Jamaican Me Crazy!

Cape Verdean Woman

"Would you like to go to Jamaica with me?"

I was asked that question about ten times yesterday, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I went to Foxwoods to play 1-2NL and to scope out the first tournament in their WPT event.  It was a $600 Deep Stack Event with 50 minute blinds.  As tempted as I was, I knew I wouldn't be able to play it and get to work on Tuesday and I was right!  Even though it was a one day event, they changed it at the last minute yesterday to a 2 day event!  It was decided that the tourney couldn't be finished in one day so they'd stop at midnight and resume the next day.  Well as tempted as I was to play, that put the kibosh on it.  There were a little over 500 players though, which made for a huge first place - over 20K.

Instead I settled into the cash game which was very up and down for me.  I'd lost a few big pots early on by getting rivered and within a half hour my starting stack of $200 was down to about $20.  Ut oh!  I pulled another hundy out of my wallet and placed it beneath my tiny pile of red chips and began my come back  And come back I did!

Wait a minute!  Before all that happened, lemme tell you about Teddy a/k/a Mr. Jamaica!  We got there just as the table was opening and the very first hand dealt was raised to $16 and Teddy jammed all in.  It was going to be one of those tables.  Teddy got called by K-K.  He turned over A-J sooted and before you could say donkalicous he was felted.  $200 gone.  So he pulled out another $200.  Two hands later he jammed all in again and got called again.  Again, he had A-J.  WTF.  And reloaded again. 

A few hands after that, I had A-J, raised it up and got two callers, one of them being Teddy.  Flop was ace, rag, rag.  I made a standard bet and Teddy jammed all in again.  OMFG.  What to do?  I had another very nice guy playing to my left who was still in the pot too.    Poor guy was seated to my left and got battered a bit by me.  Anyway, here I am.....Teddy's all in, but doesn't have a ton of chips.  I have top pair, jack kicker. I want the other guy out of this so instead of just calling Teddy's all in, I jam all in on top.  I didn't want to, but felt I had to in that situation.  I also felt I had the best hand.  Teddy had pocket 10s.  Sweet!  But the guy to my left called my all in as he had A-K, TPTK.  Oops.  That is how I found myself with $25 in front of me.

In hindsight, I should've just called the all in obv.  I just didn't put the guy on A-K.  So with my hundy on the felt I began my comeback, via Teddy of course.  He just kept reloading.  I doubled up off of Teddy when I caught a diamond flush on the river.  I had 9-8 of diamonds and when the third diamond hit, Teddy seemed very excited about it.  He made a big bet on the river that if I called would've put me all in. 

Now I KNEW he also hit his flush.  Knew it like I knew my name and all of a sudden, I'm thinking WTF am I doing in this with a nine high flush?  Do I fold now that I've hit my flush?  Is his in fact higher than mine?  I go in the tank for quite a bit......determine that his must be higher than mine but fuck it, I call.

I call and say "Baby flush" as I turn my cards over almost embarrassed.  Did he have a flush too?  Yup.  He turned over the 7-4 of diamonds.  Woot! 

He looks at me and says "You are Cape Verdian, aren't you?"

No.

Middle Eastern?

No.

You look Cape Verdian.  (What does THAT mean?)

I'm Sicilian.

Ohhhhhhh.  You must come to my country.  Come to Jamaica with me and I will cook for you.  I am chef at Legal Seafoods but I will cook Jamaican food for you.  Do you like Jamaican food?

Sure!

You come to Jamaica with me?

NO.

He asked so many times the guy in the one seat finally said "I'll go to Jamaica with you! Okay?" (Jamaican guy talked non stop)

I hit one other key hand that brought my stack up to a little over $600.  A new boy joined our table and I do mean boy.  Young kid drinking red bull with a gin and tonic chaser was directly to my right and uber tight.  If he didn't hit trips on the flop he pretty much folded over and over again.

Obv it wasn't good for him to have me on his left.  He'd limp, I'd raise, he'd fold.  Rinse, repeat.  He was actually very smart and we were chatting away, which was a nice change from Teddy.  He was a really smart player btw and was talking about how his uncle staked him to play professionally....blah blah blah.  After I'd raised his limps maybe three times in a row, he limps AGAIN.  I look down at A-K sooted and raise again.  This time to $15!  Instead of folding he repops me another $15.  Ut oh!  This ain't Teddy.  He's got a hand.  I thought about re-raising but A-K isn't as great as you might think.  I call and see if I hit the flop.  Flop is K-4-3 rainbow.  Woot!

