I promise to keep the negativity to a minimum here, as the focus is self-improvement…but last night was just a grind.

Jen and I signed up at the last minute for the $50 NLHE at Longhorn since we both have today off and could sleep in.  21 total entries (two tables with one alternate).  Standard format for their $50 freezeouts…10,000 starting chips with 20 minute blinds, starting at 25/50.  Antes come into play starting round four.   I love deep stacks with early antes. 

I started the evening off well, having won a juicy pot early which netted me an extra thousand chips.  That’s when the evening started getting interesting…

The player two seats to my left was someone I didn’t recognize, but had apparently played there a few times before.  Smart-looking guy, but he was leaking chips like Rosie O’Donnell on Alli.  Phil, who I typically have a running $10 last-longer side bet with, was the primary beneficiary of said chips, with Slick managing to catch some of the run-off as well.  I knew something was afoot, as my spidey-sense told me this guy wasn’t your garden variety donkey.  My suspicions were proven correct when he was the second to call a 600 chip raise, and proceeded to slow play the 46 suited into a monster pot when the flop came up with two sixes.  Guy to my right flipped out and came pretty close to being asked to leave.  From that point, everyone started playing catch the (supposed) donkey, and the donkey usually won.  Totally threw off the dynamic of the table.

I tried to lay back in the weeds and wait for a good spot, but with the jackal to my left, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.  I’d raise pretty strong with a hand like AQ, get two or three callers, see a flop like K66 (always a pair of sixes) and fold to an overbet.  Then my cards decided to freeze up.  I went two hours without as much as a middle suited connector.  And the one or two hands that did come completely missed the flop with two or three callers.

When my M got down to around 5, I started looking for a place to shove in…but the table was so screwy that there wasn’t a hand that wasn’t raised and called by multiple people, since they were all trying to catch the donkey with his pants down.  Sunny was low stacked as well, but he started getting decent cards and doubling up.  I didn’t have the luxury…six hands in a row where the first card dealt to me was a 9 and the second was uncoordinated.  I thought about the hands where I could have been first in the pot all in, but almost without fail I folded and would have wound up dominated.  Q9 offsuit is no good vs. AQ suited.

Finally…with my M just over 3, I see a ray of sunshine.  Pocket fours!  Best hand in two hours….so I throw my 2400 chips in over top of the player to my right’s 2000 chip bet.  I figure I’m at worst 20%…but ended up better than expected when he called and turned over AQ offsuit.  Still…that sinking feeling didn’t go away.  Much like last week when Jav called my AK with 25 suited and hit a 5…I saw this coming.  Flop was A6Q, turn was another ace.  Not even close.

It’s been way too long since I’ve cashed at Longhorn.  It used to be a regular occurrence.  Still…you can’t win when you aren’t dealt cards and everyone’s calling the raises.  I can’t give myself too much grief for last night, can I?