Running good on Thursday!

Off into the chilly streets of Manhattan for yet another installment of Poker Thursdays!

I had contemplated a $65 tourney going on at Stephanie's, a place I've been to a couple times, but instead elected to go to my normal spot, currently ScottyCards on 36th. Some of the usual crew was already in full swing 7-handed when I took my seat. Looking at the stacks, I elected to just buy in for $200. I was in the 1 seat, which is new for me there...typically I am one of the first to arrive and usually place myself in 5 or 6. As it turns out, I may be sitting there more often!

For the first half hour things were mostly uneventful...a couple of ho-hum chip up hands occurred and I think I might have been somewhere around $225 when I am dealt KK UTG +1. Knowing the table like I do, a typical raise to 7 usually always gets a lot of calls, so I push it to 11. 4 callers! The flop comes K-X-J, with a heart draw, nothing to a straight. In the hand are some people that I know will fold out with any bet, but Sean is in the hand, and he is usually game for some action, so I fake C-Bet the same amount, 12. Everyone folds but Sean, who calls. The turn is another jack, and I've got the boat! I check, Sean raises to something like 20, and I call. The river fills out a flush draw, and I check, almost sure that Sean will bet it out, which he does...25, I raise him 50 more. He stews about it, calling out all the hands that can beat him, and he calls my 50, flipping over a Jack. When I turn over KK, it was as if no one saw it coming...lots of 'nice hand' and what not, but also some discussion as to whether slow-playing my set might have put me in a lot of trouble. Has anyone ever heard of extracting value? I felt like I knew my opponent's range, and played accordingly. This exchange hopped me up to somewhere around the $500 range. I caught a set somewhere else along the way, and bluffed a couple of ace boards, and I was inching close to $600 when this hand came up.

Taal(sp) is a guy I've played with at Scotty's a few times. Kind of a LAG, but totally passive on the turn and river. I've bet into him with lots of marginal hands only to see him fold a lot. I think he knows it too, as he's always wanting to mix it up with me, raise when I'm in the BB, etc. I welcome this kind of action, because eventually, I'll get him, and I've stacked him off at least twice in recent memory. So, his initial $150 is gone, and here he has already reloaded once, maybe twice. With $81 left, he shoves all-in ahead of me. I lookdown to see QQ. Now, I'm somewhere around $580 and this isn't much of a dent for me, so I call. He shows AK, so we have a race. Flop, nothing, turn nothing, river - an ace. He is obviously pleased with his play, and out of the corner of my eye in the following hand I can see him looking over at me, seeing how I am reacting - which of course, I am not. I just shrug it off as the ace hits the board, and when he doesnt get the reaction he wants, he eventually stops looking. Two hands later, I cap off a successful evening...

I'm dealt 5d7d . Scotty bets out 6 and gets several callers, including me. The flop comes 468 rainbow. Doink! Scotty, acting first, pushes out 30, with something like 80 behind. Scotty must have an overpair, I am thinking...but he's got a shallow stack. So I only raise him for 20 more, thinking that'll be enough to bring him along, but he shoves his whole stack in! I gladly call, and Scotty shows 10s, and is a little dumbstruck at the 57 I show him. The board pairs, but another 10 does not fall, and I am back up to around $600 again.

Shortly after, I announce a 1am departure at midnight, and 3 others echo the same. I limp a lot of pots, win some, lose some, and cash out at $570, for a $370 profit for the night, which I think is somewhere around my 2nd best showing at Scotty's/Matt's/Wall Street.

All in all, a satisfying evening of poker! Yay me.