Poker Is A Game Of Skill, Or Is It?

(Part II of my special two part "you probably are getting sick of the length of my blog posts" series - make sure you read Part I below first)

Remember how I felt good and poker liked me back? Yeah, that didn't last. I was all jazzed up about playing at Terry's. Up to this point the weekend had been going well and I felt like I could win. I bought into the $100 deepstack and decided to snug up my play. I have been adjusting my tournament play including keeping a journal with notes on my play, strategy against certain players, tells, etc. I started off slow and it got even slower. I received precious few playable starting hands and the ones I did play either missed completely or won me small pots. I couldn't get a stack going and never once was above my starting amount. I folded round after round of Q3, J2, K3, etc etc. I was literally blinding to death. I finally got down low and open raised with AJ. Data shipped it in from the button. Caveman anguishes and folds JJ, and Data shows 99. After I busted I got a seat in the cash game. I was hesitant to play this game for two reasons: (a) this was a $1/1 but I knew it would play like a $2/5 or worse, and (b) these guys typically eat me alive. They're all overly aggressive and I have trouble beating them. I thought since I had been hitting it would be OK to take a shot. My first buy I was down $50 just from blinds and calling small raises and missing flops. I ended up stacking off to Ang when I flopped a set and she turned a straight. I didn't even see the straight, which should've been my signal to leave. Instead I lit fire to another buy-in. I got dealt aces and decided to slow play it. On a flop of Q-8-7 two diamonds I get my stack all-in against Krazy Mike who promptly turns a one out Q to get the rest. At that point I couldn't justify another buy-in, it wasn't likely I would make it back and the max buy was too low to chase. Instead I left.

Sunday I decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh and play some $4/8 at Rivers. I could've went to Nautica, but the limit tables there are so rife with cheating and angle shooters that I'd rather drive two hours away to play. I bought in and started playing and on hand three turned quad 5's with my 35h. I made about $30 that hand and spent the next five and half hours swinging up and down. I was up $40, then stuck $110. I would get ahead and then lose to some calling station who couldn't let go of a draw. Fortunately, there was a guy at the table whom I've played with before and he's AWFUL. He looks (and plays) like a former CPMGer who has trouble keeping track of the bank. When I got there he was running the table over, raising every bet and pushing. When he would get called he would refuse to table his hand until he saw yours. I knew immediately I wanted this guy in every hand with me. Every time I got stuck, he would come through and try to run me over. He had $300 in front him when I sat down, after an hour he was rebuying. I counted six rebuys at $100 each (why he didn't just put a few hundred on the table at once I don't understand). At one point, he took a break after a beat and left to go smoke. When he returned he was calm and started playing better. I couldn't have that, so I decided to needle him. I started raising every time he was a blind. About the 3rd time I did it I had AJc and he was getting steamed. He three bet me and I capped him immediately. The flop came K-K-J. He immediately leads and I raise, he three bets and I cap. On the turn he fires again and I consider the outside chance he has a K. I just call the turn and the river is another J. He bets, I raise and he calls. I flip over the AJ and he is MAD. He starts whining about how lucky I got. I tell him "Look, you don't seem to get it. I am never, ever folding a hand to you". After that, the table caught on to him and began calling him down with ace high and bottom pair (all of which were good). He spewed off another couple hundred and left. In the last hour I caught fire. I made a diamond flush to take a good pot, then bet on the come with a spade flush draw against two people who had flopped straights. My spade came on the turn and I dragged a monstrous pot (almost $300 in a $4/8!) I finished way up and decided to leave at 10:30.

So, despite my awful outing at Terry's my weekend finished off on an UP note. Next weekend is a plethora of CPMG limit mix games (my specialty) so I will hopefully be posting another positive blog entry next weekend. BTW, if you have the chance to play Terry's house I recommend it. He has a wonderful place and he and wife are awesome hosts.