Poker Nights
Quickly, I should recap the last two nights of poker.
On Tuesday, Zach's girlfriend Karen joined myself and Eric for a friendly game of poker. I knew beforehand that Karen had never played poker before, so I jumped on her and raised the first two hands. I did make some small winnings, but my success would be only temporary. She caught on better than expected, amounting a huge lead and eventually winning the top prize. Since both her and Zach were payed for by the same person, they decided to give us back our $5. As usual, I finished second. I did fairly well in coming back from virtually no chips. Unfortunately, it was too big a deficit to overcome. The problem with going all-in repeatedly is that a single mistake or bad break can expedite the game's conclusion. I think I ended up getting beaten because I had an Ace and a lower kicker.
Tonight we played again with Karen, Zach, myself, and Zach's friend Matt. The game went similarly to Tuesday's game. In the spirit of Festivus, I must air a grievance against Matt. On the very first hand, he went all-in. While he had fairly nice cards, nobody was going to call him. His grand opening netted him all of six chips. I think that got him feeling cocky, thinking that he could bully us with the all-in. About 20 minutes in, Matt was still in the game despite being down slightly in chips. He was in no way at "all-in" level. Suddently, he goes all-in. Possessing two very low cards, I automatically folded. So did Zach. Karen was left and contemplated whether or not to call. Eventually, she decided to call. I was astonished when I saw what unfolded. Matt had went in with a 3 & 5 of clubs. Karen, IIRC, had an ace and 8. Long story short, the hand played out and Karen won. Winning such a big early hand made it very difficult for anybody to come back. It pissed me off that the dynamic of the game was changed on the basis of such an irresponsible and reckless move. I'd have understood if he had high face cards or even a pair. But to risk all his chips on a 3-5 suited is a bad move that early in a game.
Two hours later, I finished my trademark second. Zach got 3rd place. I feel like I've been playing better and could have won were I not faced with unmanagable chip deficits. I had a good time in spite of coming up short.
I'm trying to organize another poker night or two in the next week. I'm going to work the phones and try to plan in advance. I know I can get one game planned with an old friend of mine. Hopefully we'll get one or more of the Barans to join us before New Year's. Stay tuned for more adventures from my world of poker.
-Taylor
On Tuesday, Zach's girlfriend Karen joined myself and Eric for a friendly game of poker. I knew beforehand that Karen had never played poker before, so I jumped on her and raised the first two hands. I did make some small winnings, but my success would be only temporary. She caught on better than expected, amounting a huge lead and eventually winning the top prize. Since both her and Zach were payed for by the same person, they decided to give us back our $5. As usual, I finished second. I did fairly well in coming back from virtually no chips. Unfortunately, it was too big a deficit to overcome. The problem with going all-in repeatedly is that a single mistake or bad break can expedite the game's conclusion. I think I ended up getting beaten because I had an Ace and a lower kicker.
Tonight we played again with Karen, Zach, myself, and Zach's friend Matt. The game went similarly to Tuesday's game. In the spirit of Festivus, I must air a grievance against Matt. On the very first hand, he went all-in. While he had fairly nice cards, nobody was going to call him. His grand opening netted him all of six chips. I think that got him feeling cocky, thinking that he could bully us with the all-in. About 20 minutes in, Matt was still in the game despite being down slightly in chips. He was in no way at "all-in" level. Suddently, he goes all-in. Possessing two very low cards, I automatically folded. So did Zach. Karen was left and contemplated whether or not to call. Eventually, she decided to call. I was astonished when I saw what unfolded. Matt had went in with a 3 & 5 of clubs. Karen, IIRC, had an ace and 8. Long story short, the hand played out and Karen won. Winning such a big early hand made it very difficult for anybody to come back. It pissed me off that the dynamic of the game was changed on the basis of such an irresponsible and reckless move. I'd have understood if he had high face cards or even a pair. But to risk all his chips on a 3-5 suited is a bad move that early in a game.
Two hours later, I finished my trademark second. Zach got 3rd place. I feel like I've been playing better and could have won were I not faced with unmanagable chip deficits. I had a good time in spite of coming up short.
I'm trying to organize another poker night or two in the next week. I'm going to work the phones and try to plan in advance. I know I can get one game planned with an old friend of mine. Hopefully we'll get one or more of the Barans to join us before New Year's. Stay tuned for more adventures from my world of poker.
-Taylor
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