tilted behaviour

25:15 … or twenty-five hours and fifteen minutes … or the amount of time it took me between landing in Las Vegas and gambling in a casino.

Unlike the previous four years which saw me hit the gamble within a few hours, I just didn’t fell the urge this time as I opted to go shopping or get hungover instead.

And hungover I did, as last night completely destroyed me, and when I woke up this morning, I swore death had arrived! Mateusz and I grabbed some lunch before jumping on a Pai Gow table where I made some money before eventually falling back to even.

Mateusz returned to his beloved slots and I decided to hit the poker room to take a seat in their lone $1-3 NLH game for $300 which had six players before I joined. One of the first hands I saw was a 100bb pot with middle pair after he called the flop with a backdoor gutshot before turning second pair and calling a substantial check-raise which ended up being good on the river.

That very player a few hands later opened to $16 from early position and I made the call with 6♠ 6♣ from the cutoff as the big blind called too. The K♠ Q♠ 6♥ saw a c-bet of $16 before I popped it up to $42. The big blind passed, but the original raiser made the call before calling off his last $50 on the turn of the 8♣. The river landed the J♣ and I scooped the pot to move to $406.

I then won a smallish pot with King-Queen in a straddle pot when I flopped top pair and got one street of value. As Mateusz returned to signify the end of my session before we had to head to dinner, I opened Q♣ Q♥ to $12 and got three callers to see a Q♠ J♠ 9♥ flop fall. I continued for $22 which found one fold before the player on the button made it $72. The small blind passed, and with my opponent having $90-ish in his stack, I decided to put him all in because of two reasons – firstly I didn’t want to fold regardless of if he had it, and secondly because regardless of the turn (mostly) I was probably calling it off.

I shipped, he called, and the turn and river landed the A♠ and K♠ … YUK! He slammed down his J♣ 9♦ for bottom two pair as I was pushed the pot to move over $620 before eventually cashing out for $618 several hands later.

We headed out to Henderson to Donnie and GG’s house for a cookout with some of our mates including DK, Cory, Kristy and Andrew.

GG cooked a slamming BBQ which included hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks as we ate a bucket load of food out in the backyard before setting up around the fire to talk shit and play a jumbo group game of Lodden Thinks.

It would be five hours before we’d eventually decide to vacate the premises as Mateusz and I made our way to New York New York to catch up with some of my mates from Geelong; Davo and Frog.

As Frog put it in a text message to me … he was chasing skirt … but with Davo gambling away at a roulette table, we decided to join him before persuading him to the Craps table. I quickly lost $100 and we moved back to a different roulette table where both Davo and Mateusz lost some coin as I made a quick $100 before BlackJack was the next stop. Davo went busto as I made a small profit before moving to the Pai Gow tables to join Mateusz.

Once Davo joined us, some cocktails were ordered as we slowly saw our stacks swing up and down. Eventually we decided to call it quits as I finished up $100 for the table and for the session as we left Davo to break the bank on the BlackJack tables.

The past weekend was absolutely hell!

It all started when I headed up to Melbourne on Friday to catch up with some mates. We grabbed some dinner at the local pub while watching some of the Geelong vs Saints match before going bowling.

Mat and GG spotted James and I twenty pins where each game was worth $0.10 a pin, $0.25 a spare, $0.50 a strike and -$1 a first shot gutter ball. With the adjustment, I won by a few pins followed by GG and James while Mat bowled atrociously and owed us each around the $3 mark before the second game saw us readjust the handicap to give Mat ten pins while GG still spotted us twenty.

Mat bowled slightly better, while both James and I couldn’t replicate our 150-plus score of the previous game as GG really cleaned up by bowling out of his skin as the Saints proved victorious and I missed out on my total points bet by two kicks.

Our next stop was Mat’s house where we decided to play a game of Risk – well a few games of Risk – which, when played between some competitive poker players really brought about some intense strategy as the clock ticked into the wee hours of the night. Once the final game was wrapped up, we played a quick game of Bluff, before having to drive GG home – well to Lynn’s house anyway – as we finally got some sleep around the 4am mark.

Once Mat and I finally awoke around lunchtime, we made our way to Westfield to spend a few hours baby-sitting his sister.

Spending nearly more time in the car looking for a park then wondering the shops, once we finally made our way home we watched Fremantle dispatch of Mat’s beloved Hawks before we made our way to Crown to kill some time before we all headed out for some casual drinks.

This is where my weekend from hell started as I took a seat on a $1-2 NLH table and swiftly made one of those once-in-a-lifetime plays!

Posting in late position, there was a raise to $7 and a call, and I tossed in the additional $5 with 6♦ 7♦. The flop fell Q♣ 5♣ 4♠. The original raiser checked, which was followed by a bet of $15. I called, as did the original raiser before the turn landed the 4♥. Check, bet $20, I call and the original raiser decided to opt out as the 8♦ landed on the river. My lone opponent instantly moved all in and I snap-folded . . . errr what . . . yep I totally misread my hand because in my mind I was looking for only a three or a seven, and when it didn’t come on the river I was always folding. When I announced “I fold” and dropped my cards just in front of me I instantly recognised what I did, but since I had already announced a fold, I didn’t think it was ethical to make up some story while revealing my winning straight. Instead I just dropped my head into my hands, didn’t say a word, and painfully watched my opponent and his K♣ Q♦ rake in the pot.

Several hands later after a limp under the gun, I bumped it up to $11 with A♠ K♠ and was instantly shoved on by the limper for roughly $70. I called it off, and was quite puzzled when he tabled his J♦ 10♥. Although I flopped an Ace, he somehow rolled out a four-card flush to force me to top-up once again. Then just two hands later after two limps, I made it $14 to go with K♥ K♦. Both limpers called, and after the Q♥ 10♥ 8♣ flop landed, the same opponent who held the King-Queen earlier, jammed for $140. I shook my head in a what the hell is going on motion before making the call for my $110 or so. The other player folded, and when the 2♥ fell on the turn, followed by the 8♦ on the river, the appropriately named donkey slammed down his 8♠ 4♠ proudly and grabbed my chips before I could even table my hand or signify that I had lost.

Forced to rebuy once again to be in for $300, I eventually started to see some hands hold as I edged out just a negative $100 session while Mat cleaned up – of course through the donkey on three occasions – before we made our way to Public House to meet up with some of the boys for a friends going-away party. It was there that I had realised that I left a bunch of Crown chips in my pocket – and since I wasn’t planning on being back at Crown for quite a while – was out of pocket a few dollars.

The night of having a few casual drinks and watching some beautiful woman walk past was interrupted by GG and his call for help as he was stranded at some club in the city that wasn’t his thing. Mat and I were getting a little peckish and decide to venture to AC/DC lane to find him and save him for an hour or so. Unfortunately GG wasn’t to interested in deserting Lynn, so we jumped back in the car to make our way to China Bar. Just a block away, GG hailed on us again as Lynn was now all partied out and ready to vacate the club. We did a u-turn and picked them up before tucking into some much-needed food with one of my favourite persons in the world . . . a drunk Lynn Gilmartin!

Burping, spilling food on the table, her lap and into her tea, along with plenty of other stuff saw us enjoy a very entertaining meal before we were informed that the boys had vacated Public House in preference for Blue Bar on Chapel Street; and consequently, that’s where we headed. Unfortunately that was a bad idea as we stood outside being denied entry as the wind continued to hurl and the bouncers continued to be douches. A few minutes waiting for James was quickly trumped by the warmth of the car as we dropped GG and a now asleep Lynn back home.

Sunday was the true day of hell for me as it began with my car not starting.

Mat’s Dad kindly jump-started it for me as I made my way back to Geelong. Once at home, that is where I realised that I had left my laptop power cord at Mat’s place to leave me powerless on the eve of leaving for Sydney.

I then decided to play on PKR for a while and loaded up some 100NL tables where I swiftly lost Queens against Jacks, Ace-King against 88 and Kings against Ace-King. I did manage to stack top set of Aces when I flopped a flush with 2♦ 4♦ as I finish down around $50 or so.

I say around because mid multi-tabling, my connection died and all my tables closed. The reason why? GG had passed on details of how to download Jersey Shore episodes, and consequently my desktop caught a virus that shut everything down. Regardless of what I did, combined with the fix I downloaded to combat the virus, nothing managed to work.

Either way . . . from folding the effective nuts, getting plenty of hands cracked, leaving my charger in Melbourne and conducting a virus . . . it was definitely a weekend from hell!

