Just what was going on at Poker Stars tonight, je me demande?
After starting out reasonably sane for the first 20 hands or so, I was a few BB up, then fell into a 50BB hole with the help of some crushinginly weak runner-runner combos on all tables. I feel like I spent at least an hour fighting off poker zombies, crawling interminably towards me with their open limping from the small blind, calling calling calling, then leading the river when their backdoor gutshot appears. Occasionally a super-aggressive zombie would lurch out, raising me on the turn with nothing but a gutshot.
Here’s an example of a happy-go-lurchy zombie stumbling across two pair:
Poker Stars Limit Holdem Ring game Limit: $1/$2 10 players Converter
Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is BB with A♣ A♦
8 folds, SB calls, Hero raises, SB calls.
Flop: 2♥ K♠ 4♣ (4SB, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.
Turn: J♦ (3BB, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.
River: Q♦ (5BB, 2 players)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Results:
Final pot: 7BB
SB showed 4h Jh
Hero mucks Ac Ad
Ahhhhh…
And here’s one of those awesome backdoor efforts you just have to take your hat off to:
Poker Stars Limit Holdem Ring game Limit: $1/$2 9 players Converter
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is SB with Q♠ Q♦
UTG calls, UTG+1 raises, MP1 calls, 4 folds, Hero 3-bets, BB folds, UTG calls, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls.
Flop: T♠ J♦ 7♣ (13SB, 4 players)
Hero bets, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls.
Turn: 4♦ (8BB, 3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 calls, MP1 calls.
River: 9♦ (11BB, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets, Hero calls, UTG+1 folds.
Results:
Final pot: 13BB
MP1 showed 6d 7d
Hero showed Qs Qd
Meh, the pot was large, he had plenty of outs, what can you do?
And finally, while I was in the mire, a big pair to play with, as it were:
Poker Stars Limit Holdem Ring game Limit: $1/$2 7 players Converter
Pre-flop: (7 players) Hero is CO with K♠ K♥
2 folds, MP1 calls, Hero raises, Button calls, SB 3-bets, BB calls all-in $1, MP1 folds, Hero Caps, Button calls, SB calls.
Flop: Q♠ K♦ 4♦ (15SB, 3 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: 9SB, Sidepot 1: 6SB)
SB checks, Hero bets, Button folds, SB calls.
Turn: J♠ (8.5BB, 2 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: 4.5BB, Sidepot 1: 4BB)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls.
River: T♣ (10.5BB, 2 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: 4.5BB, Sidepot 1: 6BB)
SB bets, Hero calls.
Results:
Final pot: 12.5BB
SB showed Jc Ac
Hero showed Ks Kh
BB mucks 5c Kc
After this one, my opponent remarked that this was the trouble with Limit. He’d have folded if it was NL because I could have bet more. I didn’t want get into the intricacies of how very wrong such an innocent statement could be, so I let it slide for the time being. Perhaps I’ll explore that idea later.
Still, with the help of a couple of sets, I was, for a while, in the territory known as How In The Heck Am I Up For This Session?
Naturally, it didnt last long, when Mr. I cold call pre-flop hit his straight (it also gave me two pair), and then on the very last hand I chose to play, it was that old devil called the pocket pair again:
Poker Stars Limit Holdem Ring game Limit: $2/$4 8 players Converter
Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is MP2 with J♦ J♣
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, MP1 folds, Hero raises, CO folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.
Flop: 6♣ 3♥ T♠ (8.5SB, 4 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, Button folds, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.
Turn: 3♠ (5.75BB, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets, BB calls, UTG+1 calls.
River: 8♠ (8.75BB, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 bets, Hero calls, BB folds.
Results:
Final pot: 10.75BB
UTG+1 showed 8h 8c
Hero showed Jd Jc
I’m not having a go at my opponent as such here, although he does come across as passive, wouldn’t you say? No, it’s just the god damn it moment realising that the size of the pot was exactly how much I was down at the end of the session. 950 hands in a nutshell, if you will.
C’est la vie