A little sick

The run I've been on the past couple of days. It's probably a very good thing that I won't have really any time to play poker in the next couple of weeks, because if I played with this level of confidence I'd either make a boatload of money or lose my ever-loving shirt. Ever since coming back from AC, I've felt like my game was on a good run, but the past couple of days have just been sick.

So last night Suzy decides she doesn't want to go to the movies after all, so I'm freed up to head over to the local card room and see what's going on. My last trip to this place was less than stellar, as I couldn't hang in any way with the aggression and disregard for money that was being displayed, and lost a couple buy-ins, which is a significant portion of my bankroll, since I almost always pay over my head.

Smart, I know. I play poker good.

Anyway, I have my usual just-after-the-break tourney exit when I run AK into A8 in a battle of the blinds. Eight in the door and IGCGN (I go cash game now). I'm sitting with $200 and manage to triple up by hitting no less than three sets in the first 30 minutes (two held up, the other went down in flames to a river flush), and getting a massive caller who called me with TPTK on a 6-high board. My 77 was gold. Then the guy next to him goes over the top of my TPTK all in, I put him on a flush draw since he was the guy who took a $200 pot off me with a flush earlier, and I called. He had KJ for TP2K, and I've tripled up.

Then tonight I laid maybe the sickets beat on someone that I think I've ever done live. I don't think I've done anything worse than doubling through anyone with a 3-outer on the river. I've got 62o on the button and everybody in the world limps, so I see a flop. Flop is 229, with 2 spades. Brian bets $2 and I pot it, which is $11. Uncle Phil raises pot, which at that point makes it $35 back to me. At this point I have trips with a weak kicker, and I think Phil has something like A9 for two pair, or more likely the spade draw. I raise another $50.

Phil thinks for a short time (very short) and calls. Turn comes something innocuous and he goes all-in for another $110 or so. I only have $56, so I figure I'm pretty well pot-stuck after he calls the $50 re-raise. I had decided that all my chips were going in the middle at that point anyway, so I instacall his all-in. River is the 6s, completing what I thought was his flush draw, but when he said "Fuck" as the card turned over I realized that my read was completely wrong, and I'd been behind all the way and caught up. I said something to the effect of "You hate that card, but not for the flush, it filled me up," and tabled my rivered boat. He throws his A2 down for trips with top kicker, and I actually, for the first time, feel bad about a suckout I've delivered. I don't apologize, because he's steamed enough and that would be the wrong thing to say, but I don't know any way I could have put him on the case 2 in that spot. If he shoves all in over the top of my $50 on the flop, I probably fold, but by waiting for the turn, I managed to convince myself that I was ahead, and sucked out.

So that was a point where my game and read was totally wrong, but I got super-lucky. Otherwise, I felt like my game was strong and really "on" tonight. I had no premium pocket pairs and still managed to play well, hit flops, and clear a $300 profit in a $.25/.50 pot limit game. Hopefully by the time I get a chance to have a game again, all my friends will have forgiven me for this incredible evening of luck. With my last day in AC, last night and tonight, I'm up about $700 for the week, a serious winning week for my small-stakes ass.

Oh, and I'm typing this on my new laptop. After much deliberation, I did stay in the PC world, largely because of price and convenience. I got a nice new, much smaller, Gateway for $699 from Best Buy with a gig of RAM, 120GB HD, Windows Vista and a bunch of other stuff. Now I just need to get my home wireless network back up and running. This new PC is much faster and lighter than the 17" laptop I'd been using, so I'll be more inclined to treat it as strictly a writing computer.