This was the very first hand I played tonight – at $0.50 – 1.00 NL online, with my standard and table max starting stack of $100. I have not played much online in the last few days, with relatives visiting and then a live tournament last night (finished 2nd out of 26 players!), so I’m planning a good long session tonight. Let’s get started!
I am the big blind and dealt Qs Js. One of my favorite hands. Everybody folds to the button, who limps in. The small blind also folds.
Flop ($2.50): Qc 8s 9h. Nice! I have top pair and a gutshot straight draw. I check and the villain bets $1.50. As a matter of habit, I try play the first hand of a session really tight, unless it’s a huge hand. Call me superstitious on this point, but for many, many years I’ve repeated the saying that whoever wins the first hand ends up with a losing night. I call.
Turn ($5.50): Ts. Bingo! Not only did I make my straight, but also with a redraw to a flush (including a possible straight flush). Time to try to get some chips in the pot. I make a pot-sized bet of $5.50. Now the villain raises to $15. I guess he also has a Jack and we’re going to chop the pot, unless either (A) my flush comes on the river, or (B) he’s holding exactly KJ – a strong enough hand that he should have raised pre-flop instead of limping, or (C) he’s bluffing (including possibility he just turned a 2-pair type hand into a bluff or a semi-bluff with a higher flush draw).
I’ve vote for (A) or (C), and re-raise to $37.50. If he has a Jack, it’s not possible for him to also have a flush draw. If he has a higher flush draw, I have two blockers, leaving him only 7 outs rather than 9. If he has 2-pair, I’m going to find out if he’ll dump in some more money.
Well, humpty-dump he does, going all-in (and has me covered).
This is starting to remind me of another hand played over the weekend. (if this were a TV show, we’d now queue some dreamy music and there would be a big swirl on the screen as my mind goes back in time.)
It was just a couple of days ago, and I’ve been at this table ($0.50 – 1.00 NL online) for just one orbit of play. Now I am the big blind and dealt Js Tc. The UTG player raises to $2.10 and everybody else folds. Why not see a relatively cheap flop? I call for $1.10 more.
Flop ($4.70): Ac 9d Qs. I have an open-ended straight draw, to the nuts on either end. I check to the pre-flop aggressor, and he bets $2. An easy call.
Turn ($8.70): 8h. Bingo! I have the stone cold nuts. Since he continued to show aggression on the flop, I’ll check here in hopes of putting in a strong check-raise. One more bet is probably all I’m going to get here, but for a “big blind special,” I’ll take it! Alas, he temporarily foils my plan by checking behind.
River ($8.70): Th. Not a great card for me, as any Jack now has a straight and we could be chopping the pot. Plus, with a one-liner to a straight (i.e. a gutshot on the board), it will be much harder to get any action if he has anything weaker than a straight. Gotta try though, so I make a pot-sized bet of $8.70. He quickly raises to $28. Holy moly!
Let’s think about this: the only thing that beats me is exactly KJ. He made a very small bet from UTG pre-flop, a rather weak continuation bet on the flop, checked back the turn and now bombs the river. That just doesn’t seem like a play for KJ to me, more likely for JJ (aside from the combinatorics – one Jack on the board, another in my hand, so only one combination of JJ is possible) or TT, both of which I beat. On the other hand, if he doesn’t have exactly KJ, he should worry a little bit about the possibility that I do. On the other hand, that presumes he is a thinking player, and here we are playing 100NL online. Nahhh, not a thinking player.
I call, and he turns over KJ. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly……..
[END OF DREAM SEQUENCE.]
So here I am with the second to the nuts straight and a redraw for a flush, and the villain on the button goes all in. The only hand that beats me is exactly KJ.
Have I seen this movie recently? Don’t I know how it ends? On the other hand, the villain is on the button and KJ surely would open-raise in this spot. Right?
I call, and he turns over KJ. Exactly. One hand played, down $100.
After reloading, the very next hand I piss away another $19.50 on an attempted steal / C-bet in a state of mini-tilt. Two hands played, down $119.50 at 100NL. I wonder who the biggest fish is at this table???
Year-to-date online results: (- $438)
Month-to-date online results: + $71
They Always Have It 