I'm Having a Really, Really, Good Day

I took my son golfing this morning. I have committed myself to trying to get him out on the golf course as often as possible (meaning when affordable) this summer. Even to the point of not putting him in a golf program. I'd rather spend that money on just letting him play. It's way more fun than practice. If he gets any good then we'll see what happens down the road. I see some potential and now I just want him to enjoy it. I can't see it being very hard for him to like it because I took to it like a fish to water when I was his age. The difference is that my Grandparents completed a small, public golf course in upstate New York, right across the road from my house, in 1978, when I was 11 years old.

How completely unbelievable is that? Do you think I had a pretty good childhood? Think I played much golf all summer? If it weren't for that golf course, and knowing my propensity to get into massive amounts of trouble when left to my own devices, I would have been finding some way to screw things up. I always had a place to work, every summer, and as many hours as I wanted. I played golf nearly every day. Of course, thinking about it now, I should have played every day possible! Oh, to relive past decisions. We can only dream. I just want to give Sam the same chance that I had to fall in love with the game of golf. I will hopefully be able to allow him to take the game as seriously as he wants. It's not a cheap sport.

I may have to consider giving up golf just so HE can play.

Maybe he'll want to play frolf. I think you just need a Frisbee and a stick for that game. You can take off your shirt. In fact, removing your shirt while playing frolf may be a prerequisite, based on the pictures I've seen.

I'm just kidding. I think.

So, anyways, Sam made a par today. I then bought him McDonald's burger as a prize. A prize? A bribe? A "here you go son I hope you had a great time today, cause I did"? Probably the third one. I'm sure it's the third one. The funny thing is, it was all subconscious. He mentioned McDonald's and I was in such a good mood that I said "you got it!". I'm happy to say that I did not partake in the McDonald's feast. I'm still losing weight.

I came home, after golf, and took a quick shower before I headed out to play poker. I was putting on a pair of shorts, that my wife had recently purchased for me, and I realized they were VERY loose around my waist. Now, before anyone does any back patting, let me say that these shorts had been my first pair of 38's, and everything else is a 36 inch waist. The whole diet started about the same time M came home with these shorts, and they fit comfortably. This made me realize how badly my 36's were fitting. Well, these 38 inch shorts could NOT be worn, by me, right now, without my belt! They hang down low and I would look like one of those young folks who wear their hats sideways. I am pumped. I may have lost only five or six pounds since the whole new-age Eric has come to light, but I have certainly lost a couple of inches around the waist. Every one can piss off! I'm off bread! I, and George Costanza are off bread, together. What's the opposite of tuna salad on toast?

I was playing poker today in a 2-5 NL cash game. I had almost $100 in front of me, and picked up AQ of clubs. A powerful hand in hold em. At that very moment they announced that there was one seat left for the tournament that was about to start. I yelled to the Floorperson "I want it!" and he replied "Lock it up!", and I was in the tournament. But, I still had this hand to play. I decided not to raise, for a variety of reasons that I'm not going to discuss right now. If you don't know, and if you care, read some of my prior posts. Anyhow, there is no raise and six of us take a flop of A- 2- 6, rainbow (all different suits). This is such a good flop for my hand, that is scary. There's about $25 in the pot (after the rake), and I have $95 in my stack. I'm concerned that someone will have two-pair, but I have position, and I have top pair with a helluva kicker.

Everyone checked around to the man on my right. He leads out $20 dollars into this pot. Now, I've played with him a whole lot before. I don't know, for sure, that he doesn't have a good hand, but I would be willing to bet all of the chips in front of me, as well as all of the money in my pocket, and also all of the money left on my credit card that I have him beat right now, at this moment.

I now have to get him to put the rest of his money into the middle. If I raise now, he may very well fold. It's probable that he has nothing. It doesn't really matter what he has because I am not folding to him no matter what happens from here on out. I've seen the small hands he routinely sticks his entire stack in with, and I am not worried. If he shows me a better hand, or he sucks out, so be it. I think I have him beat, and I don't want him to suddenly play well and get away from me. I think he may fold if I raise, and honestly, I don't want him to fold. But, and this is a BIG but. If one of the OTHER player's raise, then they most likely have me beat. I may still have to call, but chances are I'm in trouble.

I know these players, I know where I stand, and I've charted the path. It is auto-poker for the rest of this hand. I call his twenty dollar bet. One other man calls, which is no surprise, and we await the turn card. At this point I'm skeptical that the bettor even has an ace. I've played a bunch with him and he could have nearly anything. The other caller, I believe, has an ace. I need to fade this turn card.

