Poker Night Thursday

Down $3 this evening which is what I should have been on Monday. I did catch better cards tonight but momentary lapses in concentration and play will cause small wins to turn into small losses. If you do play tight it is all the more important to maximize the money taken in hands where you are strong. Conversely, it is just as important to know when to drop when in hands that get expensive where you're on a long shot draw to something that may not even be the nuts.

To wit;

• When you have A-5o (a hand I wouldn't normally play in the first place to avoid the very scenario below) and the flop pairs your ace with a combination of low cards, there's a good chance that anyone who remains with an Ace will have a better kicker, so you're way behind in the hand no matter how you slice it. Best to drop it unless you have a straight draw (which I did) in which case calling is fine, unless you do so on the river when your straight did not hit and you're left with top pair and crappy kicker. In this hand I was third best losing out the SC who wound up making his first of back to back sets of fours and JL's A-Q.
• When you have K-K and the flop gives you a set coupled with a possible flush draw, you MUST raise, re-raise and continue betting on the turn and river. Minimally you must make the flush drawer pay to see his cards while creating a bigger pot if your set holds up or the board pairs and boats you. In this instance I played the flop correctly, raising then re-raising when someone raised behind me, but checked on the turn (huge mistake) allowing JL to get a free shot at what I assumed was a flush draw. When the flush draw was complete on the river I checked as well, which ended up costing me a potential $8.

That said, being more or less even at the end of the evening, even after taking two pretty bad beats (A-J going down to A-5 when the latter makes two pair on the turn or the same card completing my straight while it flushes someone else).

Apparently I was a wet blanket on the evenings festivities, as the fireworks from the previous Thursday did not materialize this week. I am proud to be the luke warm water that flows around the table, slowing down the mob mentality's collective hysteria. In the end, the success or failure of an evening of poker resides soley on the shoulders of the host, who must encourage loose play in order for there to be fun. If he would play in a few more hands, or any hands for that matter, perhaps more fun would be had by all.