The Bat Cave

The player I named Ducky last blog showed up wearing this shirt today. Gotta love it.

Speaking of Ducky, I did his write up in my Blog Nicknames and also added a write up for Black Turtle.

There are currently 25 names on the list for $15/$30 and a surprising number of players are in the building for a 4 PM start. Would you look at that?

I posted my 2018 Results on Monday so check that post out if you haven’t already.

I did try to play some poker on Monday but the Santa Claus Game didn’t go for the third straight week (surprisingly, there is an interest for this coming Monday) and I was planing to play $8/$16, but I got bored and ended up going to see Aquaman after 4.5 hours and booked a -$303.

Tuesday was an off day and Wednesday I was in PLO action. The game was super weak. It was only briefly 9-handed, never had a list, and most of the night was spent playing 7-handed. Still, it managed to survive all the way until 1 AM when I left, even after both Hit&Run and Charlie Hustle both booked it with +$500 wins after a mere 90 minutes of play.

I kept notes briefly, but eventually decided to not make a PLO post. It was a pretty sexy session: I finished at +$2360 in 6.75 hours. That’s a pretty big session and the weird thing is, I never had any massive confrontation. I was never all-in. Just steadily accumulating chips, with a couple of hands that collected max bets on the river.

When I got to Palace tonight there were 25 names on the list.

Starting lineup: Radio Mike, Chief Wiggum, Frankenstein, Part-Time, Huey, Ducky, Shit Man, and a 15/30 regular

After the game start, there are still 12 names on the list! Crazy. There are also no more tables for a new game.

Nice start here. I defend A5hh in a multi-way pot and peel the 873 one heart flop, pick up a beautiful 4 of hearts on the turn, and whiff it all.

Then I open QT and get heads up vs Part-Time and his KT drills a gutter after the J93 rainbow flop, so he gets to check-raise me on the turn obviously. He inexplicably checks the river (with no flush out) and allows me to check my top pair behind, so that was pretty nice.

4:41 PM: Goddammit. I just made Radio Mike’s year. I know I did. Yeah, it’s only the 11th day of 2019, but it’s still annoying to know that I contributed to his high point so far.

I open QTdd and he 3-bets in position. Flop comes JJ9 with one diamond and I check-raise then barrel off when I pick up a diamond draw and brick the river. He calls down with KK. Bring a king and see how much he likes his hand! Oh. Probably a lot. Nice dodge. It’s the small victories…

4:46 PM: Fortunately it hasn’t been a complete downward spiral. I’ve induced multiple “shit man”s from Shit Man already.

First, I limped small blind with 76o only to see him raise from the big, but I bested his AJ by rivering a one card straight after we saw a J74 flop.

Just now he opened under the gun with three small bets and it folded to my big blind, so I put him all in with 87o. The board ran out KJ97Q and I was good somehow.

He’s sitting on my direct left and I can see him continuously shooting me daggers in my peripheral.

4:54 PM: Since 8 of 9 players in this game have names and the lone one that doesn’t is a pretty frequent regular, I started thinking of something I could call him. Master Splinter immediately came to mind and I knew I liked it but I didn’t know why. I asked Joker if he could help me clarify and he came through:

“He’s soft-spoken and generally full of wisdom… in that he’s usually trying to convince you why he’s doing the right poker thing… he’s always teaching… his boring ways.”

Lmao. Love it.

5:56 PM: First big pot of the night:

Three players are in and it’s 3-bets to me in the big (edit: with KK). My capping range here is super narrow so I just call and someone else caps. Perfect.

Flop is K92 rainbow. Oh boy. It checks to last position and I have a moment of anxiety but she bets, I raise, Wiggum calls two cold, she raises, and I cap.

Turn is a ten and I dodge a raise from Wiggum and they both call.

River blank and she pays me off.

I should probably be calling 3-bets on flop and check-raising the turn here – especially since my hand is disguised – but I was hoping I could cap flop and still maybe get in multiple big bets on the turn. Also, if she 3-bets flop and checks back the turn for some reason, that is an utter disaster.

6:22 PM: First new album of 2019!

Big K.R.I.T. – TDT

I’ve been listening to K.R.I.T. since 2005 and he’s been one of the most consistently good rappers over the past decade and it still seems like the average hip-hop fan probably doesn’t know who he is.

I’ve heard three songs off this new 8 song album and they were all good, so this new project is off to a good start.

I want to do more regular music updates this year but I’m not exactly sure yet how I want to tackle that and it usually takes me multiple listens to settle on how I really feel about a new album.

8:01 PM: I guess I’m running pretty pure so far tonight. It’s funny how these things sneak up on you sometimes. I’m in $2k and this is my stack right now and it doesn’t seem like anything too remarkable has happened:

Although Radio Mike might disagree.

Master Splinter open-limps so I jack up the QJo from the cut, both blinds defend and he calls.

Flop is KT7 and I get check-raised by Radio Mike. Hit&Run calls two bets cold and I call.

Turn pairs the 7 and I’m the only caller this time.

River is an ace. He check-tanks and I know he’s always calling here because he knows I am capable of bluffing this card. He pays it off.

