Home Game IV

The latest installment of the home game provided the usual mix of alcohol, a deep stacked tournament and a hyper aggressive short handed
holdem/omaha/irish cash game. In attendance were myself, Shazbo, Fluke, Maltese Mike, Sir Mike, Honest Dave, Tom, Briony, Jody, Jason, Uncle Paulie and Professor Geoff.

The tournament started with 10k in chips and 30 minute blinds, so plenty of room for manouver. However, this didn’t stop the other table going potty during the first two levels, the action likely caused by Tom. Professor Geoff and Briony were early casualties in the tournament.

I placed 3rd to sneak into the cash and a £200 payout, so doubling my money. A few key hands:

Hand1
I raise with A9 to 300 on the button and it’s called by Fluke in the BB. Flop 10, J, 4
Check, Check
Turn Q to give me a ton of outs
Check Check
River is a 5
I bet 400 hoping to steal the pot, but Fluke makes a hero call with Ace high. However, my 9 kicker luckily secures the pot.

I bumble along to the final table, winning a number of small pots and, at that point, a number of key hands occur

Hand2
Folded round to Jason in the SB who limps (blinds 300/600). I am relatively short stacked on about 6k so I push to pick up the 1200 in the pot with A9. Pretty questionable play, and I am instacalled by Jason with A10, who limped anticipating this move. However, a 9 arrives on the flop and all is well - Jason now shortstacked.

Hand3
Fluke raises UTG to 1800. Folded round to me in the BB and I flat call with QQ. Flop 10, 7, 2
I check, Fluke pushes for about 5k and I instacall. Fluke is drawing pretty thin with AJ and the Queens hold to elimate him. The check on the flop did the trick there - Fluke was relatively short stacked after suffering a bad beat to Shazbo a few hands earlier.

Hand4
Infuriating hand. Shazbo raises to 1800 on the button (we are down to 5 players). I flat call in the BB for 1200 more with 8♥9♥. At this stage I have worked up to about 22k in chips after the Fluke elimination.
Flop 8♠ 4♦ J♥
I bet 3k and it’s called
Turn 9s
Check Check
River As
I have two pair and am feeling pretty good about the hand. I check to give Shazbo the chance to bluff, but what I wasn’t expecting was for her to bet 150% of the pot by going all in for 14k. Horrible situation - if I call and lose I am crippled and down to about 3k. Not much makes sense but perhaps I’ve let her river a flush. Set? Doubtful as she would have bet the turn with the straight and flush draws. Q10 perhaps? I pass and am shown pocket 3s. Gutted. This hand costs me the chance of winning the tournament, as Maltese Mike and Jody are very deep stacked.

While I dribble down to about 8k, Shazbo is elimated, so at least I make the money. The blinds catch up with me so fast tough, because I am the short stack and we are only 3 handed. I end up pushing from the SB with 10s2d but get called by Jody in the BB with Ace rag.

The second tournament I am eliminated in 4th place (I think). It was a blind v blind battle my AJ verses Tom’s A10. The ten on the river was particularly galling, because not only had I missed out on the chance to cash in the tournie, but also had a £50 last longest bet with Tom, so the river card was a £100 card!

That brought me back to level for the night, but the cash game would cost me £150, so my dodgy run in April continues. I started nicely, but then suffered a disasterous Omaha hand described below, against Honest Dave. This hand also had implied tilt odds built into it, as after that hand I spent an hour happily tilting off anoth £70 or so to Dave, in a heads up game which finished at about 7am. It was a heavy night, and such was the severity of my hangover that I had to abandon plans to play the Sunday night online tournaments, which was a shame. Anyway:

Omaha Disaster Hand:
We are playing 4 handed, I think, and I have about £250 after a decent start. Dave is playing about £100 after losing a few recent pots. Memory is a lttle hazy at this stage in the morning, as myself and Dave have been drinking some weird lemon spirit for the last few hours, so Dave is invited to fill in any details of the hand in the comments if there are any inaccuracies ;)

Dave raises in the SB to £8. I call with 6♣ 8♦ 9♦ 5♣, and there is one other caller

Flop is 6♠ 7♠ K♦ giving me bottom pair and a wrap straight draw

Dave bets the pot for £24 which I call and other player drop out - pot is £72

Turn is 10h giving me the nuts.

Dave bets £50 and I push, but Dave only has about £8 behind so makes the call.

He has (I think) Q♠ 4♠ 3♦ A♦ which gives him middle pin nut straight draw, togetger with Queen flush draw

River is a spade, and the £190 pot heads off to Honest Dave. Win that pot and it would have been a profitable night. Ah well. It’s predominantly a tournament week this week, with 3 Loose Cannon tournies on consecutive nights. Hopefully I will achieve at least one cash to try and get some momentum going ahead of Newcastle, otherwise I’ll be playing the UKPT as one of the most out of form players in the field!