Profitable night at Dino's

Went to the "final table" tourney tonight over at Dino's, and nearly 30 people were playing. Cheryl doubled the stacks to 3000 per player, so this was going to be a long night. Won a couple of pots early, then started running into players getting hit with the deck.

Last hand I called an overbet from "Doc O" (who found this game from reading this blog, go figure - hope you're still reading!) with me holding top 2 pair of K-J, but Doc was holding a straight...gg me! At least I got 2 brand spanking new decks of cards and recognition (?) for being first one out.

Bridget and I started chompin' at the bit for the cash game to get started, and when Ron, Mike, and Pat busted out, we had a game. Richard pussed out and left early (meaning: Was smart and took his profits and ran), and eventually Wine-Drinking Ron sat in. Another dude sat in for 3 hands before we busted his a$$, then the deck started hitting me...especially against (as Steve calls him, to differentiate here) "Any-Ace Ron".

Here's one hand how it played out, and how my explanation to him after the hand put him on tilt for a few hands. Sitting with A-8 in the BB, and Ron raises to 5. After Mike and I call, flop is A-Q-9. Ron bets out 10 (2/3 the pot), and I make the smooth-call here. I put Ron on an ace...probably better than mine, but we're gonna try and steal on the turn or river. An 8 comes on the turn, and after another bet of 10, I slow play the 2 pair. 3 on the river helps no one, and this time I fire out 15 as a value bet. Ron's face told me he knew he was beat, but he quickly called...then slammed the cards and yelled in disgust.

Ron whined that his post-flop bet should have represented A-Q to me, but I told him that if he actually had A-Q he wouldn't have bet that hand as strong as he did, since there's no value, whatsoever, to doing so. While AA Ron, Mike, WD Ron, and "Working Deuce" dude tried to tell me that my thinking was nuts, Pat and Bridget just sat back and smiled at the conversation - they're 2 of the better players in the game, so they knew what I was talking about.

Got involved in a bigger pot earlier with Bridget while holding KK - raised to 10, since I didn't want any limpers catching a hand, and she called. "Big ace", I thought. Board of 2-J-2 on flop, and Bridget bet out 10...thought about raising here, but since I knew that as long as an ace didn't hit I was golden, I called. 2 on turn brings out another bet of 10, an another quick call. 8 on river slows the lady down, and after announcing a bet of 20, Bridget insta-folds after flashing A-Q...yay me!

For some reason, my reads were strong all night in this game, and I was sorry to have to leave at 12:15 - but a profit of $46 is never a bad thing...not bad for a $10 buy-in!

Taking a couple of months off from the Dino's game, and not for any particular reason other than I need a break, I think, from the bar game. Been playing regularly for 2 years, and game is seeming more like a chore than I want it to be, so for the time being I'm just gonna enjoy some extra family time, get more of my fix online, and just recharge the batteries.