The Bat Cave

I will be blogging today… at some point.

Game starts at 4 PM and I didn’t have time to write a preamble today, so it will be a work in progress as the game is starting.

Preamble: So Wednesday night was an insane night of pot limit Omaha. The game started very juicy with Hit&Run, Part-Time, Animal, and Big Baby all in attendance.

Animal is always fun to watch and on this day he was in special form. He felted on the first hand dealt. A short while later he had QQxx on Q33 vs Big Baby and lost to a 3 on the river and felted again. In the first 80 minutes of the game, he dusted $3680 and then he reloaded another $800.

Somehow he turned that last $800 into this:

He’s actually up for the night here after being stuck almost $4000 at one point. His night didn’t end here though. He eventually turned this into $300 left sitting in front of him after a pot played out… but he won that pot and he did end up cashing out around $2000 after having one of the biggest roller coaster sessions I’ve ever seen.

Plus he gave an all-time great quote, when being asked if he wanted to hold his seat after felting his third bullet (for $1680 total): “How can I leave a game where I’m losing $800 every ten minutes?”

Meanwhile, after he overlayed the entire table with $3700, I was sitting there with $200 more than I started with. Most of it went to Hit&Run and guess what he did with it? Took his happy ass out the front door.

There was so much bloodshed and carnage in this game, there were literally dead bodies everywhere. I couldn’t step anywhere without slipping on the skull of a fallen warrior.

And yet… none of these carcasses were left behind because of me. I basically just sat and watched from the sidelines all night in total awe… and quite a bit of jealousy.

Here’s a pot I wasn’t involved in:

That’s over $2k in the middle before the flop. Five players in for $405 each. Guy in seat four was super stoked when he was able to make it that much (with an obvious AA hand) and then he got called in four spots and I could actually see the moment when his soul left his body.

The Crypt Keeper ended up winning this monster with a solid QQ93 when he rivered a straight flush after getting the rest of his chips in on this flop.

I took some notes on hands I though I might talk about but there isn’t anything too interesting.

Here’s one: I limp along with 8752 single suited (because Animal limped) and five of us see the 987 two heart flop. I have bottom two pair, plus a worthless gutter and a bad flush draw. Altogether, it’s not good in a multi-way pot. But Animal leads out $25, so I call and then two players call behind me. Ugh.

The turn is a 4, which doesn’t change anything, and somehow it checks around.

The river is an offsuit deuce and Animal bets the pot for $130. Normally, I would just snap fold in this spot but both Hit&Run and Big Baby are showing their hands to their neighbors, totally telegraphing folds, so suddenly I’m in a heads up spot against someone that checked the turn with three opponents when the board texture didn’t change.

Twinkie is dealing and I say to him, “I don’t see how I can fold here,” nodding to the other two dingbats, “but I can’t even beat nine deuce.”

I make the call and… my hand is good!

I took a note on a hand where I was able to 4-bet to $140 pre with AAK9, but I got called in two spots and then check-folded on a T43 two tone flop that whiffed me. I took a note because winning hand was 9973 single suited (he made a flush). Also worth noting is that I was able to 4-bet this hand because the 9973 3-bet it.

Lock the doors! There were already four legit punters in the game and I was happy to see we had a fifth.

My biggest pot was when I had AKQT vs Animal on a board of QJ9Kx where I got either a pot-sized bet or $300 (the max bet) from him on every street after the flop.

I call a raise with AJJx single suited to the ace on the button – a hand worthy of 3-betting if 3-betting had any fold equity in this game (which it doesn’t) – and the flop is AKT. There’s a bet of $25 and a call. It’s all pretty weak and with two straight blockers in my hand I just go ahead and pot it.

It’s a pretty standard play, but this is not a standard spot because I know my image is pretty tarnished at the moment. I’ve been losing and I just got picked off for a $300 bluff on the river the hand right before this one. So I wasn’t sure it was going to get through even though it seemed like a super obvious spot.

It did get through though.

When it was all said and done, Billy Dubz smacked the shit out of this game even though he was the last player to get a seat. Here’s a look at his disgusting stack a short while before he took off:

Just a nice little $5000 sitting under the Christmas Tree in front of him.

As for myself, I finished +$174 and felt like I lost $2000. Stacks were seriously being handed out like candy on Halloween night and I wasn’t allowed to go trick or treating.

Yesterday we had to go to Sumner to sign the closing papers for our new house and since we were already halfway to Fortune that’s where we decided to play last night.

My session started off unexceptionally, but I eventually hit some hands and then I wasn’t missing much at all.

