It only took 3!

I have been riding a nice rush lately. A friend of mine invited me to play in his home game last Friday night, and I was ready to play but there was some anxiety since I had only played with a couple of these guys before. Omar is a member of our poker club, and he throws together an incredible poker game with his really nice table and chips.

I played fairly well pacing my game on not trying to make any major mistakes. I also wanted to take this chance to observe players in a tight window to get reads on them.

I thought luck might be on my side a few hands into the tourney when I was in the big blind with J/8 of clubs with only limpers. The flop came Jh/7d/Js. When it came to me I raised to the size of the pot and I had one caller. The call caught my attention, so I was worried that he might be slowplaying pocket 7's preflop. When the Turn brought an 8 giving me the full house, I was a bit more comfortable and led out with a value bet which was called. The river was a rag and I bet about one quarter of the pot. The other player who was a solid player looks at me and folds. I showed the 8 and folded the Jack. He apparently had either pocket 7's or a Jack because he wasn't happy to see the 8.

This went on and on and I was "working" hard form my chipstack. The moedeus operandi of the table was play tight and make players pay for their mistakes. The players were all descent, and a couple were very solid players.

A few hours later, the table of 11 was down to 6 and we were just moving chips around the table for the most part. The most dangerous player was the shortstack at the time.

The 3 hands...

I caught Kh/Jh UTG (under the gun or first to act) and raised the bet to 3x the BB. The player to my left pushed all-in with his remaining chips which was about 500 more than what I had. Another player pushed all-in on my right. It was only 500 to call and that left me about 2000 chips if I lost.

The rule of thumb that I use in situations like this is short stacks will push with Ace high, pocket pair, or suited connectors.

I put both players on an Ace, but since my cards were suited I figured it was worth the gamble. I called.

They both showed Ace rag. They have fewer outs, so I am in descent postiion here. The flop brings a Jack and that was all I needed to win the hand.

I more than double up on that hand which gives me some breathing room.

The next hand I have pocket 5's. A little better than last hand. I am in the BB so I am last to act. I get an all-in of about 1600 and a call by the button. The SB folds and I call. The button has about 1800 chips left, and I can call it and still have a couple thousand chips.

I could see the anticipation in the button's eyes. He looks like he is pushing once the flop comes out. 2d/6h/5s. The button looks at me and pushes his stack in. I looked at him and put him on overcards like AK or AQ. I called with my trip 5's and he flips over AJ. The first all-in player had K9 and it was all over for them.

Now I am severly chipstacked. It's down to two of us, and he only has 2600 chips. I am dealt K9 suited. He is first to act. He pushes all in without too many other options. I have to call with over 13,000 chips.

He turns over Q7. Flop brings a Queen for him. I want to cheer him on to be a good sport. I have been in his shoes way too many times, and you just want to catch a break in situations like this. The turn brings a rag. I am already conceding the hand and bracing for a longer game than I anctipated with this chips stack when the river brings a King and the game is over.

It's realy cool when those games come your way because it's like retribution for all of the bad beats that you take throughout your poker experience.