Ups and downs

So I'm trying again, with one on PR and one on Stars. I don't know any of the players on Stars, but on PR, there's a couple of familiar faces. Homer J Fong is a semiloose player who can be a bit too keen on modest hands; baNASHed is in a word useless.

I can add another name to my tard list. The guy who minraised with K2s has earned his spot.

(PR) So I limp with TT and get a K high flop. Folding to a bet.
(PS) I get a free ride with 94. Nothing doing on the flop. I fold to a bet.
(PS) 88 in the SB. I call a minraise. The flop is AK9 and I fold to a bet.
The same guy minraises again the next hand and I note that the BB folded. That's usually a sign of having some sort of clue. The raiser went broke with 88 on a board that flushed. He had had a draw to an inside straight but once his bluff had been called, he needed to chuck it.

We lose two at PokerRoom. Both had hands they should never have played in the first place. One had an openender on the flop. A lot of players will go all the way with an OESD, which is terrible. Even worse, the other guy had TP2K.

We lost another on Stars but I wasn't watching. Looking at the history, I see he busted with second pair. Not even top pair! The guy who busted him is playing way too many hands but he's hitting a lot of flops.

I get a free ride at PR with K5. A K high flop. I check it and bet the turn. Some guy raises and I call. The board pairs on the river and we split it.

I win a nice pot at Stars. I call a small raise with 33 and flop the set. Unfortunately, no one wants to put much money in when the turn pairs Ks. Pity the raiser didn't have AK, because he would probably have been busted there.

We lose another at PokerRoom. He was unlucky to fall foul of full over full on an ATKKT board.

I pick up QQ at Stars and make a nice raise. The flop comes A high but I bet out. He calls. The turn and river are checked through. The guy sucks. He had 44.

I pick up AA at Stars in the small blind and raise it to 4BB. No one wants to play.

I complete the SB with 54s and the flop gives me an openender. I bet, all fold. Next hand I call from the button because the BB is sitting out. I have QT. The flop comes Q92. The SB bets and I call. The turn looks like a blank. I'm putting him on top pair, maybe only middle pair. He pushes the turn. He's quite short. This is a tough decision, but it's against Homer J Fong so I call. He has 92. Oh well. I think on balance I would win that more often than I'd lose, but I think I probably should have folded. Hard to distinguish correct play from bad results though. We lose another player on the next hand.

Now I'm quite short at PR, so I'm not too hopeful. Only five left and one sitting out though. I take a chance when the bigstack raises, and push with KQ. He has KJ and calls. Flop a J, but river a Q.

At Stars, I raise it 3BB with QQ. Some guy pushes. I have him covered easily and call. Whoops. He has KK. I flop a Q though and he's gone.

I get hammered at PR. I have KJ and the flop is J22. Big stack has limped from the button. I bet, he calls. Turn a Q and I check, he checks. River a blank. I make a valuebet, and I'm surprised when he raises. I call because this is so often a bluff. Not this time. He had 42s and you know, I could almost cry at the way I keep getting smashed like this. First a guy gets two pair with 92, then this fuckwit flops trips with 42. I then get it in with him with KJs vs QTs, same suits. He rivers a onecard straight.

At Stars, we're seeing a lot of minraising. We're at t100 and I'm the big stack by a tiny amount. I don't get involved in this stuff though, because I haven't had the cards. AK in the big blind. The small blind raises to 3BB. I reraise to 800. He gave up.

I limp KQ in a family pot. Flop comes AQx and I fold to a halfpot bet. Next hand I consider raising with QTs. Wish I had. The board shows a straight.

We're now at t150. I get a free ride in the BB with KT and we check it down. MHIG.

AQ and JJ get it all in. AQ flops two pair. Not bad. The other guy is not quite busted, but he's now fairly short. He completes his small blind next hand and the BB puts him all in. He calls. K2 vs KJ. Not a great call and he's gone. That leaves five of us. I am in second, and under no pressure from the blinds.

I get a free ride with J5, check it down again and MHIG is good when my J pairs. Then I complete with A6 but make nothing and fold to a minbet on the flop.

52s in the BB and another free ride. This time I don't improve and he wins when we check it down. Each time the button has called my blind and the SB has folded.

99 gets it all in with A8. A8 rivers an ace. Unreal.

I fold both blinds. We're now at t200 so I'm beginning to feel the pressure.

We lose another guy so now we're at the bubble. The SB completes and I check with T9. I flop a pair and bet. He folds. I'm still the short stack though.

It's quite tight now. I get a free ride with K8 in the BB and flop K88. I check it twice in the hope the other guy will improve some, but he clearly doesn't and I don't make any money.

I raise with AT and the BB calls. Oh dear. We check a raggy flop and he bets a J turn. I fold.

I make it back though with a free ride in the BB and by completing the SB and bluffing a raggy flop. Next hand I win another pot. I wouldn't normally get involved on the bubble but these guys are playing so poorly that it would be criminal not to.

I get AK a couple of times and take the blinds, then call with K7s on the button and steal on a raggy flop. Now we're at t200/25.

I get a free ride in the BB with 44, but the other guy rivers a Q when we check it down.

I raise with A7s in the SB, BB reraises small. I call but the flop is no good for me. That really hurt. I'm never sure how to play those hands. The small reraise tells me he doesn't have a great hand, because really good hands push.

I complete with A7 vs two shorties. Flop comes A76. I check, other guy bets, I raise big. He has tried to trap with QQ. Nice one. He's gone.

So we're down to three. One guy has a huge stack, one very short, me in the middle. I bust shorty with KT vs K6 and we're HU.

I comprehensively outplay the other guy HU. He gets lucky with one hand QJ vs K8, where he turns a Q, but it's not enough. Eventually, I limp AA, the flop comes 234 and we get it in. He has K4. He ought to know I have an overpair when I raise, but I guess he's thinking maybe I'm bluffing, which I have been quite a bit. The turn is a 5 and that's that.