Nice Recovery

As far as suck-outs go, today was a much better day than yesterday. I only took one bad beat, and even though it was a 1-outer, it was a split pot, so it wasn't that bad.

I sat at $10/$20 NL today with $15,000. The biggest stack at the table was around $12,000 so I wanted to make sure I had everyone covered so I could get paid off maximum if I hit a big hand. There is no max buy-in at the Bellagio's $10/$20 NL and higher tables, which is awesome because I love to play deep-stack poker.

About 15 minutes into the session I was able to pick out a couple of maniacs at my table. One of them was making huge bets, most of them raises on the river, and then showing complete garbage. I like playing against these types of players but it can also be very dangerous because you will be compelled to call their huge bets with mediocre hands and of course sometimes they will have the goods.

The first significant hand came up about half an hour into the session.

Hand #1:

UTG raises to $100, maniac calls, I call with AJs on the button. Flop comes A88 with 2 clubs. UTG bets $100, maniac calls, I call. Turn is an offsuit 5. UTG checks, maniac checks, I think of putting a bet in here, but I really don't want the maniac to raise me, so I check behind. River is the 2c putting 3 clubs on board. UTG checks, maniac bets $460, I call, UTG folds. Maniac shows Qc9c. I thought about whether I should have bet the turn, but there was no way I was pushing him out of that pot unless I bet over $600, and I still had the tight UTG to worry about as he could have been slowplaying AA or AK.

Hand #2:

2 hands later, I am in the BB with J7 of hearts. Maniac limps in mid-position, and it folds around to me. I check. Flop is KJ4 with one heart. I check, maniac checks. Turn is the T of hearts. I check, maniac checks. River is the Q of hearts, putting KQJT4 on the board giving me the Jack high flush. There is $50 in the pot, and I bet $500. He insta-calls. I show the flush and he mucks.

Hand #3:

Maniac limps in mid-position, and I make it $100 to go with KQ of hearts on the button, he calls. Flop is T93 rainbow. Maniac checks, I check. Turn is a beautiful J. Maniac checks, I bet $200, maniac calls. River is a 5. Maniac checks, I bet $600, maniac raises to $1800. I make it $5000 flat, maniac quickly folds.

Hand #4:

All fold to me on the button, and I raise to $80 with ATs. SB re-raises to $160, he has around $1500 behind. I call $80 more. Flop comes QT5. SB bets $160 into a $340 pot. I call. Turn is another T, giving me trip 10's. SB bets $400, I raise to $5400, he calls his last $800 or so and shows KK. River is a 7 and I take down the pot.

Hand #5:

Our table is a must-move table, and to my dismay the maniac gets moved to the main table, and a new player takes his seat. I get a run of bad cards and haven't played a hand in about 45 minutes, so I decide to raise to $100 on the button with T4 of hearts after a couple of players limped in. I get one caller. Flop is 932. The player bets $120, and I flat call, hoping to steal it from him on the turn. Turn is a T, change of plans. He bets $200, I flat call. River is another 2. Player bets $500, and this really confuses me. I couldn't picture him as a tricky enough player to lead into me with a set on the flop. It also didn't make sense to keep betting hard with a 9 after I was flat calling him on the flop and turn. I decide to call, and he doesn't even show his cards, he just mucks them. I don't show my hand either and I take the pot down.

Hand #6:

Same player as the previous hand raises to $80 in early position, everyone folds and I call in the BB with T9s. Flop is QT4 with 2 hearts. I check, he checks. Turn is an offsuit 5. I bet $80, he calls. River is an offsuit 6. I bet $80 again, and he makes it $580. Once again this doesn't make sense. I say "either you have QQ or nothing", and I call. He just mucks his cards again. This time I show my hand.

Hand #7:

I get moved to the main table to the right of the maniac. He raises to $80 UTG, 1 caller, and I call with A9 of hearts on the button. Flop is 742 with one heart. Maniac checks, other player checks, I check. Turn is the J of hearts. Maniac bets $140, player folds, I call. River is a 9. Maniac bets $480. I decide to call figuring he either has a monster or nothing. He shows JJ. Well played.

Hand #8:

Mid-position raises to $60, one caller, I make it $260 in the cut-off with JJ. Both players call. Flop is 555. Both players check, I bet $500, original raiser calls, second player folds. Turn is the other 5! Great, now I have Jack high. He checks, I check. River is a 7. He checks, I check. He goes to throw his hand away, and I show mine. His eyes light up, and he flips over JT, split pot! He had ONE out after the flop, and of course it hits on the turn. Oh well, at least he didn't have QJ.

Hand #9:

Same guy with the JT from the previous hand limps in mid position, and 3 other people limp. I check in the BB with KQ of clubs. Flop is K34 with 2 clubs. I bet $80, Mr. JT raises to $400. I make it $1200, and he pushes the rest of his money which is $800 more than my raise. I call the $800. Turn is an offsuit 9 and the river is an offsuit 8. He says "I didn't get there", I show my hand and he mucks his cards. He later said that he had 65 of clubs.

The session lasted around 5 hours and I finished the day with a profit of $8260. I am here for 2 more days and I plan to play as much poker as possible until we leave as my comfort level is unreal right now. I'm planning to spend up to 2 months in Vegas this summer during the WSOP, I've heard the action is incredible during the Series and I hope to get a piece of it.