The boys had some friends spend the night Saturday evening and we have discovered that when that happens, the house becomes extremely loud. For some reason, the kids of today have to scream when they play video games. Otherwise, the games simply aren't fun or don't work. Something along those lines.
So, in lieu of hearing a bunch of adolescent boys turning my living room into the equivalent of a rollercoaster or professional sports stadium, I decided to go see a movie and then play some cards. I've been wanting to go back to the Poker House in Burleson for some time since it is only 15-20 minutes from our house. By the time I drive there and back, I am only about halfway to WinStar.
I hadn't been to the Poker House in many months and in addition to the entry fee of $10, I had to add some hours for the play. Before even sitting at the table I was down $65. That is the one downside to playing at a local cardroom rather than WinStar, is that you have to pay by the hour to play, but there isn't much of a rake. Apparently, they have started taking $2 for the player promotions like high hand and other things, so in addition to a door fee and an hourly rate, now we are losing $2 out of every pot each time we play a hand. If it weren't so close to home, I would rather just deal with the full rake at WinStar.
Once I was settled and at my $1-2 table with $300 in front of me, I looked around at what I was facing and realized I was immediately the low stack. Three players were sitting on $1,000 or more, and another two or three had $500. The very first hand I was dealt was a dealer's choice game and they elected to play Congress. I had a hand worth the $10 straddle, but then it was raised to $50. After a couple of callers I didn't really want to put in a sixth of my chips on the very first hand, but I decided to be a team player and see if I could get a lucky flop. 30 seconds later I missed everything and folded to a continuation bet. I was now down to $250 and had been there for less than five minutes.
I hung around $300 for the first three hours of the night not really making any progress. I was playing pretty tight and would win a hand, but then lose another to get back to where I started. Or lose a couple of hands that I would try to see a flop, but miss, and then win one hand to get me back to even. Half the players would straddle for $5 on the button, which I did a few times just to look like I was willing to gamble. The pre-flop raises were out of control and if you didn't get to limp in for $2, it was going to cost anywhere from $20-45 before you got to see the first three community cards.
One memorable hand that I screwed up winning an extra $75 for the high-hand promotion was when I held Q-J suited. I expected it to get raised, so in middle position I just called the $5 straddle. It then went around to the blinds and straddler on the button, all of who didn't raise. So we saw a flop of Q-J-J. I now held the second nuts with a full house. Only pocket queens beat me. The blinds checked. I decided to give everyone a free card so they might catch a little piece. I checked and the button also checked.
The turn was a five. The small blind made a pot-sized bet and I was the only caller. The pot now had $60 in it. The river paired the five, so the board was now Q-J-J-5-5. I held the third best hand, as pocket fives and pocket queens beat me. I felt very confident nobody had pocket queens as there was not a raise pre-flop. And if the small blind lucked into quads by going runner-runner, then it was just not my night.
He checked it over to me. I should mention, the high-hand promotion that was going on paid $75 to the player with the best hand every 30 minutes. At this point we were 15 minutes into it and nobody had qualified with a realistic hand. My full house would certainly be the front runner. Not knowing the rules of the house and not wanting to ask about it as that would clearly tip how strong my hand was, I should have made a miniscule bet just to get him to call. I did end up betting on the low side, but it could have been even less. I bet $25. I should have bet $5-10.
I was hoping he held a single jack and was trying to trap me into betting so he could raise, thinking we were either chopping and he would get me off of my lone jack or I had the five and would pay him off. Or maybe he had a five and would pay me off. Either way, I figured he might put in the $25 with a jack, five, or even a possible ace. Unfortunately he folded and I took the pot, not having to reveal my high hand at a showdown.
Where things really got upsetting for me is that later I realized you didn't have to get called for the high hand to qualify. As long as there was a flop, if everyone folded you could flip your cards over and make a high hand. So had I just showed the full house, I would have been on the board and 15 minutes later collected a free $75. Since I haven't played at this location very much, I wasn't aware of their special rules.
In addition to the hourly rate and uber-aggressive play, another downside to the Poker House is that it seems like the players care more about the promotions and dealer choice hands than they do actually playing Texas Hold'em.
After a couple hours of tight play and conservative decision making, I was dealt pocket nines in early position and elected to make it $15 pre-flop, which was certainly on the small side of the raising range at this game, but I didn't want to inflate the pot too much in case I missed my nine on the flop and some higher cards were revealed. I was called by two opponents and we went to a flop with the pot having $45 in it.
The flop was 7-7-4. This was about as safe as it could be for pocket nines and I elected to make a continuation bet of $20. A newer player in middle position who was a regular at the place raised to $80. The other guy folded and it came back around to me. I decided to show that I was intimidated by the regulars and stand my ground. Surely a quick call would slow him down if a safe card came out on the turn.
The turn was a 3. I checked and he didn't take too long to bet $275. I only had $325 remaining, so it was essentially an all in for me. I was beat by a seven or 5-6. I could beat a four. The guy played it pretty aggressively, so I was surprised when he showed a seven after I folded. He had 7-6 and showed so he could qualify for the high hand promotion.
The only option to win that hand would have been to raise so much pre-flop that he didn't come along with his 7-6, and I could have saved an additional $60 by not calling the raise on the flop, but I guess I can't fold to every raise as that would allow my opponents to constantly bluff me on the flop or turn and I'd never make it to the river unless I held the absolute nuts.
The hand that finally put me way ahead for the night was when we played Congress Hi-Lo. I held A-6-4-3-2 with the nut spade flush draw should that come. There was a $10 straddle and I called. A player raised it up to $30 and after a few calls I was closing the action. I decided to call and see what happened. The pot had $120 in it.
The flop was A-A-6. I flopped the nuts and was drawing to the nut low, no matter what card came as long as it was an 8 or lower that didn't match the board. It checked to me and I decided to put in a small bet. I bet $40 and was called by the button and the big blind. The pot now held $240.
The turn was an 8. So my nut hand was now beat by either pocket eights or A-8, but I held the nut low with 2-3. It checked to me again, so I decided to make some money. I bet $120. Both players called pretty quickly. The pot now held $600.
The river was a five, for a board of A-A-6-8-5. I still held the nut low and third best high hand. The big blind checked. I made a bet of $200, which left me with about $90. I didn't go all in, even though it was for such a small amount more, because an all in bet normally signifies absolute strength. If either player didn't have really good hands they would perceive me as holding the nuts and might fold the second nut low. I figured with $800 in the pot, after my $200 bet, they would be more inclined to both call with so much money to win and I had a potential scoop hand that would win both the high and low.
The button thought for about 30 seconds and finally made the call. The big blind was extremely frustrated, but eventually folded. It turned out the button held 2-3 also for the nut low, so we chopped the low part. I won the high hand and received three-quarters of the total pot.
The big blind said he held the other ace and just needed a card 10 or higher for the better full house, so I dodged that bullet. With this win, I was at approximately $850 and about an hour later I left with a profit of $530, after the $300 buy-in and $65 entrance/hourly fee.
