"Give me a rack of high society" (little strategic content)

[scrub]

Just had to share my night at Foxwoods.

I get to the room at around 11. Wait for an hour or so for a game, end up sitting 20/40 for two button rounds before I get called for the 5/5 NL game. I take the seat and immediately regret it, because the 5/5 game isn't anywhere near as good as the 20/40 had been. I overplay a boat against a kid my age's flush on my first button round, assuming that his sunglasses and costume jewelry mean he's a moron. He lays it down face up. Two button rounds later I'm about to pick up and try to get reseated in the 20 game when a goofy asian guy fills our empty seat, buying in for a rack of black, two flags, and some loose black on the side. That's 4100+ big blinds, for those of you playing along at home…[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

First hand, the kid who dumped the flush against me opens UTG for $35. There are a few callers, then the action gets back to Mr. Stack, who makes it $400 straight with a goofy grin on his face. Kid thinks for a few seconds, then pushes for $1100 total. Mr. Stack instacalls. Kid has AKo. Mr. Stacks has A6o. Kid doubles through. A crowd develops around my table. The deeper guys start trying to convince the shift manager to open a 10/25 game, but, thank god, there aren't any tables. Someone offers me $500 for my seat. I try to take it, but the guy changes his mind, or realizes that the floor won't let us do it.

Mr. Stack has is the best kind of gambler. He smiles when he loses a pot, and says that the only way he's leaving is if people act like jerks when they lose. The two guys with cashboxes run to cover him.

About 5 dealers go by and I lose $300 or so. I get strung out on a few draws in pots that Mr. Stacks doesn't play, and I lose a pot to Mr. Stacks when I raise to $75.00 with AKs from the button, he calls from the blind with QJ, turns a pair, and value bets small enough that I figure I ought to call him down.

I have keep around 700 in front of me, but don't put the rest of the cash I have with me on the table, since I don't want to have a hard time calling a gigantic flop bet with a one-pairish hand.

Finally, I pick up K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] and make it 30 to go from MP. Mr. Stacks doesn't put in his typical gigantic reraise from the button, a few a limper coldcalls, and I start kicking myself for not raising more. Flop is K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Yay. Checked to me, I bet 60. Mr. Stacks makes it 200. I call. Turn is Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Check to him, he bets $200, I push. He calls and shows me K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I'm astonished that he's drawing so live, but dodge the river and double up to about $1400. Mr. Stacks is pretty friendly about it, but starts to play a bit wilder during the next few hands, openraising in black a few times.

When the blinds swing back around, he raises to 100 UTG. I'm pretty sure he's blind. A terrible loose player with $400 or so coldcalls. I grab a bunch of black and toss them out--it counts down to $900 to go. Mr. Stacks calls. Other guy folds. Flop is 6 8 J. Mr. Stacks checks, I push, Mr. Stacks calls. He turns over 89o for middle pair. He does not improve, and I'm up to $2800 in about a button round.

4 hands later he runs into someone else's cowboys, and is stuck over $4000 for the dealer's down.

I decide that I don't feel comfortable being as deep as I am, and the room is about to start a 10/25 NL game for Mr. Stacks to play in, so I take off.

Anyway, it was the first time I've ever played in a game that drew a crowd, and the first time I've ever seen someone buy in with a rack of black to a game with such tiny blinds.

Foxwoods is neat.

scrub

[soah]

[ QUOTE ]
When the blinds swing back around, he raises to 100 UTG. I'm pretty sure he's blind. A terrible loose player with $400 or so coldcalls. I grab a bunch of black and toss them out--it counts down to $900 to go. Mr. Stacks calls. Other guy folds. Flop is 6 8 J. Mr. Stacks checks, I push, Mr. Stacks calls. He turns over 89o for middle pair. He does not improve, and I'm up to $2800 in about a button round.

[/ QUOTE ]

Errrm. This story is missing something here. =)

[etizzle]

yeah, whatd you have? KK?

[scrub]

Yeah, I had KK again.

Looking back over this post, it's pretty retarded, but I was pretty excited about it when I got home. I just got a huge kick out of the rack of black for a 5/5 game...

Anyway, the 5/5 at foxwoods is consistently great.

scrub

[Lawrence Ng]

Hi Scrub,

Great story and I enjoyed reading it. I'm glad things went well for you. I love NL games with a crazy "Mr. Stacks" type players. It livens the game, creates a wonderful poker ambience and above all else is just fun to play. His attitude towards losing and gambling is also what makes the atmosphere so wonderful.

The one thing about NL poker I love is that I play it fearlessly even more so than limit and its against players like Mr Stacks here that give me such courage because good players have so much +EV against crazy bad players like him. True enough the variance is incredibly high because if and when they do suck out it's pretty costly.

We have a 3-6 NL game here in Vancouver. The max buy-in is only $200 which is stupid and lame to see say the least but that is the casino rule. Management says it's to protect the fish from going broke, but I tell them to make it cap buy-in of $600 at least (100 times BB). They won't listen. And above that, at any point in time the max bet is $500 so it's not really NL. Their reason is that the max bet in the casino is only $500 which is a crock of sh*t, because some BJ and Baccarat tables allow a $2500 max bet.

Anyways, I am reminded why I love NL poker when some super loose aggressive tricky kid open raises UTG to $25 with 6 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]4 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. All fold to me on the button with Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. I call, SB folds and BB calls.

Flop comes Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]4 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

BB checks, Crazy Kid checks and I bet $100. BB folds, Kid check raises me for $300 total. At this point I know the kid is on a draw. If he has a monster, he would smooth call and then I would smell a trap. He's got about $2000 in front of him and I only have about $1000 left. So I call.

Turn comes a 7 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. Now the kid checks. Here's where I get pissed because I can only bet the $500. I'm going to push it all on the turn because he's going to call no matter what if he's on a draw. So I bet $500, Kid calls $500 instantly.

River comes a 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Kid says, "I'm all in". I have $200 left, pot is over $1600 and rightfully so I call.

I never got mad, a bit dissapointed yeah, but then again I just remind myself that over 7 years of playing with this kid that I have cleaned him out enough times.

Besides I really pride myself for not getting upset and staying focussed. It's really important for me and it's helped my game a lot, especially for big tournaments when I get short stacked after getting cracked up the wazoo.

[Sponger15SB]

I don't really get the point of the Q9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] story is, however, he was a tiny favorite on the flop.

[SpaceAce]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't really get the point of the Q9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] story is, however, he was a tiny favorite on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

... and a big dog on the turn which is where the hero would have gotten his money in if the game allowed it.

SpaceAce

[Wayfare]

Good man scrub. Oh man oh man why can't my kings hold up when I build such a gigantor pot?

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't really get the point of the Q9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] story is, however, he was a tiny favorite on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

... and a big dog on the turn which is where the hero would have gotten his money in if the game allowed it.

SpaceAce

[/ QUOTE ]

That would have sucked, he would have lost his whole stack on the turn instead of having lost the last $200 on the river. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

he said his max bet on the turn was $500, the guy still called, then he only had $200 left. he wouldn't call a $700 bet but he calls a $500? no

[Ulysses]

You're missing the point completely.