The Bat Cave

We bloggin’. Opener soon.

3:53 PM: So after shipping that Rattlesnake Open event last Wednesday, I was contacted by a Global Poker representative and he asked me some questions and said I was going to be featured in their upcoming press release.

I’ve seen at least four different articles come from this, including an appearance in CardPlayer Magazine. I’m hoping that little piece actually goes to print. It would be pretty sick to see a picture of my wife and myself in their actual magazine.

I also saw a blog post that said “he favors NLHE, but has also done well in…” Wait. Favors NL? Thanks for the super personal write up, guys.

This was all pretty cool, but then Valerie Cross from PokerNews reached out to me personally and sent me a bunch of questions to answer and I knew she was going to write something different. Something special.

I wasn’t disappointed. Here’s a link to her awesome article!

Global Poker Player Spotlight: Mike “darkknight17” Coombs

4:14 PM: Currently playing some live 8/16 LHE while waiting for the 15/30 or PLO to start. Currently 7 names up for 15/30 and PLO starts at 6. I may or may not play the latter, depending on lineup.

I have Chief Wiggum in this 8/16 game and a bunch of other 8/16 regs.

One of the first hands I won a monster pot when I had KK vs Wiggum’s QQ on T5223. We capped pre, went 3-bets on flop and 2-bets on the turn… all while having like thirty other people in the pot with us. I cleared almost everyone out with my turn raise and got another bet on the river and started my session with an immediate rack of sugar.

4:41 PM: Update on the Rattlesnake Open Player of the Series race:

I quit.

I was still in the top ten after min-cashing one of the three limit hold’em events on Thursday but then I went 0-3 on Friday and Saturday I gave a joke of an effort in the six events that day.

We had plans to spend Saturday with my wife’s side of the family for Mother’s Day and even though I had permission to stay home for the first three events, visit for an hour, and go back home for the last three events, I thought that playing on my iPad while hanging out for the first three events would be doable and then I can head home before the PM events and really focus.

Well, I ended up whiffing the first three and then we started playing volleyball and, my goodness, it was fun. I had every intention of going home to play but after two full games of volleyball I was having way too much fun with that.I registered the 5:30 PM and 6 PM events, sat out, and set my alarm for 6:15 so I could do the add-on for the first event. I did the add-on for the Low but never made it back in time for the Medium.By the time we were done playing volleyball, I had like 1.5 bigs in the Low and my biggest stack was in maybe 10 bigs. No surprise, I ended up whiffing and finished the day 0-6 and one min-cash in my last 12.I was still determined to fight come Sunday and I was eager to play the bigger buy-in deep stacks. Then this happened on the first hand of the $22 Low:Blinds were 10/20, there was a limp, the cutoff raised to 80, and then VooDooRange jammed 10k on the button. Go ahead, do the math. That’s a 500 big blind shove. And there I am next to act with pocket kings. If there was ever a time to fold KK before the flop… it wasn’t this spot. If I run into AA here in a $22 tournament, good day to ya. I’ll take my chances and see if I can stack up 1000 big blinds for hand #2.I tried to take a video but everyone else snap folded so I took a pic as fast as I could and the brutal beat was already well in motion.Pretty, pretty…. pretty sick.Then I busted the $110 Medium and went deep in the $218 High without any momentum and busted near the bubble while my wife kept asking, “are you almost done yet?”It was pretty clear that I did not have the green light for that evening’s events, so after going 1 for my last 15 and falling out of the top 20, I decided I was done making it a priority. I didn’t play the Sunday night events, or the events on Monday or Tuesday. It’s safe to say I have thrown in the towel and can go back to enjoying my life.

I will be clearing my schedule for the Main Events this coming Sunday, however.

5:38 PM: Under the gun raises and it folds to me and I call with J5hh because folding is LAME. Just kidding. This is a defensible and probably even standard fold but I feel just fine defending wide ranges against average 8/16 players – even when they raise under the gun. I’ll take my chances.

Flop is T52 with one heart and I go ahead and check-raise. He immediately goes to call, hitches, and decides to raise instead. I now think he’s heavily weighted towards bluffs, so I go ahead and call down when the board runs out K52T9. I’m basically beating all his airballs except AT, QJ, and A9, so I like my chances, even though the board didn’t run out great for me.

He shows AQ and I privately congratulate myself for correctly spotting weakness.

6:45 PM: Defend the 65o in a 4-way pot and donk the 743 flop, hoping to trap everyone for all the bets. I’m able to 3-bet the flop 3-ways and even though my man slows down, I have him pegged for an overpair, so I check the jack turn, expecting to get both players for a double bet. He checks back. Unfortunate. I’m confident of my read though, so when the jack pairs on the river, I go for the check-raise again and this time I get it. He shows TT and says the jack on the turn scared him. 🤷🏻‍♂️

7:52 PM: Decided to pass on PLO. I dunno. Doesn’t look great and I’m cruising in this 8/16 game. My patience has been rewarded because The Gnat just sat down – and he’s in a singing mood! Let’s see how fast we can turn him into a crybaby.

Wait a minute… 🤔 Did I finally find my Two Face? TBD…

Elmer also making an appearance again. Seems like I haven’t played with him in forever.

7:59 PM: To raise or not to raise? Two limpers, I raise KThh button, the big blind and others call. Flop is QJx with one heart and Elmer donks right into me. It’s been a while, but when Elmer donks the flop and you raise him, he will still usually donk the turn, so a free card play basically never works here and I think my hand miiiiight play better letting others call along, so I just call and the big blind calls also.

