this week in poker!

i got back from mexico from jed's bachelor party this weekend just in time for the Syndicate event. the turnout wasn't huge, i think we had about 15 people. i started off very slow and had to make moves to stay alive as i was pretty card dead. one hand that really sucked to chop: i had J-10 suited in a re-raised pot preflop (keep in mind that we were short handed). flop is JJQ. checks to me, i go all in for about the pot. i get called by AK. turn Q. river Q. chop it up. ugh. my favorite was busting john with 88 when i raised on the button and he shoved with KsQs which amounted to about a minimum raise. i called and flopped a boat : 8-J-J. the turn gave John an Ace high flush and he erupted in cheers. i quietly reminded him that he was drawing to 1 out, the 10s for a royal flush to beat my boat [verrryy niiiiice (borat voice)!!!!] i busted in 5th with KQ all in vs. Q3 and 78. flop was 10-J-J. pretty damn good flop for me. turn 4. their 9 outer hits with the river with a 7. oh well -- i got up to oceans and had a quick but good session there.

i played last night again and there were a couple of noteworthy hands. in a limped pot, i held 8-9 and flopped the top 2 pair on a 896 board. i bet and i got 2 callers. the turn was 6. the early position player led into me, so i raised, others folded, he called. the river was a 9 to fill me up. he checked, i value bet and he called. he showed down 7-5 for the flopped straight. ummmmm.....what the fuck were you thinking guy? he let me get there as best as he possibly could and when the hand came up in conversation a few minutes later, he hadn't realized that he flopped a straight! i should have gotten his number to start having him come to our home games.

i did well at the beginning of the session after flopping a set of 4s on my very first hand at the table. i also flopped top 2 pair with AQ and got a caller, which is pretty amazing for me to win a nice pot with that hand. then our table broke and it all went to shit.

early at my new table i turned top 2 pair with AK and got raised. i called and it turns out that he had called my 3 bet preflop with J-10 and made the nut straight as i hit my top 2 pair. ouch. oh then a really brutal hand came up when i made the nut 10 high straight on the turn and bet it big to protect against the flush draw and got 1 caller. of course the board paired on the river and it was the 8-9, 2 pair ---> boat hand coming back to bite me in the ass.

i just continued to get cold decked. not a good stretch in there. i was getting ready to leave after a long sucky session, when the following hand came up:

i folded. !!!!! yea! that was my best play in this hand. i wasn't really watching the action that closely, but i know it was 3 bet preflop and there were 3 players in the hand.

the flop was AQJ. bet, call, raise to $200, call, call.
turn 3.
short stack all in for $150, all in for $500 from the middle position, insta-call all in by the button. wow. as the three players revealed their hands, we saw JJ from the short stack, QQ from the middle position, and AA from the button!!

set over set over set. wow - what a hand. brutal cooler for the Queens and Jacks. but wait for it............





river J! BAD BEAT JACKPOT BABY!!! and the crowd goes wild. if you ever want to see a bunch of old fat men get excited and hug / high five each other, this was it. Aces full of Jacks beaten by Quad Jacks! $31,000 split 40% to the loser, 20% to the winner, and 20% divided among the rest of the table. pocket AA pocketed over $12k and the winner of the hand with 4 jacks got just over $6k (incidentally, it was this kid's first time ever at oceans 11. nice.....). the table share was just under $1800, which isn't bad after running cold for several hours. pocket QQ got just a table share after stacking off, which kinda sux for him.

weird though that i almost felt guilty about leaving with more money than i came with since i didn't deserve it from the poker. but i guess that's why we pay $1 a hand in perpetuity.

so after a good start and a terrible middle, the session redeemed itself pretty damn well!

jerrett baker

you probably didn't know him if you're reading about poker, but a friend of mine died on sunday in a car accident. he was 33 and a firefighter in san diego. he was probably the most fun loving guy i know, always making you smile. whether it was laughing at him or with him, it was always good times. he was a great volleyball player and golfer and knew how to take advantage of the fun opportunities that life offers. he was a great guy and i will miss him.

here are a couple of pics from estero 2006: