Rounders, Inc.

I was forced to sit in seat 4 in a $1 - $2 - $100 spread limit game last night.

It was one of the softest games I ever sat at. An entire table of weak fishes.

I felt great and my reads were 100% dead on.

I had one playable hand in three hours: Q-J where I turned a King-high straight and rivered Broadway.

At this point because of blinds, I was roughly even for the night.

Seat three opens up, so I move.

The first hand after the move, the person who had my old seat, raises to $15.

I was in the big blind with J-6 hearts. I chose not to call the extra $10 even though he had seven callers.

The flop? J-J-6.

My opponent - you know - the one in my old seat - had A-A. The first pocket pair since I sat down at the table.

This was the beginning of the end. I hate missing opportunities like that.

Blinded off for the next two hours, I get Q-J in early position.

Some donkey raises and I call like two other players do.

With $100 in the pot, the flop comes Q-J-3 rainbow.

I bet $50.

The original raiser calls me.

The turn is a 9. Perfect rainbow.

I bet $100 on my top two pair hoping to price out any straight draws that want to go 989-to-1 runner-runner longshots.

I get min raised.

I call out his hand and re-raise.

He thinks for a couple minutes, counts out the chips, and calls.

The river is a 10.

Fuck.

I know my opponent had a King.

He bets $100.

I call to see the King.

Sure as hell, he raised me on a gutshot and hit the gut shot with K-2 offsuit.

I read it right. I played it right.

And I lost 80% of my chips.

The rest of my chips went in the middle with 5-5 against A-K.

Some A-K loving donkey that runs that trash hand to the river no matter what kept calling me on every street.

I knew he had A-K.

The flop was 4-4-3.

Why play Ace high with that flop for 50X the big blind bet?

The turn was a 6.

Somehow, he thought the 6 helped him because he was playing back at me with Ace high.

Of course, the river is a King.

Felted by another donkey.

I seriously think it is quittin’ time for me.

I am now on day three of my bad run. I have lost in four out of five sessions and for three consecutive sessions.

I played well and was not outplayed by anyone. I simply got unlucky. Again.

Very discouraging.

Here are the hands I played in a three hour span and the percentage of my stack lost on the hand:

1. K-K: Lost to a river set of queens. 15%
2. 7-7: Lost to A-K on the turn. 5%
3. 4-4: Two pair on flop counterfeited on river to A-J. 5%
4. 9-9: Flopped a set. Beaten by quad 3s on turn. 20%
5. 10-10: Flopped 10s full of Kings, beaten by Kings full of 10s. 15%
6. K-K: Beaten by A-6 off on river. 20%
7. J-J: Pushed the rest of the chips all-in pre-flop. Got slowrolled by Kings. 20%

Fortunately (or unfortunately - I am not quite sure any more) my accurate reads have saved me money.

I know I can play - hopefully this bad run will be over soon.

I have the worst luck lately. Been running incredibly bad for a week. Here are a couple examples of what I mean:

I get A-A for the first time in five days. Big raise pre-flop and get two callers. One to my immediate left and one to my immediate right.

Flop comes J-10-4 rainbow.

The only thing that bothers me is a potential straight if I hit my set. So I bet big.

The player to my left raises me and the player to my right folds.

I re-raise.

The player to my left re-raises me.

I put him on pocket 10s and fold.

He shows the set of 10s.

A few hands later, I get 10-10 and call a pre-flop raise.

The flop comes Q-10-3 rainbow.

The original raiser overbets the pot. I put him on pocket queens and fold middle set.

He shows Q-Q.

And finally, I get A-K and raise.

The flop comes A-K-4.

Clearly ahead in the hand, I overbet the pot hoping to take it down “just in case”.

I get action.

The turn is a deuce.

I bet and get re-raised.

I call.

The river is another 4.

In my experience, three pair is useless.

My opponent shows 4-2 for a full house.

Lately, I have the worst luck.

My session yesterday can be best described as a rough ride.

