PokerStars Reload and Assorted Weirdness

Yesterday was an odd day of poker.

First things first, let's get the ugly out of the way. I've got about ten decent casino bonuses I'm working through, and hit up Casino County yesterday. Nice little 100% match up to $100 bonus, decent WR, easy pickings. Err, no. Deposit my $100, get my $100 bonus, and proceed to go on a horrible run of cards at blackjack. I lasted all of twenty minutes I think before completely busting out. And the sad thing is I was flat betting $2 a hand. That takes some doing, to bust that quickly, but I managed to pull it off. So yes, kids, moral of the story is that gambling is still, well, gambling.

So I messed around on PokerNow a bit, really just waiting for a cashout from there to clear, so I could hit the PokerStars reload bonus before it expired. I was two tabling 3/6 and a $25 NL table, watching television, just sort of chilling out. Cashout goes through, I close the 3/6 table, and am about to close the $25 NL table when I get dealt JJ in the BB. I'm down to about $20 or so from my original buy-in, having limped a few times but really not seeing any decent cards.

Three players limp in for $1 and I raise to $4. Only the button calls (who I have slightly covered) and we see a flop of Qc 9s 2c. I bet out $6 and he calls. Turn is the Kc. I check, just to see where we're at, and he instapushes all-in.

So I go to click the fold button, but I just can't do it. I've got nothing. Well, a pair of jacks (and one is the Jc) but still. He likely either made his flush or has AK, AQ, KQ, QQ, etc. Or Kx or Qx. So yeah. I've got nothing.

Except I was about to close out the table anyway, only had $8 or so left, and it's a decent pot, and, you know, maybe he's betting two pair or a straight, and the river will be a club, and my jack high flush will be golden.

So I, umm, call, and the river is a club, and my jack high flush beats his set of Qs. Terrible. But whee, I have $45 in front of me now. He goes into a well-deserved tirade, about how he's going to stay just to watch me bust out, what an idiot I am, etc. To which I keep replying "klonkklonkklonkklonkklonk". (I only do that because someone at InterPoker sucked out a huge pot on me, hitting a two outer on the river, and kept typing that in, which pissed me off royally for some reason. I mean, really, what else are you going to say when you make a bad call and get insanely lucky?)

Two hands later I limp in on the button with A2c. Five of us see a flop of 4c 6c 7d. Checked to me, I bet out $3, big stack at the table ($80 or so, who is UTG) calls, everyone else folds. Turn is a 3c. UTG checks and I check. (I know, nut flush, but I figured if I was going to get anything else out of him it'd have to be on the river and I wasn't scared of giving him a free card.)

River is the 5h, giving us a board of 3c, 4c, 5h, 6c, 7d. Pot is $11. I perked up a bit at the 5 on the river, thinking that maybe he'd call a token underbet with a straight on the board, pegging me as that annoying asshole that bets in situations like that. UTG checks, I bet $2. UTG raises to $20.

I sit there and stare at it for a bit. What could he be holding to cause him to overbet the pot like that, waking up only on the river, with a coordinated board? 89? 88? 8(any)? K(any)clubs? 89c? Of course, he did limp in, so 57c is a remote possibilty, for the straight flush, but I think it's safe to ignore that when putting people on hands in situations like this. If they have it, cool, I tip my hat to that.

I'm pretty certain I have the nuts, so the question is how much do I re-raise. The pot is $33, I have about $40 left in my stack, he's got about $65. I'm afraid if I push he'll simply fold. He'll also probably fold to any significant re-raise. So I do the weak annoying mini-reraise, timidly pushing in $24. He instashoves all-in.

Which leaves me in an odd state of joy/despair. I have to call and do, gladly, but bracing slightly to see the 57c. He flips over A8. I take down a big ol' pot. Umm, okay, boss. Thanks.

Fast forward to later on in the night, when I'm at PokerStars playing full ring 3/6. I really hadn't been getting much for cards, had a pretty tight table image (my only two raises took down the blinds uncontested), and the table in general was pretty low-key, with no maniacs, fish, etc. I'm dealt AA in the SB. An apparently decent player raises from UTG, button calls, I re-raise, BB folds, UTG re-raises, button folds, I cap.

Flop is A 8 6, rainbow. UTG and I go to war, betting is capped.

Turn is a J. We continue our war, betting is capped.

River is a 2. No possible straight or flush. We battle some more, betting is capped.

I win, UTG mucks without showing.

I only bring this up because I can't, for the life of me, put him on a hand that would make the action even quasi-sensible. He wasn't tilting and had played well while I was at the table. He wasn't short stacked or bleeding chips. He just momentarily lost his mind and handed me a lot of chips.

So yeah. The cards continue to treat me pretty well. I feel like I'm making good progress, as far as amping up the aggression, even in the face of potentially scary boards/cards. Living in fear of a check-raise is no way to live. If anything, you want to be check-raised a certain amount, as otherwise you're not getting the most value from your winning hands.