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#11
09-10-2007, 01:10 PM
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Re: Big 1/2 NL Pots
I apologize in advance for the tl;dr post. The cliffs notes are at the end, but when it happened 4-5 months ago I wrote an email to my brother about it, so I just copied and pasted (sans names) the email here.
-------------------------------- OK, so my wife has class late until about 10 on Tuesdays, and I'm off work at 4:30, so I figure, what the hell and go get in a session of poker. I'm planning on leaving about 9:00 so I can be home about when she gets there and we can hang out. I'm doing OK, up a little bit, and the table maniac (who's been donating chips to the table the entire time I was there) is almost out of money, and 9:00 is coming around when this sequence of events happen. (1) I take down a big pot, about $120 when I hit two pair on the flop. (2) I'm under the gun on the very next hand and on a whim, flush with chips, I make it live eight. (3) I fold my nothing cards, but the action does indeed go crazy and it ends up all-in pre-flop 4-ways and the maniac takes it down, giving him a big stack. Oh crap. I've got a deep stack of ~$500+ and the maniac has a deep stack of ~$400+. I can't leave now! The last shuttle to BART leaves at 11:30, so I decide to stay and try to get the maniac's chips. The getting is just too good. And now the setup. The mark: this guys has been paying almost every hand for the 3 or 4 hours I'd been sitting down. He is nuts. Truly nuts. He will play any two cards, and will change up his play. During the evening I have seen him (a) bluff $100 into a $100 pot on the river holding nothing (b) slowplay a nut flush and make out big time (c) slowplay a flopped full house holding 93o only to end up losing to a rivered larger full house (d) take down some big pots holding two pair with hands like 73o and T6o and the like. There are 2 key moves I see him make over and over again, constantly, that are why I'm keeping my eye on him. First, he makes big overbets - $80 into a $30 pot, that kind of thing. He got caught bluffing that one time, but he has gotten called down holding a monster (usually a flush or straight) way more often. He just hammers the pot when he's got a hand, and has rarely been seeing showdown because of it. And second, and most importantly, he will call ANY bet to chase ANY draw. Flush draws in particular have been getting him in trouble, and I've watched him call some absolute monster raises only to show a missed flush draw on the end. The history: Before the hand coming up, we've been in two hands together through the night. (1) I've got black aces in the small blind, three or four limpers to me, I make it $20 to go, and get 2 callers including the maniac. Flop is a bunch of rags, I lead for $40 and take the pot. (2) I've got JT of diamonds on the button, two limpers to me, I make it $14 to go and both limpers call. Flop comes Ad-Jh-7d, I've got a pair and a flush draw. Both other players check to me, and I bet $25, the maniac calls and the other fellow folds. Turn comes off a blank and maniac checks to me, I figure I'm not pushing this guy off a hand and I need help, so I take the free card. River is the Jack of spades, so I miss my flush draw but make trips. Maniac goes all in for about $100 more and I call. He flips up AT for a pair of aces, and I flip up my hand and say "sorry man, I've got the jack." The setup: We've both been doing well, I've got about $550 in front of me and I think he's got about $500. The guy to my right has been SUPER tight, playing very few hands. I'm on the button and get dealt fish-hooks, a pair of jacks. The action: Maniac limps in for $4 from middle position, super-tight player raises to $12. Time to figure out where I am. I pop it to $40, and both the maniac and tighty call me. Pot is now $120, and the flop comes: 6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]-7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]-2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Doesn't get much better for pocket jacks. I'm worried about both other players, especially Mr. Tighty, but I've got position, so I just watch. Maniac checks, and tighty bets $10. $10 into a $120 pot and I'm trying to keep myself from laughing out loud. I bet $100. Maniac calls, and I put him on the flush draw. Tighty sighs, shuffles his cards around a little, and folds. Thank god! The pot is now $330, and on to the turn, which is 7d so the board reads 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]-6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]-7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]-2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Which is great for me as that card doesn't fill any draws. Maniac checks to me. I'm thinking either he's got a 7, or I've got the best hand. Since its unlikely he's got a 7, and the board really couldn't be better for me, I bet $200, the maximum bet allowed in this game (its not *true* no limit). Maniac starts thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Eventually he picks up a couple handfuls of $20 chips, at which point this old crazy asian guy between us say to him "can you beat aces?" Dealer says to him "sir, please don't talk during a hand." So the guy takes it up with the dealer, "but he's doing to call that with a dr..." but the dealer cuts him off "its a rule you can't talk if you're not in the hand. That's just how it is." Old crazy asian guy seems displeased, but shuts up. Maniac throws his two handfuls