Guilt

The title of this post was going to be "Fun" but PhantomWife hasn't been having a lot of it lately, and because I have had a lot of fun playing poker (and writing about it) "Guilt" is more appropriate, I think.

I'd say we're going through fertility treatments in hopes of becoming PhantomParents, but in truth she's the only one having to deal with the nightly shots, and they're really bothering her now. I can't take them for her (I wish I could) and I feel kind of helpless and useless about the whole thing.

It doesn't help that she doesn't care for poker. And she's not wrong in thinking that my poker playing is eating into our time together.

To exacerbate matters, tonight I'm going to play in a tourney along with the WeHO ladies. It will be my first real-money experience outside of some very low-stakes poker played with friends from Baltimore.

So tomorrow night I will post about how I cleaned the house for PhantomWife earlier in the day, and the results from tonights tourney, in that order.

Okay, back to poker.

So the last two nights were pretty good nights

Bankroll status: 2.75M PSD -- 200 USD (New! Real World Only).

Thursday Night

....Was a very good night, at least at first. PhantomWife worked late, and I played NLHE until she got home around 9:30. I stopped around 9:45, up around 120K PSD for the session. (The session spanned two tables; the final table I was only there long enough to point Evil Denmother to the previous PhantomMut post and to suckout on some poor unsuspecting player. What could I do? Had 8/9 off, flopped the up-and-down nut straight draw, three diamonds on the board gave me a flush draw with the nine, and she goes all in. I knew she was protecting high pockets without a flush draw when she went all-in. I called, hit the flush, and felt like a dick for cashing out, but PhantomWife was calling.... And at least I'd announced it would be my last hand BEFORE the deal.)

So, by 10:45 PhantomWife is out like a light, I'm not sleepy, soooo.....

I'm not addicted to poker, not at all.

(**SOB!!!*** Yes I am! And play money poker at that!)

Ahem.

So anyway, I'm goofing around, not really making any money, not really losing any, and frankly not paying much attention. I hop from table to table as players come and go, not really getting a feel for anything except "these aren't places I really want to be." Finally around 1:00 (IIRC, writing this on lunch break the day after) I look up Evil Denmother who for once doesn't seem to have any of the Degenerate Cub Scouts with her; don't recognize anyone but her.

So not long after I sat down I catch pocket Tens in early position. I bet out something like 2400 (blinds 200/100). That's pretty much my standard "I have a hand I like" bet. Four calls. Flop is (IIRC) a 9 5 4 rainbow. Again, if I'm remembering my betting correctly I bet another 4 thousand into the pot, trying to get a feel for what's out there. Two calls. Turn is (I think) another 4. Checks all around. River falls a 7, no flush draws, board looks like an uncoordinated mess, no one's been aggressive, I figure my tens are good and bet out 10 large.

Guy goes all-in.

Which is SCREAMING "go away" to me.

I call, putting myself all-in.

Guy flips 8/6 off, having filled his inside straight.

Okey-dokey. I've been a donkey before, I'll be one many times more in days and nights to come. Have to trust your reads, and I misread.

Another 40K re-buy for me, Mr. Cashier.

Later, after serious card deadness for about 40 minutes, I get 2/4 suited. For grins and giggles I join a bunch of limpers into the hand from late position. The rainbow flop totally misses my suit, but the 643 gives me middle pair and an inside straight draw. Couple of limps, then The Guy bets something like half the pot.

Crap crap crap.

I can feel my inner donkey yearning to be free, so I call, other limpers let their donkeys cavort as well. Call, Call. Turn is a deuce, giving me two pair and aforementioned inside straight draw. Check, check.

The Guy bets pot again.

Did I mention "crap" before?

Calling will cost me something like 20K at this point. I have something like 30K. My inner donkey is channeling old Nike commercials, hissing "Just Do It!" in my inner ear. "Two pair is a good hand, you can hit the straight, and you might catch a boat. What are you waiting for, Mut-boy?"

The Guy has at least a set. My gut tells me he flopped the straight and is defending it from something stupid, or hoping one or more of the ghost donkeys he can no doubt sense thundering around the table does indeed assert control.

But I love my inner donkey. I go all in.

The two players before the guy whip their inner donkeys into submission and both fold. The Guy insta-calls.

Turn is bubkus. The Guy shows his straight. I show my donkalicious cards.

I say to the table "I have now donked off nearly all my winnings for tonight, so bedtime for the Mut," or something like that.

The Guy says, "Mut, don't go." Gee, thanks. As they say, everyone's got one.

I type (churlishly, I admit) "I know I'm you're good luck charm, but I really have to go."

He responds "Wait, did you get it?" as I'm closing the window.

The Guy, it turns out, had gifted me with a 10,000 PSD transfer. This High Stakes Poker Matasow moment brought to you by Q_Ballss.

Q_Ballss (a.k.a. The Guy -- tick me off, get your real ID mentioned on my blog) is now on the Mut's Official Shit List. OTOH, if he wants those ten large back, he's going to have to win them.

Last Night

I followed the same play pattern as has become my habit; got home around 6:45, walked the RealPhantomMut, and played poker until PhantomWife got home around 8:00. (Okay, she got home around 8:00, I played on until a little after 9:00, when she pulled the plug. Did I mention "Guilt" somewhere in this post?) Anyway, that session was very profitable; when I logged off I was up to 2.85M PSD, up 200K PSD from the previous day. I was playing very solid poker and getting lucky too.

Spent some time with my darling watching TV, talking, trying to pamper her, until she went to sleep, at which point I padded out of the room.

So, cracked-out poker addict that I am, back to PokerStars I go. Found the Evil Den Mother and the Degenerate Cub Scouts again. Played some very high-variance poker, losing big twice to Les Deux Orangs who was on a major rush. He was hitting everything, and I think getting on EDM's nerves a bit. (She was also at different times playing in different cash tourneys. While we played she finished 11th in a ten cent tourney, beating out more than five thousand other players if I recall correctly.)

At one point I was pretty sure I had LDO beat with pocket nines on a trash board, but he bet large and I folded, telling him I thought he'd catch his Ace on the turn or river. (He'd already felted me twice. Did I mention I was playing a loose, high variance style?) He said he had sevens, but I still feel good about the fold, because the way the cards were falling he would have probably caught 7-7 runners to make quads.

When he left, Les Deux Orangs had something like 475,000 on the table. Not shabby.

Long story short, I played until I was literally falling asleep at the keyboard, down 100,000 from where I was previously in the evening.

Conclusion: Late night sessions are fun, but I really should tighten up. And even on a Friday night, even my inner donkey is kicking me in the head, saying "Get more sleep, you idiot!"

I love my inner donkey, but he can be a bastard at times.