Tilt - the jealous kind

As much as it pains me to write this, I saw "bad poker" stacking chips on Thursday night in the guise of Tabletalk Tommy, and it put me on tilt. I don't believe I will ever see one person play trash hands as often as he did, and have him hit something on the flop as much as he did.

K7 offsuit vs my pocket tens? Yup, your pair of kings is good. (This is the hand where I was the most tilted - I checkraised Tommy, thinking he'd dump his flush draw if that's what he was betting, and he put me all-in. In the midst of my tilt, I figured Tommy might consider himself bulletproof the way he was running, and push. I should've given him credit for a king.)

74 sooted? Two pair, drag another pot, Tom.

You were going to check your J3 offsuit out of the big blind, but then decided to reraise Paul when we reminded you that he had raised? Paul held AJ sooted, and you caught a three, Tommy, you lucky bastard.

Besides Tommy's horseshoe heroics, the hand of note between myself and Esther was 43. Esther was on my immediate right for the evening, and early in the night she was the SB and I was BB. We both folded to a preflop raise, and she showed me her 43 offsuit. I showed her my massive 82 offsuit, and told her that I'd prefer her hand because if it hits, it's deceptive, but if it doesn't, it's easy to fold. But I still wouldn't call a raise with it often. The flop was 432, and her two pair would've turned into the winning full house by the river. I hatched a devious plan to play the next 43 I was dealt, with the dual goals of taking my mind off of Tommy's play, and amusing Esther.

I had to wait several orbits, but sure enough, I was dealt 43 suited and showed Esther, who had folded preflop. The flop was an unremarkable 9, 7, 3-rainbow, and I felt bold enough to call a small bet to stay in the hand. The turn was another 3, and Esther remarked, "Hey, how about them threes?" to nobody in particular. It was all I could do not to elbow her. My raise was called on the river, yielding me a nice pot. The surprised looks on some faces made that win all the sweeter, as everybody assumes I play only premium starting hands.

I was dealt 43 only one other time, and I showed Esther as I folded it. I answered her raised eyebrows with a muttered "Sometimes you shouldn't press your luck." The flop this time was A, Q, 5, and it checked around. The turn was a 2. Doh!! There's my wheel straight, and some more checks. River was a ten, and now we get some betting. Two pair versus Paul's KJ, for the Broadway straight. It remains to be seen whether or not I could've taken that pot down on the turn.

This was also the wildest and most well-attended poker night at my place. Everybody who was on the "Maybe" list showed up. Usually I'll get half a dozen maybe's and one will show. We had 14 total when Colin brought his two friends, who looked like extras from a Good Charlotte video. I believe we had more than $250 in play, which is big for a $10 buy-in game. I ran out of chips, so I used the coins I got from Mardi Gras in San Luis Obispo last year as $5 chips.

And naturally, the big winner was Tommy, cashing out with $80. $30 in, $17 out for me. Two big mistakes, both against Tommy, cost me my first two buy-ins. Oh well, at least I played smart after he left.