I have 108 in middle position and call a PF raise to 13, the BB comes along. 3 players to the flop.

Flop: J92

The BB leads out for 30, the PF pumper makes it 70 and I call 70 cold with just a tiny little hesitation…

OK now, a few things are working in this hand:

• The BB can lead out with a wide range of hands from a medium pair to top set.
• The PF raiser probably has a big hand here, either an over-pair, a set or top two.
• I’m not known as a fisherman, usually if someone bets and the pot odds aren’t right, I’m gone.
• There’s no flush draw on the board (very important).
• My cold call behind a raise from a big hand screams BIG BIG hand which might even get me a free card.
• I’m drawing to the likely nuts.
• The pot is looking juicy with some likely big investors.
• It’s very unlikely a 3-bet on the flop will win me the pot.
• If it’s raised and re-raised again behind me, it’s time to put the GAMBOL hat on. I’m going to the river with only about 300 left in front of me.

…action resumes… donk bettor thinks a little, is clearly uncomfortable in the hand and only calls.

Turn: A

Check, check, whoohoo! I check.

River: 7 what a glorious card.

Original donk better bets 50. PF raiser grudgingly (and wisely) folds. I make it 200 and, in one of my nice-guy moments, I tell the guy it’s early and he just got there (was his first hand), no need to get crazy. If I don’t say anything, I get paid the whole way. He folds what he claims was a set of 2s and a clearly painful decision.

I have 64 in the small blind and call the villain’s raise to 12 from the button.

Flop: J64

I check, villain (who is a good player and we have a long history) bets 15, I CR to 45. Villain thinks a little, then makes it 115. I call planning to get the remaining 150 in front of him in the pot on the turn/river.

Turn: A

Was thinking about leading, but now I check. Villain puts his remaining 150 in there. And I make a marginal-to-poor call.

I got a little greedy on the turn here. I knew I was 80% good on the flop and given my action showed that I was committed to the hand. When the turn shows a scary Ace, I should have given a really hard thought to folding to the bet of 150, even though the pot is close to 250. If it’s any card under a Jack or maybe just a king I think calling here is reasonable. Actually, if it’s any card under a Jack, I lead the turn for 75.

But that Ace is an awful card and I’m calling now getting less than 3-1 that my opponent is bluffing strong throughout the entire hand or that maybe he has a pair of frustrated Kings. That’s short odds on a long bet.

The hand did have a silver lining to it (for me at any rate), I call and the villain flips AJ (of course) but I suck out the 4 on the river to draw out.

The new guy in these hands looked like he was a little uncomfortable at the table. From what I saw of his play, these were his trends: he was folding to bets a lot, only calling on draws (but would bet a draw) and raising hands to find out where it was or to protect. I don’t remember him having a monster, so no idea what he leans to there.

He’s also been remarking about how aggressive I am.

Hand1:

I have AT in middle position and raise to something like 20 (2-3 blinds, straddle), new player calls, button calls. Three to the flop.

Flop: 249

I bet 40, new player calls and seems very interested in the hand, other player folds.

Turn: 8

I check, he bets 80, I raise to 180, he really, really wants to call but folds. Damn.

Hand2:

I have JT in middle position and call the straddle after two other callers, new player calls behind, another player calls. 5 to the flop for 30.

Flop: QJT

Checked to me, I lead out for 40. New player makes it 80. Folds to me, I consider mucking but realize I probably have outs in either my J or T (dangerous reverse implied odds if he has QJ or QT however). More importantly, I have LOTS of bluffing outs and he only made it 40 to go into a pot of 150.

Turn: K

There is a God and she loves me. I quickly lead out for 100 in an easy steal and the new guy folds.

I think I take the same line if he raises to 100 or less on the flop. If he’d made it 120 to go, I’d have mucked and waited for another hand.

And I play it the same way if I had made my flush for a few reasons:

If it’s not the nuts, I don’t want to check the scare card and risk letting him draw out on a freebie here, especially with this size pot.

