I know, I’ve been slow to post my update from the weekend home game, family has been a bit ill over the last few days so haven’t had much of a chance to spend time in front of the computer.

But, before I give the update on the night that was I want to introduce a few friends. Yes, I have friends and my life isn’t all about poker!!! (although the friends are poker related!!!)

A couple of buddies have joined me in the pursuit for on-line poker $$$ … Poker Geek and Quadman. Poker Geek and I have been playing home games for about 18 months and talk regularly about poker … all aspects of it. The Geek truly is a geek, he’s got the books and the head for it. Check out his blog and you’ll get the flavour of it. Quadman is the Geek’s brother and I think we sucked him in a bit. I think he may have had some interest in poker but after a recent visit to the Geek’s place for one of our home poker nights he may have gotten hooked. Quadman doesn’t yet have a blog but if one does surface I’ll put a link to it from here.

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On to the to the poker night, what a night, lots of fun and lots of poker as there was some new blood that joined the game which changed the dynamic a bit. For the last year or so we’ve had more or less the same 5 or 6 guys with the odd extra in there to make it a game. The games were generally fun, a good night out with the guys but lacked a bit of ‘something’ that would satisfy my craving to play. But last night, with the new blood, we had 11 guys. How fun, and some of these guys really like to play poker which means we would be in for a long night.

We ended up playing 5 NLHE tourneys, the first was a $10 buy-in and the rest $20. The night started out slow for me and the first game ended very early (actually I was the first one to bust out) when I ended up all-in with my pocket 88 vs. pocket QQ (that were slow played pre and post flop – a key point to remember for a later hand).

The second game was a bit better as I wasn’t the first to bust out. Maybe mid way through the game I had doubled up once and was in decent shape when … AJo on the button with maybe 5 limpers, I raised and got one caller. The flop comes AKJr, top and bottom pair and it is checked to me – I bet maybe half the pot only to re-raised all-in. Now, this bet is a bit suspicious based on how this ‘fish’ had been playing and I certainly didn’t but him on AK, KK, or JJ but thought maybe he at QT and that would put me behind. Without much thought I decided to call and he turns over K7 for second pair and no kicker. I’ve got him dominated, and make my boat on the turn when a J comes … but get bit by a K on the river. And just like that, I’m done. Live and learn, make some mental notes for the next games.

The next game was a good one as I was able to slowly grind away at the small pots and eventually went heads-up with a solid player. We traded chips for a while until my cards heated up and I was able to finish it off. No major hands really, just a solid game, never really putting my stack at risk … it was as good a tourney as I had played.

The forth game was a repeat of the second game, just grinding away and slowly building my stack until … I have AKo in the BB with a 3 or 4 limpers and I raise and get called by the button. The flop comes KXX with 2 spades giving me TPTK and I bet out and get called. The flop comes blank and I bet out again and get re-raised all in. Wow, what could they have, could they have stayed with a small pair and hit trips, or are they on a draw. After thinking about if for a while I decide to call the all-in bet only to find out they are on a draw, wow, a bold move. And you guessed, the river is a spade and I’m crippled.

The last game I was pretty much card dead and actually was on the brink of busting out when I couldn’t even post a complete BB but managed to double up a few times and finish 4th. A key hand that took place late in the game, I’m in the BB and I’ve got maybe another 2 BB left and I’m dealt 52o and the SB limps and I check. The flop comes 234r giving me bottom pair and an OESD … and the SB goes all-in hmm, remember the guy that busted me earlier while slow playing his QQ, well this is the same guy and after thinking about calling I mucked and decided to wait for maybe a better opportunity … he turns over AA. Not that I had lots to play for at this point only having a few chips left, but it was more about reading that my opponent had a big hand … that is what I was more pleased about. The proper play was likely to make the call based on my chip stack and the outs I had.

All in all, a good night was had by all and I finished +$30. I was please with my play and I think that I’ve come a long way at our home games over the last year or so. Although I only won one game, thinking back, almost every time I put all my chips at risk I went in with the best hand which is about all I can ask for. I’m not gonna talk about the bad beats that I took but in the long run those guys won’t make their hands and in both cases, if I double up, who knows what I could have done. I’ll play with those guys anytime!!!

As we were leaving about 2 AM our host suggested he may be working on a NLHE tourney with about 30 people and a buy-in somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 in the comings weeks … cool, especially if some of the same fish, I mean guys are there!!! J

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As for my on-line poker playing, not much of it the last few days – as I mentioned earlier, the family has been ill and thus has curbed my play (which maybe isn’t a bad thing). I’ll likely be back at it tonight when I sign-up at Poker Rewards and see what I can do.

As a side note, I did manage about 45 mins last night at Party with small BR there and managed to move it from $10.03 to $16. Remember, this was $3.75 about a week ago. Who know, maybe I can get this to $50 + so that I can actually withdraw it from Party, we’ll see.

Till next time, AA up