Every other week, I play in a home game. OK, technically it’s not a home game, since we play in the dining room of a local restaurant. I’m pretty sure the game had its origins in somebody’s home, but I wasn’t in it at that time.
We usually have around 25 players, and here’s the format.
* Start with T2250
* 15 minute blind levels
* 3 starting tables with 8-9 per table.
* Top 5 or 6 pay out.
* $25 buyin
Blind Structure:
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
500/1000
As you can see, the blind structure is quite aggressive, but it needs to be, because they’re trying to finish the game up in 3-4 hours. The point here is that every hand is important in this format, even the early ones.
The players in the game are pretty much idiots. I’ve made a few friends in the game, a couple of which are pretty solid players, but most are complete donkeys.
There’s a few complete idiots in the game, both poker and personality-wise.
What follows is a situation that happened last night that completely pissed me off, and you’ll see why when I’m finished. I’m generally pretty even-tempered when playing poker. Sure, I have my periods of tilting, but I rarely steam from anger.
Blinds are at 50/100, and we’re about 30 minutes in. My stack is somewhere around 2600, and I’m playing pretty well. My table is made up of some of the bigger idiots in the game, and I’m liking my chances here. I generally play a tight game in these things early on, and it usually works pretty well, although I’ve been fiddling around with some different strategies lately to throw off some of the better players in the game that can actually recognize tendencies.
But at that moment my table image was a little looser than usual, which was just what I wanted at that point. I’d been putting pressure on a few of the weaker players at the table.
I’m dealt Kd-Ks in the big blind, a perfect hand for me to pick up, given the table makeup. MP player (solid player, one of the more knowledgeable in the game) limps. Fucktard dealer limps, SB completes, and after looking at my cards, and without hesitation, I place a chip on my cards, and reach for my chips.
My plan is to isolate against a weak player, and go from there.
I’m counting out a bet of 400, when a few of the guys at the table start telling the dealer to stop. I freeze, and look up to see what’s going on. This mental midget had proceeded to put the flop out there. The 6s and the 8s are already down, and I’m just staring at this fucking monkey-dealer, with four black chips in my hand about four inches above the pot, ready to place my bet.
At this point, the general consensus was to allow me to bet if I wanted to. I have no idea what a correct ruling would be in this situation, but I went ahead and placed my bet. I knew I was going to get fucked on this, but 6s-8s seemed fairly safe for my cowboys.
MP player folded, fucktard dealer CALLS. This jackoff was going to call my bet, and use HIS OWN FUCKUP to his advantage. If this were me, I’m folding, regardless of what I’m holding, because I don’t want to win a pot this way.
Of course, the SB calls, and I know I’m screwed. I don’t know how it’s going down, but without a doubt, I’m screwing the pooch on this one.
Fucktard finishes the flop with the 8d. SB checks, I check, dealer checks. Normally I bet here, but with the board paired, and given the fucked-up way the pre-flop betting went down, it just doesn’t feel right.
The turn brings the 7h, and the SB bets 500 into the the 1300 chip pot. I call…I’m pretty sure I’m beat here, but I’m not good enough to lay kings down in this situation. Fucktard dealer finally folds.
The river brings a third 8, so here’s the board.
8s-6s-8d-7h-8c
So I fill up with my pocket kings. and feel pretty good about my hand. I put the SB on pocket sixes, or possibly a pair bigger than 8’s. Based on the mathematics of the situation he probably doesn’t have quads, but given the situation, it’s not out of the question. So I’m cautiously optimistic about my hand.
He checks, which I find very odd. I check behind.
Any guesses as to what he held?
6c-8h
I’m fucking pissed at this point. Fucktard dealer just cost me a third of my stack because he doesn’t fucking know how to deal.
“That’s fucking bullshit.” I say in a low tone, and a few people at the table agree. That’s as animated as I get, even though I’m boiling on the inside. I’m not gonna cause a scene here.
It took fucktard dealer about a minute to realize the expense of his retardness, and he says he’s sorry a couple of times. I look him in the eye, and say to him in a low tone, “Just pay attention to the game next time.”
In retrospect, I should feel lucky I didn’t stack off all my chips there.
About thirty minutes later, I pick up K-K again, and run into A-A and I’m out, which is fine by me, because if I were to stay around and have a few more beers, things might have gotten ugly. The KK vs AA hand didn’t even phase me after the bullshit from earlier.
So the SB, who’s a fucking idiot, wins the high hand of the night with his quads, which is a pot that everyone throws $5 into at the start. Whoever makes the highest hand of the night gets the pot. So he profits about $100 because of this fucktard dealer, on top of getting a good hunk of my chips.
He tells me a little later that he folds his 6-8 to my 4xBB pre-flop under normal circumstances. No shit!!!
This, my friends…is why online poker is better than live play.
