Cash game Thursday report

A small crowd this week - I guess summer months have people off doing other things. We had 7 for a couple hours, then 6 and finally 5.

This night proved to be much the same as recent weeks, with me close to the break even mark. The very first hand of the session, I raised up a pair of tens under the gun and got one caller with position on me. An ace came on the board, which I check-called. We both checked the turn, so I fired off a river bet with my tens as the highest card showing except for the ace. My opponent, the habitual non-believer, said "you don't think I have that ace", and he was right. His non-believing ways appear to have leaked into his reads of what others think he has - funny how one's style can affect upper level thinking that way.

Anyway I won a small pot on hand #1, then gave it all back on hand #2. A pair of sixes this time, which I limped, then called a raise from the big blind. The final board was a scary KQQJx monster with three diamonds. I made a solid bluff at the board but got a call from AK.

The rest of the night was spent leaking away chips on some marginal stuff that missed everything, and two big pots against CS, both with KQ. CS is the luckbox who plays 75% of the hands and hits over half of them, seemingly. If he takes a couple losses, he will tighten up and play more normally, but if he wins some chips, then look out - he becomes the table captain and bets every hand and every street. CS usually falls into a big hole when he hits a decent hand like two pair but is dead to an even bigger hand, then he is prone to give his chips away.

He was in table captain mode when he made his 4th or 5th raise in a row from UTG. I defended with KQ and hit top pair. I chose to check-call and let CS do the betting for me, which was my plan for the entire board, but then the turn brought another spade, and I had the king of spades. Top pair with a flush draw, hmmm. I checked again, but when he bet I broke out the checkraise, and CS folded. I later learned he also had KQ, but no spade, so I was freerolling. I was actually surprised he laid down his top pair in the face of my checkraise.

Later, I defended again with KQ, and the board was pretty nice - 9TJ, all spades. I had the straight but on a flushy board, but the Qs would give me a monster straight-flush to the king. Why couldn't it ever be easy? Couldn't I flop the nut straight on a rainbow 9TJ board? I started to play this one the same way, with a check/call. CS's bet sizes are pretty transparent - I felt that this bet was his "standard one pair or nothing" bet size, which he ramps up in size once he hits two pair+.

The turn brought was looked harmless - the 3c. I checked, and CS made his bet again, this time his bigger "I've got the best hand now" $10 bet. This confused me, why would his betsize change on a 3? Maybe he had pocket threes. Well, I could blast him out of the pot right now, bit I decide to call one more time and try for that elusive straight flush.

A harmless river, no luck. I think I have the best hand, though, so I lead out with a $15 bet, which scares CS off. He reveals J3 - the 3 did in fact improve his hand to two pair, but a good fold on a dangerous board. An UTG raise with J3 - oy vey. CS has balls of steel, but once again he made a good laydown with a decent hand, something I considered his biggest weakness. If he becomes a true LAG, then I'll have another worry in this game.