls, showing AQ for two better pair than me. D'oh! To be honest, I'm not sure why she didn't reraise me....she must have put me on a 4.

My biggest mistake was not narrowing her hand selection when she bet out on the flop. If she did, indeed, have a K, what was her kicker? She raised from early position preflop, so she must have had a decent kicker, and the only one I couldn't beat was K10. So it was a dumb raise on my part.

Second mistake was a poorly executed flush bluff against a very tight player. He is usually very easy to bluff, but I didn't bet enough for him to fold his straight (which if I had done a better job of selling my hand, he would have done).

That left me very short stacked. Blinds were 30/60 and I had $260....with just seconds to go before the blinds increased to 50/100. I knew I was pushing no matter what I had, and then the player to my right raises to 150. Ugh. I still had to push, and did...with 34s. Then the BB raises all-in. Uh oh! Original raises folds, and BB shows JJ....which I crush with a 4 on the flop and 3 on the turn. So dirty.

That almost tripled me up...and I gave my head a shake and started to play some good poker.

I made it to the final table and was short stacked with a few other players. I made a great call against an all-in bluff, and was down to 5 players. I was, however, still short stacked with just over 2,000 chips when the blinds were 150/300. On the button I have A10o and push, only to get called by monster chip leader who has AQs. Crapola.

but then, oh but then....a sweet, sweet 10 on the flop (along with a 7 and a K), then an Ace on the turn gives me 2 pair, and then the evil, evil, King on the river gives the BB 2 pair with a better kicker. He re-sucked out my suck-out!

I can't complain though...the best hand won. We both did the right thing, and the cards just fell where they fell. He eventually went on to win, and I was happy to see him use my chips wisely.

Overall it was a pretty dissapointing season for me. I just never really got in the groove. Luckily Mr.Tart had an awesome season, so combined we're up (and I'm still up overall for the league). The cards can't always be kind....but here's hoping Season 5 is a little better for the Tart.

We're playing in a big freezout tourney tomorrow. I've never made it to the final 2 tables in these particular tourneys....so I'm looking for a better finish tomorrow.

Oh bubble, how I hate thee.

Last night was the last game in our Thursday League's 4th "season". It was a great game, because only the top 16 point earners get to play in the Season Finale next week, and there was a tight race for the 16th spot.

Mr.Tart has had an amazing season - I think he's had 8 out of 12 money finishes, with 3 1sts (and 4 2nd place finishes IN A ROW). Killer. I smoked last season with 5 1st place finishes....but this season has been a dissapointment. I've had 3 cashes (two 3rds and one 2nd). Last night I made it to the final table with a nice stack, but got card dead, and then wasn't agressive enough to compensate for by bad run of cards.

I ended up all-in with a dominated hand (QJc against AJo) and didn't hit. It was the Mr. himself who took me out. Fucker.

Ah well. He went on to win the game.

I had so much fun though - the game was competitive, but not too serious. I laughed so much. That's what poker is about for me.

The last 3 seasons I've had very dissapointent Season Finale's...I busted very early in the first two, and in the last one I was extremely sick. There was no way I wasn't going though, because we pay into the Finale fund every week....but I had no business being there. I busted out on the WORST suckout ever by the guy who ended up winning the tourney. So I'm hopeful that my lackluster performance this season bodes well for a Finale WIN (or at least money!).

Monday league starts up again on Monday. They've changed from a re-buy to a freezeout structure, so that should be interesting.

Looks like Mr.Tart and a friend and I might hit up a local club tomorrow night...we'll see how things progress.

If the first week of the year is any indication of my poker life for the rest of 2007, well kids, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I started 2007 by winning a satellite on UltimateBet into a $200 +15 WPT satellite. Winning the sat ticket was a feat unto it’s own – it was a rebuy (which I rarely ever play), and I got in as an alternate, just as the rebuy period ended, so I double rebought and double added-on, giving me just under average chips. I’m not even sure how, but I ended up at the final table as the short-stack – but I’m a fairly confident SS player, and was able to make my way into the top 6 (and securing my tourney ticket) by attacking the mid-stacks who were afraid to play back at me, less they be crippled.

The main satellite was later that night, and it started off beautifully early on when I was dealt 10 3 off in the BB and got to see the flop for free with one caller and the SB. The flop was 3, 7, 10 – all diamonds. I bet out on the flop, got two callers and said to Mr. Tart – if they have the flush already, I have a full-house redraw. Well lo and behold, the turn is a 10. Sweet! I bet out again, only to get reraised by the first caller, and then the SB went all-in – so I went all in, and so did the other caller. Hands turn over to reveal SB has nut flush, other caller has pocket 33 for lower full house to my 10s full of 3s. Glorius.

