BACK TO THE BIKE

In homage to my aborted drive to the Bicycle Casino last month, I hoped I could turn this month around by dedicating a day of play with the real people. There was a $335 MTT going on at 4P and I was one of 123 to sign up for the fun. The player to my right was very active and got lots of chips during round one, putting me in a fairly conservative mode. I called his utg raise with 5-5 and caught trips for what would be my biggest win of the event. He fired the flop and I called; then he checked the turn and I shoved. He folded and confided that I played it either very good (if I had air) or very bad (if I had a set) because if I had checked the turn, he would have shoved the river. This is true, but he knew his cards and I did not; the flop had come Jh-Th-5d so there was a good enough chance that he had a big enough hand or draw that he was trap checking the turn to get all the chips in. I certainly did not want to blow him off the hand, but my remaining stack was just slightly bigger than the pot I was betting into, so any lesser bet would certainly have been suspicious, and knowing I was going with the hand, I didn't want to allow the possibility that I bust out by giving a free card, so I made a play for the pot.

I never did get enough chips to allow me to play my game. When I got aces, the flop came K-T-T and I chose to check it down and call a bluff on the river rather than firing at it. I was up against two players and I was either beat or so far ahead that checking couldn't hurt. Betting out would have committed me to the hand without knowing if I was facing a King or Ten if somebody raised, and if anybody was open-ended, then I was willing to let them go ahead and make broadway. By the river, I knew I had the best hand, so I figure I made the maximum the way I played it.

As my chips were draining away, I got dealt A-K twice. The first time I merely overcalled a raised pot and folded the flop. The second time, I raised, and got beat by the 9-8 on a board of 9-9-4-9-3. It's funny, when the flop was checked to me, I reached for chips and the player to my left picked up his cards as if he couldn't wait to muck. So, I checked, but I guess I forgot all about it when he made a baby bet on the turn. I called that and called another baby bet on the river, since I've never gotten the habit of assuming quads. I convinced myself he bluffed the turn when it became obvious I had two high cards, then he bluffed the river when the undercard came. That hand transformed me into a shovebot and it was a few hands later when I shoved 8-8 but fell to 9-9. Damn niners.

I moved to the cash game around 630P and played until 345A just like the good old days. My initial $200 busted about 45 minutes in after two confrontations where my opponents were much stronger than I had them pegged. My second buy-in built its way up to $1700 before I finally went home. For most of the night, I was the monster stack at the table and de facto table captain. My empire's foundation was built on two hands in which I flopped sets and got paid. The first one was a three-way in which two opponents had paired their kings and sneaky old dudeseeg had a set of fivers. In cash games, you don't show your hands early like in tournaments - the flop had come K-9-5 and when the money was in and the turn came Q, one of the players slammed his cards to the table in celebration. My first thought was egads, he's got J-T, but no, it was K-Q, so I showed him the bad news. That pot must have been around $600.

Not too long after, there was all kinds of preflop action and I just kept calling with J-J as the field thinned. I didn't expect I had another set up my sleeve so I didn't wish to go nuts preflop and risk denting the empire. We took the flop four-way and it came Q-J-x. I went ahead and bet into the field, trying to get maybe one caller before the player with the preflop betting lead did his thing. I didn't get a caller, but the preflop guy did push another $140 or so into me. I didn't see his cards but it was most likely A-Q.

I busted another guy when I had aces and got him heads up. I checked the queen-high flop and he bet half of his stack into me on the turn. I went ahead and put him all-in and it turned out he had four-flushed the turn so he went with it. Much later in the night, I hit a set of deuces on one of those magical flops where there is an A-8 rainbow to go with it. There was all kinds of action between the two players with aces and I just came along for the ride, content to take it to the river. The player to my right bet $60 on the turn and I smooth called but was disappointed to see the third guy fold. He bet $100 into me on the river with $300 behind. Of course, set over set was a possibility but considering all the early action, I was more than comfortable believing he had two pair at best. I made the minraise to $200 and he called with a measly A-T, mumbling "I knew it".

Towards the end of the night, I had four racks piled in front of me with extra stacks scattered about. I don't know how, but at some point I became a bluff target and I lost a few good-sized pots by laying down the best hand. The other players took great joy in showing the bluff as they raked the pot and they seemingly were trying to one-up each other. One time, a third party said "that's how you play poker" when I got check-raised all-in on a board with flush and straight possibilities after the winner showed junk. I corrected him, good-naturedly: "that must be how you play poker against me because I'm pretty sure that's not how you play poker usually." I guess I was more willing to give my opponents hands than they were willing to hold them.

One final humiliation closed out my session. The guy who loved to bluff big but seemed to have my number held Qd-Td when I held Ad-7d. The flop gave me a gutshot with the nut flush draw. He bet with his flush draw/overcards, and there was a caller, so I put in a raise to pump the pot. The turn wasn't a diamond, but it turned my gutshot into an open-ender, so I bet $70. The lucky guy called and bet $100 into me when he rivered a queen. I folded to the bet but realized that my best hands were behind me and it was time to go home.