The Bat Cave

12:41 PM: I showed up to Palace just after the $15/$30 started and I was first up. I’ve been playing $8/$16 for about an hour already. Please don’t lock me out!

I had another big Saturday, posting a +$2795 in 10.5 hours of $15/$30 and kept my ultra hot streak alive. I did take yesterday off to watch the Oscars. No major surprises. Frances McDormand, Allison Janney, and Sam Rockwell gave my three favorite performances of the year and they all shipped statues. The Shape of Water is still my first or second favorite film of the year, so its Best Picture win was deserved imo. My other favorite film was Get Out, which won Best Original Screenplay – my favorite Oscar moment of the night. I actually bet some money on a few categories and booked a small profit.

I’m surprised I’m not in $15/$30 yet, considering the lineup. There is one nickname in the game and none of the biggest regulars.

1:03 PM: Cashed out of $8/$16 -$52. I still don’t have a $15/$30 seat but I’d rather rank fantasy baseball players and eat breakfast than play $8/$16 right now. Shouldn’t be too long!

1:53 PM: Second $15/$30 starting now. Cards should be in the air in the next 15 minutes or so.

2:10 PM: I typically prefer playing in the feeder game, but I decided to switch to the main game instead. The game looks better plus it doesn’t have Slimer in it and that’s an automatic upgrade. Out of the very few players I actually dislike, Slimer is the only one that is solid. I don’t like seeing him walk through the door for all the reasons.

Plus, I think the players I want to play with in the feeder will migrate to the main anyway.

2:34 PM: Main game has Part-Time, two guys I don’t know that have been reckless in a short sample, a nitty reg, and a couple $8/$16 regs.

2:49 PM: Took a break. Came back and posted in the cutoff. One limper, hijack raises, I call with 32o, button 3-bets, limper folds, HJ calls, I call. Board runs out J7258 and I call down vs button and beat AT high and immediately establish a tight-solid image.

2:59 PM: Just flopped a set of aces against a turned set of fours and never get raised somehow.

My strategy of sitting down with an Overs button as my card protector has paid off today. Five players are now in $25/$50 Overs.

3:10 PM: Just got “lucky” in a big pot. One limper, I raise 88 and four of us see 742dd flop. Limper donks, I raise, the other two players call, limper calls. Turn is 8s, giving me top set. I definitely think 65 could be out there but that’s not going to stop me from betting and it doesn’t stop me from raising either when the limper check-raises. We are heads up to the river, the board pairs and he check-calls with 65. Out of the three players that called the flop he was the one I thought was least likely to have 65 since he donked right into the raiser and risked getting himself heads up with 6 high. Good final result though!

3:54 PM: Nerd Alert!

Just took a break to make my first fantasy baseball selection of 2018! I kept Freddie Freeman, Jose Ramirez, Max Scherzer, and Nelson Cruz. Pretty well rounded core to start with. Cruz is way up there in age but has shown no signs of regression yet. Even though this is a dynasty format, I still think he has at least one more All-Star caliber year left in him.

None of the top starting pitchers were very attractive so narrowed it down to Brian Dozier and Craig Kimbrel. Since Ramirez can play 2B, I went with Kimbrel as I feel having one of the top closers is a pretty decent edge since they provide elite ratios and 100+ strikeouts. Obviously, Kenley Jansen was off the board.

I only mention this because I know it’s what you all came here for.

4:38 PM: Sigh. 6-way pot, I defend an UTG raise with Q2o and three of us cap it on Q92. The UTG player raiser pops me on the turn, which is bizarre because all he did was call on the flop. So the 7 helped him? Pocket 7s? Really? For four bets on the flop? Eh. He could definitely have some other hands so I’m never folding. I call. River wrecks my hand by pairing the 7, but I’m curious so I call and he shows me… 97cc. BARF.

Slimer and Radio Mike have migrated to my table. Part-Time left after crushing the game. I think the guy to my left (playing really bad) might be leaving soon and there are multiple players on the wait that will be in the second game soon that I definitely want to play with. So I’m up for a table change. Joker is over there, which is annoying, but some things must be done.

5:04 PM: Here’s a shocker: I open QQ UTG1 and player on my left and two others call. Flop 322. Pretty nice. I bet and only guy on my left calls. Turn ten and we are in Overs. I feel like his ability to check back here is minimal so I go for check-raise. He bets, I raise, he calls. River pairs the 3, I bet and he calls with… QQ! What?

5:09 PM: Just gave Radio Mike shit for having horrible foresight and game selection and he responding by saying “this is our last chance to destroy each other for nearly two weeks. I wouldn’t miss it!”

5:12 PM: Even more shocking than the QQ vs QQ hand. Guy to my left limps UTG and everyone folds to my big blind. I raise with 88 and he folds. What?

5:42 PM: Be careful what you wish for, RADIO MIKE.

I take a break to select Brian Dozier in the 6th round (he slipped back to me!) and post in the hijack. Mike raises, I defend J2o because Lololol and five of us see KJJ flop. I jack him up on the flop and he calls me down when the board runs out KJJ42. You okay?

6:00 PM: Cobra just walked in the building and he’s playing $3/$6 now. If he’s smart, he’ll stay there.

