Women problems

It's easy at times to kid yourself into thinking that your problems are bigger than they are, or you're the only one with problems. I was waiting this morning for the elevator to go for breakfast. When the doors slid open, I was confronted with a guy whose problems were quite different from those of a poker player running bad, and probably more serious. He was looking sheepish while the other occupant of the elevator, an angry looking girl, berated him. "You absolute dick!!! The threesome with my best friend was your idea in the first place!!!!"

I maintained a perfect poker face all the way through the eight floor descent, all the time wondering where the friend was now.

I got off to a good start in event 54, moving up to 4k (from 3k starting) in the first hour. Then at 25/50 (level two) I managed to play an 11k pot. It started innocuously enough with three early position limps. I limped along with pocket eights in mid position. The small blind, playing only 2k, made it 325. The first two limpers called and they both had stacks bigger than mine, so I called too, figuring I was mainly setmining. Flop came 567r, the raiser checks, the first limper bets 675, second limper calls, as do I. The raiser now shoves for 1k more, the bettor folds, the other guy reshoves and my first instinct is even though I'm clearly behind I'm probably going to have to call for the price. I spend a few minutes running through the math. Based on the pot size and what I have behind, I need about 26% equity to call. The most likely scenarios, in order of most to least likely are:
(1) First guy has a pair bigger than 99, second guy has a set. In this case, I have 32% equity.
(2) One of them has 99, the other a bigger pair. This is actually worse for me as I have less outs (8's no good, and only 2 nines left), and I have only 25% equity
(3) They both have tens plus. This is better for me: I have 39%.
(4) They both have sets, in which case I have about 34%

Overall, it's pretty clear that I have on average about 32% so it's a fairly clear call. If I somehow found myself in the main event in this spot I could consider folding even if priced in on the basis that there are safer ways to chip up than getting all your chips in when 2 times out of 3 you're going to lose. But a 3k starting stack event is a different matter entirely. If I folded I'd soon be down in the <30 bb arena where your hands are largely tied. There's added equity in getting a stack early in these shallow events so even if it was closer (like I thought I only had 27% equity) I'd still call. So I called, knowing I was basically gambling.

As I anticipated, the first guy had a big pair (qq) and the second a set (55). I binked a 4 on the turn, much to the chagrin of the set holder who started berating me as a "lucky Irish donkey". I opted for diplomatic silence as I raked in his stack but he kept ranting. Another guy upped the ante though saying "I call there too" which didn't really calm the situation. "No you don't. It's an awful call, how can eights be ahead". One of the Ritalin kids piped in "I don't think he thought he was ahead, just priced in". The ranter was unwilling or unable to accept this argument. I concluded it was more likely the latter when I saw how he played the 10 bbs he was left with: first he called a 4x raise to fold on a jack high flop, then he limp folded with 5 bbs. When he was eventually put out of his misery and stormed off, the entire table (including the dealer) cheered.

I'd moved steadily up to 18k when I was on the right side of a cooler. A shortie shoved for 2k, a very good aggro Russian reshoved for 12k, and I found kings in the big blind. The Russian kid had AQs. Bit of a sweat when he turned a flush draw. When you're running bad they always seem to hit against you, when you're running well you fade them, as I did here. I continued chipping up steadily to have 36k after 4 levels at dinner, with blinds still only 100/200.

After dinner I got moved to a much tougher table with a few online superstars. After losing KT v K5 when a shortie shoved, I found myself down below 30k again. I decided to tighten up, coming out once in a while to three bet the internet lags. As one of them eventually remarked, they were getting through 100%. I won a race against a shortie to move back to 40k when I got moved to a much softer table (no one under 30). I made hay as people locked up for the night and finished with 59500, three times average and fifth in chips according to Poker News. So a good day's work and a healthy situation going into Monday's day 2.

After we'd bagged up, I had a quick walk around to see what else was happening. The ladies bracelet event was down to two tables, and one of the tables had a much bigger and more vociferous rail thanks to another guy with women problems, albeit very different from elevator guy's. Every year a few brassnecked men insist on entering the ladies, and one now remained. Every time he put a chip into the pot he was roundly booed and heckled by the rail.

Sometimes, you can have too much balls in this game.

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