Xmas at the Table

Christmas is a special time of the year. Songs. Trees. Giving - especially at the poker table. I've been running a little cold lately. Nothing horrible, (not as bad as Utah in Las Vegas) just not picking up cards at the right time. So yesterday I was getting more of the same. Fold. Fold. Fold. I patiently waited for a playable and payable hand. The problem was that everyone else at the table knew what I was doing. That's when you can get into a really bad run. When you finally do get the damn cards, everyone folds. So it is absolutely necessary to your poker well being to continue to mix it up. But now instead of playing weaker hands 20% of the time, I'm now down to 10%. (I explain all this more fully in my step poker course system which is coming out in late January or early February) Since I'm in a regular 5/10 No Limit game and most of the players are good, they have a good sense of where I'm at. Thank god (which is what we are suppose to do this time of year) there are a few players I haven't played with before. And one of them, I'll call him Santa, gives me a wonderful Christmas gift. The poker elves give me a few gifts as well.

So I limp in with A9 of hearts in second position after the "under-the-gun" guy, Santa, calls. A few other guys call. The flop comes out 8, 7, 5 with two hearts. Santa bets $60. I make it $160. The next guy to act takes a few minutes, looks at me, then folds. Thank-you very much; I'm looking to get heads up or take it down right here. (He claimed to have laid down a set of fives, but I find that hard to believe.) Santa calls. The turn is a beautiful jack of hearts. So beautiful. Gift #1. Santa checks. I don't put him on a set or two pair, so I check as well, hoping he hits something. A gorgeous black six comes on the river making a four liner. Gift #2. Mr. Claus bets out $250. Gift #3. I sit and contemplate my options. I only have $705 left, so a min raise would look kinda silly. I figured, I'd go all in and try to make it look like a steal. He'd call if he had a straight I figured or rather hoped. Santa calls instantly with two pair. With a four liner on board and three hearts, he called with two pair! Gift #4. Merry, merry Christmas.

The poker Christmas gods give and they taketh away. After this hand, I'm card and bluff dead for several hours. Then I get top two pair on a rainbow flop of 10, 9, 3. I bet $30 into a pot of $35. I get two callers. An ace comes on the turn and I'm ready to take it down right now. I bet $125 into a pot of $125. One fellow calls me. I put him on QJ or a medium 10. An innocuous-looking 6 comes on the river. I bet out $150. He raises me to $400. I too-quickly call and he shows the 7/8. That's the problem with playing with weak players. He called $125 on the turn knowing he had only 8 outs. I'll take that call every time. I really shouldn't have called the river. I was hoping he hit his 10/6 (But would he really raise me with a 10/6 with that board?). It wasn't a bluff situation and his bet was not a bluff-sized bet. My turn to be Santa Claus. Hey, It's the season of giving.

Merry Christmas everybody!