Easy come, easy go.

I've got a friend visiting at the moment who's also a poker player and he came down from Edmonton to play some live poker. Calgary has awesome live poker, it really does. I always knew I would need to mix in live play with my online play to maintain sanity, but I guess I had forgot just how good the live games really are. There is nothing comparable online except possibly at the lowest levels. I think it would be fair to equate the $15/30 live casino game to $1/2 online.

Needless to say I feel good about my chances to beat the live games.

So Monday night I decided to go downtown and play by myself so I phone and get my name on the list, "How many names on the list at the moment?" "We have seats open." "Be there in 30." I get down there at about 10pm and they have a few seats open in two different $15/30 games and it's a must move situation. A must move situation is where they have one "main" game and they try to keep it filled, or mostly filled, so they force players to move from the secondary games (if there is more than two) to fill it. I started off in the feeder game playing 7 handed.

The game was really juicy until about 11:30 when about 3 decent players sat down. Instantly they all put their names on the transfer list to the main game and within 30 minutes they were all gone and we were playing six handed. YAY! You see, live players don't play shorthanded much. Most of them despise it and will do anything they can to avoid it. I, on the other hand, love short handed. It's my bread and butter. Therefore, anytime a live game gets short I have a HUGE advantage since most people don't know how to play.

We eventually drop to four handed and I didn't necessarily run over the table as my hands were very simple (really good, or really bad) but I did very well. Final tally +$958 for 3 hours play. Highlights were when I made a thin value bet with QQ on a K9xxK board and at showdown my opponent, who called my bet, says "I thought you'd be stronger than that" and mucks his hand. Another hand was where I called a bet on the river with King high after checking behind on the turn and my opponent sheepishly announces, "Queen high". "King high," I say and roll my hand over. The blank dumb look on his face was priceless.

Tuesday night, last night I suppose, I played again for 6 hours and finished +$5. Yup, $5. Funniest part of the night happened in a prop bet. The game had been playing fairly tight for a live game and people were commenting on the lack of action. A nice chinese guy two the left of me, whom I had played a pot with about an hour earlier says "No one here wants to gamble" as he put his name on the transfer list. "I'll gamble with you," I replied. What I meant was that as soon as I got any semblance of a reasonable hand I'd like to get involved in some pots with him. I was a bit surprised by his response.

"Ok, $100 on red or black flop - you pick."

"Does it have to be two or three?"

"Two."

"I'll take red," and I put my $100 out there.

The table is pretty interested in this little bet and we get our hands and we both fold and he says, "I had two blacks - I like your chances".

"I had one of each."

"Yah, I like your chances," he says.

The flop comes out. Black, Black, Black. FUCK!

I have never made a bet like that before and my friend was extremely surprised by it, as I myself was afterwards. I essentially flipped a coin for $100.

So, I guess I really won $105 playing poker and lost $100 on a flip, but oh well.