Live Poker

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

~Bertrand Russell

I played in the Black Men & Lesbian Tourney tonight.  15 peeps, with $25 entry.  It was supposed to be "The Battle of the Sexes" with an all man table and an all women table until the final table, but we didn't have enough lesbians so it was not to be.  :)  In fact, there were only 2 women and 13 donks men.  :)

This is also a league, so even though we were playing for cash we were also playing for points toward the end of year big tourney on Super Bowl Sunday.  Going into it I was in 7th place in the league and I had 1st, 2nd & 3rd place at my table.  Marvin, the guy in first was my strongest competition IMO and I was determined not to give him any of my chips.  At least that was the plan until I played my first hand. :)

Marvin was to my right and raised.  I looked down, saw A-K, thought about re-raising but just called.  I figured, let me be cautious and hit a pair before I make any moves.  Flop was A-K-Q.  Marvin checked and I bet.  He called.  Turn was a 2.  He checked, I bet and he called.  Fuck.  I totally do not put him on J-10.  So if he doesn't have that, I figure I have the best hand with top two pair.  Hmmm Maybe Hopefully, he has A-Q.  Regardless, I figure I'm done betting into this pot.  Except there is a 5 on the river and Marvin bets 2,000.  Now we start with 10K so if I call (and lose) I'm down to a little over 6K.  How do I fold top 2 pair?

I don't.

I call and he flips over QQ.  He flopped trips and I have lost almost half my stack on the first hand I play.  Welcome to the game!!

I buckle down and play tight poker.  There is no room for error now.  I hit trips maybe once and pick up a few chips and wait for the donks to knock themselves out. 

Marvin loses most of my his chips when goes up against 2nd in chips at my table.  After a raise the flop was 4-4-A.  He bets and Shawn calls.  After  the turn he says "If I check here, I'll be giving you the card you need for free."  And then he does just that, and checks.  The river is a K.  Marvin bets and Shawn goes all in.  Huge bet.  Marving calls for most of his stack and Shawn turns over KK.  He hit a boat on the river.  Marvin gets moved to the other table, and at our table we're all shortstacked now, compared to Shawn's monster lead.

When there are 7 peeps left we combine for the final table.  There are 5 shorties (and I am one of them), Pinto who has a decent stack in 2nd and Shawn the monster chip leader.

Blinds are big, but the stacks are not.  I decide to play aggressively.  The shortie to my right limps in and I jam all in.  Blinds fold and so does he.  I do this EVERY time he limps.  After the 3rd limp he figures out that he isn't going to see a flop on the cheap.

I start accumulating chips, but nothing like 1st or 2nd for that matter.  I continue to focus on the short stacks.  If I'm  in a pot with them and I connect on the flop, they are going to have a big decision to make.  If I am going to win this I need chips!  And baby I'm playing to win.

I slow down when I flop trips and the boy to my right sees this as weakness.  He bets.  I start doing my best acting - alot of hemming and hawing....I say something like, "If I hit my card you're dead."  Of course, I've already hit it and I check again on the river.  He jams and I instacall, and I take him out.  Down to 3 and it's 3 itm!!!

We keep playing till I take out Pinto.  Pinto was shortstacked and I had QQ.  I raised and he went all in.  I instacall and he is the dealer.  He throws over the flop before either of us have a chance to flip our cards.  WTF!  But the flop is q-8-8.  And he yells something like "Fuck you!" to me as he turns over his Q-10.  I still haven't turned over my QQ but his fuck you has pissed me off.  I tell him he should check out my cards before he starts celebrating.  I show him my boat and he gives me his chips.  I have pretty much taken all the other guys chips and a few from Shawn as well.  Even so, he still has waaaaaaay more than I do.

But we're heads up.  I start my speech.  "Heads up is my forte.  There is no way I lose heads up.  I know you have more chips but I'm telling you now that doesn't matter."

It's $210 for first place and $90 for 2nd place.  Even though he has way more than double my chips he suggests we take $10 off first place so 2nd place gets $100.  "Just in case...." he says.  I readily agree.

And off we go.  I play aggressively when I'm first to act and fold whenever he bets.  So it's pretty back and forth until I get 10-10.  He raises, so I jam all in.  He folds. 

Blinds are pretty big, so I keep accumulating bit by bit.  He raises big and I have K-Q sooted. It's heads up, so wtf, I call.  Flop is Q high.  He bets big.  Now there are tons of chips in the pot.  I feel like I have him  unless he has A-Q.  I move over the top all in and he thinks about it for a while.  I like that he's thinking....maybe my hand is good!

He finally calls and turns over  J-J.  Mama has doubled up!  In fact, Mama is the chip leader!  I smile at him and tell him this game is already over.

We play 3 more hands and he jams all in with 10-9.  I have A-9....think a while and decide if he had better than A-9 maybe he just would've raised.  I call and baby it's over.

I won the whole shebang, plus I got a ton of points for my league standing.  I think that moves me up to 3rd place.

Oh and there were bounties.  The bounty was a $5 scratch ticket.  I HATE scratch tickets!  I give the state enough money through payroll taxes, so the last thing I want to do is give the state a dime more, but hey it ain't my game.

I won 5 scratch tickets, plus I had my own for a total of 6 tix, as no one got a bounty from me.  Wanna know what I won on them?  $5!  On my own ticket!  All the tickets I won were losers.  Frigging Commonwealth of Massachusetts!

But the moral of this story is:

Play smart.

Josie