Part Two: We played some poker too!
I showed up for the cash game at 11:30 last night. It's a no limit game with blinds at .25 and .50. It sounds cheap but things can get serious quickly. I sit down with $40 in front of me. Seven people are playing and I was sitting with Troy to my right.
My first hand was pocket 10's. First two players call then Troy pops it to $3. That's what I was going to do! I just call and everyone else folds. Flop is Q 5 3, rainbow. I bet $7 and after a little thinking, Troy calls. Damn. Turn is a J. Two overcards to my pair. I don't like this at all so I check. Troy checks behind me. Damn it! If he's taking a free card maybe he doesn't have me beat. River is an A. NowI know I'm beat and I check. Troy bets $10 and I fold, showing my tens. He flips over AK. I gave him that A for free and that pisses me off but I couldn't really bet again with two overs though.
Second hand is 99. I bet $3 and get one caller. Flop is 7-6-2. I bet $8 and win it right there.
Troy leaves and I get into a nice groove. I win with KQ, catching two pair kings over board paired sevens. It's a big pot and on player, shawn has called me to the river. I bet $10 and he calls and shows his K-3. My queen plays.
Shawn is in alot of hands and keeps giving away chips. That's the good part. The bad part about Shawn is he won't shut the fuck up. I swear he just likes to hear his voice. And he's slowing the game way down. Every goddamn hand. Jew Boy can tell you how much I hate someone talking during a hand. SHUT THE FUCK UP. Please.
Poor Lynne. The game's at her house and she loses every week. Plus she provides drinks and food. I've been trying to help her with her betting but it isn't sinking in. I always take her chips although she isnt't the intended target. It's just that she can't get out of the way. The woman doesn't know how to fold. Tonight I've busted her out with two pair, kings over 10s. I played K-10, caught a king on the flop and bet kinda easy cuz it's lynne, and she calls. I catch a 10 on the turn and bet $10. She calls. I forget the river card but she only has $4 left - so I bet the 4. She says I gotta call you and she does. She has Ace Jack, which I guess is a busted inside straight draw. No, she didn't have to call me, but I'm not complaining.
I doubled a guy up and it's almost time to call it a night. Someone announces that we'll play two more and that's it. 2nd to last game I fold, and this guy mike makes a rainbow bet. He gets one caller. Three hearts on the flop. He goes all in and gets called. Mike has a 5-2 off but the five's a heart. Caller has top pair. Heart on the river and mike doubles up. Unbelievable. he wins with 5-2 off.
Last hand and I'm looking down at 10-9 suited. Mike makes a rainbow bet and announces, well I'll make the same bet as last time. Since it's the last hand, I wanna play. I call. Flop is Q,Q,9. I check and he goes all in. I call and he flips KK. I double him up on the last hand. So instead of being up $16, I leave down $10. Dammit, my streak is over!
Typical of me. I'm a studier of tells so I should've known when he announced how he was betting, that he had a strong hand. I call it giving a speech, and when someone's giving a speech, they usually got something real good. But after I play for a few hours I lose focus. Plus it was the last hand and that blocked everything else for me. Otherwise I wouldn't have called that raise pre-flop. Certainly not with the speech that accompanied the raise. But live and learn.
Oh and I had 6 woo woo shots. Yummy! Free booze kind of makes the night a break even, doesn't it?
Play Smart.
Josie
My first hand was pocket 10's. First two players call then Troy pops it to $3. That's what I was going to do! I just call and everyone else folds. Flop is Q 5 3, rainbow. I bet $7 and after a little thinking, Troy calls. Damn. Turn is a J. Two overcards to my pair. I don't like this at all so I check. Troy checks behind me. Damn it! If he's taking a free card maybe he doesn't have me beat. River is an A. NowI know I'm beat and I check. Troy bets $10 and I fold, showing my tens. He flips over AK. I gave him that A for free and that pisses me off but I couldn't really bet again with two overs though.
Second hand is 99. I bet $3 and get one caller. Flop is 7-6-2. I bet $8 and win it right there.
Troy leaves and I get into a nice groove. I win with KQ, catching two pair kings over board paired sevens. It's a big pot and on player, shawn has called me to the river. I bet $10 and he calls and shows his K-3. My queen plays.
Shawn is in alot of hands and keeps giving away chips. That's the good part. The bad part about Shawn is he won't shut the fuck up. I swear he just likes to hear his voice. And he's slowing the game way down. Every goddamn hand. Jew Boy can tell you how much I hate someone talking during a hand. SHUT THE FUCK UP. Please.
Poor Lynne. The game's at her house and she loses every week. Plus she provides drinks and food. I've been trying to help her with her betting but it isn't sinking in. I always take her chips although she isnt't the intended target. It's just that she can't get out of the way. The woman doesn't know how to fold. Tonight I've busted her out with two pair, kings over 10s. I played K-10, caught a king on the flop and bet kinda easy cuz it's lynne, and she calls. I catch a 10 on the turn and bet $10. She calls. I forget the river card but she only has $4 left - so I bet the 4. She says I gotta call you and she does. She has Ace Jack, which I guess is a busted inside straight draw. No, she didn't have to call me, but I'm not complaining.
I doubled a guy up and it's almost time to call it a night. Someone announces that we'll play two more and that's it. 2nd to last game I fold, and this guy mike makes a rainbow bet. He gets one caller. Three hearts on the flop. He goes all in and gets called. Mike has a 5-2 off but the five's a heart. Caller has top pair. Heart on the river and mike doubles up. Unbelievable. he wins with 5-2 off.
Last hand and I'm looking down at 10-9 suited. Mike makes a rainbow bet and announces, well I'll make the same bet as last time. Since it's the last hand, I wanna play. I call. Flop is Q,Q,9. I check and he goes all in. I call and he flips KK. I double him up on the last hand. So instead of being up $16, I leave down $10. Dammit, my streak is over!
Typical of me. I'm a studier of tells so I should've known when he announced how he was betting, that he had a strong hand. I call it giving a speech, and when someone's giving a speech, they usually got something real good. But after I play for a few hours I lose focus. Plus it was the last hand and that blocked everything else for me. Otherwise I wouldn't have called that raise pre-flop. Certainly not with the speech that accompanied the raise. But live and learn.
Oh and I had 6 woo woo shots. Yummy! Free booze kind of makes the night a break even, doesn't it?
Play Smart.
Josie
Comments
Also, Josie doesn't hate someone talking during a hand - she hates ME talking, pretty much any time! Actually we both joke but we're pretty tight. She's a good poker player and a good person too.
And let me tell you this about her: She has altered her style of play almost 100% in the last, say, two years. She was at one point more of a Gus Hansen type - just presenting unrelenting pressure on every hand which intimidates and cows her opponents into early folds and ill-advised calls. Since then she's adopted a much more sober approach to the game, playing with wisdom and patience. I'm proud of her.
And he's right about adjusting my style of play. It's hard for me because if I really WANT to play alot more hands than i allow myself to. Not as much fun but keeps me in the tourney longer.
I'm still trying to work on this, so it's hypocritical for me to criticize you for doing it, but don't help other players - even if you feel badly for them. There are a lot of reasons for people to play poker - and I find the losers want one thing: to confirm that they lose. I have also found that by trying to help, they either don't listen, don't get it, or don't care.
What purpose is served by helping them? For me, it "relieves me" of the guilt of taking stack over stack, week after week, from a person whom I would consider to be a friend. Some of the time, though, even the best of intentions are met with resentment... they know you're a better player than they, and they come for the gamble of it all. I'm finding that it serves no purpose to voluntarily help other players get better.