The dealer puts down the burn card and then rolls over an 8. The board now reads A-2-6-8.

That's a pretty good card. Granted, it may have just beaten me, but it's far more likely it helped no one. The first man checks, good, he probably doesn't have the best hand. He may go for a check-raise, but I doubt it. After playing with him a lot I'm pretty certain he would bet here if he thought he had the best hand. The original bettor now slides twenty more dollars into the pot. This is a weak bet for a pot this size. It means one of two things, and I'm not sure which it is. It either means he has little, if anything, and is trying to pick up the pot with a small bet, or he has a monster and wants to be called. I look at him, and decide the course was charted, and I can't leave the other man in for a cheap card if the bettor is dicking around, so I raise, all-in.

The middle man folds, and the guy on my right calls instantly saying "I guess we have the same hand". Uh-oh.

Whenever I have heard that phrase the person saying it has a pretty good hand, and they can't believe you just put them all in. Shit.

Sure enough, he shows A-8, and the river card does not come a queen, so I lose. I just mucked my cards and told him "nice catch". He won't believe it, but who cares? There was no way he would have gotten away from that hand, believe me I know this person, and he would have committed the full hundred on A-8. The only problem was the damn 8 on the turn!! Oy. Oh well, now I have to run up and get my tournament entry.

I sit down in the tournament and we begin. We have 4,000 in chips, and the blinds start out at 25-50. Each level lasts eighteen minutes. It's not a lot of leeway, but I've been navigating my way through these waters pretty good as of late. I'm trying to stay in the present, and most importantly, stay humble.

Humility is thrown out the window in the first significant pot I decide to play. This play gets sort of complex, but I don't think enough people read my blog to make much use of it anyhow. If anyone is reading this and plays against me, well if you can pick up on what I picked up during the play of this hand, than you've already used this play and I'm not telling you anything new.

I'm in middle position, and no one raises in front of me, and I look down to see the queen-nine of spades. First of all, this is my truly, favorite hand. Second of all, it was time to start playing something. I raise it to $150. Not a huge raise, only 3 times the big blind, but hey, let's play a pot, guys. Maybe someone will hit a big hand. I get five callers and the pot now contains $900. Here we go.

One of the callers is the small blind, sitting right across the table from me, to the right of the dealer. This guy likes to portray that he is a player. I have seen him go out of his way to look at another player while the flop is rolling off. Obviously, if you've watched any poker on t.v., or read any poker books at all, you have probably heard that you should watch the oppositions eyes while he is looking at the flop being put on the table. This is true. This guy knows it, but now I know he knows it. See any possibilities here folks? This game is all about opportunity and I had a plan for this hand.

The flop rolled off off K-J-4, with two of them diamonds. As soon as the flop hits the board I glanced at it quickly and then looked away. Does everyone know what this means to a poker player who is looking for information? It means I have hit the flop. Had I stared at it for a while he probably would have deduced that I had missed the flop. No one else in the hand knew what to look for, they were watching the flop with me!

Everyone checks to me, and I bet $700. I'm thinking I'm going to get called by anyone with a King, or a diamond draw, or possibly a straight draw. Everyone else will fold. of course, if someone flopped a giant hand I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. Two people call, and one of them is, of course, the guy right across the table from me. I don't like the third person in the pot, but we're narrowing it down and that has to be a good thing. I still only have a gut-shot straight draw, but we'll see if the turn card gives us any possibilities. I believe the guy across from me really believes I have a king, maybe even Ace-king. I believe he is calling looking for an opportunity to steal this pot from me. The whole plan hinges on his thinking that way and the turn card giving me hope.

The turn card is the 9 of diamonds. This is potentially a very bad card as either of my two opponents could easily have either a straight or a flush. If either of them bet, than I will have to fold my hand. I was hoping for a small, blank, that affected nothing, so I could make a big bet on the turn and take down the pot. This 9 is a bad card. But, they both check. I do not think either of them has a straight or a flush. This board is very scary for any made hand, and a bet here would definitely be in order for someone with a straight or flush. To let this go around without a bet, if you have that good of a hand, is just terrible. One of them or both of them probably have a king. I don't think I'm ahead here, I mean, all I have is a pair of nines. When they both check I adjust my plan, but just a little. I decide to check now, and depending on what comes on the end, and who, if anyone, bets the river, I will decide what to do at that point.

