A Day at Foxwoods

Foxwoods

My bedside alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. The only time I ever see this time of day is when I'm in the midst of a marathon poker session online. I couldn't remember the last time I actually woke up this early. I got in the shower, donned a brand-new shirt and my favorite pair of jeans, and hopped into my car to pick up Alex, a poker friend. We were headed to Foxwoods to play the 8 a.m. tournament, and then play some cash games afterwards.

My first bad beat came early. In fact, it came before we reached the cardroom. It's -EV to fly through speed traps at 85 mph. Take it from me. Seeing as the day couldn't have started off any worse, I figured that things were bound to get better. We arrived at Foxwoods, found a great parking spot right next to the doors, and headed down to registration. There were about 220 players entered in the $80 + $20 tournament, making for a decent-sized prize pool. I wanted to win.

Action was loose and fast early. Two seats to my left was a firecracker of a player, raising every hand, taking down small pots, losing big ones. I hadn't played a hand yet, and I found myself staring at the A K in the small blind. The firecracker open-pushed for 400 chips, down from his 2,000-chip starting stack. I simply called, and the big blind folded. He flipped up K-6, but spiked a 6 on the turn to win the pot. Naturally, we know where this story is going. Blinds started rising, and I lost a few pots due to horrendous play by the others. I made it just past the first break, when I busted quickly after I pushed with A-10 in the cutoff and was called by A-A. So much for that $100.

It was 9:30 a.m., and I decided to sit down at a $4-$8 limit game. The very first hand I played, I flopped quads and capped every street with two other players. Turns out that would be the only hand I'd win at that table, and I'd drop more than $500 by 11 a.m. I saw aces four times, but when seven people cap preflop, winning with aces really doesn't happen that often. Literally all of my big hands got cracked, and if I was ahead on the flop, I lost on the river. It was just one of those days; none of my hands held up, and I lost a ton of money because I refused to quit.

Example: I was under the gun with the A A. I raised immediately, three people called, one person reraised, I capped, everybody called. The flop came J 8 4 rainbow, and three people, including me, capped the flop. The turn was the 2, and we capped it as well. I started to worry about J-J or 8-8. The river was the 5, and I absolutely hated that card just because it put a three-flush on the board. This table was very, very loose, but I had no idea how loose until this showdown. There was one bet, one caller, and I called as well. The winner showed the A K, and the other guy showed Q-8 offsuit. Yes, I'm serious. Head, meet wall.

Well, that hand put me on a kind of tilt so horrendous that I couldn't even bring myself to play another hand of poker at that table. I had $23 in chips left, so I gathered them up, grabbed my friend, and headed for the buffet. I was going to gorge myself on food until I felt better, then switch over to the cash cow known as the Foxwoods $1-$2 no-limit tables. I was prepared to lose two buy-ins at worst, which was equivalent to $200. I was stuck $600 for the day so far, losing at a rate of $100 per hour. Awesome.

After cramming cookies and cake down my throat, I gulped down another coffee and selected the $1-$2 no-limit table I wanted to join. I was directly to the left of the dealer in seat No. 1. In seat No. 2 was a player with around $400 in chips, a 22- or 23-year-old guy who frequented Foxwoods, and was a good, careful player. Seat No. 3 was a Dutch guy wearing bright orange in Olympic spirit. He played like he was in a tournament, and certainly wasn't that good. Seat No. 4 was a guy I tangled with a lot. He had around $400 in chips when I sat down, and was a very good player. Probably one of the best at the table. He was aggressive at the right times, made the right laydowns, and so on. To his left in seat No. 5 was an old woman who had no idea what she was doing. She busted quickly, and her seat was filled by someone whom I don't even remember. In seat No. 6 was a TV-watcher-turned-player. Sunglasses, hat, card protector - everything. He had around $150, but had reloaded a few times already. In seat No. 7 was the player everyone wanted at the table. He'd already dropped $600, and was so skeptical he'd call you with 8 high just to see what you had. The last three seats were rounded out by three horrendous players. It was a great table. And seriously loose.

To preface, I play an incredibly loose no-limit game. Not that I feel I have to justify the hands I'm about to share, but, well, I try my best not to be a complete donkey even when it might seem that way. A few hands in, I was dealt 10-9 offsuit from under the gun and raised to $15. Three players to my left were sitting out, and I hadn't played a hand yet. I got one caller in seat No. 10 out of the big blind, and we saw a flop of A 4 3. He checked, I bet out $25 at the flop, and he called. He checked the turn, an 8, and I slowly checked behind. The river was the K, and he checked to me again. I pushed for $60 more or so, about the size of the pot, more or less. He folded quickly, and I showed, saying, "Just this once, fellas." Some people exchanged a glance around the table, salivating. I was smiling on the inside.