Waking up to a barrage of emails regarding our Visas for Brazil, both Brett and I decided to make an unexpected trip back to the Rio to the PokerNews office.

I had to fill out an online application twice since the first one decided not to work, before Brett and I were finally free so as to enjoy his last day in Las Vegas. Venturing over to the Miracle Mile shops, we walked round there for an hour or so, not really finding anything until the very last store; Urban Outfitters.

I found about a dozen t-shirts that I instantly fell in love with, along with a couple of cool jackets, but decided to hold off until later in my trip before I leave. Mickey wanted to join us for dinner, and since we had around $120 in Hard Rock comps, we decided to eat at Johnny Smalls. Johnny Smalls is a really nice restaurant located at the back of the casino that serves tapas-styled food at a semi-reasonable price. With the three of us being joined mid-meal by Brett’s friend Jess, we ordered over twenty dishes while – since we’re all degenerates – playing nine-card Omaha flips as the bill totalled a little more than we expected.

With nearly every media member that was still in town heading to the Gold Coast for some midnight dollar bowling, the four of us made our way there.

As the beers began to flow freely, the cards came out once again as we played an intense hand on nine-card Omaha where Mickey flopped middle set, Elissa top and bottom set, Brett a straight flush draw and I a gutshot and nut-flush draw along with an overpair. I dinged an Ace on the turn to take the lead and leave everyone drawing dead apart from Brett who held the one-outer draw . . . of course it was delivered on the river as I spat chips and made a hasty exit from the bar to hit the bowling lanes.

Brett and I both valued ourselves as decent bowlers and decided to play 25 cents a pin, 50 cents a spare and $1 a strike, while also spotting Mickey fifteen pins to make the game even. Unfortunately for Brett and I, we bowled like complete dogs, and although we still beat Mickey, the fifteen pins we spotted him hurt our pockets. The next game I managed to convince both Mickey and Brett to spot me the fifteen pins. Mickey bowled roughly the same score of around 125, Brett bowled something in the 150s, while I bowled worse then an epileptic salmon and struggled to even pass 100 as I shipped the moolah to both of them!

I opted out of the last game as I decided that I wanted to bowl left-handed. Originally I tried to get a line off Brett at bowling over 75 pins, but he wouldn’t give it to me. He must have sniffed something as I came out and bowled a whopping 147 left-handed while he still managed a strong 170 and Mickey a standard 124 as we called it a night and headed back to the Hard Rock.

Brett and I decided to play some late-night cash as a send off to his Vegas trip as we both found ourselves on separate $1-2 NLH tables.

Brett scooped a huge pot just as his table broke to see cash out a rack and change as he called it a night as his flight left in a few hours, while I tried to stick it out to try and make some money. Finding myself all in preflop with Kings against an online kid’s Ace-Queen seemed good until an Ace found its way on the flop and I made my way up to the room to try and get some sleep before checking out tomorrow for Donnie and GG’s place.

Waking up well after midday, I sat around the PokerNews Mansion doing absolutely nothing before Heath and I decided to continue our table tennis battle from the other day.

Although he proved victorious 3-2 on the last occasion, I finally hit my straps on this one and crushed his soul fairly easy before both of us, along with Kirsty, decided to make our way to the Premium Factory Outlets for some retail therapy.

My plan was to buy a few pairs of shoes and a nice jacket, but failed miserably at the shoes while finding two half-decent jackets at Calvin Klein. I decided to hold off on the purchases until after the series as Heath was the only one to buy anything as we all returned home; and me to the Hard Rock.

With it being Chad’s last night in Las Vegas, we decided that we should go and hit the strip and do some gambling and drinking.

Our first stop was at Casino Royale to play some $3 Craps and drink some fruity margaritas. This was bad choice numero uno . . . not for the margaritas, but for the choice of playing Craps as we both lost; mine hitting the wallet a little heavier for three bills!

What!?! How could you lose $300 on $3 Craps you may be asking . . . well the reason is I was playing it more like $30 Craps than $3 and the fact that the luck of the dice wasn’t rolling our way didn’t help either. While Chad tried to run up his last few dollars, I found my way to a $1 Roulette table where I was betting at a minimum $60 a hand. Only buying in for $100, it lasted me a dozen spins or so before I punted it off and we made our way to O’Shaes to play the midnight $45 tournament.