My night climaxed with this insane pot: there’s an early raise, a couple callers, and I 3-bet with JJ from the big blind and everyone calls.

Flop is KJ2 all diamonds and I get called in three spots after I bet.

The turn pairs the 2 and fireworks start exploding. I bet, next guy raise, and both other players cold call. I 3-bet and they all call.

Before the river, I’m sitting there thinking how I have the nuts in this monster pot and the only card I really don’t want to see is a king.

And then there it is. The king pairs on the river. Unreal. That leads me check and it checks to last position and he bets. We all pay off. He has a 2, player on my right has the nut flush and the other player has a 2 also. My hand is good and I win this monster!

I was pretty hot after that and only running AJ into 99 on A97Jx in my last orbit could keep me from reaching my wishful goal of making $2500 for the day. I had to settle for a +$2413, which is my best win at Fortune in 2018 and puts me within striking distance of reaching the black for the year there! I’m not sure I will play there again this year though, as we will be super busy with moving and celebrating the holidays for the rest of the year.

Starting Lineup: Radio Mike, decent reg, maniac, nitty reg, non-reg, bigger game reg, non-reg, and Shit Man.

Pretty light on names, but there are four players in this game that are regular (or special) enough that I should give them names. Maybe I will today.

There were 27 names on the list for a 4 PM start and after the dust has settled, we have a full game and NO list. 😂

7 of 9 starting the game are playing 25/50 Overs.

4:29 PM: First big clash: open under the gun for the third time (on Radio Mike’s big blind), this time with KQss. Maniac calls, button calls, Shit Man 3-bets small blind, and I cap because I like my hand multi-way and have position on the 3-bettor. Maniac calls, but the button folds for some reason, and three of us head to the flop.

Board is Q54 with two spades. Shit Man leads, I raise, maniac folds, and we get it capped heads up. I don’t think my queen is good here, but I have a big draw and I will check behind if I miss and he checks to me on the turn.

But I don’t miss. I pair the queen and he check-calls and then make the flush on the river and he calls again.

That steams him up nice and good, enough to ask for an Overs button and now whole table has them.

5:17 PM: Radio Mike opens late, I 3-bet AJdd from cutoff, the button calls, and Mike calls.

Flop is Q42 all diamonds. Radio Mike donks, I raise, and he calls. We are heads up.

The turn is a nice, action-killing 7 of diamonds. He checks, I bet, and he literally turns over QQ. I wish I snapped a pic of this bozo turning his hand face up and then calling.

The river is an 8 and he checks again. I tank for a bit, enjoying the moment, acting puzzled, and put a bet out. He still calls!

I just asked him if he would have bet if the river paired the board and he says, “of course.”

I reply, “that’s a dumb bet. I’m just going to fold worse hands and raise you with quads.”

I raise under the gun (for the 5th time in 7 rounds) with TT and only Shit Man calls from the small blind.

He check-raises me on the T42 flop and I call to raise the turn.

It’s an 8 and goes as expected, but with a patented Shit Man “shiiiiit, man” before he calls.

He pays off on river (with JJ) and spends the next five minutes mumbling curses while shooting me angry glances.

5:53 PM: Preamble is finished. Scroll back up and read it!

Blackjack wanted me to do him the favor of dropping a link to a vlog he did for his recent cruise through the Caribbean. Check it out in the link below:

Blackjack’s Caribbean Cruise on YouTube

6:52 PM: Okay, I guess I’m taking a little break after typing nonstop on my phone for 2+ hours when I first got here. Also, nothing too exciting has happened. I’ve opened and 3-bet a number of suited Broadway hands and whiffed or lost all of them.

We have lost a couple players from the game and filled those seats and now have a list of 5 waiting for seats.

7:19 PM: Alright.

I’m handing out some nicknames.

First up, we have two players that I play with quite regularly that I always refer to as “nitty regulars.” Actually there’s a third one that sometimes plays the 20/40 O8 at Muckleshoot but usually just plays 4/8 everywhere. They are all basically the same player, just folding most of the night and taking up space. They aren’t threatening. They aren’t dangerous. They are just there. In fact, they are so similar that their real names are exactly the same, except for the one vowel in it.

They are so indistinguishable as players I have decided to call them Huey, Dewey, Louie. It doesn’t matter which one is which. They are interchangeable so I will refer to each one however I feel like at the time.

There is one caveat here. Two of these triplets will drink on rare occasions and when that happens both of their games go haywire and they play a lot of hands and bluff too much. It doesn’t happen often but it is special when it does.

