In earlier posts I have said that when you pick up a pocket pair, and more than five players are in the hand, your pocket pair isn’t going to hold up.  So how do you play pocket aces?  Do you slow play them, or do you show your strength?

My suggestion is when checking your cards and looking at pocket aces, look at where your position is.  If you are one of the first people to play, then you might want to make a raise hoping that a bunch of people do not come in.  If you are in late position, it might be better to limp in hoping someone goes crazy with a J7 offsuit.  While getting pocket aces is a great start, lately I have been more unlucky with them than any hand I have started with.  I have been loosing with the Big Papa (aces) almost 67% of the time, and in most cases the person hits trips against me.

Folding before the flop would never happen, but after do you have the goods to fold em’?  I think almost 99% of the people would have to say “Can’t fold,” but there was once when I had aces, made a raise and had another play call me.  The flop came out 6,10,K rainbow.  Before the flop came out the person really hesitated making the call.  When the flop came out, they raised fairly quickly.  In most cases I would think the person is bluffing, but in this case my gut said they hit the 6 only because the King didn’t scare her at all.  Trips over trips really doesn’t happen much, so the odds that I had pocket kings was probably less than 1%.   I really wanted to play, and asked if the person would show me their cards if I folded.  I threw in my two aces, and they turned over pocket 6’s for trips.

Last nights Wednesday night game had a lot of big pots, something that I really do not prefer to play against.  In one hand, my dad raised, and 4 other people either raised or called before the flop.  In this case two people went all in with more than 400 chips per person, making the pot close to 2000 chips before seeing a card.  I thought that either Dad had aces and everyone else had good starting hands.  If their is a re-raise in a pot before the flop, I most likely will fold almost anything thinking that the person is holding the nuts.  If it isn’t a huge re-raise and I have AK, Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Tens, then it’s getting mucked.  Sometimes a person is making a play at the flop, but more than likely you better have it or else your drawing dead.  Back to the hand, the flop came out 9,4,4.  First player checked and Dad pushed all in.  At this point in time there was only three hands he could have and one could be ruled out instantly, with that being pocket 4’s.  Either Dad had Aces or 9’s, and the 9’s would be a wild call and the flop really hit him.  All in all, 5 players were all in, most really didn’t have anything serious in chips and had good hands.  Dad turned over pocket 9’s and 4 people busted out.  The hands were A10 off, J10 suitted, AQ off, and 105 off which wasn’t shown to everyone.  Dad raked in over 2k in chips on a hand that quite honestly probably should have been folded with the crazyiness before the flop. But what do I know….

On a side note…..Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and allow people to bluff you.  Don’t take it personal, and don’t get upset.  The DONKEY play of the night happen during two hands.  The first hand, Junior showed top two pair and busted out Jane. She went all in with middle pair which drives me crazy.  She re-bought in and was dealt in afterwards.  Junior made a raise into the next pot of 80 and the two were back at it.  The flop came out J,10,9 rainbow.  Jane raised to 150, and Junior came over the top for 200 more for 350 total.  Jane quickly made the all in call and showed J7 offsuit, while Junior had AJ suitted.  Juniors hand stood up and he took her out for the second time.  Looking back at this hand, Jane never should have been in the pot. J7 offsuit limp in I don’t mind, but when Junior made the healthy raise, the lights should have turned on.  In this case, Jane was upset about the hand before, and was either hoping to bluff him out, or just playing luck.  If your trying to bluff him out, she should have come over the top pre-flop making it look like she had aces or kings instead of calling his hand.  When she bet the 150, and he re-raised her, another light should have come on showing her he either had a big pair, or AJ.  I don’t like the J7 call or play because she was on tilt from the hand before where she donkey’d her chips with middle pair.  Sometimes you just have to let em’ bluff and beat you, because their confidence goes up, but I am NEVER writing about that, because that’s my hidden secret.