It was a turbo structure with only a 2,000-starting bank, and after check-raising all in with top pair in the third level and getting snapped off with a flush draw, I was out before Chad when he spiked another club on the river. I dumped another $100 on Craps there, before Chad bite the dust and we made our way back to the Hard Rock.

Chad decided to call it a night as he had an early flight the next day, but I decided to kick on and play some $1-2 NLH in the poker room.

I chipped up quickly when a guy limp-shoved over my three-bet (raise to $7, then to $18) with deuces and I called off his $104 with Queens as the board blanked out.

A few orbits later I made it $7 to go with A♠ Q♠ and found three callers before firing out $16 on a A♦ 10♠ 2♥ flop. It was called round before the big blind led for $60 when the turn landed the 2♠ with only me calling before the 5♥ on the river went check, check. He tabled his Q♣ 10♦ and I collected the pot to move to $428 before chipping up to $486 after cracking Queens with King-Jack when I flopped two-pair.

The switch was then flicked as I proceeded to lose every hand thereafter. I was two-outered twice, and rivered three-times by the same guy in virtual back-to-back-to-back hands before losing my last $85 in a straddle pot with Queens against the straddler’s Aces to finish down a buy-in at the Hard Rock and $900 overall for the day!

I wish I had worked today!

Not able to hit the money yesterday, Day 4 of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event was going to become the money day for the first time in WSOP history!

Stripped of both blogging and reporting duties, I was sentenced(?) to iPad duty which entailed me continuously updating chip counts of my area roughly on average every ten minutes.

Based in the blue section of the Amazon Room, we were blessed with the majority of the chip leaders along with some of the better known players which made my job a little difficult at the start until Mickey came over once the remainder of the Pavilion Room broke.

As we neared the bubble, all those memories of playing like a donk in 2007 came flushing back as I wish I had a chance to revoke my button shove and just fold for two more hands so that I could have been US$20,320 richer!

The only positive thing about my bubble bust (apart from what I personally learnt), is the fact that many players either go out in worse situations, or play their hand horrible.

For the 2010 Bubble Boy Tim McDonald after being faced with a raise to 10,000, he made it 30,000 (of his 67,500-chip stack) to go as his opponent made the call to see a A♣ A♠ 2♦. Check, all in for 37,500, snap call! McDonald tabled his Q♣ Q♠ and his opponent tabled A♥ 2♥ for a flopped full house. Two Queens needed, but only one fell, as McDonald bite the dust just shy of the $19,263 payday but with an added bonus of a seat into the 2011 Main Event!

Only 575 players made it through to a day five berth, with adopted Aussie Tony ‘Bond18′ Dunst leading the field with over 1.5 million in chips.

Bruno, Rich, Heath and I all had a day off tomorrow so we decided to play a home game at the PokerNews Mansion where they were all staying.

We were expecting to get a few others, but due to some (soft) reasons, it ended up being just the four of us as we played $0.25-0.25 NLH on the pool table.

I was chipped down early and was forced to top up so I was in for $100 before my first major hand was when I stacked Bruno. He was playing like a banana, and after a three-bet Heath’s 75c open with A♦ Q♠ to $3.25 and Bruno made it $8.50 or so, I shipped it in. Bruno made the call for his last $30 or so with Kings, but when a Queen fell on the flop and the river, he was tilted and forced to rebuy.

I stack Rich when I overbet shoved my 5♠ 3♠ on a 9♠ 8♠ 2♥ 5♦ after he checked. He snapped off his last $60 (into a pot of around $15) with K♠ J♠, and was unable to improve after running it twice.

Then there was this hand that upset Heath after I opened K♣ Q♣ to 75c and the table called around to see a Q♦ 4♥ 4♠ flop fall. Rich and Heath checked as I fired out a bet of $2.50 with Bruno folding before Rich made the call as Heath bumped it to around the $8 mark. I three-bet to $24 and Rich passed as Heath smooth-called. We both checked the repeat Queen on the turn before the river landed the 5♥ and he check-called a bet of $10.25 with 10♣ 4♣ before launching into a tilt tirade once Rich told him that he folded a Queen too.

