Thanks Joe!

I was doing some research yesterday when Joe from my old home game sent me an IM to tell me he was at a really juicy 2/4 PLHE game but had to leave. Thankfully there was no waiting list, so I was able to get into the seat he vacated and keep the game running in the background while I continued to work. It really was a great game, with three mega-calling-station fish all sitting on nice stacks. Couple hands:

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

BB ($525.45)
UTG ($471.35)
MP ($380.90)
Hero ($463)
Button ($289.30)
SB ($620.90)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 6d, 8d.
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, Button calls $14, 2 folds.

Flop: ($34) Ts, 9s, 7c (2 players)
Hero bets $24, Button calls $24.

Turn: ($82) Ah (2 players)
Hero bets $75, Button calls $75.

River: ($232) 5c (2 players)
Hero bets $232, Button calls $176.30 (All-In).

Final Pot: $640.30

He called me down with KT. Then the chat starts:

thebaz9: holy &$#$
thebaz9: u are so bad at poker
thebaz9: gut shot ion the river
thebaz9: suckout
furbandb888: ok, buy back in and take all my money
thebaz9: ok
thebaz9 adds $160
thebaz9 has returned
urbandb888: 160? hahahhaha
thebaz9: u dont put me on anything?
urbandb888: take a while to get it all with that
urbandb888: why don’t you start with 400?
thebaz9: no i dont like playing against ppor players
thebaz9: i cant believe u hit that
thebaz9: urband u are terrible
thebaz9: have u ebver been ahead
urbandb888: all this terrible money could be yours
urbandb888: but you need to buy in for more
thebaz9: it will be too
urbandb888: you’ll never get it all 160 at a time
thebaz9: yes i will
urbandb888: next thing you know i’m gonna have $910
thebaz9: not of my oney
thebaz9: unless u get lucky again
thebaz9: i am the better player
urbandb888: you are the broker player
urbandb888: a good player could afford a full buyin
thebaz9: ill garuntee it urban when it is all ssaid and done i wil have the best hand, ull suck out
urbandb888: with 400 on the table you might be able to chase me off a draw

The guy made me promise not to quit, which of course I did, but he ended up doubling through another donkey and quitting himself. Still, there was a really atrocious player to my immediate right:

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

MP ($400)
Button ($689.25)
Hero ($779.20)
BB ($412.30)
UTG ($369.90)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ah, Ac. MP posts a blind of $4.
1 fold, MP (poster) checks, Button calls $4, Hero raises to $20, 1 fold, MP folds, Button calls $16.

Flop: ($48) 2d, Th, 4h (2 players)
Hero bets $44, Button calls $44.

Turn: ($136) Jd (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks.

River: ($136) Jc (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $52, Hero raises to $165, Button calls $113.

Final Pot: $466

He had T7s. He had potted the river a few times in spots where I kind of suspected he was bluffing but didn’t have the stones to snap him off, so I was hoping he’d take a shot at this one. He didn’t bet as much as I wanted him to, so I helped him out on the river.

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

SB ($130.95)
BB ($705.85)
Hero ($914.60)
MP ($787.30)
Button ($422)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 6h, 6s.
Hero raises to $14, 3 folds, BB calls $10.

Flop: ($30) Kh, 6d, Th (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $30, BB calls $30.

Turn: ($90) Jd (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $90, BB calls $90.

River: ($270) Ts (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $220, BB calls $220.

Final Pot: $710

Same guy again, this time paying off with K9. He tanked on the river and predicted I would have AQ. Then he said how stupid it was for him to have called. Based on this, I felt it wasn’t going to be quite so easy to just bet-bet-bet my next big hand against him.

This seemed like a good way to rebuild my image. I put him on top pair, and thought there was a decent chance he would fold it, and obviously I don’t mind getting it in against him either.

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

CO ($232.90)
Button ($149.20)
SB ($650.55)
Hero ($1468.10)
UTG ($716)
MP ($495.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 9h, 7h.
2 folds, CO calls $4, Button calls $4, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($16) 9s, 5h, 3h (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks, Button bets $8, SB raises to $20, Hero raises to $84, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds.

Final Pot: $128

I showed him the hand, and he said he folded 98. Perfect, hopefully that rebuilds a bit of a bluffing image for me.

At this point Joe checks in on me two hours later and sees me sitting with like $1500. Then he sees this:

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $4 BB (5 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

UTG ($443.50)

MP ($584.10)

Hero ($1576.90)

SB ($713.80)

BB ($483.85)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ac, Ah.

1 fold, MP raises to $14, Hero raises to $48, 2 folds, MP raises to $164, Hero raises to $504, MP raises to $748.1 (All-In), Hero calls $128.10.

Flop: ($1386.20) 8c, 9d, 3s (2 players, 1 all-in).

Turn: ($1386.20) 8d (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1386.20) 8s (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $1386.20

Results in white below:

MP has Qs Qd (full house, eights full of queens).

Hero has Ac Ah (full house, eights full of aces).

Outcome: Hero wins $1386.20.

Damn, Joe, I don’t know where you had to be, but I hope it was worth it. And thanks for the tip!