“Death by the flop”

I apologize for taking so long to post. I came down with a nasty flu bug and a bronchial infection. Three days totally out of it and I am still barking like a seal. I think I can blame this illness on a Death flop.

Death flop – You know you are beat after the flop, but you have to call it down to the river.

A couple Fridays ago my friend Chicken Feet invited me to a NL ring game. Maximum buy-in was $100 and the blinds were $.50/$1. I bought in for $40 at around 11:00 PM. I was the tenth player at the table. I had only played with 2 of the ten players and they were both strong players. When I sat down there was this one guy to my left two spots with a huge stack of chips. It was a bit intimidating, but I would later learn that large stacks sometime lead to large fish. I got involved in a couple of pots. I remember losing with a set of sixes, so I became a little gun shy. I think I only won one hand all night, when it came to the death flop.

I peek at my cards to see pocket kings. Online lately my pocket pairs have been getting hammered. I was under the gun with $24 in my stack. I decided to limp in, which is a move I would later regret. Someone made a three dollar bet and I called. The flop came as ace, ace, and ace. Wow! I was UTG, so I bet $5 to test the waters. I got two callers and everyone else folded. I think a 7 came on the turn. I again bet $5. Mr. D raises it to $20. Mr. Fish calls the $20. Man does Mr. D have the ace? Why did he just call when I bet post flop? My brain says there are 29 cards left in the deck. I go all-in with my last $14. River brings a Jack. Well you know the end to this story. Mr. D did have the fourth ace. I was out!

The good news was that it was about 1:30 AM and Chicken Feet’s friend had just arrived from the airport with some fresh pacific oysters. I help Chicken feet put them on ice. I learned a bit about oysters and I got lectured on slow playing the pocket Kings. Chicken Feet was right though! If I had played more aggressively pre-flop, Mr. D would have never called with A7o. Oh well! I proceeded to clean a dozen fresh oysters. Chicken Feet shucked them and we were in for a real treat. He had two different kinds. They melted in your mouth and did not require any sauces. I was not ready to go home, so I dealt for about an hour. The sad part is that I did not get home until 4:00 AM.

That Saturday evening we had a dinner party to go to. The host had a putting green in his back yard. Of course I could not refuse the challenge to go have a putting contest. The problem was that I did not wear a jacket. Of course when I got deathly ill my better half blamed it on the fact that I was outside in cool weather without a jacket. I think it was a combination of lack of sleep, stress, and the cold weather. The lesson here is that I had better always take a jacket or meet the wrath of my better half. Perhaps I could blame it on the Death by the flop.

I am still on my quest to get my third bonus from Check N Raise poker. I think I am down to 45 check points then I will get my $25 bonus. Soon I will need to join another site. Hopefully I can get a good bonus at one of the sites.

Well it is past my bed time. I have been banished to the couch since my coughing is so horrible.

Good night! Bet the Big pockets! Play on!