Heath eventually finished off Rich before we both played heads until the darkness of night had been transformed into early morning sunlight as I profited $194 from the friendly home game before finding comfort on the couch for some sleep!

By now you should understand that a day off from the World Series means time for cash games!

I slept in till late before grabbing some food and heading over to the Rio for some $1-3 NLH action.

Buying in for $300, one of my first hands saw me open K♦ Q♣ for $14 over a limper before checking down a dry board until the river brought the fourth club and I fired $20 at the pot. One player called with sevens while the other folded as I chipped up to $356 early.

A few orbits later I called $8 from the big blind with 10♦ 4♦ as six of us saw a Q♦ 9♠ 4♣ flop and the preflop raiser from the cutoff made it $20 to go. I called on a pure float, along with three others as the 8♦ landed on the turn. I checked, an ep player checked and then the cutoff led out for $65. The preflop raiser agonisingly mucked as the decision was now on me. It was $65 to win a pot of around $180 meaning I was getting three-to-one. I was 100% certain he had Jack-Ten, and was 90% confident he would call my shove on the river if I dinged my diamond or caught a Jack for a chop. Having $272 in my stack, I made the call as the ep player folded before the dealer dropped the 6♦ on the river and I shoved for $207. I was immediately snapped off and raked in the pot taking me to $650 . . . but my question is whether or not my turn play is justifiable in relation to pot odds mixed with implied odds?

I then leaked away $70 when my A♦ K♦ missed, my two pair was flushed on and I was forced to fold Queens to a bluff. I then managed to grab it all back several orbits later when I raised to $13 with Q♠ J♠ and found two callers as a 10♥ 5♠ A♥ flop fell and one player donked out $15 at the pot. He was fairly tight, but had $300 or so behind, so I floated him as the other caller folded. The turn landed the K♣ and my opponent fired out $20 – and praying that he had a set – I bumped it to $55. He unfortunately folded as I returned to over $650.

I opened A♣ 9♣ to $11 and was called by the guy that doubled me up early as a A♠ Q♦ 6♥ flop fell. He checked out of the blinds, and I decided to check behind to get some value out of weaker hands. The 8♠ landed on the turn and my $11 bet was check-called before the 2♥ fell on the river and my $20 bet was again check-called as I scooped the pot to climb to $718.

One of the last pots I won saw me call a guy down with sevens to take me to $740 before eventually cashing out $747 for $422 profit for the session before returning to the Hard Rock with the PokerNews guys.

It must seem like I’m the laziest PokerNews employee, but after just a few days on, I have another day off . . . and of course I headed to the Rio to play some cash!

I keep getting told how unbelievable soft the games are and how bad the players are, and yes what I have witnessed makes me wanna pitch a tent there, but I’m still yet to get any of it.

Sitting down at a $1-3 NLH table I post in the hi-jack and pick up A♦ K♦ and make it $11 with just one caller on my immediate left. The flop falls J♣ 10♠ 4♥ and I know that this most likely hit his range, but I still fire out $17 to force a fold from those hands I don’t have showdown value against. It doesn’t work as he calls and then successfully pushes me off with a $45 bet on a blank turn after I check.

I top up, and then get dealt 8♦ 8♠ under the gun and make it $12 and find three callers to see a 9♥ 2♥ 3♦ flop fall. The blinds check and I fire out $30 which is called by the button as the blinds fold before the A♠ is delivered on the turn. I felt that I could be up a just a flush draw, and even if I was beat by a nine, if I fired a strong bet to represent the Ace, then he may just fold. I led out for $65 and he instantly moved all in for over $400. Yikes! Ace-high flush draw it must be, and I mucked to slip down to $195 and topped up $75 to now be in for $400.

I squeezed K♠ J♠ to $28 after a straddle for $6 and four callers before being shoved into with King-Queen to run into my Aces to see my stack return to $357. I then made a terrible call with A♣ 6♣ on a 2♥ 4♠ 8♦ A♠ to be up against A♦ 8♠ as I slipped back down to $233.

I then bricked my 5♠ 3♠ on a 9♠ 8♣ 3♦ Q♠ board against Ace-Queen and an all in short stack’s Jack-Ten. Eventually GG came along and said he wanted to play somewhere else instead of the Rio, so I took my $171 off the table and we made our way to the Venetian.

