Last night we played in Fasso's home game, or as I like to call it: Gambit's Home Game South, because the table and chips were Gambit's and he was there as well. It was the first time we played at Fasso's in about two years. It's the location of his infamous blowup the last time we played there. I had bluffed him off his pocket kings with my pocket 10s when a board flopped with an ace. After that we referred to him as Lance when we talked about the incident on the show to protect his identity. So much for that.
It was good to get back to Lance's place. But whenever we play our home game, I never know if I should post because we might want to talk about it on the show. Plus, this is Scott and Fasso's blog, too, so they may have something they want to say, etc. But just in case the cat has their tongue, I'll mention last night's boxscore.
First, some of the funnier lines from the evening, and I may be paraphrasing:
After a hand when Fasso missed a value bet:
Steve: I always bet my hands strongly so you could've gotten another bet out of me.
Fasso: I'll file that away for future use.
Chris: Yeah, but Fasso's in his 40s so there's a good chance he'll forget it anyway.
After Scott bled a bunch of chips making very loose calls with just overcards during a limit hold 'em session.
Chris: You know they say you have to have a healthy disregard for money to successfully play poker ... So Scott's gonna live a long healthy life!
With the Duke-UNC game on behind us, Frank, a Dookie grad, was just a little eager:
Frank: We will be No. 2 tomorrow. (2 minutes later) We're gonna be No. 2 tomorrow. (a minute later) With this win we'll be No. 2 tomorrow. (20 seconds later) This is a fight for No. 2 in the country and we're gonna be no worse than No. 2.
Chris: Frank, if you say they're going to be No. 2 one more time I'm going to smack you. It's only friggin February, and you're already No. 2 anyway! Would you shut the hell up?!
Scott: I think Duke will be No. 2 tomorrow if they win.
Chris: Shut up, Scott.
In Razz, Fasso and I get involved in a hand and this is on 6th street:
Chris: I got you.
Fasso: I have a hand.
Chris: Good, so do I. Call, fold or raise.
Fasso: I'm thinking we might have another Binions moment here.
It turns out he was right. He made a better 7-6 than me, just like at Binions, but I think Mike would say I finally was gracious, right Mike? Nice hand, buddy.
Last hand of the night, and it's Crazy Pineapple:
Chris: I'm gonna have to pay you off Mike, I have a flush.
Fasso: You have a flush, but I have THE flush.
He turns over the nuts and that hand makes him positive on the evening.
As for the game, I had a nice session, getting ahead by about $50 early, then falling back to about even and then turning it on again for a nice $106 profit. And we never called No Limit. Gambit had a nice night, and he had my number. Seemed like every pot I was in with him I lost, and he even beat my queen with a one-card pull of the deck for a king to win the extra dollar. Wow!
There was one hand I was particuliarly proud of in Stud/8, and it has to do with perception and a scary board. I was dealt (A♦,3♥) 3♦ and I was the bring-in. This hand had possibilities, though I might be tempted to fold if I wasn't the bring-in and there were a lot of low cards out. But my ace kicker was higher than any card showing. So I just brought it in for $.50. Steve and Fasso called and then Gambit completed to $2 with something like a 6 showing. Frank folded and I had to call. Steve (10 showing) and Fasso (J♠) also came along.
On fourth street I picked up a 7♦, which made my hand pretty powerful as far as draws go, but I still really only had a pair of threes. Gambit picked up another baby (a 4 I think) and Steve looked to have missed with something like a 6. Fasso pick up an 8♥, nothing scary. Everyone checked to Gambit, who bet $2. We all called.
On 5th I got a 9♥, which did nothing for me. Gambit picked up an A♠, Steve paired his 6, I think, and Fasso paired his 8, but neither pairs were door cards so I didn't think they had trips. Again it was checked to Gambit, who bet $4. I called with my draws and so did Steve and Fasso.
Now it gets interesting. I got the 9♦ on 6th street. So I had two nines showing, 4 diamonds and an ace in the hole. But my low was busted. I didn't think I'd win the low even if I caught good anyway because Gambit again hit a low card, like a deuce, and the spades were starting to add up on his board. I knew if I checked then Steve and Fasso would follow suit just like they had done on the previous streets, checking to the low. So I checked my hand and it got around to Gambit, who bet like clockwork. At this point I sprung into action and raised to $8. Steve thought it over, and he was having a very frustrating night, making the second-best hand a LOT, so I took advantage of that. My raise finally got him out, but he let out a very big sigh of disgust. Fasso thought and then put out $4. I said, "I made it $8." He pulled back his bet (it's a friendly game and we let others do that all night when it was clear they were confused) and said, "Oh, I thought I had bet out first and was just calling $4 more." Then he thought forever and Gambit, thinking Fasso had folded, reraised out of turn. This almost brought out "Lance," but Fasso kept cool and said he didn't act yet. By Gambit doing that it really rattled Fasso and made him think. Gambit was physically upset by his blunder, and it tipped his hand. Fasso knew he ultimately would have to likely call 3-4 big bets now instead of just two. That's when he started to think my nines were trips and Gambit had a locked low, so he finally folded. Gambit reraised and I just called.
I filled up on the river with a 3 and Gambit just had his low as we split a nice pot. When I showed my hand Steve said he folded 10s-up and Fasso said he folded Kings-up but he feared I had trips and would need to fill up to win. Now, if you think about it, if I hadn't forced out Fasso I might've gotten more money out of him because I filled up (I was ahead of him in the dealing sequence so it wasn't disturbed) and when Gambit bet I would've made it $8 (or I would have bet out first, got Fasso to call and then Gambit would raise and I would reraise). Who knows what would've happened after that, and Fasso would have missed on 7th. The other side of that coin is, if I just called on 6th, Steve and Fasso both would've stayed in and THEN either one of them could've filled up and beaten my boat. So it works both ways, but it was nice to know I made TWO better hands lay down because of my two-betting with those scary nines showing. This play doesn't work in microlimit online poker, so don't try it.
Would you have played it that way? What if you were in Fasso's shoes with Kings-up there?
-- Chris
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Christopher Cosenza is co-host of the longest running poker podcast on the planet, Ante Up! He started playing poker seriously in 2003 and his favorite players are Phil Ivey and Kenna James, though he tends to act like Phil Hellmuth if you make a bad play against him.
Scott Long, Ante Up!'s other co-host, is the author of the monthly Bet on It column in tbt*. He began gambling way too young (don't tell the fuzz!) and in the seventh grade, named his state "Gambleland" for a school project (State Animal? Loan shark, of course).
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