Michigan State loses, but I win

 Went out yesterday to watch Michigan State-North Carolina, and while State lost, I had one of my best poker sessions in a long time.

This game was a 1-2 NLHE that played way bigger, due in part to regular straddles. I've seen multiple games like this, from Korea to Texas, so I guess this is what I 'm used to.

It didn't start out well. I got too attached to AJJT double suited in an early bomb pot (this club caps bomb pots at $200, at least limiting the damage one bomb pot can do) and pissed away a couple hundred more on other pots I didn't win, so I'd bought in for $600 before I'd won a pot.

The first big pot I was in I called a $15 or 20 raise in position with QJ off, and the flop came QT-rag. It checked around to me, and I bet about half the pot, getting out everyone but the guy to my right. I improved to two pair as a jack hit the turn, and I bet again, & he called. The river brought a king, and we both checked, as there were four to a straight on the board. Turns out he rivered a higher two-pair, with KJ. He had flopped an open-ended straight draw, and got runner-runner two-pair.

Looking back, I'm half-surprised that he didn't bet the flop, though many people don't bet their draws, and I'm pretty sure he didn't raise pre-flop, so he could have feared a check-raise.

A bit later a fairly aggressive player with a massive stack, a beard and a blue winter hat raised to $15, got at least two callers, and I peeked at QQ in late position, and bumped it to $55, getting three callers. The flop came ace-rag-rag, way too dry for me to not continuation bet. All three checked quickly to me, and I bet one stack of red ($100). This was slightly less than 1/2 the pot, while I tend to c-bet between half and 2/3 pot, but was still big enough that I expected it to get rid of anybody without an ace. I still didn't have much of a stack, but I think I still had enough that I probably wasn't going to shove on the turn if I got a caller with an overcard on the board. Nobody called, so I didn't have to decide.

I called another $15 or $20 raise in position pre-flop with 98s, and got a nine-high flop, the raiser led out for $30, and everybody but me folded. The turn was a ten, and he bet $50. The ten was an overcard to my nines, but probably the least scary one, as he is more likely to have AK or something. I called again. The river was a queen, so now I'm dealing with another overcard. I'm now losing to AQ, AT, and KQ for that matter, or even KT. I'm still beating AK, AJ, or KJ. He thought a bit, before betting $60. Based on his previous betting, If he thought he was ahead I expect more like $75 to 100, so I felt pretty good about my call. "You're good," he said, and mucked without showing. I perhaps should mention that my opponent's table image is a bit iffy. In the past he told me that he banned himself from the casino across the river, implying he has a gambling problem. Maybe he will ban himself from our poker club in the future as well? I get the impression he doesn't mind massive swings in his bankroll. While he lost that hand to me, he was a pretty massive winner yesterday. I think he won as much as I did in about half the time. While I am looking to exploit him, I think there are leakier spots at our table.

The hand that really built my stack came a bit later. I called a $20 raise with A8 of diamonds, and five or six of us saw the flop, which came 964 with two more diamonds. It checked around to me, and I bet $40 with one guy behind me. I got two callers, including the guy behind me. 

The five of diamonds hit the turn, giving me the nut-flush, though I double checked to see which cards on the board were actually diamonds, as the 456 would put a possible straight flush out there. For that matter, 965 would as well. The six was a heart, so I had the nuts, as long as another heart didn't fall, and the board didn't pair. I bet $85, and the guy to my left started counting his chips, telegraphing that if he called he was going all-in. After determining he had $190 he did exactly that. The other guy still in the pot snap called. Since seat nine's all-in was big enough to constitute a raise, I was now able to reraise, so I went all-in as well, the guy who still had chips called again. Since two of us were all-in, we could have agreed to run the river more than once, but nobody spoke up. It turned out that I had a total of $411, making the pot a little under $1500. The big stack had a king-high flush, and the all-in had a ten-high flush. I don't remember what the last card was, but they were both drawing dead.

The fortunate thing for me was that the first all-in had $190, so once the king-high flush called he was pretty much pot committed, as he only needed to call another $221, though the king-high is the one hand most likely to be willing to pay off even more.

The other memorable hand had blue hat raising pre-flop to $40, with me in the small blind with KK. I'm supposed to re-raise here, but I like to control the pot-size out of position, so I just called. The flop was pretty dry, & ten-high. I could go for a check-raise here, but that risked giving a free card, and would probably risk really bloating the pot, depending on who bet, so I led out for $50 or 60. I think I got two callers. I bet another $85 on the turn, and blue hat called while the other guy folded. The river was a queen. I considered going for a check-raise here, but decided it made more sense to value bet. I bet $125. Blue hat thought a bit, asked, "do you have aces or kings? That's the only thing that makes sense." 

"I might," I replied. Nice read on his part, though many players would expect me to raise pre-flop with that. I think there was a possible straight by the river, with QT8 on the board, but it didn't make sense for either of us to have J9. He called, I showed, and he mucked, so I still don't know what he had--maybe AK or AQ? If he has AK I don't see how he calls the river, so maybe AQ or an underpair?

What else? I had TT UTG in a rare, limped around pot, and raised to $10 or $12. At least five or six callers. I don't remember how much my c-bet was, but the flop was 8 or 9 high, ideal for TT, and I didn't ever have to show. Not sure which street the last guy folded on either. Overall, I caught boards with undercards yesterday when I had big pockets, other than flopping an ace with QQ.

As far as bomb pots went, I would catch the nut flush on the turn, only to have it fall to a boat, and get bailed out by my two-pair on the other board. Another nut flush was counterfieted by a second jack on the turn, then a second king on the river, but as it turned out, nobody had a king or a jack, so my flush still won that half of the pot. The other thing about this board is that with Omaha, a player still needs two cards in his hand in order to boat up, so this board isn't as dangerous as it looked. A player would need either the other KK, the other JJ, KJ, or a combination of the other card on the board with K or J, or a pair matching the other card. The kings and jacks on the board makes these possibilities less likely. Anyway, with our $200 cap rule, by the time the second pair hits the river you could already be committed.

I flopped a set of queens and trip nines in one bomb-pot, bet pot, and everybody else folded. Maybe I should have played it a bit slower, but cheap cards can get very expensive in Omaha.