GG had planned to meet Jonno Pittock there, and Jonno treated us to a nice dinner at Valentino’s even after getting three-outered for a $600 pot!

After dinner GG and I sat down on a $1-2 NLH table and I was quickly put on tilt when my K♣ 10♣ was run down on a 10♦ 7♥ 6♠ 2♥ 6♥ by J♥ 9♥ before I managed to flop two pair (after squeezing preflop) with Q♣ 6♣ and finding a little bit of value.

Bruno had been playing on a different table and soon joined us as I made it $6 under the gun (still tilting obviously) with Q♠ J♥ with GG calling before some banana made it $16 from the button. We both called and then check-called $15 on the Q♦ 4♥ 10♠ flop as the 9♦ landed on the turn and we again checked to the banana. He fired out $25, I called and GG made it $85 total as the banana moved all in for just $55. Although I think it’s technically a call here nearly every time, I opted to fold as GG tabled his K♠ J♠ to collect the pot and send the banana reaching into his wallet.

I then three-bet someone to $37 over his $12 raise with A♠ K♠ and then folded to his $50 donkbet on a Jack-high flop. He flashed his A♥ J♥ and I sarcastically said well played before topping up to now be in for $400.

Jonno then joined us on the table as I chopped Kings vs. Kings preflop in a five-bet all in pot before taking a nice pot off Jonno. Bruno opened to $6 and GG called before I three-bet them to $24 with Q♥ Q♦ for about the fifteenth time in the last few hours. Jonno called from the button as we went heads up to a Q♣ 8♦ 7♥ and I fired out $27 with Jonno check-calling as the A♠ landed on the turn. Because I had been barrelling a lot and showing my nine-high three-bets, I was hoping that Jonno might have hit the Ace, and if not, call super lightly. Therefore I only fired out $49 and he quickly called. The river landed the K♦ and unless he was floating with a gutshot, or slow-playing an overpair, it shouldn’t have changed anything. I had about $120 or so in my stack and really wanted to get paid off by the bottom of his range like 10-8 etc. Consequently I only made it $50 to go and he snapped me off with A♣ K♣ to see my stack soar into the positive . . . if only I knew he had that hand and I could have had an additional buy-in up my sleeve!

Quite a few orbits later once Donnie and Lynn had arrived from work, I opened K♦ 10♦ and was called in three spots to see a K♠ 7♥ 6♦ flop fall. I fired out $16 and Jonno raised it to $40. I really didn’t believe I had the best hand, but even if I did, the cards that fall on the turn that make it ugly for me to call a barrel far outweighs the good ones. Consequently I showed no fear (which if you’ve been reading Tilted Behaviour lately you will have noticed as I’m continuously unafraid to bluff and play big pots in comparison to my old game – something playing online has contributed to I believe) and made it $105 to go. Jonno thought for ages and mucked, as I flashed the 10♦ to try and tilt him.

With Donnie having no money since he had just bought into tomorrow’s $2,500, I decided to cash out a $116 winner and lend him some money to play since I was basically folding every hand to build crazy Carlos Mortensen-inspired chip sculptures.

Unfortunately that was a terrible idea as the game continued until deep into the morning as I tried to doze off on the chair next to Donnie as the Rounders-esque game continued until the bright daylight of Las Vegas pulled us out of the Venetian in time for three hours of sleep before my midday start!

With a tough run behind the computer over the past week or so, I decided to cash in a day off I had up my sleeve and take the weekend off.

My plan wasn’t to sleep it off in the hotel, but go play some cards to see if I could switch off some of this run bad.

I headed to the Rio and sat down in a $1-3 NLH game which was full of maybe one good aggressive player and the rest amateurs. Both the under the gun and button straddle were in play frequently, and I had had mine three-bet a couple of times, as well as myself three-betting them too – especially when the only decent aggressive player (let’s call him Tom) did it.

On one occasion Tom straddled under the gun to $6 and I made it $18 with K♣ 7♠ from the cutoff. He four-bet me to $50, and instead of just releasing the King-high like I should, I decided to five-bet to $135 to really put him to the test. It took him about three minutes, but he eventually made the call before shoving for over $250 on the 9♣ 9♥ 2♣ flop to put me to a test for my last $225. I actually thought about making a ridiculously light call hoping he had a Q♣ J♣-type hand, but instead just mucked and topped up back to $300.

