Turning This Poker Truck Around

So, this past Wednesday I decided to hit Nautica again and take another shot at the $1/2. I was originally going to just play $2/4 but they had an open NL seat at a table full of nits (my favorite) so I decided to make a run. I bought in $120 and sat down. First hand I get J/10 spades, raise to $7. Two callers take a flop of 3-5-6. The guy next to me leads into me for $20, I fold and he shows 3-5 off and declares he will play any two cards to any raise. AWESOME. Next hand I get AQ, call a raise to $6. Flop comes K-J-3 and two players bet/raise before it gets to me. I am quickly down to $91 when I get into the biggest clusterfuck of the year so far. In the BB I get dealt 7-7. The entire table limps to me, I see no point in raising out of position with a shitty pair so I check in. Flop comes A-9-8 two clubs. Everyone checks. Turn is the 7s (putting two spades on board as well). UTG bets $20. Four callers back to me. I decide to nip this in the bud and pump it all-in for $69 on top. Two callers, one guy on the end shoves for a bit more than me, another short stack calls for less. As I am monkeying up the two side pots, Meat comes up behind me and asks why it's always me in these fucked up hands. Dealer puts out the Kc, and Meat slaps me on the back and says "Well, THAT fucked you!". I declare a set and table my hand, and to my astonishment everyone mucks and I drag a huge pot. Looks like things might just be turning around! Afterwards, Meat and I cashed out and hit trivia at the tavern. On the way home, I felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. I played some poker, won some money, hung out with friends and had a good time. Why can't my life be like this all the time?

I played Dave's last night. I had to buy into the tournament late since I am on call and had to make sure I didn't have any more work before I went out there. I came in a round and a half before break and was dealt a steady succession of nothing. For the first two rounds I didn't play a hand except the blinds, which I folded. The first hand I decide to play is from the BB with KQ suited. Krazy Mike makes it $1000 to go, Malcolm flats, I call. Flop Q-8-6. I check, Mike and Malcolm check. Turn is a brick, I open/shove my stack, Mike folds, Malcolm snaps with a set of 8's and I am crippled. A few hands later I shove with J9, Malcolm calls with 99 and I am off to the cash game. My horse didn't fare much better, he blew a 24k chip stack in two hands and was out soon after me.

The cash game didn't start so well either. I bought in $80 and sat between a steaming Silent Dave and Hiphop. I lost a bunch of small hands and then got into a three way all-in for my last $50 that I watched two people with AK chop. I tapped a friend for another $100 and rebought. I was up and down a lot. Flopped a set of 6's against a guy who flopped a flush and paid him off. Then I snapped off a bluff by Silent Dave for a $100 pot. We moved tables and I just got into the zone. I was playing well, my reads were good, and I didn't lose to any miracle hands. I did make a few bad plays still (my one big bluff of the night AGAIN picked off, this time by Hiphop and his Q's with a 3 kicker). I played a lot of pots in the $50-60 range and won. I kept my hand range pretty tight and kept my betting even to try and keep people from picking up any betting tells. Even Colin commented that I was playing very well. The biggest pot I won was a BB special. Got dealt 6-8, call a $5 preflop raise from short stack. Flop Q-9-5. Checks around. Turn 6. Checks around again. River 6. I bet $12, short stack across from me shoves for $38. TK just flat calls. TK's flat calls stalls me - I'm not sure if he's baiting me or expecting me to fold so I flat call and roll over the trips for the win. There weren't any monster pots I won, just played solid and took down a lot of decent pots.

Going to take a few days off while I serve out my on-call, then will probably have a degenerate weekend next week since I am off work and don't have the kids. I might even drag K back out to play, bad wheel and all.