It’s also worth donk betting into people with strong hands. People don’t like being bet into when they’re taken the lead. You’re supposed to check to the lead in most peoples mind. You’re taking thier initiative away that they paid for on the previous street. Even in the unlikely event you’re paid off on such a scare card, you’ll rile the player up and they’ll want to go out of their way in a future hand with you. Very likely against the odds.

Others will see the play you made and jump to far swung conclusions. It is a scare card, of course you’re bluffing. And you’re the kind of player who isn’t scared of scare cards (you bet a hundo into a player who could have had an ace or the flush).

Finally, it’s fun to bluff ain’t it?

I have AK suits unimportant in early position and limp. Villain on my left raises to 15 with QQ suits unimportant. Two callers in between us, I smooth call. Four to the flop.
Flop: AJ6

I check (iffy, but “in the game of poker…sometimes we vary our play…” and this table has a lot of players that remember hands), villain bets ~40, fold, fold, I smooth call.

Turn: some irrelevant brick like: 2

I check (I slow played to here, no reason to stop now and I’m out of position, good time to keep the pot small). Villain bets ~80 (???). I obviously call.

River: 5 to complete the possible flush draw out there.

I check intending to call most bets. Villain checks.

I feel like I have a good understanding of the intentions of the bets by the villain on the flop and turn in this hand:

The first bet, he raised representing a premium hand before the flop. An ace flops and it’s either check and pretty much give up on the hand or keep betting like you got it. The problem with this is a) there’s 3 players to this flop with you, at least two of whom are pretty solid and at least one who can check raise the ace on a flush draw. So even if the ace isnt out there, this is an awful flop for you. b) back to that flush draw: if you get even one caller, you have no idea where you’re at.

The second bet, let’s think about what I can have once I called the flop bet. I have 4 holdings in this situation: 1) an ace: if I have a bad kicker, the turn bet probably gets me off it, 2) a jack: I’m way behind, a bet gets me off it but a free card isn’t that bad, 3) a monster: good luck with that, 4) a flush draw: a bet protects the QQ and a check opens the door for me to take a stab at the pot on the river by giving up initiative, it also gives me the dreaded free card.

First let me say that, I think giving up free cards in no-limit is an extremely over-rated risk. By far more important is keeping the pot small when your hand dictates it. Charging a draw and protecting a hand are more limit concepts. However, in no-limit, most profit comes from setting traps. Trust me, I’ve lost lots of money in no-limit by raising 2nd pair to an early bettor (who could be bluffing) with 3 people left to act behind me.

Back to the hand: I think the bet on the turn is only profitable if I have a very weak ace or the flush draw. I really like checking on the turn here. I think the big argument against it is that you give up the initiative and risk getting stabbed at on the river. This is the problem we’re left with when we bet the flop with this hand. But if we check, we set the table for a number of things:

• not betting sets the tone that we’re not a betting machine and easily exploitable
• we win most check-checks on the river
• if we’re bet into with a flush card on the river, we can safely fold and frustrate either the slow played monster or flush draw for not getting paid.
• if we’re bet into on a non-flush card river, we have our only tough decision of this hand - and I don’t think it’s that tough.

Betting the turn I think is only done out of concern for the uncommon instances when we’re bet into on the river and we’re best (note, it’s no guarantee that won’t happen anyway - and we grew the pot so it’s juicier to bluff at). If the flush card hits, we can fold - let the jack that bluffed win it if it’s out there and that’s the play our opponent made. If the flush card doesn’t hit and we’re bet into, fold as well unless there’s some overwhelming read. It’s just not a profitable call in my opinion.

This comes back to most money in no-limit is made by setting traps. The opposite is also true, most money is lost by doing things that is not setting traps. Chief among those is probably bluffing (depends on the game). Let someone win the occasional bluff, encourage bluffing. It leads to bigger payoffs of your made hands.

