Challenging the Big Leagues (took a shot last night)

OK, so I know I am comfortable playing 1 - 3 NL both financially and mentally. But last night I wanted to play some poker, and was pretty confident in my game lately. So being that it was Wednesday night and that means weekly tournament night at Shorty's, I knew there was at least ONE no limit game going on......And there was....The game I always try to avoid....The game where I have had more horror stories then success stories simply because I am not rolled for this crazy game. The 5 5 NL Holdem game at Shorty's is so juicy, So much money is on the table, but the players are the Loose Aggressive kind that will bet at you just to see you fold. The hands that I saw last night were unspeakable... It wasn't normal poker....not to say the least. This was regulars that knew each other and were making big bets and even bigger calls in BIG pots. The best way I can compare it is....Remember when you first learned what poker is, you had a hand full of change (quarters, dimes, pennies) and you and your friends would get together and just have fun, play around and make some crazy bets on pretty much nothing, but just want to see if you can out bluff one another??? Well yea, Try that but with $5 blinds and $10 straddle and the standard raise varied between $40 - $75.

As I was playing "tight" while watching all these calling stations and LAG Maniacs go at it, I was quietly dodging bullets, over stepping mines, and planting a few booby traps of my own. Of course the very first hand I play was AA on the button where I open to $25 and this was when the game was more of a $5 -5 game and not a $5 5 10 raise 40 game (but I'll get to that later). I get a caller from the BB who is this really old TAG player and some Asian dude in EP. flop comes 10 9 8 and I C-bet to $40 (Bought in for $200 initially and had 180 at this point) BB calls and EP folds. Turn falls an ugly J giving a 4 card straight on the board and I know he hit alot of it but not sure how much. So I check and BB bets $75 and I go in the tank for a while then look at him. He frowns triumphantly with his nose in the air, and waves his hand as if he was dismissing me and says "I got you son, go ahead and lay it down" Usually this is an ACT of strength but I took it as honesty (wont tell you why though, you'll just have to read one of the books on psychology and tells that I suggested in a past blog when I was suggesting Poker Literature ;) ) and showed my AA as I folded. He showed 10d 8d and scooped the pot. I was like NH, hope this isn't a sign lol. Very next hand in Late position alot of people (6 players) limp to see a flop and I have Qs 3s and figure OK lets give it a shot (have 115 behind) flop is Q 3 2!! sweeeet guy in early position bets out $65 into a $35 pot LOL I think it was because there was a flush draw out there and he wanted them out of the way. So I shoved over the top and he instantly called and showed Qc 2c for a cooler. I held and doubled up now with $240

As we continue to play and my stack goes back down to $180, the guy directly to my right has been known to be a super loose aggressive calling station....pretty much what you wanna get involved against when you get a big hand. Well he is in the SB and I am in the BB look down at Ad Qd and people limp as he raises to $50 with about 35 in dead money already in the pot I figure this would be a perfect squeeze play so I shove for $180 to either take the pot right there or go for a double up. Well needless to say he wakes up with AA and happily calls to take my stack. Horrible spot by me lol. This isn't the last time we tango in the blinds.

I felt like a kid in a Candy Store last night.

The next time I am in the BB vs a straddle of $10 and about 4 limpers, super LAG Raises to $95 preflop this time. I look down at QQ and think about re raising but this is a huge bet (I re bought in for $300 and now have about $580 after playing a few hands) I figured to just flat call and hope to spike a queen or give a wet board with good outs. Surprisingly another player flats behind and it is 3 to a flop with about $320 already in the pot. I have about 380 behind and the flop comes K 9 4. I hate this flop and hate it even more when the SB bets out $300. I instantly put him on AA or KK and say NH and fold. Other guy tanks then finally folds and Super LAG laughs and shows his Kd after saying "Pick one" with a smile.

The Final Time we got into it in the blinds (yes 3 times, 3 big hands) I have a stack of about $410 and SB raises to $65, I kinda roll my eyes and look down at......QQ again...wow I KNOW I'm ahead this time and instead of flatting I min raise to try to get him to shove on me preflop. Well he looks at me and says "REALLY?? well I guess you're ahead this time...definitely if you have a pair..." Then he calls the $140, Again it is heads up to the flop, Again the flop comes and it is K 8 6. But I am sticking to my read and put him on the range of 1010 or 99 or just air trying to push me off as he saw me folding often and figured me as a timid player. He bet $300 and I have $270 left. I laugh and told him, "dude if you really got me again then I guess tonight is not my night, so here take my chips." and I made the call. He was like, "wow, you really got QQ again?!?! I turned over my Queens and he kept his hidden. The turn was the Ac completing the flush and giving another over card and I said...well shit I guess you win...he said "Nope, I need to hit your queen"
I laughed and said "Oh, OK" (that means he had J10 and was just trying to push me around). I scooped the pot of $820 and now have a profit of about $320.

