Played in a private game last night against some tough players. The opp included a final table finisher from the Heartland Poker Tour, the guru, another guy who has moneyed in the WSOP, and three other leather-ass old-timers who’ve each logged more time at the felt than the rest of us combined. Worse, the games were mixed and, frankly, bizarre.
As expected, it was dealer’s choice. But what I didn’t expect was what those choices would be. I got to play at least one hold’em game per lap of the table (my deal), but the majority of games played were variants of Omaha, Stud, and Draw. Lots of hi/low declaration games, some wild card stuff, roll-your-own variants, pineapple, crazy-pineapple, lazy-pineapple, strange “kip” games where suited connectors ruled and scooped half the pot, and others that, honestly, I had no idea how to play or even what the basic idea was. Some games were limit, some spread limit, some table stakes, and even a NL game or two. And yes, it was all fun.
The games were played with quarters, with individual bets usually ranging from $.25 to $1.50, and typical pots averaging around $5-10, but going as high as $40 occasionally. I discovered my best course of action most of the time was to play tight, and just try for high-only in the hi/low games (I seem to have trouble figuring out nut lows and what people are likely drawing to during the heat of battle; I definitely need more practice in these types of games).
Playing tight definitely helped. This was a classic case of playing like a rock at a loose table and building a tight image. The majority of these other guys were splashing pots, jamming the game, and generally trying to stir up the game and get as many people into the hand as possible and build big pots. By folding a lot and playing only relatively strong high hands, I was able to accumulate a few chips when I held real hands. More importantly, I was also able to bluff at the pot now and then and get the others to fold. My reputation as a rock really seemed to help. For example, one time I held bottom two pair and fired a big pot-sized bet into a hold’em board that three flushed on the river. I got three guys to fold to this, all thinking collectively out loud that I must have hit that flush. (And, no, I didn’t show my cards!)
Even better, we played a couple of SnG-style hold’em tournaments toward the end of the night. Finally, I thought, something I know how to play well. And play well, I did. I chopped for first place in both games, once against the WSOP finisher and the other against one of the old-timers. These two wins effectively doubled my initial night’s buy-in. Woo hoo! Of course, I gave some of it back before leaving; actually donking off a handful of quarters on purpose, as I was going to be one of the first to leave (at midnight), and I know it’s bad form to leave a home game with a majority of the money in your pocket after just winning some big hands. It didn’t matter, though, as I walked away with my pockets bulging with quarters.
Anyway, it was a night of crazy games, good company, and excellent results. You can’t ask for much more than that…
All-in for now….
-Bug
No comments:
Post a Comment