Party Poker and a Good Session

Well, I’ve finally worked through the hoops Party Poker threw up so I could have access to my money in my account with them. I had to fax them a utility bill to show I was a resident in Ecuador, then telephone them (at international phone rates) top verify my account.

I just can’t express my frustration enough with Party Poker. Their banning of US citizens was bad enough, but limiting their withdrawal options at the same time is flat out criminal in my eyes. Then they just cancelled their player-funded monster jackpot program, leaving millions of players’ dollars slushing around unaccounted for. And then their customer service has been ridiculous.

I’d be surprised if Party Poker is still in business 12 months from now.

I had a wonderful session yesterday. I was playing $3-6 at Absolute Poker. This was a fantastic table. There were two players who slow played every time they hit. If they had AA they’d slow play, then wonder why someone with a draw hit and killed them.

Then there were two other hyper-aggressive kids who really overplayed any pair.

I simply went into turtle mode and waited for my chance. My first chance came when I was in the big blind with unsuited 67. Four limpers and the SB let me see a flop for free and I hit GIN! 677 rainbow looked at me. I checked and one of the hyper kids bet. A slow-player in late position called and I called. A J hit the turn. I checked, hyper bet and slow-player raised! Wow! He only does that if he has trips or something! I re-raise and the other two call, no doubt wondering what I was reraising for.

The river was a harmless 3. I bet, hyper and slow called. I showed my flopped boat and they mucked. I checked the hand play to find hyper had 88 and slow-play had A7 for trips, top kicker. I can see how slow-play played the way he did, but hyper made the typical mistake of thinking his pocket pair was strong in that situation. With that board and the betting and raising going on, he had only second pair with no draw. He should have mucked on the turn. With an overcard on the board, potential trips and boats, and a tight player (me) and a slow-player betting and raising each other he had to know he was beaten. He waisted three big bets, in a no win situation.

A few hands later I was in late/middle position with 55. I called two limpers when BB raised. The limpers folded. The SB had limped in. The BB was also low on chips and was already pot committed. While 55 isn’t a great hand, I felt it was likely BB was making a stand before his chips were too low. He could have a premium hand, but he was just as likely to have a suited Ace or two big cards. There was a lot of dead money in the pot, so I went into no-limit mode and raised to isolate the BB. The SB folded, and BB and I capped the betting. Flop was 35T with two clubs. I bet, which put BB all in. He showed AcKd. A diamond hit the turn giving me a little heart flutter, but the river was a harmless Ace and I scooped a nice pot.

Next hand I look at 66. I call two limpers and again the BB raises. Now, the BB has a big stack in front of him, but he is also a hyper better that overplays any top pair, pocket pair, and I’ve seen him maniacally play big cards out of the BB. He is also one of those abusive idiots who belittles other people’s play. In fact, when I’d typed in a comment that it was better to be lucky than good he responded “U R neither you suckXXX.” Hmm. Looks like it will be a pleasure taking a notch off this guy.

The limpers fold and I call. Another low flop of 952 rainbow. He bets, I raise and he reraises.

Now I know I may be beat. He could be playing a premium pair, or something like A9, but he could just as well be playing AK/KQ/KJ/QJ. I’ve even seen him play this way with something thin like A4 or A7 out of the blinds. I figure I’m probably the best, but I want to keep this pot reasonably small. I go into call mode to the end. Nothing scary comes on the turn and the river. He shows AK for Ace high and my small pair takes it.

He tilts and looses three silly hands in a row. He leaves the table. In the end I have a very nice win, thank you.

The lesson here is you can control the pot size.

In the first hand several limpers gave me a free look at the flop. When I hit my dream flop I let two aggressive bettors build a big pot before I announced the strength of my hand with a raise on the big betting rounds.

In the second hand I wanted to isolate the small-stacked BB, since I felt I had the best hand, there was a lot of dead money in the pot, and he couldn’t damage my stack size that much. So I bet and raised aggressively.

In the third hand, I stayed in with a weak holding heads up, because there was, again, lots of dead money in the pot. I thought I was best, but it was a vulnerable hand, so I used position to keep the pot-size to a minimum, so I wouldn’t loose a lot of chips in case I was beaten.

This skill – managing the pot size to fit your hand and circumstances – is one that few Internet poker players appreciate. Learn it well, and you’ll maximize the pots when you have a big advantage, and minimize the pits where you are vulnerable.

See you at the tables.