The Bat Cave

I’m blogging today! I’ll be working on my preamble as the game is getting off the ground. That will be a work in progress that I will be updating as I’m playing.

Preamble: I was on the fence about playing poker yesterday and after spending numerous hours on the phone with both Dish and Century Link and coming to the conclusion that I was never going to get internet through either of them, I did something I never thought I’d do again: I called Comcast. And then I signed up with them. I really feel like I just sold my soul to the devil, but they offered me high speed internet for just over $40 a month and I couldn’t pass it up.

And guess what? I got my internet activated within hours of signing up with them. Weird. All I had to do was drive ten minutes and grab my new router/modem and then hook it up myself.

And I’m back! I finally caught up on all my accounting, bills, email, and other correspondence. Plus today I started working on my Blog Nicknames again, so go ahead and start checking those out regularly.

However, after spending so much time trying to get internet at my house and ramping up my tilt factor again (maybe that’s why my fuse was so short last weekend?), I decided to take the night off. I didn’t actually have the internet up and running until after the PLO game started anyway.

And guess what happened about an hour after I finally had internet coursing through the coaxial veins of my home? Our power went out.

Unreal.

I did wind up getting organized last night and this morning this beast arrived, so I spent my day putting it together:

As I was assembling it, guess what I saw park in front of our house? A Century Link van! Sure enough, I walked outside and caught their man lurking about our cable box.

Uh, no, dude. Get the fuck outta here.

That is some serious comedy. I hate Comcast beyond belief, but our internet is faster and cheaper – at least for the next year – so I guess it all worked out.

This is also serious comedy:

4444? Should I be concerned about that? Are my descendants 2000 years from now still going to be held hostage to my bill from Dish Network?

What a joke of a company. They are all jokes. I’m sure Comcast will be pissing me off soon enough.

That catches me up to this game start. I was going to work on my 2018 results post today and hopefully post it, but I spent my entire day putting that couch together. Not sure when I will have time to write that post because this weekend our top priority is cleaning our old house and getting it in shape to put on the market.

I did, however, have time to write a little review for Bumblebee (2018) while I was waiting for the delivery guys this morning, so check that out if you want.

Starting Lineup: Radio Mike, Chief Wiggum, Part-Time, 15/30 reg, Hewey, random, big game reg, Black Turtle (self-ordained)

Amazingly, the list of 21 names turned out to be a full game with no list. Wth.

This lineup is okay, but definitely lacking in the action department. I give it a C-.

4:44 PM: I have been super active. The game is on the tighter side so I have been raising like a maniac. I’ve had some decent hands: QTo, 98o, KTo, QThh, JTcc, and JJ twice.

Most of those hands have been raise and take its or c-bet flop and take it, but I made a flush with the JT of clubs on the river against a one card straight and my most interesting hand was this one:

Open JJ, Black Turtle 3-bets, Wiggum calls on the button, and I cap it.

Flop is J9x rainbow and Black Turtle and I take turns raising each other until it’s capped, but we are unable to shake the hitchhiker.

Turn is an 8 and they both just call my bet.

River is a very ugly queen, so I check and Black Turtle starts rambling about “you were no good the whole way but you didn’t know it and now we’re both beat…” and then he bets the river… (Wtf… ?). Wiggum raises it, I fold and Black Turtle shows AA and folds also.

Ugh.

5:22 PM: Cards have been in the air for about an hour now and I’ve had JJ four times and QQ once. Plus I’ve been raising a lot of other hands. I’d guess I’ve raised over 40% of the hands dealt so far. It’s been pretty insane.

I might be drawing live for the Coast-to-Coast Challenge. I won all my early hands and I think I still had sugar after Chief Wiggum clearly rivered a straight against my set of jacks. I guess since I don’t know for sure it wouldn’t really count, but I’m well above sea level now.

I’ve had some unexciting boards for some of my jacks and queens, where I’ve had to turn my hands into bluff catchers rather than capitalize on what looks like a super aggressive and wide image. I managed to get two streets of value (by check-calling) with JJ on a king high board and QQ on an ace high board.

I did have an interesting spot where I opened the 76 of clubs from the hijack and Part-Time 3-bet from the big blind.

I call $25 (Overs, 8 of 9 players are playing $25/$50) on a 972 flop and when he still bets a king on the fourth street, I decide to turn my hand into a bluff by making it $100. Part-Time has a tendency to bet too much, both as bluffs and as value/protection bets, so when I raise here, he will fold hands with decent equity like AQ and maybe even hands as strong as TT up to QQ. Sure enough, he does fold to my raise.

A list is starting to accumulate for this game. It’s six deep now.

6:45 PM: Get a cheap flop with Q9o from the small blind and it checks around on K64.

Turn is a 9 and I bet-call when Black Turtle raises me from the big blind. It’s pretty weird for him to check the flop with a king, so I’m looking this one up.

River pairs the 4 and I check-call and lose to A9.

On the bright side, I no longer have to wonder if I’m in line to complete the Coast-to-Coast Challenge as I now have less chips than I started with.

7:47 PM: Bulletproof and Hit&Run in the game now. Wiggum, Black Turtle, and the random dude are gone now.

Multiple limpers in front of me, I raise with 99 from late position, next guy 3-bets, one of the blinds caps and six of us are in for four bets.

Flop is K65 with two clubs and it checks to me second-to-last to act. I think betting is correct here. I don’t want to give a free card and if I get raised by the button that’s not so bad either. It will help limit the field and I definitely want people out of this pot. I have the 9 of clubs in my hand and backdoor straight possibilities so I think I’m strong enough to bet-call here.

That is what happens. I bet, the button raises, and everyone else folds.

