Cash Game: Venetian March 17th 9 PM-2:15 AM

After the tournament, I decided to get my cash game on. Luckily, it didn’t start off as piss poor as it did last night. I did, however, start on a losing note. I played a pot with 65o and flopped a straight draw and called to the river and missed and a pot with 910o and flopped 2nd pair and called down some smaller bets on the turn and river and it was no good. After these pots, I was down to $120 and decided to put $100 more in so I was now in for $300.

Im glad I did because a couple hands later, I was in the BB and there were 4 limpers and the SB made it $16. I looked down at AJo and called and 2 limpers called. The flop came AAK. The SB bet out $25, I just called, and one of the limpers called. The turn came a 5 and the SB checked, I bet $50, and the limper called and the SB folded. The river came a J giving me a full house and I bet out $60. The limper called and my full house was good. Its too bad I bet the turn too because the SB said he folded Q10 so I would have won much more from him if I would have checked. Nevertheless, I was up to $410 and in the black again.

Over the next 2 hours, I played much looser than I had in any other previous cash games. Maybe it was just the hands I was getting, but I seemed to be playing a lot of flops. What sucked is that I felt like I put myself in a good position to win a lot of money, but I just couldn’t hit that big time flop. Everyone else was playing big pots with sets vs overpairs or flushes vs 2 pair but I just couldn’t make anything, despite giving myself a chance. I called $25 preflop with 4 other players with 87dd and failed to hit. I called $35 preflop with 3 other players with 107hh but failed to hit. I probably picked up 10 or so small pairs over the course of the 2-2 ½ hours but failed to hit a set. I even picked up more suited connectors but just couldn’t connect with them. When all was said and done, I was back down to $200 or so.

I lied actually, I did hit one hand. I had 78o and the flop came T92. I called one bet and the turn came 3. It went check check and the river came a 6, giving me the nuts. He bet out, I raised and he put me all in and I called and he obviously had 78 for the chop (so I guess I cant complain because I guess I do hit hands once in a while).

By the end of this, I was getting pretty pissed off, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I called a raise to $12 with 64o and 3 other players. The flop came JT6 and it checked to me and I bet out $50 first of all, because that 6 was the hardest Id hit a flop in a while and 2nd, because I figured I might get credit for a hand since I hadn’t bet a flop for like 2 hours. Luckily enough, all 3 players time bank folded and I picked up the pot. Then, to tilt me even more, I finally hit 2 flops, flop a set with 88 and a set of 5s with A5, and get no action when I lead out on the flop. The whole time I see people leading for like 1.5 or double pot on the flop when they flop the nuts and they get action from top pair every time and I just didn’t. So gay.

I was at $230 or so after all of these hands when I limped in LP with 86ss. The button, a tighter older man, raised to $15 and everyone folded to me. I decided to call and hope I make a big flop because he had a ton of chips and I knew he probably had a good pair and I would be able to shake his stack if I could hit. The flop came decent for me in a str draw on 973 but I knew hed call if I tried anything so I just check called his $25 bet. The turn came a 6, making me a pair + a str draw and he bet $40. At this point I should have probably folded because I really wasn’t getting that great of pot odds to call and if I hit my straight I wouldn’t get paid like I wanted to but I ended up calling the $40. The river was a Q and it went check check and he showed me JJ, proving I probably would have gotten paid off.

After this, I was down to $150. However, I was able to get the best of the old man in our next confrontation. I limped with 44 in EP and he called from the cutoff and this weak tight lady made it $12 from the button. Everyone folded to me and I called and so did he. The flop came J76 and it went check check check. I immediately knew that that lady had only AK or something because she only entered the pot with premium hands and if her hand wasn’t bettable on that board, she had nothing. I also didn’t think that the old guy hit the flop because he didn’t really slow play at all that I saw so that eliminates a J from his range, but he could still have a 7 or like 88 or 99 (but he probably would have raised PF with both of those). The turn came another 6 and I checked and the old man bet $20 and the lady called. I thought about it and this bet would make sense for a 7 or a 6 here from the old man, but it would also make sense for him to bluff because it was obviously the lady was only drawing at A high and she would probably fold (but she didn’t) and I had been playing very weak tight on the flop/turn for the previous 3 hours so I called to see what he did on the turn. The turn came a 3rd 6 and I checked and he bet $75. The lady instantly folded and immediately, this bet didn’t make sense to me. He obviously wouldn’t have a 7 here because he wouldn’t lead out for that much, he wouldn’t have 88 or 99 because he would be afraid of the J, and he doesn’t have a J here because he didn’t bet the flop. Unless he has a 6, which is unlikely, I probably have the best hand. I made the call and he showed K8 for the bluff attempt and I was up to $280 again.

The last hand of significance I played was when there was 3 limpers and I raised to $10 from the button with 74cc. I got 3 callers and the flop came A73 2 hearts. The flop checked to me and I checked because I didn’t want to start a big pot vs a flush draw. The turn came a K and one of the limpers bet $10. Normally I would fold here but the bet was so small it could be any type of draw or just air so I called to see what he would do on the river and everyone else folded. The river came a 4, making me 2 pair and he checked to me. I bet $30 and he folded instantly (maybe I had the best hand before the river). This hand got me to about $315 and I left a short while later (not because I was up but because I was planning on leaving at 12 no matter what) with $306 for a whopping $6 in profit and a Mexican minimum wagesque rate of $1.73/hour.