Happiness is a set of aces

I wasn't doing so well at the poker table last night. I'd burned through my first $100 buy in at the $5/$10 table, and had gotten more than halfway through my second $100. I was playing looser than I should have, staying in with hands like T9 offsuit. Realizing this, I tightened up my play, and about half an hour later, sitting on the button, I was dealt As Kd. Four others had called before me for $5, plus the big and small blinds. I raised to $10.

I've mentioned to some of you that the RealTimeGaming tables seem to have a lot of loose agressive players, so my bet here was meant to scare out those who might be trying to limp in with T3 suited or something ("but it's sooooooted!") and to raise the value of the pot. Only the small blind is scared out, the rest of the players call, and the pot is at $63.

The flop is Qs Ad Ah.

Big blind checks. "Cake", a good strong player, bets $5. The next two players (who I've seen winning and losing pots with crappy hands they hold to the end) bet $5, as does the player to my right, who talks like a pro but whose small stack doesn't show it. I raise to $10. The pot is at $93. Big blind folds. Cake folds. The other three call, bringing the pot to $108.

The turn is 9c.

The three other players check. I hesitate for almost my full 30 second limit to imply that I'm thinking hard. I bet $10. The two weak players call, the "pro" folds. The pot is at $138.

The river is 2h.

Check, check. I bet $10. One of the weak players folds. The other calls. I win the $158 pot with As Ad Ah Kd Qs.

"I could have played that in my sleep," says the player to my left. I yawn.

The very next hand, I'm dealt AK suited, with which I win another big pot with a pair of kings. This makes my net winnings for the night $130, which I then parlay into $179 at the Pontoon table (a 0.17% house edge!). It was a good night.

The rumor in the poker game chat was that Phil Ivey was playing at the $200/$400 table and had just taken a 21-year-old for $31,000. too bad I didn't get a chance to watch that.