How 'bout I just stop promising things??
They're bound to get wrecked by the constraints of my life . . . or whatever's passing for it.The big surprise today was going to be my entry into Hugh Hewitt's popular Vox Blogoli bloggers' symposium. But, alas, no time, and Hugh closed the window for accepting entries. Shame, really. The subject matter was interesting. Go ahead and click the link anyway. Take a stroll 'round the blogosphere, hold it up to your ear and hear the ocean.
As for poker last night, I broke even: I busted out first in the 11-person tournament some buds and I hold every week, but made it back in a side tourney the losers established.
Here's your Special Presentation Consolation Prize: a free poker lesson!
You hold Q§/Qª in third position at a six-person table. The player in second position, who's smart but fairly loose, raises it to 200 with the blinds at 25/50 and everyone near their starting value of 2500 chips. If you're like me, you figure you have the best hand and want to make him pay to play a weaker one. I raised to 600, forcing everyone else out. The other player calls and the flop comes A¨/K¨/8©. He bets 400. What do you do?
You run like a chicken and fold as fast as possible. Yes, there was a chance that given his looseness, he could have been sitting on a pure draw or perhaps a pair of eights, but a bet of 400 just screamed "sucker bet" to me. He was hoping I had either an ace or a king (but not both) or a draw and would call him down. I showed my queens; he showed Kª/8¨, giving him bottom two pair. Had I raised, he would have put me on at least an ace, possibly aces up, and a flat call would have signaled a draw. A good bet on his part, but a better laydown on mine.
Shame I didn't hold on to that intelligence. On the very next hand, I'm dealt A§/Q§. Now he's under the gun and raises to 400 (did I mention he's loose?); this time I just called and everyone else again folded, staying out of our way. The flop comes K©/J©/6§. He bets 1500 and I, figuring he was simply taking advantage of table image (and probably little on tilt . . . okay, maybe a lot on tilt), went all-in.
He had another K¨/8§. I couldn't catch an ace or a 10 to make a straight and I was busted.
Got my revenge in the side tourney, though; he had K/8 offsuit in two consecutive hands and I beat him both times, once with 9¨/7¨ (paired the 7) and once with A§/J§ (ace-high held). The last one put him out of that tourney and guaranteed me a break-even night.
Okay, no more advice for free. We now return you to your regularly scheduled broken poli-blog promises.
posted by Marsh @ 1:47 AM
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