Hoping you look down at aces, and they hold up,
sc

The Wednesday game has come full circle.  I remember the days when people would constantly bluff.  Now people are playing super tight and playing much better starting hands.  Well some are anyways. :)  However, I believe poker comes down to several things, but most importantly patience.  If you are not picking up good starting hands, and you are limping into the pot hoping to get lucky and to play, you are making a costly mistake.

Last nights game should have been lights out within 2 hours of play.  I often wonder when I am going to have the cards go my way, and instead of outplaying people before and after the flop, that I will look down at huge pocket pairs and win big pots.  With the blinds at 10-20, I looked down at Aces and put in a raise to 80.  The player next to me, checked his cards and re-raised me to 180.  When it came back to me I felt like I only had one play and that was to go all in and show my strength.  In most cases when I raise with a big hand and someone comes over the top of me, I figure that they must have kings or aces.  If I have AK and they re-raise me, I usually figure the player has queens or jacks, but I don’t like the re-raise play.  If the person is pot committed, they have to call with AK, because the odds are against the other player having aces or kings, so you still have outs.  The other player said “call” and flipped over Jacks.  I had the other player covered by 125 chips, and one of two jacks in the deck came out.  This exact play happened 5 times last night, with either Kings or aces, and I doubled 5 people up and still had a tiny stack afterwards.

Last night I picked up aces 3 times, loosing twice with the one win in a limp pot of three and the board coming out with a straight.  I picked up Kings 4 times, loosing 3 times, one being a re-raise all in to 105 chips and the player not looking at his hole cards.  I noticed the player didn’t check his cards, and with re-raise only 25 more chips, I had to call and thought I still had the best hand.  The player turned over 9-10hearts and hit two pair on the river. (another double up)

In most cases playing patience allows you to get through those bad parts of your tournament.  If you are not picking up quality hands, lock it down.  Play smart poker instead of limping in with terrible hands.  But be knowledgable that if someone sees that you are not defending your blind, that people will take advantage of you.  With an early chip lead, two players last night locked it down just a little to early.  I might have been the only person to notice this, and they were both in the blind at the same time with four people left.  Each time I would wait to watch them check their cards, then I would check mine  and put in a raise of 4 times the big blind.  In most cases, (exactly 12 times) I stole the small and big blind from these two players, and then when I caught a hand and made a raise, they would fold.  In essence the players folded their way out of the win.  With three players left I was the middle man, and with both wanting to make the money, I continued with my stealing.  If they would put in a raise or stay with me, then I knew I was beat.  Nate, who pulled off the first of many suck outs on me last night, was eventually blinded out.  And Billy, who had the chip lead really wanted to win.  Roughly 15 minutes into heads up, I took down another win with AQclubs, where I limped in, against his all in with A3diamonds.  As it would stand, I hit a flush on the flop.  I was happy to see Billy win second place, and we had agreed to split it when we went heads up.  It was by far the best I have seen Billy play, because he layed down top pair 3-4 times last night after the flop against several people including me…..and for the record I said I had two pairs and didn’t hit anything….:)  I was on a flush draw, sorry!!!

Hoping you look down at aces, and THEY HOLD UP!!!!!
sc

After playing poker each Wednesday, I come home and write down whos won the money that week.  As of Nov. 26th the standings are: (this is how many times each person has finished in the money, not 1st.)  Most of the people play each week, some come when they can.

Dad -13
Junior-7
Lynn - 6
Nate- 6
Jane -6 (I think shes played 2/3 of the year)
Ellie - 5
Mike -4 (every other week if that)
Glenn Jr -3 (rarely)
Billy -3 (rarely)
Graham -3 (rarely)
Kyle/Sam/Jessie/Kirk -2
Willie/Rosy/Glenn Sr. -1
Steve-34 and I have taken off 5 weeks this year.

One month left and lets hope it continues like the rest of the year!
sc

When your playing poker and take a bad beat, you must do everything that you can to control your emotions!

