The Good. The Bad. The Ugly. The Good Again.

Am I proud of the ‘hit-n-run’ style that I have been using? Not really, but I am enjoying the results. I don’t really consider what I have been doing as ‘playing poker’ and that makes me feel a little dirty. But, you can’t argue with results. The quick strikes that I have been doing have been great. Now, from time-to-time I have gotten burned and it is not a pretty sight.

Well, the title should give you a clue of how my poker night was last night in the fishy waters of Party Poker. Getting home from work and waiting on the wife, I plop down in front of my computer and fire up a Party.

The Good – Decided to start the night off strong on a $1/2 6-max table. Now, I could multi-table these games, but I’m not a that big of a fan of multi-tabling. You would think I would be since my ADD wouldn’t have time to figure out what else to do. Back to the $1/2 6-max table. I had no intentions of doing a ‘hit-n-run,’ but sometimes the power is out of your control. Played a couple premium hands and they actually held up and was paid nicely for that. Up $30 in 20 min. Off the tables.

Fired back up and sat at a $10 SNG. I ran into the anti-Party Poker SNG table apparently. Super tight table and I wasn’t catching any cards (that part isn’t new). We were in the 50/100 range and I had only played my blinds once. I hadn’t made any moves at this point ... figuring that when I did, my table image would reflect strength. I’m in the BB (JTs) and it is folded around to the SB who smooth calls the BB. I raise up 300 to push him off the pot, leaving me with about 400 or so chips. He reraises me back. Now I’m thinking that this guy is just trying to force me off my bet. I go all-in. Nope ... he had me. Hilton Sisters underneath. Board hits me with a J, but nothing else materializes. I’m out in 7th.

As I sat there watching the table unfold, he wrote in the chat that if it weren’t for the fact he had the Hilton Sisters, he would have never called my original raise. Thought I was strong. Well, that’s all fine and good, but hey, he had the cards and I tried to be a little too aggressive. I realize that it probably was not my strongest play, but I have to get aggressive at some point. Can’t always be happy just finishing in the money.

Hopped to another table, only this time I played a little $25NL game and won a few bucks back. Not too much. People weren’t calling too many bets on the flop ... so I bullied a little bit there to win about $10 before I was bored and had to tend to things with the wife before her volleyball game.

The ugly came at the next $1/2 6-max table. The table was just the way I like ‘em. Lots of preflop betting and when you hit your premium hands, you were rewarded nicely. Unless you were me! Not rewarded at all. Rivered a few times and a couple other times my stubbornness reared its ugly little head. I had trip aces cracked on the river when he finally makes his flush. I know he has the King flush (his ace is on the board) but I call anyways. Why, because I’m pissed and verbally assault him through the chat window. Lost $60 before I stepped away. Took waaaayyyy too long to walk from that table.

That was a decent size loss in recent memory, so I decide to call it a night right there. Sleep it off and come back another day.

That was until I couldn’t sleep. Had to be at work by 6:30 this morning. I guess this weighed too heavy on my mind. I slept until about 3 AM before my body was telling me that it wouldn’t let me sleep any longer. I meander downstairs to try and lure myself back to sleep. Turn the teevee on, push the button that makes that wonderful “diung” noise for my TiVo list and see “WPT - Caribbean Poker Adventure.” Thought, hey, I can watch a little poker. I’ll rest my eyes and hopefully fall back asleep. Well, that didn’t work out so hot either. I watched as the poker gods blessed this gentleman in his first live tournament and thought that maybe the poker gods have something to spare for me? Lets fire up a Party again and catch the drunks fish playing at midnight Pacific time, eh?

Do I want to sit at the $1/2 6-max or a $25NL table? Decisions, decisions. I pick $25NL and settle in. I’m definitely not going back to sleep. I played tight for a bit until I figured how the table was playing. Not too aggressive ... so I don’t plan on making too much off the table. I’m sitting in the BB and I “take a peek” and see AcJc. Get a few limpers and I raise it to $1.50. I get 3 callers. Flop J28 rainbow. UTG throws out a small bet of $.50. UTG+2 folds and so does SB. On to me. Well, I know this guys has a J. Does he have the other J too? Surely not. I have one...one on the board. Well, at this point it would only cost me $.50 to see the next card. You can’t build a pot that way. I raise him $3. He calls. An A hits on the turn. Top two pair for me. I start thinking, “Well, I know how this will end...he’ll actually be playing KQ and a 10 will hit on the river totally effing me out of another pot.” I lay out a $2 bet ... I thought a relatively small-sized for the $7.00 pot. Hoping to entice a raise so I can re-raise. He raises all-in. $15 buckaroos. Wow, he could have JJ. Are the pots odds correct here? Am I actually ahead? I figure WTF? It’s 3:30 in the A M and I’m gambooling. He flips over ... yep you guessed it ... J2o??!?!? WHAT??? You called a preflop raise with J2? I understand you actually flopped two pair, but seriously! I scoop the pot and he calls me lucky for catching my Ace on fourth street. I simply type back... “TY”. I have successfully doubled up for the session. I win a few more pots to put me somewhere in the text of up $45 or so. I log off and catch a couple winks before the alarm on my phone goes off telling me that “yeah...it’s time to go to work!”

Quite the up and down sessions. Nothing to mind-numbing, but I essentially broke even for the night ... maybe up a few bucks.