The Grassroots of Poker

Last night was a new poker experience for me. I hadn’t seen the Volcano or the Doctor since Vegas, and since they are keen supporters of the London Pub Poker League, I decided to pop along to a pub in Clerkenwell for one of the games.

The event attracted 40 runners, and it’s primarily a group of poker enthusiasts who don’t have the inclination to spend significant sums in poker tournaments or cash games. Standard buy in for these events is a £5 rebuy I think, but on this occasion it was a freeroll, with a £100 total prize pool. So a bit different from the WSOP or Irish Open, but nonetheless I decided to give it my best shot, while drinking bottles of Mac’s Gold at furious pace.

It was refreshing to see people playing just for the love of the game, rather than driven by significant financial goals. All of the players I met were great people, and the majority seemed to know what they were doing. I guess the only noticeable thing about the play was that there was less aggression, particulary post flop. A number of hands were checked down on multiple streets and check-raises were rare. Anyhow - 3k in chips, 20 minute blinds - here are some of my hands:

Hand1
I limp with J♦7♦ and the button raises it up to 200. Two other players call, as do I.
Flop 7♠ 4♠ 4♥
Button bets 300
I call, others fold
Turn is a 2s
Check Check
River is Jc
I bet 400 and button calls tabling QQ for bigger 2 pair
A fine start - down to 2k

Hand2
I call an early limper with AA. 4 other callers and no raisers. Whoops. Flop is Q, T, 2
I bet the pot and take it down to get out of jail.

I then get back to about 2800 by raising with AQ and KT pre-flop and betting missed flops.

Hand3
I raise in the cutoff to 300 with 6♦8♦ and get called by the SB.
Flop 8h8c9h
SB bets 300 and I call.
Turn is 2h
SB bets 500 and I push for 2.2k total.

He calls and has the flush with K♥Q♥.
River brings the house though and I am up to 5.7k.

I played this hand poorly, but the poker gods were on my side.

Hand4
Early raiser to 500 and I call with 5♣5♦. SB calls and then the BB pushes all in. The initial raiser calls. Hmmm - I still have 3k behind going into the break if I pass here, and my pocket 5s aren’t looking up to much anymore. I fold. SB calls and we have a 3 way all-in. AQ v AT v A9. They all miss - pocket 5s would have won a monster pot! 3k at the break, and with blinds of 200/400 I’m in the emergency ward.

Honest Dave moves to the table - he has a mountain of chips but needs to leave soon to pick up his girlfriend. Perfect spot to get some chips?

Hand5
Honest Dave raises to 1200 from early position (his 3rd raise on the bounce). One other caller before I shove with AQ and all fold.

Hand6
Very next hand, I limp with QQ UTG and Honest Dave makes it 1600 out of the BB. I flat call, because I want the lot. My hand is perfectly disguised now, as the standard limp play UTG with a big pair is to re-raise a raiser.
Flop 3, 5, 8
Dave shoves and I snap call and beat his pocket 2s.
Dave is busto and I am now a big stack with 13k.

I move tables to where the Volcano is dealing, himself with a decent stack. On this table, I pick up a lot of pots on the flop betting feeler bets with only mediocre hands like a missed 55, mid pair with 78 in the hole and QJ hitting middle pair, and soon build my stack up nicely to 16k.

Hand7

I raise a couple limpers at 500-1000 to 5k with AJ in midposition.

I get called by one limper (so I guess that not strong a hand then).

Flop 9, 8, 7

He checks and I shove. He can only call me with TT or JJ I think here out of his range, unless he has somehow flopped a straight or hit a set. I doubt he’d call me with A9 here, because my play looks like an overpair, and it’s for his whole stack. He passes.

I find no spots for a couple of orbits and drift down to 15k. Suddenly, the blinds make the huge leap to 2k/4k meaning that I am UTG with only just over 3 BB. I decide I don’t want to go down below this so will shove with any two cards.

Hand8

I shove with 4♠5♠. SB dwells for a long time and eventually passes A10.

Final table time

Hand9

There are 6 of us left now - the tournament has descended into crapshoot status due to time constraints. I have about 16k after sitting out a round with the blinds at 2k/4k. I find A10 UTG and push all in. I get called by the short-stacked button who has pocket 9s so it’s a race. I hit a ten on the flop but he also hits a set of 9s and I’m crippled and down to 6.5k.

Hand10

Volcano limps UTG and it folds round to me in the BB and I go all in without looking for the last 2.5k, which Volcano has to call. He has Ace rag and it’s good against my K♥7♥. I bust out in 6th place.

A very enjoyable evening - lots of laughs and plenty of beer, and the standard of poker was good as well. I’m certain I’ll go again, but probably won’t have the time to make it a weekly event. Coincidentally this Tuesday night pub game is moving from next week…to the Loose Cannon.

Next game is tomorrow night at LC for a UKPT league match. To give my blog some extra variety I’m going to write that report in the style of an online internet geek. Ship the sick lingo…