Poker Folks

Lately, I have been more interested in the many types of people that play poker than the specifics of the games I have been playing. My results have been quite positive. But I find it interesting that I have not been focusing on my cards and hand histories when going over things in my head. I think that is at least partly good. I'm not all hung up on money.

I've been rolling along for a few weeks, playing very tight and never losing much in any session. All my wins have been significantly larger than any of my losses by session. However, that all took a turn in my last day at the office. On Monday, I played my regular game at the Bike starting at my usual time. But the crowd was a little different. There were four 5-5NLH tables running and a quick overview of each showed an overabundance of type players. That's not exactly what I like to see. The result is usually no action until two players get involved with set over set or something like that. And that described my table perfectly.

I managed to more than double my stack when I flopped bottom set against a tight player who had a big over-pair. So I had about $1100 in play when I picked up Ad-Ah in late position. I raised and four of us saw the flop. It was 8-high, all hearts. UTG lead out for $50 and the next player called. The next to act folded and I decided to raise to $150 thinking that I had the best hand. Then the original bettor moved all-in. I thought he probably had a set but may have had pocket 10s with a heart. It didn't take me too long to call. He had Jh-Th and no other hearts appeared on board. The call was for another $480. I had no problem with my play or the results at the time. In hindsight, however, I should have given the guy more credit. I figured I was most likely behind so I was gambling with what I hoped was 11 outs.

Not long after that, I saw a free flop from the blind with K-To. I lead out on a K-8-5 board and got two callers. The turn was a T. I liked that card as I didn't put either opponent on A-Q or A-J...they were in the cutoff and on the button and, being tight themselves, would have raised pre-flop with those hands...Q-J was out of the question because neither would call the flop with it. This time, there was only one caller. The river was an A. I didn't like that one because I felt I could be up against two pair. If I was, a bet would be followed by a raise that I would be committed to call as I only had $125 left. If I checked, I thought, I might only have to call $60 or $80 to find out. So I checked. The guy moved in for $150! Oops! As I replayed the hand, it was clear that he would have played it the exact same way with a set of fives. It was less likely that he would have A-8 and not at all likely that he would have any other combination to make up two-pair. But I thought I might still be good and had a good price to find out. So I called. A-8 it was. Chips; table 18!

I won a few pots with my next buy-in to help bulk up my stack. Then I landed the black Aces in the small blind. Several players had limped and I raised. 3 out of the 5 called. 7-5-2 flop, all black. I was first to act, obviously, and bet out. There was a raise from middle position and everyone else folded. I reraised and he moved all-in. This time, it would cost me my remaining $240 for a pot of over $700. Again, I should have given this guy credit because he is so tight...and I did. But there was enough of a chance that he had an over-pair like Ts or Js and 3-1 on the call so I called after exclaiming that it felt "let a set but I have no read." Ducks for bottom set and they held up. Chips; table 18!

Now normally, I would quit after dropping two buy-ins. But there were so many chips in play at the table (thanks in part to me) and I wasn't really running "bad" so I decided to stick around.

Again, I built upon my new stack when I found A-Ko on the button. An early player min-raised to $10 after a few players had limped. I had seen him do this once before with A-K in the same position. Then the cutoff raised to $25. I decided to flat call to disguise my hand. Both raisers and I went to the flop: 8-3-8. It checked around and the turn brought a K. Now the min-raiser bet out $50. The cutoff raised to $100. I thought about reraising but decided I could just call and get heads up in position against the cutoff. I really thought the min-raiser would bail out. Instead, he raised $250 more. Now I really thought he had A-K. After the cutoff folded, I was looking at a potential chop. I had $440 more and put it all in as there was one card to come and he might actually lay down A-K even for just $190 more. He was that tight. After deliberating, he called. Nothing of note on the river and he held out his cards, ready to muck. I said, "I think we're chopping," and turned mine up. He was clearly surprised as he revealed 8-6. He expected me to have him kicked, probably with a suited A. Oops again.

That was the end of the night for me. Of course, I took it all in stride. But I've been going over it ever since. I've come to two conclusions. 1) I wasn't betting to find out where I was as I should have. Instead, I was betting having convinced myself that I had the best hand. 2) Each time the money went in, I was behind. That is unusual. I tend to have way the best of it in big pots or I get away from big hands when I know I am beat. That didn't happen this night.

I was a bit shaken after that outing. It was the largest single session loss I've ever incurred. But it hasn't harmed my confidence and, I hope, it hasn't altered my game. I'm looking forward to getting back in action tonight. There should be one more week of good action at the Bike while the Winning O' The Green tourneys are running then I'll be off to Vegas for a long weekend of poker and pool.

SEEYa