Turn is a 7, giving me additional equity and plenty of reason to continue. I check-call again and I’m leaning towards folding brick rivers because I’m sensing strength.

The river brings in my straight with an 8. My opponent is on the nittier side. Realistically, he should be betting hands like KQ+ here and going for value, but I don’t trust him to bet, so I try to lead out but fumble my chips and he snap-calls without my bet in the pot yet.

I eventually get my chips out there and he leaves his in for the call, but the weird sequencing prompts the player on my right to ask, “did you just check-call the river?” and I explain what happened, but the player I beat in the pot takes massive exception to the question for some reason and starts berating the guy on my right, saying it’s “a stupid question.” He’s obviously pissed about losing the pot and taking it out on a bystander, not letting it go to the point where the guy on my right is like “you’re right. I’m stupid. Not sure what you want me to do about it. I was born this way.”

Lady Gaga would be proud.

9:18 PM: I have been distracted by food and now my wife is sitting behind me waiting to play 4/8 on a very deep list. Also, I haven’t had any notable spots in the last 90 minutes.

The game is bad by Palace standards right now. Mighty Mouse has joined us and we really only have one legit producer at the moment. There are only three names on the list and none of them are all that exciting either.

Yawn.

9:56 PM: Huey limps, guy on my right raises, I 3-bet with AA, Hit&Run caps from the big, and Huey goes from one bet to four like he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Checks to my right on Q8x two spade flop and he bets, I raise, Hit&Run check-3-bets, Huey folds, bettor calls, and I cap it.

Turn is a 9 and they both check-call.

River is a king and I hate it. KQ is squarely in both of their ranges and I’m planning to make a rather tight check back, but the second player bets and I call.

“Did I get there?” He asks, as he turns over KK. I give him the courtesy yes-you-fucking-suckout peak at my aces.

11:09 PM: Can’t seem to get any real momentum going. I lost with QQ to 76o but then I flopped a set of eights in a single-raised multi-way pot and got three streets of value.

I followed that up by raising with 88 and giving up on an AKx flop 3-ways and then folding JJ in a 3-bet multi-way pot on AQx.

My most recent confrontation saw me check-raising the Q94J board with J9 in a heads up pot and running into QQ.

Nothing too exciting, but lots of little annoyances.

As I was typing this up, there is a raise and two callers, so I call with A5 of spades from the small blind and five of us see a 882 one spade flop. It checks to Mighty Mouse in last position and he bets. My hand seems a little too good to fold here and I think I should maybe be check-raising here when I continue, but I opt to just call and see what happens.

Everyone else folds so when a 6 of hearts hits the turn, I lead out, representing slow played trips even though I’m probably never playing an 8 this way. Still, it gets the job done and I scoop the pot.

Not sure if that’s my best or most believable line, but it worked this time.

11:36 PM: I open JJ under the gun, Radio Mike calls, big blind raises, and I cap.

The flop comes down QJ9 all hearts. Big blind leads, I raise, Mike folds, and the big asks, “do you like that flop?” and raises me back. I just call.

Turn is the 3 or 4 of hearts and I call again.

The river is a black ten and he checks.

“Now you check?” I ask, “because that card came?”

I’m confused, and while I’m happy to see him check here, I’m not sure I should be betting. I check back and he shows a set of queens.

That makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is that this same player beat my AA with KK, QQ with 76, and now oversets me… all within the last 90 minutes or so.

I’ve been wanting to give this player a name. He’s become a very consistent regular here and we are friendly. I’m still awaiting that stroke of genius though. I have a couple of ideas and I even have a favorite, but still waiting to see if I can think of something better.

12:42 AM: Alright, I got it. This player has his own nickname that has led to making his online screen names “dinosaur,” so I wanted to do something with that, while not just calling him Dinosaur myself.

And since I’ve been naming Korean players after famous cartoon ducks recently, I decided to go with a mixture:

Ducky from the Land Before Time – a dinosaur named Ducky. Seems fitting.

Well, Ducky and I have been clashing all night and I have more hands:

He opens from late position and I 3-bet the cutoff with A5 of spades. He calls.

Flop is JJ4 with two diamonds and a spade. I bet and he check-raises me. I think he has some creativity in his game so he doesn’t have to have me beat here and I have some backdoor potential anyway. I call.

The turn is an offsuit 3, enough added equity for me to call again.

The river double pairs the board and after making it this far, it seems silly to fold on this board texture, so I call Ducky’s third barrel and win against Q2 of diamonds.

Next time I’m in the small blind there are multiple limpers and Ducky raises on the button. I decide to speculate with K8 of clubs and six of us go to the flop for two bets.

The board comes 976 with one club and I end up having to call two bets again and at least four of us remain to the turn.

It’s a king. I lead out. I don’t want Ducky to check back with a hand like JJ or QQ and the other players are almost certainly behind me now and I don’t want them to get a free card either. Plus, my hand can stand a raise. The other guys fold, but Ducky does raise and I call.

River is a 5 and I donk out again. The double donk! Now he starts tanking and starts speculating on what exact two cards I have. He even says “King eight” and I tell him, “that makes a lot of sense, but I’m not going to show it to you unless you call.”

Amazingly, he does fold and I pitch my cards into the muck with authority.

Note: I will be quitting this session at 2 AM. I probably won’t post any more hands tonight but I will be back with a final score.

Final Score: +$685

I’m not sure what my plan is tomorrow. The Seahawks playoff game could affect the poker action and I’m actually somewhat interested in watching the game myself. I really don’t care about the Seahawks but I have a friend with a massive, life-changing bet on them reaching the Super Bowl and I certainly want to root it in for him.

Not sure when I will be blogging again as Marathon Monday might very well be dead, or at least revived as a different game or in a different location. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to marathon 8/16.

2018 results will be up soon!