of $20 chips into the pot, and it looks to me like we're going to the river. "How much does he have left?" I ask the dealer. Old crazy asian guy turns to me and says "four hundred". Now I KNOW he doesn't have $400 left (I can see that he's out of $20 chips and only has $1 chips left, somewhere north of $100), so now I'm thinking that the maniac ALSO made the max bet and its $400 to go back to me, and I start freaking out. My head is going a million miles per hour - I've got $300 invested in this pot but I can't call another $200 because I'm almost certainly drawing to 2 outs if I'm behind yadda yadda and say out loud "did he make it $400?". I'm about to freak the [censored] out when the dealer says "no, he called." and the crasian says "wait, what did you ask?" GRRRRR!! We sort it out and he has $170 left which I cover. There's $730 in the pot, and we're off to the river, which comes 9 of clubs, making the board 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]-7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]-6[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]-7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]-2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] I still think he's on the flush draw, so that's good. But it does fill some straights, and that's not good. Maniac checks to me, and I start thinking it through. I've seen him slowplay, so the check doesn't mean anything. If he has the flushdraw, like I think he has, he won't call my final $170 bet. If he has the 7 or the straight he will, but both are rather unlikely. I think I have the best hand. I'm tempted to bet, but the more I think about it I realize that he will fold worse hands and call with better. I've never seen him play aces - maybe this is how he plays aces and I've been dead all along. Eventually, I figure I only get a call of the $170 when I'm losing it, and just turn up my jacks. Dealer announces "two pair, Jacks and Sevens" then turns to the maniac, waiting for him to turn up his hand... ..and get this. He rechecks his cards three times, then flips up and tosses away 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] and 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I wasn't the one drawing to two outs on the turn, HE WAS! And he called $200 with second pair, no flush draw and no straight draw. Dealer says "two pair, sevens and sixes. Jacks and sevens wins," and I get pushed the $700 pot! I start to regret not putting the last $170 in in the river, but I console myself that it was the right decision at the time, and besides, I'm too distracted stacking all these chips to worry about it. Some postscripts - I tipped the dealer $5 and told him "thanks for keeping it one player to a hand." Mr. Tighty told me later he had AK of [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]s. After this hand I fold my cards for the next 15 minutes so I don't look like I'm hitting and running then leave to go home, only about an hour and a half late, but with mission accomplished. ---------------------------- I've played 2 other pots larger than $700 since this hand, but none larger than the $730 in this one. Cliff's notes: I win a $730 pot against a maniac. 
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#15
09-10-2007, 02:10 PM
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Re: Big 1/2 NL Pots
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] $3500, downtown, at Binions I took it down with 3rd pair, against a busted flush draw. [/ QUOTE ] Level or the all-time greatest call in a live 1/2 game? [/ QUOTE ] I'm picturing a betting war between A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] and 7[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] on a 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] flop, and two overs fall on the turn and river. That or the afore mentioned greatest read ever.
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#16
09-10-2007, 02:31 PM
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Re: Big 1/2 NL Pots
I lost a ~1500 dollar pot at Mandalay in 1/2 when my flopped boat got beat by runner-runner quads by some donk with an overpair. Got it all in on the flop.
That was maybe 6 months ago and I still feel sick thinking about it.
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#18
09-10-2007, 04:14 PM
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Re: Big 1/2 NL Pots
The Wynn recently had two 10k pots at their 1/3 tables within an hour between two of the same people. They bought in for reallll deep. (Wynn is uncapped) I didn't see it, but multiple dealers confirmed it.
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#20
09-10-2007, 04:59 PM
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Re: Big 1/2 NL Pots
I lost a ~$3,600 pot at Motor City casino last year.
I'm embarrsed to even tell the story but... Me and another were about 1.8k deep, if you can believe it. There was a lot of money on the table because this was back when they had must move tables and the main game got VERY deep for 1/2. Like $500+ average chip stack. Anyway, EP raises to $15, MP calls, I call from SB with 55 and villain in BB calls. Flop comes AcQ5c. I lead out for $60. BB calls. Fold. Fold. Turn card comes a 9s. I bet $200 He makes it $600. I tank, and eventually push because I am a greedy SOB and was playing for 18 hours and so on... Anyway, his Kc9c holds up and I went home and threw up. The next day everyone was talking about it. Worst poker experience of my life. Ugh.
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