6:12 PM: Curious George in the game now and an irregular maniac also. Shit just got real.

6:20 PM: Just flopped a queen with AQ in a 4-way capped pot and got paid off in two spots all the way through showdown and the pot was big enough to spill over into Radio Mike’s personal space (he’s now sitting on my right) and I said “wow, that pot was bigger than your whole stack).

The poor guy has gotten off to a rough start. He couldn’t beat the T5s and T8s of the previous seat 3.

Also just won a monster with QQ on J98x7, four players at showdown and pressure on me from the flop on – a nice, surprising result.

7:01 PM: Another massive pot with a bad runout and a great result. I have AK and it’s capped pre with Curious George, the maniac, maybe some others. Curious George puts the heat on me on KJx with two clubs and it’s capped there with the maniac still in. Turn is a 9, CG bets and we both call. River queen. Super gross. CG bets, I call and I’m good vs J5cc.

I did get coolered by Taz when my JJ lost to his KK on a ten high board but I am running pretty pure again. I am up about $1500.

7:48 PM: Curious George gets me in a sick, blind vs blind, weird non-chopping situation. At Palace, you can actually chop 3-ways when there is a small blind on the button and it folds to them. I kind of hate it. I’d rather just play and there’s a lot of gray area with this rule. I’m never asking for a chop when I’m the button but if the button wants to chop I just do it… painfully.

Well, button folds in this hand and Curious George snap-raises. I look down at JJ and we cap it. Flop is KJTcc and we cap it again. Turn is the 4c and he checks now. I see no reason to think I’m beat so I bet. He calls. River is a 3 and now he donks. It’s very tempting to raise against this weird line but I just call and he shows me AQ. Ouch.

Then he gets some more revenge with another J5cc when he donks turn on Q65J5 and I call down with TT.

9:17 PM: Nothing new to report. Those pots vs Curious George are the last notable ones I’ve played. I’m up around $850 now so I’ve lost a little momentum.

It is worth noting Joker is in the game now.

Just had KQhh on Q75hAh3h vs Curious George but then he cracks my AA with KT on the very next hand. Then I fold black queens on 963hh7h after it gets capped on flop four ways and the flush gets there on the turn.

You taketh and you giveth away.

Next hand after that I have AQss and lose to Joker’s KT on QJ77A.

Pretty cool orbit.

9:54 AM: The Joker just got picked off on J85xx with 74cc, which is the first time he’s missed a straight draw in 2018.

Curious George is outflopping me every hand. AQ < J9dd for way too much action.

10:15 PM: K7 in my small blind loses to big blind’s 62 on K826x and I keep inching towards even territory.

10:20 PM: My AK loses to Curious George’s K4cc. This is fun!

11:20 PM: Insanely card dead and losing the few pots I do contest. Since I won with KQhh in my 9:17 update, my biggest success is stealing the blinds once. I am up about $150 now. Wth.

11:57 PM: Got a little breather from the cold stretch when I 3-bet KQcc and triple barreled T43cc9K board and then outflopped Curious George’s KK in a heads up pot with AJdd. I’m still up ever so slightly but I lost a couple hands right after that.

I have to admit I’m pretty tired right now but I’m hesitant to leave because the game is very good, my seat is top notch, and I’m planning to take the next two days off (most likely).

I’m planning to see Game Night at 1 PM tomorrow and The Leak said she is interested in seeing Black Panther after she gets off work tomorrow. But when she says she wants to see a movie the chances of that actually happening are probably less than 25%.

But what I really need time off for this week is organizing all my receipts and data to file my taxes and getting that taken care of. I’ve been sending the IRS money every quarter so hopefully the damage will be minimal.

1:56 AM: Ugh. I’m about to leave and I pick up AA on my button in a 3-bet 6-way pot and get it cracked by Q7o, from a hand that wasn’t in the blinds. He might have posted. I’m not sure. It’s really the only logical explanation.

I am now stuck for the first time all day. Pretty cool!

I think Joker and I might have invented a new poker term. Starting with the button, the positions to its right are the cutoff, hijack and lojack. Well, we decided to call the next position to the right – formerly known as under the gun plus two (eww…) – the NOjack. It flows. It works. I recommend everyone start using it immediately. Apologies if someone already coined this term. It seems like an easy segue.

2:14 AM: Sigh. Two limpers, I raise KK, Joker 3-bets, two more callers, I cap. Flop is J93hhs, I bet, three callers. Turn Ts, I bet and Joker raises. One other caller and I call also. River pairs the 3 and he still bets. It’s never a bluff but it’s also hard to come up with hands I’m losing to that he plays this way. I check-call and say “it can only be tens” and this clown shows me Q8hh.

Big pairs falling victim to random spazz at the end of the night. Awesome!

This might be even more tilting. I open KQcc and get six callers. Flop is KKQ and only Joker calls and then calls me down and says “how about this restraint?” as he flashes me a king. You serious?

WHY SO SERIOUS?!

3:24 AM: It was the tale of two sessions. For the first six hours I ran so pure I almost felt guilty and was up about $1500. For the last seven hours I got my ass kicked and went hours between pots.

Final Score: -$97

What. The. Hell.