Turn is a ten and after Elmer bets and I call, the big blind check-raises. Gross. Thinking about the big blind’s range, it seems like folding here would be horrible. It seems like worst case scenario is K9, as I’d expect him to 3-bet AK preflop. So I go ahead and call and so does Elmer. River is a 9, big bets, Elmer folds and now I have to decide if raising makes any sense. Since I determined that K9 was the worst case scenario, I think I have to raise here, although he probably checks most of the time he doesn’t have at least a king. I raise, he 3-bets, I wonder how stupid I can possibly be, call, and he does show me ACE KING.

8:27 PM: Here’s The Gnat trying to free card play but getting owned for the max instead because he has zero concept of board texture and ranges. Multiple limpers, I raise JJ from the SB and five of us see the AJ8 two diamond flop. I lead, big calls, Gnat raises, I 3-bet, and Gnat caps it… let’s think about what he’s repping here: AJ, A8, 88, J8? Is he raising weak aces here? Whatever it is, his range is clearly DRAW heavy and he’s confused if he thinks that play is going to work on me. Not that capping the flop is much of a free card play. If there was any chance I thought he had a made hand, I would check-raise the turn, but he may consider himself victorious if I let him see the river for “free,” so I lead out on the turn, even though a 9 is one of my danger cards (QT). The big blind is also still in the hand. River bricks, I bet and Gnat is already showing the dealer his cards in disgust before the big blind does anything.

He’s also yet to push a bet across the line.

What a dick.

9:58 PM: Rocksteady opens hi-jack, I 3-bet AK, and three of us see A76 two spade flop. I bet and only Rocksteady calls. Turn is a king and I bet in Overs. He calls. River is a ten and now he check-raises me. What. This is not a turbo raise or a turbo call. I’m confused. I really feel like I’m losing to QJss only… maaaaybe 98? I’m sizing up the situation and the spidey vibes are saying call, but the limited combos I’m losing to and then the fact he would check-raise worse two pairs ultimately makes me put 3-bets out there. Now he starts thinking but again my senses are tingling, so I say “dude, if you have QJ just cap it already.” He does cap it and then shows me 98 of hearts.

Then the next hand I river the nut straight when someone else rivers a flush and no one bet the flop (when we both had good draws). I did just call that time, but I’m starting to feel the bleeding all the sudden. After being up between two to three racks all day, I am now up less than $200.

And The Gnat is high fiving people that beat me in pots. Mutha!

10:11 PM: And now I ran QQ into KK in a heads up Overs pot on a ten board. I am up $60. Wtfffffff.

Quicksand!

10:22 PM: I’m melting!!!

Just whiffed a flush draw/straight draw combo in an Overs pot and then Elmer beats me with 75 on Q98 flop.

Rocksteady opens cutoff, I 3-bet ATo and he caps. Flop is J93 and I have a standard peel here. Turn is a queen and I’m planning to raise this card, but he checks, so I take the lead, whiff the river, fire another bullet and get called by the hand I know he can’t call with: AK. This sends The Gnat into an orgasm.

Yes, Rocksteady won the pot, but this is a bad call down. What hands do I float with on the flop that don’t have AK beat? All the straight draws have made at least a pair now. All the pairs are still… pairs. I literally have to have AT only for him to win.

But it’s a total collapse over here so of course that’s what I fucking have.

Just defended 55, check-called the K42 flop and then the preflop cold caller bets on 2 turn, and I think my hand is pretty good here. The PFR folds so now I really like the situation. River pairs the king, increasing the chances I have the best hand even more, but when I check-call river he shows… 52 of clubs.

What in the world is going on?

It’s a BLOOD BATH.

⚰️☠️🤦🏻‍♂️🔫

Working on -$400.

This is insane. Time for a walk.

10:42 PM: I actually might take off. I’ve been playing for 7+ hours already and I’m not too interested in playing 8/16 until 2 AM trying to get even. I’m kind of wrapped up in “Evil Genius” on Netflix, plus I scooped up “Rick and Morty” season three and watching either of those sounds way more appealing than chasing a loss at 8/16.

I’m way past my reload stage and I haven’t done that yet so that probably means I’m taking off if I don’t win my next few contested pots.

11:53 PM: I’m still here. Staging a bit of a comeback.

Let’s math: under the gun raises, four players call, and I defend KJo. Flop is AT8 rainbow. UTG bets, two call, and I call getting 15-1. Turn is a blank and it goes bet and call back to me. There are now 10 big bets in the pot and I’m about 11-1 against. I’m a little short on pot odds, but I almost certainly will make up that extra bet on the river and maybe two. With implied odds, I qualify. River is a magic queen and not only do I get a check-raise in against the bettor, but the third player in the pot pays off two big bets also.

Huge pot. I 3-bet KK on the button in a multiway pot and then four of us cap the 743 two club flop, with the small blind and myself doing all the raising. Turn is an ugly 6 and the small blind still leads out. This is a bit weird. Obviously I hate this card, but unless he flopped a straight I feel like there would at least be some hesitation before he bet into three opponents on this turn card. Elmer calls and so do I. River is a queen and the small blind bets, Elmer folds and it’s all up to me. I sort of expect to lose, but I’m definitely skeptical – I’m not convinced I’m paying off. I call, he tables K6, and it takes me a second to figure out I won the pot.

And just like that, I’m back to sugar status.

1:14 AM: Called it a night. Quite a rollercoaster tonight as I peaked around +$500, fell all the way down to -$400, and bounced back to finish at a respectable +$255. Basically three 3-rack swings in opposite directions. Crazy!