80s cop movie cliche...

Hands Played: 152 - SB Played: 13-17 (76%) - BB Played: 13-18 (72%) - Other Played: 16-117 (14%) - Total Played: 42-152 (28%) - Showdowns Won: 4-7 (52%) - Other Wins: 22

You may be wondering, what do 80s cop movies have to do with poker? Well, remember how one of the most glaring cliches in those flicks was how the senior guy in the department was always right about to retire, and then contrives to get himself killed in some horrible fashion on their last day? That's what happened to me. The worst thing is, it's all my fault...I played excellent poker for one hour and 26 minutes, only for it all to be undone in one mad minute of stupidity and lack of focus. I don't even feel mad. I mean, how could I? A good player noticed my tendencies and exploited them, and worse than that, I allowed it to happen. I don't feel mad...I feel sick to my stomach. I know it's just $4, but it's the principle of it...and it's the competitive nature in me.

What's funny is that towards the end, I was already composing the blog post in my head, where I wanted to talk about a concept that I had utilized throughout the session. For just about the whole time, there were two players there who had much bigger stacks than everyone else, there was me (who was soon at at the second one's level...she was all right, not great...the first guy - the one that pole-axed me right at the end, and who was an excellent player apparently slumming it at this level - had $15 already when I first sat down), and then a revolving door of fish. Those fish were enough to feed the three of us, and that was my point. I was going to make a nice little post about how it's usually in your best interests to avoid getting into showdowns with bigger or similar-sized stacks unless you're really sure about your hand. I built mine up by muscling the fish around with continuation bets and with letting them donk off their chips when I had monsters. As it turns out, I DIDN'T FOLLOW MY OWN CUNTING FUCKING ADVICE, and ended up going busto myself. Well done, Sean...well fucking done.

I suppose I'll get the ending hand off my chest first, then I'll go into some of the hands from the previous action. I'm sitting with exactly $9.80 in chips in the SB, and pick up Ac-As (you knew it was fucking rockets, didn't you?). Mr. Stacks was in the BB, and a new player to his right posted another BB. There were two more callers, so I immediately pop it up to 5X BB. Stacks calls, the other BB folds as does one of the other limpers, but the second limper calls. Keep in mind that Stacks called another .16 in a pot of .40...that's just 2.5:1, for the record. The flop comes Jh-7d-2h. Other than the hearts, that's about as harmless as it gets, right? I bet $1.04, Stacks calls, the other guy folds. The turn is the 7s. I bet $2.48, as I was mainly worried about him hitting his flush (he had forced me out of a pot on the river earlier when the flush card hit, and I was 80-90% sure he had it). The turn also surely removed the 7-7 from the range of holdings, so right now, I figured I was only behind if he had J-J. The flush was the only thing I was super-worried about, and I was making him call the $2.48 into a pot of $2.76, so there was no way he'd be dumb enough to draw to his 9 outs there...not at 1.11:1.

Instead, he goes all-in for $15.96, which more than has my remaining $6.08 covered. Again, my thought process was only thinking about the flush, so I figured he was trying to make a play on me. So, I called. However, with the benefit of hindsight, let's analyze this a bit. J-J was DEFINITELY in his range of possible holdings, and this was someone who I knew was savvy enough to know that if he had a monster, I'd very likely fall into a trap with my aggression. However, this wasn't even aggression on my part, he was the one who went all-in! I could have easily gotten away from a check-raise, because then I'd be 85-90% sure I was beaten with J-J. Well, imagine my surprise when he turns over the fucking 8h-7h.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Really? FUCKING REALLY?!?!?!?

Yes, he called 5X BB pre-flop with a suited connector...and he knew I was playing pretty much premium or marginal high hands, and that's about it (another thing I was going to get into was talking about how you can't go to a table and decide "I'm going to see 40% of hands today like I did last time"...every table is different and you have to adjust to it. However, I can't fucking think straight right now, so that's one for another time). Remember, his call was 2.5:1. Against any overpair he was a 4:1 dog, but then again, against two overcards he was around 3:2. I suppose it depends what he put me on. Anyway, the river didn't help, and away all my chips went. I guess my question is, even if I'm 50% sure he's making a play on me (if it was a normal donk, I'd have been out of there in nanoseconds since they NEVER make plays like that), is it worth it to call? This is one of those intermediate concepts that I'm afraid completely eludes me at the moment.

