Warm glow

I played for an hour and twenty minutes in an internet café last night, after work and before the pub (Man U v Liverpool on TV). So I was paying a time charge as well as the table rake – very clever!

Despite that, and despite playing at a six-max table, I recorded a win of $42 and all was good in the world once again.

I don’t usually even consider playing at six-max tables, due to a few bad sessions there and the often-aggressive nature of the game. However, it didn’t look a bad line-up, and I have done okay lately when full tables have shrunk down to five or six-handed. I was quite pleased with my play overall in the session; I was quite aggressive, certainly the most aggressive player there for the most part, although (a) I certainly held some cards and (b) I certainly made a few mistakes.

In fact, when I was reflecting later over a Kentucky Fried Chicken my warm glow faded a little with the realisation that I may have simply got lucky. Early on I went all-in on the turn with a straight and non-nut flush draw, expecting both opponents to drop. In fact, both called. I hit my straight, but I need to check the hand history because I think I may have finally caught a very slim draw! Anyway, I finished the whole session ahead by no more than what I had when I won that hand, so I possibly have to put my profit down to a lucky catch; I will update tomorrow with the result of the hand history analysis.

Oh well, I won’t worry too much. In fact, I almost hope I did get lucky since it would make me feel a little less law about the recent run of beats. On the down side, several very weak players passed through the game, so to think that I may have only profited by a lucky river after over an hour playing some bad opponents short-handed - well, that’s not so good for the confidence!

I made one very good decision at the table. This guy who is a total slow-play junkie check-raised my small bet on the river one time, and I folded immediately; he had a flopped full house. That wasn’t the good decision; I was so sorely tempted to say to the guy that I knew he had the hand when he check-raised, and that it was because he is always most dangerous when he has checked or check-called and then raises the river. I wanted to show him that I have him sussed and he’s not as clever as he thinks he is… But I managed to stop myself. I want to keep him playing the same way, and I most certainly don’t want him to start check-raise bluffing me in future.

I made another good decision when I got home from the pub: I went straight to bed because I was tired and drunk. But I was in a far better mood than I started the day, and I finished it off by listening to a few tunes before sleep on my new MP3 player. Which I bought with poker money.