Second up, there are two regulars, one at Palace and one at Fortune, that I always see wearing a necklace with a large tooth dangling from it. I’m not sure what creature these teeth come from, but I have decided to call these guys Fang and Tusk of the Shark Tooth Mafia.

Fang will be the guy from Palace. He’s in 8/16 now and on the list for this game. He’s wild, loose, aggressive and sometimes hopelessly bluffy, but I’ve also seen him play pretty solid. Still, I usually think of him as a borderline maniac.

Tusk is the exact opposite. People actually make fun of him for being the ultimate nit. Maybe the nittiest of them all. He’s a 20/40 regular at Fortune.

Huey and Dewey are both in this 15/30 game and Fang is next up to take a recently vacated seat.

Lastly, and I’m adding this after submitting this last update and getting approval from Radio Mike, there is a fourth player (that I refer to as a decent reg) of the same ethnicity as Huey, Dewey, and Louie and while I was tempted to call him Scrooge McDuck, I have settled on their Uncle Donald instead, particularly because he sort of looks and sounds like Donald Duck.

Updated lineup: Radio Mike, Fang, semi-reg, Huey, Donald Duck, regular, Dewey, Shit Man

8:34 PM: Folds to me on button and I look down at 86 and raise. Fang calls from small blind and big defends also.

Flop is J85 with two diamonds and both players check-call me.

Turn pairs the 8 and now Fang check-raises me. Other guy mucks and I 3-bet it.

River is the 2 of diamonds and he check-calls with… 43 of diamonds.

Well done, Fang. Solid nickname debut. You didn’t let me down.

Ugh. I started off hot today, wondering if I might be in line for completing the Coast-to-Coast Challenge. Welp. It’s safe to say I’m not anymore. Stuck $500 all the sudden.

9:23 PM: More gross stuff. Open AQss, two callers, Donald Duck with position.

Flop is Q77 rainbow and he raises my flop bet. I call and we are heads up.

Turn is ten of clubs. Now it’s my turn to check and then raise. He calls.

River is another club. I bet and he snap-raises. This is a fold. Clear as day fold. He doesn’t have it in him to bluff-raise this river against my line. But I pay it off anyway and he shows the KQ of clubs.

9:42 PM: Huey opens under the gun and it folds to me with AQo on the button. This is actually pretty borderline. I think AQo is the worst hand I’d 3-bet in this spot and I would actually fold here some percentage of the time. But this time I 3-bet and he calls.

Flop is QTx and I call after he check-raises me. I am not planning to raise the turn in this instance.

Turn is a king and he checks to me. It would be super weird for him to check-raise this card, so I bet and I’m probably going to show down on river if he calls. He does.

River is a 9 and he checks to me and I’m sitting there laughing to myself because I don’t beat a fucking thing and check back. He shows QT suited and wins the pot.

I also had A6 suited vs A2 on AK723 and then had T9cc on AJ7cc9 vs Ax and couldn’t improve.

Definitely not running good right now.

10:52 PM: Open AQo, Donald Duck calls, and Fang 3-bets the small. I cap and both call.

Flop is AA3 with two hearts. Fang check-raises me and we cap it heads up.

Turn is the 7 of hearts and he leads out. He only has 1.5 big bets left, so I raise him and he calls.

River is the 5 of hearts. Both my cards are black. He bets his last $25 and I call. He shows AQ also, but his AQ has a heart.

The Gods are laughing at me.

12:26 AM: Welp. I think I’m about done here. I’m 8+ hours deep and all I’ve done is lose every hand for about the last seven hours.

My last fun hand: it’s raised and multi-way before the flop so I call with 98 of diamonds from the small blind and six or seven of us see the 883 two club flop.

I start with a check, Shit Man (the PFR bets), Puss-In-Boots raises next to act and clears the field to me, I raise, Shit Man folds and Puss caps it.

Turn is a blank and my lead gets raised again. I think this is a call here but I’ve seen him raise lighter in these spots and check behind on the river. He’s capable of still having a flush draw here. I decide to 3-bet but I’m not sure I love and I know I don’t when he caps it again.

I call down and lose to 33.

I recently reloaded another $1k but I’ve already played a full session and I’m not planning to dig deep into the night. This will be my last orbit, regardless of what happens.

Final Score: -$1323

I am not sure when I will be playing poker again. It looks like Wednesday from here. We are going to be super busy with the Christmas and New Year holidays plus moving into a new home on top of that.

Merry Christmas everyone!