A Little Training

After spending a weekend in Pacific Beach with the family, I returned to Yuma and was ready to recharge the batteries and get ready for the upcoming trip. In the 6 months I was gone I was fortunately able to play a lot of online in Kuwait and Iraq. In the vicinity of 60,000 hands over a 35 day period. While I learned a lot from the experience, there is just no substitute for sitting down with other players in a card room with real money in hand. Most of you heard about my first two chances to play some "live" poker in Australia so I won't get into detail on those trips. It was great exposure and had me wanting more when I got home. While I thought I may get a chance to hit up Oceans 11 (ironic due to the fact Ocean's 13 is on TV right in front of me) in Oceanside during the San Diego trip, it just never happened. I did know that the coming Wednesday would allow me to sit down in my old game back at the Paradise Casino in Yuma, AZ.

After the Veteran's Day Holiday it was time to get back to work at the squadron for a couple of hours. Not a lot going on with everyone out of town so I was able to get a seat when the No Limit game started up at about 2pm. Not a lot of excitement at the poker table that night but there was one enormous event that occurred. Bingo, a crazy aggressive player with tons of money, returned to Yuma after 2 years of contracting in Cuba of all places! Bingo is the sole reason, along with a little luck, that I was able to make five figures in the game before I left on my last deployment in 2006. Needless to say it is good to have him back in the game to "spread the wealth" per say. In a $500 buy-in game he was no doubt in for no less than 6 buy-ins in his first night back. All is good in Yuma!

One quick big hand of the night. I had bounced around between down $100 and up $600 for about 7 hours and the following hand came up. I was in the big blind. First to act was a pretty tight player who opened up for a raise of $30. 90% of the time he will only do this with a big hand. He gets two callers the second of which is a pretty tight kid who will usually get all crazy if he hits a hand. We had all been waiting to get a big hand the same time as him but it hadn't happend yet. I look down at my cards and see two black 10's. I deabte a raise but decide a call is far and away the best idea due to a potential reraise from the big hand next to me. 4 of us to the flop. Flop is 6c 9h 10h (for those unaware, that means 6 of clubs, and the 9 and 10 of hearts). I had planned to bet if I hit my set but changed my mind last second because I thought this was a flop the guy next to me would surely bet. I wanted to cry when he checked and I thought I was giving a free draw to the draw heavy board. Middle position checked and the kid on the button bet $40 into the ~$120 pot. I knew this was where I had to protect my hand. I raised to $140. Under the gun debated and eventually folded as did the middle position player. Remember I said the crazy kid went nuts when he had a hand? Well he pushed all in for the remainder of his $600 stack. Obviously I am only afraid of one hand here, 7 8 would be the nuts but I didn't want to be up against a flush draw either. I decided to show him my hand to see how he felt and when i laid my hand face up on the table. I have never seen fear in someone like I did right that second. Though it may already seem like it, it was certainly an easy call after seeing the look on his face when he saw my top set. Turns out he had 9 10 for top two pair and was drawing dead to running 9's and never got there. I scooped the largest pot of the night and finished up $1,070 over approx 9 hours and off to a good start. Ready for a little more training though before Vegas!

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Session +$1,070 over 9 hours

Total +$1,070 / 9 hours = $119/hour profit