Round One: Donkeys

It was an interesting day yesterday. When I finally arrive at my motel, I notice that there are 5 people waiting and no one at the desk. I call the hotel number and ask about it, and then the attendant appears. I wait for my turn. Thirty minutes later I am in my room. It is clean and reasonably modern. It has free WIFI. The channel line-up is limited but includes free hardcore porn. At the moment, there is not much else on except the news. The problem with this porn channel is they seem unusually obsessed with anal which not my thing is. But I would marginally prefer watching a hot model taking it up the ass than watching the American public take it up the ass, so I change the channel. The voice-overs are really bad. I am really digressing aren’t I? Perhaps not that much, since I really took it up the ass last night.

First stop was Commerce. I sit at 200NL while waiting for my usual 400NL game. I take a few small pots uncontested. I get called for 400NL, up about 50. I had one good hand there before things went sour. I had AKc on the button. 3 people limp. I raise to 35 and get two callers. The flop comes 666. It checks around to me. I fire 100 into the pot and take it down.

The next interesting hand was more amusing than painful. Again, I am on the button. There are 7 limps to me. I make it 110 to go with KQ (I know, not a good hand.) It folds around to late position who puts me all-in. It really perplexes me that he limp-re-raises all-in in late position. He could have TT or JJ in which case I should call. Or he could have AK or AQ in which case I should fold. I think for a while. While I am thinking, he shows the rest of the table what he has. I call the floor over. The rest of the table grumbles at me. “What are you hoping? The he will have to show you his hand now?” Obviously not; I want it to be very clear that he is showing me his hand if I fold. The floor agrees. I fold. He shows TT. The dealer spreads the deck, and I pull the flop, turn, and river out. There would have been a K on the river. Oh well.

The next big hand was extremely painful. I had 500 behind. I had bet and then layed-down several times in the last several orbits. One or two of those times were steal attempts. Three or four of those were cases where I thought I had the best hand until I got re-raised. This is important as I gave my opponent credit for noticing this. He had already picked me off once. He is in late position, I am in early position. I pick up AKh. I raise 35. It folds around to him. He makes it 135. Okay, it is push or fold with him; he is going to bet the flop, I am sure, and I don’t want to have to make any more decisions, so I push. He calls with KK. The flop came king high. This is bad in that I am now dead to running aces. On the other hand, it was good in that the money would have gone in any other way I had played it. Oh well.

Somewhere along the way, I decide to start taking notes so I can write a better blog after the fact. The Commerce gift shop has one in the kids section, so I am taking notes in a Mickey Mouse notebook. Here is a list of things I forgot to pack:

• Redbull
• Note pad
• Hand Sanitizer
• Water & Snacks (for hotel room)

I lost several more small pots. At one point I get involved in a situation with one of the weaker players at the table. He has asked me about my notes several times. Each time he asks what my notes say, I reply “It says I ran into KK with AK and lost 500 or so.” He makes a weak raise and I am sure his hand is weak. I make a big re-raise with 33. He asks me what my notes say. I calmly insist that there is nothing interesting in there besides the AA vs. AK hand. I toss the notebook over to him. He reads my notes and folds.

Between the two large pots I lost and a few smallish pots, I am stuck about 650. I decided to call it a night. I cash out, get my car, and head back to my motel. Except I get lost, drive around in circles, and finally end up at the Bike. I sit at 200NL and promptly loose my buy-in, not realizing any and all bets will be called if not raised. I lose another buy-in when I raise 75 pre-flop with KK. I get 2 calls. No ace on the flop, I go all-in. I get called by a set of sixes. I call it a night.

I have had my coffee now, and am ready for a shower and some donkey-slaying.