I flopped the nuts!

Since the kids were in daycare, I had the day completely to myself, so I decided to spend the day at Canterbury Park. 

First issue: I play $10 SnGs and .10/.25 NL online, almost exclusively.  They don’t play NL at Canterbury, and the lowest limits they do play are $2/$4.  I figured it’d be tough to burn through $200, so that’s how much I brought.  (To adjust to limit play, I made a note to play more suited aces and suited connectors for a single bet in late position, and to let go of a decent NL hand if a flush or straight seemed likely.)

"Act like you’ve been here, act like you’ve been here…" I kept saying to myself.  As I tried to make sense of the "28" underneath "2/4" on the Hold ‘em board, I told the staffer "I’ve never been here before."  She was nice and got me on the waiting list, and then the floor guy took me over to the 2/4 table.  "It’s right next to our highest limit table… fun group.  You’ll have a good time with them."  But as soon as there were eight of us on the waitlist (around 9am), they set up a new table. 

The guy in seat 3 recognized the dealer from his first session eight hours ago. 

"This dealer dealt two straight flushes in ten minutes!"

"I dealt you one, and you have the hat to prove it."

I noticed his stocking hat said "Canterbury".  A free hat for flipping over a straight flush?  Nice.  I was just surprised that anyone who was here gambling at 1am would still be lucid at 9am. 

On the second hand, three cards to a royal flush (in clubs) showed up on the flop.  The turn was the fourth club.  Mr. Hat was still in the hand, heads-up with an older woman.  "Do you have it?" he said to her.  He bet the turn and she called.  River was a blank.  He checked, she checked, and he turned over the Q for his second royal flush of the day.  "Another hat over here!"  (Checking to her would prove to be a ridiculous mistake - she just wouldn’t bet at anything, but would call absolutely everything.  But he couldn’t have known that yet.)

It was up and down, but I was finding that Malmuth’s advice was very, very true: these low-limit players called with trash, didn’t raise when they had the best of it, and went too far with hands that were certainly beaten.  The worst case was a guy in a Mystic Lake security shirt: probably just getting off a shift, this guy bought in for $100.  He’d raise preflop, frequently bet the flop, call all the way down, and then turn over a pocket pair that was never good.  I think I saw him hit his set once, but I also saw him build a huge pot on an AAK flop, and call off almost all of his chips with pocket jacks.  I never saw him show down a hand that wasn’t pocket pairs.  He rebought, lost that, and left.

I got extremely lucky with my own pocket pairs: 77.  Flop came 345, and I bet the overpair.  Mr. Hats called.  Turn was a nine or something, and I bet it, but got check-raised.  Hmm.  I knew he was a solid player, but I wondered if he could be that excited about a pair of nines.  I figured the odds of him having nothing were non-zero, and I was pretty deep in the hand, so I called for the additional $4.  The turn was a six, and when he bet, I called, almost sure I was beaten by something monstrous, but… he’d flopped the straight with A2, and slowplayed again, letting me draw to the inside straight.  I made mistakes, but they weren’t huge ones, and I got pretty lucky.

But bad luck cut both ways: I raised with KQ, caught my queen, and bet to the end.  One caller (the arthritic victim of the earlier full house).  She turned two pair (kept T5!  And I’m sure I raised!), and I lost a big pot.  I took advantage of her one last time when I had KQs, picked up a pair of kings and a flush draw, and was able to get called on every street, including the river, where I picked up the flush.  The dealer said my hand was very nice.

On my last hand, I caught AQ.  I raised, and got two callers.  Flop came K73, and I bet, thinking that it was… I don’t know, better than not betting?  One caller, other guy folds.  Turn is a Q, and I know it could be real trouble for me.  (See how good of a poker player I am?  I know about mistakes as I’m making them.)  I bet out, and the same guy calls.  River is a blank, and my feeling is that this guy is not playing a K (or if he is, he must have a terrible kicker), and since I’m gonna call his bet anyway, I might as well make it myself.  He calls, and flips over 77 for a set.  See what I’m saying?  You almost never have to worry about these people raising you.  With a lock hand, they’ll just call down, hoping to trap you. 

I cashed out down about $45.  That didn’t feel so good.  Culver’s, on the other hand, is awesome, and right across the street.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to get back in and play (I had some other projects to look at), but since I couldn’t get a hold of my wife, I figured I’d buy in for another $100 and just see what happened.

Again, they sat us at a new table.  For the second time, I was sitting across the table from someone with an iPod on.  That’s getting to be a poker-kid cliche (like you’re too awesome to pay attention to what’s happening at the table), so if you’re thinking about showing up in a live card room with an iPod on, you should probably reconsider.  I lost a few bets just getting a feel for the table, but then I absolutely went on a heater from poker Jesus.

AQ.  Raise, callers.  Raggy flop.  I bet, one caller.  Insignificant turn.  Bet, one call.  Q on the river.  Bet, call.

"Did you get lucky on the river?"

"Looks like I did"

"I knew I had you until the river.  You got lucky."

Okay, so there’s two things I could have said here.  One is "if you knew you were beat on the river, you should have folded".  The other, which is more constructive, is "give me any reason to fold, and I might.  You called all my bets, and I can’t fold unless you raise."  The value of aggression, illustrated.

But I thought about what to say to him, and I thought about table image, and I thought about what everyone else was thinking.  So I put on my dumb tourist voice and said…

"What am I gonna do, fold AQ?" 

Other guy rolled his eyes.  But I’d done my part to set myself up as a poor player: maybe that would pay off.

Next orbit, AQ again.  Same guy again.  Same circumstances - again.  Ace on the river this time. 

"Did you do it to me again?"

"Yep."

"That card’s not going to come on the river every time."

"Well, except you’ve got a really good read on me know.  I’m only playing ace-queen, so you know where you stand, right?"

More groaning from the villain.

Another nice hand: K3 in the big blind, flop A33.  I checked.  Turn was a king, and I bet it.  Callers.  River completed someone’s flush.  He bet, I raised, he called.  Fantastic.

I had made back the morning’s losses, and I didn’t lose another pot for the rest of the day.  In fact, I think I picked up two or three without resistance.  The best example: AK.  I raise.

Flop: 984.  I bet to define, two callers.

Turn: another 8.  I bet again.  One caller.

River: another 9.  Facing an unlikely (but possible) full house, I bet, thinking I’ll split (because someone else’s trashy kicker doesn’t matter).  Guy across the table thinks… and folds.  Big pot is all mine.

That kind of thing kept happening. 

I racked up around 3pm, up about $100, for a profit on the day of $55.  If I have any advice, it’s

• be sure you’re properly bankrolled, esp. if you’re used to microlimit online play, BUT
• you can use the exact same techniques.  2/4 and 3/6 and even 5/10 are still low limits, still packed with poor players, and very beatable, if you know what you’re looking for.
• bet on the end with a reasonable hand, and
• don’t buy doughnuts, they’re free out there.