The night that could have been....

Well, the Juice permitted me to play again last night and it was another night of what could have been..... although it turned out to be a very good night for me, it could have been monstrous!

I made a crying call to Rick once when he rivered Queens full of Jacks and I had a smaller hand with the queen, but his $100 bet at the $600 pot was kind of stinky and he could have been making it with anything, up to and including a missed flush draw. But he pushed my buttons perfectly to get me to toss in the $100. Practically anything BUT the queen and I can fold it. Nice hand sir.

I folded a couple of middle pair in Omaha 8 and would have flopped or turned quads. It was a rather quiet night in terms of getting to hear the monkey. I think that John M was the only one that got to have his way with the monkey and that was rather early in the evening. Nope, I remember Rick flopped a set and rivered quads against Elvie. Rick looked truly disappointed when his fourth nine hit the board. He bet $200 and Elvie called.

There were a couple of very interesting hands though that made some decent pots for me. Once I was on the button and someone, we'll call him the Juice, because even if it wasn't him, it certainly could have been him, raised the bet to $75 straight and there were 3-4 callers including John M. I called with Ah, 2c, 7h, 8c. The flop was 2x, 2x, 9x and I checked and someone, I don't remember who, bet out $100 and John M called and I pushed all-in. Everyone folds except John who calls. He had outs, but they didn't come.

Another hand that was the biggest one of the night for me happened when I was in the big blind and Dave, who was sitting immediately to my left, made it $150 to go. As is usually the case, pretty much everyone at the table and 2-3 travelers speeding their way along the beltline makes the call so by the time it gets to me, there's about $900 or so in the pot. I find Ax, Ax, 4x, 4x rainbow. I check the stacks to see who is likely to call and the only ones that I feel will make the call of a big raise are Dave and Elvie so after a few moments of prodding and insults from the Juice, I push all-in for about $1200 or so. He immediately calls and Elvie calls and everyone else folds. I've got everyone at the table covered except for Rick and Natediggity who thankfully folded. Again, I am always amazed when the best hand pre-flop holds up all the way to the river. There were 3 cards to the diamond flush and 3 cards to the broadway straight, but neither Elvie or the Juice had any of that..... the Juice tried to play a four card straight at an extremely high volume for a minute or two, but we got him calmed down and I scooped one of the biggest pots of the night. Sweet!

A little while later from the big blind, I flopped the nut straight with the "Willie Nelson," Js, 10s (5th of Jack and Dime Bag), Ah, Qh. The flop was the 7s, 9s, 8h.... I love this flop! The only thing that could have made it any better would have involved the monkey...... At any rate, I lead out with a pot sized bet of about $50. Everyone folds to John M, who calls. The turn is a 3h and I like the heart, but not necessarily the 3, so I bet $100 and John calls. The river is another brick and I bet $200 (I think) and John M calls and my straight scoops it. There was a low, but he didn't have one.

I ended up wussing out and leaving before everyone else as I had a big day scheduled at the office and of course had to put up with abuse as I was leaving.... but it was so worth it! I cashed out with the biggest night for me in quite some time, but oh, the night that could have been!

Back to the felt!