I'm pretty sure the guy directly across from me is going to bet on the river. He knows I'm scared of the flush, but I don't think he has one. Just like he isn't afraid of the third guy having one. I'm hoping he doesn't think about that bit of knowledge though. He might be thinking this is the opening he needs to steal this pot.

The river card is a second jack, the jack of hearts. The board now reads K-J-4-9-J, with three diamonds. This is a great card for me, and you're about to find out why. The small blind, the guy right across from me, the guy who can read my thoughts, or so he thinks, bets $1000. This is a pretty small bet, and it screams weakness. It screams "please just call me cause if you raise I CANNOT WIN!", but I try to not do what my opponents want. I'm sure the best he has is a king here, and I'm sure he will fold if I go ahead and raise.

My options become clear when the middle guy folds and it's now on me. I pause for about 10 seconds, then I announce "raise". I make it $2000 more. This amount does not put the small blind all-in, but if he were to lose he would be crippled. More importantly, I will still have plenty of chips left should he go ahead and call.

He looks at me, and I stare at his chips (another reverse tell), and he looks at the pot. He looks back at me, and I stare at his chips. Finally, after counting out his chips, he folds. By the way, normally, if an opponent looks at your chips while you're trying to decide what to do, it probably means he has you crushed. Since my opponent thought he could read me, I'd let him see what I want him to think. This is Psychology 101. Check and mate, sir.

Humility goes bye-bye right

about

now.

I proudly turn over my queen-nine of spades and say quietly, but sternly, "don't try that again". He appears angered, and I smile and start to rake in a nice pot. Two hands later the guy "directly across the table" bows out, calling a way-to-big of a bet with a pair of tens and a jack kicker. He has tilted, and is gone.

Not much else happened of significance until we got to the final table. I was in a comfortable position, and it looked like I was second in chips. The chip leader was on my direct right, and he mowed through a bunch of people to get us down to three handed. He was on fire, and had a bunch of big hands. I thought "good, maybe he can go card dead now and I can win a couple of pots".

It wasn't that I was sitting idle the whole time. I had been raising, and stealing, and not stealing, taking down a few pots, but only winning the blinds and antes. A few times Mr. Big Stack, to my right, re-raised me pre-flop, forcing me to lay down my hand. The blinds and antes will eat you up during the late stages of a tournament. If you're not in there trying to win your share you will surely be too short on chips for your raise to matter. Once that happens, you may as well quit because you will have to win a bunch of hands, in a row, to do anything at all. It's much better to put the heat on the others and hope no one wakes up with a big hand. I looked down, when I was in the big blind, to see pocket fives. In a three handed game, this is a monster.

Mr. Big Stack called in the small blind. I doubt if he has anything, because I would expect him to raise here if he did. Why give my crap hand a free shot at the flop if you think you have me beat? I guess he could trap me, but that would be odd at this point, especially since I've laid it down to him so many times. I raise, making it $4500 to go. The blinds were 600-1200, with a 300 dollar ante. This is not huge raise, but it's not small either. I have about 12,000 left in my stack after my raise. Mr. Big Stack apparently doesn't like my raise and announces "all-in".

Shit. Jesus. Can this guy have another big hand? I'm about to be out of this tournament because he has to have at least two over cards to my small pocket pair. I guess I could hope he has a hand like A-3, but why didn't he raise in the first place with the ace? We're three handed.

Suddenly, it hits me! Eureka! I have pocket fives! And we're three handed! I have a very good hand, and I've been folding to this guy too much. It's time to sack up and make the call. So, I do. I call. I ask him if he has a pair, and he says "no", well, problem number one down.

"I'm sure you have over cards." as I turn over my hand.

What comes next is almost too good to be true. "Nope, I'm in big trouble".

He shows the 3-4 off suit. What in the hell? I actually laughed out loud from the relief of it all more so than the pure comedy of his cards! Nice move, I must look like a chump or something. I actually flop a five, and then the turn comes a spade, putting three of them out there. He, of course has the 3 of spades. But, alas, no spade comes on the river and he is crippled.

After that hand the end for Former Mr. Big Stack, comes quickly. He loses to the third guy leaving just two of us. I look over at his stack, he looks at mine, and it's obvious we have about the same amount. He says "want to chop?", and I reply "yup", and that is that.

This is the fourth tournament, in a row, that I have played, and finished 1st or 2nd. This is a really, really good run.