Badger Poker...Better, but not by much

I thought of taking the night off as I hadn't been running good lately. Yes, I played better at the Cafe the other night but still not as good as I could. A couple of days off might do me good. But a certain whiny bitch at work insisted that I play so he could have something to read. Ok, he didn't insist but he did whine.

I was sent to table 2. As I sat down, a guy in an Angels hat was talking with a guy with a Red Sox jersey. Is it me or is suddenly a bunch of people in Milwaukee Red Sox fans? Give it up already! Table would fill out with an interesting group. A Middle Eastern guy sat in the middle. The Sock Girl (was on my left at the Cafe) was on the far end. A guy with a really ugly shirt and Jager visor sat down two spot to my left. A girl sat on my left for a bit before she got up to move her car. Apparently either she or her husband just got a parking ticket outside. There was backwards Deacons in the corner. Ricky Ricardo sat on my right and the Turtle rounds out the table.

Play started out slow. Very slow because of the Turtle. I think he may have been a bit stoned as he wasn't paying much attention to the game or was always veeeeerrrrrrrrryyyyyyy ssssssllllloooowwwwww tooooooo aaccctttt. Ugly shirt went out first about a half hour in. He had paid Parking Ticket off half of his chips when he kept firing away until she raised him on the river. Sock Girl took him out with a brutal suckout. He flopped top pair but she hit runner runner for the club flush with something like Q J suited. Ricky Ricardo went out soon after that. Someone kept calling him on the phone so I knew he was due for a "what the fuck" all in bet. Sure enough, it came with a A 4 push. I had K Q suited and wanted to call badly but mucked it (good muck to as nothing hit me on the board). I believe I played 2 hands in the first hour. A 10 and K Q. On both I raised it pre flop and fired the second bullet. On firing the third bullet, Red Sox folded on both plays. I stood at about 12000 after the first break. Not bad, but still need to get more chips in the opening session.

The second session opened well for me. We played with 8 players for the next hour. It started with a strange play. Turtle was in the big blind but didn't realize it. He sat down and folded. At that point I told him he was big blind. It looked like he stared at me angrily and tossed his chips in. At least he didn't try and recover his cards from the muck like others would have. I believe I had K Q on that hand and went for the steal. Mid East called my raise but folded on the flop. A couple of hands in I caught pocket rockets and raised it to 1500. Sock girl decided to call. Parking ticket on my left made a comment that that she saw one of my cards when it was dealt. She didn't say it too loud but was rather confident she knew one of my cards. Flop came Q high with two suited. I fired away for 3500. Sock Girl thought about it and folded. Parking ticket told me I had the ace of spades so I showed the table. Next hand I get A 2. Seeing how I just showed the table the pair, I decided to try and play it again. Raised to 1500. Sock Girl and Deacons came along. Flop totally missed me but I fired away with 2500 this time. Sock Girl thought about it again and this time helped my cause. She started talking about how some guy had aces twice in a row. I played along and they both folded. Thank you Sock Girl.

But from there, the game went down. I played one hand rather poorly and paid to see some cards. Red Sox Jersey caught some lucky cards. I was in the small blind and wanted to limp in with K J spades. Parking ticket though raised it to 2500. 4 people were in so I had to call. Flop came all diamonds. Jersey bet and everyone folded. He had called 2500 with Q 4 diamonds? Next hand, I limp in with 9 10 and go heads up with Red Sox Jersey again. Flop came 10 high but all hearts. He bet 1500 and I called with top pair. Turn was no help and he bet 2000. River didn't help me and he bet 3000. I tried to figure out what he had. I had very little confidence in my 9 holding up as a kicker so I folded. Figured he had A 10 or K 10. I was a little pissed that I had paid that much for nothing.

At this point, two new players were added to the table. King Tut came with a really small stack and some guy with a He Man action figure (the little flying magic guy with the hat, not He Man or something good). WTF is with the He Man thing? Why not just bring your little Star Wars action figures and play with those between hands? At this point, the Mid East guy is kinda rolling the table with Red Sox jersey. Sock Girl happens to look down on the ground and pick up a Nike Sock and asks if anyone lost their sock today (hence her name). She then declared the sock to be good luck and swore that if she won, the sock would come with her to every game. Ok. Unfortunatley, Turtle kept playing slow. I got into a debate with King Tut about betting. Parking Ticket raised the pot to 2900 to force Deacon all in. Mid East though tried to come over the top and raised to 5000. I pointed out that he had to raise the minimum of the prior raise, or to 5800 in this case. King Tut then went off saying that is not a rule. We called over Jason and he stated that I was correct. So Mid East bumped it to 6000. Deacon folded and Mid East pushed on the flop to fold Parking Ticket. Deacon got knocked out on a stupid play after that. Raiders Fan was then added to the table (interesting enough was his 2005 World Series of Poker shirt). Down to 4100, I decided to make a move. I was UTG+2 and saw A 2. I figured there was a good chance to steal the blinds as things were tight and Raiders fan would not defend without a good hand. It worked and I got some blinds just before the break.

Our table was broken up after that. I started the 3rd session at a pretty aggressive table. I was in trouble with blinds at 2000/4000 and only 5100 left. I had to push and push soon. I would be able to see 5 hands before the blinds got to me. Fold, fold, fold, fold. Plop my 4000 in front of me. UTG + 2 raises to 8000. Folds around and I push blind. Hey, I am beyond pot committed. He flips his cards over and shows A J (I believe). Flop comes J Q 8, turn is nothing, river a 9. Before I turn my cards over, one guy announces "Watch, 7 10". Sure enough, I turn over 7 10 clubs for the straight and double up. In the small blind, I see A K and push. One guy had raised to 8000 so I bump it the 4200 more and he calls. He has A J. Flop is a 7 2 x. Turn is no help but the river spikes the J and I am done. Luck kept me for one hand just to smash my dreams into the jagged rocks below on the very next. Oh well. Once again, I finish somewhere in the 30s. It is an improvement but not good enough. Next week, I vow to win one.