More Live Poker, More Coolers :-D

Heh. Maybe the reason I prefer online is because I suck at live poker. Nahhh...

Wednesday found me scheduling a rare morning off for myself to drive down to Hollywood Casino in Aurora for another stab at their weekly $160. The tourney is a little too fast-paced (in terms of blinds) and a little too juice-heavy for me to want to make it a regular thing, but once in a while, I just want to take a shot. My first two tries had come up dry, though I'd made the top half of the field in each, with a legitimate shot at cashing each time.

After yesterday, color me oh-for-three. And what a way to go out... I've got this cooler thing down to a science.

We were inside of 30 players, with me probably in the top ten in chips, when, one hand after holding pocket kings and getting no action, I peeked under and found pocket queens. I had about 11,000 in chips (up from a start of 2,500), the blinds were 400/800 and about to jump. UTG limps, the next seat to my right pushes for another 1,000, or so, I make it 5,000 and intentionally pot-commit myself without shoving, just to try to create some confusion. Three folds from the seats to my left, and a guy across the way on the button shoves for another 4,000 or so. The small blind skedaddles, and the big blind looks absolutely pained before making the call, putting the total pot over 30,000. He's played some iffy stuff, too.

The UTG guy goes away, and even though I know my queens are beat, somewhere, I shove, because with the blinds only two seats away and ready to jump to 600/1,200, I don't have enough behind to leverage anyone anyhow. And there's a ton in the pot and I only have a few thousand more. Five kicks at a queen or some garbage straight are enough, I guesstimate, to get the last of my chips in. There's also just the slim chance --- maybe 5% --- that the two other stacks both have A-K suited or one of them has pocket jacks. Between that and the 6:1 or so I was getting on the original call, it was an easy shove.

But when the cards were turned over, was I behind? Oh, yeah...

Short stack in UTG+1: K-K
Me: Q-Q
Button: A-A
Big Blind: K-K

Junk on the flop and an ace on the turn.

I go home now.

Live poker is so-o-o-o-o-o-o rigged, don't you think? But I departed laughing --- there are situations, like these, where you are simply doomed to lose your chips.

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