But all good things must come to an end – and after tight, conservative play, I end up with a pitiful stack and go all-in with AK, get called by AJ, and lose when a J hits. Bah.

That was Monday.

Thursday brought back our regular league game, where again, I amassed a large chip-stack early on, but pissed it away with a spectacularly dumb move. First, my miracle of the night (aka, how I benefit from my opponent’s stupidity). I am in the BB with AJo. There are 3 limpers plus the SB who completes, so I raise 3xBB. Only one caller from MP. Flop is A, A, K. Niiiiiice. I decide to bet out 2/3 the pot and MP calls. This tells me he has an Ace, but is wary of his kicker. Knowing my opponent, I’m confident that he would have either raised, or reraised me preflop with AK – and definitely would have raised my flop bet with AQ – so my kicker is good. Knowing this, I decide to check the turn, indicating that my flop bet was a “feeler” and that I was giving up the hand. When a brick (a 4, I think) hits, I check, and MP checks. Mmmmmkay. River is a K. FUCK! There goes my kicker advantage. Convinced that we’re going for a chop, I don’t see any point in betting, and just tap the table. My opponent looks at me aggressively, waves his hand over his chips and says “I’m all in”. Still convinced that we’re chopping, I roll-my eyes and say “me too”. He confidently flips over his cards and says “full house”. I flip mine over and say “yeah, me too”, only to see that he has flipped over KJ, for Kings full of Aces, which I completely crush with my Aces full of Kings. Holy crap.

So I totally misread my opponent by thinking he had a weak Ace, but damn, what was he thinking? That I was completely bluffing pre-flop and on the flop? The best he could be hoping for was a chop. Silly, silly.

But in the “what were they thinking?” category goes the rest of my play for the night. I bled a good portion of my chips away by not paying attention to the blind level, and min-raising when I meant to be raising 3xBB. I didn’t realize I was doing it until the break when someone commented on it. Oooops. No wonder I couldn’t get the BB to fold.

Then I just had a complete melt-down by check-calling with AQ without hitting the board. I lost 2/3 of my chips on that hand, and I really don’t know why I kept calling the bets. I folded on the river when I really had no other choice.

Unfortunately I couldn’t do much after that, and went out before the final table. Boo hiss.

Saturday brought another trip to Rama. This time I ended up down $37. I was actually down $120 at one point – so I actually feel good that I was able to bring my stack up to just a “decent” loss. Unfortunately, miserable old Tony wasn’t at my table – but he was at Mr.Tart’s table and managed to suck out 3 monster pots in a row that essentially busted Mr.Tart just before we were set to leave. The 75 minute car ride home was especially enjoyable after that. Mr.Tart doesn’t lose very often at the casino cash games, so when he does, he takes it HARD.

Sunday morning I decided to spend the rest of the money in my UltimateBet account on tourneys…and spend it I did. I lost every tourney to a suckout – no joke. Now I’m officially on my online break. I’m going to stay away for at least two weeks.

That brings us to yesterday, when the 2006 Battle of Champions for our Monday league was set to take place. Every other Monday we play in a league, and if you won a game, and attended 4 or more games during the year, you were invited to play in the Battle of Champions. $50 was removed from each bi-weekly pot, so the BoC is a freeroll. We all agreed to juice the freeroll pot with another $40 each, so the winner would take home just under $800.

There were only 11 players, and I was on. my. game.

I made two excellent calls on opponents who were trying to bluff me on the river – but their bets didn’t make sense with the action, and I caught them both red-handed. The look of dejection in both of them (over 2 hours apart, mind you) when I said “I call”, was priceless.

I made one mistake early on, for sure. Mr.Tart had ended up short-stacked by bluffing into an opponent with a monster, and only had about 1,800 chips left (we started with 4500). The person next to me limped in, and I limped with pocket 88s hoping to catch trips. Mr.Tart, on the cut-off, goes all-in. It gets folded to me, and after looking at my stack (which was over 5,500) I decide to fold. I figured it was going to be a coin-flip, knowing he would push with any high Ace in that position – but based on what was already in the pot, and what I had back, I should have called his bet.

A very similar hand happened later, but it was a good fold. I limped with a low suited Ace (A7s), and Mr.Tart came over the top again. This time I had no hesitation in folding, and he flashed his AQh at the table. That one was a no brainer.

As it got down to six-handed, I was tied for the short-stack with another player. But I wasn’t worried, he was so weak/passive, trying to limp his way into the money…I knew I’d outlast him for SURE. This was when I made my second good call against a river bluff, and that gave me just enough chips to have some room to move. I survived an all-in with top-pair & a flush draw against two-pair by making my flush, and then I was good to the top 3…in the money Baby!

My opponents were polar opposites.

Sr. is an old luckbox who believes that poker is all luck, and doesn’t hesitate to put his money in with second pair. He also thinks everyone is always bluffing.

