I played poker for a couple of hours Saturday night.
Here's the set-up: my family was in town two weeks ago, and I suffered the usual burnout that provides. I love my family, but as an introvert I need time to myself sometimes to recharge the batteries. With the whole weekend taken up with family events, that did not happen.
So, I sheepishly begged to go play poker Friday night, and my wife graciously agreed. She even proposed a new deal (described in )her blog) -- I can play on the weekend if I watch the kids for her to go do something she likes). She had no reason or need to do this, she's just that much of a rock star!
I look forward to playing my usual Friday game, and hoping to avenge the loss I took the last time I was there. However, as the week marched on, we got something in the Pittsburgh area we've avoided for a couple of years -- large scale flooding.
Some of you may recall the bad floods we got in 2004 in the areas known as Millvale and Sharpsburg. A lot of people lost homes and possessions, and it even made national headlines (especially when Teresa Heinz Kerry came down from her mansion not to give money, but to say "I'm not in a position to do anything much other than to find out...I want to find out"). Fortunately the flood wasn't as bad this time, but as my main game is in Sharpsburg they cancelled it because of issues with the roads and the air conditioning.
So, I went to my "backup game" -- it's in fact closer to my house, but no Omaha. It runs out of a closed restaurant at the bottom of the hill I live on. They spread a number of games. I started at the smaller game, and quickly got stuck a bit where I turned two pair and called two half-pot bets from a guy who slow-played his better two pair on the flop. Then they called the bigger game.
The reason I am willing to play a slightly bigger game at this place is because they don't spread Omaha, and therefore the pots actually stay much more manageable. Also, it's less likely that people will get much deeper stacks than I will have because of the lower amounts of "gambooling" that will go on without the pot limit and Omaha elements.
In any case, I topped off my stack and got to work. I did not play particularly long, and I also played pretty cautiously. The result was a steady grinding. I evaporated my loss at the smaller game and made a decent profit on the night (about half my buyin).
There weren't too many notable hands. I picked off what I thought to be a fairly obvious bluff on the river with Jacks on a King-high board. I flopped an Ace with AK against a short stack with Jacks who pushed preflop. I called a small river raise with two pair against a gentleman who hit runner runner second nut flush and checked it to me (huh?)
Nice night, ended early, and I made enough that Kris gets a pedicure. Fun.
Here's the set-up: my family was in town two weeks ago, and I suffered the usual burnout that provides. I love my family, but as an introvert I need time to myself sometimes to recharge the batteries. With the whole weekend taken up with family events, that did not happen.
So, I sheepishly begged to go play poker Friday night, and my wife graciously agreed. She even proposed a new deal (described in )her blog) -- I can play on the weekend if I watch the kids for her to go do something she likes). She had no reason or need to do this, she's just that much of a rock star!
I look forward to playing my usual Friday game, and hoping to avenge the loss I took the last time I was there. However, as the week marched on, we got something in the Pittsburgh area we've avoided for a couple of years -- large scale flooding.
Some of you may recall the bad floods we got in 2004 in the areas known as Millvale and Sharpsburg. A lot of people lost homes and possessions, and it even made national headlines (especially when Teresa Heinz Kerry came down from her mansion not to give money, but to say "I'm not in a position to do anything much other than to find out...I want to find out"). Fortunately the flood wasn't as bad this time, but as my main game is in Sharpsburg they cancelled it because of issues with the roads and the air conditioning.
So, I went to my "backup game" -- it's in fact closer to my house, but no Omaha. It runs out of a closed restaurant at the bottom of the hill I live on. They spread a number of games. I started at the smaller game, and quickly got stuck a bit where I turned two pair and called two half-pot bets from a guy who slow-played his better two pair on the flop. Then they called the bigger game.
The reason I am willing to play a slightly bigger game at this place is because they don't spread Omaha, and therefore the pots actually stay much more manageable. Also, it's less likely that people will get much deeper stacks than I will have because of the lower amounts of "gambooling" that will go on without the pot limit and Omaha elements.
In any case, I topped off my stack and got to work. I did not play particularly long, and I also played pretty cautiously. The result was a steady grinding. I evaporated my loss at the smaller game and made a decent profit on the night (about half my buyin).
There weren't too many notable hands. I picked off what I thought to be a fairly obvious bluff on the river with Jacks on a King-high board. I flopped an Ace with AK against a short stack with Jacks who pushed preflop. I called a small river raise with two pair against a gentleman who hit runner runner second nut flush and checked it to me (huh?)
Nice night, ended early, and I made enough that Kris gets a pedicure. Fun.
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