How Fritzle got his groove back

I had a nice dinner tonight with W and Viv. We went to SEA on 2nd Avenue and 4th street in the East Village and the food was fantastic (and cheap!). The full menu was as follows:

One bowl Tom Kha Gai soup for Wendy (Did I mention this was Thai food?)
Two glasses of Thai Iced tea for Viv and I
One order of Chicken Pattaya Noodles
One order of Crispy Salmon
One order of Beef Massaman Curry
Multiple orders of White rice (they only give you a little scoop for everyone!)

Total bill per person, including tax and a 22% tip: $21. Shweet!

It was such a nice night out that we walked over to the Salami Club, about a 10 minute walk, and digested a bit before settling in to a nice night of cards. We got there at 11:00p and the club had two full tables going. Enough people streamed in that we were actually able to get a 3rd table going and fill that up too! I haven't seen three full tables there since the days of $1/$2 NL, long gone. I was flopping good all night and actually only lost two hands that I was involved in past the flop. One, I had A2 suited on the button and it folded to me. I raised to $15, trying to take down the binds and was called by a nice gentleman in the SB and W in the BB, who moaned that I was "ruining the chop". Flop was 33Q. Both players checked and I bet out $40. The gentleman folded and W called. "You'd better check this down," she said. Ok. We did and she showed me a 3s7s for the flopped trips. Hey, you win some you lose some. This only stung because she MURDERED me at Backgammon just a few minutes before. Since we had to wait for a few minutes for the 3rd table to open up, we played for $5 a point. She was KILLING the dice. Even *she* admitted she was winning more about the dice than anyone's skill, and that's saying something. She was up $40 pretty quickly before I finally won $5 back and then we had to start the game. So her flopping lucky on me was just an extension of this. However, what she didn't know is that she used up all her luck on me and I was just waiting for the big game to start.

After losing the pot to W, I couldn't lose. I limped in the SB with 34o and saw a flop of 2c-5s-6s. I bet out 20 and get a raise to 65 and then a call. I quickly re-raise to 150 on top and wait while the raiser sweats it out. He eventually folds what he *claims* is a set but we'll never know. The other player folded as well and I'm glad I was able to protect my hand! I also won a nice pot with AA and another nice pot with T2 in the SB (another limp) and the board of TT8 on the flop. An 8 on the turn sealed it up for me and the player I was up against wisely laid down Jacks when I check raised him on the turn bet.

The only other pot I lost all night was a min-loss and a good laydown on my part. I had T3 in the SB and completed the bet to 5 when a few limpers came around to me. The flop was K43 rainbow. I checked it and it checked all around. Turn is a Ten, making me middle two pair. I'm not worried about KT because I can't imagine KT wouldn't bet the flop with so many players. I lead out with 20 and get two callers. River is a 5. Board is now K43T5. I check because I'm feeling ambivalent about the hand since the 5 made a straight draw. A tight player, who hasn't played more than three hands so far tonight, bets out the pot, 75 dollars. The third player folds and it comes to me and I go into the tank. I start weighing the possibilities against me. KT keeps coming to mind as the most likely hand, but again I can't see him not betting the flop. 67 is a gutshot, so I discount that. Maybe A2? Maybe K5? K4? Finally, I decide to bow to his image and muck my hand. He flashes me KK and says, "Good laydown". Yes sir, it was.

I left after two hours with $803 off a $300 buyin. Rack and run, baby! I'm running pretty well in cash lately and I hope it continues!