I Am John's Stomach Pains.

On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering

Friday, July 29, 2005

Always A Bridesmaid...  

Last night was our weekly poker game, and for the second week in a row, Undertaker dominated the night, winning both of the games we got in. Add into that the fact that he's also taken 7th and 1st in huge weekend tournament play at the card room, he's having a run that poker players dream of. As he put it last night after the games, "Wow, I haven't had to go to the ATM in a while!" Congrats go out to him... doesn't mean I have to be *too* happy for him though... he knocked my out in both games at the "get your money back ranking" in the games, which was third for the first game, and 2nd in the last one. And how you may be asking? By sucking out on me... hard core.

The first game started as a limit 2-4 game, went up to 3-6 once two people were eliminated, then became 5-10/No-Limit once it got down to three people. By the time we got to three, I was the short stack against Undertaker and The Baker (a new player to our increasingly popular game), although it was still fairly respectable, one double-up, and I'd have the lead. Anyway, The Baker is on The Button, Undertaker is in the small blind (2 chips), and I've got the Big Blind (5). Button folds, and Undertaker simply flat calls. I look at my cards and find AQo, and have to make a decision. Do I push all-in and steal his 5 chips, limp in myself (check), put in a small raise (raise the pot), or put in a raise that appears like I'm trying to steal, to see if he'll go over the top on me (20-25 chips). I had about 50 left, and knowing I had him beat at the moment, I raised only ten, enticing him to come in. He called, making the pot 30.

The flop comes: 5h-6c-7h. Not a flop I really liked to see, for three reasons. One, the obvious straight draw. Two, the two hearts on the board... odds wise, not entirely worrisome, especially heads up, but still, scary nonetheless. Third is the fact he limped and called a raise, clearly hoping to hit a flop, and those low cards could've paired up with an Ace kicker. He acts first and checks, I think for a second, and then push all in, for a bit more than what's in the pot. If he hit it, he has to call, and if he's on a draw, then the odds aren't really in his favor to call (I think... still trying to figure that out). Anyway, he thinks for a few seconds, clearly struggling, so I know he's on a draw. Finally, he gives the old "I gotta call", and then flips over K2h, having four to a flush and two live cards, so he's got 14 outs to win the hand. I'm begging the dealing for no hearts, and he doesn't give any on the turn... instead he turns over a black King. My Queen is dead, and only an Ace that isn't the Ace of Hearts can win it for me... suffice to say, it didn't come, and I sigh off with my initial investment as my winnings. Interesting ending to the game though, by knocking me out, Undertaker now had a massive chip lead against The Baker, however she really punished him quite a bit for a while taking a nice lead herself, but eventually lost it over one too many bluffs. The Baker's new to the game, but she's already got a feel for punishing weakness.

Anyway, since the first game went so long (almost two hours with only 7 players), the second game of the night was No Limit... this was where Hawk and I really wanted to beat Undertaker (coming in we gave him the "you're going down" taunt, and he eliminated both of us in the first game). Alas, it was not to be... not for lack of trying though. Hawk still struggles a bit with limit games (playing against math/stat people will do that), but being a salesman, he's great at reading people, and No-Limit is really his game. After taking a nice chip lead when his all-in pocket tens demolished Ecstasy's Big Slick, he fell hard two hands later when his all-in JTs was called by Balboa's pocket 7s, which hit a set on the turn. With Undertaker knocking out The Baker earlier, and I eliminating Balboa with AJo vs. J5s (we had both hit top pair), it was heads up between Undertaker and I.

Our heads up match was excellent. Some great aggression from both of us, going over the top on eachother's pre-flop raises and stealing a bunch of blinds. I knew he was trying to sucker me in to making a mistake with the steals, but I'm happy to say those practice heads up games with Hawk have definitely helped, and I was able to mix it up well. By the time it got to the final hand, we had the exact same amount of chips (90), and the blinds being 5 and 10, it was going to come down to a pre-flop all in. I'm on the Button, when I pick up pocket 9's, and I'm determined to punish him if he has an Ace he's going to push. So, I simply limp from the SB, and after looking at his cards, he raises the pot, 20. I give him 2 seconds to put his chips in, and I immediately push All-In. It was here we discovered we were dead even in chips, so we knew if he called, there'd be a winner either.

He could only shake his head, and began struggling. Alot of thought went into it, and eventually, he said "You know, I don't want to do this, because I think you have me dominated, but I have to call." The way he said dominated, I knew he wasn't playing an Ace, but some type of pair. I flipped over my nines, he shook his head, and flipped over sailboats, pocket fours. "Nice play". Any, the flop comes, no help to either player. On the turn, a queen on the flop paired up, but there was nothing scary about it... he only had two outs for the river to win. And what hits?

A. Fucking. Four. Of. Spades.

The group erupts, and I curse like a drunken sailor, scaring the dog which had been nestled at my feet. None of us could believe it. Once again, Undertaker takes first place, and The Geek walks off with his shirt on his back.

But, as they say... that's poker.

/Undertaker used to be called Underage, but since we've been dying around him, the change will stay

posted by Holz | 9:30 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (1)

1 Comments:

Hi,You created something truly inspiring in here. I thank you for the timeyou spend. You might not realize but your info in this web blogis "absolutely great" since that is what I was looking for.Thanks,ways to make money online

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/02/2006 2:02 PM  


Post a Comment


Right Now I'm Probably...
Watching:
Lost, Heroes, 24, Criminal Minds
Listening:
Brobdingnagian Bards
Reading:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Playing:
Final Fantasy XII
Eating:
Healthy...er
Doing:
Running... hopefully
Wishing:
My Amazon.com Wish List
Comic Quote of the Week
"It's trying to end the suffering of everything. Do you want to discuss our options? Maybe together we can, you know, workshop?"

"Okay, best way to stop a ten-story godlike monster from destroying existence? I'm gonna go with hitting, you have anything?"

"You took mine."


Wesley and Angel, Angel: After The Fall #15



Who Am I?
Name: Holz
Home: Sonoma County, California
About Me: I'm a comfortador.
See my complete profile

AKA:
Ozymandias, DrOzymandias, Darth Angelus, Darque Feonix, Trip McNeely
Kicking ass for:
29 years
Job:
UWing Systems Design Specialist
Walking Theme:
Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury
Most watched movie:
The Princess Bride
Most read book:
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King


Where Do I Go?
Blogs I Will Most Likely Steal Ideas From
The Past
Some of My Favorite Entries
"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole."
100 Bullets #42