Wild Night at Golden Palace
For the last few nights, I have spent 60-90 minutes playing 2-3 tables of $50 NL hold'em at Golden Palace Poker. I am primarily trying to clear a PSO promotion (and GPP's sign-up bonus)... but I have been also clearing a nice profit along the way.
Last night, however, was a little different. I started by opening 3 tables; I immediately noticed that one of my tables had a really weak player. REALLY WEAK. I was practically licking my lips, waiting to take his money.
The first decent hand that I was dealt was AJs in the cutoff. The donkey limped; I raised; the big blind and the donkey called. The flop was a good one for my hand: J 5 4. The donkey bet out and I made a big raise; both the big blind and the donkey called. The turn was a queen. I decided this was the time to go all-in and I was quite excited when the donkey called (I knew that I had him beat). Unfortunately, the big blind called also and flipped over 44. Doh! The donkey turned over KTo. Luckily, the big blind was a short stack and I would still win money on the hand as long as the donkey didn't catch his open-ended straight draw. River: Ace... and the donkey raked in a huge pot.
The second big hand started when the donkey raised from UTG; I called from the cutoff with JdTd; and the big blind (someone else this time) called again. The flop was A 7 6 (two diamonds). The big blind checked; the donkey bet; me and the big blind called. The turn was another diamond, giving me a flush. The donkey bet out again and I pushed all-in, figuring the donkey would call with numerous marginal hands. I was worried when both the big blind and the donkey called (another HUGE pot). The big blind turned over AQ (drawing dead) and the donkey flipped over 67. I was in a great spot, about to triple up as long as the donkey missed his four outs. River: 7!
The third big hand of the night was just a few hands later. The donkey limped and I raised with JJ. Everyone else folded; the donkey then mini-re-raised me. I decided that my JJ was likely ahead (a coin flip?), perhaps dominating the donkey. I was not surprised when he called and flipped over 9h 7h. Unfortunately, the flop was T 8 6 and I lost another buy-in.
I must admit that I played the first hand poorly but I think I played the second and third hands very well. I was stuck $75 (actually I was stuck about $110 because I was losing at the other two tables also) but I was not actually on tilt. In fact, I had some VERY good news: I had a major DONKEY at my table with a HUGE stack (~$175) that was just waiting to be won. So, I closed one of my other two tables (so that I could focus better) and I bought in for $50 and started to attack the donkey again (note: I bought in for more than my usual because he was so bad).
I played very very well after that and I even won back about $40 of the money that I donated to the super-donk. Unfortunately, the super-donk only lasted about 30 more hands before he busted. After he left, I left the room also because I had far more money in my stack than I wanted.
Following that, I wish I could relay an incredible story of raking huge pot after huge pot, going from down more than 4 buy-ins to a decent win, but poker isn't like that. Instead, I slowly grinded my way back to the point where I lost only $15 on the night.
Now, if you have read to this point, then you are probably thinking that this is a boring blog entry about a guy who took 3 quasi-bad beats and wanted to whine about it. If you think that, then you are totally wrong.
I wrote this blog because this was perhaps my best night of playing poker. Ever. I pushed hard with three hands early-on, getting my money in the middle in good or very good spots. Nonetheless, I lost all three hands and I was stuck a good amount. But, I did not go on tilt. I recognized that I had an advantage at the table and I dug in and played my best game. I even won back some of my money. I then continued to grind, turning a bad night (losing more than 4 buy-ins) to one where I lost an insignificant amount (< 1 buy-in).
And as an added bonus, all of these chaotic hands were excellent for accumulating Action Points, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Last night, however, was a little different. I started by opening 3 tables; I immediately noticed that one of my tables had a really weak player. REALLY WEAK. I was practically licking my lips, waiting to take his money.
The first decent hand that I was dealt was AJs in the cutoff. The donkey limped; I raised; the big blind and the donkey called. The flop was a good one for my hand: J 5 4. The donkey bet out and I made a big raise; both the big blind and the donkey called. The turn was a queen. I decided this was the time to go all-in and I was quite excited when the donkey called (I knew that I had him beat). Unfortunately, the big blind called also and flipped over 44. Doh! The donkey turned over KTo. Luckily, the big blind was a short stack and I would still win money on the hand as long as the donkey didn't catch his open-ended straight draw. River: Ace... and the donkey raked in a huge pot.
The second big hand started when the donkey raised from UTG; I called from the cutoff with JdTd; and the big blind (someone else this time) called again. The flop was A 7 6 (two diamonds). The big blind checked; the donkey bet; me and the big blind called. The turn was another diamond, giving me a flush. The donkey bet out again and I pushed all-in, figuring the donkey would call with numerous marginal hands. I was worried when both the big blind and the donkey called (another HUGE pot). The big blind turned over AQ (drawing dead) and the donkey flipped over 67. I was in a great spot, about to triple up as long as the donkey missed his four outs. River: 7!
The third big hand of the night was just a few hands later. The donkey limped and I raised with JJ. Everyone else folded; the donkey then mini-re-raised me. I decided that my JJ was likely ahead (a coin flip?), perhaps dominating the donkey. I was not surprised when he called and flipped over 9h 7h. Unfortunately, the flop was T 8 6 and I lost another buy-in.
I must admit that I played the first hand poorly but I think I played the second and third hands very well. I was stuck $75 (actually I was stuck about $110 because I was losing at the other two tables also) but I was not actually on tilt. In fact, I had some VERY good news: I had a major DONKEY at my table with a HUGE stack (~$175) that was just waiting to be won. So, I closed one of my other two tables (so that I could focus better) and I bought in for $50 and started to attack the donkey again (note: I bought in for more than my usual because he was so bad).
I played very very well after that and I even won back about $40 of the money that I donated to the super-donk. Unfortunately, the super-donk only lasted about 30 more hands before he busted. After he left, I left the room also because I had far more money in my stack than I wanted.
Following that, I wish I could relay an incredible story of raking huge pot after huge pot, going from down more than 4 buy-ins to a decent win, but poker isn't like that. Instead, I slowly grinded my way back to the point where I lost only $15 on the night.
Now, if you have read to this point, then you are probably thinking that this is a boring blog entry about a guy who took 3 quasi-bad beats and wanted to whine about it. If you think that, then you are totally wrong.
I wrote this blog because this was perhaps my best night of playing poker. Ever. I pushed hard with three hands early-on, getting my money in the middle in good or very good spots. Nonetheless, I lost all three hands and I was stuck a good amount. But, I did not go on tilt. I recognized that I had an advantage at the table and I dug in and played my best game. I even won back some of my money. I then continued to grind, turning a bad night (losing more than 4 buy-ins) to one where I lost an insignificant amount (< 1 buy-in).
And as an added bonus, all of these chaotic hands were excellent for accumulating Action Points, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
posted by frazwood at 9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home