Remedial Poker Playing School Needed

I played (if you can call it that) in the 8 a.m. Sunday morning tournament at the Moose. I misplayed pocket kings so badly that I should be demoted to newbie and sent to remedial poker playing school immediately. OMG.

We start with 2000 chips and I had about 1600 left, so I was far from desperate. When I saw pocket kings in my hand, I decided I should try to trap and chip up a bit. Mistake 1: I did not raise before the flop, thus letting the big blind in for free. But, hey, I was trapping, right?

The flop was 8-7-3 with 2 spades. Mistake 2: I checked the flop, although if I had check-raised later this would have been OK. My lone opponent bet 200. Mistake 3: I called. I did not check raise or move all-in.

Mistake 4: I checked the turn, which was a blank and not a spade. In my defense, I was hoping my opponent would bet again and then I could push. He checked behind and got a free card. That card was another 3, pairing the board.

I checked the river. He put out enough chips to put me all in. In my defense, I did think about it for a little bit. He could have had A8 or A7 and have 8s and 3s or 7s and 3s, but in my heart I knew he had a three. Mistake 5: I put all my chips in the pot and was knocked out by A3. I never should have called. I still had chips and when you still have chips you can still win.

Mistake 6: I showed the 2 kings and took a ribbing from all my poker buddies for about an hour. I admit it. I deserved it. I played them horrendously and deserved what I got. Never again. Lesson learned.

I Win With 7-2 While Holding Q-J

In the Sunday morning 10:00 tournament at the Moose, I was holding QJ clubs. The blinds were 25-25. There were about 3 limpers and no raises before me so I made it 100 to go. The big blind raised to 350. One of the limpers called, two folded and I called because I felt I had a reasonable hand to play. It was early in the tournament. I could get away from it fairly cheaply if I didn't hit. I also had position being last to act.

Right between the time I called and the time the flop hit the board, my opponent in the big blind says, "I sure hope there are no sevens or deuces on the board." This is because everyone knows that 7-2 is my favorite hand and I win with it frequently. He should have kept his mouth shut.

The flop was 7-2-something (don't remember). He rolls his eyes and checks. The other player checks. I smile and bet 625. He looks at me and thinks for about 30 seconds. He folds A-K face up and says "I knew you were playing that garbage." The other player folds and I win. I did not show my cards. I absolutely wanted him to think I had 7-2. It was super fun to win with it when I didn't even have it. LOL.

Lesson to be applied - pretty easy to figure out - keep your mouth shut during the play of a hand. You really do give your opponents way too much information. I'm sure glad he did!

My Donkey Play of the Month

I made my every-other-month showing at the Island Casino's Tuesday night deep stack. I really like this tournament except for the fact that it's on a work night. Just FYI to my millions of fans, the Island will have a Saturday deep stack at 5:00 p.m. for $100 (20,000 chips, dinner included). I believe this starts on March 12, but you can call to make sure.

Anyway . . . the blinds were 400-800 and I was the big blind with 800 invested. A player in middle position raised to 2000. There was a re-raise to 4600 from the hijack position. The button and small blind both called. I had 4-2 suited in clubs. THROW THIS AWAY!!! Hmmm. I was getting about 3 to 1 so I made the donkey call.

Flop came 9c-8c-4s. So there I sat with a pair of 4s and a huge 4-high flush draw - LOL. Original raiser bets about 5,000. The button and I both call so there are only 3 remaining in the pot.

The turn is a blank and everyone checks. Personally, as you will see below when you find out what the other 2 hands were, I think the button played this hand worse than I did, but oh well.

The card on the river that I got to see for free was the 2 of spades. 2 pair. No flush possibility. No straight possibility. I'm not too disappointed with this outcome. I believe it was at this point that the original raiser went all in, although he may have done that on the flop. Somebody bet something and I just called. The original raiser had pocket 10s. The button had pocket kings.

I won a pot of very close to 50,000 chips in a hand that took over 6 minutes to play and everyone at the table was amazed at the outcome, including yours truly the donkey. The guy to my right started pounding me on the back and saying, "Wow! What a gutsy pre-flop call!" It was too crazy. The guy with pocket kings was totally disgusted but, hey, as already indicated, he should have pushed harder and he never should have checked the turn. Maybe he was the real donkey??

Anyway, I made the final table and took 5th place for $330 on a $65 buy-in, so sometimes it pays to be a donkey. Hee haw!!