Trouble in Paradice

I headed out to the local casino last night.  I figured there would be good games on a Friday night, and it being the weekend before Christmas wouldn't hurt any.  I was right about both of those assumptions.  There were 3 1-2NLHE games going, and 1 2-5NLHE game going.  I was seated in 1 of the 1-2 games immediately.  I have played 2-5 there before, but it's a wild game, especially with certain characters who were there last night.  One of them is a local attorney.  I definitely don't want to use his name, so we'll call him "Mark".  Mark is notorious for his play.  He doesn't play poker.  He gambles. He routinely raises blind, sometimes all-in.  He will even call an all-in blind.  Early while I was there, we heard a commotion at the 2-5 table behind us.  Mark was at it again.  He had either gone all-in or called an all-in blind.  It ended up being a 3-way all-in, with 2 players holding big pairs (I didn't see the actual hands due to being involved in a hand myself).  After the river, it was a relatively safe board, including 2 deuces on the board.  However, as he revealed his cards, Mark was shown to have a deuce, winning the pot of well over $600, possibly as much as $800.

Mark was also drinking as is usual.  One thing to remember...This casino doesn't offer free drinks.  State regulations.  So it's not like in Las Vegas, unfortunately.  Also, the hotel isn't connected to the casino.  It's a short walk to the hotel, about 5 minutes, or they offer a shuttle.  Eventually, Mark's gambling ways got to him, and he missed boards and gave back every bit of the money he had in front of him.  I don't know how much he was in for, but the buy-in is $200-$1000 and he usually goes through at least a full buy-in.  The 2-5 game settled down, but was still going well into the night.

I sat down immediately after arriving, around 9pm.  I bought in for my usual $200.  The very first hand I saw was 7h8h. I limped in from early position, and 5 of us saw a flop of 4c-5h-6c. The blinds checked, and I led out for $10.  All 4 players called.  The turn was the Ac.  Not what I wanted to see.  The blinds checked there, and I bet $15.  I know it was small for the roughly $55 pot, but it was partly to see where I was at.  I got one caller.  We will call him "Tito".  Tito is an older reg who is usually a good player, doesn't typically play garbage hands, and is overall a very nice guy.  The river was 10d. I felt this was either a way ahead or way behind type situation, and I led out for $15 again.  It was more of a blocking bet than anything, and I didn't want to check and have to call a bet there.  Thoughts on my play?  It was called, I showed my straight, and Tito mucked.  Not a bad way to start the evening.  A couple of orbits later, sitting on about $250, I get the favorite hand of a fellow blogger, RobVegasPoker.  Yes, I had KK!  I was UTG +2. It folded to me, and I raised to $13. The standard raises at the table were anywhere from $11-$14. Even though I hadn't played many hands to this point, and it was the first hand I raised pre-flop, I still got 4! callers.  The flop was 4h-7c-8h. I led out for $30. Tito was next to act, and pushed all in for $54 total.  It folded to me, and I made the call. The board ran out 8x-4x, no hearts. I showed my KK, and Tito showed Jh10h. Not a bad flop for him, but he missed both draws.  I won the pot and Tito left.  Yes Rob, I'm still winning with your dreaded hand!

Not too many more hands of note at the 1-2. I went card dead, and the times I got playable cards, I was 2nd best in a couple of big pots, and ended up busting and buying in again. I was up and down with the 2nd buy-in, and eventually took the $150 to the 2-5 game with another $200.  I won a few small pots against a drunk player, who we will call "Fred". Fred is typically a solid reg, except when he drinks.  He had a large stack of chips in front of him, but had been playing 1-2 most of the night and was down a fair amount. I missed a few draws in other hands, hit a couple of smaller pots again, and then was dealt As9s on the button. I had about $375 behind, and was easily covered by Fred. There were 2 limpers, and I made a small raise to $15. Fred called, as did the big blind and 2 limpers. The flop was Ks-Qh-3s. Fred lead out for $35, it folded to me, and I called. The turn was a non-spade J, giving me straight outs also.  Fred lead out for $65, and I called. The river was a beautiful 5s, giving me the nuts. Fred now leads out for $175. I announce All-In, which was about $100 or so more, roughly.  He calls, I show the nuts for a full double up, and he mucks, claiming to have had a set.  I play another orbit, lose a little on a couple of hands that missed flops, and cash out +$147 for the night.  Not bad after the way I started at the 1-2 tables!