6:20 $300 - On Saturday night, I walked into a Peppermill ballroom, which has been converted to the Poker Room during a tournament series. I put my name on the $3/$5 NL interest list which has a few names on it. I take a seat at a $1/$2 table, which only has eight players. There's a Kid who looks like he's 16, and has over $700 in front of him. Another player is an Older Gentleman who just sat down with $500. The rest of the players are under $300.
6:45 $659 - I played only one hand at the $1/$2 table. I raised to $7 in Mid with KJc. I flopped the Royal Draw (Ac Qc x), hit the Flush, and stacked off a shortstack who just had an A.
Right after that hand, they called the list to start the $3/$5 game. I took my chips, and bought a full stack of Green chips ($500), and headed over to the table. After looking over the other players' stacks, I only put $300 of Green chips on to the table. The Minimum Buy-In for this game is $300, and there's no max. Most players bought in for $300-$400, which is also the amount most of them buy into the $1/$2 game. I had everyone covered with just $659.
We started with eight players, including the Old Guy from my $1/$2 table with his $550 stack. He was rather active at the $1/$2 table, including doing $7 Straddles.
7:30 $837 - The table has filled up, and is relatively calm. Two players went to the 7pm tournament, so why did they even bother to sit down at a new table for one orbit?
I won two pots. First, I called a raise in the BB with ATc, and I flopped Trip Tens. The second was a larger pot. I 3-Bet to $40 with KK, and just the original raiser called. I bet $50 on the Flop and Turn (J-high). He then commented that he couldn't beat the Backdoor Flush on the River, so I bet $100. He thought for a moment, and folded.
8:00 $847 - I played a few hands, but airballed everything. The only interesting hand was a limp in the SB with Ah Td. The Flop was 9-high with two Hearts. The Old Guy from earlier bet $10 from Mid position. Both myself and the BB called. The Turn was a Brick, and we all checked. The River was another 9. The BB and I checked. The Old Guy bet $20. I snap-called, knowing that he's just stabbing at the pot. The BB folded. The Old Guy shakes his head, and said I'm good. I showed my AT, and asked if it's good. It was.
8:30 $774 - It folded around to the Button, who raised to $15. I have QQ in the SB, but I just called and the BB folded. Flop Ad Th 3d. Since I hate the A, I checked and he did also. Turn [Ad Th 3d] 8h. Again, check check. River [Ad Th 3d 8h] 3s. I'm pretty sure that I have the best hand, so I bet $25. The Button raised to $55. WTF? I thought for a moment, and made the curiosity call. He showed 63c for Trip 3's. It's hard to be upset about this hand because I deserved it for playing QQ so passively.
I also raised with AKs and TT, but just won the Blinds.
9:00 $956 - I won a nice pot by 3-Betting with QQ. Later, I raised to $15 from the Hyjack with 76o. Five players saw the Flop of Jd Jc 2h. It checked around to the Button, who bet $55. It folded back around to me, and I called in order to Float. I think that he wouldn't bet $55 if he had a J. He's either got a Pocket Pair or was just stabbing at the pot. Turn [Jd Jc 2h] 7d. I bet $75. He goes into deep thought, and started counting out some chips. He said that he didn't think I had a J, but I might have his hand beaten. He folded 88 face up. There was an 8 exposed while this hand was dealt. I just put a $1 on top of my cards, and pushed them towards the Dealer without showing them.
9:30 $721 - UTG+1 raised to $20. UTG+2 called. I'm in the Hyjack with AQ, and I decided to 3-Bet to $60. They both called. The Flop was Jd Th 6d. They both checked. I grabbed a stack of Red chips, and bet $100. Only UTG+1 called, and he had $160 behind. Turn: [Jd Th 6d] 6s. He checked. Since he has less then half of the pot left in his stack, I really have no Fold Equity. So I also checked, hoping to hit my Broadway Draw. River: [Jd Th 6d 6s] Jc. He bet $100. I hollywooded for a bit, and then folded.
I played a few other hands, but airballed everything.
10:00 $2190 - In a limped pot, I have Q8 in the SB. Four players see a Flop of Qh 8h 7s. I bet $10 with my Two Pair, hoping for a little action. The Cutoff raises to $35, and it folds back to me. I'm out of position and there are too many possible draws with this Flop, so slowplaying is a bad idea. I grab a stack of Red and raise to $100. He quickly calls. Turn [Qh 8h 7s] 5s. I grab some Green chips, and bet $175. He quickly tosses out 2 $100 bills. River [Qh 8h 7s 5s] Td. I don't like that card, but the pot's too big now. I go to grab some more Green chips, but he insta-mucks.
Later, I won my biggest pot ever, which was already a Hand Of The Day.
10:30 $2193 - Not much happened. I played a few pot without hitting anything. I did raise from UTG+2 with Qs Qd. Five players saw the Flop of Qh Js 6s. I bet $30, but everyone folded. I hate wasting Sets.
11:00 $2272 - It's time to leave since I have to work in the morning. I won a few pots in my last orbit. The most interesting was me limping from the Hyjack with 74h. Six players see the Flop of 5h 3d 2h. It checks around to me, and I bet $15 with my Combo Draw. Only the Cutoff called. Turn [5h 3d 2h] 7s. I bet $25, and he quickly called. River [5h 3d 2h 7s] Ac. I decided to check, hoping he would bet. But he didn't, and I won it with the Straight. In hindsight, I think I should have overbet (like $75) to look like a missed draw. If he had a pair, like the A-high Flush draw, he might have called.
This concluded my best session ever. Even without the monster pot, I still would have had a good session of around +$500.
I would like to play more $3/$5, but it rarely runs in this town outside of a tournament series. It's not because of the money, since $15/$30 or $20/$40 runs daily. The reason is due to the structure of the NL games in Reno. Every poker room's $1/$2 game, or $2/$3 at Atlantis, has a limit on their game like "$300 Or The Largest Stack". This basically means that these smaller NL games are uncapped since players can buy-in for $500 or more.
I played at Atlantis on last Friday night. It was the night I hit the Quads twice. They are trying to start a larger NL game on Fridays, but they can't get it started. Someone bought into the $2/$3 game for $700. If players are buying in to the small NL game for $700, then why would they ever want to play in a $3/$5 game when half of the players are buying in for just $300?
If a poker room wants to have a regular larger NL game, then they need to have a hard cap for their smaller games. If I were to run a poker room (which may be a future blog post), I would have three different NL games. $1/$1 ($20-$100), $1/$3 ($100-$400), and $2/$5 ($400-$800).
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