PhantomMut

Kojak giveth, and Kojak taketh away.

First: the giveth.

It wouldn't be a gift if I'd actually earned it, and early in the evening I look down in early position at KJ off-suit, and bump it to something like two dollars. Alceste min-raises, if I recall correctly, and I call. So it's just Alceste and DaMut to the flop.

(Those of you with eidetic memory who know exactly what happened when for how much, bless you; but all I'm aiming for is accurate texture with these things.)

Flop is 5 5 J rainbow. I bet six dollars with top pair, King kicker. Alceste immediately goes all in. I immediately call. Alceste shows pocket Queens.

Yes it was stupid, and yes, I sucked out when another Jack hit to boat me up on the river.

What was I thinking? Well, in as much as I was, I was thinking he had a nines or tens; that he was buying the pot; and did I mention that I wasn't thinking, because this is Alceste we're talking about, and I hadn't yet insulted him that evening? (Except, of course, with that call).

We'll get back to the "taketh away" part.

Crackouse Monday.

I don't want to talk about it.

But before I don't talk about it, props to Ari for hitting a steel wheel tonight. First straight flush I've seen in the real world. Got paid off on it too.

Another Crackhouse night, another win. I netted just shy of $60. Woo hoo!

The evening didn't start well. I hadn't slept much Tuesday night, so I was tired and emotionally drained by the very good news from the anatomical ultrasound. I got such a rush seeing the PhantomTwins that by last night I'd kind of lost steam.

"So, you won again?" - Dawn

"You sound so surprised." - Mut

So, I left the Crackhouse at midnight last night up $55. (Black refers to holding four black chips at the end, each worth $10.)

The difference this time?

So, at the Crackhouse game last night I was stacked. Again. Twice. Or maybe three times. Who's counting?

Yet, this is another moral victory post, instead of just a whine-about-luck post.

My lackluster (and often much worse) December continued Wednesday night, at the Crackhouse and afterwards.

If I'd left the Crackhouse at 10:00, I would have scored a satisfying 100% profit.

I left at 12:00 instead, stuck for 20 USD.

I had a great time at last night's Crackhouse game. Extra-short summary:

• Not-so-good: I should have left up a lot more than I did.
• Very good: I left up, in every respect.

I've been meaning to write a post about the holes in my game (which seem to be increasing in number and magnitude) but literally didn't know where to start.

Well, I'm still not up for the complete task, but in the meantime read this about my most recent Crackhouse game.

In the comments I wrote this about my mega-tilt meltdown:

Played some very stupid poker and won those hands. Played some heady poker and lost a bundle. Not good for developing a solid, steady poker game, but probably a good experience nonetheless.

(A good experience is often something you hope has slapped you hard enough so you have the sense not to experience it again.)

Playing smart and losing is just... going.... to.... happen. Worse is playing stupid and winning, because it makes dealing with the smart/losing stuff that much harder.

Unfortunately, more on the holes thing later....

I went to Dawn's Crackhouse Game last night. I was honored by the invitation to come return the money I had luckboxed away last week. So I played and I did. Left down multiple (3? 4? but hey, who's counting?) buy-ins.

But I went in with a plan, and while I left not exactly happy with the lighter wallet, I did have a good time and I did succeed in what I specifically set out to do.

That was my role at Dawn's home game last night. Not so much my way-too-late play Tuesday evening.