So I would check the turn if I was the villain, make the best decision I can on the river and move to the next hand. Remembering how this one played out and how it might affect the next one I’m in against this opponent.

I’ve played pot-limit before, but I really don’t know what I’m doing. Wade lent me a couple books which I’ve been reading off and on. But reading without practice doesn’t make things click with me. I need to get a feel for how hands play and hold up. When betting, raising, calling and folding are right.

One of my favorite all-time quotes: “good judgement is based on experience; experience is based on bad judgement.”

I think I did alright all-together. I finished up 60 after being down 100. And only made two obvious mistakes, one aweful, one meh. I called on the end in one hand without a possible low on the board with A2 in my hand (nerves). And I overcalled on the river not closing the action with the non-nut low when it was pretty clear the nut low was out there - but the pot was massive.

I also experienced one of the dreamiest flops I think you can get in Omaha:

I had AA59 in middle position and limped in, 7 players to the flop.

Flop: AQJ

I end up making the nut flush and scoop 4 callers on the end when a backdoor low doesn’t get there. Fun times.

My wife and I were driving down the road to meet up with friends last night and The Killers comes on the radio with All These Things That I’ve Done. Immediate visions of the closing scene in The Matador come to mind: the couple visiting their son’s grave with the unlikely friend of an assassin walking away posting an airline ticket on their windshield. Great scene, great song.

That movie is actualy filled with amazing scenes. The assassin’s stroll through the hotel lobby in black speedo and $500 leather shoes and black socks with beer in hand en route to a jump in the pool and a hallucination of a swim with a great white shark. Ludicrous scene, great scene.

Friday I had lunch with my dad and urged him to rewatch Alien after remembering the great scene of Ripley trapped in the escape pod with the alien. Her in nothing but a white t-shirt and skimpy undies pressed as deep and she can into the wall surrounded by spacesuits hoping in vain that if only the creature won’t see her, terrified.

Speaking of Ridley Scott movies, the scene from Blade Runner of the final confrontation between Roy Batty and Deckard takes an unexpected twist when Roy doesn’t dispatch Deckard, but instead saves him and gives a moving monologue during his final seconds of life. Link.

In Shawshank Redemption when Red is released. I’m a big Morgan Freeman fan, and he’s had a lot of great scenes. I won’t presume to rank them. And the end of Shawshank Redemption is a bunch of scenes in truth. But when Red is released, that entire series that both places him in the same room where a previous parolee hung himself (and, it’s implied, others before him as well) leading up to him walking barefoot in the sand up to his friend Andy - good stuff. Link.

Airplane is riddled with great scenes. The whole movie is like the funniest creatives in Hollywood got together and came up with 1,000 funny scenes then stitched them together. From blatantly bouncing boobs (those will make an impression on a teenager, I can attest to that) to the iconic parody of Jaws for an opening sequence (and trailer). If you’ve seen Airplane, anyone just mentioning the name will pop 5 great scenes into mind.

Rounders. For a lot of people, the best scene in this movie is the finale when Mike McDermott takes down Teddy KGB in a heads-up no-limit match. But for me, the best scene is when Mike visits his law professor relaxing in his regular bar drinking gin. The professor knows more about Mike than apparently Mike knows about himself and goes through a great monologue,

“May I tell you a story?

For generations, men of my family have been rabbis. In Israel, before that in Europe. It was to be my calling. I was quite a prodigy. The pride of my yeshiva. The elders said I had a 40 year-old’s understanding of the midrash by the time I was 12. But by the time I was 13 I knew I could never be a rabbi.

Why not?

Because for all I understood of the Talmud,

I never saw God there.”

Great scene and the pivotal scene in the movie.

About a week ago, I put the movie in my queue for Netflix and I couldn’t now say exactly why I did. But if you, like I did, have any reservations about watching this film put them aside and do yourself a favor and watch it. Watch it by yourself or with people you know aren’t quick to throw sarcasm at things that evoke uncomfortable moments of reflection (mea culpa, I wouldn’t have made a good movie buddy for this one).