Here is a breakdown on how it went:

No playable hands for the first three hours.

I should have gone home.

Got 10-10 back-to-back and both held up. Sitting on $150 profit.

I should have gone home.

Went to men’s room. An elderly gentleman in the handicap stall yelled out to me to help him wipe his ass and get him back in his wheelchair. I declined. I am convinced this kicked off a chain of bad karma events.

I should have gone home.

Next hand is A-K. I flop top two pair and am last to act against a crazy Asian player. He bet and I raised him hard on every street. He had a straight draw with Q-10 and hit the miracle Jack on the river. One-third of my stack is gone.

I should have gone home.

The very next hand is 10-9 suited. Again, I am last to act. I flop two pair. A young gun keeps betting into me. I keep raising him. He goes runner-runner for a straight. Two-thirds of my stack is gone.

I should have gone home.

After two consecutive bad beats, I am frustrated and decide to push it with K-9 off. I never play K-9 anything.

The big blind calls a big bet pre-flop. She is a new player at the table. I flop top two pair. She bets and I raise hard. This happens on each street. I am pot committed and all-in on the river. She spikes an ace on fifth street and shows A-9 for a better two pair. All of my stack is gone.

I finally went home.

I am sitting on a big stack the other day with over 80% of the chips on the table when I get dealt K-K.

I raise to $25.

The action folds around to a woman who moves all-in on me for another $50.

I insta-call.

She shows 9-9 and is dominated.

The flop comes K-Q-10.

I have top set and she has a gut shot straight draw.

It is not the money at stake. I probably spent $75 already in tips for dealers and wait staff.

I typically take two or three bad beats a session.

For me, it is the emotional rollercoaster. I hate to lose, especially when I have the money in good.

The turn is a Jack. She hit the gutter.

I went from an 80% favorite to an 80% underdog with one card.

The river … a 10.

Winning in this game is never easy.

Pocket queens and A-Q suited used to rank high on my favorite hands list.

Today, I have officially removed any and all queens from list of playable hands.

After last night, I may change my name to Bad Beat Bob.

Here is why:

In a five hour span, I had five playable hands, in order:

1. A-K spades
2. A-K diamonds
3. A-Q hearts
4. Q-Q
5. Q-Q

I saw a cheap flop with A-K spades. The board was all red low cards and alot of action before me. I folded.

I called a $15 pre-flop bet with the A-K diamonds from the button. I am not a big fan of A-K, but the $3000 royal flush hand was diamonds.

The flop was Qd-Jd-7s. I needed any diamond for the nut flush, any 10 for a straight, and the 10d for the royal.

A friend of mine bet $40. I put her on K-Q. I did not want to draw on a made hand so I folded. I showed. She showed K-Q.

My reads were spot on all night.

Next comes the A-Q hearts hand on the button for three way action. The flop is A-9-3 rainbow.

First player, a tight player, goes all-in. I put this Grandma on a strong ace. The second player also goes all-in. He is a very loose donkey that I put on a weak ace.

So, I am staring at the case ace on the flop with a great kicker. No way either player has A-K. I have them both covered and call.

Grandma and I immediately turn our hands over. She has A-J. Donkey boy does not show.

Fourth and fifth streets are blanks.

Donkey boy slow rolls A-9 offsuit. Some guys just get lucky.

Then comes Q-Q on the button. Long story short, half my chips are gone from a river King in heads up action with A-K.

Three hours later I get my next playable hand. Q-Q on the button.

I raise 10X the big blind to protect the hand.

Everyone folds except for a calling station from middle position that just made his third rebuy in an hour.

I know he is weak, so I push on the flop of 9-6-2 rainbow.

He calls.

I immediately show my hand.

Calling station is too embarrassed to show his hand until the river is dealt, which was a blank like the turn.

He shows me 9-6 offsuit for two pair.

My queens were not only cursed, I got slow rolled to boot.

I am divorcing the cursed queens.