I flopped the nuts!

I was playing the 5-handed SnGs on Pacific.  They’re my new favorite.  I hate the software, but the game is just too awesome to stop.

I’m chip-leader and pick up AA one off the button.  I min-raise, since I don’t want everyone to think I’m just pushing them around.  SB and BB will call.  J66 flop, with two suits matching.  Checked to me, so I bet half the pot in this situation… habit I picked up from Phil Gordon’s new book.  SB folds, and BB calls.  Turn is the third heart, and with no heart, I’m assuming that any caller for that bet has something, so when he checks, I check.  The river is a ten, helping nobody, so when he bets a third of the pot, I’m thinking I might be facing a lonely jack, or a busted flush draw… but no, he called my tiny raise with 63o and flopped the set.  Not a bad slowplay, but I resolved never to do that again.

I didn’t have to wait long.  The very next hand: AA again!  I was in the BB, and saw UTG limp.  SB did the same, completing the blind, so I push it hard: 6xBB.  UTG calls.

QQJ flop.  No flush draw, but I don’t like the straight draw, and I’m not gonna let this guy just draw his way past my past me… it’s close, but he’s got me covered.  I’d have a hard time betting the pot (about half of either of our stacks) and getting away from this hand if he pushed all-in.  I remember thinking "a jack is more likely than a queen here… I’m taking this pot now."

It was a very fast call of my all-in bet: he held QJ.  Not something I’d call a raise with, but it’s hard to tell someone that they aren’t playing well four-handed.  I know one of my friends will tell me that you have to push all-in, every time you’ve got AA online, because you will get called.  Someone will fall in love with their hand and make the mistake.  Once cards are on the board, you’re the one who might be behind, and how would you know?

It’s a thought.  I’ll put up a post about "you will get called", because it’s actually excellent advice in low-stakes NL, but today’s not the day.

Again, I have flopped low set (22, with a 237 rainbow flop), gone all-in, and top pair (ooh, sevens, with a J kicker) calls me.  He turns two pair (but I’m not afraid of jacks and sevens), and then rivers the 7: that gives me a full house, but completes a higher full house for him.

How often can this happen?  Because it’s three times in a week, and therefore probably more likely than it seems.  It’s starting to tick me off.

Yesterday I failed to hit money in four PokerStars Sit N’ Gos.  That’s not typically worth mention, but my average for July, going into yesterday, was 12 for 16.  That’s 75%!

But twice yesterday, I went all-in with a full house, only to get called by a weaker hand (two pair or a set), only to have the weaker hand draw to a bigger full house.  That’s just spectacularly bad luck.

And the other one had a maniac who was raising every hand pre-flop, and then reraising post flop to steal pots.  He hit a few, too: he slowed down a little bit when he had to show down 63s and doubled up some short stacks, but when he started up again, I thought I’d trapped him with KK.  After getting his standard preflop raise, I let him bring me all-in, and he turns over AA.  How did I not see that coming?

July is still turning out to be a very good month, playing solid poker against some of the goofiest players.  I think I’m up about a hundred over the past two weeks.  And now there’s a deposit bonus!  All right!