Donkey Calls

Poker at the American Legion this past weekend was not good.

I was still feeling on tilt from the whole debacle the previous weekend, so I wasn't going into it in exactly the right frame of mind.

My blood boiled a bit again right as I sat down - there was a guy at my table I played with before. He said to me, "You played at my table last time, too, right?" I smiled and told him that I remember playing with him before. To which he responds softly, "Yea, you like the draws." HELLO?

I knew exactly which hand he was referring to - one where I had 7-8o in the big blind and checked with one other person in the pot. Flop comes out 4-5-10 rainbow and I check. My opponent checks also. Turn came out A, I checked again, my opponent followed. The river came out a 6, giving me a 8 high straight, so I bet. My opponent calls with A-2, so I won the pot. YEA, DONKEY, I LIKE THE DRAWS, OK WHATEVER. If someone is going to give me my cards for free, it's their dumb fault they lose.

So I chose not to respond. Whatever.

So the first hand I pick up K-Qs in the cutoff seat. I raise. Everyone folds except for the old guy in the big blind who says, "I don't like people stealing my blinds". Wow, someone's been watching some poker on TV! I responded him by telling him if he felt so strongly about it, then he should call or raise me. So he calls. There was an Ace on the flop and I put in a little probe bet. He called. I end up picking up another King on the turn, but I checked after him. The river was a rag - he leads out and bets, I call with my Kings, and he turns over A-2o to win with a pair of Aces. Then he said, "I was really afraid about my kicker" You know what? IF YOU WERE SO AFRAID ABOUT YOUR KICKER WHY DID YOU CALL IT DOWN TO THE END? See, most people want to play against morons like this and take all their money, but in my case, it just never seems to work out.

I did manage to pick up one pot when I had pocket Jacks - the flop came out J-A-rag, and I was seeing dollar signs in my head about how I was going to get paid off by these morons keeping their Aces. I slowplayed my set on the flop, then put in a small bet on the turn, but my opponent folded. Dammit! Can I not catch a fucking break? At least I got a small pot on that one.

The rest of the night was completely downhill. I kept getting cards like K-Qs, K-Js, Q-Js, I was hitting none of the flops, and too many people were staying in the pot to take a stab at it.

The tournament leader didn't do a very good job of announcing the level changes. So when I picked up KQs (again), I raised the bet to $200. Unfortunately I didn't realize the blinds were still at $20/$40, not $40/$80, so it was a little bit bigger of a bet than I wanted to make. Even worse, that's when the little old man sitting next to me decided to re-raise me another $200. The same little old man that I never ever see raise a pot. So I'm thinking FUUUUUUUUCK, I'm up against Aces. That makes me what, a 4:1 dog? So everyone folds while I'm doing quick math. $460 in the pot, $200 to call, I don't know if he's got the Ace of hearts, so any flush possibility may be out the window. So I LAY IT DOWN. I laid down a great hand on a pretty surefire read. I could hear others at the table go, "hmmm", like a little light bulb went off in their head that I'm raising with garbage. I'm still debating whether or not I should have shown my hand when I mucked it. Doesn't matter now, I guess. But the little old man leans over to me then and said, "I had Aces." I told him I kind of figured, but good hand.

So it was just not my night.

The first hand after the break, the blinds were up to $50/$100 and I was first to act, meaning the big blind was around to me next. We just merged tables, so there were a couple new people there. I was praying to the poker gods for a decent hand where I could just stick my whole stack in, and I looked down to a K-10o. Good enough - all-in for $550. One of the new guys at the table had a pretty large stack - he was sitting in the cutoff seat and said all macho-like, "Well, I'm going to have to call you". So he calls, and the small blind goes all-in for about $400 also. So we flip them over and I'm bummed to see the small blind turn over pocket Queens. But the donkey with the big stack that just HAD TO CALL turns over Q-9s. I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about the Queens. So a King comes out on the flop and I'm thinking I've got a little more time on life support. But the motherfucking DONKEY HITS A FLUSH ON THE RIVER. How sick is that? I guess he can go on thinking he's a huge skilled player for busting two hands that were better than his to start with. Honestly, I don't even think I would have minded losing to the guy with the Queens - at least he got his money in with a valid hand. Shoot, I think Q-9 is only like 10% against Q-Q and K-10.

But whatever, so I was out.

I need to take a poker break. I probably shouldn't have played this tournament in the first place, and I'm starting to get really irritated at little stuff that is just part of the game. It shouldn't faze me, and I think I need to develop a thicker skin. I told Dave that I'm taking a break and he's like, "Yea, whatever", but I'm not even sure I want to go to our regular game in a couple of weeks.

I guess I'll wait and see.