I’m a born cynic, so while this film paints very clearly the major environmental issues of our time (albeit glossing over population in about 30 seconds), I’m hesitant to believe people will wisen up to the facts to arrive at timely solutions. But it starts on an individual level.

I have JJ in the SB and make it 35 to go after a posted straddle and 2 limpers. The player on the straddle cold calls the 29, everyone else folds. My immediate read is AK-suited, AA or KK but these aren’t based on any history - my experience with this player isn’t much.

Flop: JKA

I bet 40, which, looking back is the only part of this hand I really don’t like. The right bet in retrospect is 50-70. Villain just calls and I’m making up my mind that I can stand to finish the hand if he just keeps calling. If he raises, I’m already considering a fold. I think checking on any street is awful.

Turn: 2

I bet 80, this amount I do like. AK has to keep calling here and be worried about what’s betting into them. Villain raises to 180. I think for a little while, I’m about 300 behind, and make an agonizing muck.

I can see an argument for leading for 100-150 but I think that would have made me pot commited to the hand for my remaining stack for any raise - though there’s the value pulled from AK if that’s what my opponent has.

The only hand I put my opponent on that I was ahead of was AK-spades, maybe AQ-spades. If that’s the case, I’m getting odds to play for the rest of my stack only against those hands. AA and KK have me playing for a J. The chance of KK and AA in this situation wasn’t worth the odds of the pot in retrospect and I think it was ultimately a good fold.

For what it’s worth, my opponent said he had AT and put me on AK about an hour later. I don’t believe him though. I think he was giving mis-information to the table. Cold calling a 35 raise from the SB, even with a discount of 6 is aweful with AT-suited. You’re better off making that call with 89 (I would have in his position actually, with two potential callers behind and a big pot brewing).

Ironically, I’m less likely to fold AK here than JJ.

On the other hand, it’s occured to me on more than one occaision that a hole in my game is thinking a hand out and giving my opponent too much credit for thinking the same way. I’m trying too hard at times.

Did you know that if a person is missing at sea, they are “missing, presumed drowned”? In order for it to be attributed to sharks, there has to be direct proof that a shark was involved.

Here’s a classic case (cited from Great White Shark):

A girl and her boyfriend went kayaking by themselves. She turns up dead a few days later with a shark bite that looks like a great white shark took a big chunk out of her. Their kayaks are found later, lashed together with a hole in the bottom of hers that matches the bite taken out of her. His kayak is just empty.

She died from a great white shark. He is missing presumed drowned.

What does that have to do with your tax dollars? I played the hell out of that game when I was in the Army. We used to play out full seasons with platoon members on each team. Before Madden, there was Tecmo Super Bowl. And maybe the best football game ever.

I think these three are funny!

“Dude…sup.”

Queue the Jaws music!

“Go back to Jersey!”

I ask the Russian if she’d like to wager $100 on it, explaining the test, and she’s all for it explaining to me how it’ll be easy! I suppose the Triangle test is a little counter intuitive. One might think that getting two of one, one of the other would make taste testing easier. As an aside, I mention to the group of co-workers that the same test has been used for Coke vs. Pepsi and that’s proven very challenging to the testers as well. Oh, what a clamor ensues! “Are you nuts?” “Coke and Pepsi are so different!” Etc, etc.

The Russian quickly agrees to do another $100 on the Coke vs Pepsi test (I don’t recall if she volunteered or I solicited it). And the next day I line up the test.

At first it was just the 4 of us who hang out and drink coffee every afternoon. I line up the samples using a third party to ensure fairness. The Russian takes her tastes. And sure enough, she fails the test! Not just the first time, but the second time as well on a re-take! Cha-ching! Thank you $100. We even start to gather a crowd and others jump in to try. Of the first four people to try it, 3 failed. Only after people started watching and learning tasting techniques did people start having success.

