Gary's Home Game and £30 Second Chance

Monday

Gary invited me to his home game on Monday what was meant to be a £20 rebuy but changed into a £10 rebuy. Then he texted me later saying bring a jumper! I was slightly confused but as i asked for directions to his new (very nice) house he said we are playing outside!! Which reminded me of the Artic Freezeout where people played in the north pole and could buy chips with cloths, was an Inter Poker tournament with the WSOP 2002 winner R. Varkoni.

I arrived with Zenal and we had 10 players but one was under age!!! Gary little son was playing, Jay, which was nice. Atleast one new face the rest were the usual from the home game i used to play regularly last summer. I'm like the kid where there is a few 28+ and a few 34+ and one 45+ so alot of experience in there. But it a nice friendly game but for once i was not the youngest. There is a big divide among the players at this game. 3 never fold, 3 always fold and 3 mix it up! So its all about playing the player. ]I set the chips (as usual!) and we were ready to go!

The Rebuy period was slow to start off with but got more interesting at the end. folded most of my hands until the 3rd level. (20 min clock, rebuys for the 1st hour, 1k starting stack, with double addons at the end for £20) I got involved in a family pot with J2 in the BB and the flop came J A 3 and Jay goes all in and i call with middle pair, just looking to gamble, i had only had one rebuy and there were some big stacks on the table. Jay flips over AT and i needed help. The next card was a J! Bingo and i scoop the pot, but then Jays goes off crying!!!! Opps!!! I felt really bad he is really young! But Gary told him its apart of the game you got to learn!!! i felt really bad but its poker!!!

I ended the rebuy period with about average and with the 10 players we managed a prize pool of £430 and £200 to the winner, 2nd - £140, 3rd - £70 and 4th-£20, i was in for £50 totally so was in good shape. I decided to play ultra tight and let the rest fight it out. With in 30 minutes we lost half the field and i had not played a hand. Even though the blinds are low in this game it means nothing. People raising stupids amounts and still get action. One hand there were a few limpers, so i limped on the button with As5s, the BB (Mr aggressive) moves all in and gets a caller. Then a tight players goes all in on top and the caller calls as well. Now i know what you are thinking, there has to be a AK or AQ or JJ out there but nope!! Just KJ vs KJ vs 66!!!! The KJ wins with a flush!! The other KJ wins the side pot after hitting a Jack. Crazy game!! But its fun!

We are 5 handed before i play a hand, i find JT and call from the SB, we have a family pot.
Flop K Q 3 rainbow, i check and Myron (mr aggressive) bets out and Minh calls (never folds) and i call, the rest fold, turn is a sweet sweet 9! Nuts!!! i check and mryon checks (very surprising and i'm not happy but Minh bets out 500 (same bet on flop) i make it 1500 to go, (they will pay anything with top pair or a draw so i feel i need to bump it up now other wise if they miss the draw i get nothing, when i say draw i mean any draw even a gutshot or a bottom two pair draw!) Myron then moves allin!!! Bingo!!!! Minh thinks for ages and folds his J9!! i call and Myron has pocket AAs (damm!!!) the one hand he slow plays!!!

We get 4 handed and in the money and i win a few pots, i checked round i always fired out a small bet to steal and it worked a few times. Mryon was on the short stacked but kept doubling up and before we knew it he was chip leader again. Last time we played a comp it was me and him heads up. He is so aggressive and crazy but he is so fearless a quality i do not really have in my arsenal. In cash games or a slow clock tournament he will be hurt but in this kind of game it works!! Minh goes out next when he moves in with Ax and i call with AQ. Then Gary loses a big pot, he flops an opened str8 flush draw when Myron has flopped the str8. Gary misses and on the river with just a pair bets out 4k (average stack 15k) and Mryon makes it 8k, Gary shows me his hand i see a pair of 9s and suddenly he calls! i was like huh and he misread his cards!!! Donkey move!! HE thought he had a str8 and Myron leaves Gary with a BB. Next hand im in the SB with J6 and move in, Gary has to call with JT, and i hit 3 6s! Sorry mate!!!

