Dude, seriously, you were slaying me with this ****.

Lol a blast from the past! Where in the thread are you? That's gotta be back in the winter, right?

Still on the third page, but I have already laughed several times. Your description of the homeless guy eating the ice cream cone was priceless. I also really enjoyed the Scores work party story. The Jergens bottle image was particularly funny.

Easier than Tinder imo.

No doubt... Now the Taj looks to be in trouble too. Scary times for AC.

Good to hear it - keep posting man, it's great to be reminded of some of those early moments and to know people are still enjoying reading that stuff! I may have to add more of those colorful stories again, I think I may have slipped into too much poker and not enough funny stories.

Easier isn't always better!

September 8 – “Remember, spades face up, you can believe him for now…”

After an early morning at work at a broadcasting job today, I decided to try to put in some hours at Harrah's in Chester. I was pretty tired because yesterday was kind of a long day too, although it was a good day at work..





So anyway, today was an early morning, I was kind of tired, but I'd end up playing one of the most interesting hands of this thread.

Hand No. 1

Two fish limp and a tight guy limps and I make it $35 from the SB with A6. I figure the tight guy won’t call me often and I crush the fishes limping AND calling ranges. The first folds, the second calls, the tight guy folds.

Flop ($79): A63

I bet $50, the fish raises to $100 with like 230 behind. I move all-in and he insta-fist-pump-snap-calls. I fear a set.

Turn ($751): 2

River: 4

He literally fist pumps and slams down T9. I end up in the game for $1000, but fight my way back after turning a pair into a bluff against a fish semi accidentally and having it work, and making a set. So I was pretty deep when this went down...

Hand No. 2

A tight player with his chips in a rack limps UTG and it folds to my button. I decide I’m basically raising any two cards, because he’s in a rack and probably won’t want to lose on his last hand. I peek at the 93:spade and decide that since I was, in fact, dealt two cards, I raise. I make it $25. The limper calls.

Flop ($51): T99

Time to change our plan. He checks, I bet $30, he calls.

Turn ($111): 9

He checks, I bet $75, he calls.

River ($261): 8

He checks and has about $360 left. I cover him and move all in and he goes into the tank. He’s talking to himself and starts talking to me. I decide he needs assistance in paying me off, and I’m here to help.

Him: “That’s a terrible board.”
Me: “For what?”
Him: “For my hand.”
Me: “What do you have?”
Him: “Do you have a 10?”

I go back to staring at the board. I peek at my cards and put the 3 on top so I know which is which. He keeps mumbling to himself and thinks for probably like 2-3 minutes.

Him: “I can’t even beat a 10… If I fold, will you show me a 10?”

I instantly turn over the 3.

Him: “What the f***? Are you serious? What the f***? How do you have a 3?”

He goes deep into the tank for like a minute, mumbling incoherently.

Him: “I limp, you raise to $25… With 93? T3? Seriously?”

I chuckle on the inside that it’s extra sick that I’m showing a spade and the 9 is on the board, so I can’t even be suited.

Him: “Did you raise to $25?”

I look at him and blink.

Him: “I’m trying to remember, seriously, I limped and you made it $25???”

I nod. He thinks for another minute or so and finally someone calls the clock on him. He waits about 30 seconds and flips a white in and says, “I call.”

I flip my cards over and he shakes his head in disbelief.

Dinner

I have a friend who Duke introduced me to in our study group and he primarily plays at Harrahs, so he’s got a Diamond Card. He invited me to join him for the Diamond Lounge buffet and I obliged, and we went up and laughed our asses off over my quads hand.

Hand No. 3

I pick up KK in the HJ and make it $25. The CO calls and the limper calls.

Flop ($76): Q95r

Check, I bet $55, the CO raises to $110. The limper folds and I call. He has $465 left.

Turn ($296): 7x

I check, he bets $165, I tank and call.

River ($626): 5x

I check, he tanks and checks. He shows AQ and MHIG.

Hand No. 4

There’s one limp and I raise to $25 in the CO with AK. The button (villain from hand 3) calls, a tight player in the BB calls and the limper calls.

