My Worst 45 Minutes of Poker

I made a very brief stop in the 1/2 NL game at Turning Stone on Monday night. Much briefer than I would have hoped, because I played like garbage.  To be expected I suppose, but a series of bad decisions that shouldn't have been made regardless of the amount of "rust" on my game are what had (and still have) me upset.

Tina and I both bought in for $200, and while she ended up breaking even after a long session, my chips were gone practically before my seat was warm.  I folded a bunch of times after calling an initial small raise ahead of me (stupid; love your cards or hate them, don't be lukewarm), and I lost a big chunk trying to push a guy out of a pot holding 4/4 when the flop came 5/6/8 and he re-raised my initial raise of 40.  I folded that, which was probably good, but my issue is I never should have been in the hand to begin with.

The final hand of the night saw me shove my last 60 holding A/Q after a 10/rag/10 flop, get called, and see the woman have a ten in her hand.  What irked me a bit was that she said "I'm sure you have me" as she called, and then flip A/10.  In what world does she think she's beat holding trips and an ace kicker? Dumbass statement.

I got out of there after that (gracefully as possible, even saying "nice hand"), walked around for a while, and eventually went back to the room.  I was DONE at that point.  Only now, over 24 hours later, am I even entertaining the idea of playing poker again, in any form, ever.

It's too bad my night went so poorly on the felt, because the game around me was pretty entertaining up to that point.  There were a ton of huge pots, most featuring the two older guys on to the right of the dealer.  One of them lost a pot for over 300, had to re-buy for another 200, and lost all of that a few hands later.  Didn't stop him from re-buying once again.

My only saving grace in my poor play was that Tina and I didn't make it known we were together when we sat down, and therefore she wasn't embarrassed in front of the rest of the table by my actions.  Small victory, but an important one.

Race to 10K: 0.75 cash game hours, 18.25 total cash game hours, 272 total hours

(Note: I'm continuing to keep track of this because it will be interesting to see where it ends up by the time I die.  I don't even have a prediction, and honestly even if I got to 10,000 hours I still don't feel like I'd be anything close to an expert.)

SFPT: April 2016

I'm happy to report my fears were unfounded.  We had a big crowd of ten people, including two new players, and it could have been two more if not for CJ (alternate plans) and Ray (had to work at the last minute) not making it.

Everyone seemed like they had a good time, and the new guys (Amanda's boyfriend and his friend) seamlessly integrated themselves into the proceedings, laughing and joking along with everyone.  Always good to see. 

And get this - I pretty much nailed the predictions!  First time for everything.  I had predicted a fourth place finished and actually finished fifth, pretty close there.  Add-Ons was exactly $20, and not only was there a scratch-off winner, there were several, for a total of $60, an SFPT record.  Furthermore, three of my season-long predictions made in the recap file already came to fruition: Amanda returned, her boyfriend and friend constituted the "new players", and to no one's surprise, Vinnie sent me a text a couple hours before the tournament saying he wouldn't be coming.  Based on his previous comment of this being his "last chance", there's a good chance he's played his last SFPT tournament ever.

As for my play:  I explained to Amanda after correctly reading a hand I played with Tina my theory that I know when I've played poorly because I can physically feel the anger (and conversely, the absence of same even when I lose, telling me I did the right thing).  The lack of anger surfaced three times during this tournament. 

The first was a heads-up hand with Tina, and play saw us alternately raise and call through the river, with the board showing jh/4h/8s/10s/ks.  I knew there were a ton of ways she could have me beat, and thus checked back when she checked after the river.  I was right - she missed the flush draws I had feared, but the king paired one in her hand and beat my queens under.

The details of the second are lost to time, but I do remember I folded a decent hand feeling I was beat by more than one person remaining in the hand, and I was correct.

The third example was my last hand of the night.  In a rare smart move, I did a chip count and calculated my remaining big blinds.  With only four, it was just about a no-brainer to shove UTG with K/J off suit.  Corrye caught a straight on the flop but I still had a chance going to the river when a ten would have given me a higher straight, but I bricked and that was it.

Upon reflection, I realize there was one other factor aiding my lack of anger - prior to my knockout, I was all-in and at risk three times and stayed alive.  Having won some, it's not fair to consider myself a loser.

So to recap, I played okay, though not great, but had a good time - recipe for success.


Race to 10k: 3 home game hours, 159.75 total home game hours, 271.25 total hours

Previewing, With Honesty

Coming this Saturday: the first and so far only poker tournament of 2016.  We have six confirmed participants so far, probably seven as I'm pretty sure Matt is coming but he never responds to the Facebook invite.  We even have a new player, Amanda's boyfriend Michael.  What remains to be seen is if both Kim and Vinnie will show – not only for babysitting reasons, but for strife ones.  Vinnie is due to move out by the end of the month (if he hasn’t already), completing their divorce that everyone agrees has been both a long time coming and inevitable.

In chatting with Corrye via text regarding the upcoming game, I found myself not only not really looking forward to it, but not really wanting to do another and even regretting scheduling this one.  It was odd – before, all of my hesitation and regret had stemmed from the trouble and stress caused by the mass of children.  Now, with the adults-only tournaments in full effect, why was I still feeling that way?  Some thought led me to that very strife between Kim and Vinnie, and to a slightly lesser extent, CJ and Vinnie.  Simply put, it's not fun when they are constantly making comments to one another that are clearly not in fun, but intended to hurt.  It makes the situation very tense for everyone, and I don't think that's fair to the rest of the group.

The easy solution here would be to not invite one of the two any longer, but I'm not going to do that.  No matter if they are divorced, I will still consider them both friends.  I can only pray the situation works itself out somehow, ideally through improved relations between the parties. 

That bit of drama aside, what can be expected of the game itself?  None of us have played since last November, though I have been watching some TV coverage of late and I noticed Tina doing the same the other day.  I have a feeling that simple, passive act will give us both a leg up come game time.  We will have to work around possibly being blinded off a couple times, when one of us goes to take Jules to a birthday party she's attending, and picks her up when it's over.  There's the possibility we won’t be started until after the former, and one (or both) of us might be eliminated before the latter, so that will be good. 

Generally, I'm expecting (as usual) some rust from most everyone re: the mechanics of the game, a few misread hands, a few misread community cards, and things of that ilk.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Of course I'm also expecting quite a few laughs as we jab at each other and make comments fully intended to garner laughs and nothing more.  At least, most of the comments will fall under that umbrella (see above). 

For my own play: I have a feeling I'll once again finish in the middle of the pack (let's say fourth; that number just jumps to mind) thanks to not taking chances when I should.  Maybe if I keep it in the forefront of my mind all night, I can avoid the problem altogether. 

Finally, I predict no less than $20 in Add-On's For Ally, and at least one scratch-off winner (as always, a hope more than a prediction).