Razzle Dazzle

So tonight was awesome and kept getting better. I start out playing some 25/NL on Party. It was fun. I picked out this one maniac and knew I was going to double off of him. DoubleAs is drinking and having a fun night and so he sits down to watch my 25/NL game and try and stir up the table. Initially he has me call a bet that loses me some money. Some help he was! However he explained why I needed to call it and I agreed. Sometimes I wonder if higher level players forget how the 25/NL game is though. Save that thought for later. So DA has to go because he is whipped and his wife is calling him.

The very next hand I get K8 clubs and I am allowed to limp. Now you might be saying “There goes dumb Sir limping with crap again”. However I had folded pocket 2’s when 6 people went in pre-flop with a slight raise. The flop was A2x and maniac man went in with a huge bet. I believe in my soul that he had AK and I would have cleaned up. So there was no way in hell I was folding anything in the SB to a min raise and 7 callers. It just pays to see these flops. So the flop is a semi-scary but very cool KKQ. Now the hands that possibly beat me are AK, QQ, KQ. If AK or KQ are out there then screw me and I will take up knitting. I know it happens but it is not likely. I do not think he has QQ either. Not sure why. Anyway I check it to him because I KNOW he is a maniac and is GOING to make a big bet. He throws a fiver in and I raise him. Why? I want to say to him I have a Q. No way I have a K. So the flop is an 8 to complete my boat. Now I have nothing to fear unless I was wrong all along and then I am dead anyways. I decide to make a move and go all in. He is going to assume I have a Q. If he has a Q also then he might think his Q is good. There is also a four flush on the board. He thinks about it for a bit and calls me. He makes his QJ FLUSH! On the River!! Too bad it does not beat a boat!! I type into the chat “I have been waiting for two hours for you to do that!”. I know I am a jerk sometimes. So I Double up to $48, but the NL man himself is not there to see it. At least he saw some of my play and had no major fault with it.

So I am feeling good about my play. I am thinking about folding up and doing something else. I dunno. Go to Full Tilt and play Razz or something. I get dealt Pocket Rockets! Oh how sweet they are. I bet out three, and I am raised to five. I decide to just raise to ten. He calls. The flop is J77. Do you see where this is going yet? I go all in and he calls me with Pocket J’s. Sir loses his nice buyin. Wahhh! I never know when to push and when to hold back with those nasty Aces. Someday maybe. Would a better play be going all in pre-flop instead of the few buck raises back and forth? I am considering it. That and reading my list again! DO NOT GO ALL IN WITH OVERPAIRS!

So I am down to $21 and not happy about it. At least the other guy did not have me covered. I am then dealt 10-10. Now this is a good hand for me. I bet out a buck, get a small raise, and I call. The flop is all low cards. I have POSITION. The guy puts out a two buck bet which I cold call. Probably not the right move. He then bets an additional $3 on the turn. I have decided that enough is enough and I raise to $5. He thinks, asks me if I have overcards, and then folds. I laugh and ask him what he had. He had 10-10. The same exact hand as I did! Just goes to show you the cards DO NOT MATTER.

I end my night at the Party Poker Paradise with a meager few dollar win. I am however getting more into the long term mindset. Not just knowing, but feeling it. I do not know if I will ever get there but I can keep trying. I decide I need Razz experience for the HORSE tourney so I grab April and she grabs the Razz expert and we head over to Full Tilt for some fun and games. I end up doing really well on the Play money tables and decide to get cocky and try the real money. I had already signed up with the tourney so I had $5 to burn. I ended up losing two buyins. It was only ten bucks but still! Can I be that bad? I did get rivered a few times. I guess I need to figure out if I am beat a little better. I ran into someone named Blue something or other who read my blog. It seems like my readers are everywhere! Man does that sound good! I appreciate every one of you. If I was a little less tired right now I would remember his name but maybe he will say “hi” in the comments.

I decide to go back to my main game and play some NLHE on Full Tilt! I have thirty bucks left of my initial $50 buyin so I decide to just sit at a .50/1 and have some fun. Initially I am getting pushed off pots. Finally however I get AQ spades. The flop is 78Q. I bet the pot. The guy thinks a bit and calls. I am now not sure what he has. I think it is either a draw or second pair the way he has been betting. At this point in time I am basically pot committed so I go all in. He thinks a long time and calls. He flips 56o and misses his flop on the river by 1 number (he got a 10 instead of a 9). SO I end up doubling. He says “I should not have done that”. Mind you he still has 120 bucks left so I do not feel so bad for him. I then get a nice run of cards. I flop trips with QQ and take someone’s whole stack. I get KK the next hand and everyone folds to me. I then get AA a few hands later and I bet it. I get called by the maniac again. I bet out the flop and he folds. Somehow by this time I am up over $100 and doing just fine. There is a guy at the table who read me and he says hi, and how much he likes the blog. Woo hoo! I live for this, really I do! I also told another shark to come on by too. He ended up being the big stack at the table which really sucked. I wanted to be Da Man!

So all in all a good night. A fifty dollar profit on NLHE and some Razz experience, as well as a lot of cool things happening. I also get to harass Texas mercilessly! That Rocks! DA says that I am the best NL player he has ever seen. Ok, I am paraphrasing. See ya at the tables tomorrow night!