Cash Game: Stratosphere April 2nd 6:30 PM-11:30 PM

After the elimination from the tournament, I decided to head over to the stratosphere and play some cash games with Sean. However, to say I ran badly was an understatement. Things started off good enough.

Early on, I raised a straddle to $20 with KQcc and got one caller. The flop came AT3 and I c-bet $25 and he folded. I then picked up JJ and made it $15 to go and the BB called. The flop came Q56 and he checked and I checked behind. The turn came a 7 and he bet out $15 and I called. The river came a 2 and he bet $15 more and I called and he showed 54 and my JJ was good and I was up to $250. I continued to play pretty tightly.

I picked up 55 and made it $10 and the BB called. The flop came Q84, he checked and I bet $15 and he raised to $35 and I folded and he showed A4 (gay). I dropped a little bit but then I raised to $10 with 88 and got 3 callers. The flop came 965 and I bet out $15 and got one caller. The turn came a 5 and I checked behind and the river came another 5 and I checked behind again and my 88 was good and I was at $250.

Then, the hand that turned it all around happened. There were about 7 limpers and I found KK in the BB and made it $17 to go. Everyone folded to this guy who had $22 left and went all in for a total of $24 (only $7 more to me). I called and he flipped over A7 and the board blanked to the river which came an A giving him the pot. It was a small pot but it seemed to turn the tides for me.

I raised to $10 with JT and 1 limper and the flop came A79. He checked and I bet $15 and he moved all in and I folded. I waited a little longer and I found a spot to raise with A3hh and a few limpers. I made it $15 and got only one caller. The flop came JT4 and he bet out like $30 and I folded (he was a tight player who only bet when he had it so Im sure I was beat). I waited a lot longer and finally found a spot to play with a couple of limpers and QJo in the cutoff. I made it $15 and one of the limpers called me. The flop came 642 all spades (which I did not have) and he checked and I bet $20. He looked like he was going to fold, picked up his cards, decided longer, and called. The turn came the Qs and he lead out for $45 and I folded and he showed the 8s. WTF is going on here. . .like what does he have on the flop here to call me people play so bad. . .if only I could make a hand one time. After this hand, I was down to $145 and reloaded for $100 more so I was in for $300.

I raised the button with a bunch of limpers to $15 with 74cc and the flop came T93 and I folded to one of the players who led out and I was down to $225. I then raised to $15 with limpers with T8ss and I got called by 2 people. The flop came out JT3. It checked to me and I bet out $15 and I got called by one of the limpers. I checked down a turn and river of 76 and he showed Q9 for a busted str draw and my T was good and I was back up to $250. I then finally found KK in EP and made it $10 and got only one caller. The flop came QTT and I tried to trap by checking and he checked behind. The turn came an A and I bet out $12 to see where I was at and he folded. This kept my stack at around $250 and I was trying to get over that hump.

I was in MP with one limper and found JTo and thought it would be a good time to try to iso so I made it $10. Both the blinds and the limper called me and the flop came J74. It checked to me and I bet out $15 and one of the blinds and the limper called. The turn came a 9 and I checked behind and the river came a 5 and the blind checked, the limper bet $10, I called and so did the blind. The limper showed QJo and the blind showed QQ and I was crushed by both players.

I then raised in EP to $10 with 88. I got 3 callers and the flop came 432. I bet out $25 and got called in 2 spots. The turn came a 6 and it checked around. The river came a K and one of the guys bet out $40 or so and I folded and he ended up showing like Q5 or some BS like that when he got called. After this I was down to $180 or so. There was one limper and I raised in LP to $10 with QThh. Both the blinds and the limper called and the flop came 223. It checked to me and I checked behind. The turn came an A and it checked to me again and I bet out $20 this time. It folded to the limper and he min-raised me and I folded and he showed 33 for 3s full. Beautiful.

After this I was down to $150 or so and lingered there for a little. I then raised one limper in EP to $15 from the cutoff with 63dd and the BB and he called. The flop came down Qd9d4x, giving me a FL draw. The BB bet out $20, the limper called, and I just called behind (usually id just fold here if the limper doesn’t call). The turn came 7d, making my low flush. The BB checked, the limper checked, and I checked behind both of them. The river came another 9, pairing the board. The BB checked, the limper bet $40, I flat called and the BB overcalled as well. The limper showed KTdd for a higher flush than me.

After this hand I was down to $90 or so and I left shortly after this, with $84 down $216 for the session. I mean this session was just awful. I played 5 hours and look at how many good hands I made. . .NONE at all. Not only that, I have detailed pretty much every hand I did play in the 5 hours, and look at the starting hands I was still raising with. Not even good ones. I figured how tightly I was playing would get respect so I would at least be able to raise, iso, c-bet, and take the pot but I pretty much failed every time I tried this. Not only that, people kept showing down the nuts or sick hands in pots I am trying to raise (and I only entered for a raise once every 15-20 minutes at most. Even when I did get my big pairs, I lost with KK vs A7 aipf, had an A hit the turn on my other KK, and had a Q high flop with my JJ. These are not flops I can win decent pots on. Oh well I guess I just ran badly. Hopefully I have better luck next cash game.