How Much Do You Have Left, Sir?

At last, I’m back home. Nine hours in a car with G-Rob on Thursday and Sunday is a marathon few could complete. Dueling iPod’s waged war with each other. It was Phish vs. In Flames. We’re still not sure who won. Now, on to the poker!

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I’m starting my trip report with a recap of Friday. I was going to post about Thursday night, but rather than bore the reader with a recap of how I got stuck early for the most money I’ve ever lost in a live session, I’d rather talk about the good.

And Friday was good. Real good. It’s nice to post your best ever live win the day after posting your worst ever live loss. Vindication one time, baby.

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I sat down at a brand, spankin’ new $1/$2 NL table with a bunch of like minded donkeys at the Gold Strike casino card room. My mind was fresh and I was enthusiastic to play well especially considering that this card room used ChipCo chips. I love ChipCo chips. Mmmmm…

Things started off well when my first pocket Aces of the trip did not get cracked and won me a nice $80 pot against someone who flopped top pair with QJ. Then it started. I began to felt some people. There is no other better feeling in the poker world than to felt someone at the NL ring game. None. Let’s recap a few hands.

1. Pocket K’s in MP. A pre-flop raiser makes it $12 and I pop it to $30. Only the pre-flop raiser calls and the flop is TTT. I figure my hand is good and when the pre-flop raiser bets out $50, I ask, “How much do you have left, sir?” I put him all-in and he calls with AK. No Ace and no case ten, and MHIG.
2. Pocket J’s in the SB. An EP raiser makes it $12 and it’s called twice before getting back to me in the small blind. I call. The flop is QJx rainbow and I get sneaky with a check. It’s checked all around. The turn is an 8 and I bet out $50. An LP caller raises me to $100 and I ask, “How much do you have left, sir?” I put him all-in and he calls with his turned set of 8’s. No case 8 and MHIG.
3. I was dealt a hand and there was some confusion about who was in the pot since someone who had been away just sat down again and didn’t post his missed blinds. The dealer asked for all the cards back, and stupidly, I looked at my now dead hole cards. Pocket Q’s. Ugh. I figured Karma would make up for it. The very next hand I’m dealt 97 of hearts. I call a small raise from the button and 4 people see a flop of 89T. The 8 and the T are hearts. I’ve flopped an OESFD and middle pair. The EP raiser bets $10, 1 caller comes along and I call as well. The turn is a 9. Now I still have the OESFD and trip 9’s. I’ve got to be feeling pretty good about my hand right now. The EP raiser bets $15, 1 caller stays with us and I call too. The river? What was the river you ask? If you looked at my pants, you’d instantly know that it was the 6 of hearts. My OESFD just became an honest-to-goodness straight flush. The EP raiser now bet out $50 and the caller went into the tank. I was praying for a call, but the guy managed to lay down his straight he would later say. I ask “How much do you have left sir?” and put him all-in. He calls and says incredulously, “What do you have, a straight flush?” “Yes, yes I do,” I respond. His pocket T’s and his full house were no good. M-m-m-m-monster pot comes my way. I clean myself up in the men’s room not soon after.

At one point in the ring game, I had roughly $1100 sitting in front of me. I completely erased my first day’s loss and was relieved to say the least.

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G-Rob and I cashed out of the Gold Tooth and went back to the Grand where we were staying. We met up with Iggy and Tuscaloosa Johnny and sat down at a $120 single table satellite. Understanding that the SNG was a crap shoot, I just played my strong hands hard. I managed to chop 1st with a random guy after I eliminated G-Rob in 3rd. Add another $430 profit to my day and I finished Friday up over $1100, by far my biggest live winning day ever.

More to come…