Session #1 - Let's Get The Ball Rolling

DATE : Sunday 1st July

 TIME: 3PM-9PM

VENUE: The Empire

GAME: £1/£2 Cash

BUY-IN: £350

This was one of those sessions where you find yourself on a table of very good players and rarely have any opportunites to make any sort of move because the play is so aggressive and there's usually always a player or two who constantly turns on the heat themselves to make their own stab at the pot. This can be particularly tricky when the cards you get are just plain dire and when you miss every single flop by a mile every time. Such was the case with this session but for the one hand in a few hundred that amazingly allowed me to leave the game with a small profit. 

KEY HAND #1

It's about 8PM and, with the Spain v. Italy game playing on the big screen, I've been sitting at the table for 5 hours getting cards shovelled my way that can only be described as "shit". I've managed to bring a little bit of wobbly magic to the game and should really feel pleased with myself for having lost only £100. With a £250 stack in front of me and the £2 big blind paid, I look down at QQ and see the best player at the table, in the cut-off, bet about £14 into the unraised pot. (Opening for £10-£14 is pretty normal at this table.)  He's been playing quite loose and has a huge stack in front of him amounting to about £900.

After the button and the small blind fold it's on me and it's time to get pro-active; I raise it to £42 - which is promptly called by Mr Decent with no hesitation. The flop comes all red cards, A 4 2. It's on me and my thinking is that if he has the ace, it probably doesn't come with a very big kicker so a big raise, on my part, should make him think I have the better ace and will push him off the hand. I gather four black chips and announce "raise" and chuck in the £100. To my surprise, and slight annoyance, he makes the call. The turn is another low red card, I think it's a 6 or something as far as I recall, but before it comes down the villain says, "I suppose it'll be an all-in on the turn." There is a slight resigned tone to his voice and he just sounds as if he thinks he's beaten.

With this in mind, counting up my chips, I see I have around £100 and decide that I have to commit to the hand fully and so throw in the rest with the comment, "Oh well, I may as well just hand you over the lot." I still don't know whether I really did think I had him beat and wanted the call or whether I genuinely felt that I had lost the hand. Somewhere between the two I suppose. Anyway, I go all-in with the rest of my chips and when he made the call, the feeling that I was beat grew stronger. With the river a ten, I announce QQ and... he mucks! I gather up a £500 pot, hurray! Rewinding the hand, I think he must have had a mid-pocket pair but he was visibly annoyed with his play.

KEY HAND #2

This was my exit hand. It's an hour after KH#1 and a few weaker players have arrived at the table. I'm chugging along nicely with a £500 stack and everything is hunky-dory. I'm on the button with 4 7 and it's Limp-Fest City behind me so I call the £2 limp myself. There are no raises and the flop comes 7 4 5. There is an early position bet of £7 which is met with THREE callers. There is no other thing for it, I have to trim the field so I throw in a £36 raise. This shows obvious strength but Mr Early Position Initial Raiser makes the call and the rest fold. The player seems fairly new to the game and looks a bit nervous so I guess he probably has the six and is hoping to fill his gutshot straight draw. 

The turn comes another five and he makes a curious, nervously executed bet of £18 which is very small in relation to what the pot is (~£100). I'm not sure if he'd know what a block bet is if it hit him in the face so I do feel a bit wary and elect to just call. There is a flush possibility as well and the fact that it was a multi-way pot on the flop means he could have made a good hand. However, he only has £63 behind so, in retrospect, maybe an all-in reraise would have pushed him off his draw but I still don't know.  

The river comes a harmless looking ten and he pushes in £13 of his £63 keeping two black £25 chips behind. That's £13 into the pot making it ~£150. It's a miniscule amount but I'm still puzzled and, by now, suspicious that he's had me beat all along and that the way he's played may be a beginner's way of squeezing money out of me. I make the call and flip over my cards because, due to his uncertain body language, start to believe he's held the 6 and has just missed his straight draw.

Well, waddya know? Yep he turns over a 6 all right but what's that other card that comes with it? It's only the bloody ten innit? The guy had just hit his ten on the river thus making two pair 10s over 5s beating my 7s and 4s and costing me around £80!! That meant he had made a baby preflop raise of £7 in early position at this aggressive table with 10 6!! And that's why I love playing the live game baby!!

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After that last hand, I muttered "Ridiculous, that's just ridiculous" as I patted the table, collected my chips and left the table. But maybe it was my lack of aggression on the turn that was "ridiculous" after all. Still, I cashed out for £425 and left £75 richer. Ultimately, a good win really when recalling the atrocious hands I was dealt for the first 5 hours of the session.