Better watch the slowplay

The main event starts tomorrow, so of course with 4-5 table pushes and few breaks I went out and played poker until 3 AM... but I will survive. One thing I have noticed about these high limit players is they are action JUNKIES. They have 4-5 grand riding on a baseball game, $300 last longer bets with the entire table of a 10 person Sit and Go, etc... they love to gamble and if there isn't money involved then they are bored. I can honestly say I don't see the excitement in betting if the flop will be more red than black.

I hit the Rio tonight with a ton of energy and came out of the gate on fire. Unfortunately noone else at the table got anything and I ended up with mostly blinds and small pots so I was up a modest 40 bucks. Now this is where the story should end... but as you might have guessed it doesn't. I then proceeded to go on a sick run of getting rivered with 1 and 2 outers and ended up tilting badly and pressing to get back at them and dropped 350 before I decided to get out of that game... You might think the story ends here... but NO. It was only 11 PM, why go home now... So they started up a 1/2 No-limit game and I have been wanting to give it a try, so I decided to give it a go. I took my remaining 46 dollars in chips and another 100 in red I bought and went to the 1/2 game. Shortly after sitting down I take down a nice pot with JJ against AK on the turn and am over 200 in chips... sweet, this no-limit thing is EASY.

It wasn't always so easy as I got JJ again against a flopped flush and put 45 dollars more than I should have into the pot. I then missed a few draws and had to rebuy for another 100 as I dwindled down to a net of over 500 down. The night took an upturn finally around 12:30 AM as I got 66 UTG. I raised it to 5x bb ($2 BB so $10) and it is reraised to $20 and called by one other player reluctantly. I put the raiser on a big ace and the caller on a weaker ace (meaning one ace is dead and I am a bigger favorite) so I reraise all-in to isolate and the original raiser called, the other player folded. The raiser had AQ suited and nothing came and I stacked him to double up. Interestingly the caller SAID he had JJ and would have won... if he did, he played that hand absolutely AWFUL....

A little while later the guy to my left lays down a hand to a reraise and is shown the bluff and is now steaming. My read on him is he wants to get his money all-in ASAP and is looking to check/raise someone all-in to do it. I limp on the button with K6 off-suit and he raises a small amount. Folded back to me, and I call. I figure if I can hit a flop I can stack him and it will be easy to get off of. Flop is AKx and he checks. I smell a trap as this guy is steaming and check. The turn is a gorgeous 6, giving me 2 pair and he checks again. I "Fall for it" and bet $20 into a $60 pot. He check-raises all-in and I call before he even finishes saying all-in. He shows AJ for the "Trap" and I stack him. He leaves in disgust.

A little while later I got to demonstrate the power of position... I have the button and limp with J/9 suited. The Big blind raises a signifigant amount and I call. The flop is A/9/x and he checks. I make a stab at the pot and he lays down his QQ. He shows me and goes "Good laydown", and I show him the J/9, a little while later I would stack him with a flush vs his top pair.

I ended up busting 4 guys out of the game and running from 500 down to 57 down to end the night, including being up 300 at no-limit. Not to shabby for my first attempt at No-limit.

Now off to bed.. Main event.. time for the big time baby.