oaks $1/2 limit hold'em ring game

i'm not about to brag but i usually win when i play ring games. however, today was horrible. i went in with about $60 and lost it all in about 3 hours. let me give you 2 examples of hands i played that will explain the entire day.

i had AJs in mid-late position and i raise after one person in early position calls (call this player A). one person in late position cold calls (call this player B. cold-calling is when you call 2 or more bets). the big blind and the original caller also calls. four-way, the flop comes J-9-6 giving me top pair with top kicker. big blind comes out betting. player A folds so i raise. player B cold calls again and big blind calls. the turn brings a 7. the big blind checks this time and i bet. player B calls and big blind also calls. at this point, i put the big blind on a J with a lower kicker, and player B with maybe a 7 or 6. the river was a 2 and the big blind bets, i call, and player B raises! the big blind calls and i go into thinking mode. i most likely lost this hand but at this point i had to be sure that i lost or else i would have wasted tons of money. not willing to risk folding i call. the big blind turns over J-9 giving her 2pair beating my AJ. she had 3 outs pre-flop, but she was in big blind so i forgive her calling me. but wait... player B turns over his cards, 8-5 giving him a straight! he cold-called that preflop and cold-called with a gut-shot straight draw! man i wish i had the courage to do that (its almost like driving a car with a gallon of gas, you usually don't make it).

for my last hand, in the small blind i had JT. with no raises, i limp into the pot. the flop comes T-3-6. with a pair of tens i bet into the pot. big blind calls... actually everyone calls. the turn shows a 2. i bet again, big blind calls, another player raises, and everyone fold to me. since i only had 2 chips left. i call all-in. big blind also calls. river was a 5. big blind checks, the other guy bets, big blind calls. i show my hand.. top pair with J kicker. big blind shows her hand.. top pair with K kicker. the other player shows his hand, 5-4 straight.....

another limit hold'em tournament at oaks card club.

for $100+20, i got 500 chips to start with and 60 other players to beat. it was a relatively small turn-out but the competition was more than tough. even nick (my poker master) told me today's tournament was going to be difficult. i decided to play only premium hands and the first 3 rounds proved to be quite uneventful. stealing some small pots, i was able to maintain my stack of 500 until the end of them. so of course i had to do a rebuy to get an extra 1000 chips.

after some failed bluffs and blinds, i was down to 1000 chips when a key hand came up. i had A9o in the small blind. no raise and 5 callers so i decided to call considering pretty good odds for the amount i had to put in. the flop came 3-5-3. i check and a middle player bets, all of them call and i assumed that no had neither 3 or 5 since the table has been playing rather tightly. so i called as did the players behind me. the turn brings a rag. i check and everyone checks behind me. the river brings a 5, making 2pairs on the board. sensing weakness on the turn, i bet hoping that either everyone will fold or my Ace will hold up (which i didn't want to challenge). but luckily everyone folded and i got a huge pot.

but after that, i stopped catching cards and after a few chases for open-ended straight draws, i was down to 1000 chips when the blinds were 100-200. i was in desperate need of a descent hand to put all of my chips in and double up. when i looked into my hole cards i saw two 8's! good enough! so i raise in middle-position after players behind me all fold. a weak player in big blind calls. the flop comes 7-7-X. a scary flop for me, but he called my raise so i didn't think he had a 7. i was still ok. he checks to me and i bet. he thinks for a bit and he calls. i was thinking "uh oh... he's calling? i'm already sorta pot committed at this point". the turn brings A. he checks. i check. the river brings 5. he bets. now i'm thinking... the only thing that could beat me is A or 7 but 7 was out of the question since i raised preflop. he checked on the turn when the A came so i didn't think he was holding that.. after thinking a little bit i decided to call. guess what he turns over? J7! i gave too much credit to that player than he deserved and that cost me the day.