Memphis MOJO: Changing the subject

I played at a poker tournament tonight at the Goldstrike. It was a $110 buyin with T6000 starting chips and 20-minute levels. I bluffed twice and lost money both times, and basically I just played badly.

One cute hand. I was in late position with the blinds at T100/200 and I raised to T600 with ♦A ♣10. It folded to the big blind who announced all in for T1900 and turned over ♦3 ♠9. "It's my favorite hand," he said. "I'm showing you my cards because I always win with it."

Now, the dealer is supposed to call the Tournament Director. You can't show your cards to anyone, let alone the whole table (even though he and I were the only two left). She didn't say anything, and I'm a 2:1 favorite (actually I'm 67.82% to win according to the poker odds calculator), and so I called. He bricked out -- all five cards missed him, but there were four spades on the board which made him a flush. Ha ha, live poker is so rigged, I'm just sayin'.

Here's the first bluff. I limped in with ♣K ♣9 for T200 and a lady raised to T600. Another player called and I did too. The flop was ♣A and two rags. I checked and she did too, so now we know she is afraid of the ace (this lady is not playing on some deep level). The turn was the ♣Q. I now bet T600 which she called as the other guy folded. The river was a rag (but not a club) and I fired out T1200 and she called and showed pocket jacks. It doesn't pay to bluff an unbluffable player.

The other bluff was similar. I limped in for T200 with ♠10 ♠9. There was another limper to the big blind who raised to T600. I called because I had position, a hand that was disguised and I figured the other limper would call (he did), making a juicy pot (T1900) to shoot for. The flop was ♠K ♣Q ♦4. The raiser checked (!) and it was checked around. The turn was the ♠4 giving me a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Also, a 10 or a 9 could be an out in case the guy raised on AJ or 88 or various other hands. He checked again and I bet T900. This drove out the other limper but the raiser called. The river was a brick. The raiser checked and I bet T1500 and he called. I guess my story didn't add up to him because I had not bet the flop. (He had AQ for second pair, top kicker).

Both bluffs had the same problem. What's the expression? "Go big or go home." The bluffs might have worked if I had bet more. Obviously, not my best effort.

There isn't much else to write about, so I'll share some photos I took today. Is that like when someone brings up something that you don't want to talk about and so you change the subject?