Flop ($96): K32

It checks to me and I bet $65. The button raises to $150. The BB tanks and shoves for $299. I tank and decide to fold. It’s a tough decision because the BB wouldn’t call a raise with K3 or K2, so his range is basically flush draws and sets. I suppose he could be going crazy with KQ/KJ, or have AK. I debate over whether he’d call a raise with 33/22, and decide he probably would. The button could have K2, K3, a range of Kx hands, flush draws, and total air. I finally fold and the button tanks and calls. The board bricks out and the blind shows AT, and the button shows K2 to take it.

Isn’t it a great feeling getting in a similar spot twice with the same villain and calling down correctly with one pair, then folding one pair correctly?

From there the game deteriorated pretty quickly and I got tired, having been up since 4 am, so I called it a night.

Result: +$782 in 4 hours, 39 minutes ($15 in tips)

I'm packing up to head up to Parx, and I'll be staying up there tonight. Tomorrow I have a shift at the radio station, then I'll be on the road for poker until Monday, with a stop back for a radio shift Friday. Should get a lot of hours in!

Just finished reading this beast from the beginning. You have a really awesome writing style. Just from reading this, I feel like I know you.

Finally got done with the whole thread. I really enjoyed reading it, and I felt like I learned a lot reading through your hand histories. One thing I didn't understand. How the hell did you not seal the deal with the Aussie? What exactly was the missing equipment that prevented the shower sex?

Thanks... I appreciate it! Glad you've enjoyed it so far.



Glad to hear it was educational and entertaining... I'm amused that the one question that was still burning after however many pages was that one haha... I've wondered that too, and I settled on lube being what she probably meant. I didn't want to ask in the moment because once she wasn't feeling an idea I was trying to come up with another option.

Last week I was joking with Sequel about it and realized I could've gotten into a building where I used to work about 7 miles away and it would have been empty... Doh!

September 10 - "So f*** the world, feed it beans. / It's gassed up, if it thinks it's stoppin' me. / I'ma be what I set out to be, without a doubt, undoubtedly. / And all those who look down on me, I'm tearing down your balcony."

I headed up to Parx today for some of their usually awesome 2/5 action. It wasn't nearly as good as it had been, and I feel like it's been going downhill a bit lately. Maybe Borgata stole back some fish regs?

That meant the games were actually pretty tough, with some high level thinkers even after a table change. It's interesting when you can tell a really good player thinks he can exploit you... When he's got that look, like he's looking down on you from above... So you just have to tear down his balcony.

I got stuck early when AK < QQ in a hand I called down light which later proved to be a decent strategy as the villain bluffed a lot and he either had QQ or air given the board, so it happens. I then had to fight my way back.

Hand No. 1

A fish raises to $20 from UTG and I make it $60 with QQ from UTG+2. It folds to him and he snap calls.

Flop ($121): A53

He checks, I check.

Turn ($121): 7

He bets $30 and I debate a raise to charge the draw, but decide to keep the pot small and just call.

River ($181): T

He bets $125 and I tank. "Can you beat Ace-Ten?" he asks. I smirk at him, like, yeah, I'm tanking with a set. "I've got Ace-Ten," he says.

I call.

"You're good," he says, and flings his cards into the muck.

Hand No. 2

It folds to my button and I make it $20 with 63. The BB calls. He's a good player who's been calling like 80% of my raises, so he probably thinks he can outplay me. Bring it on.

Flop ($42): 552

He checks, I bet $25, he makes it $75. I call.

Turn ($192): K

He bets $130. I move all-in for $390. He thinks for about five seconds and folds. He's a pretty good player, but he played this hand HORRIBLY, unless he had total air.

Hand No. 3

I won't share my cards here, which will help you understand my villains' perspective in hand four.

It folds to my button and I raise to $20. The SB raises to $75. I call.

Flop ($150): Q62

The SB bets $110. I raise to $300. He thinks a bit and folds.

Hand No. 4

This is the very next hand.

A grinder guy who I suspect is a pro makes it $20. He's been at the table about 30 minutes and I can tell he's a high level thinker. A fish calls and I make it $60 with QQ. It folds around to the grinder who makes it $170. I tank and call. We're like 1K effective, give or take.

Flop ($360): JJ8

He bets $115, and I tank and call.

Turn ($590): T

He bets $290 with $475 behind. I tank and call again.

