2004 World Series Game 3 Preview & Poker
Ah, the return to my roots was so sweet last night, for awhile that is. And of course, by “roots”, I mean the 1-2 No Limit poker tables at Foxwoods…
Yep, I spent about two hours at the 1-2 table last night, dividing my time between playing, watching MNF (awful game) and chatting with the people on either side of me about anything but poker. I have a habit of talking a lot after my first hand or two, just rarely about the game. I prefer to speak about baseball, football, world news and current events, anything but poker. It’s probably a tell, because when I decide I’m going to play a hand, I clam up faster than Ben Affleck when you mention the word “Gigli” (by the way, Affleck – really lowering the bar for crappy Christmas films this year. The promos make “Surviving Christmas” look like a bad combination of The Sopranos and “Home Alone II: Lost in New York – only because that one was so much worse than the first. Sorry, I’m rambling…)
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right, poker. So I’m sitting at a table last night, probably the youngest person there (what’s new), although the age range was certainly skewed towards me. 10-person table. Just as I sat down, the rake came in. Foxwoods has a nice neat way of doing this. At a 1-2 table, every half hour each person just gives up $5. Simple. The house takes $50 an hour for the privilege of letting you use their table, chips, cards and dealer. And that’s on a cheap table. So I paid the rake, then was blinded in immediately as the newest member of the table. Got dealt a solid 10-6 suited hearts (real winner there) and decided to stay in the hand for free. Flop came up Q-8-4, 8-4 of hearts. Check around. Then a spade. Check around (only three of us in the hand anyway). Then the deuce of hearts. Checked to me, and I bet $10. Got everyone out of the way, so I won my first hand of the night. Never a good sign…
Over the next two hours, I played maybe 10 hands to the flop, with most being hands I got to see for free or for a discount with the blinds. I played one hand to perfection and one hand about as poorly as I could have played it. Ain’t that always the way?
So I get wires aces in the small blind, which is where I LOVE to see pocket aces. If I raise the pot large enough, people think I’m trying to steal it away and call me (or even re-raise, which is so much better). But if I just call, I give the big blind the chance to steal it away and then I crush him (used this technique online about a month ago to dominate the tournament chip leader’s 8-10 off-suit and cement my top-20 finish). This time, I didn’t get the chance. Before it got around to me, there was a raise to $5 and a re-raise to $10, plus two callers. I made it $20 to go and got two calls total. Flop was 10-4-2 rainbow, meaning I was in good shape. I checked it, the guy next to me (short stacked) bet all-in for $24. The other guy raised to $40, and I re-raised all-in to $75. He actually beat me into the pot with his call, so when I flipped the aces he was, shall we say, less than pleased. He had pocket queens, and the other all-in had K-10 for top pair on the board. Turn and river were blanks, and I took a little over $200 from the pot. I was so stunned at my win that I forgot to tip the dealer, drawing an ugly stare (and no good cards for about a half hour).
I won a couple more small hands before my demise. You see, I went to Foxwoods with my mother, essentially for dinner and then maybe to play as an afterthought. We had planned on leaving by 9PM so as to get home and let the dogs out. Well, I had only bee at the table for 35 minutes by 9PM, and had already won 2 pots, so I told her to make it 9:30. At 9:30, I told her to make it 10, and I gave her the car keys because she wanted to lie down until I was done. So at 9:45, I got dealt QQ and decided to make my final rush.
This time I was the big blind, so I pushed to $15. I probably should have pushed it to $25 or $30, because at $15 I got three callers (wow), making it a $63 pot pre-flop. Flop was 10-J-K with two spades and a club. I made a mistake in checking, and after it had checked to the last seat, he bet $50. I put him on a 10, maybe a jack, and just trying to take the pot with the king on the board. I called immediately – I know, I should have gone all-in over the top to check-raise him and maybe scare him away – everyone else folded. Turn was a four, and he put me all-in. Since I was more or less committed, and I was reading him to a smaller pair than mine, I called without hesitating. I showed my Queens (giving me 10 outs out of about 30 cards in the deck if I was behind – any queen, ace, or nine), and he showed his pocket 10’s, giving him a set off the flop. Oops.
Needless to say, I started to walk to the car after that hand, although the 8 on the river did give me a glimmer of hope for a second when I thought it was a nine.
So I return home, beaten and dejected. I wasn’t wearing my lucky cap, I never once used my shades, I was visibly shaking when I played the Aces (which worked to my advantage, since I looked nervous and appeared to be bluffing). I calmed down after awhile, and played better poker. But like they say – “All-in is a great move when you use it. It works every time, except once.”
That’s all I got so far today. Maybe I’ll have more news later. I don't knwo what it is, but I almost feel compelled to write something everyday now. You've all spoiled me with my readership numbers...
I’m pretty sure I’ll be comatose again by tomorrow, since there is a likely rain-delay for tonight’s Game 3 in St. Louis, meaning that the first pitch will probably end up happening at around 9 or 9:30 tonight. Lovely. Means the game should end at, what, about 3AM?
posted by Big D @ 12:00 AM
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