Stories from playing live, with a little "strategery"

For starters, the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard chase comes to an end this week, with Friday being the "last call" to obtain leaderboard points and qualify for the three huge leaderboard events held in the poker room of our leaderboard sponsor, River Belle Poker. Details can be found here on the huge first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard poker tournaments.

Playing Live this past weekend...

I decided to both change things up... and to "get away" on Sunday and Monday, so what better place to go than to the poker room "down the street", which is really about an hour away. Sunday, I ventured up there, and found my table of the day ($3/6 limit). I had previously vowed to not go up there on the weekend, due to the table being what I called "too fishy"... but, I had "a good feeling" about this, not to mention a plan in the event we were seeing the pond overstocked with guppies. Surprisingly enough, the table was "perfect" for me... not too fishy, not too tight. I'd get action when I wanted it, but not so much that I was doomed. Plus, I can lay down a hand too, can I not?

I'm saying my hellos to the people sitting within a few seats of me, and while in the cutoff, when the BB says to me "here we go..." in reference to the UTG raise. I fold, never even looking at my cards, but instead wanting to watch what is going on. Five deep and raised once, the flop comes Kh, 7c, 3d... SB checks, BB bets 3 into the $30 pot. UTG calls, I notice the BB rolling his eyes like he knows what is coming. The field narrows down to three, as two late positions fold, the SB calls. Turn brings the ace of hearts... SB bets out, BB bumps it to two, UTG makes it three, SB calls, BB caps, UTG and SB each call. River card is the five of hearts. Bet from SB, BB raises, utg three bets, SB caps, three to the showdown. UTG proudly displays his 2-9 suited to hearts, this compared to the two pair each from BB and UTG (BB had AK, sb had ace three). I'm informed that UTG has been "playing shit and sucking it all the way" and of course, I make a few mental notes.

Later in the day, after taking down some quite monsterous pots (I was up a "shitload" of big bets by the end of the first hour, and by "shitload" I mean that my initial buyin had been doubled a few times over without having to throw more $$$'s onto the table --- said another way, I was winning). "92 red" contunued to also "suck out" regularly, having no consideration for cards and position, so I decided to have some fun with him. He UTG raises, which gets several moans from his "fanclub"... having the table image, I decide to re-raise him. He reraises me, I cap and we're seven deep going into the flop. The flop comes KK2, with one of the kings and the two being suited to spades. Anyone who has ever met me in person knows that I can often become very "animated" when I'm "telling a story"... And this was a "story" I was telling at the table. I grab my back and act like the hand... and his bet broke me, as he bets out. People on the table become slightly suspicious of my reaction and they fold to a single bet around to me.

I "look" at my hole cards, to "see" if I can handle his bet. I raise, saying "gosh, i don't know," as I'm throwing out my bet and calling for the raise. The guy to my left quietly begins to ask me if I even looked at my cards, as he now notices that while I went through the motions, I did not see the cards. I tell him to "shhhhh" and wink at him, which brings him to fold. UTG and I are heads up, he three bets, I four bet. He tries to "cap" but is informed that there's no cap heads up, to which he says "i'll cap" anyways (note: if there was a cap, it was my four bet, not his, but who's getting technical here, right?) Turn brings a third spade. I raise the eyebrows at him, again "peeking" at my hole cards as he bets, I raise, he makes it three. I make faces in his direction again, watching him all the way and smiling... I raise, he "caps" which now means "call his four bet" apparantly. River comes a fourth spade. He checks. I throw my chips, smiling all the way and say "1", signaling 1 bet. The dealer and the guy two to my left begin discussing what hands they have me on. I'm sure the dealer is somewhat on to what I am doing here. I begin whistling a song from the Muppet Show "Mah Na Mah Na" for some reason as "92 red" is audibling at the line of scrimmage shuffling his cards in his hand. Someone asks if that is from the muppet show. I tell them yes, and that my kids and I were watching the muppets yesterday afternoon. (that song first appeared on some italian soft-porn back in the 60's, but who is really keeping score).

As my song is playing out, "92 red" asks if his "set of kings is any good now." I rhetorically ask if he thinks I'd bet like this if they were, citing it was obvious he had AT LEAST kings. The dealer and the guy two to my left are convinced I boated on the turn and have made this known. "92 red," in a shocking move, throws his king face up into the muck pile, while telling me "nice hand, you beat me" and never called my bet. The dealer begins shifting chips my way and asks what I had... I inform him that I don't know and wonder if he... and everyone else would like to find out (P.S. - I know this was a "dick move"... but I felt like the table was behind me on this one and just had to see it through). I flip over a 5-3 of hearts to my surprise, as well as to the surprise of everyone at the table. 92 red is absolutely positively irate at this point, and I guess rightfully so, which then begins a dialogue that goes something like the following:

92 red: how could you play that shit?

me: I wasn't aware that my hand wasn't the best hand on the flop.

92 red: you couldn't tell by the way that I was betting that I had you beat?

me: I really had no way of knowing.

92 red: I had a set on the flop!

me: I didn't know what you had on the flop... and honestly, I didn't know what I had on the flop! I could have been better than you.

92 red: yea right, how could you not know what you had on the flop?

me: I think I've only known what I had on the flop twice today.

92 red (now in the dealt bb): Don't you look at your cards?

me: Not really, who does that? Besides, I'm too busy watching you (as action folds to me).

(at this point, my spidey sense is tingling, sensing the presence of security close by)

dealer (to me as he's half-ass chuckling): sir, its your turn, three to play.

me: raise!

(note: I'm stacking my chips, no clue what my cards are, not even having pretended to look at them, as they sit at the north end of my chips, which i am still stacking... action folds around to me and I take down the pot preflop).

92 red: That's horrible, you can't play like that.

me: Like what?

92 red: without looking at your cards.

me (to the dealer): People actually look at their cards preflop? Do I "have to?"

At this point, 92 red tells the dealer he'll be back and folds his sb out of turn. I feel bad, looking back... but it was just one of those things I "had to do." I spent the next hour or so giving everyone else action and entertaining myself in a more friendly way, which did drop my stack a bit, but on the other hand, it was a whole lot of fun... and you cannot possibly put a price on fun of that nature.

To put a bit of strategy into this post... I do not... repeat: DO NOT try this. I did so, only because :

A. I could have afforded to book the loss.

B. The guy was one of those "know it alls" (see: the people who really "chap my ass") and in dire need of "education" on the table.

C. He is familliar with sucking out on a good hand, and may... just may realize that someone sucked out on him.

D. The board was progressively more and more scary.

E. I felt I had the "table image" at this point to pull it off, as I had taken down some nice pots, showing down strong winners.

F. I felt the urge to do this.

G. I had made the pot so big that it would not have made mathamatical sense to "let it go"... even if I believed I was drawing dead, if there was a chance... a slight chance, that he'd lay her down. His desire to constantly "cap" suggested to me he did not have the nuts, and thus was eventually needing to worry about if I in turn did.

H. I am known to do some outragious, "over the top" things from time to time, often being the last man standing in the "Beat the Dead Horse" campaign.

I. Insert justification of choice here.

Well, more live stories that involve substantially less "dick moves" and more actual play.

Mike



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