Home Game Suckouts

Last Friday KajaWife went out of town for a bachelorette weekend so I invited the neighborhood poker players to come sling some cards and stack some chips. Since they played the week before I and 23skidoo was hosting a game as well, the turnout was a comfortable single table of 11 players. I gave them a choice of a big game or two small ones and we went for the turbos this time.

Actually the structure was not all that bad and I don't think we felt like we had to shove or fold at any point in the game. In the first game I wanted to play tight but got some got cards in good position and had to fold to post-flop aggression several times. Then with the blinds at 100/200 (fourth level) I got Ac4c on the button and when it folded around to me I raised to 550. Both blinds called and we saw a QdQc2c flop. Seemed pretty harmless but then the SB bet out 500 into the 1650 pot. I was getting perfect odds to chase my nut flush one over so I called. The turn was the 5c and the SB bet another 500 into the now 2650 pot. I didn't have much left from the original 3000 starting stack so I shoved my stack in. I had him slightly covered and he called with KcKd. He can only boat up with a King or a Queen, so obviously the river is a Queen. I am deathly short and bust out when I shove A9s into a better hand.

After that I went to play some Rock Band until the second game started. I know I've written here about Guitar Hero a few weeks ago, but last week was KajaWife's birthday and since she doesn't like the guitar game, she asked if we could add the drums. So I got her Rock Band and we love it. The drums are awesome and so much fun to play. The microphone is extremely easy to master and the guitar is much easier to play than Hero although the actual hardware is far inferior. David busted as well and we played until the first game was over.

We started the second game with a few monster suckouts. On the very first hand a few players see a flop of 992. David, sitting to my left bets big and get's min-raised by BrainMc. He calls and the turn is a 7. David is first to act, BrainMc shoves and gets a call. David flips over his cards and says he has trip 9's, but what he doesn't know is that his kicker is actually a 7! He thought all along that it was just a 4. BrainMc flips over A9 for the better trips, but is now trailing badly. Obviously an Ace comes on the river to save BrainMc's ass with a fantastic first-hand-suckout-re-suckout. Everyone was stunned and somehow the idea of amending the rules to let the first hand bustout rebuy came along. On the very next hand, Jeff moves all-in on the turn with trip Kings, 9 kicker against Bryant's trip Kings, Queen kicker and goes on to spike his 9 on the river for the winning boat. We amend the rules again to allow a single rebuy in the first 15 minute level but Bryant is already on tilt from his beloved Celtics losing game 6 to the Hawks and decides to skip the rebuy.

There were a lot of other suckouts in the second game. I actually managed to get a serious stack going, but could not kill the shorties who kept winning races and sucking out against me. I eventually went out in 5th place when BrainMc had AK against my 89 suited.

We had one hand that left a lot of the players shaking their heads and totally had Bobby baffled. We were in the 4th level (100/200) and the table had tightened up significantly. Since I had been playing tight up until then I decided to open it up a bit and steal some blinds. The players behind me were very tight so when I saw Td2d in MP I raised it to 550. Bobby, on the button min-raised me to 1100 and it folded back to me. So with 100+200+550+1100=1950 in the pot and only needing 550 to see a flop I decided to make a loose call. I knew that it was a loose call, but I had enough chips left and I could get away from pretty much any bad flop. But the flop came three diamond, Queen high. I flopped the 4th nuts and I had decide what to do. If I bet out I might get him to fold. If I check he will probably c-bet me on this flop, unless he flopped the nuts. I picked up a few chips to make it look like I was about to bluff at it and then put them back down and checked it. Bobby jammed and I quickly called. No way he's jamming the nuts there. At best he could have AdQx or QQ. Turns out I was almost right and he had AdJc and my hand held to bust him and nearly double up.

Bobby was totally in shock. The following day I had to explain my play to him as he still didn't fully understand it. I asked him what hands he put me on and he said a weak Ace. I explained that a raise with a weak Ace in MP is suicide because any bigger Ace has me dead to three outs. I also explained that by min-raising me pre-flop he was defining his hand and pricing me in for a call. Yes, a loose call, but one I could withstand AND could be extremely profitable if the right flop came.

Another reason I called was the of the junk hands I kept folding I would have hit trips several times had I not folded. I fold a Q7o in EP and see a 774 flop. I even folded a hammer pre-flop when down to 5 handed where the two big stacks had Aces and another big hand only to see a 774 flop again! In the first game I was in the small blind and it got limped to me about 6 ways when I held 84o. Obviously this was an easy call in the early levels and the flop comes 848 for the nut boat. I got paid off by two players on all streets, one of them holding A8.

So another disappointing home game, where I play well and still lose. At least BrainMc won the second game and is back to his old monthly allowance from my neighborhood games. Well played sir.