$1/2 No Limit at the Yassa's

I was sick most of the week but decided to play at Mike and George's 1/2 game they've been having on Saturdays. I brought $300 with me and basically went in with a gameplan of playing very tight and really picking my spots well. Between my family situation and coming off being sick, I wasn't really sure what kind of quality game I would play, so I decided to play straightforward and go from there.

So we started around 2:30pm, I bought in for $120. It was me, Adam, Jay, Aden, George, Josh, Sean, Mark and Nate to start. My strategy was simple: play extremely tight in early position, try to come in raising when you are the first to enter a pot and make good decisions, especially after the flop..

The first significant hand I was involved in happened to be my only true bluff of the day. I'm third under the gun, UTG limps and I limp with 55. Guy to my left (Justin) raises to $12, Zach calls, Sean calls in big blind and I decide to call.. hoping to flop a set. The flop comes K 7 3 rainbow. At this point, part of me gave up on the hand but I was also watching the table to see if anyone showed enough weakness to let me steal the pot. Sean checks, I check, Justin (original raiser) bets out $15 into a pot of about $40.. Zach flat calls, Sean folds. At this point, I've seen that Justin probably has a pocket pair AND that he doesn't like the King because of his bet. Also, Zach's flat call led me to believe he (A) doesn't have a King, because I think he would raise there with a King.. or (B) if he has a King, he's worried about his kicker. So, I decide to pull the trigger and check-raise $40 more. Thinking about the hand, If I actually had pocket 3s or 7s, it would make sense and I felt neither person was interested enough to play back at that play.. which they didn't everyone folded. I found out later Justin had QQ and Zach (says) he had KQ and was trying to get another bet out of Justin on the turn... which makes sense. Zach thought there was enough of a chance I had AK or a set..

Another interesting hand.. I decide to straddle for $7 and two people call me. I look down at my hand (Q 10 of hearts) and check it. Flop is Q 8 7. I lead out with $10 because I think it's the best play. I'm the straddle, so I can literally have anything. George was in the pot also, another reason for me to play it straight-forward... I have to try and stay a step ahead of him. My bet out would look much more like a pair of 8s or maybe some kind of straight-draw.. so it was deceptive enough. George elects to just call me. The turn is another Q. Applying the same thought process, I fire again.. this time $25. George again calls. (At this point, I'm not overly concerned with what he has. Honestly, I thought I saw Jay fold the Queen of spades so when I had the three queens, I thought George was dead to rights..) The river.. ended up being the Queen of spades. (guess I was wrong). I make quads.. but I'm not getting a nickle out of George if I check. I have to bet even harded on the chance he made Queens full.. which at this point.. he HAS to have. I bet out $40.. he actually says "I think you have quads" but calls, as I probably would to.

The craziest hand of the night was the one hand I played against Josh. At this point him and I are both up considerably. I think he's up $100 and I'm up $300. I pick up AA and raise to $14 second UTG. Adam and Rudy both call..and Josh hesitates, laughs and loosely tosses in another $12 for the call. Now.. before the flop is dealt, I'm trying to gauge what each of them can have. Adam I'm not worried in the least. He either had high cards or a pocket pair.. easy to read after the flop. Rudy calls EVERYTHING so he could have anything.. but I'm not worried about losing money to him because when he bets, It's usually an indication to get the fuck out. But Josh has been limping alot all day and calling raises with pot odds. I know how he plays. He's the one guy I think may have the hand to crack the Aces.. but that all depends on the texture of the board..

Flop comes Q 5 5.. two spades. I don't like the two fives.. obviously. Rudy checks, so does Josh, I decide to bet out $30 into a pot of about $58... figuring it's the best bet I can make that (A) tells me where I am in the hand and (B) if I feel like I'm beat and fold, I'm losing the minimum. Adam thinks long and hard about it but folds.. Rudy folds and Josh hesitates and raises the minimum to $60 total. My thoughts went as follows.. in order: "FUCK, he's got a five".. "there's no way he raises me with a Q here, he knows how tight I've been playing and I could easily have AA, KK or AQ."... "So why the raise? Because he called for pot odds pre-flop.. probably has 56 suited and hit the flop hard but doesn't like the two spades out there and raised" So I folded. He had 57 of clubs and showed it. I showed the Aces after that, and the idiots at the table we "stunned" I folded. Good hand Josh.

Anyway, I cashed out at $412 on a $120 buyin. It was a good day and I re-discovered my patience at the table. I played tight in early position and called far fewer raises pre-flop with marginal hands. I routinely laid down KQ or A9 just because it wasn't worth it. I think that will continue... this system seems like it works for me.