He checks and I bet $30, just to be sociable, and he jams all in!  I have alot more chips than him and it's an instacall for me.  I know he doesn't have 2 pair.  He isn't reraising with a 4 or 3.  I'm thinking we either have the same hand or he has K-Q and thinks I'm being a bully.  I instantly flip over my A-K to oohs and ahhs, while the turn and river fall.  He does not show his cards to me, but shows them to half the table near him.  Bastard.  As the river is falling he gets up to slam his cards on the table like a "Fuck you! Look at what I got!"  Just as the river (a king that gives me trips) hits the board, his cards also hit the board and He's like "Ha! pocket aces.....oh fuck!"

I rivered him.  I felt really bad that I cracked pocket aces.  So much so it was one of the very rare times that I apologized at the table.  He grabbed his stuff and left in a huff.

So we are playing away and the dealer is handing out nice pocket pairs to everyone like they're candy.  I must've seen A-A about 10 times at that table and pocket tens even more than that.  Lots and lots of pair to everyone but me.  In the six hours I played I got 3 pocket pairs, 3-3, 4-4 and J-J. All losers.  I actually had to fold J-J preflop which kinda sucked but turned out to be the right move.

I'd raised to $16 with it and the next guy called, who btw was a calling station.  He'd call you with quads but never raise.  Anyway, he calls, the guy after him jams all in and then it's me.  I know the calling station will call this all in and I don't want to be up against two hands (or even one for that matter) for all my chips with J-J.  At best it's a coin flip and most likely it ain't that good.

So I grumble but fold and the guy to my left calls obv. I grumble about how I had to fold J-J the only decent pair I'd seen today and he flips over Q-Q....ah good fold.  The guy who jammed all in had 10-10 and caught a third ten on the river.  Such is poker.

Speaking of pocket pairs.....another hand I won of interest against Teddy KGB involved a pocket pair.  Teddy kept getting pairs over and over and playing them hard.  I had K-Q and Teddy raised big preflop.  I decided to call his $15 bet and the flop was Q-x-x raindow.  Nice.  I checked, he bet $25 and I called.  Turn is a non card and he bets out again.  I raise him about $100 more and he goes in the tank and talks up a storm while he's there.  He's telling me his hand is so great, he can't bear to toss it....blah blah.  Finally he says I fold.  As soon as he folds I throw my K-Q toward the muck and he says "Please one time.  Show one time.  I have to know."

Okay.

I turn over my cards and say "See?  I have a queen and you don't!"  He says "You have no idea what I have. You don't know I don't have a queen?"

Of course he doesn't have a queen.  I know he's betting out to see if his pocket pair is good.  The flop was like Q-6-2.  Seems to me he has a middle pair and wants info to find out if its good.

I say "I know exactly what you have!"

"You cannot".

"You have pocket 8s or pocket 9s.  If I had to choose between the two I'd pick the nines".

So he turns over...........pocket nines.

"Oh. My. God. How  you do this?  I have leaks, yes?"

"Does a cat have an ass?"

Then talk resumed about him taking me to his country...he'd pay the airfare and cook for me.  NOOOOO!  Later on he was in a heads up hand and folded the river.  The board had no straight or flush draws - so he wasn't chasing that.  He looks at me and says "What did I have?" 

The lowest card on the board was a 2, and I put him on having one in his hand......calling with tha pair of twos to the river and then folding - hoping for a two pair.

"Pair of twos, right?"

He turned over his 2 and said "Oh. My. God."  heh.  He stopped asking after that.

I was pretty much card dead for the last 3-4 hrs I played.  I lost two big pots after all this to Teddy KGB.  I doubled him up once when he played a 2 once again, and the flop was 2-2-X.  I forget was x was, but I had x-A in my hand.  Blahhhhh......

The other hand that killed me....I had TPTK and Teddy and one other guy were in it and calling.  I know they were chasing flush or straight draws and I was betting big to get them off it.  No such luck.

King on the river, which didn't match anything, but I no longer hand TPTK.  Boooo.  I showing weakness checked and Teddy jammed all in.  I soooooooo wanted to call him, but he and I both had big stacks.  It was just too much.  My read was he had bull shit, but if he had a king I was toast.  Then again, why jam all in with a king?

I dunno.  I just couldn't do it even though my gut told me to call for all my chips with a pair of queens. 

I said "If I fold will you show?"

crickets chirping......

There was a ton of money in the pot too.....omfg. 1/3 of it was mine.

I folded my queen saying good bet....show one time, like I did!

He showed his busted open ended straight draw.

It was a good bet.

Teddy left a few hands later and I never recovered the chips I'd won.  Blah.  I should've stopped when I was ahead, but I at least I didn't lose much of my own money. 

Play smart and I'll take you to Jamaica!

Josie

PS.  I just googled Cape Verdean women! (hence the photo)
PPS. I beat Waffles this week BY ONE POINT!