Non-plussed

Loose Cannon on a Thursday night saw me put in an unremarkable tournament performance followed by a solid cash performance. I desperately need the week coming up out of London to recharge the batteries, as I just feel drained at the moment.

There were just 14 runners for the £50 freezeout, and I didn’t play many interesting tournament hands, but the key ones were:

Hand1
I get to see a cheap flop out of the blinds with 7♦10♦.

Flop 4d5c6d giving me an up and down, plus flush draw.

I bet the pot (200) and Fluke calls.

Turn is a blank, so I check, hoping to check raise Fluke, but he checks behind.

River brings the diamond and I value bet 500 which gets called.

Hand2
Jalfont raises UTG to 300 and Wilkinson calls. I call out of the big blind with J♦Q♦

Flop arrives Jack high

Check, check, Jalfont bets 500 and both myself and Wilkinson call.

Turn is a blank and we all check

River is a blank and I think about value betting, but then decide that just turns my hand into a bluff, so I check to make it a “bluff catcher”, as I think Jalfont takes a stab here a fair amount of the time. Not on this occasion though, but I still win a decent pot.

Hand3
I raise in early position to 500 with A♥5♥ and Chan calls in the big blind.

Flop is A, 9, 7

Chan checks, I check behind

Turn is 9

Chan bets 700, and I think I am good here so raise to 1700. He calls. Hmmm. River is a 7, and we check it down - his AT wins to leave me with 3800 chips.

Hand4
Very next hand I raise TT UTG to 500 again and get called in four spots.

Flop arrives 7♥ 4♠ 5♥

Big blind leads for 1200, and I kind of want to fold as that board just made a ton of pre-flop calling hands. However, I can’t find the fold as it seems too weak, and there are a ton of draws he may be betting, so I shove for 2100 more and get snapped off by a set of 4s.

The cash game afterwards was probably my most solid performance for a while. I got lucky after making an ambitious/donkey move against Fluke, but apart from that played my hands well and changed up my style a fair bit. I think I ended up with a £230 profit before tips and rake, which is a welcome return to form.

After three years I am finally embarking on a non-poker holiday next week, so I might get some fresh air for a change as opposed to being stuck in a casino. Hopefully it will do me the world of good - blog will be back up when I return.