3(AK)

I played 2 sessions yesterday here in WV. I started about 3:15pm and stopped at around 7:30 to have dinner. Wait, can Burger King be called dinner? What the fuck am I doing to myself out here on the road? Anyway, I then left the hotel and headed back to the casino at around 10:30pm. I'd broke about even for the earlier session finishing +$18 and I was feeling pressured to make some money for the night.

The first hour or so was pretty uneventful seeing me drift down about $40, so I reloaded a hundge. Then a guy who seemed quite frustrated sat across the table from me and he was under the gun for his first hand. He just went ahead and shoved for $71 blind. He got walked and that seemed to calm him down ever so slightly, but not all the way. He went on to double up, then go broke and reload. Then I looked down at KK in middle position. Well obviously I limped since Mr. Frustrated was on the button and of course he raised to $12. Two guys called and when it got back to me I bet $60, almost the pot. I have a tendency to make pot-sized bets when I have a monster. The action folded back to the guy and after a small amount of consideration he moved in for $110. Then the unexpected happened. The guy in the small blind really toiled over what to do with his hand. He was in for $12 and he did not want to fold. Finally he put in $110 and I called. I had $26 left but didn't bother with it because the dealer had mistakenly said the raise wasn't complete. She was wrong by $2. I didn't want to have the conversation so I just put in my last $26 before the flop came down. I think it was J high, then the turn was an ace and who could remember the river after that turn hit? I was good and drug in the $390 pot. The SB showed TT by the way, and the frustrated guy threw his cards revealing one Q. He said he had QQ.

A bit later, The most interesting hand I've seen in awhile came down. You may not think so, but I think so, so there. A guy had sat on my right. He was a regular and I could tell he played alot. He saw a few hands and then I saw him eyeball my stack and then reach into his pocket, pull out 6 greens and add them to his $150 or so in red. This brought his stack above the table max of $200 but this is an infraction that I would rarely call out. Besides, he was on my right.

So a few hands go by and I find myself under the gun with AK and $340 in my stack. The guy on my left was not a very good player. He was making senseless calls but had managed to run his stack up to almost $300. I limped in with the AK for a variety of reasons. One, I refuse to get married to this hand and I want to see the action from the rest of the table. I feel like limping UTG is like having preflop position in a way because I get to see what the rest of the table does before I commit more than $2 to the pot. If someone raises I can play accordingly from there. If no one raises, then I can easily dump this piece of shit hand when I don't smack the flop. I'm also in a postion to represent a monster with which I limped UTG.

So the guy on my left raised to $7 and then a number of players called. I can't remember how many, but $7 was small for this table and I'd guess it was around 5 calls. Then the guy on my right, the regular player with $300 in his stack, made a play that caused concern. He pulled back his BB and flug 4 greens into the pot. That's $100 for those unfamiliar with chip colors. If I had been at all interested in this pot before this guy shot $100 into it, I was certainly intrigued now. I looked at the guy and imagined what he could possibly have. I looked at all the limps and imagined what kind of stuff was out there. I didn't calculate too much, but my gut told me what to do. I had earbuds in, though they were paused. I looked at the dealer, held up three fingers and said "three." I promply placed, one by one, three stacks of red across the line. I just knew this guy didn't have AA or KK. I knew I hadn't played a hand since he got there and I knew he knew that because he was paying attention. I was banking on this type of pressure from my UTG limp and his initial assement of me to make him muck his JJ or QQ or whatever steal he was attempting. And really, I thought he was stealing.

What happened next was completely unexpected and quite disappointing, yet very exciting. The guy on my left, after a bit of agonizing, called for $286. Fuck me. This just went wrong. Obviously I wanted everyone to fold and allow me to pick up that money, including the 4 greens. As I watched all the callers of the $7 fold, I just calmed down. The money was in and there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, I wanted to appear confident because we still had the little matter of the guy who made it $100. Did I mention how exciting this situation was? And ever since I'd made the $300 bet, the guy who made it $100 was in agony. He was certainly leaning toward folding. I know I represented what I wanted to represent. Now that I got called, I REALLY wanted this guy out. I don't wanna be sitting there with A fucking K in a 3 way, all-in-pre-flop $1000 pot.

So when it got back to the guy, he picked up his cards so the guy on his right could see his quandary, and then, after alot of head shaking, flung his very own AK into the muck. The moment of truth had finally arrived. I normally don't show my hand until the river, but this pot was special. And my opponent wasted no time in turning up HIS VERY OWN AK! I tabled my AK and we watched as the board almost gave me a flush, but in the end called for a chop. We took our $286 back and then split the guy's $100, plus several $7 calls.

Though I usually don't discuss hands with players at the table, this one was cause for about an orbit's worth of chit chat. The guy on my right said he was certain I had AA and the guy on my left futilely tried to defend calling off $286 with AK to the $100 3-bet and a $300 4-bet. I never criticized anyone's play but I certainly feel like the guy on my left was out of his mind. I think the guy on my right did what he should have done by folding, especially after the other guy called. But most importantly, I like my play. I limped to give myself position in a raised pot, and to be able to dump the hand on the flop in an unraised pot. I don't care how many times I'm dealt AK. In a cash game, there is no reason I have to play any certain hand. If I'm scared of a hand such as JJ, or AK or AQ, I'd just pitch it. Of course I'm not scared of those hands, but you get the point. I wouldn't even be opposed to open folding AK UTG in certain games. I don't do it, but I could see reason for it. This hand was just very interesting because we all three had AK and we all three had multiple decisions to make throughout the preflop round. Some decisions were based on the actions of others, and some, in the case of the guy on my left, were made based solely on the absolute strength of 2 cards. I limped, my left raised, my right reraised, I rerasied, my left called, and then my right folded. If one so chose, he or she could think very deeply about this hand.

So, by the end of the night I was ahead $298. I'm in the black for the trip and the hotel is paid for through tonight. I'm gonna get a refill on this coffee and then head over to play session #1 for the day. I'm looking forward to smooth sailing but that's a rare bird in poker. Hopefully, after the smoke clears, I'll come out ahead.