BACK IN ACTION

I went through one of my periodic hemorrhage periods, during which I was simply throwing money away at the cash tables. After a series of stupid plays that cost me over $300 in public, a railbird called me out and told me that I was nothing but a stupid fish. I realized that he was right so I closed shop and took the next two days off to get my head straight. I came back today, refreshed and focused. I got into a $2/4 NLHE game and although I dropped $200 at first, I kept plugging and turned a $900 profit on the day.

This was the key hand of the session: I'm at a six-handed table and I'm dealt 7s-7h. I raise preflop to $12 and the button makes it $36. When I'm hemorrhaging, I call automatically because I'm merely gambling, but when I'm actually using my brain to make winning decisions, I use the size of my opponent's stack to determine whether the implied odds of winning his entire stack make it worth my while to chase the 7:1 odds against hitting my set. In this case, I need to call an additional $24, so I want to see at least $240 in his stack. I like to see a potential 10:1 return on investment to make up for all the times I hit my set but fail to win his entire stack. He's got well over $600 so I make the call.

The flop is 3d-9h-9d and I decide to take a stab at the $78 pot with a $55 bet. I'm in good shape against any unpaired hand and I don't fancy check/calling in this spot, so I want to announce that I've got a decent pair and attempt to win the pot right here. He makes the call, so my strategy immediately shifts to check-it-down mode. That is, until the gin card - 7d - arrives on the turn.

The pot is $188 and now I have a full house, which is the nuts in every instance except the one in which he flopped quad nines. It was such a deceptively good card for me that I quickly determined that the proper way to play it was to check/raise. If I bet out, then I'm representing a diamond flush, and he would likely just call with an overpair to the board, and he may even fold black tens or jacks. I figured my better play was to check and try to get him pot-committed, assuming my show of weakness would encourage him to bet to protect his hand. He indeed bet out $130, after which, I raised it up to $300 (with $245 behind). He had just the hand I needed him to have to shove all in - Ad-Kd. He's drawing dead for the $1299 pot.

I locked down that win and was content to play small pots for the next hour, before quitting. There was one hand in which the above scenario nearly played out again, but with an evil spin. I could have lost a lot more than the $84 I wound up losing on the hand. I called a small blind raise from the big blind, holding 3c-3h. The flop came Jc-Jh-5h and he made the continuation bet. It took him a long time to bet, leading me to believe it was more than a routine c-bet. I thought he might actually have the jack and had to talk himself into playing it fast, but still, I made the call with my small pair to see what would transpire on the turn. Fourth street brought my 3s, once again the gin card. He bet strongly into me and I was fairly certain he had the jack at this point, but I just flat called because I was looking ahead to the third bullet. The river was the 5s which completely counterfeited my full house. He made a strong value bet and I folded.