Just a quick update on my trip to Maine by way of Mississippi. My time in Gulfport was amazing and I will comment on it in detail as soon as I get back to NYC. My time with my family was a relaxing and laughter-filled finish to my week off, with lots of cousins and other relatives I don’t get to see often. When we all get together, it’s really something to behold. So much laughter is probably illegal.

I took first in the home game on Friday, finally adding that notch to my tournament belt. I’ve been trying to take this thing down for six months, and it didn’t even feel satisfying to win it because a) I should be cutting this thing up on a weekly basis and b) the guy I beat heads up was a very weak player. I don’t even have any remarkable hands to report. I never had a close decision and I felt comfortable with my stack and my game the whole time. I even showed up close to an hour late.

Going to Mississippi and Maine in a few days. Maine is for a family reunion…if I survive this first.

Something I’m usually not accused of at the poker table is timidity. In generally I play a very aggressive style and use every weapon at my disposal to beat my opponents into submission. (Hot, I know.)

But one area of my game where I think I need to retool a bit is in maximizing my earn from my big hands. Let’s analyze the following common situation:

Hand #31222653-35411 at Buffalo Grove ($5/$10 Hold’em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 03/Jun/06 15:31:25

stime is at seat 1 with $343.
pnutjson is at seat 3 with $595.
hotcookie42 is at seat 4 with $549.
cebster is at seat 5 with $215.50.
GUYSGAME is at seat 7 with $501.50.
13outs is at seat 8 with $32.
The button is at seat 1.

pnutjson posts the small blind of $2.
hotcookie42 posts the big blind of $5.

stime: — –
pnutjson: — –
hotcookie42: Kc Ks
cebster: — –
GUYSGAME: — –
13outs: — –

Pre-flop:

cebster raises to $10. GUYSGAME folds. 13outs
calls. stime folds. pnutjson calls. hotcookie42
re-raises to $15. cebster calls. 13outs calls.
pnutjson calls.

Flop (board: 6s 6d 5d):

pnutjson checks. hotcookie42 bets $5. cebster
raises to $10. 13outs folds. pnutjson folds.
hotcookie42 calls.

Turn (board: 6s 6d 5d 5s):

hotcookie42 bets $10. cebster raises to $20.
hotcookie42 calls.

River (board: 6s 6d 5d 5s Kh):

hotcookie42 bets $10. cebster calls.

Showdown:

hotcookie42 shows Kc Ks.
hotcookie42 has Kc Ks 6s 6d Kh: full house, kings full of sixes.
cebster mucks cards.

Hand #31222653-35411 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $140.
hotcookie42 wins $137 with full house, kings full of sixes.

I often find that when I hold a big pair and the board comes all low cards or low cards with one pair, I get unreasonably paranoid about sets or trips. When I three-bet pre-flop and just get called, I don’t give these guys enough credit to be getting tricky with AA or KK (even more unlikely since I hold KK myself). I believe they are probably calling me with smaller pairs at best.

I bet out on the flop and get raised. Here is where my paranoia sets in and I just call. Why do I just call? I feel like reraising here is the right play. If he caps it, then I know I’m in trouble, but I feel like this is the first bet I miss on this hand.

On the turn, then,
why do I bet out? For some reason when the turn card came, I started feeling better about my KK. When obviously I should have a sick feeling in my stomach if I’m putting my opponent on a set or trips! Because now he’s either filled up or he has quads! Yet I bet out and get raised – again. Again I just call, missing bet number two and possibly bet number three. Grrr….

How strangely have I played this hand!?!

River time. A king comes off and finally convinces me I have a lock on this hand. I bet, he calls, and I get all the monies. But not as many monies as I should have. I should have known from the preflop action that I was facing an inferior holding. I let the flop scare me and I backed off when I should have been jamming the pot with bets. This hand is a perfect example of why I am not crushing limit hold ‘em games.

Play good, everyone.