Bad Beat Dog..

On reflection Fridays nights marathon losing turbo session wasn't entirely wasted.In poker you have to learn to accept losing and get used to bad sessions/weeks and even months.It's just that kind of game.I didn't enjoy the experience, but the next time I run like that over 50 games I'll be able to look back on nights like Friday and take heart from the fact I kept my cool during it,I didn't give up and I kept my losses to a minimum.

I'm always banging on about the long run to people after beats.I suppose that's because I feel like I've been through so many bad runs of my own that I accept they are natural aspects of the game and if I can get through them and profit then anyone can.

Last night I began by coming 3rd in a $33 single table turbo at Party before catching up with Rosie,Juice and Al Eleven in the chat thing.I only played seven $16's and fared far better on the luck front,managing a couple of cashes, including a win, to leave me $107 up at Stars for my work.I still bubbled once and had premium hands busted and I can handle that.It was just the unrelenting nature of Fridays beats and lost races which took me by surprise a little.Perhaps the first time I go on a 100-200 game downswing I'll look back and laugh at a 50 game blip!

During play, I've been trying to save one or two of the more interesting/unusual hand histories I'm involved in.I do ( regularly it seems!) post the hands I played like a donkey so they wont all be hands where I think I've outplayed someone or used a read well.If they do come across as boring brag posts with little value then by all means let me know in the comments box!

This first hand was unusual because I don't often call someone down with Ace high on the river.


PokerStars Game #17668497879: Tournament #89590410, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2008/05/24 - 21:56:55 (ET)
Table '89590410 2' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: joker0606 (1480 in chips)
Seat 2: cbhawk41 (2400 in chips)
Seat 3: zagga (3140 in chips)
Seat 4: Rigger359 (1320 in chips)
Seat 5: yamador1 (1550 in chips)
Seat 7: ORBEZO (1370 in chips)
Seat 8: thurst e (860 in chips)
Seat 9: Havran rick (1380 in chips)
thurst e: posts small blind 10
Havran rick: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [Qs As]
joker0606: folds
cbhawk41: folds
zagga: raises 100 to 120: 6bb preflop raise is standard here.Sometimes I'll make it 3bb and sometimes as much as 10bb depending on how the table is playing and my hand.
Rigger359: folds
yamador1: folds
ORBEZO: folds
thurst e has timed out
thurst e: folds
thurst e is sitting out
Havran rick: calls 100 : One caller.No reads but he doesn't seem to have stepped out of line so far.

*** FLOP *** [4h 7c Jh]: Apart from the flush draw it's not a bad flop for me.He's only going to have a set occasionally and only AJ/KJ/J10 type hands really worry me.

Havran rick: checks

zagga: bets 240: With his 1380 stack a bet of 240 is denying him odds to draw and is also representing such strength that it makes it hard for him to feel confident about bluffing me.I'd expect a strong Jack to reraise here to protect against the flush draw, even although as the preflop raiser,the chances of me drawing to a heart flush are actually quite slim when you take into account my full raising range.

Havran rick: calls 240 : He could know the above and be trapping with a Jack.I have position though and I'll see how the turn develops.

*** TURN *** [4h 7c Jh] [7d]

Havran rick: checks : I don't think the 7 has made much difference.How many hands containing a 7 could he call a preflop raise with? Not many.

zagga: checks : If he is trapping with the Jack,I'm not going to stack off here although I'm now leaning towards him drawing to the flush.

*** RIVER *** [4h 7c Jh 7d] [4c]

Havran rick: bets 480 : The flush fails to get there,he's not been protecting any Jack,he doesn't have a 7 and I can't see how a 4 helps him here either.He could have 55/66/88/99 but my gut feeling is he's on a missed flush draw and is now trying to steal the pot.He may think his Ah or Kh is good anyway on the double paired board,especially as I looked weaker by not firing again on the turn.

zagga: calls 480
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Havran rick: shows [Th Ah] (two pair, Sevens and Fours)
zagga: shows [Qs As] (two pair, Sevens and Fours)
Havran rick collected 845 from pot
zagga collected 845 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1690 | Rake 0
Board [4h 7c Jh 7d 4c]
Seat 3: zagga showed [Qs As] and won (845) with two pair, Sevens and Fours
Seat 9: Havran rick (big blind) showed [Th Ah] and won (845) with two pair, Sevens and Fours



Here's one from the $33 single table turbo I played at Party last night.
100/200 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (STT Tournament 40248449) - Sat May 24 18:30:58 EDT 2008
Table Speed 1330127 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: marv333 (3380)
Seat 2: Oudeman (2150)
Seat 5: Acornmn (2790)
Seat 7: pauli998 (1990)
Seat 8: Hydroxylysin (3205)
Seat 10: Ivko111 (6485)
Acornmn posts small blind (100)
pauli998 posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Acornmn [ Ts, Kh ]
Hydroxylysin folds
Ivko111 folds
marv333 folds
Oudeman folds
Acornmn calls (100): I don't like limping often but the villain was a fishy calling station who liked to "make moves" and I didn't fancy having to possibly make a c-bet on a board I'd missed with a marginal hand, out of position.I didn't just call blindly though.I did think I probably had the best hand and planned to take the pot post-flop if possible.


pauli998 checks
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 2d, 3s, Ad ]

Acornmn bets (400): Bet the scare card Ace and hope pauli998 has nothing and folds.

pauli998 calls (400): He took a while and called.He was so fishy I'd have expected him to reraise most limps preflop if he had any kind of Ace and I felt he was simply floating me here.( I'd been tight and hadn't been to showdown to get my stack)

** Dealing Turn ** : [ 5c ]

Acornmn bets (1000): Time to go with it and fire a second barrel.I make it 1k to be sure I give him little room to bluff,leave him in no doubt I have the Ace or get him to think I've got lucky with a 4 and made my straight.I know it's highly unlikely I have a 4 but as he's a fish I doubt he's aware of that.

pauli998 folds:Phew!
** Summary **
Main Pot: 1200
Board: [ 2d 3s Ad 5c ]
Acornmn balance 3390, bet 1600, collected 2200, net +600
pauli998 balance 1390, lost 600 (folded)

Ok,someone's in for a bad beat this afternoon and he's not even going to see it coming!I borrowed dog shampoo from the ex and after washing his bed, it's now just about time for Nacho to get a shower followed by a long run at the pitches to dry off.This could be messy....