Last week was my most profitable since I began this blog back in August of last year. Most of my winnings came from a monster session in my home game and was capped off by some online winnings. There were seven of us in the home game and we play a cash game with $0.25/$0.50 blinds. I started with $40 and walked out with $137 for a $97 profit. I wanted to go over a couple of hands that came up that night that I thought would be interesting to talk about here. There were three really big hands that I won to get most of my profit.
The first one came about two hours into the session. I picked up 6-7 of spades in middle position. There was a pre-flop raise from early position to $1.50 and I called as did the big blind. The flop came K-8-9 with two spades (the 8 and 9). I had flopped an open-ended straight flush draw. Big blind checked and pre-flop raiser bet $2.50. I called and the BB folded. Turn was a blank. Pre-flop raiser bet $5 and I called. There was now $19.75 in the middle. The river was a spade giving me a flush. Pre-flop raiser checked and I bet $8.50. After some thought, the pre-flop raiser called. I turned over my flush and beat his two pair. The river bet was just enough to get him to call. Any more than that would have chased him out I figured and I was right. A lot of players have the tendency to bet too much when they hit their hand on the river costing them a lot of potential profit.
A few hands later I picked up Q-10 off on the button. There were a few limpers so I popped it to $1.50 and got four callers. Flop came K-J-4. There was a $2.00 bet and a re-raise all-in for around $7. One player folded, and I called as did the other player. The turn was a 7. The other player bet $5, and I called. The river came A. I rivered broadway! The other player bet $6.50 and I raised to $15. He called and turned over a set of 4s. The all in player had a weak King, and my straight took a pretty good sized pot. Again, I made a small enough raise on the river to keep the guy with the set of 4s in the pot. "I didn't even see the straight possibility," he said.
Finally, late in the session, I picked up A-K in early position. Under the gun player raised to $1.50. I re-raised him to $4.50 and he called. Flop came A-Q-6. With $9.75 in the middle, UTG bet $5 and I raised to $10. He called and the turn came a K. I had top two pair now. UTG bet $15 and now I was a bit concerned. What could he have here? A weak ace? A set of 6s? Did he turn a straight? I casually threw my $15 in the middle trying my best to look unphased. The river came a 10 and now I was like "Oh shit!" in my head. A jack would make a straight. Amazingly, he checked and I immediately checked behind him. He flipped over A-Q. My two pair beat his and I finally exhaled.
One other hand that came up I wanted to talk about. It didn't involve me, but I registered it in my memory because I think it shows the glaring difference between casual amateur players, and the big-time every day pros. The button, with around $60 in front of him, raises pre-flop to $1.50. UTG player, who had limped in, called with about $75 in front of him. Flop came J-J-10. UTG bets $2.50 and button calls. Turn is a 10. UTG bets again, this time for $5 and button calls. River was a 8 or 9. Can't remember exactly, but UTG bets $20 and button calls. "Well, I think we are chopping unless you have two 10s", said the UTG player turning over K-J for a full house. "I have two 10s", said the button player. After some ooohs and aaaaahs, I looked over at the button player and said, "Dude, you should have been able to double up there." Why did the button not raise the river bet with quad 10s??? I'm positive the UTG player would have called anything. "I don't know", he said. "I just figured... I don't know." The guy who had quad 10s eventually busted losing his $40. The UTG player ended the session down just $20. And that, my friends, is why I love my home game so much. Easy pickins!
Anyway, I have been getting some requests to make this blog a little more interesting so I thought sharing those hands would liven things up a bit. Here's where I'm at right now:
Play Money: 4,794,000 Up 432,000
Real Money: $646.48 Up $108.22
Target for next Cash Game level: $1,000 ($50)
Target for next SnG level: $1,100 ($55)
Target for next MTT level: $1,100 ($22)
This week, I will be playing the $5.50 rebuy tourney every night starting at 8pm. It's a $5,000 guarantee, and I treat it like a regular $5.50. I don't re-buy and I don't add on. I played it twice last week with no luck. First place normally pays between $1,200 and 1,500. I have also been playing the $3.30 SnGs, but may abandon those soon for the $10 cash game. I still haven't decided, but it's certainly nice to have some insurance to work with above $550. $1,000 is the next target and there's a long way to go to get there.
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