Setting goals, listening to
podcasts, reading articles.
It was all
for naught.
I played twice at WinStar,
losing both times for a grand total loss of $450.
This puts me down for the year $100.
I have sworn off WinStar because I simply
cannot win at that casino, but I’m sure that will last about as long as any of
my previous commitments to swear off the cruel game of poker.
I had four hands worth
discussing, with one of them still haunting me today because I truly am not
sure whether I made the right decision or not, but we will save that one for
last.
The first situation was after
playing for about five hours the first night.
I had been down nearly all night and prior to the start of this hand I
was close to being back to even. I had
about $230 to start the hand. I was
dealt pocket queens with seven players at the table. After the blinds had posted and another guy
limped, the player to my immediate right, who had only been at the table for
four hands, made it $8 to play. I
re-raised with my queens and made it $35 to play. That is a little higher than I might usually
re-raise when the original raise is $8, but nothing crazy in my opinion.
The action folded back around to
the original raiser, who didn’t take long to say he was all-in. Since this was only his fourth hand, I had no
idea what kind of player he was. I had
worked so hard for so long to be where I was.
Had I called and lost, I would have been left with $80 and I wasn’t
buying any more chips that night. I
didn’t want to risk so much on a hand I was either dominated, dominating, or a
coin flip to win. I elected to fold and
wait this guy out.
It turns out I didn’t have to
wait long. About 30 minutes later I had
figured out that this guy was extremely aggressive, raising pre-flop every
third hand on average. On just such a
hand that he raised $7, I looked down to see pocket queens again. I said out loud, “Let’s try this again,” and
I raise it to $35 again. This time,
instead of re-raising me all-in, he just calls after everyone else folds. The flop comes 9-8-3 and I bet $50 after he
checked it to me. He calls the bet and
the turn was a 10. He checks again and I
was left with only $85 at this point. The pot had $170 in it and I decided to push
all-in. He called very quickly and
showed pocket nines for a set. I didn’t
hit a queen or jack on the river and was busted out.
Being that he simply called my
re-raise the second time makes me think he had a stronger hand the first time
and my fold was correct, but his aggressive style of play also makes me think he
didn’t have a better hand than my queens and I should have called. Before leaving the table I asked him what he
had on the first hand that we didn’t show and he at first acted like he didn’t
know what I was talking about. He was a
foreigner to this land, so that might be true, but once I got him to realize
what I was talking about he said he had a pair.
I told him I knew that, but how high.
He said he couldn’t remember.
Uh-huh, likely story.
A big hand I won on the first
night of play didn’t go how I thought it was going to. I had K-10 of hearts and after limping into
the pot we saw a flop of Q-J-5 with one heart.
There was a bet of about two-thirds the pot and a caller. I elected to call and see what happened on
the turn, which was the 7 of hearts, giving me an open-ended straight draw,
flush draw, and possibly a draw to the king for best pair.
I checked the turn and when the
player behind me bet about half the pot, the third player called and I decided
it was time to make my move. I raised
all-in and was prepared for either both to fold, both to call, or to get it
heads-up and draw for my better hand.
The initial bettor on my left thought for a long time and finally
decided to call me. The third player
folded. I told my opponent that he was
ahead at this point, but that I had a lot of draws. After seeing my hearts, he responded (not in
a condescending or annoying way) that I didn’t have as many outs as I
thought. He flipped up A-Q of
hearts. There went my flush draw.
That left me with three kings, three
aces, and three nines (the nine of hearts gives him a higher flush). A black nine came on the river and I more
than doubled my money. This win put me
near even for the night and I was about ready to call it quits when I came into
the two queen hands mentioned earlier.
Other than the hand I am saving
for last that was about it for the first night.
I had a really good $1-2 table and if I cannot beat that kind of table
at WinStar, then there is just not any kind of table I can win at that casino.
The following morning was a
disaster. In 90 minutes of play I won
three hands total and two of those were for pots of less than $10.
The most significant hand of the
second session was when I held 9-9. I
limped into the pot and a player in late position made it $12 to go. Two players ahead of me called and I decided
to see if I could get lucky and hit a nine for a big payday with so many
players involved. The flop came 8-7-2
with two hearts. The first player bet $22
and I went all-in for another $61, bringing the total to $83.
Despite not getting a third nine,
this is a perfect flop for my middle pocket pair. It is just below my hand, so any player who
hit a pair is going to have to draw out on me.
At this point, the pot has $131
in it. The original pre-flop raiser
thought for about two minutes and finally decided to fold. He later said he had tens. The player on the button also thought for
some length of time and decided to call.
The first player who led out for $22 decided to fold. He said he had A-8 after the hand was over.
The turn was an unforgettable
card and the river was a heart. The player
on the button showed K-Q of hearts and won the pot, sending me back to the
hotel room swearing off WinStar poker.
And that brings us to the final
hand of consequence. At the beginning of
this I had $225 in chips. I was dealt
A-K offsuit in late position. There were
two limpers in already and I elected to raise it to $7. I should mention that this table was one that
a $7 or $8 raise was the norm and it was within the first 20 minutes that this
happened. Both limpers called my raise.
The flop came K-6-2 rainbow. Both players checked and I bet $15. The first player folded and the second called. The turn was a six, pairing the board. My opponent almost immediately bet $75. I responded by almost immediately calling. The river was a two, creating a board of
K-6-2-6-2. My opponent didn’t wait long
to push all his chips into the pot. He
had me covered, making it a $128 bet to me and there was now approximately $330
in the pot prior to my call/fold.
So what do you do here?
If any card comes on the river
that isn’t a two, I think I would have called.
For my opponent to bluff the turn, that is one thing, but to then follow
that up and bet everything I had on a river after my immediate call on the turn
is a pretty bold bet if you have worse than my hand. The only hands I could put him on that I could
beat other than a complete bluff was K-Q, K-J, K-10, or K-X suited.
I go back and forth on whether he
truly had me beat, but it was so early in the night, I didn’t want to call off
my last $128 without being pretty sure I could win the hand. Maybe I was playing too conservative in that
position. Maybe that is why I am
ultimately a loser at WinStar, but I laid the hand down, hoping to get a chance
to make it back later in the night.
Unfortunately things ended when, likely previously explained in this post,
my queens lost to a flopped set.
Call me an idiot if you think I
should have called the A-K hand. Or tell
me it was the smart move. I really don’t
know. I can’t seem to separate myself
from the situation to look at it objectively and make a decision.