Oh, and just to complete the picture of idiocy on my part, I had started to lose focus towards the end, and I did have a Facebook window open during those last few hands. Really, Sean? I had even put up a status update of "Sean is pwning n00bs at the tables...hope this doesn't anger the poker gods." Seriously, why am I allowed to play without adult supervision?

Ugh. Anyway, I did play some pretty good hands before I decided that I was invincible and already counting my profit. Briefly, here they are, along with some other notable ones:

- This was a weird session for Big Slick. There were two hands (including me vs. Stacks) where A-K chopped with A-K, and another hand I wasn't in where A-A held up against A-K and A-K. Strange.

- I had rockets earlier in the session, and won a nice pot with them. In middle position, I raised them 3X BB with one limper behind me. Stacks and the BB called, everyone else went away. The flop was A-10-8 rainbow. I figured this was a rare slow-playing opportunity, so it checked around. The turn was another 10, so of course I checked it again. Stacks fired out .21, and was raised by the BB to .42. I call, and so does he. The river was a 7, not that it mattered. The BB bet $1.68, and I went all-in for my last $2.96. Stacks went away, and claimed that he knew then what I had. The BB called, and showed 10-2. Yep, he called 3X BB with 10-2 off-suit. All righty, then. Stacks claimed to have Q-Q, for what it's worth.

- A little later, one of the fishies at the table wrote the book on How Not to Get Paid Off When You Have Aces. He just smooth-calls pre-flop, along with some other people. On a board of Q-J-7-6-2, it was checked around by all parties the entire times! The guy with A-A didn't even make ONE bet at it! Even at this level, I can literally say that I've never seen someone check it all the way down and then show the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Yep, that's a first.

- On one hand, I was about to limp in with A-2 off-suit as a variation play. Luckily someone raised it up to .14 pre-flop, as the flop ended up coming A-K-2, all hearts. That would have been an interesting decision to make once the pre-flop raiser went all-in for their last $1.32.

- Here's another hand where Stacks pretty much had his way with the moron writing this. I get K-7 off in the BB, and I'm always going to call the extra .02 with almost any two cards. The flop comes 10h-7c-2s rainbow, so I bet .16 (the pot) at it. Stacks calls, everyone else is smart enough to bounce. The turn is the 7s, so I obviously feel like I have the best hand here. I bet .44, and he calls. The river is a 9s, and immediately I put him on a flush. What else was he calling me with? I guess it could have been A-10 or something, but since he was the BB in an unraised pot, it could be any old thing. I bet $1.04 because I still felt like there was a chance that my hand was good. He raised it to $2.08, so knowing what happened later, I would imagine he probably caught his flush. I went away, but I also can't help but feel like he was representing a hand rather than value-betting. I guess it's because I'm kind of shook right now, but I have a feeling he stole this one from me.

- I at least got it back and more 12 hands later. We were down to 7-handed briefly, so I liked my Q-J off in middle position. I raised to 3X BB, and two customers came along. The flop came Ks-9d-3c. One guy checked, so I raised to .32...one call, one fold. The turn was the 10d. I semi-bluffed .68 with my open-ender, because I'm pretty sure I had this guy (a loose, mediocre player) on 9-x. My customer stayed with me though to see a 8c river. He goes all-in for his last $1.12, and I of course call with my straight. He showed Kd-8d. Whoops.

- Later on, I ended up getting a boat with A-Q, but no one wanted to play. Shit, where was that douche-rocket Stacks on THAT hand?!

- Amusingly, in a hand I wasn't in, some guy went all-in for $7.57 pre-flop with two people in, after Stacks had raised to .16. Wow, really? The best player at the table is going to pay off your Aces with that bet? Good thinking, Sherlock.

- Anyway, those were the "TV hands". For the most part, I had just done a good job mixing up my pre-flop raises and firing off continuation bets at the right time. I suppose the very harsh lesson here is that your session is over once your focus starts waning...NOT at a preset arbitrary time.