Leaving for Vegas tomorrow..

Ok, I'm going to sneaking in a blog post before I leave for Vegas tomorrow. I will sure post a blog about the trip when I return from Vegas.

Since the 2 months cold spell from March-May, I'm still not doing much better. I've played a little less poker than before. Still the normal routine goes something like this " Win 1, lose 1" sessions. Mostly at the 2/5 at Nautica, I just can't not put together a good streak. Just this past week, I played 3 sessions of poker at Nautica.

Tuesday ) 1/2 NL, I lost a 650+ dollars pot with KK vs J3 on the board of 88J5, this guy called my all in bet at the turn with J3, and hit the case J at the river, someone folded a Jack pre flop. Luckily for me, i only lost about 150 dollars that session. But I felt deflated after playing great and still down.

Wesnday ) 2/5 NL, I actually ran "hot" that night. biggest hand of the night, one guy limped, I raised to 25 with QQ, BB called and the limper re-raised to 85, I called and the bb called. Flop came KQ7 rainbow. Now the BB lead out for 150 dollars, the limper instantly pushed all in for 350.I knew he had either KK, or AA. But I couldn't fold the set. I was actually more curious of what the BB had. I don't know what type of hand he has that he could called a raise first,then a re-raise out of position. Then he lead out 150 on the flop of KQ7? Maybe he has AK? Anyway, I went all in too,and the BB called too. pot was about 1450. turn 7, river 9. The BB turned over 10J for the straight, and the limper showed AA. and I took out a big pot with Queen's full. That was the only big hand I won. I slowly bleed off some chips later on and only cashed out up 700.

Friday ) 2/5 NL, I came in that night feeling confident. Maybe I can finally put a good streak together? We shall see..

lets see the hands I played on Friday night.

hand 1) I limped on the button with A2s after a couple of limpers. Flop came 935 rainbow, everyone checked to me, I bet out 20, the SB who's a really tight old guy, he called and everyone folded. Turn came 4 to put a backdoor flush draw on board too, bingo! he checked again, I bet out 55, he thought about for a second and raised me to 200. he only had about 150 behind. I was trying to put him on a hand. Let's see he's a tight old nit, what type of hand that he can check call me on the flop on this board? then check raises me on the turn? really only 6-7 makes sense here. 67 is a double gut-shot on the flop. I know he doesn't have A2 or 62. Another possiblity is a he flopped a set on the flop, but would he really just check call on the flop with like 3-4 other guys behind him left to act on this drawy board? Possibly, because he's an old nit who likes to slow play. There's also a small possibility of he having 94, called the flop with top pair and turned 2 pair. But since he's in the SB, i think he's that type of player who can fold for 3 dollars pre flop wiht 94o. Plus, I didn't think he had 94. and It didn't smell like a flopped set either. he didn't take some time to decide what to do on the flop. he called rather quickly. I really thought I was behind here. After tanking for a while, i ended up folding the hand. and I told him I folded a big hand to him. he was nice enough to show me the 67.

hand 2) 2 limpers, I made it 30 with QQ again. 3 guys called. flop came Aq2 all spades. the UTG limper who's a really good young Russian player, he lead out for 70, a guy to my right who has about 1.5k in front of him(part of it thanks to me, I will tell you why in hand 3), he's been hitting the deck. He raised to 170. back to me, I had about 600 left. I didn't think my set is good here. one of those 2 guys has to have a made flush already. If the other guy has a set or 2 pair type of hand, then alot of my outs are already gone. After letting out a big sight, I tossed in my set of queens. Both of those guys got all their money in the middle on the flop. The 1.5 k guy had 107 of spades, turn camed K of spades, river didn't pair the board. the UTG didn't show his hand and the 107s guy took down another big pot.

hand 3) This is the hand I played vs. the guy with 107s on previous hand. On this hand, he was UTG, he tossed in 1 green chip, I told him it's a call since he didn't announce "raise". He said he meant to raise. But too late, as everyone told him it's a call. Anyway, I called too behind him with 44, a crazy doctor behind me raised to 30, he called and I called. Flop came 1074 all clubs( isn't that great flopping set with all same suited board). Now the UTG guy bet 55, I got bottom set here. I was trying to put the UTG on a hand. he wanted to raise pre flop, but then just smooth called a single raise. He doesn't have hands like KK, AA, or even QQ I don't think. He probably has a good-decent hand like AQ, AK, JJ, 10 10. So, what type of hands can he lead out with on this 1074 all club board? does he have JJ just to see where he is at? or maybe flopped a set of 10's? I don't really have a lot of reads on him, I don't know if he likes to lead on that flop with hands like AcQs, basically just nut flush draw. I still have the pre raiser behind me, I wanted to see what he does first and how the UTG reacts if the pre flop raiser raises this flop. So, I just called the 55 and the crazy doctor pre flop raiser folded. turn came 2of club, putting 4 clubs on the board. Now the UTg checked, I thought maybe he had a hand like JJ with J of clubs or maybe a set of 10's. My hand looks alot of like a flush draw on the flop with the smooth call. I bet out 80 to see what he does, you know you are not running good when you have to turn your set into a bluff. (Later I thought about thsi hand, I think i made a mistake, I should have checked here). But as I was in the hand, I put him on hands like JJ with club or not, or flopped higher set. He hestiated for a moment and finally made a crying call. Now I really believed he had what I thought he had. river came K of spades, he checked again. With about 350 in the pot, I really dont think I can win here if I check, once again, I had to turn my made hand of set into a bluff( great feeling, isnt it?) I bet out 3 stacks of reds and he instantly called. I was like" shit, he probably has QQ with Q of club). He actually turned over AJ with Ace of club. So he had the nuts. He didn't even raise me? WTF? I asked him when he didn't raise me? he said he thought I was all in already? I actually still had like 150+. The whole time he didn't even look at me.

I think I made some big mistakes this hand. first of all, my read was that he had hands like JJ, or flopped set. He played it well at the turn with the hollywood, and check the river to me with the nuts. The check-call on the turn lead me to stuck with my read that he didn't have the nut flush. then the river check let me believe I could push him out of that hand. it's funny how you can see the hand so much more clearer afterward when you are not in the heat of the moment. I should have check the turn, and fold the river if he bets into me. Moral of the story " Never be stuck with your initial read, always think clearly about everything before your decision".


Ok, off to packing now, and I hope I do well in vegas. I'm planning to start off small at the 1/2 NL first, Because I'm there for the whole week. i don't wanna jump into the big games and lose all the money. After 2days, If i'm still in good shape, I will play some 2/5 and 5/10. Hopefully I will have some good stories to tell.

Going to brothel with Data sounds like a good idea to me! I want to make that happen!!!