Which, by the way, isn’t exactly the way a real triangle test is done. An actual triangle test requires the tester to taste a sample from each cup in order, no pallate cleansing and no returning to previous cups. But, I’m a softy, so I let people “cheat” a bit.

I tell this story at my Friday night poker game, and people are predictably incredulous. I probably would be too if I hadn’t read about the test before. Mark “The Hebe” arrives at the game and can’t believe other people had failed the test and absolutely agrees to do the bet himself. Well, he fails right out of the gate guessing two Cokes and one Pepsi when it was the other way around. +$200 in this bet now! Kinda helps soften the $400 I dropped at the poker game.

So, give it a shot yourself. Lay out the three cups and have someone pour two of one soda, one of the other. See if you can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi!

We spent our week chillaxin pool side and on Crane Beach right next to our resort. We’d cab into town now and then to get a bite or just to walk around Bridgetown. A couple times we did very touristy stuff that always worked out awesome regardless of my usual apprehension about those things. The best of those was the catamaran day trip with snorkling around reefs, wrecks and turtles.

The pictures from the trip don’t come close to showing how really amazing the views of our resort were. Sitting on the east coast, it’s buffeted by the trade winds coming off the Atlantic. This gives the coast a rugged look and the beach some challenging waves. If you google “Crane beach Barbados rated” you’ll see that some people regard the place very highly. I can’t argue.

I didn’t have much luck finding really spicy food, but I wasn’t disappointed with the flavors. There’s also a local hot sauce that’s their answer to Tabasco/Texas Pete but much tastier and everyone makes their own. I ate a ton of flying fish, which is pretty much the catfish of Barbados (I mean that in a good way, I like catfish). I stayed away from most of the expensive seafood, but checked into Oistins on Friday to the local fishmarket/drinking party and splurged on some red snapper while Daria got some tasty shrimps.

Speaking of drinking, I don’t think I went a single day without a rum drink. Hell, I spent most days with a train of rum drinks! The catamaran was dangerous - it’s all inclusive. So you get out there in the Carribean heat and they bring you drinks as fast as you can drink em down. Fortunately, I didn’t get sick and feed the turtles. But I did have a blast!

Here’s some pictures from the trip. When I get the underwater ones exposed, I’ll post any of those that turned out ok.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8664340@N06/sets/72157606540171959/

Hand 1:

I have Q8-diamonds in the SB and villain makes it 13 in middle position. I have about 230 in front of me, so it’s worth the 11 call to prospect. I think it’s heads-up to the flop.

Flop: 83J

I lead for 20, he raises to 90 and I push without hesitating for another 130ish. He folds saying he has AA (I believe him), and it’s a really good fold.

Why is this a good fold? Well, what hand range can he put me on? It’s a draw-heavy board, yes. I’m playing the following hands the same way: any set, any two-pair and 910, Q10, 710. Rarely, I’ll get a bit out of line and do the same with Ax. So rare, that it’s doesn’t really merit being worth adding to the list.

So, if those are my hand ranges, at best the villain is a marginal favorite if he holds the A. If he doesn’t, he a dog for most lines. And if I do have a set or two pair, he’s a really big dog.

This is a good hand to show how perilous an overpair hand is too. You have one-pair…that’s it. And if you make the wrong decision getting your cips in the middle, you’re redraw options are extremely slim.

This is also a good hand showing why prospecting for $11 with a hand like Q8 can be profitable with a reasonable stack. Prospecting doesn’t mean you have to flop a made hand. But you have to be willing to pick your spots to be aggressive and gamble. Good post flop play turns marginal hands into profitable hands. Also note that the hand plays a lot differently if he and I are both sitting with $500 behind and again differently with $5000 behind.

Here’s the other hand:

I have 23 in the BB and it’s a limped pot 5-way. Villain limped in middle position. Villain, btw, is a tight player and typically ABC. He has also just gone on a bit of a winning streak to come from having been down 4-600, to probably up 200 and has maybe 900 in front of him.

