TRANSFER OF WEALTH

I haven't posted anything in awhile. I've still been playing, but more sporadically than usual. I served on a jury in November, and then I whipped my resume into shape and got back into the job hunt. I had my first interview last Friday, so we'll see where it leads. I've been playing mostly cash games the past six weeks, and mostly PLO of late. It's a game that can see some chips fly across the table. I play at the $2/4 stakes, but I'm seeing some hearty swings in the sessions I play.

Today, I got into a full ring game as opposed to my usual six-handed preference. I bought in for $250, then $300, then $250, then another $250, then $200 more before the table broke while I sat with $381 remaining. That was a big swing in the wrong direction. I wasn't chasing anything outlandish either. It was one of those sessions where one particular player had my number and busted me over and over.

My first buy-in left me when I lost with queens full against kings full for a $686 pot. A third guy appeared to have flopped the straight, but he made a sweetener bet on the flop and got both of us who tripped to call. He made a pot-sized bet on the turn and now was the time to release the hand, but I stubbornly called since I also had the queen-high diamond draw. The river paired fives and I had only $93 behind, so in it went. I had the third best possible hand behind 5-5 and K-K. When the kings called behind me (rather than push), the straight guy knew to save his money and fold. I don't know if he had the nut diamond draw, which would have been disastrous for me. I'd like to think I had diamonds and the lone queen for wins at least. I thought the five was a good card, but I was not happy to see the kings.

Twice more, I played big pots with the kings guy and both times he sucked out on me after the money got in. Our next big pot was a $611 payday for him. I had (A-6-5-5) and he had (A-K-J-9) with a flop of J-5-3. He reraised me on the flop, so I cold called him with my 92% win rate and we saw the J turn. I now had the boat but my winning percentage fell to 78%. He was still happy to get it all in so I obliged. Of course, I didn't know my win rate at the time, but I've looked up the numbers since. I knew at the time that I had a full house and he had A-J. I wasn't too concerned that he had quads or a 3 in his hand, so I was happy to get all in. The river was a K to give him the pot and send me to the ATM.

Not long after, and this is at a full table, mind you, we got it all in again. Again, I had the advantage, and again he sucked out on me for a $445 pot. I began with (Qh-Jh-Td-5c) versus his (Kh-Ks-8h-7c). He had raised preflop and I called to see the flop, which came Jc-6h-2h, giving me top pair with a flush draw and a backdoor straight draw. He bet and I called in position. The turn was the Qc and at this point, with me as the 63% favorite, we got all in. I wasn't happy to see the higher flush draw when the cards were exposed, and it was the 7h that did me in.

When the table broke, I settled into a short-handed table, and stayed patient and grinded back to within $100 of even on the day. There was one player who always seemed eager to get it in on the turn. After awhile, he got cocky and showed me his hand twice in a row after I folded to him. One time he had the ace on a suited board, getting me to fold top two with an all-in lead-out on the turn. About ten minutes later, I had all his chips. The first time, I called his flop bet, turned two pair, and shoved to his turn bet. He had nothing more than an up-and-down straight draw, which he called with and lost. Soon after, I limped with A-A and he put in his usual button raise, which was followed by a call from the small blind. I reraised and he repopped it, committing himself to the hand with little more than a suited ace. The blind went away and my aces held up. That's the thing with PLO - you can win a lot of pots by being aggressive, but it doesn't take much to get you broke if you tangle with a better hand in the wrong spot. I was pleased as punch to be nearly even on the session and called it a day.