Conspiracy Theory

I made it out to Harrah's Friday night but I didn't get lucky and hit the bad beat. I headed there about 8:45 or so and gave Joe a call to put me on the 2/5 list. When I got there it was perfect, they had two 2/5 games going and they opened a third as I was walking in and William the floor guy pointed me to table #2. This was a must move game which I'm not a fan of at all but the upside (if there was any) is that at least I'm on the bottom of the move list so when I have to move it may at least give a couple hours in the game. Well the first hand I got a chance to play was when I had jacks UTG and had $5 in b/c I thought I was the BB. Oh well I just kept it in there and then looked at my cards after the guy next to me made it $20. Well a few ppl call and this is an easy chance to pick up $100 if I repop and everyone folds. I make it $80 total and get two callers (not really what I was hoping for). Flop came 7,4,4 and the flop was harmless but I was more worried about being behind preflop. Not sure if it was the right play or not but I was just lost and checked the flop. PFR checked and the position guy bet $100. I almost had him locked in on a mid pair. Only thing that made sense. I was contemplating my action and the PFR grabbed $100 when it was barely my turn to act. After what seemed like forever I folded my JJ on a 7,4,4 board after I limp-reraised. They eventually get it all in and the guy in position flopped sevens full and the PFR called all his money off with A,Q. Kinda got lucky with that one.

The game then proceeded to get nuts. People in the main games were trying to get into our game and action was really good. I was relatively card dead and just wasn't connecting on flops. I bled away about $200 never really doing anything and this wasn't a game that I wanted to be short in so I added $300 more and was in for $800 total. Then something kinda weird happened at the table. I'm in the two (on a 9 handed table) and a guy comes into the one seat and is just slurring and seeming really drunk but a nice drunk. He starts with the whole "I never play in a casino and it's been a long time since I played so don't let me do anything stupid...just tell me if I do something wrong." Now sometimes these are guys are sincere, sometimes it's sarcasm b/c they think they are really good at poker and it's there clever way of saying coming into a game, and sometimes it just comes off really shady. Well this is one of those times that it comes off really shady, it was almost as though the guy wanted me to know this and was just volunteering a lot of "I'm a bad player information" Well it was a must move game and about 5 minutes later a seat opened up and another guy came to the table he was in the 7 seat and had a mardi gras bead around his neck and was drinking pina calodas (a real manly drink) and he was slurring and being drunk too. So between the drunk guy on my right and the one in the 7 seat and Henry (rich old guy) in the 9 this game is getting better. Well the whole table is talkative, everyone is talking to everyone...no shyness at all.

Something just isn't right the more I watch things progress. I start talking to the guy on my left who is a regular and we've played at the same table plenty times. I tell him that I'm not sure about these "drunk guys" that just got to the table. He's not sure what I mean and I just say, I doubt they are smart enough to pull it off but I kinda got this feeling they might being doing the whole drunk guy routine and are attempting to play together. He doesn't really buy it and I wasn't really trying to sell it...I was just making an observation that I wanted another player to pay attention to in case he picked up on something I missed. The more things go the more these two never really play a hand against each other and when they did we never saw a showdown and they never talked although they engaged everyone else in conversation while in a hand, they show up to the table similar times, they both have that thick Baton Rouge accent. (I'm not saying collusion, but I'm just saying). I eventually get moved to the main game before I could really put anything together.....(are they cheating, to be continued later this blog..)

The main game was very nice to me. I sit in the 10 seat and Bo, a regular is in the 9 and it was nice to have someone to bullshit with at the table. Well nothing really exciting happens and I pick up a few small pots and I have about $450 in front of me when the first big hand shows up and something that hasn't happened in a loooooong time happened. I have 55 in position and it's a $20 to go with 4 players. I flop a set with straight cards all over the place. It checks to me and I bet $50 and get called in one spot. The turn card is a 3 and it puts a gut shot draw getting there so I'm not too concerned about it. She checks and I bet $85 and she calls. River is another 3 and she leads for $100. Well I don't do too much Hollywood and she shows me how much she has left and I say all in and she calls. I hit gin on the river b/c she was opened ended on the flop with 3,4 and hit running three's. Only card that can hit to make her go broke.

