I had the button

I played six hours last night and I won $10!  I will take that considering the game wasn't all that good and I was stuck $225 at one point.

There was one hand on the night that stood out.  The hand teaches a lot about image and position.  There were two people who limped in (we were playing 7 handed) and I limped on the button with 78.  The big blind, a tough but overaggressive player made it $15 more in the big blind.  One person called and I saw a flop on the button.  The effective stacks were about $175.  I called because I knew both players very well and I had position.  The raiser raises a lot of pots and had a wide range, and the caller is a pretty ABC regular who gives my bets super respect.  Knowing what I know about them and having position I didn't think I was in a terrible spot.  And 78 is not a bad hand at all.

The Flop came Q 4 2 and both players checked.  I thought about taking a stab at it right there but the preflop check was a little bit suspicious in my opinion from the big blind.  He continuation bets 80%+ of the time when he raises and I thought he could be slow playing something. I checked. The Turn came a 9 and it put two clubs on board.  Again they both checked.  At this point I am 60% sure that the BB has missed this flop with a hand like AK, AJ, KJ or maybe has something like 66 and just wants to show it down.  And I am 90% the other player doesn't have a hand that will call.  I bet $35 and the BB called after thinking for just a few seconds.  The other player mucked and the 4 of clubs hit the river.  The BB checked to me again. At this point I was about 80% sure I could take the pot.  I really didn't think he would open check to me with anything decent three streets in a row.  In addition, the board pairing 4's and putting a third club out there could earn a fold from a hand like 66.  I bet $75 and he went in the tank for a long time.  Now I was really concerned he had the 66 or 77 type of hand that would make a crying call.  But after about 30 seconds he folded and showed AQ!  I was really surprised he had that hand.  I wasn't so much surprised that he would fold it to me on that river, but that he played it so passively the whole way.  I asked if he wanted to see my hand and he said yes and I showed.  The whole table gasped and could not believe it.  One guy before I turned it over said "100% he has two clubs in his hand."  The BB actually smiled and applauded my play and said "I didn't think you had that move in your repertoire."  Another player said "what did you have?" when the cards got swept away by the dealer.  I answered, "I had the button."  Two or three people at the table were absolutely stunned.  They couldn't believe that I would make that move.  What they don't realize is that I do make moves like this every now and again.  They just don't know because it works most of the time.  I do it because I have such a straight forward, conservative image.  And that image is correctly applied for the most part.  I rarely make pure bluffs like this.  But I do in certain spots. When the turn of events and my table image makes it a profitable play, I give it a shot.  I could probably do it even more than I do now successfully but I also am trying to play a low variance style these days to protect my bankroll.

The hand is a great way to illustrate some of the old wisdom that says Texas Hold Em is about position and people.  If you know the people you are playing with and you play in position you are starting off with an edge.  That play is so much tougher to make against unknown players and even harder out of position.  The beauty is that after hands like that you can go right back to playing solid hands and sometimes they will pay you off because they remember that play.  And sure enough not even 20 minutes later I rivered a set of 5's against the same player after the flop and turn went check check.  I made a $40 bet and he called instantly and my three 5's took the pot.  Maybe he had a really good hand, but after checking three times to me again I don't think he was that strong.  That bluff was still in his mind and we would have paid me off with a wide range there.

Yesterday I may have only won $10 in poker but I had one of the sweeter sports bet victories of my life when the Clippers came back from a 27 point 4th quarter deficit to win outright on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies.  I had written the game off and if I was at home I wouldn't even have witnessed it as I would have changed the channel and not turned it back.  But the game was on at the poker club and I got to witness history.  As I made a comeback from $225 in the hole to $10 ahead the Clippers made and awesome come back as well!

Tonight I am taking the night off from poker.  I played about 75-80 hours in April and it was a good month.  I will take tonight off and jump head first into a new month tomorrow rested and ready to go. Tonight I will kick back and watch the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks play basketball.  And I will be rooting for the over!

I am three weeks and 21 days into the 52 week, 365 day quest and it is going well so far.  I am winning and feel good.  Bring on week four!

Disciplined Degenerate