This week in poker

Monday:

I went to the weekly $40 tournament. Made it to the final table by playing very few hands (I didn't get any cards all night). I busted out in 8th place. The cash table was full, so I called it a night.

Friday:

Went down to the usual Friday location after hockey. Sat at a 1/2 NL table at about 10:30 pm, and played until 2:30 am. I bought in for $100. Lost it all on my 4th hand.. when Phil's 88 flopped 8 K 10 against my KQ. Bought back in for $100, lost a little and decided to top up with another $100.

I lost a $300 pot on this hand:
I raised pre-flop to $20 with :Ad :Kc. There were too callers.
Flop came out :As :5h :8h.
This very bad player (I think he must have lost about $700 on the night) leads out for $50, and he has only $45 left. I raise to $100 to put him all-in. Then the third player goes all-in himself for $106. The bad player folds (folding $45 when there's $300 in the pot shows me he had absolutely nothing or that he knows very little about poker).
The all-in player shows :Ah :Th.
Turn :Js
River :4h
He makes his flush on the river.

I won a few pots, got my stack up to $450. It went up and down from there, and with six hands left in the night (last turn around the table), I was down to $150.

I'm dealt :7s :8s
I just call the blinds, there are 4 players in.
Flop :Ah :5h :6h.
First player bets out $25. I don't put her on a flush, so I call with my open-ended straight draw.
Turn :9c - I make the straight.
She bets out $50. I go all-in for $78 more. She calls.
She shows :Ad :8c. She's drawing dead (a seven would have split the pot).
I win, and I'm up to $310.

Next hand, I'm dealt :6c :8c.
Lucien makes a live straddle, so I call the $4 from the small blind.
Nobody raises.
Flop is :4c :4d :6d.
I check.
Lucien (loose player) bets $5.
Colin (good player - who's up about $800) calls $5.
Another player calls, so I call.
Turn :6s.
I have a full house.
I check, Lucien bets $5 again.
Colin and the other player also call.
I just call.
River :Qh
I lead out and bet $30.
Lucien goes all-in for over $200.
Colin folds (he showed AA).
I insta-call.
Lucien shows the :4s for a smaller full house.

So I ended the night with $545, up $245. On that last hand, Colin didn't raise his AA because he was under the gun, and he knew Lucien almost always raises when he straddles. This time, he just checked, and I got to stay in it and hit a big hand.

Lucien really played this badly. He flopped trips, and only bet $5 when there was a flush draw on board. But the really really bad play, was going all-in on top of me when he has only the small full house. He should know better, especially against a player who has a solid image like myself.

Mohawk Casino

I went down to the Mohawk Casino in Akwasasne on Saturday. I played in their $87 freezeout tournament. We started with five tables, and I got knocked out when we were down to 3. Things went well early, as I build up my $10,000 to around $18,000 in the first hour. But I then misplayed my small straight to love half of that.

I was eliminated when I tried to steal the blinds with :Qh :3h,
and was called by the big blind who had :Kc :Qs.

To the cash game I went. The smallest no-limit game they offer is $2/$5. So I sat down with $300. Again, things went well when I got my stack up to $500 in the first half hour. But then, this hand came up.

I'm the dealer, and I have :Ac :Kc

There are 3 limpers, so I make it $25 to go. Two of them call.
Flop comes :As :6c :5c.
I'm thrilled, I have top pair top kicker, and the nut flush draw.
One player bets $45. The other calls, I raise it to $125. The original better calls, the other folds.
Turn is :6d
I still think I have the best hand. He checks, I bet $200. He calls.
River is :4h
Board is now :As :6c :5c :6d :4h
The other player has only $50 left, so I bet out the $50.
He says he has no choice but to call, since he hit.
He shows :7c :3c
... he hit his gut shot straight, when he was really chasing a small flush that I would have crushed.
So I lost a big pot (around $850), when I was a 93% favorite before the river.

Later, I have about $220 in front of me, and I'm dealt :5s :6s.
There is a raise to $15, and 2 players call, so I call too.
Flop is :7d :8d :9h.
It goes check, check, I bet $40. I get one caller.
Turn is :3h
I don't want anyone outdrawing me, since I think my hand is best (I didn't put anyone on the big straight). So I go all-in for $175.
The same player that outdrew me on the big pot earlier, says he can't fold because he has top pair.
So he calls with :9s :Jc.
He needs a 10 to beat me, so I'm pretty happy, until I turn over my cards and see that I actually had :6s :7s, and not :5s :6s...
So I needed a 4 for the straight, or a 5 or 6 to win, and I didn't catch. Costly mental mistake.

I re-bought for $200, and went up and down - coming back to my original $500 3 or 4 times. I was thinking of leaving, calling it a day when I was dealt :Ah :Ac.
There are 2 limpers, so I raise it to $25. The two blinds, and the two limpers call.
Flop is :9h :Th :2c.
One of the blinds leads out for $75.
Two players fold. Now I have the gut feeling that I'm beat, and I should have thought about it and decided to fold - I should know not to risk my whole stack when my gut tells me I'm beat. But I acted quickly, and raised to $200. The other player quickly goes all-in for $175 more. So now, I know I'm beat. I think he has two pairs. So it's costing me $175 to win $525 if I catch my two pair, or a set. I reluctantly called, and he shows :9s :Ts. My hand didn't improve, and I was now down to $130.

I went all-in with :9d :9h after one player raised to $20, and one called. They both called.
The flop came :Kh :Td :7c.
One of them went all-in, and the other called.
They showed :Kc :Qc, the other :Kd :Th.
But a miracle came on the turn, the :9s.
So I tripled up to $370.
But I was still steaming from the AA hand, and on the very next hand, I lost patience and gambled.

I'm dealt :6d :8d. A very agressive player makes it $25 to go, and a new player min-raises to $50. I call from the BB. The agressive player also calls.

Flop is :4h :5d :Ad. So I have a gut shot straight, and a flush draw. I check, thinking I'll go all-in over the top of anyone who bets. But they both checked.
Turn was a :Th. I thought they were both afraid of the A on the flop, so I bet out $75. The agressive player goes all-in, the other folds. I decided this was it, I was going home win or lose, and I called. I didn't catch and I was broke.

I have to stop thinking like that... gambling for no reason at the end of a session. I should have kept the $300 or so I made on the 99, and just left. Instead I have this mentality that I need to either make money, or lose money - not being satisfied with breaking even or losing a little. It's always all or nothing.