About 10 minutes later I get a full double up in a limped pot. Flop comes A,3,6 and the BB leads for $25 which is the pot and it's a rainbow board and I have the nut draw. I call as well as the button. Turn card is a 7! Check to me and I bet $65 and the button raises me to $165 (that's such a good feeling..just thought I'd rub it in for y'all). The BB folds and now it's back to me and the question of what to do here? Now I've got about $685 in front of me and I need to figure out how to get it all in the pot. This is my thought process (I think it's the best plan of action):

-if I call it's gonna be a lot harder to get that in on the river b/c I can't just move all in and expect to get called, he could lay down a set if he doesn't fill up with that large of a bet. If I bet $xxx I have to hope he raises me. The best idea I had was to raise for value on the turn where he has to call the river. Well while I'm contemplating on how to play the nuts I can't see how much he has and I don't want to ask so I just kinda stare in his direction and he happily shows me that he's about $1k behind...this was good information b/c to me he's not scared at all. I then say raise and put the $100 more in the pot and whisper to the dealer to pull in the bets before I put out my raise. I make it $200 more and leaving about $285 and he thinks for about 5 seconds and says "all in". I call and praying the board doesn't pair and it doesn't and he slaps his hand down with his two pair and I drag a really nice pot. I'm a little biased but I think that was a good way to play the hand b/c $585 is a lot of money to put in the river with top two pair.

After that I was on cruise control and never really encountered trouble...at least for a few hours. My table breaks and of course table two (the must move that I was on) became a main game like 15 minutes after I got up. Gotta love Harrah's. I got moved from the game that I was now on the list to get back in...weird, huh? Anyway, I hang out and just bull shit with some people and a seat opens up. It was the 7 seat that drunk guy #2 was sitting in. Well what do you know, both guys got up from the table w/in 5 minutes of each other and it wasn't on or near a push and not even in their BB or button. After they leave and I sit down I couldn't help but say something to the table and ask if anyone thought they might have been trying to play together. The guy in the three seat perks up and says "no shit" and says they got here together and left w/in 10 minutes of each other and then says something that is pretty interesting. Apparently everyone noticed that they talked to everyone at the table except each other well right before they got up the guy in the 7 seat got in an argument with the guy in the 3. The argument came up when the 3 seat and the 1 seat got into it. Kinda weird that all of a sudden he was standing up for a guy who he never talked to at the table. We all kinda dismissed it but it was something to think about b/c I know people try to do it but I'm pretty sure more times than not it doesn't happen successfully. On top of that they really didn't take that much money off the table. (enough of the conspiracy theories)

When I moved back to that game I leaked off some money with a lot pocket pairs that never connected and one memorable hand where I folded QQ preflop and 33 won the hand without ever seeing a flop. This game was deep and one person had less than $1200 in front of him and that about $600 total (not exactly short). Guy with "short stack" opens for $15 in early position and 2 callers and I make it $60 total. Henry in the 9 seat repops it to $160. Now if you've ever played with this rich old man you know he's got a wiiiiiide range hands to that with...any pocket pair. Get back to the original PFR he ships it! Now it's back to me and I don't know how the hell I can do anything here except fold and as I'm pitching in my cards the dealer extends her hand out and cards hit her hand and expose my QQ. Henry is flustered by this and says "if those cards are exposed then I can't call" and folds his QQ face up. The other guy shows his 33 and wins the pot. No doubt Henry's logic is nonexistent but apparently if he was behind preflop then two outs is enough to call $500.

On the whole it was interesting night and nice a little win. Went to the Beau Sunday for the 10k gtd with Davey and that was about boring as it could be be. I finished in the neighborhood of 28 or so with a field of 70+. Was beyond card dead for the whole thing and my table was big hand after big hand. Reid even asked what the hell was going at my table b/c he kept hearin "all in." So with all that going on I had almost no chance to steal pots and then I couldn't find a spot to get all in b/c every pot was opened and I was card dead. It was a slow death and eventually got in heads up with A,2 against K,J and he made a full house of course. I'm ready to play some more and I'm gonna try to pick a week night to go and then I'll be at the Beau next weekend for my friend's bachelor party weekend.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.