Guy is one of the best players in the league. Smart, but is also a little fearful of me, because he knows that I’m capable of some solid play.

Unfortunately, Sr has a monster stack.

I survive for quite awhile by stealing blinds, but don’t get called when I have QQ, AK, or 88….I really needed a caller so that I could accumulate some chips. I end up going out with A8o when Guy has AJo. An Ace and Jack hit on the flop. Bah.

Guy ended up winning the game – which was good….I didn’t want to see a luckbox crowned as the 2006 Champ of Champs!

Phew! What a week.

What does it all boil down to? I’m up $50 for the year so far.

Could be worse, I guess ;)

Poker frenzy

My weekend started with a poker-bang. I played in Merry Xmas Maddness…a mostly for fun, crazy rebuy game. $5 buy-in, unlimited rebuys for the first 4 blind levels, and any hand played to the river with an As or 2h pulls a special chip from a bag. The special chips had various implications:

White - "Merry Christmas!" - The player pulling this chip may exchange it for one free re-buy or add-on.
Blue - "Secret Santa!" - The player pulling this chip is feeling especially generous and will be moving All-In blind on the very next hand
Red - "Gift Exchange!" - The player pulling this chip, exchanges all their chips with the all the chips of the player to thier left.
Light Blue - "Don't open your Presents Early!" - If this chip is pulled before the first break, you get a green 25 chip from the bank. If it's pulled after the first break, it counts as it's value (5,000)
Orange - "Christmas in Omaha" - At any point, trade in this chip for 2 more hole cards. Use any combination of the board cards and your four hole cards to make the best hand. If you still have this chip after the first break it becomes it's value (2,000)
Pink - "SUPER ULTRA-SECRET XMAS PRESENT!!!11OMG1!!" - Choose one of the 15 sealed envelopes, open it, and see what you get!!!
Grey - "Bah Humbug!" - Keep this chip until you win a pot or bust out. While you have this chip you only get dealt one hole card. If you still have this chip after the first break you can exchange it for a black "100" chip. Bah-Humbug.

Mr.Tart and I found out about this game on pokeforum.ca, where the host posts regularly. We’ve talked about going to one of his games for awhile now, and thought this would be a fun way to enter the fray. And it was.

I was seated at the table that was predicted to have the most rebuys, and we did not disappoint. I ended the rebuy period up well above average stack, but then my table broke and I moved to another table where I made a serious blunder. A player who I thought to be very good moved all in on the BB, after 4 people (plus me, in the SB) limped. I had A6s, and thought she was making a move to “punish the limpers”. I had her outchipped by at least double, so I called. Well, she wasn’t making a move, she had pocket QQ. Oooops. Now I was well below average chips, and after a few orbits went all in with A9o and was called by UTG who had limped with pocket QQ. So the ladies did me in that night. Funnily enough, I thought UTG had something big since he limped when he was normally aggressive. But I didn’t listen to my gut. After I busted out, I went over to Mr.Tart’s table to see that he was all-in, just as I stood behind him, he got called by AJo to his A4o, and he did not spike a lucky 4. So, our timing was pretty good. Heh.

Even though we both busted out (and I spent $30 on a $5 tourney) it was a blast. Everyone was there for a good time, and now that we’ve met the host in person, we’ll definitely go back for his more serious games.

On the way home, I suggested a day-trip to Rama was in order. So our Saturday afternoon was spent at the 2/5 Limit tables. Mr.Tart doubled his buy-in, and I lost $60. My biggest mistake was leaving the table when I did. My table had been pretty tight/passive for a couple hours, and I had trouble making any money on my made hands, and lost a few pots betting at my draws. Before we started playing, Mr.Tart and I had agreed to leave between 5:30-6:00 (having an end time helps me, because I’d play all night if I didn’t have a set time to leave). Well, at 5:30, Mr.Tart cashes out. I had just paid the BB, so I said I’d stay for this last orbit. Next thing I know, “Tony” sits down at my table. Tony, as I would learn, is an old, miserable man, who caps everything pre-flop. I learned this lesson when I folded my pocket jacks on a Q-high board to his insane bets….only to learn that he was betting with 9 4 and caught the 9 on the flop. Holy crap!

The pots on the table ballooned, and the table saw more action in 5 hands than it saw in the previous 40. I should have stayed…because I knew I’d be able to take down at least one monster pot….but I felt like I should leave when I said I would. Mr.Tart talked about it afterwards, and I told him that I didn’t want to leave, but didn’t want to keep him waiting….he said that in the future, I should just tell him the table is juicy….he can bide his time at the video poker machines. Ah well. Live and learn. Apparently Tony is a regular….so I hope to see him in the future (actually, I hope to see him this coming Saturday when we’re going again).