I couldn’t take “Josie and the Pussycats” on TV, so I sat down and signed on to Party, while my wife watched that terrible movie. I really wanted to take a shot, and found a juicy $15-30 table and thought I would sit for a couple orbits and try to win a single pot. I downed my coors, and took my seat, and I was next for the big blind. But I forgot that you can’t post immediately, so the button passed me by, and I sat and waited. Of course my feet got cold, and I left the table for more comfortable (and less risky) pastures. All of the $5-10 tables were filled, and I don’t like to play there if my wife is around (harder to focus), so I found a couple of $3-6 tables, and figured I’d check out my old stomping grounds. Figuring this is equivalent to a Friday night due to the holiday, I knew the games would be juicy.
I felt like I was back in the wild games of Hollywood Park– 5 or 6 callers sometimes, just beautifully bad plays and lots of money on the table. Both tables were pretty loose, so I shifted into “ram and jam” mode, getting ready to raise my four flushes and big draws. A player to my left was very loose-aggressive, and I couldn’t have picked a better seat at one of my tables. Anyway, I played tight, folding everything for an orbit, when I picked up AQd on the button. An early pre-flop raise, and I just call, hoping to suck in the blinds. Loose-aggressive girl in the small blinds raises me, and BB calls, along with the early raiser. I happily call, and we’ve got a 4 way pot. Flop is Q 7 5 rainbow, and I’m ready to roll… I bet the flop and get 2 callers, and the turn is the 8 of spades, putting 2 spades on the board. I bet the turn, and loose-aggressive reraises, and we trap the caller in the middle. I pop it for another reraise, sure that I have the best of this one. Both call. The river is Kc, and no straights or flushes are on board, but I fear AK from the trapped caller, so I check it through when the river is checked to me. Loose aggressive had QJh, and the trapped guy has 99, so I pull in a $66 win. You gotta love $3-6.
Two hands later I pick up 88 in middle position, and happily call an early raise, 3rd into the pot. We get 2 more callers, so it’s a 5 way pot. I get a dream flop of 8 J 7 rainbow, and I’m hoping loose-aggressive will do her job and help me trap the fish. Early raiser bets, and I raise, but this time loose-aggressive just calls, along with one other player, building a big 4 way pot. The turn is a 3, and with all 4 suits represented on board, the only thing I fear is 10 9. I bet the turn, and get 3 callers, and the river is a Queen. I know that I’m money here, and bet for value on the river, but get only one caller. The caller shows J 10 suited, and it’s $85 in my pocket.
I later pulled in a $44 win when I flopped Aces and Tens in a pot that was 3 bet preflop, and was called to the showdown by a player with KQ, after the flop was A Q T. At least this guy had outs.
My final $28 win came when a King flopped to my AK suited, and somebody drawing to spades (I think) didn’t hit his flush card.
So that’s $190 win in 30 minutes on a $3-6 table. Amazing. That’s 66 big bets an hour! Maybe I should move back down. Yeah I held some cards, but man, these players are awful.
Not so lucky on the other table: Ended up down $31 bucks after not getting many hands… besides the two $10 pots I took, the only pot I won was a $33 one when my pocket nines tripped up on the turn. Turns out I didn’t even need the third one, as a guy with AQo called me down to the showdown. He actually called my river bet with Ace high! The losses came from rammin and jammin with a couple four flushes that didn’t hit.
So a win of $158 in 30 minutes of play on 2 $3-6 tables. I probably could have doubled up with a single pot in $15-30, but there was a lot less risk swimming with the fish.
So total poker profits are hovering around $1800… a few more sessions like tonight and the bankroll will be in excellent shape.
Off topic notes:
–Knocked out some Christmas shopping today. The wife and I actually bought a fake tree (ugh). My first Christmas tree. Man, you know you’re getting old when you find yourself buying ornaments at Kmart. What a capitalistic holiday… minimum you’re spending is $500 bucks, and that’s just for about 10 gifts at $50 a pop. The total spending on Christmas per capita has got to be through the roof.
–Sportsbook: I agonized over taking Favre and Green over the hapless Lions tomorrow, giving 6.5 points. I ended up taking the Pack, but one of the reasons is because the game will be on TV and my wife is working tomorrow, so it will give me something to do. The guy has a fractured thumb, and scares the hell out of me, but the lions defense is so horrible I couldn’t resist.
–Hats: my old poker hat fell apart (the little flex band on the inside broke, so I was getting these elastic black gummy balls in my hair), so I broke down and bought a nice hat today. $40 bucks for a baseball cap! Definitely the most I’ve spent on a hat… and it’s got a stupid Kangol logo on it, but it was the only one they had that fit my noggin.
Happy Thanksgiving, may your heart pound when you hit your flush on the river.