Happy Birthday To Me

11am $600 - Every Sunday morning at the Atlantis, they have a $3/$5 NL game. This one started out with four players. Unfortunately, the Action Guy that this game is built around is on my direct Left.

11:30 $1246 - Table is up to nine players. I played three big hands. First, I flopped Top Two Pair from the SB in a limped pot (KTo - Kc Jc 8h). I led out for $15. A tight Mid player raised to $80. The Hyjack cold called, which set off a little warning light in my head. I don't want to see a Turn card being out of position with three players, so I 3-Bet to $220. The Mid player folded, but the Hyjack called. Turn [Kc Jc 8h] Qd. What a terrible card for me. I checked, and the Hyjack moved All-In for $450, which was a little more than I have left. I go into deep thought. With such a wet board, there are so many types of Combo Draws that he could have. Some of them hit a Straight, and some of the hit a Pair. Plus, there are Sets and Two Pair possibilities. Eventually, I called, and the River was a brick. He had 88 for a Set. I pulled out another $500.

A few hands later, I called a $15 raise with 66 in the Hyjack. Three players saw a Flop of 8h 6s 4s. They checked, and I bet $25 with my Middle Set. The initial raiser folded, but the other player check-raised to $75. I just called. I don't know much about this player, and I think I'm a little gun-shy from the previous hand. It could be a Straight, another Set, Two Pair, or a Combo Draw. Turn [8h 6s 4s] Kc. He bet $150, and I just call. River [8h 6s 4s Kc] 4d. He goes All-In for $200-ish. I snap call with my Full House, and he simply mucks his hand. I guess he missed his Combo Draw.

A few hands later, I limped UTG+2 with AKo. Five players saw a Flop of As Kd 7s. The BB led out for $10. He's a Dealer at another room, and is on the Nitty side. I raised to $25 in order isolate with the BB. It worked as he was the only caller. Turn [As Kd 7s] 4h. He checked, I bet $40, and he called. River [As Kd 7s 4h] Ks. There an Action Card. The BB led out for $40, and had about $200 total. I'm not sure if he hit his Flush, or his Two Pair hit a Boat. But I really don't care because I can beat all of them. I go All-In, and he called with QTs for the Nut Flush.

Without question, this was the most active first 30 minutes I've ever had.

12:00 $1296 - A quiet time for me, as I was doing more typing than playing poker. The only hand I remember winning was my AQ vs AJ on a A K T Flop. It wasn't a huge pot.

The Action Guy has been relatively calm so far, but loud as usual. He's already asked for a Seat Change Button, so hopefully he'll use it soon.

12:30 $1765 - The table is now full with 10 players, but it's a little dead. Most of the Reno Regulars are on the Nitty side, and we've been seeing more Walks than we should be.

I'm UTG+2 with AQd, and raise to $15. Four players saw a Flop of Ks Jd Td. I think that qualifies as a good Flop for my hand, so I made a standard C-Bet of $30. Only a Mid player called. Turn [Ks Jd Td] Kd. Yahtzee! I check my Royal Flush, and Mid bet $60. Do I raise, or just call? I think he has a King, and I choose Call. River [Ks Jd Td Kd] 8d. A terrible card for me, as the 4-Card Flush might kill my action. I bet $100, and pray he has a Full House. He didn't, as he folded. I showed my hand, and received the $500 Royal Flush Bonus. That has to stay on the table.

1:00 $1953 - Action at the table is still kinda Meh! I did win a couple of decent pots. I hit the small end of a Full House (J8s - 998 8 Q) and it was good. I also bluffed on the Button in a raised pot with a Gutshot (86o - 9h 7h 7d). I fired at all three streets, and he folded on the River when all the Draws missed.

2:00 $1922 - I have no clue why I don't have a 1:30 entry in my notes, but I obviously screwed up something.  It was a quiet period for me. The Action Guy is still rather calm. As it turns out, he's having a really bad weekend, and is down a ton of money. Somebody left the table, and various players played Musical Chairs. I'll never understand the mentality of players chasing the Lucky Seat.

2:30 $2154 - I won a couple of pots. Most notably, I raised $15 from UTG+2 with KQh. Hyjack raise to $35. He's a Kid who's a regular in the room. I'm the only caller. The Flop was Ad Th 6d. I checked, he bet $50, and I called with my Broadway Draw. Turn [Ad Th 6d] 3c. I checked, and so did he. River [Ad Th 6d 3c] 8d. I fired out a bluff of $70, hoping that he was just making a C-Bet on the Flop. I was right, as he couldn't fold fast enough. I do love my tight table image.

I'm not really comfortable with this much money in front of me. Nobody at this table worries me from a Skill aspect, but this is almost half my bankroll on this table. I know that it shouldn't matter to me as a Recreational Player, but it does. I leave the table up $554 from the game, plus $500 for the High Hand Bonus.

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Since I didn't play very long at the Atlantis, I headed to the Peppermill in the evening for the $95 Cash Me Out tournament. It had 32 runners, and things went well for me. I even had a big suck-out to survive when we were down to two tables. My J9 vs QQ, and I hit Two Pair on the River.

When we got the Final Table, it didn't take long to get down to eight players when we converted to Cash chips. I had 22400 chips, and that was converted to $130. The Big Stack had $465, and left the table. A couple of other shorter stacks also decided to cash out. This left us with four players, two bigger stacks and a smaller stack. We decided to chop up the remaining prizepool without playing a single hand. I left the Poker Room with $260.