I read Cannery Row by John Steinbeck over Xmas, and the following quote struck me:

And if you don’t get the relevance to poker without me pointing it out, well you’ll never get it!

I just wrote a very long post and accidently deleted it. UGGGGGG!!! I’ll paraprase

On the very first hand at Kleckner’s, I flopped top 2 pair and Byron flopped bottom set. He doubled up. I lost $60 on the night.

I saw the final episode of the WSOP. You know that luck is a big factor when Andy Black (started with 20 million) busts out first and Joseph Hachem (started with 2 million) wins the bracelet. Playing 73o and flopping 456 is more fortunate than Evangeline Lilly knocking on your door and asking you to play “hide the noodle”.

USC is getting a lot of pub. The Dallas Morning News, which is usually the best sports page in the south, wrote a retarded article a couple of days ago. The question asked in the article was “is USC’s offense the best ever?” That seems like a stupid question to ask when USC does not have the best offense in 2005 (50 ppg vs, UT’s 50.9). I found a great article on why USC is overrated.
I got my tickets finally, so I’ll see you there!

ARH and I played some poker last Thursday. Jackie’s was spreading $5-$10 Round of Each (HE and Omaha). For 2 hrs I lost at Omaha and won at Holdem. Then the $2-$5 NLHE game started. I flopped a set of 3’s with 4 opponents in the BB and thought to myself, “how do get heads-up and all-in on the flop?” The SB bet all-in $150 into a $60 pot. That answered my question, so I called. Turns out he completely missed the flop, but thought “he could buy the pot…since we all looked weak.” I don’t know what part of 5 players paying 2xBB pre-flop and not yet acting on the flop indicates weakness?!?!?!? Candy from a baby.

We are playing 25c-50c NL HE at Kleckner’s tonight, so if you are interested, call my cell.

I booked a large win last night playing $5-$5 NL at the Top Hat. McAndrew was out there with me, which always makes for a good time. But he had to leave a little early to catch the midnight showing of Brokeback Mountain (I was wondering why he was spitting on his hand as he walked out the door).

For those that may not know, the Top Hat, f/k/a Paradise, but originally known as the Top Hat, is now under new ownership. Jeb, Brad and Chris bought it about 2 months ago after running a $5-$5 game for a year or so at the Mongrel Club, and also dealing part time at Northside. They are very nice guys and run a good game.

Most days they play the smaller $1-$2 PL, but on Monday Roger still has his big $5-$10 round of each game, and Tuesday is usually $5-$5 NL.

Last night I bought in for only $300 and never looked back. I won several big hands to give me the chip lead at the table. I did however lose two big hands, as follows:

The first hand is a follow up to Dr. Fro’s recent post about betting on the river. We all know that the river bet is sometimes a dangerous proposition. It often has no EV because the only hand that will call you, is a hand that can beat you.

Last night I flopped trips in the BB. I was able to see a free flop with 85 and the board came 88J rainbow. I checked, and a middle position player bet $20, and got 1 caller. I smooth called. The turn was a King, but put a second spade on the board. The 1st player bet $20, and the cutoff seat (a weak player) raised it to $150.

Now I’m faced with a decision. I have 85 against a board of 88JK. I think my hand may be good, but am clearly worried that he has an 8 also. He also might have two pair, a flush draw, or be on a bluff. The bluff wasn’t likely as he was a fairly passive player and was elderly (in my experience, older people don’t like to bluff as much as young people).

I consider raising, but he has a lot of chips (>$900), and I don’t want to build the pot unnecessarily by putting in at least $300 before seeing the river card. I might’ve raised had his bet been smaller. I decide to smooth call the $150.

The river is a Ten putting a possible straight on the board, but missing the flush. He immediately checks to me. “What the hell is going on here? Why did you check?” All of a sudden, I feel certain that my 8 is good. He missed his flush or was trying to steal the pot on the turn and had to hit the brakes when I smooth called him. I am certain that my 8 is good.

I bet $200, which is just about half the pot. He smooth calls with A8, and I lose.

