Wed Jan 26, 2005

Wednesday Jan 19. we played a shorter game last week, about 2 hours. I don't have any notes from that game. I bought in for $20 and walked away with $40.

Wednesday Jan 26. Bought in for $20, walked away with $65 ( up $45).

Jimmy came again this week and did better than last week. He bought in for $30 total and walked away with $47 total...not bad...he's learning fast. He's making a lot of smart folds and smart bets (not too aggressive, not too weak). He did make one terrible all-in move, got called, and lost it...but I think he learned a lesson.

I'm trying to play smart but at the same time not too tight. I tried to mix it up a bit last night. One big loss I had was to Tommy, he was in the BB and I was last to act. It was checked around to him pre-flop and he went all-in (for about $6). I was holding KJ off suit and knew it wasn't the best call but thought that maybe he was trying to steal the pot since he was in the BB. I called and he showed QQ. The flop came Q, rag, K...rag on the turn, J on the river. The next hand my hole cards were K,J off suit again, and it came down to Tommy and I again! No big bets pre flop, the flop showed rag, J, 5. Bet, call. The turn showed another 5 and T bet about 5, i called him feeling that he didn't have trip 5s, the river brought a rag, we bet modestly and showed our cards. T didn't have anything, I had the Js...I won my loss back from the previous hand. This was an interesting hand for me because T told me he was trying to represent trip 5s to scare me out of the hand but there was no doubt in my mind that he didn't have them, I'm not sure why yet, maybe because of how quickly he bet when that second 5 came down...maybe he bet too fast.

There was another point in the night when I just knew what someone was holding. This guy (who I won't name) looked down at his cards and immediately started acting meek, and I thought "he's got Aces". He was called through to the river and showed his As. I mention this because I feel like I'm slowly learning how to read people, what tells to look for so I know when I'm up against a better hand.

Another interesting hand of the night was between BT, Keith, and me. I was holding pocket Js and raised pre flop, BT and K called. The flop came down a rainbow J,Q,K! I was first to act so I made a $5 bet, obviously trip Js area a monster hand, but I knew if two people were in the pot at least one of them had an A in his hand, and maybe pocket Qs or Ks. Big Time raised all-in, and K called all-in with more chips. It would have cost me most of my stack to call, I thought for a minute and threw the hand away...no question I was beat. They both showed A,10 (the turn and river brought rags) and split the pot.

My big win of the night was when I called Joe on an all-in and had him beat. I was flopped the nut flush draw and Joe was flopped tripped Qs (two in the hole). I think there were three players, and pre-flop, flop, and turn brought modest betting, enough to keep me in the hand to chase (I was holding A,7h). the river brought the 6h and I had the nuts...if Joe hadn't waited for the river to move all-in he probably would have won the pot, I don't usually have luck with chasing and would not have paid $28 on the turn.

I wonder how I would have bet this if I was holding Joe's hand, would I have even gone all-in with the possible flush draw out there? I probably would not have waited for the river to move in, the turn would have been a safe place to make that move since it didn't bring a third H, it would have been the place to protect the hand and take down the already decent sized pot. It's hard to lose with a set like that, and I feel lucky that my three jacks was an easy lay down in the hand with BT and K.

Things I need to work on: playing more aggressive and knowing the right times to do so, figuring odds, and proper betting.