Heads up again with Myron, last time we played he won! I remember i floped a royal flush draw and he floped the flush and we got it all in and his hand held up, i really wanted the win this time. There was only £60 difference in prize money, so it was all about the win and i love heads poker!!!

BLinds were quite high and Mryon had a 3 to 1 lead on me but i felt confident i was sure he would bluff at the wrong time, but too be fair he had not bluffed all night!! We play a few small pots mostly checked down or a bet on the flop took it. Blinds went up again and i picked my AJ. I raised and he called. Flop came J K 3 and he checked and i bet, he called. Turn a 8 and we both checked, river a blank and he checks i bets out and he is about to fold, then he changed his mind and moved all in!!! HUH!!! He had me covered so the wrong move here and he wins, i got middle pair which is very stong HU but why as he check raised me all in here. I thought for ages thinking he has not bluffed all night, but then i thought why would he play a K like that , then i thought if he sucked out 2 small pairs on the river gd luck to him!! I figured he mite have a weak J and i called! He shows 22!!! My AJ was good!!!!!! later he said he just wanted to show me a bluff! and give me a rub down!!

We then were all in 3 hands in a row, after the last pot crippled in and my A2 lost to his QT and then T9 lost to his KQ and then my A6 beat his KT and i won!!! Another win for me!!! I guess they come together!!!! Was a good game, hadnt had a home game for a while and was some good fun apart from making J cry!!! Sorry mate!! You will get me in the end!!!

Tuesday

£30 Second chance at big slick, not much happened played alot of hands at the start to get a lead, called a raise with T 8 after another caller and flop came T high and i pushed was immediate called by the raiser, at this point i say ' can i get me chips bk thought she had JJs but she had KKs instead! Doh!!!!!
Buyin for 3k and now in trouble, but blinds still low, pick up 88s and flop a set and win about 1k, i then go up and down a bit.
One hand annoyed me, i got my stack to 7k, which is alot, was the only guy on the table who had to rebuy so everyones 'average' was 2k while mine was 5k. Anyway it folds round to the SB who calls the 75 (blinds 75/150) and i check in the BB with T7, flop comes Tc 3d 8d, SB checks and i check, hate betting out top pair heads ups. Turn is 9d but i'm not too worried about him having a flush, i also pick up a str8 draw. He checks and i bet out here, he calls, hoping no more diamonds. River is a black 2 i miss my st8 but i still have top pair and he checks to me, i then bets out 550 and he raises to 1500, hmmmmmmmm, ok he is a solid player, not played long enough with him to think he is a rock. He might be looking to out play me as he seemed a confident player. I eventually call thinking he wouldnt have check the flush draw HU and checked it to me on the river, i felt the only hand i could lose to was 8 2 for two pair. So i call and he flips over the flush! Opps! Apparently to the table it was obvious he had the flush! But not to me! Maybe i over thought the hand, oh well atleast i got some information, unfortunately i had to pay for it.

I then get my stack up back to 7k ish and the short stacked raised it folds to me and i have 99s, i could stick it all in but i thought i would stop and go instead. Stop and go means see the flop and stick it in after (if no Ace), if he has AK he is calling all in pre flop, against any pocket pair you therefore do not want to raise because he is called and it will be a 50/50 instead if you see the flop and go all in he only sees 3 cards, which he is only likely to hit the flop 1 in 3 times. I see the flop and it is 9 J 3, bingo!!! Forget the stop and go!, i check and so does he, the turn is a 3rd club, i move in hoping he has the Ac, he calls and i flip 999s quite confidently then he shows JJJ! Ouch set over set!!! So sick!!!!! Atleast he did not have too many chips, so i lose another 3.5k!

After the break, i didnt get going and joined in with some prop betting, i picked my mates favourite hands , Guvs 74, Pratik K9, Zenal K2, Nirajs, J3 and my A9, nothing came in and Mr Riveru won a fiver of me!!! I was soon out when i moved in with A8 and got called by JJ and AK! Opps!!! oh well £60 down!!!