It's been a few days since my last post. First things first. Here's what happened. I hopped over the river feeling frisky after a few weeks off the tables. The positive attitude continued to shine as I took the stairs up to Caesar's poker room and saw a few familiar faces. It was about 2PM on a Monday so not many games were going. There were about 2 full tables of 1-2 NL and I joined a 3rd fresh table.
Things seemed to be going well after the first couple of hours. I was on a rate of about $20/hr and spiked a hundred dollar win when I got really lucky against a not so lucky Italian. We both limped in before the blinds along with a couple of other callers. I held K6o, not a very strong hand but with everyone limping in I decided to play. I hit a king on the flop with two spades accompanying it and bet out 10 bucks into a 16 dollar pot. The guy to my left raised to $25 and the Italian in late position raised all-in.
Now here's where my mind screams and yells get the fuck out and say goodbye to $10 to save $100 but this time I wasn't listening. The smart part of my brain told me the guy who raised was probably trying to push people out on his flush draw and the Italian didn't want any of us to hit our draws so he tried to push us out even further. I put the Italian on a king but one with a low kicker since he just limped in preflop. I knew that if the guy to my left called he would only be about 25% to win the pot and be all-in also. I had both of them covered with about $250 when they had less than $100.
In no way should I have made the call but the twisted side of my brain told me by some slim chance I was ahead and if I wasn't I still had some gambling outs. I called discouraging the guy on my left to play his flush draw against a caller and the Italian turned over K8o to dominate me. I was right on my reads, but made the wrong decision.
The turn was a blank, but on the river I caught my miracle 6 giving me two-pair. I dragged the $200 pot which cured my shame for sucking out rather quickly.
The Italian steamed, yelling at me for getting lucky over his superior skill. I said sorry it had to be that way and kept my mouth shut. I felt like I was slowly crawling back into the shadows before anyone had noticed how absolutely absurd my play was.
After that I decided to play only premium hands knowing fully well that no one at the would respect any bets or calls from then on. Fortunately this image worked to my advantage. Shortly after, all my preflop pairs had flopped trips and some even filled in by the river. I placed small value bets every street which got paid every time.
The Italian kept reloading his stack, donking it off to me and the others by playing wildly. Around 7PM I picked up K10s in early position and called a raise to see a flop. The Italian also called. I hit top two pair on the flop and the Italian moved in on me for about $200. I quickly called and turned the two pair and he turned over Q9 for a open-ended straight draw. I filled up on the river and was up about $300 on the night.
This is the point where casinos become really fun. Overhearing some other players, I'd learned that the casino special that day was if you played for more than an hour and a half in the casino, they gave you two free vouchers to the buffet. Hunger being one of the obstacles when I play long hours of poker, I promptly went downstairs to cash in on my comps.
I don't know if it was the mediocre fried fish or the confused looks on all of the white-haired old ladies clasped arm and arm looking for the carrot cake, but I couldn't wait to get back to the tables, play in the tournament, and join a new 2-5 table that had just opened up.
Unfortunately, I played the tournament too loosely and only came in 19/42 and became even more impatient and pissed away my winnings and then some on the 1-2 game waiting for the 2-5 game. After salvaging what I could from the evils of fatigue and boredom, I walked out of the poker room with a wound in my ass.
I was pretty discouraged, but after writing this post I've realized a few things.
1. Image is important. Even if you play badly and get lucky, you can use your "donk" image to your advantage in future hands.
2. When your mind screams "GO HOME" "TAKE YOUR MONEY" "DON'T CALL" listen to it.
3. Free Buffets are better than paying for buffets even if the fish sucks.
4. Don't be afraid to run with your money, you can always come back refreshed the next day.
Thanks for listening guys, I will be headed back to the casino shortly and will be posting shortly after that.
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