Several weeks ago I made a normal bluff against an aggressive player.  When she is in position, and the board is checked to her, she always makes a play at the pot, even when she doesn’t have the best hand.  While I appreciate this tactic, knowing that she will bet in position allows me to take advantage of her aggressiveness.  In this case she made a small bet into a normal sized pot.  I had AQ in my hand and the flop came out JK4 rainbow.  I figured that I had the best hand still, so I completed her continuation bet.  The turn card was a 9.  She made another bet, and at this time I knew that on the river, whatever card that came out, I was going to put in a big raise.  River card was another J.  She bet 100, I reraised to 500.  She said she thought that I was bluffing, but she couldn’t play and  folded.  Normally I would not show the bluff, but in this case I knew it would aggreviate her.  She went on complete tilt, and then tried to steal every big blind that I was in to get her chips back.  This play cost her, as she went out a couple rounds later to me with a less than marginal hand.

Just this week, when it was heads up with myself and her husband I set trap after trap and he caught every card that he could.  When he would go all in, his hands went from J4, Q3, K8 (which I don’t mind) and 106.  Each time he went all in, I had either AK, AJ, K8 (had the same hand and split) and KQ.  Everytime he hit either two pairs or caught the river with the worst hand.  While I was mad that I couldn’t put him away, his wife said that I was on tilt.  After much thought, I went back and looked at how I was playing.  I know that I was mad that he kept getting lucky and playing mostly slop when going all in, but on tilt, I don’t think so.  I think when your steaming you make bad decisions afterwards, and each time I doubled him up, several hands later he was on the brink of getting busted out.  I ended up winning, but we split the pot.

So, if you see someone take a bad beat and notice that they are steaming what should you do?  I like the approach of waiting for them to make the next mistake, and it could be right away.  I good player will let it bounce off them and get back into the game.  Bad beats are a part of the game, all you can do is hopefully go in with the best hand, and then it’s a lot of luck.  I have said it before, but I would rather play good poker than lucky poker.  People who say that poker is a lot of luck are wrong in my opinion.  A good patient player that plays good cards will win more than the lucky person, but you have to wait and let them make a mistake.

If you have given that bad beat, or made a big bluff, and that person is coming after you.  Let ‘em!!!  That;s a mistake when there is several players at your table.  Let them have your blind and when you do catch a couple cards, put in the reraise.  In the case above, I noticed right away that Jane was trying to get her chips back, so I made a reraise that put all her chips in.  I had 37 on this specific hand, but she had to fold.  The next time around I limped in with KQ.  The flop came out AKQ, and when she went all in with Ace rag, after I checked to her, I layed the wood down and won the hand and took her out of the game.

You must be able to control your emotions, and going after one person is a dumb play.  Play the people on the table, not just one player who you might think your better than.

Hoping you get aces, but also hoping I’m not in the hand with you!

sc

It’s been some time since I have written a post about poker but I am still playing on Wednesday and also play occasionally one other day during the week.  It has been a whirl-wind for the last couple months with my poker with more ups than downs, which is always a good thing.

But lets talk about some amatuer tells, and things that you might be able to pick up and help with your poker game.

Recently I played in a local tournament at an Elks Club that my buddy put on.  He set the whole thing up, and while it was a lot of work for Mike, I think he did a great job.  I finished 3rd out of 50-60 people, but going into the final table to caught some bad luck and then tightened up to make the money.  However, I had a major tell on every player at the final table which gave me an advantage, but luck came into play and I lost with the best hand 3-4 times in a row.

So what was I looking for?  When I first sit down to play, and the cards are not being shuffled I like to watch how a player sits when comfortable.  I also like to make poker talk and see how well a person remembers that bad beat, because you don’t remember the times you gave that bad beat….  When the player is comfortable and just chilling, take a mental note of how they are sitting.  Are they sitting back, sitting straight up, where their hands are placed and if they bounce their legs or play with their chips.  When the cards are being played, how to do they put their chips into play and with which hand. Do they throw them in or do they keep them close.

