Taking more stabs at poker

Wil Wheaton wrote once that when he's really "on" as a performer, he can't remember what really happened because he's so invested in the energy and it whooshes by like a blur. A bad evening (or what he perceives as bad because I personally think that his "Spongebobvegaspants" story is one of triumph rather than defeat) gets seared into his memory and then later regurgitated in his blog.

My brain is obviously wired differently from Wil's because I mostly remember the best hand I had in the recent cash game I was in. Doc was dealing to the VIPs and other staff members of the local area convention that I volunteer for. My buy-in had been generously donated to me, and I somehow managed to grow my stack to a decent size. Then came the hand that unseated trip sevens as my favorite winning hand of all time.

I can't remember if I'd been dealt Q-Jo or Q-Ko. What I do remember is the flop, coming up with the rest of what I needed for an unsuited straight, Ace-high. In my well-hidden excitement, I didn't think that perhaps Dash had also hit a straight or any other kind of hand that would have beaten my straight when he laid his first $5 chip down. I slow-played the hell out of that hand, raising by only $5 increments each time he opened the betting. There's no way in hell, I thought, that you can have anything that will beat my straight. It's destined for me to win this hand. But I'll keep letting you think I don't have anything.

I don't remember what the turn and the river were. I probably should have been more cautious, but nothing paired on the board and he kept laying those $5 chips down, and I kept raising him by that much. I fell in love with the flop, something that I know can be dangerous. Finally it comes time for us to show our hands and yes, I had his two pair (Aces and something) beat. As I raked the chips closer to me, I even needled him a little bit, saying, "How could you not think that I had the straight from the way I was betting?" (Even now, I think I probably shouldn't have gloated or tried to put him on tilt. It was supposed to be a friendly game after all.)

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Best hand of this morning:

Dealer: Game #11178369659: Tr1shaLynn wins pot (575) with a full house, Aces full of Tens
schmechschdp: n1
sdscards: #@*@@#*
Tr1shaLynn: thx

I slow-played him, and had the Ace in my pocket. All the while, I'm telling myself that I really shouldn't be in this hand, but we were three-handed at the time and every time I went to fold, the game kept telling me that checking was free. Who can resist free checking? Once I saw that I made my house, I reeled him in by doubling his raise on the river.

And then I ended up giving a lot of it to another player who got a different full house later on.

Bad beat number two came when I thought I could bluff someone out of a pot by making them think I had a straight. I keep forgetting that you can't project confidence online if you're not chatting/talking to someone and his two pair held up. After that, I went all-in and busted out.

Damn full houses. You're too damn shiny.