River ($1,170): Brick

He checks, I think for a bit and check behind. He insta mucks and I take it down.

Result: +$1,291 in 5 hours, 57 minutes ($26 in tips)

I didn't get as much volume in as I wanted, as I took a dinner break and got picked up despite there being no list, 6 open seats, and me being gone just SLIGHTLY over an hour. Disadvantages of not being a reg, I guess.

We'll see if it's worth being here frequently on Tuesdays... I'll give it a couple more shots.

I'm curious to hear you elaborate as to why you think villian played this hand so horribly (with the added capitalization emphasis). I have a feeling we might have divergent views on this, so I would like to see how a fairly new 2/5 player views the hand...

Parx 2/5 is always great the T/T is exceptional on Tuesdays.

He played it fine if he had air. His line basically just turns a middle pair into a bluff if that's in fact what he had. He'd be better off playing it in a way to extract value, or heroing. If he had a flush draw, he bet an amount that he had to fold to a shove on the turn. He should have raised more on the flop to signal his commitment, which would prevent me from floating and bluffing effectively.

However, since I doubt he has a 5 here very often (if ever), his check-raise range is almost all vulnerable one pair hands and flush draws. Thus, he is bloating a pot out of position with a defined range against a really good player. This is trouble for him, as evidenced by how the hand played out.

I'm not rolled yet for the T/T, but I think the 2/5 game is actually going a little downhill there. Maybe I'm just running bad with getting good tables (even on table changes) the last couple of times I've been. I only get out there once or twice a month, so it's a very small sample size.

September 12 – “Dream chaser, keep chasin’. / Grind will turn into your shine, be patient.”

On Wednesday night, Sequel and I hit up the boardwalk for dinner at Landshark. That included my sampling of the Banana Breeze, a delicious alcohol concoction.



Afterward, we saw a sand sculpture that was sadly symbolic of the state of Atlantic City. (Notice the head "on" the woman.)



Anyway, I start my session off by getting set under setted against a potentially tilted aggro while 5 handed, so that got me stuck right off the bat. Then I made the second nut flush with an open ended straight flush draw against his nut flush… So that dug me in a little deeper. Always a fun way to start with a couple of coolers. Next I got floated, out of position mind you, by an overcard and a gutshot. He turned open ended and bet and I called. He rivered his overcard and bet it and I couldn’t put him on the J, so I paid him off. Nice oop float, sir.

Hand No. 1

A tilted player raises to $20 UTG. It folds to my SB. I make it $65 with AA. He calls.

Flop ($134): JT4

I bet $75, he thinks a bit and calls.

Turn ($284): 4

I bet $135 and he tanks and calls.

River ($554): 5

I move all-in for $194. He tanks and calls and my hand is good.

I then ride a roller coaster of running into the top of ranges, coolers, big hands, etc… I have a good God seat, but I can’t pick up the right hands to iso witih or to call his opens with. Eventually he gets up, and two others get up immediately. Guys, this is TERRIBLE etiquette. Wait 60 seconds for the fish to walk away, so he doesn’t see the game breaking.

I wait a minute or so and leave for dinner.

Result: -$728 in 5 hours, 23 minutes ($16 in tips)

After a chicken caesar wrap, I get back at it… And quickly get stuck again and try to fight my way back.

Hand No. 2

The CO raises to $15 and I’m in the BB with A9. I make it $50. He 4-bets to $115. Something feels amiss. I call.

Flop ($231): 944

I check, he bets $125. I call.

Turn ($481): Q

I check, he jams for $269. I tank and call.

River ($1019): 6

He shows a 6, I table my hand, and he mucks.

Up next, I run the nut flush draw into the flopped second nut flush – the annoying part is he tried to raise up front and just threw in one green without speaking up, so it was a call. Thus, I figured his only flopped flushes were KsQs. He had Ks7s. Guess we’re raising that up front, good to know. So I probably would have taken a very different line if I knew he had a lot more flopped flushes in his range than I realized.

Later I backdoor a straight on a flop that checked through and get an overbet called.

Results: +$346 in 2 hours, 28 minutes ($7 in tips)

I got a kick out of the bolded part.


