Hosted a Home Game

Hosted the $1/$2 home game that we have from time to time from some of my former work colleagues. Ended up up about $1K, although that wasn't due to much skill exhibited on my part. Funniest hand of the night is when we get to the river on a KKTxx board and I have TT for the boat. I lead out for $75 and my opponent starts hemming and hawing. He eventually asks if he can pay me $25 to see another river card. Obviously I already beat whatever he's drawing to, so naturally I say yes. The river is the 8c and I notice that this completes the flush - I assume this was his draw. So I put on my best dejected look and check, and he obliges by pushing his stack in.

He's a smart guy and he realized after the fact that he should have been suspicious when I agreed to give him another card for $25. I'm too nitty to take a -EV gamble in a decent size pot. He just didn't pause to think it through. The other noteworthy thing is that he actually had a straight flush draw (which he did not hit) so this could have backfired for me.

We were playing the 72o game. The way we do it, you have to win the whole pot with 72o at a showdown - you can't win by bluffing. Then everyone who is in gives the 72o player $100 each. We had everyone at the table doing it so when I managed to hit it, I raked in $600. Amusingly, someone had busted out just the hand before this hand. He had run poorly all night, but at least he ran well in the sense that he busted just in time to avoid paying $100 to me.

I ran a bluff in a pretty decent spot. There was a button open raise to $7, the SB called and I called in the BB. The board is K88. Checked to the button who bets $15. SB folds and I check raise to $45. He calls which wasn't necessarily part of the plan, but I assume that just signifies that he has a decent king. I lead out the turn for $100 and he folds. This is such a crappy spot for him. Keep in mind that I am the tightest player at the table.

There was another decent size pot against the same player. I raise in early position with QQ and get a call from late position and a call from the blinds from this opponent. He kind of sighs and has a "whatever" look as he calls. The flop is Jxx and he leads out pot size. I call, late position player folds. Turn is another blank and he leads out pot size again. Must have been for about $60. I'm very concerned at this point, and actually consider folding. Fortunately, I suppress my weak-tight tendencies and call again. River is another blank and he checks. At this point, his hand is pretty much face-up. I put him on exactly AJ. It's pretty consistent with his semi-reluctant call preflop (to a tight player). I figure he'll call another $100 (pot is about $180) and indeed he does. It's kind of a boring hand. I just thought it was kind of interesting how the action seems to mark him with one and only one hand.

I got rebluffed in a BVB situation. SB open limps and I check my option with Q2. Board is JT9 and I call a flop and turn bet. (Turn is a blank.) The river is a T and he checks to me. He's pretty loose and aggressive so I figure he has air a lot of the time here. I bet $20 or so, he immediately checkraises and I turbomuck. Later he admitted he did have air, and my queen high was actually good. Another player suggested I could check my queen behind on the river and expect to be good a lot of the time. I never even considered that. He pointed out that my opponent is unlikely to have an ace or king because he didn't raise preflop. I think he could still have a king, but I guess the odds are reduced. So I am only bluffing out a better hand when he has a king or a pair of 9s. I assume he calls with any J, and he may even call with a 9 (he's loose). Oh, actually, I could also be bluffing him off a chop with another queen. Hard to say what's right. The thing is, I didn't really think he was capable of a checkraise bluff there. Obviously I was wrong.