Journal of a Poker Pro

When I woke up this morning, I could barely imagine that I would even make it out of bed, let alone be involved in the biggest pot of my life.

Allow me to elaborate.

Last night, we drank.
Lots.
Stories were told, drunken phone calls were placed, insults were hurled, promises were made, but mostly, good times were had. This morning, however, was no fun at all. There is something about wine which gives me killer hangovers, and this was one of those times. I felt horrible all day, and spent it eating pizza, drinking water, and watching TV on my couch for like 12hours with my buddy.

The thing I love about poker is that I don't ever HAVE to play. I want a day off, a week off, a month off, whatever, I can do it. So I did. That is, until my buddy left.

I innocently checked my email to find that my old friend PartyPoker had decided to give me $25 dollars for free, just to try to lure me back to thier site (where I used to play quite a bit). I had no intentions of playing poker with the money, because the amount is almost neglible. So I logged on, and sat at the blackjack table with all of it.

$25 bet. I get dealt some a 13 vs. a ten. Blah, this is gonna be quick. I hit, and a magic 8 rolls off giving me 21. Up to $50, so I let it ride. I get dealt a 20 and it holds. Nice. Nothing else to do at this point but LET IT RIDE. $100 bet, and I get dealt a 13 vs a dealers 5. I stand, and the dealer turns over a jack, followed by another one. BUST. Sweet, so now I'm up to $200 and can probably do something with it.

That something is, of course, shortstacking $1000NL. The first hand I'm dealt is Ace-Ten, and some dude raises to $40. He gets a caller, so obviously I raise all in b/c it's fun. Everyone folds and I'm at like $300. I pick up another few small pots and find myself at ~$400. WHat now? Move up to $2000NL, obviously (10x my normal stakes).

Some dude opens to $75, and I have 44 on the button. I push all in, and everyone folds, so I'm up to $500. And then, it happens. The biggest pot I've ever been involved in. Enjoy:

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (5 handed) internettexasholdem.com

SB ($726.50)
THE_MAIN ($497)
UTG ($2755)
MP ($5820.50)
Button ($2541)

Preflop: THE_MAIN is BB with Qs, Kc. SB posts a blind of $10.

UTG raises to $75, MP calls $75, 1 fold, SB (poster) calls $65, THE_MAIN raises to $497, UTG calls $422, MP folds, SB raises to $726.50, UTG calls $229.50.

OOPS!!!
Ok, so why did I move all in with KQo? Well it wasn't because I thought it was the best hand, this is somehting we call a squeeze play. When the intiial raiser puts in $75, he gets called by 2 other people. So, when I raise, I put tonnes of pressure on him. Not only does he have to worry about me, he also has to worry about the 2 guys who called behind him, who could have monster hands they are playing slowly. I also know that the guys calling behind could have anything as bad as suited connectors or small pairs, something that can not stand an all in raise. My goal is to just win the pot here, and take $250 in the middle. So yeah, ARRRRR IN BABY!!!

Flop: ($1950) 5h, 8h, 8d (3 players)
Turn: ($1950) 2c (3 players)
River: ($1950) 8s (3 players)

Final Pot: $1950

Results below:
SB has 9c 9d (full house, eights full of nines).
Hero has Qs Kc (three of a kind, eights).
UTG has 6s 6d (full house, eights full of sixes).

Yeah whatever, I lost. But wow, I had a tonne of outs!! (I should win this hand 38% of the time)Hahaha... I've lost more in one hand before, but this is the biggest pot I've ever played in. This short experience was a lot of fun, and very different from the day to day grinding I'm used to. If I had turned nothing into $1500 in those 30mins, that would've been pretty damn impressive. As it turns out, I was highly entertained at no cost to myself. :)

I'll check in with a mid month update in the next day or so with my numbers (spoiler: I'm breaking even)