Fish, Party of 10

I am not a patient man. It's wholly genetic. As such, my table selection sometimes boils down to first come, first served. I just don't want to sit there for 20 minutes monitoring tables before playing. I get itchy.

So I've made a compromise. I'll get on the highest average pot table I can find available, then pull up two or three other full tables to keep an eye on.

I did this last night on the $25 NL tables. My first choice proved too tight. You could get more nickels out of Carl Polhad than you could the denizens at that table. I folded probably a dozen hands before getting AA in the BB. Three limpers and when I raised it up to $1.50, they all folded. What?

But one of the other tables I pulled up looked to be quite juicy and I joined at the earliest opportunity. Forty-five minutes later, I'd more than doubled up. Pulled a pair of big pots, one with top pair/medium kicker (called all the way down by middle pair) and one with K5 of diamonds on the button (hey! A drawing hand!). Flopped two diamonds, four players to the river where I made my flush and one guy who caught a straight paid me off.

By that time, I'd gotten to the bubble in a $20 SnG and had to leave (I don't like playing another table when it gets late in the SnGs). I'd spent much of the first 40 hands folding. I think I saw 2 or 3 folps in that time. Just unplayable hands. Then I doubled up on two consecutive hands, 77 holding up and AK outkicking A4. Ended up finishing second to a very good player. A highlight was taking out third place when I flopped the stone cold nuts (held A7 of clubs, flop was AA7). Checked it all the way to the river and then got him to put all his chips in. The river card gave a potential flush or straight, but it turns out he held the case ace (and a 5). He was trying to trap me as I was trying to trap him. Funny game.

So yeah, one of my better nights since entering the blogosphere. I read on one of the blogs today that discussion during the Vegas weekend centered on the next blogger get-together/tourney/carnival and that Hollywood Park in LA (okay, Inglewood) was mentioned as a potential site. Giddyup.