Flop: K73

I lead for 15 and get 3 callers. This is dangerous territory and a lot of people wouldn’t be wrong to just give up on the hand right there. With 3 callers, it stands to reason that another flush draw is out there.

Turn: K

Now, that’s an interesting card. It now much less likely that someone has a K. There might be a few flush draws out there, I might even have the best hand (rarely). It’s most likely that there’s a pocket pair out there that was prospecting, maybe a 7 or two out there, another 3 and one other flush draw. This is actually a good card for me, so I bet $45.

The villain just calls, one fold behind and one reluctant caller.

River: J

Checks to the villain and he bets $100, fold behind me and now I start thinking. If this player had a set or a good K on the flop, with the crowd behind and the flush draw out there, he’s raising the flop. When the turn comes, even if he has a shitty K, with the two people behind and it looking obvious that a flush draw is out there, he’s raising. When I check to him on the river and he bet’s $100, what kind of hands does he think he’s getting paid off with?

I put him on either a wierdly played flopped set (that could afford to slow play on the turn) or also on the flush draw. And I penalized the flopped set because I’m dead sure that with the flush draw out there, he’s raising to protect his hand. This player hates losing with his made hands. But I also don’t credit him with stabbing on the river with $100 very often, so I’m very confused here. But, he did have some chips in front of him. And going on a rush does make someone more willing to take risks they wouldn’t normally do.

I call the $100 with bottom pair and he flips K8 and he starts stackin my chips in a bizarre hand.

But then I think about the soldiers that marched in Roman armies. As a typical roman infantryman, it was your job to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on your line and melee with the opposite line until the whistle was blown and the rank behind you moved up and you fell back.

The mortality rate was awesome. Especially if you are on the losing side and it was a rout. One recorded battle where the Romans beat the tar out of Macedonia, 25,000 of the original Macedonian force of 44,000 were killed.

Soldiers generally don’t stand to win or loose their own property due to battles - aside from missing out on spoils in ancient wars. They’re paid for the job, they do the job. Quite often it’s leadership or a sense of national pride that motivates people to put themselves in these precarious positions.

And people, repeatedly through out history, put themselves there.

Take World War 2 as another example. There were no illusions in this war. If you went to a fighting unit, you stood an excellent chance of dying. Here’s a link to the casualties of this war. The percentages are less than ancient times probably due to modern militaries carry around a lot more non-fighting baggage. Still some staggering numbers.

With all this in mind, I just finished reading Starship Troopers for the third time. Unfortunately, the movie was a horrid shell of what the book is. In the book, the action doesn’t even take center stage. It’s much more of a socio-political commentary than a book about soldiers in space ships.

The book was very controversial. It puts forward notions of citizenship that most people find ludicrous. For instance, you can’t become a citizen without first serving in the military. In other words, citizenship isn’t a given birthright. You have to earn it.

The book also heavily favors corporal punishment. In an era now when neighbors call public services if they think a parent is beating a child unjustly, can you imagine public floggings for getting a speeding ticket?

The book is a really good read and comes full circle to the point of it’s the people who are willing to put themselves in harms way for an idea that really should be running the idea.

One hand I was involved in included a loose call on my part but my opponent plays with his ego on the table and likes to push people around. I looked him up both on the chance I might be good as well as gaining future information (plus I don’t want him to feel easy about pushing me around).

He won the hand and I was getting ready to muck without showing and he makes a big deal of “let me see his cards!” I think most everyone knows this is damn rude. Sometimes you might ask because the hand was genuinely curious, but typically the opponent has pretty much what you expect them to have. I’ve only ever asked to see someones cards after they made a habit of rolling mine.

Anyhow, the guy is a well-known agitator, so I made a little fun and showed him my cards and got a little jab in afterwards to boot. In a way, it’s flattery I suppose. It’s also admitting that you need an extra edge to close the gap with an opponent.

