I enjoyed the $8-16 game last night at Diamond Lil's. It was the kind of table I like -- not overly aggressive, but filled with experienced players who are smart enough to lay down a hand. My plan was to play my solid, conservative game, show down a couple of winners and then probe for steal opportunities.
Unfortunately, the papes never came and I ended up booking a small loss.
The only pot I won all night came after sitting there literally for more than an hour without playing a hand, just throwing away a parade of J-4, 9-2, Q-3 holdings. I picked up AKd in middle position, raised and got called by two guys behind me plus the big blind. The flop came down king high, K-9-3, I think. I bet out and the table captain -- a cocky but gregarious (and lucky) kid on the button -- called, saying I'm not scared. I put him on something like pocket 10s, maybe AQ, A9 suited or even, I hoped, K-Q or K-J. The big blind, a poor player, also called.
When the turn came a queen I looked at the button and purposely over-fumbled my chips, playing up my image as the tight nervous player afraid to enter a pot. Everybody laughed, and that seemed to spook the kid, who laid down his hand. Big blind called, though, which made me nervous that he'd stuck around with something like Q-3 and was being overly tricky. So I checked down the river and scooped the pot.
And that was that. A bit later I had J-8 in the big blind, bet all the way when the flop came 8 high, but lost when a guy with 9-7 made a straight. Minus $111 for the night.
Hands in The Muck ... and other Puget Sound cardrooms
