They say that the cards you get dealt evens out in the long-run and after many previous sessions at The Empire where premium holdings were indeed at a huge premium, I begin to feel that justice is being done when after about two and a half hours of play I get dealt my third AA!! This time, it's going to work out. I'm in late position and on seeing the aces I start to wonder how I'm going to go about extracting. Thankfully, it's all done for me before I have to make a decision as I hear a voice coming from the far left of the table saying "£200." I think my ears have deceived me but on looking up I see that, indeed, £200 has crossed the line from the stack of Mr Drunk City-Type guy.
Well, hearing one all-in while holding AA in late position is nice but TWO!? Yep, this is followed up by an aggressive player who also - at that beautiful moment - puts all his £200 chips into the middle. I do the necessary but I only have £186 of chips in front of me. (Mr Drunk City-Type Man is sitting there with about £500!) Fuck and bother. No auto top-ups here I'm afraid :-(
We decide to flip our cards over for the entertainment of the table (it's a great talkative table) and we're looking at the classic AA v. KK v. QQ situation. One of our hands connects with the flop - IT'S MINE!! The wonderful ace hits the board and the turn is a blank and I do a quick mental calculation working out what the sum of 186 multiplied by 3 is. After the rake has been extracted and a £6 tip is given to the efficient dealer, I'm sitting there with around £540. It was going to be a good evening after all.
Key Hand #5
I am happy to say that from here on in, I just kept adding more chips to my stack. Soon after this, I tangled with a player who I initially thought was quite solid but who, after losing a few big pots, self-destructed in no uncertain terms. He made no effort to conceal the fact that he was devastated, looked as if he'd just been told that a close family member had died and played in every hand afterwards in a resigned manner and in a state of what can only be described as deep depression.
I have position on him with Q 3 of hearts and we're at the flop which contains undercards to my queen but two hearts. He throws in a lazy £15 and I elect to call reading him for a nothing type hand. The queen hits the turn and I reckon I have him beat. I'm happy to call his £25 which he throws into the pot in a lifeless, couldn't-care-less kind of way. The river brings the jack of hearts and it's happy days. He throws in a tired £51 as if to say "I know you've hit the flush but here's £51 anyway." Something told me he still had an ounce of sense in him and that he was unlikely to call an all-in unless I was beaten so I just called on the off-chance he could have hit a higher flush. Of course my hand was good and in retrospect I should have just tossed in a raise in an arrogant way to get him to call but there it is. He still carried on gettting involved in every single hand where it was clear that he was beaten, got predictably felted and left a shattered man - it's strange how seemingly solid players allow themselves to get crushed like this but I guess it can happen to all of us on a day when we're just caught off-guard.
Key Hand #6
It's getting on for about 3:30AM and a very wild and loose player, who has been getting louder and progressively drunk as the evening has gone on, is in late position and is involved with myself and others in a 5-way pot. The preflop betting saw 5 callers call a £10 preflop bet and the pot contains £50. I have top-pair, good kicker on the flop in early position and decide to check (a weak move in retrospect). It's checked all-round and I'm disappointed to see an ace on the turn. However this is checked all round again and this tells me that judging from the table dynamics I don't think anyone has the ace and, what's more, that I've probably got the best hand.The river brings a harmless four and I really think that my ten is good. Nevertheless I elect to check but sense Mr Loud Drunk on the button will try to steal it. Bang on cue he throws in £21 and I make the call. He shows junk and my K 10 is enough to pull in a good pot. He questions my decision to make the call and I tell him £21 was a cheap price to pay - but I felt I had a good read on him as well anyway.
Key Hand #7
The last key hand wasn't really a major score but an interesting hand which I may have won more money on. I'm in the small blind with J 9 and complete the round of betting. The old rock in the big blind (affectionately known by all as Mr Chew and the fella referred to in Vicky Coren's book as the guy with the extraordinarily long finger-nail) predictably checks. The flop comes 6 10 J giving me top pair which I choose to check - and it's checked all round. The turn then comes a 9 giving me two pair so I fire out £8 which is just called by the button. I read him for an 8. The river comes a blank and I'm 95% sure my villain has missed judging from the tell he's giving off. I also sense that he wants to try to take the pot away from me and so figure I should check to induce the bluff. I do so and he fires in £13 which I insta-call and I'm not that surprised to hear him say that he has nothing.---------------
Earlier, when I said this table was lively, I didn't just mean the way people played their cards. It really got pretty loud and heated at times and on more than one occasion the floor manager had to come on over to sort a few things out. It was really over petty rulings about who could show cards to whom etc but it was all in fairly good humour and was mainly the drink that was doing the talking. Nevertheless, the arguments and volume was serious enough that at 4:15AM the floor manager announced that he was breaking the table and that we were to play the final three hands.For me, it was a very entertaining Friday night and proved to me once again how The Empire leads The Fox for sheer value in so many ways. Some may not like all the hysterics and drama that goes on but, as someone who has taught in all sorts of inner-city schools for nearly twenty years and experienced drama in confined spaces of all descriptions from the full social spectrum, I just find it great entertainment. The fact that I can look on as a spectator and observe the peace-keeping attempts of the staff rather than be part of it makes it all the more interesting and enjoyable. Yes, The Empire seems to attract all the usual bravado from a variety of folks but I would much rather sit at a table with all that energy and madness going on from all the, frankly, screwball characters than suffer in the silence of the more conservative and oppressive atmosphere of The Fox.
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Scoreboard-wise, this ended up as a very lucrative session and after sitting with a starting stack of £300, I got up from the table - after six hours play - with £752, meaning I made a cool profit of £452. This may sound a lot when considered in isolation, not so much when it just about covers my online poker losses since Vegas. Swings and Roundabouts, swings and roundabouts.
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