On the chips alone, beginners who are fishing and don’t have the best hand will throw their chips into the pot when they are unsure that they have the best hand.  And when they have a great hand, they will place their chips close by because they think that they will be getting the chips back, so why put them further and out of reach.  If they put them close to themselves, you can almost gaurantee that they have a very good hand.  If a person forcefully puts his chips into a pot, they most likely have the best hand.  In the Elks game I raised pre-flop with AK hearts.  During most of the first table, people stayed out of my way and I bluffed a lot when I realized people were scared of me.  Anyways, I looked down at AK hearts and raised it to 45 chips.  I had one other person call.  Flop came out A56 rainbow.  I was attempting to set the trap and checked.  The other player checked too.  At this point I was sure I had the best hand.  Turn card was a 4.  This was somewhat a scare card, so I made a small bet of 65.  The other player grabbed his chips, looked at me, and forcefully put his 65 into the pot by putting his chips down hard.  I knew I was beat at this point, but maybe I was wrong.  River brought out the worst card for me with a king, but I checked again.  The other player, which was a woman, didn’t look back at her cards, looked at the board, then me and put in a tiny raise of 40.  I didn’t want to call, but had to see her straight.  I called and she turned over 78 suitted.

Other tells have to do with how people hold their hands.  Sometimes to find out ones tell you must call their bluff or better hand.  Players tend to do all sorts of things with their hands that they do not recognize.  If I see a person keeping their hands flat on a table then changing on the next hand, which hand was the better hand.  In most cases, the flat hand is the worst of the two.  Why?  People tend to put their hands flat and not touching when bluffing because their brain is telling them to fight and win.

Here’s exactly what I look for when I sit down.

1. How is the person sitting?
2. Where are their hands?
3. How do they breath?
4. Do they move around alot?
5. Do they spread their elbows?
6. Are their arms at their hips or fully on the table?
7. Do they shake?

Take a mental note then watch how people act when playing poker.  I hope it helps you win more big hands!

Hoping you look down at aces….
sc

By no means do I think that I am a professional, but I think I play solid poker and I know when I can steal and bluff and I know when to pull back.

Our Wednesday night game has brought in a bunch of new players.  All of whom have played No Limit somewhere and at sometime have done decent and won.  This is always interesting to me, because I enjoy watching people react when playing poker.  From how they put their chips into the pot, to how they might sit back, take a sip of their drink, or watch TV while in the middle of the hand.  All of which are poker tells, but you need to watch that person while they are playing.

Recently we have had a newcomer named Jane join the group.  She is a sound player, but will NEVER call when she thinks you are bluffing.  Another tell on her is that she overbets the pot when she has a small pair, and all of the cards on the table beat her.  She will stick with her overbetting and will not fold a hand.  She likes to play all sorts of cards, but her major tell is that she breaths hard and sit back when she has the nuts.  Most of the time she leans forward, as to tell you that she is ready to fight, (another tell that she has a quality hand), but when she catches the best hand, then starts the sit back and more.  Again she is a good player, but likes to play a lot of luck.  While I understand you need some luck, I think I can almost prove it wrong with our Wednesday night group.  Quality poker usually means winning!

