My Cash Game Adventure

It’s been a long time since I posted about poker. It was probably for the best. I got back into the game at last weeks Irish Winter Festival, an event that I was also blogging for. The hours are long enough as it is when covering these events, but when you sit into a cash table full of drunken messes and then find yourself actually losing money, the hours suddenly become much longer!

On the first night of event, I actually found myself winning money, despite taking full advantage of the PaddyPower hospitality budget and managing to spew away my first €200 buy-in by pushing on a four-flush, ace-high board with AK, no spade. The player with the 6 high flush pretty much beat my chips into the pot. Ugh! I can’t remember any showdowns later on that night because from there-on-in, I wielded the mighty Check-Raise as if it were the weapon of warriors! I got most of my profit when I led out on a paired board with a gutshot. The likes of Thomas Nolan and Nicky Power would be proud of me because despite being raised and the button calling, the lure of the gutshot was too great and I shipped the lot in. Fold Fold! Cash out!

The next two nights saw me run particularly badly. I flop the bottom end of the straight in a raised pot, holding 4h5h. I lead out for pot and I’m called. There’s the Ah on the turn, giving me the heart draw. I lead out for pot and I’m called. The river is a spade of some sort, putting three out there. I check-call his half pot bet of €128 and am shown the flush. I then flop the nut flush and get it all-in against top-pair and a redundant flush draw. He runner-runner’s a house! Sat at a table with people that I’m pretty sure all hate money, I decide to relent and perform that classic act of degeneracy by reaching into my wallet once more. One time! I sit tight and watch chips literally flying about the place. I find a pair of Jacks under the gun and raise. Some drunk English guy comes over the top of me for everything and now it’s my turn to beat someones chips into the pot! The flop comes 664. “I hit that, mate”. The turn comes an Ace “Waaaheyeeyeey, I hit that too”. He throws over the Ace-Four. Clean up on table one please! I buy-in once more and manage to recover €182 over the next few hours despite not seeing any spectacular hands.

On the final night, I sit in once again with my 200 euro. I decide to soul-read a player after about 10 hands after he straddles and then raises after the entire table calls. I decide to rep the UTG limp with AA or KK and shove for €153 more. I flop a gutshot but I’m not sick enough to hit it and by the river, my hand is back in the wallet. I soon double up (and then some) when I flop Top Pair from the Big Blind with K-J on a draw heavy board. I check and the guy to my left leads out for about the pot and by time it gets back to me, there’s been 3 callers. Top pair is the nuts, and there’s a tonne of dead money in this pot. All-in! Call! “I have the King”, “So do I” is what I hear back as the dealer sorts out all the chips as we try and dissect each others hand, defiantly choosing not to show up. “Well, I’m beating a few Kings” I murmur, “Do you have the Ace?” he inquired, “Um, No” I reply, “I’m ahead so”. “Not anymore” I state as the dealer throws up a lovely Jack on the turn. I 100% expected the board to pair on the river to counterfeit me but the case €200 then became the case €460. But I’m still stuck.

The story has to have a happy ending though.

A few minutes after, I witness €700 being open-shipped into the pot. I had already folded but could sense that my time was near. In a straddled pot, UTG raises it to 40. He’s managed to become stuck for double what I was, but has managed to do it all in about 10 minutes! He gets two callers - both chinese. I look down at TT and make it €150, which is about 33% of my stack. I get three callers! I see a flop of KK7 which is actually pretty nice for me. They all check to me and I duly ship it all-in. I was probably 70% sure I was ahead, but think checking behind is just terrible given that I don’t want to give them a free shot to hit an overcard or to hit a set. Of course, had I been snap-called, it would have been sick and I probably would have gone looking for a nice piece of rope!

Thankfully it didn’t come to that!