Part-time player: From 1-2 NLH to 5-10 NLH
01-03-2012
, 04:23 AM
Might as well start with NYE.
Originally I was not planning on being the degenerate at a poker table on NYE. Friends had planned to come up to Chicago and we were looking to do it big for our first NYE as "grown-ups." Limo to the Drake, VIP passes, etc. But they bailed and then wanted me to come to Indy. I almost did considering there was another hot young biddy there that had been texting me all week and likely would've been my NYE kiss and more.
However, I was still bitter and didn't want to pay $70 for the megabus to spend NYE in some small ****ty city spending half of my rare time off in an over-sized toilet on wheels. The important part is that I'm not bitter.
Anywho, so I have another party that I was invited to, but I've decided it's best that I don't go. The reason is that I ended up taking two girls out for dates within the same week without realizing they were best friends. Now I don't think they know about the other, but both ladies were going to be at said party and I did not want to risk the chance.
Lastly, there's my co-worker's party. The dude's 38, but super-cool and his hot 20 year-old sister in-law is in town with her friends. I'm intrigued. However, I learn that she's still hung up on her ex-bf who ironically has the same name as I do. Figure that would likely end as a "cry on my shoulder" bust.
So I decide to go to the Hammond Horseshoe, my regular venue. To those of you that haven't been, it's easily the nicest room in the midwest. It also beats out all the poker rooms I've been to in Vegas, but I have not been to the Venetian or the Bellagio. This place is always packed. In fact, as I look on the Bravo app right now at 1:54 am I see five 2-5 NLH games, one 1-2 PLO game, two 5-10 NLH games, one 3-6 Limit Hold em, and eight 1-2 NLH games.
The 1-2 game here is probably one of the more talented 1-2 games for a casino in the country, but is obviously still beatable. This casino doesn't have a hotel though, so the tourist aspect of it is left mostly to people close enough by to make the drive.
Anywho on to poker. I get there at about 7:00 pm on the free shuttle from the city. There was a change in format that eliminated call-ins. Originally I thought I would hate this, but it has turned out quite nice. I have been seated much quicker than when call-ins were allowed and this night was no different. After maybe 5 minutes, I was seated in seat 5.
The big stack was directly to my left with ~ $500. The only other person of interest was the 2 seat who was a younger guy. He played a lot of hands, some actively, others passively depending on who was in the pot.
This session, because of my precarious position of being sandwich between these two, lead me away from my normal LAG style into a more conservative approach. In two hours, I've only seen the flop maybe 3 times and won them all with either c-bets for raises. I'm at about $275.
Then I get 5
3 UTG and raise it to $8 (did I say conservative? 
). I get 3 callers per usual. Two of the callers are regs, with one being the 2 seat and the other being a pompous 50-something reg that I've played with before. He has a ton of leaks and is extremely passive unless he has a hand, but is aware of position and whatnot. The 3rd guy is a fish that only sees the strength of his hand and likes to draw.
(~$32) Flop comes 2
46. I bet out $22, fish calls, seat 2 folds, and then bad reg shoves for $230 more. I make the very hard decision of calling with the current nuts and fish folds. He says he had top two and the board doesn't pair and I take down a nice pot.
A couple hands later and I'm in the CO with 6
6
. There's 4 limpers and I raise it up to $13. Fish calls along with two others. Flop comes 862 rainbow. I bet $25 and donk min-raise me to $50. I elect to call in case this was one of those stupid "raise to see where I'm at" bets. I'm not worried about anything right now and figure there's a good chance he leads out on most turns. Turn is a T. He bets $75 and I raise him AI to ~$175. He snap calls and shows AA. River bricks and I scoop.
Then it's pretty silent on my end for another hour and then I lose a a decent sized pot with a full house to quads. I also lose a TpTk hand AI on the flop to top two versus a 50bb stack. Then the two other times I 3bet light against aggressive raisers, I get limp 4bet by nits.
Then I get a text from some girls that say they're coming to surprise me and we're going out to the bars. So I oblige, pick up an okay score and we head to the bars in time for the New Year.
