School’s in Session

This past week has been interesting.  I haven’t actually had much time for poker; at least not time enough for a proper $8/$16 or higher game.  Instead, when given the opportunity I’ve spent some time at the lower limits like $3/$6 and $4/$8.  In a way it feels good to spend some time with players who aren’t necessarily there to make money, but rather, to have a good time.  I tend to make more money from those players.

So after my March losing sessions, I’ve come back to a run of luck that has overcome my losses from last month and made quite a bit more money on top of that.  Last night, a friend invited me to a tournament at a casino I don’t visit very frequently – but they had an 11:30pm tournament where the buy-in was only $30.  It was a fun tournament, but in the end I didn’t cash.  After, I decided to play in the $3/$6 cash game, and had a very interesting hand.

I was at seat 5, and sitting at seat 3 was a young, loud, and naive player.  This story reminds me of that quote – something about “pride comes before the fall.”  Anyway, the table is somewhat passive – every once in a while there’s a preflop raise, but mostly it’s 5-6 people seeing the flop for one bet.  I’m in late position and I have my favorite hand – pocket 8s (8 of Clubs, 8 of Spades).  I limp, and I think about 5 of us see the flop.

The flop comes 10 of Clubs, 10 of Diamonds, 8 of Hearts.  This is basically a dream flop; unless one of my opponent has pocket 10s, I’m ahead.  One of the early position players (the prideful one) bets out, and I think a couple of people call.  I think for a second about just calling, but decide that if anybody is holding something like Ace-Ten and they spike an Ace, I’d better give them a reason to fold and play aggressively.  Besides, I had just started playing at the table, and wanted to show them that I am aggressive, and won’t let them push me around.  I was also the only woman at the table.

So I decide to raise and represent the strength of my hand right then and there.  The early position player says “Honey, I think I have a better kicker than you.”  He then raises.  The other players get out of the way, and I reraise, capping the bets on the flop.  He keeps repeating that he thinks he has a better kicker – which gives me the information I need – he thinks I have a ten, and he has a better kicker.

The turn comes – the Jack of Spades.  His eyes couldn’t have lit up any more; he announces yet again that he thinks his kicker is better than mine, and shows his neighbor his cards.  This is a very novice move – it was pretty easy to figure out that he was holding Ten Jack and made a better full-house with Tens full of Jacks.  My eights full of tens wasn’t the best hand anymore.

Still, he was all-in when he bet on the turn, so it was only $6 to me, to see the river and find out if I’m right about what he has.  He stands up as I call his bet, and the dealer brings the river card.

The 8 of Diamonds.  Wow – I just hit quad 8s, and my opponent obviously thinks he has me beat.  I’m only sorry that he was out of chips; he would have bet/raised and reraised all the way and I would have taken a lot of money off him.

He is very loud when he says “BooYA!” and lays down exactly what I thought he was holding:  Jack Ten offsuit.  I flip over my pocket eights, and the dealer announces “Quad Eights!”

The rest of the table laughed as I just sat there and watched as the pride left my opponent.

So in addition to the money in the pot, I also won a Monte Carlo of $360 for quad 8s – to which my opponent tells me, “You owe me a drink after that suck-out.”  The dealer came to my defense saying, “She had you beat preflop, and then had you beat on the flop.  You spiked a Jack on the turn, but she made quads on the river.  The only street you were ahead was on the turn; when exactly did she suck out on you?”

I loved that dealer; I gave him a healthy tip.  :)  And I didn’t buy my opponent a drink.  I told him that I don’t drink at the poker table; why would I buy somebody else a drink?

Good luck at the felt!

You’ve gotta love this game!

It turns out that March Madness isn’t just about basketball.  March Madness is basketball, right?  :)  Well, March was definitely a cray month for me.  Somehow I managed to weather the worst of it, and still come back fighting.

I’m happy to say that April has started out much better; I’ve said it before, but my favorite part of this game is depositing my winnings at the end of the night.

Psychologically, weathering a difficult string of losses is kind of hard.  I know that I am a winning poker player; I know that I am better than most of my opponents.  I enjoy hearing other players tell me that they respect my play, and don’t want to tangle with me.

So when I experienced a difficult losing streak a few weeks ago, I knew that I couldn’t let that get me down.  I knew that I had to believe in myself, and I had to get back into the game.  I had to review my strenghts and weaknesses, and correct problems.  I had to jump back into the game and rely on my knowledge and abilities.

Well, the big lesson I took away from March is how important sleep is to my game.  This point couldn’t have become more clear than it was on one of the biggest tournaments in the Seattle area.  The Northwest Women’s Championship at Tulalip was last weekend.  Last weekend was also a concert I had planned to go see with a friend.  Last weekend, I didn’t get very much sleep.  Here’s how it went down:

Saturday night my friend Dana and I drove to downtown Seattle to watch “Blue October” – an alternative band that has become popular.  (I felt like the oldest person in attendance.)  It was a good show, and we had a great time.  At about 1:00am we left, and started driving home.  At about that time another friend sent me a text message telling me that there is a great 2/40 spread game going on at The Crazy Moose.  The players were perfect, so he said, “school is in session.”  I had to go play.

By the time I got there most of the pretty bad players had busted out and lost enough money that they left.  It was still worth playing, and I ended up staying until 5:00am.  I get home at about 6:00am, and manage to get about 2 hours of sleep before I have to wake up and get ready for the REALLY BIG TOURNAMENT, which starts at 11:00am Sunday morning.  I pick Dana, my friend up at 9:00am and we stop through Starbucks for some coffee on the way.

I kind of knew I was in trouble; I felt irritable, and uncomfortable – but I was with my friend, and we were going to play poker – how bad could it be?

Well, about halfway through the tournament I’m doing okay.  I have about an average chip stack – not too bad, but not great either.  I’m still definitely in the running.  Our table breaks up and I’m seated at a new table, directly across from one of my favorite dealers – except she’s playing, not dealing.

The table seems tight; we hardly see a flop for the first 3-4 hands, and I look down at King, Ten offsuit, one off the button.  Everyone folds around to me, and I decide to make a move and raise to steal the blinds – a pretty standard play in this situation.

The button and small blind fold, and my favorite dealer calls.  The flop comes 5, 6, Jack – rainbow.  I think to myself “I have top pair with a King kicker.”  (I know- it’s not a typo.)

Big Blind bets out – a pretty substantial bet, which would put me close to all-in if I call.  The first thing I think is, that she hit a set.  I consider that she might hold pocket 5s or pocket 6s, and disregard the thought.  She might have called my raise with Ace Jack – actually it’s worth defending the big blind with a pretty wide range of hands – so it’s kind of difficult to put her on anything.  All I keep thinking is that I have top pair with a great kicker, and I can’t just call – I have to make a stance and move all-in.

I announce all-in, and ask my favorite dealer if she hit a set.  She nods affirmatively, and I say, “I have Jack King.”  To my horror, I turn over my cards and show 10 King offsuit.

Wow.

Well, even if I were correct about what I actually had I was still beat.

What a way to end a tournament.

Lesson learned.

I dedicated the remainder of the weekend to sleep, and tried to get 8 hours per night after that.  Now feeling better and more prepared I’ve gone back to the tables and managed to come away with a few wins, and deposited some money into my bankroll.  It feels good.

Lesson learned.