Out of practice

Road trip to Detroit for a concert this weekend with high school buddies - didn't think I would have any time to play cards, though. I was wrong - both wanted to gamble on Saturday afternoon before the show, so I told them I would meet them for dinner in three hours and checked out the Greektown poker room.

Wasn't there long. In my first orbit, someone made it $6 (really small bet for a live 1-2 table), and I made it $20 with AK on the button. Table captain and all that. Original raiser calls and donks 17 on a Q-9-4 flop. He's got something. Is he capable of folding top pair? Dunno, I've been here 5 minutes. I fold and he shows AQ, which outflopped my AK. So much for domination.

3 hands later, I limp with a little ace-five soooted and we go multiway. I flop a gutshot, overcard, and backdoor flush draw on a 2-4-6 board. You know, the nuts. I call a small bet and so does another guy. Turn brings a jack of my flush suit. Equity improves, call again with the other guy. River brings the straight. Board is 234J6 and I have a one card straight. First better shoves all in ($40 into more than that, he was shortstacked), I call, then the other better shoves himself. Blah. I see 5-7 is the nuts, but somehow convince myself that 5-7 was a weak draw on the flop and this hand was unlikely. More likely is another 5 for a chop or even two pair from a bad player. I call the shove.

And I'm out in 5 hands. He's got 5-7o, a perfectly reasonable open-ended draw the whole way. Why didn't I decode that? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I only had one buy-in, since I was only playing for 3 hours anyway, so no reloading. I sit in the lobby for a few minutes going over the hand - why didn't I see that 57 had every reason to play the hand that way? I'm sure I would have folded to the shove had I seen that. (we might argue whether folding the second nuts here is correct or not, it turned out to be so this time). I have to conclude that my lack of recent live play did me in this time. Not a great result, but I can live with it. Play more poker and you'll stay sharp, knucklehead.

I go find my friend playing the 3 card poker table game. I watch for awhile, then join in with my last $100. Fortune is with me - I turn it into $280 and win back most of what I lost with my bad holdem play.