I was back at the Coushatta Casino today. I decided to skip the Sam Farha appearance and take at shot at the weekly $200 NL tourney. I have to get back into rhythm before I take on the WSOP Circuit Event at the end of the month.

One big change this time around was my card protector. For more than a year, I’d been using a Hurricane Ivan situs online coin. It’s done pretty well for me, but it was time for something new. And that something is Kelly Clarkson.

As you can see from the chip stack, she came through big. After a disappointing end to the touranment, I turned a $300 buy in into $1300 before walking out of there with a little more than a grand. Not bad at all.

Get in Behind and Suck Out

I ignored my own rule and it cost me. Apparently getting all my chips in as an 85% favorite with one card to come is a bad idea. If you ‘d like to skip the bad beat story, skip down to the next bold title. Although what lead to this particular bad beat is a little unusual…

I’m in the BB with 53c. It’s limped around and, naturally, I’d like to see a flop with this hand as cheaply as possible. The dealer lays out Jd-Tc-4c. I check and so does everyone else. The turn is the K of clubs and I’ve made my flush.

I check again planning to check-raise to find out where I’m at in the hand. A guy who clearly hadn’t played many tournaments decided to bet. We start with T8000 and he and I are both near starting stack. Blinds are just 50/100 and there’s about 400 in the pot. He grabs four T1000 chips and four T500 chips. For some reason, he sets the four T1000 chips across the line before tossing in the four T500 chip and announcing, “2000.” Because it all crossed the line, he was in for T6000.

I knew there was no way he had the flush so I went ahead an pushed all in. I suppose I could have just called, knowing my hand was vulnerable to a four flush, but I knew at worst I was about a 60% favorite if he had a set and an over-club. I pushed and he called, flipping over Jc-3s. He was 14% at that point, but the 6 of clubs on the river crippled me. I was out a few hands later.

Getting It Back

I thought about going home. The club on the river was like a gut punch. Of course, I’ve dealt enough of those out to know you have to bounce back. I’ve generally done very well at the NL game so I was confident I could win my buy in back.

The table was pretty passive with a lot of pre-flop limping and a lot of post-flop calling. It’s just the kind of table I want to be at.

I folded for the first orbit until I was UTG. I decided to straddle to see what the table reaction was and put $10 out there. The dealer was kind enough to give me pocket Q’s. Three people called the $10 and then called my raise to $40.

The flop was T96 rainbow. I put another $100 into the pot. One player pushed all in for less and another, who had seen every flop since I sat down, pushed me all in.

Ugh. Am I going home after one pot? There was no way I could fold. I called and flipped my Q’s. My opponents decided to keep their hands secret until the end of the deal. The turn was another T. I thought I was outdraw. The river was an 8 and I thought someone made their straight. When it was all said and done, the dealer shipped the nearly $800 pot my way.

Can you guess what they were holding?

The Luckbox Returns

By the time I went to grab some food, I was up near $1200. When I got back to the table, the cards got really cold. Suddenly I was back at about $800. That’s when I found Big Slick in the SB.

I raised to $25 preflop after five players limped to me, and four players called my raise. The flop was JT7 rainbow. It was checked to me and I put out a $60 continuation bet. To my disappointment, two players called, the cutoff and the button.

The turn was a K. This time I checked, even though the card improved my hand. I wonder if I should have bet here, but I didn’t. The cutoff also checked and then the button immediately pushed all in for his last $125. The bet seemed fishy to me since he did it so quickly. The pot was now $435. I was getting 3.5-1 on my money. I thought there was a chance I was ahead, and if I wasn’t I thought an Ace or a King might win it and a Queen would give me the nuts.

I called and, shockingly, so did the cutoff. At this point, I knew I was behind. “I need some help,” I told Joe, the dealer. He peeled a Q off the deck and laid it on the river.

“All in!” I declared. The cutoff reluctantly called with his last $75 (not sure why he still had it at this point). And when the cards were shown, the $900 pot was shipped my way.

Can you guess what they were holding?

I’ll post the answers tomorrow.…