I talk with my poker pals about the sins of getting too emotionally invested in your big pocket pairs. This is a serious leak in a lot of players that play very tight. They sit there and wait for a gorgeous hand and scowl at players who see the flop for a big raise with 97s (without even considering stack sizes). Here’s a couple KK hands, one I played over the weekend and one I saw in Las Vegas.

I have black KK in middle position and make it 20 to go in a 1-3 game after one limper. Two callers behind and the limper calls. All three players are decent. Villain in this hand is pretty good.

Flop: 983-all hearts

Checked to me, I bet 65, villain behind me makes it 185, fold to me and I fold without thinking. If I had the K of hearts I’d have given it a little more thought, but I’m still mucking. If I did play with the K of hearts, I’m pushing all in. Calling here is the worst play imaginable.

Another KK in Las Vegas, this one I witnessed. The player with the KK is an online player and a pretty hot French Canadian - also very tight. I think a lot of table farmers online, especially those that play 8-10 tables of low limit (1-2NL) play super tight and on automatic. Anyhow, on with the hand.

Two limpers to her in the SB and she makes it 35 (this is a 2-5NL), both limpers call.

Flop: 37J - two diiamonds.

She bets out for 90, one caller - an older guy who has gotten out of line before and made some wierd calls.

Turn: 2 diamonds.

She bets out 125 and the old man immediately goes all in and she looks down, sees she has the K-diamonds and immediately calls - without even looking at his stack, and he has another 500 behind.

The old man rolls the nuts A4-diamonds and she coughs up the full 625 to the guy in an awful, awful play. The old man generally did bad plays, but by and large, it’s a rare old man that puts 625 into a pot without having the moral nuts.

I’m in the kitchen and it’s raised 12 to me, I call, villain and I think a couple other people call behind me. Who knows how many people to the flop.

Flop: three random cards.

Checked to me and I bet $30 as I’m pouring myself a rum and coke. Actually, it’s only a rum and ice right now, I just popped the top on my coke.

Villain makes it 2-hundo. That’s American for two-hundred! Everyone else folds and now I gotta see what I got.

I look down and see 99 and the board is 872 rainbow. I look at the villain and he’s not 100% comfortable and has another 130 behind. I also am up quite a bit already and putting him all in would be using all profits. I give it a good think, and the longer I think, the more uncomfortable the villain gets. Also, I’ve pulled this stunt a few times and I get the feeling he’s a bit aggitated about it (though I think it’s good for the game). He’s joked previously that someone should push all-in against me when I do this just to pull my pants down.

I stack up the 330 and push it in, he calls. I ask if he’s got a set, he says no, if I have an 8 I win. I roll my 99, he rolls his J7 and he gets no help on the turn or river.

I have 33 in middle position, suits unimportant. I limp for $3. Two other limpers, Manque in the BB raises to 40. He has AA, KK, AK, QQ or is completely fucking around. He’s sitting about 1300 deep, I’m about 1100 deep. I call. Everyone else folds.

Flop: 37Q

Manque checks, I think for a moment. I’m thinking he either flopped a monster or has AK. I check. Normally I bet here 99% of the time, but I have a feeling I want to wait and see what develops.

Turn: A

Manque checks again, I can’t keep checking a set, too much value to loose and I paid $40 to see this flop. I bet $70. Manque calls.

River: Q

Now Manque immediately bets out into me for $135 and now I know I’m fucked. No way in hell do I raise and I almost folded but made the crying call.

I have AJ on the button and raise a few limpers. Two call, three to the flop.

3J8

Checked to me, I bet, both call.

Turn: 5

Checked to me, I check…

Now to work out when I’m going to get my sweet tattoo. Vegas is just around the corner and then Barbados after that. I’m thinking in Aug. I also need to loose about 5-8 lbs of fat. No fries for me for a while!