Thursday's session - back on the winning track

.02/.04 NL Hold'Em - 103 Hands - SB Played: 9-12 (75%) - BB Played: 9-13(69%) - Other Played: 20-77 (26%) - Total Played: 38-103 (37%) - Showdowns Won: 4-9 (49%) - Other Wins: 17 - Profit: + $2.40

I have a mini-tournament to play at a friend's house later tonight, so I'll keep this brief.

After that A-A vs. 8-7s debacle of the other night, it was good to get back onto the horse and get a winning session under my belt. I was up a lot more than $2.40 at one point, but I think all in all it could have been a lot worse. This was a table where, especially in the beginning, continuation bets were not respected at all. I had to adjust to that and slow down a bit, until things loosened up when some new players came to the table. I think I did a pretty good job of switching gears during the session, which is something I've actively been trying to work on. With that said, some hand highlights:

Hand 20: With J-6 in the small blind, I call along with a bunch of limpers. I flop trips, and of course, no one wants to play when I fire a bet out. I had been playing fairly loose to start, and there were loose players at the table. The flop was 6-6-2 rainbow so it wouldn't have killed me to give a free card. But, given the situation, I was sure that I would have gotten a few callers. Oh well. I'm not totally unhappy with that play.

Hand 30: Got 9c-6s in the SB, and the flop came Qd-Qh-9d. I bet .12 into a .16 pot, got one caller. The turn was 4h - I bet .24, and was re-raised for the guy's last .73. I know it was only .49 more into a pot of 1.37 (2.79:1), but I was 100% sure the guy had a Queen. I don't know why, it was just a feeling. I've seen players do this before with flush draws, but more often than not it's with a made hand at this level. On the off-chance he bluffed me out with a draw, fair play to him...but I have a feeling I was dead to two outs. Shit, even if he had just paired his 9, then I was still just about dead anyway.

Hand 35: Anna Kournikova strikes again. At this point, I was starting to get frustrated as I was missing flops left, right and center with fairly decent hands.

Hand 37: Two hands later, I wasn't in it...but the flop came A-K-6. Eat a dick, Sportsbook.

Hand 41: Wasn't in this one either, but some donk-show called a 5X BB raise with Q-7 off. Flop was J-9-8 rainbow, raiser bet .35, Donkey calls. Turn was a Queen, .55 bet is called. The call with the gutshot was awful, and the pair + gutshot wasn't much better considering what he was probably up against. But, the worst was when a 9 came on the river, he called another bet for $1.11! Wow! Basically, the only hands he was beating were A-J, K-J or J-10...none of which are obvious candidates for a raise that big (I do it rarely as a variation play, but that's it). Unsurprisingly, the raiser showed A-A. HAHAHAHAHA....whoopsy-daisy.

Hand 46: My biggest one-hand loss of the session came here. With Kh-Qh, I raised 3X BB in early position and got two customers. The flop was 10h-3d-2h, so I bet .20 at it. The SB folded, but the other guy popped it up to .50. I was getting 3.66:1 to call on a 4.1:1 shot, so I really should have folded right there. I didn't, however. The turn was a 5d, so I checked...no sense throwing good money after bad, and I wasn't bluffing anyone out with that card. He bet .70, and I went away. At the time, I thought it was a good fold on the turn at least, since I didn't have anything close to the correct odds to draw for the flush. Now that I look at it again though, this looks to me like he either had A-10/K-10/Q-10/J-10, or 10-10. If it were the latter, then only the flush would have been good. But, what if it were the former? I'd have 6 more outs, and all of a sudden the post-flop call was 2.06:1. Even with the .70 bet on the turn, it was a 2:1 call for 2:1 odds. In retrospect, I think this might have been an overly-tight fold.

Hand 48: This was just annoying more than anything else. I had 7-7 in the BB, and called a 2X BB raise. The flop was checked around, and I bailed on the turn when someone bet big into a board of Q-10-6-5. As it turns out, the guy who won the hand had 6-6, and you want to know why I didn't have a chance to hit a set? Because the prick who saw it down to the river had the other two!!! Are you KIDDING me?!

Hand 49: This was less annoying, and more grounds to commit justifiable homicide in a fair world. With Q-J in the SB, I raise to 4X BB...the BB calls. The flop was 9-6-4 with two clubs. I bet .20, he calls. The turn was the 7c, and it went check-check. In retrospect, a bet here probably would have won me the hand as I'd be representing a flush. The river was a 3 - I bet .36, and the guy calls. He shows A-6 and wins the hand. Unreal. The post-flop call wasn't the worst ever, and I guess me checking the river in some respect justifies his river call. But, how the fuck do you call that big of a raise with A-6?

Hand 52: Had to fold K-J pre-flop to a .32 raise from a tight player. Said tight player immediately checked to a K-8-2 flop, and then folded on the turn (10) to a .32 raise. Ugh.

Hand 54: Had As-3s and was forced to fold to a .18 raise (I mention this and the last hand because other than these, there was more limping going on than at a sports rehab clinic). Of cunting course, the third spade came out on the turn...and the guy who won the hand had A-A.

Hand 70: Had 3-2 in late position, and limped in with it. Flopped two pair, and re-raised the first guy 3X. Both guys call. A third club came out on the turn, and it was checked down the rest of the way. I do this ALL THE TIME...when a third flush card comes out, I immediately assume someone has it. Instead, some fuckstick with J-4 off-suit rivered his gut-shot straight.

Hand 76: I made up for a lot of these hands though where I had 9-2 in the BB, caught the 9 on the flop, and the 2 on the turn. I probably over-bet here though...a smaller bet than .36 may have kept someone in for the river. Oh well...still a .32 win, though.

Hand 77: Caught two pair with Kh-10h, and won an even bigger pot...around .80 this time.

Hand 79: I have Q-Q, and no one wants to play. Awwww...

Hands 81-84: I love these rushes where you win 3, 4 or 5 hands in a row. There are few other things in life that make you feel as much of a Golden God...perhaps the only thing that beats it is sleeping with a girl that is WAAAAAAAAY out of your league (and I've only managed that once, so this is usually more attainable). The biggest win of the lot was a .99 profit when I caught a set with 7-7. After I took down the next hand, I was at my high-water mark for the session at $6.96.

Hand 95: I lost a decent amount with A-Q when I fired off two continuation bets at the biggest calling station at the table. Man, I know better than that, too...but I get so ingrained into the "must...always...continuation...bet..." mode sometimes that I can't stop myself.

Hand 102: As usual, I lose a decent amount (.30 or so) right at the end of my session. I always do the honorable thing and play around through my blinds one last time instead of doing the cunty thing that most of these assholes do, and bounce right before the BB comes their way. I got 6c-4c in the SB, paired the 6, and lost .24 continuation-betting at it.

Sorry for the bare-bones post this time, but I had to get this out or there wouldn't have been a post. There'll be a better one next time...