Project 10K Session #17 - Easy Decisions

I wasn't going to play this week, but on Thursday when my wife said "Are you going to play today?" that was all the prompting I needed.

It ended up being a short session of about 2.5 hours, and it was loaded with easy decisions.

I started off at $1/$1/$2 and on my second hand I got dealt Q9 of clubs in the small blind. After a few calls there was a raise to $19 and a few other callers. Stretching the preflop standards a bit I called as well. We took the flop 5 way and it came down 9 5 2 with one club. We checked to the preflop raiser who pushed $30 into the pot. Betting $30 into a $100 pot looked like desperation to me. He only had about $100 in front of him and I figured if he had the goods he would have shoved. I looked at the other players left in the hand and they didn't look all that happy. So I shoved for $175. The guy who bet $30 called all in which I didn't love, but the board bricked out and when I showed my hand it was good.

A couple of hands later I got into a similar spot. I called a raise to $17 with JT against 4 opponents. The flop came down J 7 4 and the preflop raiser shoved for a little over $100. I was the last one left in the pot when it got to me and riding the high of my last hand I called him. This time I lost to KK. In writing the last paragraph I now realize that I should have stuck with the all in means they have it and the weak stab means they don't most of the time, but oh well.

I took a tidy $45 profit with me as I went over to $2/$3/$5.

There the easiness really hit its stride. On my 4th or 5th hand I got dealt A3 of hearts. I called $5, there was a raise to $30, a call, and I called as well. The flop came down 7 4 2 all hearts! Hey hey! I checked and the preflop raiser bet $55. I was praying he had something and just called. The turn was a black 9 and I checked again. I was hoping he'd put me on a bare big heart and bet big to protect his hand. As desired he bet out $150 into the $200 pot. If he'd bet a little less I may have just called, but he convinced me that he really had it. I thought an overpair with a heart was a possibility, but if he didn't have a heart a 4th heart on the river would kill my action. In the end I decided that $150 looked a like a very good hand so I went all in for $400. He quickly folded.

The very next hand in the big blind I got dealt KK and there was a raise to $20 and a call in front of me. I made it $60 to go and the caller called me. The flop came down J 7 3, I bet $85 and took it down.

A couple of hands later I got dealt AA and again there was a raise and a call in front of me. This time I made it $70 to go and both opponents called. The flop came down 7 7 T which was great for me. If they didn't have 77 or TT I was ahead (I had them folding any other hand with a 7) and way ahead at that. To my delight one of them moved all in for $197. I hemmed and hawed a bit to see if I could lure in the other guy, but he quickly folded once I called. The river bricked out and I won.

After one round I was up about ~$700! Hey this is easy! One of the other players pointed at his chips and said "Should I just give these to you now?" and I said "Sure! My gift to you will be I'll just take them now and then you can have the rest of the night free to do whatever you want!"

At that point I had to go out to my car for a minute and I went to the bathroom. I got back just in time for the big blind and looked down at 97. I flopped two pair on a K 9 7 board, bet the flop and the turn, checked the river, and beat 86.

Mr. Should I Just Give These To You Now said "Man, you walk away from the table, sit back down and get two pair right away. Easy game."

The I had one decision on one insane hand that wasn't hard, but did take some careful consideration. I called $5 with A5 of clubs, a middle position player made it $25 to go the button called him as did the small blind. We took the flop 4 ways and it came down T 8 3 with one club. It checked around. The turn was a great card for me - the 2 of clubs. Now any club would make me the nut flush and any 4 would make me a straight. Also there was no way that 2 helped anyone. The small blind checked and I bet $75 fully expecting a bunch of KQ or AJ type hands to all fold. But then the middle position player made it $150 to go - the min raise indicating a very big hand. Then the button went all in for $625! And the small blind went all in for $225! What the fuck is going on here? You all checked the flop and now you're all going all in?

For me it was math time. There was $100 in the pot preflop. Middle position had his $150 plus another $200 that I figured was going in. I put $75 in the pot already and I had another $550 to call. So I had $100 + $150 + $200 + 75 + $625 + $225 = $1,425 in the pot and $550 to call. I had 12 outs to make a flush or a straight and there were 46 unknown cards left so I had 26% chance to improve meaning I'd need more than $2,115 in the pot to make a call worthwhile.

I can tell you in the moment my analysis was not so impeccable. I ball parked the pot $1,200 and thought I needed to put in about $500. That was clearly off, but there were 6 different piles of chips in varying levels of easy to count and it was a quick count. I also ball parked what I'd need in terms of pot odds at about 3 to 1 in the 1 second I thought about it. After about 5 seconds I knew I was short of what I needed. But I decided to do a second count and be precise about how much everyone had just to be sure. While I was doing that I thought "Duh, you idiot one of them must have a set so the 3 and 8 of clubs are no good meaning you only have 10 outs." I spent another 10 seconds mostly lamenting that I didn't have odds to call and just taking my time to be sure sure and then folded.

Mr. Middle Position called and they all turned up their cards. Middle Position had 33, the button had TT and the small blind had 88! They'd all flopped sets! Even though I knew I'd made the correct fold, I didn't want to see a club on the river. When it came out the river was an 8! A one outter for the small blind. Holy shit! That was a crazy hand.

At that point I started a run of maybe 60-90 minutes where I won every hand that I either raised or called a raise. They weren't all that big, I just won them all.

Called a raise with QTs flopped a Q bet it on the turn and won.

Raised KQ and got 3 callers. Decided to check it and it got checked around. The turn was a ace that also completed a flush draw (the worst card in the deck) and it checked around again. It checked around on the river and I won.

I three bet AK vs a raise and a call and won.

I raised T9 of spades, the flop came down K 9 3 with two spades, I bet and won.

I raised JJ out of the big blind, the flop came down K high, I bet and won.

I raised KJ the flop came down all small, I bet and won.

I raised AQ and the flop came down all small, I checked, it checked behind me. The turn was a J, I bet and won.

7 hands where no one made anything or took a shot at me!

Then I finally got a little resistance. One player straddled for $10 and I made it $40 to go with AK of spades and only the straddle called. The flop came down 9 5 3 with two spades and one club. I bet $40, he called. The turn was the 7 of clubs, I bet $80, he called. The river was the A of clubs. I checked hoping he'd take a shot at it and figuring any worse hand would fold to a bet. He checked back with Q9 and I took it down.

Mr. Should I Just Give These To You Now said "Man, even when you miss the flush draw it's like hey here's an ace."

A couple of hands later, Mr. Q9 straddles again and I get AK again. At this point I'm fully expecting to lose. I've just gone too long with everything working so well. I make it $40 again and this time instead of calling he shoves all in for $175. Of course I call and the board runs out J 7 6 5 T. I'm thinking that I lose to any pair and most of the aces. I show my AK and he goes to turn over his hand. He picks it up and I see AT, the guy next to me says "Ace ten?" and I think, "well it had to end sometime." But when he pushes it out in the middle of the table I see that it's really A9! Ha ha!

I played about another half hour and mostly got garbage. I did have one small bluff not work, but it was not very expensive. At that point I started thinking that if I left right then I could catch my kids before they were asleep. I latched on to that idea and hit the road earlier than normal.

I walked out the door a $1,446 winner on the night. My $10,000 bankroll is at $15,576! Whoop whoop! 77.5 hours in the books and 22.5 hours left to go. This weekend is a holiday weekend which is traditionally the best time to play so I'm going to put in at least one if not two sessions.