Key Hand #5
Of all the hands I've played in for the evening, including the two other sessions, I've missed every flop apart from, maybe just the one. With the time approaching 1AM in this third session, and with another two hours past, the story is the same. I'm down to about £220 and I'm feeling quite stuck. Then I get dealt the hand you probably don't really want when you feel stuck, JJ in middle position. I raise it to £10 and the Tim Henman look-alike on the button just flat calls. I check/call the K x x flop, feeling that he is just continuation betting with a weaker hand. (You can start to feel like this when you get stuck.) The turn and river bring more bricks but my opponent plays the hand excellently for value as I check/call both of those streets. I'm mildly vexed when he flips over AK but he played it well..
Key Hand #6
Down to about £120 I get involved with Tim Henman again. We're in the same positions as before with Mr Henman holding the button and yours truly in middle position. I look down at AQ and raise it preflop and Henman makes the call on the button. The flop comes Q Q x and (after almost fainting at the site of a flop that I actually hit) I check as I did in the previous hand to continue with my passive image. It's the same story. He raises, I call and it's the same with the turn, only this time I throw in the £25 underbet on the river - he tanks quite a bit but makes the call and my stack gets the much needed boost it was crying out for. He is, by the way, an absolute gentleman about it.---------------
Brace yourself dear reader, for the poker gods are about to pull that rug. With the time at about 1:30AM and my stack now back up to a healthy £200, I get involved in a hand which - if it panned out as planned - would have given me a satisfying evening of poker.Key Hand #7
I think quite a few factors may have contributed to my bad call here so a quick preamble is in order... As you recall, virtually every hand I was involved in tonight (apart from KH#6), had me missing the flop - and after nearly 7 hours of play, this does play on your mind a little. Secondly, the villain in question was quite an obnoxious Romanian fellow who had been bantering (very badly) and laughing at his fellow countryman's inane jokes for much of the evening. This may or may not have had something to do with the hand but it did make the result all the less sweet.I'm looking down in the small blind at 6 7 of clubs. The straddle is on and two players have limped so I elect to do the same. Four players are in the pot and the flop comes 4 5 8 with the 5 and 8 being clubs. I've flopped the nut straight and have a flush draw with a straight flush draw to boot! I can't go wrong right? I check for deception and then the action goes: bet £9, call, call --> and the action is now on me. I reach down and throw in £40 which gets two folds. Mr Obnoxious Romanian tanks for a while before calling and I actually put him on the flush draw right there!
I prey for the dealer NOT to put that club on the turn - there are only five winners for him, if the 4 or 9 of clubs falls I have my straight flush. But of course, he delivers the 3 of clubs on the turn. My villain checks but I still think he's playing it cute and I check likewise. The river comes and of course I hope to see him check it down but he reaches for £65 and throws it in. I'm pretty sure I know what his game is but when you miss flops all night and then flop the damn nuts but still hit a flush yourself it's so hard to fold. Yep, I made the call and saw him turn his KQ of clubs face up to beat my lesser flush. A terrible call for sure (especially when this was the clear read I had) but, what the hell, it's another lesson learned: despite the history of the cards you really need to go with your damn read!
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After mucking my hand, the villain even asked what I had (as if I was going to tell him) and this often annoys me. He had just won £100 off me yet still wanted to know what I had. I said, "What does it matter to you what I had? You won the hand, that should be enough." Tim Henman though, in his polite way, asked if I had flopped the nuts and I told him I had. And then I took my leave. Bah Humbug.---------------
Once again, then, we're talking about a recovery process and, to be honest, I'm getting tired of this. Obviously making the bad call like I did in KH#7 shows that I still have a long way to go; calling when "knowing" you're beaten is a fish-like tendency, plain and simple. But I really just want to take this on board AND on the chin - and for this year to end so I can start afresh. As I've mentioned many times before, it's very frustrating to have to report on losing months and losing sessions when you feel that your game is actually getting better. But, yeh, those blips are proving costly and they're entirely my own fault. I just REALLY need to learn from them now.
Until next time, then...
Uncle Wobble.
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