Well Like I said earlier they were straddling $10 almost every other hand and they wanted me to join in but I kept refusing. So Super LAG to my right said, What if we do it for one round would you agree to that? I said sure if every one does it I will too. Of course this was during about 2 hours of just getting cold decked and no cards so my $820 stack was decimated to $465 after losing a few pots that were either second best or missing about 11-16 outs twice. Well I was trying to stay patient (Thanks Mike Fontenot fellow APP'er  for keeping my head composed as well...he chopped 5 ways in the weekly tournament for a nice $900 profit) and then the mega hand I was waiting for came to reward me of my patience. I folded suited weak aces and weak kings in early and mid position spots 3 times and saw them make the flush for a monster pot but didn't let it get to me, just kind of annoyed that the times that I chose to play I would miss lol. Well I get dealt Ks 9s in Late position and an EP raiser who was playing fairly LAG raised to $20 preflop. it folded to me which I called and 3 others called behind. $105 in the pot and one player behind me) The flop comes 7s 8h 5s giving me a gut-shot straight draw with the flush draw and two overs, but I think I rather see a K hit and not the 9 hit) well it is checked to me and I bet $40 into the $105 pot. A guy behind me calls and the EP raiser calls. The turn is a 4c and it is checked to me again. I bet $140 representing my straight now (But still have a lot of outs vs. a made straight, set, or 2 pair and surprisingly BOTH call. This swells the pot to $645 and I have $235 left. The river gives me my spade but it is the 4s pairing the board. Even though This card was scary, I had committed almost all of my money for this card and if someone called all the way down with 2 pair or a set on the way I played the hand then I was willing to give them my chips but As played I was still representing my straight. I shoved All in and the guy behind tanks for a while again...then finally puts in the $230, and AGAIN the EP raiser Check calls $230 (She has been calling light for the whole night so I wasn't worried about her hand and put the guy behind me on a straight) Guy behind shows his 7 for the straight and before the EP raiser turned over her hand I showed my K9 spades for Second flush and they both shook their heads and threw the cards in the muck! Finally got the taste of a pot over $1k and tipped the dealer a couple redbirds for the gift on the river!!

How I felt after winning that huge pot!

I go order food then come back and play for a few more rounds win a few pots, lose some pots Before I start winding down my game there was a ridiculously huge pot that 2 out of the 3 players had no business being in and basically donated to the guy with a legitimate hand. But its like I said Earlier....This was not normal poker, lol. There was a pre-flop raise of $65 vs a $10 straddle and I was pretty much the only one that didn't call the raise looking at 10 4 off lol. Pretty much every one was licking their chops to this pot that didn't even see a flop yet at about $450. The flop was Q 8 4 with 2 spades and the lady that paid me off earlier was again in EP (She had no since of position and plays often lol) bets $95. 2 fold then it gets to a very aggressive guy to my left who raises to $250 (has about $1150 to start the hand) an older gentleman after him opts to Just call the $300 (has about $1400 to start the hand) and the lady in EP was all in for $245. At this point everyone was huddling around the table as the main pot has now swelled to almost $1200 and the side pot had $110. The turn fell a red K and the Aggressive guy to my left shoved for his remaining $650. This sent the guy in LP in the tank for a good while as this was a huge decision and if he were wrong, he'd be left with about $300-400. They were all regulars and the super aggressive started saying "I got you beat, You should fold." "I don't want your money, Just fold and let me take this pot, I got you beat" "You're gonna regret it if you call, don't do it." IDK if the LP just wanted to gamble or just didn't believe him, but he slowly slid in the $650 for the call and the pot had well over $2500 in it. The river was a club and the Aggressor showed a Set of Queens as the other two mucked their hand!!

I checked my phone and saw it was now almost Midnight.(I arrived at 6:20 and was on call so didnt want to be stuck in a tournament if I got called out) I figured it was time to call it a night even though I wanted to stay at the table cause the game was perfect and I adapted to it well. I was in for $500 and ended up cashing out $1450 and for once I can share a success story and not a horror story from the crazy 5 5 NL game at shorty's that plays like a 5 5 10 and sometimes 5 10 20 game! I could have won my last hand but every one knows the dreaded last hand play so I chose not to get to fancy with 10d 6d even though they were betting crazy and my 10 on the river would have scooped another $500ish. I was very satisfied with my night and hopefully the next time I sit at that game, I will be properly bankrolled to play it, but sometimes you just gotta take shots to get where you want to be.

Hope you enjoyed the read
Matt Stroud