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Just a month after my biggest session (Parts I and II), I won my biggest pot in a live game. I’ll get to that. The session started out pretty badly. I lost three hands with A♠K♠, though one of them my ace high was good and I got bluffed out. I don’t remember how I lost the end of my first buyin, but my second one was on a bad beat. I’m not complaining about the beat, and they don’t really bother me anymore, but I feel like describing the hand. I had Q9o in the big blind and called a minimum raise from a nut. The flop was 982, and I bet. He called. The turn was a 4, I bet more, and he called. The river was a 5, and I pushed. I guess a decent amount of money did get in after I was beat, but he called $50 on the turn with a gutshot, and showed me A3. I just mucked my cards and rebought.
In the game for $600, I had just gotten back above water, barely, when I got AKo, UTG. I raised, got a caller, and then a maniac reraised. I was sure he had a pair, but not aces or kings. The two other people in the pot both had under $200, so I just put them both all in, and they both called. They had TT and QQ, and we saw a flop of 9JK to give them four outs between them. AK hadn’t been holding up for me today, though, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see the T on the river steal the $450 pot from me. I was surprised, however, to see how little I reacted to it. I’ve seen it so many times now, I seemed to be able to just let it go.
I don’t really remember how it happened, but I managed to build my last $200 buyin up to $1200. There weren’t any massive pots in there, just a bunch of decent $100 or $200 pots. I then proceeded to lose it all back down to $200, in similar fashion. Raising with good cards and missing, a bad beat, and one bad play, and I was back down $400. This bad beat did get to me a little bit, because the money got in before I was beat, and I made a good, tough call. I had AJ, and raised preflop. The flop was 89J, and I bet $40 when it was checked to me. Someone checkraised all in for $150 more or so, and after thinking about it for a while, I called. He showed Q7s, for just a gutshot and overcard. Running spades gave him the pot, with the J♠ on the river to rub it in my face and give me trips. That one got to me a little bit, and I lost another $40 or so playing badly because of it. A little later, I saw a flop in a raised pot with ATs from the big blind. The flop was AA3, and I checked to trap. The problem was when the raiser bet, I knew I was beat, but just couldn’t get away from it. I called $60 on the flop, we checked the Q on the turn, and I called $60 on the river, to see his AK. I’m just glad I read him for the AK and didn’t push at it harder. In fact, I didn’t bet at all. I just don’t know why I couldn’t fold. Maybe some day, I’ll be able to lay that down.
Anyway, I ended up back down to $200 at some point, and then built back up to $365 when the big pot happened. I was in late position, and called a raise to $20 with A♥J♥. 5 players saw the flop of T♥7♥3♣. The maniac in the big blind (same guy with QQ from an earlier hand) bet $40, and a calling station called. The preflop raiser pushed for $165. The maniac had me covered, and the calling station had $70 behind. I was getting just over 2:1 on the call, and not expecting the maniac to reraise or bet the turn, so with two cards to come it was a good call with the flush draw. I also thought my ace was good if I hit it, so it was an even easier call. As it turned out, the maniac just called, and the calling station called all-in for her last $70, so it was a $165 call at a $705 pot. Easily a correct call, there. The 5♥ on the turn gave me the nuts, and I pushed all-in when the maniac checked. He called for my last $180, and the river was an offsuit 8, which didn’t pair the board or put a possible straight flush out there. I had the nuts, on the river, in a $1065 pot. The maniac showed just a K♥. I assume he had at least a pair on the flop, so something like K7o. He called on the turn with the flush draw in the hopes that I had a lower flush. The calling station had 88 for a rivered set. The preflop raiser showed QQ.
I played for a few more hours, and left the table with $1199, for a nice $599 profit. Twice during the night I turned $200 into $1200. I just wish I hadn’t played all the hands in between. 🙂 My past four trips to the casino have been profitable ones. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that those happen to be the only four times I’ve been there with my hammer.
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FWIW, on the AJ and the Q9o, I think you played it correctly. Your opponents made mistakes to call your bets, and unfortunately they got lucky to beat you. But you’re going to win more of those pots than you lose.
Congrats on your biggest pot ever, too. That’s awesome 🙂
Good for you, buddy! I’ve been playing for years, and had my share of big wins along the way. Just remember to play fair, and never be a cheat! It just takes the fun out of the game.