Poker!

I'm beginning to really like poker. Like many other classic games (chess, CounterStrike, etc), it's very easy to learn, but there are a huge amount of subtleties that make it very difficult to master. And like those games, I think you get increasing enjoyment as you learn more and more about it.

Diana and I have been watching the World Poker Tour. It's gotten into the regular lineup, now, where we say "Oh, it's Wednesday night! WPT is on tonight!" and start watching from the beginning (as opposed to just flipping by it and watching for a little). It's fun, and I like that it's something that we both enjoy and are both about equally skilled at (debateable).

We played last night. Adman, Dster, M.Kyle, M.John, and Iwan. Buyin was $20. I think we'd all been watching poker a bit, and the game was a bit different than usual. Usually, pre-flop, everyone calls and sees the flop, and the game sort of starts from there. Last night, there was a lot more pre-flop raising and aggressive play going on, which made for some really exciting pots. One hand, the flop was KQA, and I had JT. Iwan bet, I raised all in, and he called. He also had JT, so we split it. But at times like those, man, my hands get all shaky and my heart starts pounding. It's really exciting.

The big hand for me of the night was as follows. M.John had gotten cleaned out and was dealing. I was dealt 66, and was in a late position. Iwan and Diana call to me, and I raise pretty big, hoping to just steal the pot right there. But Kyle calls, Iwan and Diana fold. Flops comes 644. I've got a huge full house. I bet really big, and Kyle calls. Turn comes 8. I'm getting sort of low on chips now, but bet even bigger. Kyle thinks for a moment, and says "I'm all in". At that point, the only thing he could have to beat me is a pair of 8's or a pair of 4's. I didn't think he had 'em, so I call his all in bet. He's got 55. Two pair against my full house, and nothing that comes on the river could help him. It was pretty lucky on my part, and bad luck on Kyle's that I happened to have that hand when he tried to bully me. He then went "on tilt" and starting going all in, seemingly wanting to either lose it all or double up and get back to even. Diana called him with an ace-high in her hand and an ace on the board, and he had nothing, and put him out of his misery.

Anyways, the night was tons of fun. I had my share of beats, but I ended up cashing out +$40, which was nice. I can't wait to play again!