A Donkey Goes Eeee-Awww, Eeee-Awww

Not too much of note to report on the poker front. Feel sort of sheepish, to be honest, babbling on about assorted results when people are dealing with much more serious, weighty issues and bad mojo.

I got in my hands yesterday, played like an absolute donkey, and won lots of money. I was more embarrassed than pleased, to be honest, which maybe is a milestone in and of itself, as far as profits not overcoming the disappointment with oneself for playing like a muppet.

I took down a couple of big pots when I completed from the SB with 92s and J5s, rivering a flush both times. Completing was fine, but in both cases I wasn't getting proper odds on the turn to chase, but chase I did. Eeee-Awww.

The other notable donk win came when I was in the BB with A6o and the button open-raised me. He was fairly LAGgy and had been doing this pretty frequently, as the table was pretty tight and often folded around to the button.

I decided to get cute and call and then check-raise the flop, no matter what came. This sounds kind of dumb but can be reasonably effective if it's heads up, you think someone is on a steal, and you've been playing tightly at the table. Sort of a mini stop-and-go, as the flop usually misses you both and the aggressor will simply fold when you show strength. There's also a little extra value of playing back at someone who is likely stealing from you with a wide range of hands.

That said, it's kind of hard to force myself to do it if the flop misses you, as you could easily be throwing away an extra BB with the check-raise, since you pretty much have to fold if he comes over the top of you.

So I have A6o in the BB, everyone folds, button raises, SB folds, I call. Flop comes J 8 2, rainbow. I check, button bets, I check-raise, button 3 bets. Doh.

For some reason I call. I have no idea why. Horrible. I can't take A6o to showdown if I don't improve on the turn but there's virtually no card that can come on the turn that'll help me, only cards that can slightly improve what could already be a dominated hand.

Turn is an A. I bet, button raises. Doh.

I call. Again, no idea why. Well, the call isn't horrible, but betting out when the A came is pretty bad. I'm not going to fold but checking and calling the turn and river is by far the best line, as I have absolutely no clue where I'm at. If he doesn't have an A, checking and calling may induce him to continue to bluff at the pot, since he's the aggressor. Betting out can only result in him folding lots of hands he might continue to bet with (KK, QQ, smaller pocket pairs, etc.) or getting raised if he really has a hand.

River is a 6. I check, he bets, I call. He shows AKs, I shamefacedly take down the pot with my mighty A6o. You could make a decent argument that I misplayed absolutely every decision I had to make in that hand, from start to finish.

Eee-Aww.