Back in the Saddle

16 SEP 05

I hit the Muckleshoot again last night. I stayed WAY too late, especially since I had to get up at 4:30 am again. I made a command decision to sleep in to 6:00, so I set my alarm for 5:50. Unfortunately, I set it for 5:50 pm (when will I stop making that same stupid mistake?) and woke up at 6:37.

Shit.

I doubled up at the ‘shoot, but it should have been much better. I had a bad beat which I’ll illustrate here, not because it’s incredibly bad, but because I made one betting mistake when I knew I was beat.

I had 53 off suit in the big blind. There were 6 to see the flop which came 3 5 7 rainbow. I check my two pair and a late calling station bet. Everyone called up to me, and I check-raised the flop. This is usually a sign of medium strength when you don’t want anyone to draw out on you. It’s often used when you are trying to get people who are drawing to overcards, a straight or flush to fold. It almost never works at 4/8, and true to form, 6 people called the raise. The turn was a 3.

Money.

Now I had the baby full house, and I wanted to get paid for it, so I bet. I had a reputation as a little aggressive, so I thought I might get some action. I was right. There were three callers before the calling station raised the pot. I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I put him on AA or KK which was fine by me. I reraised. He capped and I called. The river was a 5.

Holy crap.

Now I went from a bottom full house to a top full house (not quite, but you see it coming, don't you?). Here is where I made my mistake. He is a calling station and he capped the river. The correct move was to check and call (since I had the 3rd nuts at this point. I’m beat by 75 or 77).

He raised.

As I’m calling the raise, I said, “You picked a helluva time to get pocket 7’s.” He said, “You mean these?”

Asshole.

My only real mistake was that last bet on the river. Normally, I’m getting paid for that hand. I still left up $100, so all was not a total loss. I think I tilted a little after that hand, but not too bad.

Final thought: Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers