Oh, What a Night!

Another exciting night of poker with The Jizz and Company! My night had an inauspicious start, as I flopped top pair three hands in a row, only to get drawn out on every time. As confident as I was going in, I couldn’t help but start to think “Great, it’s going to be one of those nights…” And boy was I right (just not in the way I thought)! After rebuying for a couple hundred more, the hands started coming. It was a long night with many big hands, so I’m sure I’ll “Pull a Charles” and hose up some of the details. Anyway, some of the highlights were:

1) Hold ‘Em – I have A-A and limp UTG for $4. Several callers, then button raises to $30. BB calls, and I re-raise to $100. Button calls, flop comes 8-5-2 or some garbage like that. I push in for the remainder of the button’s stack, around $225(?) or so. He calls and turns over J-J, and the aces hold up.

2) Omaha 8 – I have A-A-K-2 on the button, and flop comes A-J-7. There’s a bet a several callers and I just call. I don’t want to tip off the strength of my hand yet, and I want to see what the turn brings before I commit too much of my stack. As good as it looks, any card that doesn’t pair the board makes a straight or a low. A sweet little 7 comes on the turn, and it goes something like bet-raise-call-call in front of me. I want as many callers as possible, so I just call and go along for the ride. A no-low brick (9 maybe) comes on the river. Again there’s action in front of me, and I push in when it gets to me. I get a couple of callers, nobody has quads, and I scoop a very nice pot.

3) Omaha 8 – More of the same. I have A-A-2-6 on the button, blah, blah, blah. Ace comes on the flop, I boat up on the turn, and scoop a nice pot.

4) Hold ‘Em – I’m heads-up against Dave before the flop with Q-9, and the flop comes Q-8-5. I bet $20, and Dave raises $35 more. Davey Boy, of course, will make this play with 10-3, so it’s an easy call. The turn brings a K, I check and he bets $50. At this point I feel that two-pair is an option, maybe Q-8 or Q-5. With Dave, however, it’s all about the implied odds, plus I figured the K was a good card for me (if it paired he would be counterfeited and I would have him outkicked). The river brings a sweet little 9. I check, he bets $50, I raise $100 more and he calls, showing 8-5 for bottom two-pair. If I’d known for sure he had two-pair, I’d have put him all-in (since I know he would call). I wanted to make sure I got paid if he just had a lone Q, and I figured he’d re-raise me if he had two-pair. I think he showed considerable restraint by just calling and losing the extra $100. Dave, I’m proud of you!

5) Omaha 8 – This one’s for Charles. It didn’t come close to cracking my top five hands of the night, but any hand where I get the remainder of his chip stack deserves to be blogged. I have J-7-x-x in middle position, and flop comes J-7-2. Three of us in the hand, and Jeffrey leads out with a smallish bet of $17 or so. I call, and Charles calls in position. An 8 comes on the turn, creating a possible straight and a low. Jeff bets another smallish bet ($30 maybe?), I call, and Charles calls. The river brings a 7. Jeff checks, and I go all-in, trying to get rid of the low hand and scoop the pot. Charles makes a crying call for his last $51 or so, and Jeff folds. Charles turns up 2-2 for a cute little baby boat. Of course, he definitely could have raised me off the hand on the flop, and maybe even on the turn, but he must have been afraid of a bigger set or straight. In his defense, I’ve found bottom set to be one the hardest (and most expensive!) hands to play in O8. In many ways it’s easier to play in early position. If you bet and get raised (by anyone not named Dave, that is…), you have a pretty good idea it’s no good. If you don’t put in a raise from late position, you never really know where you stand.

6) Omaha 8 – The big hand of the night! I’m on the button with Ac-2c-5x-6x, and the flop comes Ax-Qc-Jc. Bill leads out with a $20 bet, and Elvie raises to $60. Interesting situation! I have the nut flush draw, and several runner-runner possibilities. The main question in my mind is whether or not Bill is going to re-raise if I call the $60. Bill will lead out with any number of hands, and I’m pretty sure Elvie has the nuts right now. Elvie has a huge stack, and has shown the propensity to call large bets even after getting drawn out on, so the implied odds make this irresistible, and a pretty easy call. Bill calls as well, and the turn brings a 3x. Not a bad card, as I’m pretty sure my low is good if it comes. Now I just need Bill to check to Elvie and …No, don’t do it Bill! Aaargh! Bill leads out with $100, betting into Elvie’s nuts! Elvie raises to $400. Crap. Strange as it sounds, I know Bill has nothing (two-pair or a straight draw is most likely), and it’s pretty obvious what Elvie has. I’m sure that Bill will call the raise, and I’m also sure that Elvie will call a large bet if I hit my hand, so I think for a few seconds and decide the implied odds make this a correct call. I call and Bill calls behind, making the pot around $1,400 right now. The river brings the 3c – woo hoo! Under most other circumstances I would be worried that my flush card paired the board, and would proceed with caution. Here, however, I knew I was golden. Bill and Elvie both check, and I decide that $400 is the right bet here. Bill calls for his remaining chips, $100 or so, and Elvie calls as well. Elvie turns over the straight, of course, Bill turns over two-pair (I think), and I scoop a $2,300 pot!

A very good night overall, one of my best ever. Good timing too, as my 50” Pioneer Plasma TV (oh yes, you heard right) got delivered this afternoon - now I can stamp PAID on it! Time Warner is coming tomorrow to hook up the HD-DVR, and after that I don’t anticipate leaving the recliner for at least a week…

See ya at the tables (well, in a couple weeks anyway…)
Rick