I played the Golden Nugget’s donkfest at noon yesterday and was up and down in the first hour, but a specific hand played out that was quite interesting.  Starting stacks are 12k and blinds start 25/50 with 40 minute levels.

A player at the table had a habit of raising 2.5x and folding to any reraise.  It was bizarre.  This guy raises in the cutoff to 125, I call from the button with 2,3 suited.  The SB reraises to 375, BB calls, Cutoff folds, and I call.

Flop comes 9,8,7 rainbow.

SB leads out for 1100 and BB calls.

At this point, I’m certain SB is on a bluff.  If he’s reraising small from out of position, there’s just no conceivable way he flopped a straight.  The BB likely sees this and probably has one pair or maybe a pair and a draw or maybe just a draw.  This is a good time to strike.

I raise to 3200.

The SB INSTA-shoves.  BB folds

Now obviously I can’t call with 3 high.  The worst part is, there is just NO WAY he has a hand here.  His betting is reckless and his timing proves he doesn’t have anything.  Oh what I’d give to just have any parcel of a hand.  I fold.  He shows T,5 offsuit and seems proud of his play.  If only he knew he bluffed with the best hand…

I busted an hour later when I flopped top pair against aces (isn’t that how it always has ended this summer?) and I went over to Binions to find a PLO/8 tourney.  I figure that I’m not in that bad of shape in PLO/8 if I run into aces, so I’ll give it a try.

The first two hands had one raiser and all folds.  I instantly knew I was the worst player at the table.  It didn’t take even an orbit.  The next hour played out pretty poorly for me.  I rivered 2nd nut hi and a decent low only to get scooped by nut, 2nd nut.

I was heads up in a pot with a multi draw on high and low going into river and bricked.  I checked my 4th pair and villain checked his rivered nuts behind me.  He had the nut flush draw and didn’t realize he had a straight on the end and was turning his hand over for a 3rd pair victory.  Three people on my table INSTANTLY called the floor in fear of collusion.  I laughed.  The average age at my table was 50.  They were nice people, but one guy was really annoying and he seems to be on the “in” of a lot of bigger committees that deal with poker.  I don’t know who he was, but he annoyed me.

In the next level, I saw a flop of Q,7,7 and laughed at how my useless queen just joined my 7 for a flopped boat.  I bet out and got one caller.  Turn ace.  I bet the pot.  He calls.  River is another ace.  I check in frustration and he puts in a value bet of 1/2 the pot.  LOL.  I fold face up and he shows QQ only.  Dear God!!  I should have been gone!  He went on reverse tilt from not stacking me in this hand and I can only thank my two most hated cards of the summer (ace and ace) for saving my tournament life.  I was getting knocked around left and right by these guys.  They were all better than me.  It was that simple.

We got to level 3 and blinds went up to 75/150.  I started putting on the pressure with my small stack of 1500.  I went from limp mode to pot mode preflop and noticed the table really didn’t care to pay a nice price to see any flops.  I went into the first break at around 3k.  I knew what I had to do.  I had to get aggressive and play poker.  Forget playing this game, since they know it better than me.  I have to play poker.

We get back from break and I go on a mega-terror raising around 50-60% of the pots preflop and watch everybody just limp-fold.  I get back up to 6k when I take my first victim out of the tourney.  He flopped a set of aces against my nut low draw and flush draw.  Flush got there and suddenly I was the table leader.  I continued the hyper-aggro play leaving no pot unraised preflop and watching these old guys cringe as the Kill Phil method of playing poker was burying them.  Players began calling down VERY weak and I got three freerolls post flop for their tourney life.  I hit one of them and never slowed down.  I had guys calling off their entire stack on JUST a flush draw.  It was insane.  I couldn’t believe how bad these guys were getting their money in.  We go into the 2nd break and I’m up to 45k and the tourney chipleader with half the field left.  The second biggest stack at my table?  He had 8700…

I make a few phone calls and discuss how I’m playing.  I can’t believe it.  I’m the worst 0/8 player at the table and the best poker player.  How odd is that?  We get back from break, I’m on the button and steal the first hand.  The second hand, I pot from the cutoff and that second biggest stack decided he had enough.  He shoves all in with A,J,J,T RAINBOW!!!  LOLOLOL  I flip over my A,2,5,8 double suited and am pleased until I watch the board run out K4K4 and I’m drawing dead on the turn… Yuck.  A few hands later a guy limp/calls my pot raise and we see an A,T,6 rainbow flop.  He pots for most of his stack and I get the rest in there with my A,3,6,7.  He shows A,Q,J,T rainbow.  Lucky flop for him… I go brick brick on the low draw (wow…) and lose another chunk.  Just a few hands after that, I’m in the BB and the SB only has about 4.5k.  It all gets in on the 5,6,7 flop with his A,4,J,J against my 2,3,7,K in which I had a flush draw to boot.  So I’m looking for an A,2,3,4,7,k, or heart to win at least half.  Turn 6, river T.  Ship it all to him…  Wow…

I’m down to 18k, but STILL above the average (13.5k.)  A guy in EP pots up to 2800, I repot up to 9600 with A,2,5,7 single suited and it folds to him.  He calls off half his stack and I laugh out loud and ask him if he’s going to stop-n-go me.  The flop comes 3,6,7 and he shoves having me barely covered.  I snap call and the hands turn over… He has… J,4 suited and A,5 off… wow… not only does this seem REALLY questionable to call a repot, but what a funny flop.  He flops nut hi, I flop nut low.  River is a 2 and I’m counterfeited on the low and busted ten hands after being the tournament chip leader.

I’m heading down to the Hard Rock for Trash Talk Tuesday.  The game requires a button straddle, dealers and players are encouraged to talk trash, and slow-rolling is also encouraged.  Should be fun.