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…