Yeah, thanks for elaborating here. I was interested in your thought process as you've recently stepped up to 2/5 (and are doing pretty awesome I might add), while I've recently stepped down to 2/5 ala "these Vegas 2/5 games are like free money broken-ATMs) and I wanted to see the similarities/differences in how we viewed the hand.


From my end:


To be honest, I didn't even consider that villian could have had a flush because you're absolutely right, he would have completely butchered the hand if he did.


I would expect him to have either complete air, a mid-pp, or the 5 he is repping. Obv, the 5 is unlikely ala combinatorics, but it is a small part of both his range (being the BB) and a part of your range as well (given it was folded to button prompting a raise with almost ATC).

Villian chose a very standard Level 2 type line where he is emulating a Level 1-ABC play of flopped trips. You clearly figured this out and taught him a lesson with your turn shove. I wouldn't expect your line to be as succesful against a 5/10 pro as he'd know to be far more balanced towards having it with such an obvious line.


As far as extracting value (if say villian had a mid-pp), this flop texture is difficult in this regard. Your range is wide and undefined, he has overcards, a possible flush draw, and a possible straight draw (though most likely a gutter w/Ax) to navigate through. Heroing would work with the same flop action, but then checking/pot-controlling the turn with the intention of calling a river donk. This line has merits against more skilled/aggro opponents.

Overall though, I wouldn't be quite so critical of my opponent here. It's pretty much what I'd expect from a mid-tier 2/5 grinder. Besides, the vast majority of his range is air and a few mid-pairs anyways.

What can I say? I focus on the important details in life!

I should have added that he defined his range as almost entirely capped and vulnerable. I think A5s and 56s are his only 5x hands and I doubt he check raises 55 and 22. He'd 3bet AA and KK pre and likely 3bet QQ to TT at least sometimes.

I think his flop play with a mid pair was semi OK if he either stacked off on the turn or check-called. I think check calling down may be better against an aggro opponent like myself. The problem is when he defines his range and mine still has lots of 5x and bigger pairs and big draws, he's in a bad spot if he gets reraised at any point. This reminds me a lot of the JT vs AA hand I played in my previous 2/5 shot. That villain seemed to accidentally turn his AA into a bluff while leaving me room to rebluff.

You mention calling a river donk but he was OOP so do you feel the same way about that line if he check-calls it?

I thought he was better than a mid tier grinder, though, so hence the criticism. Maybe I'm wrong and I overrated his ability though.

Right, you would have heard from him preflop with 99+ as you have a wide raising range (given it was folded to your button)...ergo the mid-pp assignment to his range. And yes, he is pretty much defining his range as either A5, or some suited connector that includes a 5, or the aforementioned mid-pp.

The problem is, it's a tricky flop for him to rep much of anything strong, and then the K on the turn makes it that much worse for the limited range he is repping (endangering any mid-pp hands). On top of that, he was faced with an opponent that was willing to commit his stack to the cause. For all these reasons, I wouldn't condemn his play too harshly as it's a pretty brutal pot for him to play.

Even if he were to c/r the turn to rep the flopped trips, it would be suspect as draws are a large part of your continuation range, and it would be questionable as to whether he would risk the free card in anticipation of a semi-bluff on your part.

Ungh, yeah he is OOP...scratch that river donk call. It was early in the morning PST when I made that post. Probably shouldn't complain given what Duke is going through lol.

C/cing the river works just as well as he would have added bluff equity in case you missed your draw. Still, he is playing the pot half-blind with a lot of bad rivers...so basically from start to finish this hand is just s**ty for villian to play (again, why I would cut him a little slack). You simply outplayed him in this hand with an assist from the board running out nicely for you on the turn allowing you to rebluff.

Four guys at my table are loudly discussing rakeback, 6 max vs 10 max, online vs live, 3betting, 4 and 5 bet wars, and tournament runs.

Three fish are sitting quietly listening.

Facepalm.

So what do we do to these opponents? 3 bet them light, value bet them thin and hero call their bluff raises.

Then stack chips.

Get into some 4b 5b wars obv

As aggro as I often am those rarely happen with me.... I wait til the river to bomb it in there.

Two middle aged guys at my table discussing how online poker in NJ is rigged to help the fish win. I laugh. They think I'm laughing at something else. It feels like 2005.