I Lost the Minimum

You've all said or at least heard that one before, right?  "I lost the minimum." (The "I" could be "you," "he," or "she.")  Well I guess that's what happened at my most recent session at PC Ventura last Saturday.  But we'll get to that.

I was playing 1/2 (max buy-in $100).  I'd lost some money chasing and was dealt Ace-8 offsuit in the big blind.  There was a $4 straddle from under-the-gun (the only position it is allowed).  There were a bunch of callers, and the straddler hadn't raised the first time I'd seen him straddle so I took a chance and called.  Once again, the straddler just checked behind me.

The flop was 9-8-8.  I checked and someone bet $15, someone else called the $15 and I called.  The turn was a blank, I checked again and the guy who lead out last time shoved for his last $37, and the guy behind him called.  I was thinking the second guy may have been slowplaying a boat.  I just called.  The river was a blank, I checked again and the other guy checked.  Well, I guess he didn't have a boat.

The guy who was all-in showed 10-9, the other guy showed King-8 and I showed the winning hand.  It was a nice pot for the game and suddenly I was up almost $90.

It didn't last long.  I had pocket deuces in a limped, multi-way pot.  The flop was 5-3-2, two hearts.  It was a pretty ugly flop for flopping a set.  In this game, in a limped pot, anyone could easily show up with Ace-4 (even offsuit) or even 6-4.  And if anyone else had flopped a set, it was better than mine.  I decided to proceed with caution.  A guy led out for $7 and he had four callers, including myself.  A 9 hit the turn and he bet $21.  With that board, betting like that, I really assumed he had a made hand that was better than mine.  He had given no indication before this that he was the type of player to bet a draw.  I called and one other player called.  A 10 hit the river.  The third heart never did show.  The same guy led out for $20 and I called. The third guy folded, saying "I missed."  The post-flop aggressor turned over his pocket 3's. I even wrote down in my notes, "I guess I lost the minimum."  Losing set over set usually means losing your entire stack.  I still had some profit left.

I raised to $8 with Ace-Queen of diamonds, it was four-ways.  The flop was King-Queen-x. And early position player donked out $20, there was a call, and I called.  The turn was a blank and the same guy shoved for his last $21, the other guy called, I came along.  Another brick on the river and the guy all-in showed King-Queen to take it.

I lost $25 with pocket 9's.  I called a $4 straddle, there were other callers, then the big blind made it $25.  But two others called, so I figured I'd roll the dice on trying to win a huge pot (there were some big stacks in play).  One more guy called after me.  The flop was Queen-high and I folded to a big bet.  One guy went all in for about $40 and the preflop raiser called.  At the end of the hand, the guy all-in showed Queen-8 pair for a flopped two pair to take down the preflop raiser's dreaded pocket Kings.  I mean, if he didn't dread them before he surely did now!  Someone commented to the guy who won, "You called $25 with Queen-8?"  He said by the time it got back to him there was too much money in the pot to fold.  I'm not sure if the math works out there but for this hand it did.

In the big blind I had Ace-7 off.  There was a raise to $6 and a bunch of callers so I threw in another four bucks.  The flop was Ace-Jack-6.  I checked but so did the preflop raiser and everyone else.  I bet $9 on a 9 turn and had two callers.  The river was another 9 and it checked around.  My Ace was good. I

t was a rather dull session after the early fireworks but I managed to survive the set-over-set hand and left even for the day. I guess it could have been a lot worse.

(Here's a contest with absolutely no prize whatsoever.  The graphics I use in my posts always tie in somehow with the text, unless I point out that it doesn't.  The graphics above definitely tie in, but can you figure out what the connection is? Leave a comment with your guess!)