At my first table last night, the guy in the 9 seat was on his second or third buy-in since I sat down. He raised to $15 in late position preflop and got a couple callers, including the big guy who’d river’d his gutshot straight against me (Mr. Bad Beat). The flop came up all rags. It was checked to the 9 seat and he immediately moved all-in. It folded around to Mr. Bad Beat in seat 5, who was sitting behind $500 or more and was trying to decide what to do. The 9 seat looked straight at Mr. Bad Beat and pleaded, “Please. No more bad beats. Just fold.”

Mr. Bad Beat folded and the 9 seat flipped up his pocket queens for the win.

When you’ve got what is most likely to be the winning hand against a loose caller who can double you up and you’re begging him to fold, you should get up from the table.

Well I just lost two buy-ins at the $100 NLHE tables at Hollywood Park. But the funny thing is that I feel pretty good about it. I got my chips in with the best hand and lost ’em on the river.

I call with 6c 7c in middle to late position (seat 6) when it’s raised behind me to $15 (5xBB). Three people call in front of me, making the pot approximately $63. I figure getting better than 5:1 is good odds and call. The flop comes 367 with two suited cards. The 4 seat bets $25 and seat 5 calls. The pot is now $125 and I have $85 left. I raise all-in, there are two folds, and seats 4 and 5 call. Uh oh. Seat 4 shows T7 for top pair, no kicker, drawing to 3 outs + the runner-runner straight and backdoor flush, and seat 5 shows 65 for second pair and the gutshot, drawing to 4 outs + running fives. Turn doesn’t improve anyone’s hand and the river’s a 4.

Rebuy!

I follow HDouble to Grubby’s table with $85 after an orbit or two and sit down in the big blind. I’m dealt Q3 and get to see the flop for free. Flop comes down Q32 and I bet the pot–$10. HDouble calls in seat 8 and Grubby makes Baby Jesus weep in seat 5. I raise to $40 and HDouble folds. Grubby calls. Turn comes a K and I bet $20. Grubby makes some comment about my stupid two pair in the big blind and folds with a grin. I turn over my cards and take the pot.

I get dealt JJ in late position and raise to $15. Seat 2 calls, as does Grubby. Damn it, Grubby, stop calling my bets! It’s checked to me on the Q high flop, I bet $30, and everyone folds. Now I’m sitting on $170 or so, and feeling pretty good.

I’m down to $150 when I get dealt two black aces on the button. Sweet. A few limpers come in and the cutoff raises to $14. I smooth-call the $14 (the table had appeared to be somewhat tight), but HDouble and two others call, making me a little worried. The flop comes 89J and I’m wondering how much I need to raise to chase any tens out of the pot. The pot is about $70 and the preflop raiser bets $50. Once again, I smooth-call, figuring $50 is too pricey for anyone to call (odds be damned). The rest of the table folds. The turn brings a 10 and all of a sudden I’m thinking I might have slowplayed my aces to death. My opponent bets $50 again, I think for a while, and figure I’m probably still ahead and raise all-in for $86. He calls with KJ, and is drawing to 9 outs. The river brings a K and I’m out another buy-in.

No rebuy this time. I wonder a little if I could have chased him out on the flop, but I don’t think so. He was new to the table, but few people at these casinos make good laydowns.

But like I said, I feel good about my play, which is a lot better than how I’ve been feeling for the past week or so. If my hands had held up, I’d have over six times my initial buy-in. It’s just too bad live poker is rigged.

By the way, if you want to hear Hank grousing all night, sit at a low-limit NL table with him with a bad blind structure. 🙂