Hold'em at the Wynn

3:15am; The Wynn
I find the poker room and sit down at a $1, $2 No Limit Table, $300 buyin. At this point, I’m definitely feeling the buzz but not tired or miserable. So I convince myself that I’m not breaking Bill Simmons rule of “No DTM gambling (any gambling after 2am when you’re Drunk, Tired, and Miserable.)” I end up playing from 3:15am till 10:00am without a break. I’d say around 9:15am, I entered the DTM range. But I kept playing till I lost all of my chips. The seven hours of gambling really came down to 4 crucial hands. The first doubled my stack from $400 to $800. The last three had me lose my $800 and the $200 I had re-bought in for.

4:45am
The Big Hand I won: My Stack = $400
In position, I received a AD 10C and called the big blind. The small blind with a $200 stack called and the big blind with a $400 stack checked. The flop came up AH 5C 4C. I led with an aggressive bet of $20, given the pot was only $6. The small blind immediately folds and the big blind sits for a minute to think it over. As soon as I see him hesitate, I immediately put him on a draw, as in he either is looking for the third club or has a straight possibility. He ends up calling and the turn is a JD. The pot now has $46 and I think he missed his flush/straight. I want to either win the pot right now or make him seriously pay for the river card. I bet $75. He immediately calls. The fact that he quickly called tells me that he does not think he has this hand won. The call, as opposed to a raise, implies that he wants to see the river card, so it further confirms my thought that he is on the draw. The river comes and it’s a blank, 9D. I’m convinced that he missed his draw, but my fear is that if I do not bet enough, he may come over the top of me in an attempt to bluff me off the pot. The pot is now a respectable $196, which leaves me with about $300. I bet $100, which means that if he wants to bluff me he’ll have to go all in. Because if he raises by $100, pot odds will force me to call. If he missed his draw there’s no way he goes all in.

Well, he goes all in. Now I have a fairly difficult decision. The pot is $600, and I have $200 to call. I’m getting 3-1 odds on my money, but throw the math out, this is about feel. I was pretty sure this entire time that he was on a draw. His bets and hesitations all signaled a draw. The only thing that didn’t was his last bet, which means it has high bluff potential. However, what if he was sitting on pocket 9’s? Would he have bet them any differently? The hesitation on the initial bet would make sense, because the ace is a scary card and he would have to decide whether I have an ace or not. The second bet is suspect. The Jack hits, which is yet another card that could beat him. He did not hesitate to call my second bet, so the Jack didn’t scare him. Hmm, I make my decision and push all in. Immediately, his calm face changes into a pained expression and I know the pot is mine. He turns over 6D 7C, which made me feel great. He was on the draw. The affable fat guy next to me yells, “Holy sh*t! My balls are definitely not that big!” The dealer gives him a dirty look and the affable fat guy says, “What? Balls isn’t a swear word.” “I think you said sh*t.” “F*** it.” I really wanted to bust out the Sam Cassel ball dance, but self-control got the better of me.
Well unfortunately, this was my high point. I end up losing three big hands after, two of which I had three of a kind with a weaker kicker than my opponent, and the final big hand I lost I called an all-in bet with JJ, he had 10 10, Of course, a 10 hit the flop.