Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Badger Poker...Get me an iron lung and a night of WTF?

Another Monday night means playing poker at the Bay View Bowl. This week though I was unprepared. Unprepared to get cancer and unprepared for the psychotic play that was happening. Ever feel like you are the only person not smoking in a crowd of 70? That is how I felt last night. Hey, I don't mind if people smoke (I own big tobacco stocks and make good money off of smokers) but there needs to be some ventilation. And please, keep the ash tray off the table. At least people were kind enough to move them right away when asked.

Ok, let's get back to poker. The play was psycho to begin with. I don't believe I saw so many bad calls that won (and don't even begin to argue that it isn't a bad call if you win the hand), or all in moves that the person got plain lucky on (ok, I had one of those). It was an interesting table. Trick or Treat's brother was there along with his girlfriend again. But Trick or Treat was no where to be found. Bummer, no easy chips tonight. There was a young tuff at the table all decked out in his hooded sweatshirt, hat, sunglasses and scowl. I think the side burns did it though. To my right was King Tut. To my left was the Whitewater Kid. His buddy was to King Tut's right. Young kid with dirty looking hair. Two spot over was a guy that looked like Freeway's older brother. Lite Man (decked out in hat and matching shirt)was two to my left and Old Flannel was off in the opposite corner.

First hand saw immediate action. ToT's brother was on the button and raised it up 500. King Tut and Lite Man went for the ride. Flop came K high. ToT's brother bets out and gets two callers. Turn is a 4. ToT's Bro bets again and both call. River is an A. ToT's Bro moves all in. King Tut thinks, thinks and mucks. Lite Man calls him and wins with a pair of Aces. ToT's Bro had a pair of 5s. WTF? Calling all those bets just to hit the river? I was also surprised King Tut folded the two pair. I knew two pair would win that hand, that neither had trips. Lite Man more than doubles up. Unfortunately, he would use those chips. Not that he was a good player. He wanted to see as many cards as he could and would pay to see them. But if he got the nuts, he would bet it hard.

I played my first hand soon thereafter. Was able to limp from the big blind with K 9. Flop came 9 high so I bet it. Lite Man came for the ride. Turn was a rag. I checked as did he. River was an A. I bet it again as I knew it was the only way I could win. He raised it, forcing me to fold. A similar thing happened to me against the Dirty Haired Kid. Got A Q and raised it up to 700. 3 players came along. Flop hit a bunch of rags. I bet 1000 and only the Dirty Haired Kid called. Turn was a rag. I bet again and he called. River was a 10. I felt my A high was good enough though I checked. He turned over J 10, having caught the 10 on the river. WTF? How do you call two bets with nothing? This had me a bit pissed but it wasn't major. The psycho play was continuing as people stayed in hands they had little business being in.

I avoided trouble with a similar hand. Limped with A 9 with 4 people seeing the flop. Flop came 9 high so I bet it out. Freeway's brother called as did Old Flannel. Turn was a Q. Didn't like the over card and the straight possibility was on the board. I checked and Freeway's bro bet 2000. Old Flannel called. I felt I had FB beat, but wasn't sure about Flannel. I mucked to play it safe. Sure enough, Old Flannel filled his straight on the river and knocked Freeway's O B out. He only had the pair of 9s with a king kicker. WTF?

I actually won my first hand on a crap play. I limped in with A 3 diamonds. Being the short stack, I had little choice but to push when an A hit the flop. Feeling that I was probably going to be outkicked, it was a desperation move. But a 3 hit the turn and my two pair held up. ToT's bro had a pair of jacks and the Dirty Haired Kid had A J. Suddenly, after getting crap for an hour, and not hitting any cards, I was up to 13300. Not bad all things considering.

The Whitewater Kid went out on a very stupid play. He had been quiet most of the night. Limping in and folding quickly. He had given up about a third of his chips when he suddenly raised the pot 2000. Of course Lite Man called. He was playing basically every hand. Flop came out and Whitewater bet. Lite Man called. Turn was an A. Whitewater stopped like a deer frozen in the headlights. He checked. Lite Man bet 5000. Whitewater sat motionless. Now I knew what he had. K K. That A just kicked him in the gut. I knew he wouldn't get away from it and he reluctantly called and then was knocked out when he pushed on the river. Lite Man had A J. I even announced he had K K before he showed it. Stupid call.

His buddy, the Dirty Haired Kid made a bold and stupid move soon after. From the big blind he pushed all in for 5100. He had two callers, Old Flannel and a new guy to the table. The new guy was then re-raised all in by Old Flannel. Flannel had J J while the Dirty Haired Kid had only A 2 suited. The new guy had K Q. WTF? How do you push with A 2 suited and how do you call that with K Q? But the suckouts continued as the Kid hit his flush and tripled up.

The last hand before the break was another psycho play. A new guy, DiCaprio sits down to my left. With blinds still 200/400 he raises to 1500. The Tuff calls him. Tuff hasn't been doing too much so far. Flop comes with a bunch of rags. Tuff checks, DiCap bets 2500 and Tuff calls him. Turn is another rag, but there are hearts on the board. Tuff checks and DiCap bets 4000. Tuff raises him back. DiCap calls. River is a 10. Tuff checks. DiCap moves all in. Tuff thinks about it and calls. He wins a with a pair of 10s. WTF? He called it all down to suck out on the river? The raise on the turn was a good move, but if you are willing to push, you don't call the all in bet with just a pair of 10s. The psycho play continued but it was also winning. WTF?

Somehow I managed to play through the next hour. I had won one pot all night but was sitting in a position where I could make a move. But over the next hour I would limp on maybe 21 hands, try to bluff Lite Man (what the hell was I thinking? You can't bluff this guy as he will pay to see cards) and did a lot of folding. The psycho play continued- as did the constant smoking- yet somehow I still had 5900 at the second break. A couple new guys were moved to the table and kept hitting miracle outs to survive but not much more happened.

With the blinds at 500/1000, I finally made my final move. In the big blind, I had AK and pushed my last 4900. Of course, the Tuff who had limped from early position called and showed 3 3. I knew right away that I would not get either of my cards and got up to walk. Yep, nothing helped me and I was done somewhere in the 30s. I realized the board helped me once all night. I didn't have many playable hands, but never got help from the board, even though others were hitting their miracle cards on the psycho play.

Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Bagman's words of wisdom- This one has to go to Trick or Treat's brother. Now I have heard many a WTF call, and the "I have to go home" call , but he had a new one. It was the "I feel like playing pool now" call. Of course he pushed with Q 8 and hit two pair to triple up. That shit just doesn't happen for me.

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