Monday, November 24, 2008

The Low Budget Fiasco

It was getting near the end of the month and I only had $115 left in my poker budget until the 26th, so I thought to myself, "Self, if you play the $40 tournament on Saturday, you might actually make some money to play the cash game with." Not so much. I played so badly it wasn't even funny. My first mistake was playing J-J like a little girl. At least I raised before the flop. My first mistake was not betting the flop. I actually flopped a third jack for a set, but I thought maybe I could slow play, just call and then bet and/or raise on the turn. Wrong. I checked and nobody bothered to bet, so I didn't get any extra money in the pot on the flop. The turn put three clubs on the board. I had the jack of clubs but, again, like the wussy little girl I am, I checked. Again, nobody bet. Good grief. Nothing too scary came on the river and I bet $300 and got called in one place. I won the pot but basically made no money. I am just a chicken!!! I ended up not even remotely coming close to any good hands after that. I didn't make the money. Phooey. I went back later Saturday night with my remaining $75 and lasted an entire 25 minutes (she said sarcastically). I only played about 3 hands, getting beat holding top pair, two pair and 8s full of 10s. On the last hand, it was a kill pot that I had entered all-in before the flop with pocket 8s. I got the full boat on the turn, but it ended up being only a rowboat, as the other player got a bigger boat (jacks full of tens) on the river. This was the story of my weekend. YUCK!! I'm beginning to know how my buddy Phil feels.

I am not playing again until Wednesday night after I get paid and I am not playing more than $100. It is probably lucky for me that my daughter and her boyfriend will be here for the Thanksgiving weekend, as it will keep me out of the poker room. I think I need a break. Happy turkey day everybody!!

2 comments:

Phil said...

I definitely feel your pain. Happy Thanksgiving.
phil

Phil said...

Lynne, after further reflection I wanted to comment on your play of the jacks. I do think you played like a little girl. A continuation bet (barring a very ugly flop...AKQ) is very important. You want the draws and overcards to call, but ideally you want to take the pot down right then if it is a draw rich board, say 8,9,10 with two of a suit. Since you flopped a set, your slow play was not horrible horrible, but since you did get a call on the river it was a mistake. I am not sure about the river bet, I think is was o.k. (i don't know the pot size), it looked like a "I missed, but I probably missed bigger than you" bet. I definitely would have bet the river with a 25-30% of pot value bet with the thought that if the caller came over the top I was probably looking at the flush and would have to fold. Your bet was good in any case since it was a blocking bet if the caller had a small flush that he would have bet, maybe bigger that you would have to call with your set on his bet on weakness. Overall, not a big loss in any case, and as we know jacks are tough. Every time I push with them, I get called by the overcards which always seem to come, or the overpair which leaves me with 2 outs if lucky.