In the basement...A report for Nate

Since someone at work complained that I didn't have a poker report over the last couple of days (for his sake he will remain nameless), so I will give this little recap from last night. Apparently no one wanted to play as there were only 5 people total. We each tossed in a whole finski and got the game rolling. The roll call was interesting as is varied from beginner to veteran. There was Bob, the guy who wanted to play poker in Vegas this past weekend but didn't while he stayed at the Sahara. Cyndi the beginner who kept her copy of Phil Hellmuth's book on the table with her. Corey, a real putz of a player :). And Eric, one of Corey's friends. Play started slow. I didn't get many good hands. Corey went out first whining about a bad beat when his A J got beat by 10 10. Cyndi followed as it appeared she may have gotten bored. When it was down to 3, I was easily short stacked. So I decided to get aggressive. I went in and stole a couple of blinds but would bet into Eric whenever I could. I knew he may call the flop but if I kept betting he would fold if he didn't have anything. This strategy worked well until I went a tad too far. Went all in with A J on the flop even though it totally missed me. He surprised me when he called with a pair of 7s. I rivered a flush to cripple him and move me into a lead. The chips jockeyed between us for a bit. On one spot I looked down to see 9 9. I seemed to keep getting this pair a lot this night. I limped in from the dealer. Bob in the BB went all in. Crap. I had to think about it as he could have anything. I figured he at least had an A. I also thought that there was a good chance Eric would call him so I mucked. Eric did call and showed A 3 to Bob's A 7. Interesting. When a 9 hit the flop I thought I messed up. But Bob would hit the flush on the river and knock Eric out. That was good. I had a lead on Bob but knew he could be tricky. We went back and forth a bit. Finally, I caught my monster hand. 8 5 in the big blind. Flop came Q 8 4. I checked as did Bob. On the turn I hit another 8. I checked and Bob bet. I then moved all in. He called. My set of 8s held up and he was down to his final chips. He then started going all in on everything. Rivers a straight on me right away. Then a pair holds up for him. Finally I caught an A in the pocket and called his all in again. Got my pair and it was over. Personally I don't like someone going all in blind all the time. That is when I always see Q 3 or J 2 off every time.

I didn't play much in the second game as I tried to push quite a bit with the Hammer. Played my 7 2 aggressively and lost. I was devastated that my pair of 2s didn't hold up. Oh well, I hope the anonymous reader at work liked this.