Omens... Lots of 'Em... All Bad

Where did I go wrong?

I suppose it started with my overly arrogant "How to Win at Craps" post. I forgot rule number one about casino gambling. It doesn't matter what the system is, the house still has the edge.

Then I played in a FTP $100 tourney last night with Erick Lindgren and some guy nicknamed GambleAB (whoever that is). I nearly knocked both of them out at different times (each had a $100 bounty). Erick folded like a little girl with just T680 when I check-raised him on the river. Punk. I was among the top 5 in chips all tourney and in 3rd place when we reached the final table. Top 6 played. Anyone wanna guess where I finished?

So I went back to the Coushatta and dropped $150 waiting for a poker table. I got there too late for the tourney again, another bad sign. And after dropping that cash and waiting for a table, I decided to grab some food... and missed hearing my name get called. So I had to get back on the list, and wait some more.

Things weren't going well...

I finally got called as they started a new NLHE table (remember, it's $1/$3 blinds and a buy in of $100 min/$200 max). I had $300 left and bought in for $200. It was 3:00 pm.

A few hands in, I'm dealt AQ of clubs in the BB. There are 4 limpers in front of me and I raise to $15. Three of the four call me. The flop comes down Q-x-x. I bet $25 and I get called by the player to my left (your typical grizzled regular in a trucker hat, but not for the style points). The turn pairs the 3 on the board. I bet $30 and he calls again. The river is a harmless J and I bet $30 again. He quickly folds. Just like that I'm up to $295.

That was the only significant hand I played my first hour and at about 4:00 pm, I'm moved to another NL table.

The first hand I played there was pocket 6's, UTG. I think Bad Blood will be proud.

The flop comes A-J-6, all clubs. I love the set and hate the flush draw. The BB checks and I bet $15. It's raised to $30, the BB calls and I call.

The turn is another J... as in Jackpot!!!! BB checks, I check and it's bet $30, as I expected. BB calls and I raise to $100. The orginal bettor goes all in for his $81. The BB thinks for awhile before folding. He was either flushed or on the nut flush draw. I'm sure I could have gotten more out of him. The river is a blank and I never see what the other guy had. I'm up to $428 and just like that I've doubled up. This game is easy!

That was the last meaningful hand I won. One time, I flopped a K-flush, but the only other guy in the hand was the SB, and he probably would have folded to anything pre-flop. The hand won me virtually nothing.

I decide to play QTo out of the BB even though it was raised to $10 in front of me. There are 2 other callers so four of us see the flop. It comes T-8-8. The SB checks, I bet $20, it's folded back to the SB and he raises all in. Check-raise? Is he just making a move on me? It's actually the second time he pulled that move on me (the other time, I was hammered). I fold and I'm down to $364.

It's 69s in the big blind. Six players ahead of me limp so I complete hoping for a good flop. It comes A-A-6. That's not a good flop, but I decided to see where I was at. I check, it's bet $10 and I raise to $30. He pushes for $45 more. Ugh. Is this another move? Am I giving off the impression that I'm easy to push around? I look him up. I'm thinking if he had an ace, he wouldn't have limped preflop. Bad theory, because he's holding A2, and fills his boat on the turn. I'm at $260.

I'm dealt AJo and I raise to 10. The BB re-raises to 20 and I call. The flop is A-x-x. Here's what I have to decide. Did he re-raise with AK or AQ... or did he re-raise with a high pocket pair like J's or Q's? He checks (big pocket pair??) and I bet 25. He check-raises me to 50 (hmm... AK?). I call.

The turn is a blank. He checks and I check (big pocket pair?? the re-raise was to see if I really had an ace??). The river is a blank. He bets 100. Ugh... now I think he's buying the pot with pocket Q's. I call, and, of course, he flips AK. I'm down to about $100 and I buy for another $100.

I'm dealt 56s in the BB. It was raised to 10 in front of me and I call with 2 others. It's not a hand I should be playing with a raise the way my day has been going, but I'm stupid, remember.

The flop is K-5-6. Okay, I'm smarter than I thought! I've got people betting into me, so I just call. The turn is a 4. It's bet ahead of me and I call again, planning for a big move at the river. The river is a 7, and it's bet big in front of me. I give a crying call and he flips an 8. I'm an idiot, and I'm down to $115.

My day came to the end with a couple Big Slicks. The first time, I raise out to $25 and get a couple of callers. The flop is 8-8-5. I check, it's bet $50 and another guy goes all in for $179. I obviously fold. The original bettor thinks for awhile before throwing away pocket 5's. He said he figured the other guy for quad 8s, but the other guy showed a J before mucking (I figure the other card was an 8). I can't believe he mucked a boat!

A few hands later, I see AKs again. It's raised in front of me to $10 and there are 3 callers. I raise all-in to $43 and get two callers. My hand never improves and I lose to pocket J's.

It's about 6:15pm now, and my Syracuse Orange tip off for the Big East title at 7pm. I thought about buying back in, but it just didn't' seem to be my day, so I hopped in my car and headed home, down $450 for the day. It hurt, but I learned some lessons. First, don't waste money at the craps table (I wasn't even following the rules I set out below, I was betting way too aggressively). Second, don't play stupid cards. Pretty easy rules to follow, huh?

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