I took only $100 from my bankroll, which has been the norm for me. Playing 1/2 no limit, this is only 50 big blinds, so I am forced to be very selective about the hands I play, which is good. I can't really scare anyone with such a small stack, so bluffing is not an option - and that's fine with me because bluffing has cost me more than it has won me.
It was a very loose table, people were going all-in on draws and making $30 bets pre-flop with hands like A7s. This should be a perfect scenario for me - just wait for the nuts and reap in the chips. Only problem is I sat for an hour without getting anything playable. Nothing at all. I'd had about $12 blinded off my stack when I got dealt the red jacks one-off the button. There was a $5 straddle on and three people called before me, making the pot $23 at this point. I definately want to reduce the number of people I have to beat, so I want to raise it up to where I will only get one caller. A $30 bet should accomplish this, so that's what I fire out. Guess what? I get five callers! This is insane! now the pot is up to just under $200, and my remaining chips are down to just over $50.
The flop: Ad Qc Kd
Against five others there is no way I am ahead here. And no way will I throw the rest of my chips away praying for another jack or a ten. The first person bets $70, gets one caller, and I fold. Dammit. The pot ended up going to a guy with nothing more than a pair of kings which beat out a flush draw. A $400 pot.
Despite being down to half my original stack, I know that if I can just wait, soon or later I will get a monster and these maniacs will pay me off. But with only around $55 left, how big a payday can I hope for? I tell myself I need more chips. I convince myself I need more chips. Despite having brought only $100 from my bankroll, I do have another $100 in my wallet and this money will be put to good use when I finally get my monster. So I break my rule and I buy more chips. This would prove to be a big mistake.
With a little over $200 in chips, I can wait for awhile. And I do. I play a few small pots in the rare occations I don't need to pay a lot to see a flop, but mostly it's fold, fold, fold.
Then it happens. I'm on the button when I get the red Kings. As is the norm, there is a $5 straddle with four callers when the guy on my right raises it to $17. This guy has been a bully, and he raises a lot pre-flop and then makes massive bets later. He has a whopping stack - about $1,500, I'd guess - and he isn't afraid to put people all-in. Well that's just fine by me and my friends the cowboys. I raise it $40. Crazy Lady in the big blind calls, as does the only player at the table who I would call tight, and his call worries me. To my shock, everyone else including the bully folds. So the pot is a stupid $157 and three of us see the flop.
The board after the Flop: 9d 7h 4c
Even against the somewhat tight guy, I'm sure my Kings are good. Only AA, 99, 77, 44, 97, 74, or 94 are better hands than mine right now, and of those nobody would call a $40 bet pre-flop with anything but the AA. So...Crazy Lady checks, Tightish Dude checks (whew! - I have observed he bets when he thinks he is ahead, so I doubt he has AA) so now I have to figure out what to do. Quite frankly I just want to take this pot right now. I bet $100. Crazy Lady calls.
At this point, perhaps I should tell you why I call her "Crazy Lady". In the time I have been here, she has lost about $1000, mainly by calling all-in with hands like second-highest pair. She is, to use the poker expression, insane. Her call could mean anything. Okay, back to the game.
Tightish Dude eyes that $350 pot and thinks a long time before throwing his cards in the muck. So it 's down to Crazy Lady and me, and neither of us have many chips left, so we're both pot committed now.
The board after the turn: 9d 7h 4c Qc
Not a scary card for me. She pushes her last $40 in and I call. I have exactly $5 left.
The board after the river: 9d 7h 4c Qc 9s
That might be trouble, but with no more money to bet it's all over now. I flip over my Kings and she says "kings no good" and shows Qd 9h. I feel like a truck just ran me over. She called a $40 pre-flop with Q9o!? She called a $100 bet after the flop with a pair of nines and a queen kicker!? Part of me wants to just explode ala Phil Hellmuth, but to my credit I just say "nice hand".
I tip the dealer with my last $5 chip and go home to write about my shitty day.
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