Finally... Profitsville...

I am proud to announce that I am finally a break-even player at Charles Town!  It has been 33 sessions - almost 2 years in the making - but I got there!  I knew I would eventually, and knew I was close going into last night's session (~$450), but I'm officially done.  Time to move on.  It just goes to show how much I've won at Delaware Park in the [limited] 10 sessions I've played there.  The DP winnings have more than made up for the losses at Ctown, and now I can look forward to profitsville at Ctown as well.

A few hands to share from last night's session:

First hand: I hold KQo in the hijack, facing 4 limpers.  I am coming in for a raise with this hand, nearly always, from this position.  However, I look to my left (as is good practice and any live poker should almost *ALWAYS* be looking to their left to see what the action ahead of them will be doing) and see the #1 see (BTN) with chips in hand, ready to raise the pot.  From the looks of it, he will be raising to $15, as is typical for this particular player - loves to position raise, decent player, lays down when he's beat and bets when he's ahead.  I decide that instead of coming in for the raise myself, I will let him raise and get trappy with the numerous over callers, as they are wont to do at CTRS.  As expected, he picks up 2 [I believe, if memory serves me] callers for the $15 raise, and I face a decision for the ~$54 pot.  After taking a look at the 2 limp / over callers, and finally peeking at seat #1 (I'm in seat #10, so this is no easy task given the dealer's positioning), I decide to keep with the original plan and limp / raise to $50 even.  Watching #1's genuine discomfort, he motions to call and then looks at his cards for a few moments.  After some deliberation, he folds his hand, as do the over-callers.  I have played my first non-traditional live hand, and won - read the situation for exactly what it was, executed the move and was rewarded perfectly.

Second hand:
UTG with JJ - I again, decide to get trappy.  I know full well that if I raise to ~$11, I'm going to get a host of callers where, with a hand that's going to flop overcards somewhere near 45% of the time, I'm going to be miserable playing a large pot from out of position.  I decide, given the table dynamics (nearly every hand is raised and/or 3bet), to limp / raise as I did with the KQ hand.  To make such a move from UTG says a much stronger hand than from the other positions, but I'm happy taking a flop with 1 or 2 people instead of the 20 that would normally call the $11 raise.  As if scripted, seat #1 (same dude as above) raises to $12 and picks up 2 callers to the BB, an ABC player who, though a nice guy, tried to act and portray a more experienced player than he actually was.  He decides to 3bet to $45 (a bit small for my tastes, but a sizable 3bet which forces me to reconsider my plans).  People are folding out of turn, assuming I had made a move, while I sat and thought about the hand and the player.  In fact, everyone folded back to the 3bettor and I got a ton of information as to odds (if I'm calling this bet, I'm assuming I'm set mining, and will need about 3 callers + the 3bettor in order to make it immediately profitable).  Now I'm faced with an even easier decision, whereby I'm likely behind and getting terrible odds (20% of the effective stacks).  I fold and ask him to show - he shows AA and I pat myself on the back for losing $2 :-).

Third hand:
Simply a whining hand but evidence of the BS that goes on at CT.  Late in the night, I decide to raise TT from middle position after 1 limper; I toss in $13 and get 4 or 5 callers.  Flop comes Kd 7s 3s - pretty decent for my hand.  SB leads for $30 into the ~$60 and I'm faced with a decision (my worst annoyance as described above; out of position with non top pair holding).  There are 3 players ahead of me yet to act, with a flush draw board and an overcard.  There are PLENTY of kings in each of the caller's ranges: 2 calling stations and an aggro decent player.  The 2 stations do as they do: call, while the aggro folds his BTN.  They trio go to the turn and see the 8c; brick city.  The SB continues to bet $50 and both call (one particularly bad terrible station is short and calls his $45 remaining stack).  The river is an offsuit 2 and it checks through.    I'm going to begrudge my crappy luck at CTRS and show the hands: Ks5s for the SB, KJ for the better of the 2 calling stations and the particularly bad calling station: K2 for the semi-scoop and KJ wins the $10 side pot.  WTF?  Case K?  I have 50%+ equity pre-flop!  Facepalm.  I just love the super bad station's comment afterwards: I knew I was beat there but I had to call.  "I knew I was beat but had to call."  LOL.  Oh yeah, then he changed his story to: "I felt like the 2 was coming...  I knew it was coming."  Sure...  2 outter on the river...  too bad I couldn't capture any of your money which was clearly on fire.

That's it.  I'm improving at live poker.  I'm definitely utilizing my reads.  I find myself acting more boldly, trusting my instinct, and watching players more intently.  I love the limp / raise move for nothing more than reading the situation.  I'm trying to think out of the box more often, instead of just trying to peddle nuts.  I believe there are a bunch of spots where I can be profitable if only I take advantage of them.