Yeah, Real Solid

Sat down at Aladdin for some exciting $1-2 NL action, and as is my usual custom I got stuck $100 in the game. But at least this time I found a creative way to do it.

Frustrated with my cards which were dead-on-arrival, half-blind because of painful contact lens problems, and developing some kind of rash, I knew I needed to do something to take control of the situation. So I chose to make a move on a tight aggressive player (TAG), the only one at the table. He was a local player I had seen before and he recognized me. I thought he'd give me credit for a hand when I moved against him. He'd raised preflop twice in a row, and on the third time I repopped him from $12 to $35 in position. He called, saying, "I know you're solid, dude," as he did so. Oh, I happened to have QT.

Flop came AQJ rainbow and he checked to me. I fired out $60. I had started the hand with $165, so after the $60 bet I was left with $70. He thought for a second and then pushed all-in. He showed me after the hand was over that he had top pair (Ace!) with top kicker (King!). Problem was, after my bet I was faced with a situation where it was about equally correct to call or fold. My EV was 21% and I was getting close to the 4-to-1 I needed ($270 was in the pot for a $70 call). I chose to let it go.

I don't really mind my preflop action, but the dumb part was betting the flop here. I had actually hit something, middle pair with a gutshot, so I didn't need to bet. If he had a pocket pair, I had him beat anyway unless it was one of the sets or KK. If he'd called with a big ace he had two-pair or top pair with a gutshot. So there wasn't much value in betting, except maybe getting him to lay down KQ or KK. But most likely I had him drawing thin or he had a better hand that wasn't going anywhere considering the pot size. So I could have taken the free card he was giving me to beat him.

After that fiasco I reloaded and fought my way back to a $120 winning session, which involved revenge against the TAG.

A lot of Persians are in town for a series of concerts this weekend, and the table was about half Persian. I would like to say that I felt like Leonidas at Thermopylae, but saying that would be kinda weak.