The last two weeks has been a little weird for me.  I setup a great trap, and got unlucky on the river to loose a huge pot.  I went into lock down poker mode, and came back and made it to second.  That week 6/18, when heads-up started I had 350+/- chips, going against the leader who had almost 5000+/-.  This was the first time I had played against Kirk, but instantly noticed he liked to bluff A LOT!!!  With only 20 minutes until 11pm and our cutoff, I really didn’t stand a chance in my mind.  I limped in as much as possible to see a cheap flop, which Kirk just wanted to play (mistake number 1), and after the flop if I hit anything, I was all in.  It didn’t matter one bit.  When play stopped at 11, I was exact 250 chips from leading.  I felt very good about my heads-up play.  This past week 6/25, I played what I would consider the best I have played to date.  I had some of the best reads on players I could imagine.  From catching Jane with her pocket 6’s and over betting when I caught 9’s on the flop, to laying down jacks pre-flop because I noticed Nat betting differently and playing with his chip on another hand, and Nat turning over Aces.   I picked up Q10 offsuit in the big blind, in which I raise because everyone limped in.  All four players called.  Flop came out 9JK, making my straight.  I checked and my dad bet 60.  Jane and Nat both called, turn was a 6 and I checked again.  Dad went all in, looked over the cards to make sure their wasn’t a flush possiblity and called.  I went from bottom to 2nd chips in one hand. After knocking out Jane again, (second week in a row) and getting heads up with Nat, I wasn’t to far behind in chips, maybe 1500 or so.  I had a good feeling about playing against Nat because I think I know his game pretty well.  Within 10 minutes game was over and I had won.  Last hand was a good one, I picked up A9 and doubled the blind.  Nat re-raised to 320 and I called all in.  Nat flipped over KJ suitted against my A9 suitted.  Ace high took the pot.

More to come…and I’m going to really start updating this a lot more.

Hope you catch aces in the hole!
sc

We all hope for those pocket pairs each time we check our cards.  But I believe that many people play them wrong and get caught holding the worst hand after the flop.  If in a good position and a bunch of limpers in front of you, and you have 8’s and below pocket pair, a limp is a good call.  Why?  You have to think than more than one person in front of you is holding two over cards, and they most likely will make any call that you put out.  If you are out of position, a raise will eliminate many people, and that puts the percentages in your favor.  One thing I do not suggest to do is make the overbet here.  Most people are not going to play Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks or 10’s for 200+ chips when the blinds are 10-20.  With an overbet, I think it looks like you have a small pair and you do not want to see the flop.  Recently, a good player put it all in for close to 300 chips.  He wasn’t in good position and had 4-5 players behind him.  I had stumbled into pocket sevens, and was definately calling because I had put him on pocket 2’s, 3’s, or 4’s, but the player in front of me made the call.  At this point I knew that if I called we were in a race.  I put the person in front of me on two over cards, and probably AK, AQ, AJ or KQ.  I folded thinking I made the right call.  The person behind me also had a good hand, but thought over it hard and folded too.  When the cards were layed out, the raiser had pocket 2’s, and the other person had KQ.  The KQ was kinda a wild call, and the raiser let him know about it, but the flop had a king.  I mentioned that if the KQ player didn’t call, I was going to because I knew I had him beat.  The player behind me had pocket 5’s and would have bet the initial raiser also.  If he would have limped in, because he was out of position, he could have seen the flop and backed down and still been in the game.

Do you make a raise with the rockets?  Depends on where you at on the table.  In last position, a raise looks like a steal, and a couple players will call.  I personally like to make a raise with any pocket pair higher than 9’s.  I want to eliminate a couple people hopefully and hope to catch the juice on the flop, which only happens once in a blue moon.  In another game, I picked up pocket 2’s.  The pot was raised then re-raised before it got to me.  I quickly folded, and when the flop brought out the other two 2’s, my stomach hurt.  Looking back at the play, I am pretty sure I would have folded again, but then again the re-raise wasn’t that big, and I was the big blind so I should have seen a flop.  I do believe that if you can see a flop with your pocket pair, that it is a good play.  You are hoping to lightning in a bottle, and if you hit it, well then you can put the screws down and win yourself some chips.

Those pocket kings are ace magnets, and you know someone is holding Ace-rag against you.  Play it with a raise, and hope that they get unlucky and put the hammer down after the flop.  But watch the suit of the cards.  If it is rainbow, then your probably in good shape, but when they are suitted and the person checks then re-raises you bet, chances are they have two of the suitted cards and your in more of a race than you might think.  Either you go all in and hope for luck that another one doesn’t come out, but a fold here isn’t the worst thing in the world.  I hate it when people go all in with a possible flush, but I have done the same thing when the odds are in my favor.  Your going to win almost 68% of the time, but it’s that one time that hurts the most.

