Grind... Grind... Go Nuts!

My game plan for tonight was to play full-ring $1/$2 limit all night. I wanted to play tight, conservative, but aggressive. I started out great and I was up $25 over my first 150 hands, but then I got AA and KK cracked consecutively and I was back to even. I stayed even for the rest of the night. I became bored with the grind and I decided to buy into a 6-max $50 NL table. I have not played no limit well lately and I decided that I could handle a $50 loss, which I honestly expected to happen rather quickly because I planned to be loose-aggressive. It turns out that I only played 11 hands, but I won more than $100. I am going to describe all 11 hands because it demonstrates the value of a loose-aggressive image. Admittedly, a lot of this was luck but some of it was my aggressive betting that induced several key calls by people who could not lay down weak hands because they were annoyed (or perhaps they assumed that I was bluffing).

Blinds are $0.25 and $0.50

Hand 1, stack = $50. Dealt Q6o. Raggedy flop; I call a small bet on the flop but fold the turn to a more sizable bet.

Hand 2, stack = $49. Dealt J2o. Fold preflop from small blind.

Hand 3, stack = $48.75. Dealt AQo. I raise to $3 after two people limp; everyone folds.

Hand 4, stack = $50.50. Dealt 53o; fold preflop.

Hand 5, stack = $50.50. Dealt K6o; fold preflop.

Hand 6, stack = $50.50. Dealt KQo UTG. I raise to $2 and everyone folds.

Hand 7, stack = $51.25. Dealt KJo in the big blind. Three people limp and I check. The flop is J 5 5 (two spade). The small blind makes a minimum bet and I raise about the size of the pot – only the small blind calls. The turn is 7c; I bet $5 and the small blind calls. The river is a 6h; the small blind bets $6 and I call. The small blind flips up A4s.

Hand 8, stack = $63.45. Dealt Q5s on the small blind. I fold when UTG+1 bets $3.

Hand 9, stack = $63.20. Dealt T8o on the button. UTG+2 limps and so do I and the small blind. The flop is 3 5 8 (rainbow). The small blind (“Mark”) bets $2 and I raise to $6; he calls. The turn is a 2. The small blind bets $5 and I raise to $20; Mark folds.

Hand 10, stack = $74.50. I am dealt AQo in the cutoff. I raise to $2 and Mark (button) calls. The flop is Q 9 5 (two diamonds). I make a pot-sized bet ($4) and Mark calls. The turn is J (clubs) and I overbet the pot $20 – Mark calls. The river is 2 (spades) and I put Mark all-in. He calls with JKo.

Hand 11, stack = $125.01. I am dealt AQo from UTG+1. UTG limps and I raise to $2. The big blind and the limper call. The flop is Q 9 3 (rainbow). The big blind checks, UTG bets $5 and I overbet the pot and put the UTG all-in. He calls. The turn and river are a K and 6, respectively. UTG flips over JQo.

Final stack = $164.56.