He was smart to check the river with the possible straight out there, but he wasn’t going anywhere. I was an idiot for making that bet. If he doesn’t have a straight, or trip 8’s, he’s not going to call one penny on the river. I gain nothing by betting the $200. However, if he has me beat, which he clearly did, he won’t fold. Lately I’ve been getting much better about not betting the river with marginal hands, but last night I regressed back to my old ways.

On the second hand I found myself tangling with the same player. I held JT on the button with a flop of JJ8. 3 of us called a small bet on the flop. The turn gave us a 6, and the old man led out for $80. I decide to raise for several reasons: for value, because my hand is probably the best, for information to find out how much he likes his hand, and to get a check on the river, so I can check it down if necessary. I raise $100, making it $180 straight. He immediately reraises to $300, and it’s $120 more to me. I think about folding, but it’s only $120 more to me, and I need to see the river card. I call and the pot is $675.

The river brings a King [board is JJ86K], and the old man immediately leads out for $400. This is a VERY tough decision for me. I have JT against a board of JJ86K. No straight or flush possibilities exist. If I call and win I scoop a $1,475 pot. However, if I call and lose, I donk off $700 more to this Blue Hair. I can lose to the following hands: AJ, KJ, QJ, J8, J6, KK, 88, 66. I am pretty sure he doesn’t have a pocket pair, so that leaves me with 5 possible hands that beat me.

I take an extremely long time to make my decision, but ultimately decide that he has me beat, and fold. It was a very tough lay down, but I just didn’t think my hand was good. It turned out to be an excellent fold because he showed KJ for a full house. I was behind the whole way.

Although I lost the hand, I’m very happy with the way I played it. A guy next to me commented that he couldn’t have made that lay down, and “that’s the difference between a good player and a bad player.” It made me feel much better even though I lost the pot.

Of course, the Blue Hair cashed out 20 minutes later and took home all my money. Luckily I beat up everyone else all night long, and left with a very nice profit.

My 3 sentences about fantasy football:

1.) Willis McGahee killed me this year; he is not as good as he thinks he is and needs to just play and quit pouting. 2.) Nonetheless, my late round picks and free agents like Jake Plummer, Mark Brunell (occasionally), Hines Ward, and Joey Galloway carried me to an 9 game win streak in the middle of the season and into the playoffs where the team finally just ran out of gas. 3.) I used to have an intense hatred for Derrick Alexander because he is a little bitch who could do it when nobody was counting on him, but who always got hurt and pussed out in the clutch. Now I have a new bitch new bitch that I will hate forever.

OK, make that 4 sentences.

Something that’s not poker related but just needs to get off of my chest.

It’s one thing to put on a dress and “act” gay in a movie and sing showtunes and talk with a lisp and still credibly call yourself straight. Fine. I have dressed in drag before for parties and the like and it’s actually kind of fun in a goofy way. But that’s it. Acting gay in a campy way is OK, because really, limp wrists and mustaches aren’t really what makes someone “gay”. It’s just another costume like a werewolf or Santa Claus or Craig Biggio. It’s pretending.

But here’s the deal – it’s COMPLETELY another thing to get naked with another dude, spit on your hand to lube up (from what I have heard from people who have seen the movie), and get down with another dude. Even if you don’t really have sex, there is pretending and there is just plain gay, and you can say what you want about “just a movie” but mugging down with another guy and filming multiple sex scenes isn’t just pretending, it’s gay. It’s the very definition of gay. I don’t care if you once dated Naomi Watts or banged Kirsten Dunst nightly for 4 years straight. I don’t care if you have to beat the chicks away with a stick every weekend. I don’t care if you swear up and down that you were just “acting” in a movie that is a “beautiful love story.” Guess what? You got naked and bucked around in a tent with another guy and now you are officially gay. I hope you had fun, but no matter what Time Magazine or Oprah may say, you are gay and people will remember you for it for the rest of your public life.

I feel much better for sharing. As you can see, the press has been driving me crazy lately. Carry on with your poker blog.