It was a good table. Well, good by Vegas standards, people were actually talking. The play resembled a lot of small stakes no limit games. A lot of limping in, a bit of checking and calling, but very little betting and raising unless I or my neighbors were in the pot. When myself, Syracuse accountant, or the Canadian Cowboy were in, take cover.

The table was a mixed bag. There were 2 younger skilled players, who fortunately weren’t getting great cards. One Asian who turned out to be better than he let on. Hairy and Bubba were bad players. So of course, they took my chips and promptly lost them to Syracuse and the CC. 

1. I limped in utg+1 with Q9 diamonds. A few people limped and Hairy checked from the big blind. Flop was QQ4, lucky, we checked it around. Turn 5, no flush on the board. Hairy bet 10$ out of his 100. and I smooth called, hoping for calls behind me. (there weren’t any, this was Vegas). River was an 8. He bet 20$ and I put him all in. He was trapped, but he had QJ. Ha ha ha. That hand goes on the Should Have Folded Pre-Flop pile.

Since no one was cold calling raises, my strategy to win was as follows: when I was in late position and people limped in, I would raise to 12$ with any respectable holding. On the flop they would check to me, so I would bet about 20$ no matter what was on the board. If they were playing tight then they would fold if they didn’t hit anything, and if I got raised, I didn’t care because I would just fold and try it again next time.

A few problems with this strategy. One was that they never raised.

2. I was on the button with real rags, I think 3-5 suited in clubs. I raised to 12 and Bubba called. Flop K 8 8 with two hearts. Not lucky for my hand, but an easy pot to steal if he doesn’t have anything. He checked and I bet 15$, which he called. The turn was the 2h. He checked, I checked. The river was a 4^th heart. He checked, I couldn’t win a showdown so I dutifully bluffed 30$. He called, Bubba had 7-8 off suit, and had flopped trips and rivered a 7-high flush.

I guess Bubba played it perfectly. There was no point in him raising since I couldn’t call. His best plan was to check and call to let me bluff. I don’t think he was aware, that’s just how he played. I made a mental note not to bluff him.

There was one other problem with my raise/bet flop strategy. I kept hitting monsters, (like the trip Queens that were out kicked :> ).

3.   I made the same raise with J9 of hearts in the cutoff, Syracuse folded. The button, big blind and limper all called. Pot = 48$

Flop 10h 8s 7c. Ding ding ding ding. I flop the nuts. It is checked to me, even I slowplay here. I checked, the button bet 10$. That bet is so small that it is weird. The bb folded and the limper called, I called. Pot = $78.

Turn 5s. We check the button bets 25$, the limper called, that is still pretty small but now the pot is nearly 130$ so I raised all in, I had about 200 left in my stack. The button called :> the limper folded :<

Well, the button called because he had J9o. The same dang hand. We split the pot, but made a little money since he wisely bet small enough to keep the limper in. I pointed out that I was slightly ahead, with 3 to a flush on the flop.

Lucky Who?

There you have it, 3 hands in which the board was “lucky” for me. However I netted a loss on them because of poor play and cards by my opponents. The point is that luck is a very subjective concept. 

Unless You’re Canadian?

4.  The CC made a small raise, and a weak player reraised. One of the pro-looking players shoved all in. The pro had nearly a thousand in front of him, far more than anyone else. The CC thought about it [thought = played with his chips for a second] and called as did the weak player. The weaky had A10, the CC has AQs and the hapless pro had pocket Kings, also known as “Ace Magnets” which hit the flop. The CC won and ran with the $. Sigh. He was replaced with an old woman, who was competent Sigh^2.

It kept happening. Often I would put in my steal raise to 12$ say with a small pair like pocket 3s. The flop would come 9 8 3 with a flush draw. Awesome, I hit a set! I would bet 15$ everyone would fold. I was lucky to hit a set, but the result was the same as if I had raised with 7-2 offsuit. This went on for a while and I finished up 120$.

It felt good to win, but inside I was thinking why can’t I mail some of these hands back to Foxwoods where they’ll make some real money?