Originally I was not planning on being the degenerate at a poker table on NYE. Friends had planned to come up to Chicago and we were looking to do it big for our first NYE as "grown-ups." Limo to the Drake, VIP passes, etc. But they bailed and then wanted me to come to Indy. I almost did considering there was another hot young biddy there that had been texting me all week and likely would've been my NYE kiss and more.
However, I was still bitter and didn't want to pay $70 for the megabus to spend NYE in some small ****ty city spending half of my rare time off in an over-sized toilet on wheels. The important part is that I'm not bitter.
Anywho, so I have another party that I was invited to, but I've decided it's best that I don't go. The reason is that I ended up taking two girls out for dates within the same week without realizing they were best friends. Now I don't think they know about the other, but both ladies were going to be at said party and I did not want to risk the chance.
Lastly, there's my co-worker's party. The dude's 38, but super-cool and his hot 20 year-old sister in-law is in town with her friends. I'm intrigued. However, I learn that she's still hung up on her ex-bf who ironically has the same name as I do. Figure that would likely end as a "cry on my shoulder" bust.
So I decide to go to the Hammond Horseshoe, my regular venue. To those of you that haven't been, it's easily the nicest room in the midwest. It also beats out all the poker rooms I've been to in Vegas, but I have not been to the Venetian or the Bellagio. This place is always packed. In fact, as I look on the Bravo app right now at 1:54 am I see five 2-5 NLH games, one 1-2 PLO game, two 5-10 NLH games, one 3-6 Limit Hold em, and eight 1-2 NLH games.
The 1-2 game here is probably one of the more talented 1-2 games for a casino in the country, but is obviously still beatable. This casino doesn't have a hotel though, so the tourist aspect of it is left mostly to people close enough by to make the drive.
Anywho on to poker. I get there at about 7:00 pm on the free shuttle from the city. There was a change in format that eliminated call-ins. Originally I thought I would hate this, but it has turned out quite nice. I have been seated much quicker than when call-ins were allowed and this night was no different. After maybe 5 minutes, I was seated in seat 5.
The big stack was directly to my left with ~ $500. The only other person of interest was the 2 seat who was a younger guy. He played a lot of hands, some actively, others passively depending on who was in the pot.
This session, because of my precarious position of being sandwich between these two, lead me away from my normal LAG style into a more conservative approach. In two hours, I've only seen the flop maybe 3 times and won them all with either c-bets for raises. I'm at about $275.
Then I get 5
3 UTG and raise it to $8 (did I say conservative? ). I get 3 callers per usual. Two of the callers are regs, with one being the 2 seat and the other being a pompous 50-something reg that I've played with before. He has a ton of leaks and is extremely passive unless he has a hand, but is aware of position and whatnot. The 3rd guy is a fish that only sees the strength of his hand and likes to draw. (~$32) Flop comes 2
46. I bet out $22, fish calls, seat 2 folds, and then bad reg shoves for $230 more. I make the very hard decision of calling with the current nuts and fish folds. He says he had top two and the board doesn't pair and I take down a nice pot. A couple hands later and I'm in the CO with 6
6. There's 4 limpers and I raise it up to $13. Fish calls along with two others. Flop comes 862 rainbow. I bet $25 and donk min-raise me to $50. I elect to call in case this was one of those stupid "raise to see where I'm at" bets. I'm not worried about anything right now and figure there's a good chance he leads out on most turns. Turn is a T. He bets $75 and I raise him AI to ~$175. He snap calls and shows AA. River bricks and I scoop.Then it's pretty silent on my end for another hour and then I lose a a decent sized pot with a full house to quads. I also lose a TpTk hand AI on the flop to top two versus a 50bb stack. Then the two other times I 3bet light against aggressive raisers, I get limp 4bet by nits.
Then I get a text from some girls that say they're coming to surprise me and we're going out to the bars. So I oblige, pick up an okay score and we head to the bars in time for the New Year.