After not playing a hand for ages I decided to play a pot holding J♦ 10♦ when the tightest player on the table raised to $15 under the gun. I called from the small blind as a 6♥ 6♣ 5♠ flop fell and my opponent fired out $15 again. I check-raised an additional $37 making it $52 and he made the call as the 4♣ landed on the turn. Of course my flop play was meant to produce a fold, but since it didn’t, and the turn card was pretty good, I decided to run a triple barrel bluff and fired out $70. Taking his time, my opponent made the call as the 10♥ landed on the river. Although my hand improved (against those small overpairs) I was certain I was behind but continued my plan and fired out $140 to effectively put him to a decision for his last $120. He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and angrily mucked as I sheepishly smiled before raking in the pot.

I then had a real interesting hand come up where, if I was online, I would have played it entirely different. I opened to $11 from middle position holding Q♠ Q♥ and the big blind called as the J♥ 8♠ 3♦ flop fell and my $16 bet was check-called. The 6♥ landed on the turn, and following a check I fired out $35 only to get check-min-raised to $70. To me, when playing online at the limits I’ve been playing this is normally a huge indication of a hand that beats me, but since we’re playing live it makes it different. I decided to smooth-call because if he was bluffing he wasn’t calling a shove, but may bluff the river, and if he had a hand it gives me a chance to reassess on the river. The river landed the 4♠ and my opponent moved all in for $110. I probably sat in the tank for over three minutes running a range of hands through my head.

“You could have a set here. Threes? Jacks? Nah . . . You could have Ace-Jack of spades too!”

Another minute went by before I finally made the call and he amazingly tabled his A♠ J♠ as I raked in the pot to soar up around the $200 mark.

Unfortunately a few minutes before I was leaving I gave a bunch of chips back to that same opponent, when after he limped, I made it $14 with K♠ J♠ from the cutoff and he was the only caller. He check-called $17 on the J♥ J♦ 7♠ flop and it automatically made me smell something funny. We both checked the 8♣ on the turn before I just called $35 when the river landed the 4♠. He showed me his 7♥ 7♦ and all I could think was that I got out of that cheaply!

I cashed out $553 but it only meant $73 profit after having to top up early several times . . . lesson . . . don’t five-bet preflop with K♣ 7♠!

Returning to the Rio for some Sunday cash game action I again found myself on a $1-3 NLH table.

On my second hand I was dealt 4♦ 4♠ in the small blind and called $10 to make it six-ways to the flop. The original raiser fired out $10 on the 2♥ 5♠ 6♣ flop and everyone folded round to me before I check-raised to $32. He called and I dinged the 3♠ on the turn. I led for $65 and he moved all in for $180ish. I snapped it off and tabled my hand, and he just mucked and left the table (without realising we could chop), as the dealer just pushed the pot to send me to $540 without even dealing the river!

The following hand I was dealt A♠ Q♠ and opened to $11 from the button only to have a short-stacker in the big blind make it $20. I put her all in for her last $89 and she called it off with Jacks and held to send me down to $450.

Then about an orbit later I copped a bad one when another multi-way pot saw me dragged in for $13 with Q♠ 10♦ from the blinds. I checked the A♥ K♠ J♥ flop as the original raiser fired out $15 and was called in one spot before I made it $70. The original raiser called before the other player folded as the K♣ landed on the turn and his last $90 went into the pot holding K♥ Q♥. No heart on the river but an even dirtier Q♠ saw me slip right back to what I sat down with.

I flopped trips and turned quads blind on blind with Q♠ 4♠ but played it fairly awful as I only managed to get $110 out of the sucker before getting taken to value town with King-Jack against Queens on a dry Queen-high board. With Donnie’s tournament heading on dinner break, I decided to join him and took my $270 off the table to leave me down $330 for the day so far.

Following some food and a much needed break I found myself at a new table with my $270 and was soon involved in a big pot after calling $16 last to act in six-handed pot with 4♥ 3♥. The original raiser fired out $45 on the K♥ 9♥ 4♣, and once the action had folded to me I decided to make a huge committed check-raise to $155. He angrily folded and I was up to $338 before making the nut flush with A♦ 9♦ and winning a small pot to see me end the session up $114 but down $206 overall for the day.