From my NL cash game last night...

[Talking Poker]

Last hand of the night (because it broke up the game):

5 players. I am the $10 BB. Guy to my left raises to $35. Next player reraises to $80. Button smooth calls the $80. SB reraised $300 more. I throw away my hand. Guy to my left thinks for a minute and shows me the JJ he is folding. I told him that was an easy laydown and at least he got off cheap. First reraiser also folds (he had AQ suited). This is where it gets interesting..... the button goes into the tank and thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks. He's the guy who runs the game, btw - he was stuck for about $1000 at the time. The $300 raiser says after the first 5 or 10 seconds of thinking, "If you're thinking this long, I've got you in bad shape." Obviously, he is saying he has Ks, right? Sure, he could be lying, but there's plenty of money in the pot already and I'm sure he'd be perfectly happy to win what's there. I believe him. I would have bet anything he had KK.

Finally, the button calls. Flop comes K22, and I'm sure he flopped a boat. Sure enough, he comes out betting $300. The button goes into the tank again and now I'm understanding why he's down $1000 tonight (well, $1400 and counting now). Then, and I couldn't even believe my eyes, the button pushes ALL IN (for a lot of money)! The SB says "Call - I have the nuts" and turns over his KK. The button says "No you don't." As he is turning his cards over, my gut reaction is he must have been slowplaying AA preflop, praying he wasn't up against KK on the flop, and now he still has 2 outs. WRONG! He turns over Pocket 2s. That's right, POCKET 2s! Quadzilla...

At the time, I thought this was without a doubt, one of the worst calls (the $300 preflop one) in a NL game that I have I have seen in my life. The dealer (not the guy on the button - we use an actual dealer) laughs and laughs and starts calling him a monkey. The rest of us, and especially the SB who just lost $1200ish after flopping Ks full, was in complete shock. The Pocket 2s guy tries to justify the call by saying he really thought the $300 raiser was stealing, but come on! If that's the case, make a move at the pot right there. But to CALL? Unless you flop your set, what are you going to do? No matter what flops, you're going to be looking at overcards! He later said he was going to push in on the flop no matter what, which I guess is somewhat reasonable, but that was still a terrible call.

The turn and river cards were blanks. I would have LOVED to have seen a K hit the board. Oh, and btw - the guy with the AQ would have turned his flush, so he saved himself some money there...

Moral of the story: Online poker must be rigged! How else can you explain seeing a hand like this in a live game???

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Edit: Fixed typo.

[GeoffM]

WOW, and LMAO on that last line.

That is a huge pot he won with 2s. But what a dumbass. He must have a lot of money to piss away, or he really is a genuine dumbass.

[2Tone]

That's horrific. Losing $1200 to ducks would have me crying like a baby. Also, sounds like a VERY serious and interesting home game. Nice touch on having an actual dealer.

I'm curious about a home game of that scope. Mine are very casual, an excuse to get together and drink some beers. My "real" poker is played online or in my local card room, though even that is nowhere near the level you are playing at.

So ... Are strangers welcome to play, or this a core group of guys who did this every week? What is buy-in? Are you raking it in or breaking even?

[GeoffM]

I make $1200 on a pay day, so losing that on a hand, I'd likely kill myself.

I don't like home games to get this interesting, as I think it starts to get a bit personal when people start throwing that kind of money around, especially good friends.

[BlibbityBlabbity]

Yeah, personally I'm not even sure I could watch that game (I know I couldn't play in it ). What level are the players, skill/bankrolls?? I don't mind seeing pros with millions of $$ putting that kind of cash up on a hand, but watching your buddy lose a huge pot like that would be nuts. I WATCH the high blind NL games on UB sometimes and there are always those players that plop down $500 - $1000 (less than they should have) and proceed to blow it all in 15 minutes. Leaves me with the sense they DON'T have the bankroll/skills and may have just lost the rent money for the month. I think things like...."there goes his car", and "Grama, please don't break my finger, I will get the money back to you by next week, I promise!". Maybe some day I will have the bankroll and the skills to fathom sitting in this type of game.....NOT YET.

I assume those playing at your game can afford it though, so have fun

[Talking Poker]

I have to play in big games like this - How else am I going to afford to pay for all these posts???

It's not my game, but it's only a few miles away from my house, which is great. The guy running it (he was the one with the 2s, btw), has a really nice set up. He has a real Hold'Em table, a real dealer, lots of good food, whatever drinks you like, and so on. Last night I even had a $20 massage from a girl who comes most nights - worth every penny.

Each pot is raked, but much less than at a casino... usually about $2 per hand for pots up to $150 or so and then another $1 after that.

The players are not so much buddies as they are guys playing poker. We all know each other, but most of us don't know each other outside of the poker room.

Right now, he has a NL game once or twice a week and a limit game once a week (usually 5/10 or 10/20) for the people who aren't comfortable with NL. IMO, the limit game is weak (a little stronger than what you see online), but the NL game is solid. There are a few weak players, but there are some very good players as well... It's a good game.

I can make more money by playing online, because I can get so many more hands in, but I still like playing live when I can. It's good practice - especially for reading people, which is crucial if you ever want to do well in a big B&M tourney.

[Aequitas58]

First time reading this (via your link from another thread). Very well written. Keep them coming: stories, trip reports, tournament reports, etc.