Good luck and hope you see aces pre-flop.

sc

In most cases, I personally feel that if you have a good hand you should raise the pot 3x the blinds. However, recently I have deployed the limp tactic when playing against certain people for a couple of reasons. One, to disguise my hand. Second, if I know someone is going to call anything that I put in and playing for luck with the flop, and third to set a big trap against many people.

Watching others betting patterns allows me to know when I can bluff and when I am just point blank beat. In a recent hand, I picked up pocket rockets. Since the players that are normally playing for luck had folded, and I was in position, I put out a 3x bet. I had one woman call me. This was a little shocking to me because she limped into the pot. She was also someone that folded a lot and had a tight image in my opinion. The flop came out 4,5,6 rainbow and she instantly made a nice bet of close to half the chips in the pot. With that flop I normally wouldn’t have been scared against almost anyone else at the table, but with her I knew she hit trips. With such a small bet after the flop I felt like she was trying to make sure that I would stay in with her. This time, I made a small raise, just to see where I was at and her reaction, and when she quickly called, I knew that I was beat. Turn was a queen, and she again raised quickly, like there was nothing on the board that scared her. I asked that if I fold would she show, she said yes and turned over trip 6’s. I was just unlucky. Amazing thing about this was it happened the week after, but this time I had a bunch more chips in the pot and took a bad beating.

Certain players are always looking to trap you. They are the players that limp in and then make a serious bet after the flop. Is it a continuation bet or do they have the nuts? Heads-up the first one to have a pair should win, but with many people in the pot the odds increase. I believe you catch part of the flop around 21-22% of the time. This is just my number and looking back over a couple whole games. Other players like to put in an excessive raise after the flop to seem like they hit trips or better, which will usually get a decent player to call, but not someone who knows the game. I do not like the huge raise play. For one, I think that if you happen to hit trips, and several players are in, you can make more money or chips playing it slow. Just calling someones bet lets them think your on a draw. At the same time, if two over cards to your pair comes out, a serious bet makes it look like your stealing, but you will loose some players because of the size of the bet. Slowing down is in my opinion the best bet. Let them catch up and get top pair, or two pairs, your trips are going to be the best hand.

Good luck and hope you pick up aces!!

sc

While I enjoy playing poker, no thing that I have come to realize is that free tournaments won’t help your game. If your serious about poker, and have a good grasp of the game, you should attempt to stay away from these games. Now, I understand playing one here and there, but the every night game isn’t going to help you in the long run I believe.

Why?

Good question. When players are not playing for real money out of there pocket, then they will continuously fish. If you do catch a hand, your best option is to go all in. If you get beat with the best hand before the flop, then it’s not your kinda night.

This past weekend I played three nights in a row. The Wednesday night game went as normal, Thursday night game was with a bunch of new friends, at which I cleaned house, and Friday was a “somewhat” free tournament. The buy in went to Junior Achievement through AAA National Office. Most of the players came with their game faces, some watched way to much TV and brought headphones to look the part. (If your playing in a 2-3 hour tournament, DON’T BRING YOUR HEADPHONES OR CHIP PROTECTOR, these are tells that you stink) The blinds were scheduled to go up quickly and I won several pots within the first hour. I watched player after player “hollywood” and take their time, and others only played a couple hands, for which I attempted not to play against. I watched numerous players make continuation bets, but I like to throw out a little raise against these players to see where I am at. Most players will realize they are beat and fold. With the blinds at 400-800, second seat raised to 1200, and I picked up AK. I went all in with 4300 and was called with pocket 7’s. I lost the race and was busted out fairly quickly. I said that I wasn’t going to call but go over the top to show dominance, but the other player had the better hand. I said good luck and watched other players get called with Q6 and many other crap hands. I sat down at the wrong table, or else things would have been much different.

