Funny Old Game

Kicked off the weekend with a quite extraordinary session on Stars.

Four tabling the $100 NLHE cash games, I went on a probability defying run of cards.

AA in successive hands on the same table. KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, on multiple occasions.

Several times I was looking at a big pocket pair on one table, and just as I was thinking, I'll fold the other hands and focus on this table, I'd be dealt AA or KK elsewhere.

I finished the session $60 down to post my first losing night of the month.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

The whole night was a succession of raise, everyone folds, take the blinds; or raise, get a caller, take down pot on flop.

Until I finally managed to get it all in with KK. Versus AA. Ho hum.

One thing I did notice that is different between Stars and Tribeca is that pre-flop raises into several limpers do elicit many more folds on Stars.

On Tribeca when I have several limpers in front, I tend to limp hands like AQ, AJ, 88. The reason being, people will often call off a good chunk of their stack with the likes of QJs, then get stubborn when they flop 2nd pair.

Which means if I fail to hit, I'm often unsure where I am if I get smooth called on the flop. Did they catch a pair they can't put down but won't defend, are they drawing, or slow playing a monster?

Remember the old sayings, 'you can't bluff a calling station' and 'you can't put a man on a hand, if he don't know what he's got'?

So I prefer to see cheap flops in the hope of catching a monster, then stack them.

Stars seems to offer many more opportunities for picking up small pots pre-flop, as a raise to 5 or 6BB into a few limpers was generally enough to pick up the pot.

Another small reminder that it's not just about having game, but also about adapting to the circumstances you find yourself in.