The Bat Cave

Today is starting off better than I expected already. The Leak and I were driving to Palace and there were only two players on the 15/30 list @ 3 PM. That’s not very promising. I would have guessed a game start of around 6 or 7 PM. But then I walked in the door and the game was starting!

We are currently 8-handed with a starting lineup of: total maniac, Part-Time, nit, Fleabag, Rain Man, nit, non-reg.

Heads up vs Part-Time: I open AQss and double barrel AQ5ddd after he cold calls preflop, but he raises me on the turn and I call down and lose to K4dd.

Pretty cool!

3:22 PM: Yesterday I went -$170 in 1.5 hours of 4/8 limit O8 and then +$925 in 6 hours of PLO.

Here are the two most interesting pots I played in PLO yesterday and they happened on back-to-back hands:

I limp early with JTdd77, there’s another limp, Big Baby makes it $20 to go on the button, and one of the blinds and both limpers call.

Flop is 854 with two diamonds. I have a decent flush draw and two blockers to the nuts so it seems like a good hand to bluff the flop with. I lead out $55 into $80 and the player on my direct left makes it $110. Everyone else folds. Let’s think about this: what kind of strong hand makes a min-raise here? I would say not many. So my plan is to call this bet and re-evaluate on the turn. I don’t want to bloat this pot on the flop against someone I think is highly unpredictable and might go crazy with a naked ace high flush draw. Also, it is feasible that I would play some naked straights this way.

Turn is the Queen of clubs, giving me some actual straight outs. I do not think my opponent has much and I can still rep the straight so I bet $175 and he tanks forever and eventually calls.

I don’t particularly want to make my flush here. I think if the board bricks off I will usually win this pot with a max-sized river bet.

The 4 pairs on the river and I would say that qualifies as a good card for my plan. I bet $300 and this time he tanks even long than he did on the turn but… calls it off… with… A832 no diamonds.

That was enough for The Crypt Keeper to blurt out, “what the hell?” after I showed and he tabled his hand.

So I lost nearly $600 on that pot and then this hand comes up:

There are two limpers, Crypt Keeper makes it $25, Big Baby makes it $90, and I have AA98 with clubs on the button. I make it $390 to go (more on that in a sec), which gets about 40% of my stack in the pot before the flop with Aces. That’s a pretty good result. Big Baby is my only caller.

The flop is pretty decent for my hand: JT8 with two clubs. Big Baby leads out $200 and I make it $500 trying to get all the chips in. He just calls though.

The turn is a blank and I have a little less than $200 behind. He checks to me. It seems like my hand should not be good after he bet-calls $500 on the flop and I brick the turn. So I check behind and take a river before deciding if I want to put the rest in.

River is the 9 of clubs. Yay! I bet the rest of it and he calls it off with AA62 and no clubs. I guess it makes sense that he has AA, but what a crazy hand to bet-call off $500 on the flop with.

So yeah, after losing a big pot to a crazy bluff catcher, I felt like I was one club away from turning $1500 into $0 in two hands.

Fortunately, I was freerolling in that last hand and got there – a session saver!

Ugh. Flea just cashed out. That left us 6-handed (plus Part-Time MIA) with two nits in the game. That’s what I call the Danger Zone.

Fortunately, a random dude just sat down with $700.

4:42 PM: Rough start today. I’m down about $400 after winning a couple small pots. Here’s the highlight of my day so far:

Maniac limps, I raise cutoff with K2dd, button calls, so does a blind.

Four of us to the Q97 with two diamonds flop. That’s good enough for me to bet and I get popped by the button and the rest fold out. I call.

Turn is a blank and he does that rapid fire bet where he’s not even thinking about what’s going on (because he has a draw) so I’m already thinking about calling the river if it comes bricky.

The river pairs the 7 and I don’t have to make the call because he just gives up and my king high is good.

4:53 PM: This game is pretty bad now. My last four blinds have been chopped (I had AA in one of those hands). Radio Mike replaced the maniac and we are 8-handed now.

5:19 PM: First battle with Radio Mike: he opens cut, I 3-bet K2 of spades from small blind and he calls. I double barrel on 997-5 before checking the Queen on the river. He checks back… with QJo.

😐✋🏻🧢

5:48 PM: Radio Mike 2, Dark Knight 0

Open 55, Rain Man cold calls, Radio Mike defends.

Flop is 882 with two spades and only Radio Mike calls.

Turn is a 4 and I still feel like I’m good here. My plan is probably to check river if he calls because I’ve seen him slow play big hands to the river in heads up spots, especially against me. He calls.

River is a third 8 though. Can’t imagine what hands he’d play this way that I’m losing to and it seems like I should go for value against 2x and Ax hands, so I bet and he check-raises and I’m pretty sure that is always quads but I’m not folding here either. He shows the 86.

In other news, Rain Man has flopped a set on me three times already, which seems like every time I’ve played a pot against him. I’ve had top pair all three times and twice I rivered trips so he’s basically owning me today.

And then this happens: I open Q8ss and button and Rain Man call.

We check down on J985J and I go for value on the river after Rain Man checks a third time because how the hell can I ever be losing here, but Rain Man has A9 and calls.

Good lord.

Open AJ and a nit 3-bets me and of course I get a jack high flop and clean run out so I’m forced to call down, knowing I’m rarely ever winning with the top of my range here. He has QQ.

Yup. I’m really annoyed right now.

6:06 PM: Sigh. Now we are 6-handed with two nits in the lineup and I am stuck almost $700.

Where are the 9-to-5ers?

6:39 PM: We are down to 4-handed and the first hand of non-chopping I have AA in the big blind and get the Q9958 board against the small blind’s 95.

Yup. I’m over it. I’m going to go watch the 7:20 showing of A Star Is Born.

I might be back later.

Final Score: -$881 in 3.5 hours

I will continue this later if I come back and play after the movie.

Update: The next two showings of A Star Is Born are both sold out so I will not be seeing that tonight but I am also not going to be returning to the casino.

I think I woke up roughly five times during the night and never felt well-rested today. Radio Mike suggested making a trip to Fortune but I’m tired, steamy, and buried – and none of those things suggest I should keep playing poker tonight. I was willing to gut it out at 15/30 locally, but I have no desire to travel or play 8/16, so I’m just watching playoff baseball at home now.

I will be back in action at Muckleshoot for some 20/40 Omaha 8 tomorrow around 3 PM.