Playing against the anti-chrst last night (long story)

[DaNoob]

I had one of the most entertaining and frustrating rounds of poker last night and I thought I'd share the highlights.

$5 NLHE S&G table at Stars. Table is one of the tightest I've played on in awhile, with more than 15% of the hands being folded to the BB. I had played relatively conservatively for a while, and then ran into Satan. Once that happened, my night started going downhill. So, progression goes something like this:

After having lost to QKs with 99 after a foolish all-in by me UTG pre-flop (6 left in the game and trying to knock BB out), I find myself with A5s in the BB. I'm down to ~T1450, which puts me in 4th or 5th place. All fold to Satan on the button, who calls, SB folds, I check.

Flop: 8h 2s 3h. Check, check.
Turn: Js
I go all-in, hoping to run with the pot right there. Satan calls and turns over QhJh. Crap, but I've got lots of outs.
River: 4s, making the straight and the nut flush. I double.

A few hands later, Satan limps to me again in the BB. This time I have AQo and decide I want her (you know Satan HAS to be female) all-in or out of the pot. I push, she calls and turns over JKs. She doubles when a J hits on the turn and makes the comment "Justice". Although I shouldn't have said a word (other than NH) I replied "Whatever" and fueled the fire.

Satan had set her sights on me.

I slowly fight my way back up by stealing blinds and winning a few pots. It gets down to 4 people and everyone starts tightening up. I raise every now and again to steal some blinds, but Satan refuses to even complete her SB. I'm sure it was mostly my imagination, but it felt like she was fueling the other 2 to knock me out. For several orbits in a row, she folded every consecutive SB, but would often call on the button to play against me. I'm sure this was partly my imagination, but it felt like she had it out for me.

Finally, I get dealt AA on the button. I raise 2x BB and she calls me in the BB. Flop brings Qxx. I bet the Pot, she calls. Turn brings x. Pot, call. River brings x, she checks again, and I smell foul play. I check. She turns over QQ and scoops a nice one. I manage to smile and throw her a "Nice one".

So I build again. She continues to feed the other 2 players. Finally one of them gets knocked out and it's down to 3. By stealing blinds and rarely having to defend mine, I manage to become the chip leader. Then fate decides to feed my stack to Satan once again.

I'm on the button with T2o and raise 2x BB to steal the blinds. Satan (BB) calls. Flop come 44T. I like the flop, but decide to check, since she could be sitting on a higher pair. Turn comes T making it TT44. Now holding the 2nd nuts, I check again to induce a bluff. Satan checks. River brings a rag, and I make the minimum bet, hoping to induce a bluff. Satan raises the pot, I raise, she re-raises, I push all-in. Satan turns over 44 and leaves me with ~T1000.

That hurt. Yet, I compliment her hand again and move on. Nothing I could have done there (or was there?). Usual story, I fight back up a bit and regain 2nd place. As usual, not much activity on Satan's part to attack the other guy, so I keep looking for an opportunity. Then one arrives - 3rd place dude is in the BB and has ~T800 after posting (blinds are 400/800 I think). I am on the button and find pocket 3s. Foolishly, I push all-in, hoping to isolate the BB and get it HU or at least take his blinds (since Satan was obviously not going to do it). In retrospect, the all-in push with 33 was dumb, since I'll almost always be facing 2 overcards and taking about a 50/50 shot at the pot. So, instead of goign HU against the BBB to wipe him out, Satan calls my all-in bet from the SB and BB wisely folds. She turns over ATo and wins it when an A falls on both the flop and the turn, and sends me packing for a quick trip to 3rdplaceville.

The next hand she pulls the trigger on the BB and wipes him up. I'm sure it was just my imagination, but I swear she was gunning for me the whole game and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. Aside from my all-in with 33, I don't think I played poorly (feel free to correct me if you disagree).

Anyway, thought it was an interesting tourney and wanted to share. In the meantime, I'm hoping to run into Satan again for a little payback.

[cferejohn]

The only hand I'm sure I would play differently is the T44 flop when I have T2o. I would bet on the flop here, and I'd be willing to fold if she came over the top. Now, she may have just called here anyway (probably would have, in fact), and I would have ended up all-in on the turn or the river in any case with that board, but if it had played out differently (i.e. no more 10's) I think I could get away from top pair, no kicker if my opponent showed that much strength (with most opponents, I usually think calling indicates a stronger hand than raising, or more accurately, raising could be a strong hand or crap, calling is most always a hand, or at worst a very strong draw).

Going all-in with 33 was OK here I think because, a) here's a very good chance you won't be called and b) if you are, you are likely a ~50/50 shot to win. Certainly I would never call all-in with 33, but going all in is certainly defensible, especially if you feel your opponents fold too much. However, given that you thought Satan had it in for you, waiting might have been a better idea, though we may both be influenced by results.

[DaNoob]

Thanks for the comments. I agree with both assessments, although I'm wondering if the all-in play with 33, pretty sure that the BB will call (since he will be blinded out the next orbit), was such a wise move. Then again, and I'm too tired to do the math. If you think there's a very good chance that the hand will get folded around to the BB (thus increasing his stack), this push-in may be a no brainer.

As for the 2nd hand, I could have easily let go of the TPWK to a big raise if I hadn't filled on the turn. Once it filled, though, I never stopped to think that SHE might be holding the nuts, not that it would have changed my bet at that point.

[Guy McSucker]

Fun post to read: thanks!

The hand I think you could have done better on is the TT44 one.

With a board of TT44x and you holding T2, you bet and are raised. The best move here is to call, I think.

If you reraise, will an opponent call with just a four? I doubt it. So if you're called, your opponent has at least a T, might have Tx with the x matching the one on the board, to beat you, or four 4s.

I could be wrong: maybe someone with a 4 would call you. What they will not do is raise again. I also doubt that someone without a ten or four would bluff at this one twice like that, so when you get raised a second time I'm almost sure you can lay it down.

Guy.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

Seems like ol' satan played a couple of those big hands pretty well, trapping you very effectively. I think it may have been more in your mind than an actual diabolical plot against you by the chick with the horns. However, I'd look for her again, and try to get some revenge going. As long as you keep it in the $5 range. Gunning for a specific player can be quite a dangerous occupation. Also, if she does it again, you'll know it's personal. You may find that she doesn't even remember, and doesn't attack you at all the second time around. Still, it's good to have a nemesis every now and then. Keeps you on your toes.

al

[DaNoob]

Now that I read the post again and think about the hand, I have to agree with you on this one. Looking back, I remember thinking "I've got a monster, how can I get her all-in?" So when she bet smallish, and I raised, I started getting excited about taking all of her chips, without thinking about what she may have had.

Also, the x in the TT44x was an A, thus making my hand the 4th nuts, not the 2nd nuts. Calling is clearly a better play here.

Thanks for the insight!!

[Guy McSucker]

You said "River brings a rag" and now you're telling me it was an ace? ;-)

Actually the ace on the river makes a difference: I would strongly doubt that your opponent has AA or AT because of the earlier play. In this case, you are only beaten by 44 and putting all the money in doesn't seem so bad.

I was thinking that a river 8 or something might make life harder.

Guy.