Texas holdem in Texas

I spent this last week in Dallas, TX, hanging out with my dad, stepmom, and brothers. We visit them every August (though I'm not sure why we picked August, when the weather would be much nicer in March perhaps.)

Last year, I introduced the family to holdem, and I won the $5 tourney they wanted to play. The middle brother, Vinnie, would only raise preflop with pocket sixes through jacks. Aces or kings, he'd limp in, not content with just winning blinds. He wouldn't raise with any other cards - AQ, AK... nope.

Youngest brother Rob wasn't a fearful opponent, either. I beat him heads-up, and wouldn't agree to a split when he proposed one.

This year, Rob beat Vinnie for the $10 tourney win. Ironically, it was Rob that suggested we play for $10 this year. Both brothers have improved by leaps and bounds - Vinnie in particular has loosened his preflop raising requirements waaaaay up. QJ-sooted, K8 off... well done!

Dad got tired of playing, and called an all-in from Rob with A4 offsuit. Rob's pocket fives turned a set.

I got snapped off when Vinnie called my all-in reraise with ATo, which was in great shape against my A6. Heads-up, Rob had a big chip lead, and when Vinnie's 88 ran into Rob's QQ, it was over.

Rob thinks he's ready to find a regular game in the Charlotte area, so I directed him to Home Poker Games. Good luck to him. :)

They left for Charlotte this evening, and I decided to return to a sports bar we had visited. A sign on the wall told me that Austin Avenue hosts texas holdem tourneys on Wed and Sunday nights. I asked on my way out, and they told me it was free. You win "points", but I figured I'm in it for the fun.

Tables were 8-sided, and ranged from 6- to 8-handed. Of all the hands I played, only the very first was unraised preflop.

I stuck around for a while, long enough for my father to drop in and see how I was doing. I raised twice preflop, with my pocket tens connecting nicely to a 9-8-7 rainbow flop, and my AJ hitting top pair.

My first table would raise with any two facecards or just about any ace. I got moved to a second table, and busted out in short order.

I'm in the $400 BB, holding A9o and see five limpers. I push the rest in, figuring my $3900 will be enough to dispel all the weakness and pick up the $2400 in the pot. Apparently my weakness-sniffer wasn't working right. The guy UTG limped with an offsuit Big Slick, and I'm out.

Busted in an hour.. the nice people there made it fun.

(more poker posts when I get back home)

In for $10, out for $0 for the week.