Five or six hands later, I was dealt A-A in the big blind. The player one to the left of under the gun raised it to $16, and four people called. I reraised to $70, and only the horrible player in seat No. 7 called. The flop was A-2-2, and I check-called when he pushed into me with 9-2 offsuit. Just like that, I doubled up, sitting on around $300 in chips. Yes, he called off $86 preflop with 9-2 offsuit. The very next hand, I was dealt A-9 offsuit. The player in seat No. 10 raised to $12, and I reraised to $37 in an attempt to isolate him in a heads-up pot. The player in seat No. 7 called, and so did the original bettor. We saw a flop of 8-7-2, and I bet out $60. Seat No. 7 called, and the other player folded. The turn was an 8, and we both checked. The river was an ace. At this point, I hoped he knew I'd be betting a scare card, but I figured he'd be calling no matter what anyway. I put him all in for his last $50, and sure enough, he called with 5-5. I was slowly erasing that deficit.

Then came the big hand. I was in the small blind with K-K. The good player in seat No. 4 limped in, and the cutoff raised it to $16. The button called, I called as well, and then seat No. 4 reraised to $45. Shoot me, please. What would he be limp-raising with if he didn't have K-K? The answer was A-A. I didn't want to believe it. Everybody called, including me. The flop was low, 10 6 5. I checked, and seat No. 4 bet out $100. The horrible player had built his chip stack up to around $250 at this point, and simply called the $100. The other players folded, and it was up to me. I could comfortably put the caller on a flush draw, but I couldn't convince myself that seat No. 4 had anything but aces. I put my tail between my legs, closed my eyes, put my head on the table, and folded. He pushed a blank turn, and the player in seat No. 7 called. They flipped up, seat No. 4 showing A-A, and seat No. 7 showing the A J. The flush missed, and I had dodged a bullet. Two of them. I saved a few bucks there, which would certainly come in handy in the hands to come.

Sitting on a healthy stack, I raised with the 10 6 to $12 from the cutoff. The big blind called. We saw a flop of Q 5 3, giving me a flush draw. He bet out $20, I raised to $65. He called. The turn was an offsuit 6, and he pushed for $70 more. I thought about it and made a really loose call, but rivered one of my outs, a 10, to win the pot against his K-Q. After losing a bunch of small hands following this one, my stack was around $450.

A young woman had filled seat No. 8, and she got mixed in immediately. She raised to $16 from under the gun, which was normal at this table. I called in middle position with the A 2, and two other people called. We saw a flop of Q 5 5, and she bet out another $16. I simply called, but seat No. 4 raised to $50. We both called. The turn was the J, she checked, and I looked at seat No. 4, smiled, and pushed. He folded quickly, saying, "Even if you don't got it, I couldn't beat ace high." The girl in seat No. 8 shrugged and called, flipping over K-K. She didn't fill up, and I won a big pot, bringing my stack up even higher. I didn't have time to count before the next hand was dealt.

I didn't bother looking at my cards. Someone raised to $15, and I just threw in $15. Two other players called, and the flop was A K 4. Someone bet out $30 on the flop, and I threw in another $30 while stacking my chips. Everyone called. It was only at this point that one guy said, "Have you even looked yet?" I laughed and said no, but I should probably look now. I peered down and saw that I had the 6 5, good for a flush draw. The turn brought the J, completing my flush. One guy went all in for $38 more, and I looked at my cards, then said, "OK, I'm all in." One of the remaining two players looked at me, laughed, and said, "Whatever, I have to call." The other guy folded. I flipped over my flush and he immediately mucked his cards. The person who pushed all in before me had A-K, and missed the river. I can only assume the caller had something like Q-10 or A-J. I dragged in another huge pot, and that's when I quit. I had erased my $600 deficit, and even turned a profit. My stack had gone from $100 to $1,050 in just two hours.

At this point, I had the good sense to cash out my chips, since I couldn't possibly run any better. Even if I had gone home a loser, I had come home with so many bad-beat stories that it almost made it worth it. I took the beats early in the morning, and I dealt them out in the afternoon. Karma, baby! My win was bittersweet, though, as my friend Alex was a $500 loser on the day. I bought him dinner, we hopped in the car and drove home, a long day of poker under our belts.