I am a degen

I am a degenerate. That is what my friend Ed told me today at our 3 plus hour drinking lunch. I guess I have to agree.

I had to drive to Detroit for work so I decided to hit the casino for some poker. I was riding on about 2 hours of sleep so it was not a really great idea to be driving by myself. Oh well.

I only took $600 with me as I did not want to get crazy. I arrive at Motor City about 1:30. They have 3 nlhe games running. The $50-200 buy in game(maybe 300, the $200-$500 buy in game and the $300-$2,000 buy in. I was planning on playing 1/2 nl, but it looked like a lot of people were short stacking it at the 1/2 so I asked for the 2/5 game. (I know- I am not supposed to play 2/5 but I could not help my self.)

I decided to buy in for $400. I also decided that I would play until 3:00 and evaluate where I was at that point. I lost a few pots early and was down to about $300. The guy to my immediate right was crazy. He kept way over betting preflop and post flop. He lost a big hand with middle 2 pair when the other guy rivered his 3 outer. Can you say Uncle Tilty. He reloads for the full $500.

About three hands later he is still steaming. I am the small blind and he is the button. There are 2 limpers in the pot. He raises to 20. I look down at AJo. As you know from previous posts I HATE AJ. I cannot fold to his button raise, but I cannot raise so I decide to just call. I hate calling there, but there was nothing else I could really do. 2 other players call his raise. Flop come AJ5 with 2 spades. I did not have a spade. I check and I know that he is itching to bet. It gets checked to him. He bets 75. I am trying to decide whether I should just call or raise. The player after me shoves for $160 out of position. I pretend that I do not see this and just call the $75. I know that the raiser is on a flush draw-he did this 6 times already. I also know that the guy on the flush draw is NEVER folding a flush draw for his last $160. I want the original bettor to put all of his money into the pot. Luckily he obliges and goes all in. I call. As soon as I call he says, 2 pair right. Turn is a red 10. He shows AQ and is begging for a queen or a king. I fade his outs and scoop a nice pot.


I was going to write about another hand that I won a good size pot with, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was. (the six drinks at lunch may have something to do with that)

I lost a really big pot in a situation that really sucked. I raise to 25 preflop with AK. The guy on the button calls. This guy bought in for 500 and was over 1,900 at this point. He has won every pot he has entered. It was sick. The big blind also calls. The flop comes AK5. I bet 45. I wanted a call there. The button calls. BB folds. I am already thinking how am I going to lose this pot to this guy. The turn is the 8 of spades, putting 2 spades on the board. I bet $120. I want to end the hand here. The button calls. River is 5 of hearts. I check. I am hoping to induce a bet from the button. He obliges and bets $175. I was about to raise him but he just looked too excited. I wussed out and just called. He had 95 off suit. Wow. He later told me that if the river was a blank he was going to go all in and figured I would fold, but since he hit trips he wanted a call. I really wanted to puke.

At this point it was about 6 p.m. I was still up about 300. If I went broke or went back to even it would be a much longer drive home. I was waiting until right before my big blind. I started talking to the guy on my left about the 95 hand and did not realize that the guy on my right stood up and I was now the big blind. The dealer already dealt the cards so I figured I will play a few more hands and then leave.

I look down at 78h. UTG +1 limps. He liked to do that with a variety of hands. The Internet guy who just came from the 5-10 game raised to 25. I called from the big blind. UTG +1 also calls. Flop comes A105 with 2 hearts. Surprisingly it gets checked around. Turn is the Q H. Sweet. I was going to bet, but UTG already was grabbing chips and moving them to bet so I checked. He bet $40. Internet dude folds. I fiddle with my chips and raise to $95. He tanks and makes it $250. I tank and count out my chips. I decided to call. I just felt that my flush was good and that he was searching for another heart. The river was a blank. I checked. He insta bet $300 and before he finished saying the words I called. I just knew I was good. I just put $550 into the pot with an 8 high flush. That is not something I would normally do but it felt right. He just sat there so I just sat there. I was not doing anything until he mucked or showed his hand. Finally after what seemed like 20 minutes but was really probably 45 seconds, he says if you can call you win. I still sit there. He finally mucks his hand. As soon as I see that the cards are safely in the muck, I flip over my hand and start dragging the pot. He went ape shit. How could I call $300 with an 8 high flush. I looked at him dead seriously and asked how could you bet $300 and not beat an 8 high flush. He stormed off and did not return before I left. I finished that orbit and cashed out.

The beautiful thing about the drive home was that I could bill the clients for all of the drive time. A very profitable day.