legendary_totoro’s Haven
Poker

First Live Game in a While

Tuesday 15 July 2008 by legendary_totoro

I’m more of an online player than a live one as I tend to have more difficulties to make a correct read on live players. This game was a nice occasion to try to adapt my online playstyle to a live party...

Round 1 : First Blood

Anyway, the game has been friendly as I kept my mouth shut about the previously described behaviour all night long. Some small pots and maybe 1h or so after, I get involved with this hand :

I get KcQc in UTG+1. I raised standard, Ja called. K-high flop with 2 spades and he checks. I bet half pot and he raises. I ponder and pray my kicker isn’t a problem. There could have been a lot of hands that could kill me here : 2 pairs, a set, a higher K or a flush draw. I push all-in and I think I have him slightly covered. He ponders for a while and finally calls with K4o (no spades). The next streets were dealt and he bricks and is eliminated first.

Maybe he was putting me on a bluff, I’m not really sure what he thought I had, but it was clear to me I was a tight player and I represented at least a King there. Maybe his raise on my 1/2 pot bet on the flop intended to hush me out of it. As I didn’t play too much hand I felt I couldn’t fold top pair-good kicker (maybe -EV move here).

Anyway, that hand propelled me above 1k in chips, closing the gap between the CL (P) and me. This elimination also announced the next level of blinds : 10/20

Round 2 : I’m a Folding Machine

I didn’t play much here, focusing on tells detection, to no avail =P

At some point, I had ATo and raised from the button, and only Jo from the BB called. The flop came low and he checked. This is when I ask for a count to the amazement of the table. FYI, I just wanted to know how far he could go in the hand as I didn’t want to slip back to the starting stack. Since his chips weren’t stacked in a clear way, I just asked. After counting his chips to some 500ish, I checked behind (more amazement from the table). An ace fell on the turn and he checked again. I opened for 2/3 of the pot and after some thought he decided to call. The river was the Ac giving me trips but also putting a 3rd club on the board...

He sighed and ranted loudly about how the board paired the high card before he checked. I didn’t know if he had a flush or maybe a weaker ace for a Full House so I only checked back (chicken-style remember ?). He showed QQ (no club) and I dragged the pot and was probably sitting around 2x starting stack.

That hand left him down in the 300-400 range, and quickly after he got involved in his final hand : there was 89J96 rainbow board with bets every streets. On the river, L bet enough to put Jo all-in and after 2-3 minutes of deliberation he reluctantly called with T6 for a busted open ender and a rivered bottom pair. L showed QJ for top pair and sent him on the rail. Prior to this, L has been involved in a few hands a was relatively SSed (around 500 maybe). This hand allowed him to regain his lost chips and was now just a little above the starting stack.

Round 3 : The Cruise

Blinds now at 25/50 and I start bullying the blinds (P and R) with Ax or Double painted hands with some luck and success whenever I got called by P because I oftenly hit top pair on the flop or turn and a pot bet pushed him out.

Some people start wondering if I’m actually hitting or just bluffing with my big stack because I seemed to always do it from the BTN. Then once again in position, I get AKo and raise for 4xBB, SSed Ronee shoves and I instant call like a donk as I put him on a weaker ace making a stand to my bullying. He actually showed 88 for a classic race situation (and the crow goes wild !). I wish him good luck before the cards get down as he was facing elimination with 5 cards to come. I flop a K and no 8 came to help him.

I feel sorry for him since he didn’t win much hands at showdown, and got rivered several times. Here’s a recap from his POV

Anyway, I crossed the 2k mark at that point (about 3x starting stack) with L & S around 500-600 and P sitting around 1k.

Round 4 : The Bubble

I guess this is the stage (blinds 50/100) when Patrick’s stack dwindled the most, since he kept limping in every single pot and oftenly called a bet or two before folding or showing a losing hand at the showdown.

He’s back at starting stack after a couple of hands and I make a std raise from the BTN with 7s7c. He instant shoves from SB for about 700. The speed of his shove made me worried a little bit but considering his range and the pot odds, I call without much thinking. He shows Ad8s and we have to race again. He misses the raggish flop but grabs 2 spades. He spikes another one on the turn and I have to sweat the river to finally eliminate him.

From there on I’m the big CL with 3k versus S & L who are under 700.

Round 5 & 6 : Formality

The table was now 3-handed and we were all in the money with 100/200 blinds.

We exchange a couple of hands and I manage to keep them low enough to be at shove distance. S gets crippled after limping too many times and I shove her with KQo vs two sooted rags, she flops a 4-flush, the turn both misses us and she finally missed her flush on the river.

With the new 200/400 blinds, L has a little more than 2.5xBB and I shove him with AdTd from the BB after he limped with position. He folds, next hand I shove with AJo he ponders and decide to gamble with 3h6h, I flop an A and he turns a heart flush which eventually misses on the river (5d) and he’s gone as the runner up.

Winning is Good

I grabbed $30 for first place which is 3x buy-ins and a net profit of $20 for 3h30 of play, so it’s all good. My "Tight-Chicken" style proved good enough for this soft field, as I didn’t really outplay anyone with amazing skills. I’ve had rags and I’ve had paints but the most important thing is that I got lucky when I raced.

Who knows what would have happened had I missed to hit on my AK vs R’s 88 or with my 77 vs P’s A8 ?

As with any game, the winner is always right, but here I just don’t wanna get too cocky as I could have busted in any point before Round 4. From there on, I just abused my big stack over the other players and got lucky to have good+ hands to do it (chickens don’t play the big bully with 74o).

Anyway, that was a first live game in a while, maybe over a year or so and it’s always nice to walk richer.

See you next time. Until then, "may your cards be live, and you pots be monsters"...


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