After X-mas, M and I played in the Thursday night $20 + $5 + $5 and M made the final table (and the money) for the third time in a row! Good work, babe. My results weren’t as good, but I felt like a played a good game and was knocked out early, which seems better than playing for four hours only to finish on the bubble.
About 20 minutes of playing extremely tight, I got involved in a big hand that spelled the end of my tourney. I was dealt AcTs on the button. I hadn’t played many hands and came in for a 4xBB raise, which got all but 2 limpers out. One of these is a crazy player whom I’ve played with before; I know his card selection is very loose and he likes to come over the top with very small holdings. The flop came 10-high with two low diamonds. The action is checked to me and I lead out for about a 3/4-pot-sized bet. The first limper folds and the LAG calls. The turn is a 3rd diamond and the LAG check-min-raises me and I min-raise him back hoping he’ll fold, since I’m putting him on either Ax or a small pocket pair. At this point, I’m pretty much pot committed but I don’t think the LAG thought this through or he wouldn’t have re-raised me all-in. I have him covered by a few hundred, know my TPTK is good, so I pretty much insta-call. He flips over T8-off suit (no diamond) and I have him drawing with less than 10 to 1 odds. He catches an 8 on the river, though and 3-outs me for most of my chips.
I played patiently with my remaining T375 and got it all in with almost T1500 in the pot with 9Tc and hit my flush on the river, but was drawing dead to a flopped-set-turned-boat. Busto!
I had a decent night at the cash game, doubling my $100 buy-in and playing well. The only hand that stands out was a flopped boat with 56o. I made like I was un-happy and kept smooth calling the player to my left’s entire stack into the pot.
Happy new year! Here’s to a successful poker year in 2008! Thanks for reading.
