Quest of a Closet Poker Player

I told Sweetie I was headed down in the basement to check email; the next thing I knew, it was 1:30AM.

So of course, I popped open four $0.10/0.25 NLH 6-max tables on PokerStars.  Fast forward to losing $130 through a variety of missteps, and I saw the perfect fish come into view.  You’ve all seen them before:  the guy who makes the big tourney score then decides he wants to challenge the biggest players in the game.

His name:  John “texduke” Armbrust.   He had a high finish in the WSOP Main Event, and he’s been living large with Becks and the bling and all that in LA.  Flush with his winnings, he decided to hit up the nosebleed levels currently offered on Stars:  $0.50/1.00 NLH 6-max.

I knew his game well, typical weak/tight luckbox who gets hit by the deck for six days to get to the last two tables of a tourney, only to think his 4:1 hand pre-flop is somehow good.  Had he ever been up against someone as tricky as CC?

He was feeling flush as he had quickly gotten up $38, the lovely K-10o outkicking the K-9o.  A raise to him UTG, he decides to smooth call.  I pick up pocket 9’s, so I decide to see the cheap flop for $3.  Hand below, with commentary.

POKERSTARS GAME #11033183229:  HOLD’EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/07/20 - 02:40:15 (ET)
Table ‘Maria’ 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: bettfeder ($14.30 in chips)
Seat 2: shambam5 ($95.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Dawgfan26 ($46.50 in chips)
Seat 4: AE8KOBE8 ($70 in chips)
Seat 5: TexDuke ($138.05 in chips)
Seat 6: csquard ($107.95 in chips)
shambam5: posts small blind $0.50
Dawgfan26: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to csquard [9c 9h]
AE8KOBE8: raises $2 to $3
TexDuke: calls $3
csquard: calls $3
bettfeder: calls $3
shambam5: folds
Dawgfan26: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [8c Td 8d]
Dawgfan26: checks
AE8KOBE8: checks
TexDuke: checks
csquard: checks
bettfeder: checks

I decide to check behind; the fact that the values of the two types of cards average to a nine I don’t think is a coincidence.
*** TURN *** [8c Td 8d] [9s]
Dawgfan26: checks
AE8KOBE8: checks
TexDuke: checks
csquard: bets $4
bettfeder: calls $4
Dawgfan26: folds
AE8KOBE8: calls $4
TexDuke: calls $4

I take a stab with my boat to see what everyone else thinks.  Their vision is poor in the murky waters of my 1/4 of the pot bet.
*** RIVER *** [8c Td 8d 9s] [Qh]
AE8KOBE8: checks
TexDuke: checks
csquard: bets $22
bettfeder: calls $7.30 and is all-in
AE8KOBE8: calls $22
TexDuke: raises $109.05 to $131.05 and is all-in
csquard: calls $78.95 and is all-in
AE8KOBE8: folds

I choose $22 as the bet since it is fairly easy to type.  When TexDuke re-pops me, a feeling of Fuel55 deja vu comes over me.  Have the RiverStars programmers been this evil?  Was this somehow included in his Stars endorsement deal?  I call with my boat, prepared to see the worst.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TexDuke: shows [Jh Ks] (a straight, Nine to King)
csquard: shows [9c 9h] (a full house, Nines full of Eights)
csquard collected $201.95 from side pot
bettfeder: mucks hand
csquard collected $57.75 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $262.70 Main pot $57.75. Side pot $201.95. | Rake $3
Board [8c Td 8d 9s Qh]
Seat 1: bettfeder (button) mucked [9d Ah]
Seat 2: shambam5 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Dawgfan26 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 4: AE8KOBE8 folded on the River
Seat 5: TexDuke showed [Jh Ks] and lost with a straight, Nine to King
Seat 6: csquard showed [9c 9h] and won ($259.70) with a full house, Nines full of Eights
“I thought you would have played a jack the same way,” he said.  He obviously doesn’t understand the complexity of the poker blogger, alternating between -1st level thinking and 9th level thinking with ease.  His reward for the battle?  A great story of how he almost lost his buy-in to a __________ player.  Like a champ, he clawed his way back to a break even session, but the damage to his psyche was complete.

And CC?  He is back on the trail of other big scalps, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.  Who’s up?

This entry was posted on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 2:47 am and is filed under Uncategorized.