Hey
proximity, great to hear you are back in action, and posting your interesting stories on the poker forum. It just happens that today was a very unusual poker day for me.
It started on the felt at Maryland Live. They were running $400 High Hands every 15 minutes, which later switched to $599 every 20 minutes. Here are some of the "
highlights":
--- I get AA and raise pre-flop. Two callers. Board is 2 7 5 rainbow. I bet out $25 and get one caller. He has 79o and turns a 9.
--- I end up with 2 pair, AT, but villain's pocket 66 found a third one on the flop.
--- I go all-in pre-flop with KK. Villain has 44 and catches a third one one flop.
--- I have AQs and bet $10 pre-flop. A not-so-good player raises to $90. I jam all-in figuring worst likely scenario is KK (but not AA because I have a blocker) where I have 30% equity. He turns over K9o (which a Texas Holdem Calculator has me as a 2-1 favorite). I flop a Q but he turns a K, so bye bye to that buy-in.
There were a few other hands that I think I got it in good, but the variance went against me in those as well. Overall I left MDL down $600.
I decided to drown my troubles by going to the CT (Charles Town) poker room on the way back home to see if I could get back a little of the afternoon losses. They first told me to go to table 8, but I was watching the Preakness race on one of the monitors. As I headed to table 8, they then said to go to table 1.
My very first hand was 99, and the flop included another one. Could the tide be changing that soon? Someone else lead out with a small $15 bet and I smooth-called. The turn was a blank with another $15 lead-out bet and a call by me. The river paired an existing Q on the board. The previous aggressor checked, and folded when I bet $60. I am now up about $100, with only $500 more to go, or would my short-term gain disappear later with my earlier day's "luck". I later get KK and win after calling a lady's $57 all-in pre-flop. Another hand somewhere I had AQo and ended up flopping 2 pair and winning. Then I got AA and shoved all-in after someone raised to $13 and 3 others called. No callers, including a looser player with a large stack.
Then around 9:20 p.m. or so I get 99 again. I think someone bet $10 and I called. The flop came QJ9 rainbow and the fellow who bet $10 pre-flop bets $40. I go all-in ($300+) and he calls (with about $225). If he already has the straight, I have about a 33% chance to turn/river the full house. If he has a higher 3 of a kind, I am crushed with only having a 1-outer and probably heading home very depressed. The turn is a brick and the river is the last 9!!! All that worry for nothing though, as he only flopped top two pair, where I was good the whole way. High hands end at 9:00 p.m. on Saturdays, but it was in sudden death overtime because no one had a qualifying hand during the 8:00-9:00 p.m. period. The HH was only a lowly $200 (minus $20 dealer tip), but it does add to the bankroll.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m. I decided to bank my great fortunes of the evening and quit. Interestingly though, just a minutes before that someone (who was not particularly a strong player) did go all-in pre-flop for about $65 but I decided to fold like everyone else, despite having pocket Jacks. A +$130 day sure looks great when compared to -$600 or even worse.
By the way I am leaving for a solo racing trip to New Mexico in a few days to get in SunRay Park and Ruidoso on my visit list. While there I plan to play poker a few times at the Sandia Resort and Casino in Albuquerque.
