finally hit the hard rock casino at tampa. sign up list for 1-2NLHE for a little less than an hour. smoke filled slot floor but the poker room was smoke less. got sat at a table that had 3 lifers but i had only initially noticed the old man more or less opposite me.
first hand, had to bluff, just to get it out of my system. opened with QTs (hearts), old man called. flop comes out KJrag rainbow. he bet, i insta-reraised. he studied me, i studied the table, thinking, control your breathing, slow it down. after a good solid minute, he folds his hand and taps the table.
i don’t show it.
another hand, guy in his late forties with a wide brim straw hat (known from here on out as Panama Jack) who i had split a pot earlier with (straight with both of us holding Q9) min raises (going from 2 to 4, what the heck is that all about? i had seen him do it with pocket kings) and i was in the big blind. i had 23o but with 3 other limpers and being in the big blind, it was only 2 more to call, so why not.
flop comes KJ3, rainbow. awesome. i study it, then check (funny, i never looked at my cards again after the flop, which i don’t know if anyone else noticed). panama jack turns aggressive, betting close to the pot (~16), and i call. he nods his head. turn comes, it’s another three, flash of disgust across his face. he checks. i bet, he’s annoyed but calls. river comes and it’s a deuce.
i made a full house out of 32o, ain’t that something? and i’m fairly confident all he has is some sort of high king. i bet, he goes all in, i call. i turn over the boat and everyone goes “oooh” and “nice hand” and you can tell panama jack absolutely hates me.
so it went on like this, i wasn’t catching alot of good cards, caught a pair of 9s twice fairly close to each other: the first time someone flopped a pair of aces, the second time i flopped a set and was able to milk it.
another hand, fairly early, and the only time i got scolded for the way i played: button (this korean woman who was very nice) raised 6 pre-flop, small blind folded, me, big blind with K7s called. flop comes AK3 rainbow. i check, she bets out 8, i call. so, there’s a little over 30 in the pot. K peels off on the turn, i bet out 40. she blurts out, “why so much??? i know you go the king. why so much?? i know you got the king, why no slow play??”
and i really don’t know why i did that other than i was afraid of her catching that 2 outer on the river. but i guess she’s right, i could’ve made some more money on the hand instead of just taking it down right then and there.
last hand, against panama jack, he min raised again, i had pocket 3s on the button so i called as did 1 or 2 others. flop comes KJ3, same as last time. he bets, again, strong, previous callers folded and i re-raised. again that flash of disgust with a nod but he calls anyway. turn is a blank, he checks, i check. the river was a jack and i was fairly certain that he didn’t have a set of kings to make a full house with the jack, beating mine with the 3s.
he checks to me, knowing he’s beat. so i took a deep breath, looked at his stack, then looked at him.
“i’m going to put you all in. you gonna call?”