Firing S-QUAD!

While Im writing this, Im still a little ticked off at myself for the way I acted. I still have a problem with regards to walking away from a situation that is too good to be true, more specifically, laying down cards that I know are beat. But I thought to myself, "maybe blogging will relax my ticker." Here goes ...

I met up with my girlfriend last Friday for a late night poker session at a friends place in Ortigas. The evening started great as, my girlfriend and myself ate at Shakeys and was pleasantly surprised on how good the food and service was. Once we were done, we hopped on a cab for what I felt would be a fun and, hopefully, financially rewarding game of poker. Nothing cold have been further from the truth. The only good hand I came across was AK suited which completely missed the flop, turn and river. That was it, I kept getting trash like I was the designated garbage collector. I do recall several hands that I threw away that would have given me full house, two-pair and on four seperate occasions, trips! My 2K buy-in lasted me a good 3 hours and I called it quits after that.

On the way home, I was not happy with how the cards fell. But being the eternal optimist that I was, I just chalked it up to bad cards. Most poker players reading will argue that cards are not important, but rather, the other players. Well, with these particular individuals, you have to have the nuts, because they will call you down with a any pair or any draw, no matter how outrageous. One guy in particular, just calls bets, even without looking at his hole cards. I would say that these would be the best scenario to wait for monsters and pounce for all their chips. But like I said, I didnt get monsters, more like little ants without teeth. No offense to my poker buddies though, I think their style of play is really balsy and could make anyone nervous.

The next day, woke up relatively late and decided on playing a little cash game at the ACF to soothe my wounds. Invited my girlfriend along, but she had to buy some stuff so I offered to accompany her. After we bought the computer stuff she needed, we ate at WalterMart and took a cab from there. I was envisioning my strategy and psyched myself for playing well. I knew that, being the last Saturday of the month, the casino was hosting another 5K tourney and only the best of the best show up for that, so I knew the competetion at the cash games would be fierce. After a small nap, I awoke near the casino feeling rejuvenated and confident.

It didnt take long for a seat to open on the P 20-40 table. I saw a guy bust out with pocket Kings against 2 other guys who had AK. The flop paired the Aces and he was drawing dead quickly. I took his place and sat amongst only 4 familiar faces, one of them I recognized as the 2nd place finisher at the 1 million event last May. I decided to not let that get to me and just play my natural game. I cashed in my 2K and sat down.

The first decent hand I got was an AQ offsuit. I decided to limp in and the flop gave me X-A-X. No immediate danger with flush or straights so I let out a bet of 300. I got one caller and the turn was another non-danger card so I bet 400 again. Guy calls me again and Im a little cautious at this point that this guy could be slow-playing either AK, two-pair or trips. River is another rag so I bet 500 and tell myself to fold if he reraises me all-in. He calls rather quickly and turns up A5. I let out a little smile and feel great about winning my first pot rather easily.

The next hand I get are pocket Kings. Im still a little bruised from my last encounter with the cowboys, so I just limp-in at the cut-off seat. One guy raises to 300 and 6 people call, including me. Flop comes out A-A-2. Somamamabitch! The last thing you want to see when holding pocket Kings are Aces and the board gives me 2! Everyone checks, including me, and they look like they're slow-playing their Ace. Funnily enough, they keep checking, all the way to the river. As it turns out, I had the best hand. Everyone asked why I didnt play them more aggressively. Coz there was 2 Aces on the friggin flop! Thats why!. I took down a juicy pot there but could've been juicier if I just had the guts to pull the trigger. Oh well.

A little later I got myself another AQ offsuit and called an initial bet of 140 with about 6 players in on the dealer button. Flop misses me and everyone checks. Turn is an Queen and small blind goes all-in for 480. Everyone folds me to me and I call. He shows K8, which paired with an 8 on the flop, and the river turns up and Ace. I shake the guys hand and take another good sized pot. Woohoo!

I take down a couple of good pots later with semi-bluffs having cards like A9 or A7 or KJ or KQ. One nice pot I remember was being on the button with a 73 offsuit and limping in. Flop pairs my 3 with a couple of over cards. Someone bets 200, which felt like a steal so I call, hoping to maybe turn my pair into a monster. I get my wish when the turn is another 3 and Im extatic at this point. Guy bets 300 and I call quickly. River is rag and guy bets 300 again. I reraise to 600, he looks at me funny and folds. "Thought so!". He was a nice guy, so I turn over the 3 to show him his good fold.

A little later, fate would catch up with me. I got another pocket Kings and limp in again. Flop comes out 10-10-8. Everyone checks to me so I bet 200. 4 players call and I think Im ok since no one re-raised me. Turn is another 10, and by this point, I think the odds of anyone having the other one are slim. I bet 400 and everyone calls again. River is a Queen and everyone checks except for guy beside me. He moves all-in for like 5K++. Im thinking he has a Queen and made the full house. So I look at his stack for a while and say call. Everyone else folds. He shows me his Queen .... and his TEN! I could not believe it! I was so shocked and devastated. I did not put the pieces together. My girlfriend said that if she were in my position, she would have found it fishy that he just checked and called all the way and went all-in at the last chance he could show strength. She also mentiones to me how I forgot my plan of putting aside my buy-in once I double my stack. That way, I can always cut monitor my progress and call it quits when things arent going according to plan. Dammit! All the hardwork and effort I put into the entire night went to nothing. Should've laid them friggin cowboys down! I forgot to mention that my stack went as high up as 6000 at one point, and was at 5000 when the all-in happened. The guy did say sorry to me and said that he just got lucky. In hindsight, I would like to think he went all-in so that I could maybe fold and cut my losses. To all my faithful readers, similar to gamefrogs blog, could you post what you have done in my position, from the beginning of the hand all the way uptil the end. Thanks.

I left rather dejected and disgusted with myself. I let my ego get to me and never considered the slow-play. Guess I've been doing it all night, it bit me in the ass. Been playing alot of online poker (play money) the last couple of hours and only finished ITM once in about 12 games. Guess Im still a little bummed out. Hope to shake it off and post a happier story next time. By the way, Id like to give a shoutout to Nick who was at my table when the above-mentioned horror story happened, he took alot of chips from me on one hand. I just couldnt call the raise man, I was on an open-ended straight draw and you went all-in. I think you said, "I gotta try this", or something to that effect. Just thought I would mention it bro.

Well, hope to post some improvements on my game and progress next time. Wish me luck on the ACF 1K this coming Saturday. Peace out!