Home Game

We played our final home game for 2007 tonight. It was an interesting game, to say the least. A friend of ours brought a new guy. He was the ultimate calling station. He would call with almost any pair, and any kind of possible draw. Most of the hands he played were out of position, which simply magnifies how bad he played. The tournament went well overall though.

We started with 9 players, 6 of which I would consider good players. I went out in 4th, which really frustrates me. Especially since I was sitting second in chips when we got down to 4 handed. I didn't play bad all night long. However, the blinds got to 2000/4000 with a 500 ante, which basically forced the short stacks to start and gamble. I had about 40,000 and sitting in the big blind. The small blind shoved all in for another 21,100. At this point, I had to step back for a second and think about a couple of factors in the hand. First, what are my pot odds. I was in the big blind for 4000 and he completed the blind for 4000. With the antes there was about 10,000 in the pot. Now he pushed in for another 21,100. So there was 31,100 and it was costing me 21,100. So I was getting about 3:2 on my money. Next, you have to put him on a hand. When I saw him look at his cards, he didn't really show much strength and I knew he would push with almost any two cards. So, long story short, I called figuring I was up against a junk Ace or what I thought he would have, two low cards. I had Q9, he showed 23. The flop was good for me, A-J-10. The turn brought a 3 and a 2 on the river. I made a great call that didn't work out. So that pretty much made me the short stack and I was forced to go all in the next hand. If I didn't know the player so well, I would have definetly dumped the hand. But, like I always say, you can only get it in with the best of it. I'll take a 2:1 lead all day long.

So, my streak of winning our home game is over, FOR NOW. :) We won't be playing on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. So it's time to get my head together and make 2008 a strong year for me.