Poker, poker and, oh yeah, more poker

As you can tell by the title of this post there were a lot of poker happenings over the weekend for me. But first I'd like to direct you to the poll I created on the right-hand side of the blog. Who will win the race between Fasso and me? Vote for your winner now! And let me just say I've been taking this very seriously and have run three of the past four days (and I mowed my ever-growing plush St. Augustine lawn with a push mower on the day I didn't run!) so be aware of these facts before you vote!

Now for some poker talk: Friday night I returned to Gambit's home game for the first time in like three months and had another one of those up-and-down sessions. I was down to $9 from my original $40 buy-in but rallied to post a $9 profit for the night. Funny thing is only the losing hands stick out in my mind. I won a lot of small pots to grind my way back to profitability, but here are two hands that made the difference between me winning a ton and just barely making a profit.

The first hand came early (and I had already won a decent pot so I was up about $10) in limit hold 'em. We play $.50-$1 blinds, $1-$2 betting rounds, so it's not exactly The Big Game, but it can add up. So I'm dealt A♦ 8♦ on the button and there were two limpers ahead of me. So I called and saw a 5-handed flop of: A♥ 9♦ 2♦. A guy in early position bet and it got folded to me. I raised because I want to build a pot if I hit and I know he's not going anywhere. He just called. At this point I put him on a naked ace, which I know he'll take to the end. We get heads up when the turn brought the 8♣. Okay, I have two pair plus a redraw to the nut flush. He bet at me again (do we have the same hand?), so I raised; he three-bet and I capped it. I'm thinking he may have the same hand, a bare ace or a set. But would a set really just call with the diamonds out there and my willingness to raise? Anyway, the river was a blank and he checked. Normally I'd take this for weakness, but in this case I was overcome with this feeling that I was beat so I checked behind and he turned over A♠ 9♥ for top two. SICK! So there went all of my earlier profit and then some.

I spent the next 4-5 hours grinding my way back and then had about a $15 profit when this hand came up: It was NLHE (which is sort of a misnomer because we play it with $.25-$.25 blinds and a $20 cap. It should be called CHE, as in Cap Hold 'Em, but I digress). So someone in middle position raised to around $1 and I called in position with K♠ J♦ (my signature hand for this game!). However, Gambit called behind me so he had position on me. The flop came J♦ 9♠ 4♦. The first raiser made a standard continuation bet of like $1.50 and I raised to $4. That's when Gambit thought it over and made it $8 to go. The first guy folded and I started to think about how Gambit plays. I dismissed a flush draw because he usually has the goods with this type of move. And then I remembered our Ante Up! home game a while back when, in a raised pot, he got it all-in with J10 vs. Scott "my K-10 must be good here" Long on a jack-high flop. So, with that info fresh in my head I capped it. Gambit thought it over for a few seconds and called with QQ. D'oh!!!! There goes my profit again!!! He slow-played QQ into a multiway pot and got the perfect flop. Wow! Very nice. Ballsy, but nice.

Ultimately I had a few big hands in 5-card draw and NLHE to claw my way back. And for the first time Badugi was called in our game, and I did really well in that, which, as it turns out, played a HUGE role during my SATURDAY poker adventure in Orlando with Kenna James, WPT Boot Camp co-founder Steve Berman and Joyzey's Nick Brancato. But I'll post about that tomorrow. I need to save my posts because Scott is in Vegas and I'm holding down the Ante Up! fort.

-- Chris

P.S. Don't forget to vote in the poll at the right! 

Comments

[Blazman]

Can we see full body pics of both runners? preferably in shorts.

-Blaz

[Rasputin]

Fasso looks more likely to rip your heart out and eat it as he watches you die than he is to win a footrace.

So I voted for him.

[Chris Cosenza]

Blaz, is that for the race or for your own personal enjoyment?

[Blazman]

both

[jherky]

Where is the option for both people throwing up before finishing the race? Can I bet on that?

[Joe24Pa]

I trust that the winner will have to pass a drug test. No cheating, guys.

Separately, I am a little concerned when the student athletes spend too much time on their athletic ventures and not enough time in the classroom. In other words, I am disappointed that my track star I voted for (Chris) cannot even spell his own nickname...

[Chris Cosenza]

Uh, Joe, what are you talking about? 8-)