Last night the Nationals had a 1-0 lead in the 8th inning. That should have been a lock with their pitching staff! But alas, Mark Kotsay, the former Oakland Athletic of all people ripped a 2 run double into the alley and I lost my only baseball bet of the day. I only have one more day to wait for my NBA fix so I decided on a little parlay today in baseball. I rarely bet parlays, but they are fun. Especially when they hit.
Tonight I have the following 4 team parlay:
Oakland A's +110 (Oakland has the best record against the O's in the past decade in the AL)
Phillies -260 (Roy Halladay pitching. That is a lock right?)
Angels -152 (Weaver pitching, plus the Angels gotta win a game sometime)
Nationals +175 (The Nationals are 14-5 with the Majors best pitching and they are getting +175? Yes please)
This parlay pays 11 to 1. I bet one unit and I am splitting the action with my brother. So 5.5 units if I win and just a measly half unit if I lose.
I also have the under on Oakland and Baltimore at -120 (8) and the Nationals straight up in that +175 spot against the Dodgers.
Last nigh my poker winning streak came to an end in a terrible way. And I was starting to wonder when it would happen. It seems like historically when I have had winning streaks and ran hot the good times usually end with a bang. Either a big loss or a brutal beat. Last night was worse than either. My single biggest pet peeve in poker is slow rolling. I absolutely hate it! I think it is terrible to do to someone and makes for a poor environment in a poker game. I understand Meta Game and all of that and I won't say that I am a guy who has never shown a bluff with the intention of putting someone on tilt, but to me slow rolling in a pot of any significance is just scummy. Last night I got slowrolled by a scumbag.
Last night I was playing with one of the best poker players in Northern California. When I say one of the best I don't mean based on his results. But in terms of natural talent this guy is as good as it gets. His only problem is that he has a bit too much gamble and he has absolutely no steam control. He can grind out $5K over a month of solid play and literally dump it all back in a steam filled tilt session lasting one hour. It is actually quite pathetic to see. It is a waste of pure talent.
Let's call this guy Jimmy for the purposes of this blog. I rarely get involved in big pots with this guy because he does play well and I don't have an ego and feel a need to go after the best like many suckers do. But when you play with someone long enough it will happen. And when he is on tilt there is an edge to be gained. Last night Jimmy was losing in the game and getting a bit unlucky and was definitely tilting. He wasn't full blown gone yet but It was possibly coming. For that reason I called a $10 raise out of the blinds when he raised with 78 knowing that if I hit a big flop I could probably get him for a nice pot. At this point in the night I had been playing about 3 hours and was only stuck about $50. I would have been ahead had I not lost to a one outer earlier in the night when my trips lost to the case Queen on the river. But I was playing well and under control. The flop came K 7 8. I checked and Jimmy bet $20. Now I don't have the nuts here but it is pretty darn good, even better when you consider his range at this point. I raised to about $60 and Jimmy pushed me all in and I of course called. The turn and river came a 9 and 5 which I did not love but felt pretty confident as I tabled my cards. Jimmy sat there and stared at the board for about 5 or 6 seconds after the dealer announced "Two pair, sevens and eights." Then Jimmy says "Two pair?" and turns over KK for top set. Jimmy and I have no bad blood or history together before that hand. In fact I would call our relationship friendly. I have no idea why he decided to do this to me. He knew what I had and he knew what he had, and he led me to believe that I won the pot. Anyone who has played live poker knows it is extremely bad etiquiite to do what he did there. Even half of the table mumbled under their breath what an asshole move it was. Maybe he thought he could get me on Tilt? Maybe he thinks I will go on Tilt like he does and he can get my money because he knows the only way he can get it otherwise is to cooler me? I am not sure. But our relationship took a serious downturn. And I will tell you this...I will slowroll him at some point in the future. It might be in three days it might be in three years, but I will not forget what he did. With things like this, yes, I hold grudges. Whatever way I can, I will have my moment. And he failed at getting me steamed up or tilted. He failed at getting me to buy in $500 and play every hand. I don't tilt Jimmy. I don't lose control. That is why I stay in the game and win month after month and pay my bills and don't have gambling debts. I win. Just because you have no control it doesn't mean others are just like you. I am the Disciplined Degenerate my friend. Discipline is real no matter the fact that you have never seen it. I will see you again scumbag. And you, unlike me, will go on Tilt.
Disciplined Degenerate
No comments:
Post a Comment