Anyways, because the tournament wasn’t for cash, most players were not scared to play like Jamie Gold. Any two cards are worth playing. I don’t go to that school, and attempt to play good hands, unless in the blinds, where I will defend and hope for the best.

If your learning the game, learn it correctly, but playing in free games will just make you frustrated because people will not fold. I will not play anything less than 4-8 dollars no limit at a casino. One-two allows everyone to call you, cuz what’s a buck to hit that 6% card? Nothing!

Good luck and hope you hit aces!

sc

This past weekend I asked the group and others to come over for dinner and poker. The normal group came over and several others joined including inspiring pro Mike, Willie, Dave and Junior. It was a big game. Several people went out and quickly bought back in, I think almost everyone expept Willie and I. Mike had some cold cards, but had some winners when playing against Willie, my Dad and Jessie, but folded when a higher card came out, but they didn’t hit them. They bluff Mike as much as possible.
When your holding top pair after the flop and a higher card comes out, it’s a good time to test the waters. If their is a group of people in the pot, then checking is all right, but when it’s only a couple, put in a minimum raise. For one is will eliminate the person holding scrub cards and only playing because they are in the blind. And second it will show you where you are at in the hand. Someone comes over the top, your drawing dead, and if someone calls you probably are too. Checking after the turn is then all right too, or if you think you can outplay the person then do your thing.

Slow playing your good cards!

I have talked about this earlier, but slow playing your cards and limping in with high pocket pair only works when there is a couple players. In the Wednesday night game I watched pocket aces get cracked by a straight on the river. The aces slow played and put in a little beat trying to keep the others in. While this strategy works sometimes, I have seen in more and more beat by the blinds. Five or more players in the hand, your done. FORGET ABOUT IT!

Back to Saturdays game.

So many people that play the game watch the pros play scrub cards and win, (those are the hands on TV, come on now they can’t show each time they loose its not good tv), more and more those cards are being played in home games. Jessie, (wednesday night gang) could easily be the best bluffer that I play against. He will bluff each hand he is in, and he uses that to his advantage. If I have to high cards, I will play to the end with him. If I have two little, I will fold and wait for the cards.

When several players busted out, and it came down to three I was in the worst shape. Being in third and really not ANY catching cards I was really lucky to be where I was. This is where things changed. In the beginning Willie was bluffing and gaining chips. No one caught his tells, something that I did almost instantly, and Willie really wanted to be in the money. When it got down to crunch time Willie stopped bluffing, and was only playing if he had top pair, and good starters. I noticed this on the second hand as well as his tell. I raised in his blind for the next 8 times. Didn’t matter what I had, but it allowed me to steal his big blind since he wasn’t a defender. 8-10 hands into three way action (that sounds terrible) I had got back into the game, still third but when blinds are 80-160 and your stealing 160 every three hands and getting back my small blind, I had playing chips. One other hand I picked up AK in the small blind. Dad folded and Willie called. The flop was a rainbow 268 unsuitted. I checked to Willie to let him bluff at me. He made a 320 raise with his tell and I went all in. He called with a4 and didn’t catch a four and I doubled up to roughly 1500-1800 chips. Next hand, Dad called and made his facial tick (another tell), I folded and willie called. Flop came out 865, Dad checked, Willie bet 320, Dad went all in. Willie called with 96, while Dad turned over pocket jacks. Turn was a q, river was a 7 to give Willie a straight. Willie had Dad covered by a couple hundred chips, but just got unlucky.

Willie and I went heads up for about 5-10 hands, in which I think I won 8 out of 10, but we had decided this chop the pot and allow people to drive home after my Turducken Dinner, which I thought was terrible.

Wednesday night game coming next.

Hope if anyone is reading these they are somewhat helping them.