Thread: Other Sports Underground Poker
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Old 12-08-2012, 05:12 PM   #11
Hootie Hootie is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Dallas, Texas
Casino cash: $10004900
I'm bored so I'm going to hijack this thread with my one underground poker story.

So I moved to Dallas last year and was pretty bored. I worked, slept, worked, slept, and watched an occasional movie. Back in my late teens, early 20s I was a hardcore poker player. I was very much a part of the "poker craze" and I'd play 80 hours a week. Party poker, mostly. I paid for my entire first apartment with my winnings. I went from being a huge fish to really, really, really studying and understanding poker and winning poker strategy.

Well I was bored one night and dug out my Rounders DVD and I got the itch again. I made the drive to the casino about an hour away and won $300. I played about 3 times a week there and had 1 losing session my entire time in Dallas. Play like a rock there, good cards only, be aggressive...mix in a trap against the marks at the table. Real, real easy stuff. Bluff only when necessary and never make any stupid risks at a live casino...too many marks, stay away from the good players. It was winning poker.

Well I had a bookie who just raped me in baseball betting, and he was also a big card player. He kept inviting me and inviting me to his underground 2/5 NL game (it was huge). I told him I was interested but didn't like the idea of a raid and didn't see why I needed to take a risk with a $500 buy in when I could just drive an hour and rape the easy $1/$2 NL game at Winstar.

Well I went to the local pub one night and had 4 or 5 pints with a buddy who was leaving work (his last day) and I got a text from Enrique (my bookie) saying if I bought in for $500 he'd give me $100 (half of his bonus for getting a new player to sit in) so I'd start the game with $600 on a $500 buy in. I was up about $2500 at this point playing at Winstar and I had a few cocktails in me so I said what the hell...

Drove to Chase, took out $500 from the ATM, and made my venture:

I get to the office building and I get a full pat down...after I'm cleared they ask me who I know and why I'm there...at the time I don't know my bookies name...he's stored in my phone as...bookie. So I'm like..."hey, I just got this text, I don't know his name, he's my bookie!" (lol)...so one of the regulars comes out, sees the number, realizes it is Enrique, and invites me in.

I get in there and it's all asians, blacks and one other white guy (Enrique)...I'm not feeling it, without the booze I'm just not going to play. Table is full, but I get my 5 stacks and sit on the couch and wait for a spot to open up. This is the real deal. 3 tables, dealers, rake, hot waitress girls wearing basically nothing, 5 HDTV's, free beer, free soda, free food. Everything.

I don't drink and gamble. I ask for a Red Bull. They oblige. I am a heavy social drinker so 4 pints doesn't get me anywhere close to drunk. If anything, I have a slight buzz.

I finally sit down, look at two hands...get dealt QK suited. I raise it up to 12 and get two callers. I have position. Flop is something K x x...check, check, I bet 15. Fold. Raise to 50. I call. Turn is another blank. Nothing scary. He bets 50. I call. River is another blank, maybe pairs the board. I forget. He bets another 50. I'm not scared, but see no reason to pop it up. I call. He has K 10. I win.

So one hand in I'm already looking at about $800. VERY NEXT HAND, and mind you, I have no read on the game, and they have no read on me. I've sat down for 5 hands, raised one, and now I'm looking at KK. I'm in middle position, and I'm notororious for slow rolling my AA or KK. If someone in front of me raises, I very, very, very rarely reraise with AA or KK. It's sneaky, and profitable for someone like me who isn't afraid of laying down big hands and prefers post flop play to pre flop play. No one puts you on KK or AA if they are the initial raiser and you don't reraise.

There is A LOT OF MONEY on this table. Enrique, my bookie, has about $3500 in a $500 max buy game in front of him.

Anyways, I have KK. A guy in front of me raises to $15. I flat call. Enrique raises it up to $60. He's a big guy. I had a read on him right away. I knew he was a fantastic player, but I knew his style. He's the bully. He's the guy that plays tight but plays fast and aggressive. If you were going to beat him you were going to pay to beat him because he's a fast player. No other way you get $3500 in front of you in a $500 max buy in game and I'm certain he wins often because this is what he does for a living.

So Enrique makes it $60...fold, fold, fold, initial raiser calls. This is where I think poker n00bs are often wrong. They are instinctively going to reraise because they probably have the best hand at KK. I play for big wins and big pots. PLUS, if I see an ace I can get away no issues and I'm still up $250. No way would I ever repop here. I call the $45 raise. There is about $200 in the pot at this point. I'm nervous.

Flop is 7 7 3. Perfect flop for my hand. It's raised $60 preflop so I'm either winning, or I'm losing to AA (to only Enrique). There is simply no way anyone plays a 7 here for $60 unless they flopped quads and even then, for $60 on a reraise most good players are laying down 77. Same with 33.

initial raiser checks, I check (easy decision with a fast player in front of me), Enrique bets $90. First guy folds. I ponder, but call. I do this for two reasons. I still have a decision. The turn is either fold, or all in for me. Plain and simple. Unless we go check check (because I'm checking for information). If Enrique leads strong AGAIN, then I need to either put him on AA or put him on a decision. At this point I'm not sure. I've never seen him play, I just have assumptions.

Turn is a Q. A potential bad card for me. I check, Enrique fires $200. Now it's time for chatty Dragon to come out. This is a big decision for me. No more calling. It's all in, or fold. I'm only losing to two hands in my mind...QQ which would just be unlucky, or AA. Did he have AA? If so, why did he raise it up to $60 preflop? Would I make a 4 time reraise preflop with AA? I think he's a good player, I don't think $60 is an AA raise. It might be a QQ raise. Most likely, I think he's on total bullshit. Maybe 10 10. Maybe J J. The only thing I could possibly see myself losing to right here is QQ. I just can't put him on aces, but I'm also not here to play like a girl.

I'm thinking a good 5 minutes. I realize it's decision time. I crunch all the numbers, all the streets, all the plays. He's stone cold. I count my chips...I've invested $150 into this pot. I'm still up $150 if I fold. So do I go over the top $650 all in, or do I fold.

I make my decision. All in. Enrique does not insta-call. Now, now I know I'm good. So now the act begins. This is great. I show relief to everyone and announce..."well, now I know I'm winning. I don't want to see that river. Just fold. I'm super content with this pot, I'll show you my hand. Lay it down. I got you." I'm laughing, I'm having a good time...but I really did want him to lay it down. At this point a fold lands me a big, big win and I've been playing for 5 minutes. The pot if he folds is $370 profit already. I think my talking made him think I had a club draw...because he appears a bit dejected and says "but I have a good hand." I really think my display talked him into thinking I was on clubs with that turn. There were two clubs on the flop. He had been told by my roommate I was a good cards player.

Dejected, he calls. I flip over KK. He doesn't flip. I'm not aware of the rules, but he says "do you want to run it twice?" Meaning, you can run two river cards and if you split, you split the pot...if you win twice, you win the pot.

I say "no way! I'm not giving you two chances to draw against my better hand. I know I have you crushed." It would make no sense for me to give him two shots to draw out on me. He laughs, but agrees. He flips over QK. He's drawing to two queens. River brick.

sat down with $600 and now I have nearly $1500 in my stack in 10 minutes of play. It was nuts. That is my favorite hand ever and shows you how profitable a big hand like KK or AA can be if you don't freak out and overplay it. I let him stumble into his Q on a hand where he's 10% preflop against me (or so). AND HE WAS THE BETTER THE ENTIRE TIME.

Anyways, I took a horrible beat with AA later on and ended up winning $700 for 5 hours of play. It was awesome, but I never went back because I prefer casino, legal poker.
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