I feel like that’s a pretty standard hand but I haven’t updated in over an hour so…

One thing of note: there are 21 players on the list for this game now! Insane!

There are no empty tables and the lists for the other limit Hold’em games are super long… but… the $4/$8 Omaha 8 game is on the verge of collapse. I’m curious if they put another $15 game there or another $4/$8 (which has an even longer list!).

8:41 PM: Edited the 5:56 update to include what hand I had. My bad.

9:23 PM: Ducky raises in late position and Radio Mike defends.

Mike check-calls on Q87 and then check-raises when the queen pairs on the turn. I think the river goes check-check and Ducky wins with JJ and Mike showed the T9. A very ambitious play from Radio Mike. I actually like it. But he probably should have read my player profile on Ducky and noted the “sticky” label! 😂

I am no longer running pure. Very loose player limps, Ducky raises the cut, I 3-bet KJo on the button and they both call.

Flop is 875 and I check behind.

Turn is a jack, Ducky leads and the loose player is lining up a call. I’m leaning call here and ultimately that’s what I end up doing, as I don’t really mind keeping the bad player in. We both call.

River is a queen and Ducky still bets. With the other player in, this is a protected pot, meaning Ducky should never be bluffing here. I would expect him to check a lot of paired hands here, but he still might bet something like JT. The other player is lining up a call again, but I think my hand is too good to fold here, especially considering the pot size. We both call and Ducky tables a set of fives.

Damn. I guess I can still lose a pot tonight. Star mode has been deactivated.

10:30 PM: This hand happened a while ago, but it has sparked enough private controversy that I am now going to make it public.

I open from the cutoff with A2dd, Radio Mike calls from the small blind, and I mentally LOL at his flat call as the big blind also calls for one more bet.

Flop is T55 with two diamonds. Radio Mike donks right out. I mentally LOL again because it’s the second time in less than ten hands that he called a raise from the blinds and led into me on the flop. The big blind folds and I just call because I want $100 to go in if I turn a flush (we are in Overs on the turn but not the flop here, so I don’t want to take the betting lead).

Turn is a 9 and I call again.

River bricks me and he still bets. I know I should fold. I don’t think he’s bluffing here but this being the second time he has taken this line I’m just too curious. I say, “I’m about to give you $50 just to see what you play this way.” And then I do.

He turns over QQ.

I have been poking the bear via text and he has insisted that he 3-bet preflop but there were multiple instances during the hand where I laughed to myself because that didn’t happen. But he insists.

We have been arguing about it for like an hour now and he’s had someone standing behind him for the past three hours, constantly distracting him… nope. It’s not possible he’s mistaken here.

Maybe I’m the delusional one? Laughing to myself about his passive play mid-hand as I’m calling a third bet? I dunno.

11:05 PM: Woah. Last time I looked at the list – which wasn’t that long ago – it was still 10+ deep. There are now zero people on the list… and we have a seat open.

11:08 PM: My heater has definitely cooled considerably.

I come back from a break and post in the cutoff with 32 of hearts. There’s some limping, Ducky raises, I call, Bulletproof 3-bets it and we move on multi-way for 3-bets each.

Flop is K92 with one heart and I get to check-call for one bet. Four of us remain.

Turn pairs the deuce and we check to Bulletproof and he obliges with a bet. But then the maniac check-raises. Ducky folds and it’s up to me. There’s a flush draw on board now and I don’t really like a 3-bet here. It appears that Bulletproof has two outs, so I don’t mind keeping him in the pot and if the maniac does have a deuce, it’s worth noting that I don’t beat any of them. So calling seems like the best of both worlds here. Also, the flush draw on board is enough protection for my calling range that alarm bells won’t go off when I take two bets to the face here. I call and so does Bulletproof.

River is a blank and we both call the maniac. He shows T2 suited (from under the gun!), his kicker plays and he scoops the pot.

12:25 AM: There’s an early raise, two calls and I defend KT of diamonds.

Flop is KK5 with two clubs and I check-raise the PFR after the other two fold. I have some bluffs in my range so I’m not worried about him folding here but I am worried that if I just call he will check back the turn a lot. So I raise and he calls.

Turn is a ten, giving me the nuts. We put four Overs bets in. Yum yum.

River is a 9 and I want to bet so bad but it seems impossible that he could cap the turn and suddenly want to stop putting chips in the pot… so I try to get a check-raise in and he checks back with AK.

Game is 5-handed now and on the verge of collapse. Palace has decided to keep the PSJ drop at $4 5-handed, so there’s really no reason to play. Normally I stop chopping when games get 6-handed but the drop is so steep now that I would literally rather break the game than get raped for $5-$6 a hand playing this short.

They are willing to go $1 rake and $0 PSJ drop at 4-handed (making us ineligible for jackpots and high hands) and that’s awesome, but the transition from 6-handed to 4-handed is where games go to die.

And… as I’m writing this, the floor gets called over… says he can’t drop the PSJ 5-handed… and now the game is dead.

👍🏻

Eh. Who needs this game running 5-handed for another 3 hours? Not the Palace! They can always start another game at this table. Oh wait. There are no lists.

Hopefully The Man reads this and sees that this hard-nosed stance is bad for everyone… except the dealers that are ready to go home.

Final Score: +$1026