Mercielss Beatdowns!

I had a great day today. I stomped some poor bastards!

I started off playing a mix of $10/$20 and $15/$30 6 handed limit games 4 or 5 at a time. After about 1,000 hands I was losing about $2,000. Clearly this was a pretty bad start to my day. I'd lost about $1,500 of it at one table. This fellow named yojimbo (who I know from past experience is a bad player) was killing me. I was getting good cards and making good hands but it was as if he was getting to choose the best possible turn or river card over and over. Yojimbo isn't the worst player, but he plays way too many hands before the flop and overplays them with too many bets and raises post flop. If you can make a few hands you'll win a ton, but if you keep missing it's not going to be cheap.

Then I saw that he was uncharacteristically at two $30/$60 games in addition to the one $15/$30. I decided to drop all of my other games which weren't exactly stellar and get into both of these $30/$60. I quickly got a seat in both games.

After 100 hands or so things were going well. I was winning about $700 in one game and only losing $120 in the other. Then the folloing two hands came up at exactly the same time!

In game #1 I got dealt JJ, yojimbo open raised to $60, I three bet making it $90 to go and he just called.

In game #2 I got dealt 77, raised and got called by yojimbo who was in the big blind.

In game #1 the flop came down J 4 2 giving me top set! I prayed for action and I got it. I bet, got raised and three bet it and yojimbo just called.

Back in game #2 the flop was coming down K 7 6 giving me another set! Again I prayed for action and I got it. Jimbo checkraised me and I decided to just call planning to raise the turn.

Meanwhile the turn was coming out in game #1 - it paired the 4 giving me a full house! I bet and yojimbo just called. But then it got wild on the river which was a 2. It turns out my friend jimbo had come all this way with A5 and now he'd made a straight! I bet $60, he made it $120, I went to $180 and he capped it at $240! BOOM! $987 pot headed my way!

Of course I was still in the hand in game #2. The turn was a three and I still had a set of sevens. Jimbo was first to act and he bet out $60. I popped him to $120 and he three bet it making it $180! I thought about capping it, but decided it would be pretty clear what I had if I did, so I decided to just call and raise him on the river. Just like clockwork, he bet out and I raised him. He just called and turned over 67 for two pair! $852 pot headed my way!

This all took place in about 45 seconds. It was insane.

Yojimbo played another round or two and then took off. I decided I would do the same and took a short break and a shower. I was about even for the day and feeling great about my comeback.

Post shower I played about another hour and picked up what felt like an easy $1,000 in the $10/$20 games. Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch I got in about an hour of play while my wife was out running errands and my son was taking a nap. When he woke up I had to jump out of my games, but I'd somehow made another $1,000.

I played with my son for a few hours while we watched some Sesamee Street and a little bit of the Mavericks/Nuggets game. When my wife got home I decided to log back on and see what I could do.

I then went totally nuts in three $15/$30 games. I played 204 hands in a little over a half an hour. I won 18 of 25 pots at showdown and 40 pots without a showdown. I was winning a pot about ever three and a half hands playing 6 handed and there was A TON of action.

One of my opponents was a total nut. He was in almost every pot and was giving a ton of action. In one of the first hands of the session I raised in the cutoff with AT and he three bet me from the button. I called and the flop came down AKQ I check raised and he called. The turn was a J making me a straight. I bet and he called, The river was a blank, I bet and he called. Do you know what he had? Pocket fours! WHAT!?! I guess he put me on 89s, 22 or 33.

I just kept making hands and getting action. When the smoke cleared I'd picked up another $3,000! I'm not sure, but $5,000 might be the most I've ever won in one day playing cash games. Certainly I've never run so hot as I did in those $15/$30s.

It was a great day filled with merciless beatdowns!