Tommy Angelo
09-25-2003, 12:34 PM
Here's an odd hand from yesterday morning with a barely connected afterthought.
I arrived at AJ's at 7:00 AM. The $15-30 game was threehanded, I made four, which is perfect for me in so many ways, most of which is that at four-handed, there are no drops of any kind, a totally free game, and at five-handed, it goes to $2 PER HAND, one to the house, one to the jackpot.
Secondmost of which is that fourhanded is my best game and just by thinking it so makes it so.
Third of which is that if a game is threehanded at 7:00 AM, it is always good. Not because people are stuck or tired or any of that. But simply because it exists. I have been in bad threehanded games, lots of them, and the one thing they all have in common is that they don't last long at all, and that's because in order for it to be a bad game with only three players in it, all three must be smart players playing smart, and smart players, when making smart decisions, don't stick around in bad threehanded games.
Fourhanded $15-30. Two good players playing well and the third guy was special. I had pocket sevens in the big blind. One good player folded, the special player limped, and the other good player folded the small blind. Headsup.
I bet the flop in the dark. The flop came 4-4-4. He called. I bet the turn in the dark. The turn was a three. He called. I bet the river in the dark. The river was another three. This is where it gets a little weird.
He sat and looked at the board sideways for a second, then he came out with four chips in his hand, slowly, talking. He said, “Well, it looks like a split pot. So I guess I’ll raise it.” He completed the statement when his chips-in-hand were still well above the table and not very far extended. Then he placed the four chips as a bet, and returned to his stack for more chips, twice, to complete the announced raise. All this took plenty long enough for me to decide that he was for real, it wasn’t an act, and that I should reraise, which I did. He didn’t do any more thinking or talking. He quickly called my reraise, and upon seeing my hand, he looked back at the board, and he tapped the table a little, and mucked face down.
The reason my game and game-selection have mellowed so much over the years, the reason I hardly ever make spunky moves out of position against good players, the reason I’m always eyeing the door, and the game, the reason I read mike l’s posts and see fond ghosts of my past, is because finally I’ve settled into a consistent and comfortable life of maximum return with minimum risk.
Tommy
I arrived at AJ's at 7:00 AM. The $15-30 game was threehanded, I made four, which is perfect for me in so many ways, most of which is that at four-handed, there are no drops of any kind, a totally free game, and at five-handed, it goes to $2 PER HAND, one to the house, one to the jackpot.
Secondmost of which is that fourhanded is my best game and just by thinking it so makes it so.
Third of which is that if a game is threehanded at 7:00 AM, it is always good. Not because people are stuck or tired or any of that. But simply because it exists. I have been in bad threehanded games, lots of them, and the one thing they all have in common is that they don't last long at all, and that's because in order for it to be a bad game with only three players in it, all three must be smart players playing smart, and smart players, when making smart decisions, don't stick around in bad threehanded games.
Fourhanded $15-30. Two good players playing well and the third guy was special. I had pocket sevens in the big blind. One good player folded, the special player limped, and the other good player folded the small blind. Headsup.
I bet the flop in the dark. The flop came 4-4-4. He called. I bet the turn in the dark. The turn was a three. He called. I bet the river in the dark. The river was another three. This is where it gets a little weird.
He sat and looked at the board sideways for a second, then he came out with four chips in his hand, slowly, talking. He said, “Well, it looks like a split pot. So I guess I’ll raise it.” He completed the statement when his chips-in-hand were still well above the table and not very far extended. Then he placed the four chips as a bet, and returned to his stack for more chips, twice, to complete the announced raise. All this took plenty long enough for me to decide that he was for real, it wasn’t an act, and that I should reraise, which I did. He didn’t do any more thinking or talking. He quickly called my reraise, and upon seeing my hand, he looked back at the board, and he tapped the table a little, and mucked face down.
The reason my game and game-selection have mellowed so much over the years, the reason I hardly ever make spunky moves out of position against good players, the reason I’m always eyeing the door, and the game, the reason I read mike l’s posts and see fond ghosts of my past, is because finally I’ve settled into a consistent and comfortable life of maximum return with minimum risk.
Tommy