High Steaks Poker

Last night I was back in AC at the Borgata. My intention was to enter the 7 PM tourney so when I arrived at 5:30 I sat in a no-limit cash game to pass the time until the start of the event. By 7pm I was up a couple hundred so I decided to bag the tourney as I had a better expected profit in the cash game. The table was full and there were maybe 3 or 4 decent players with the rest of the field pretty weak in their play. One memorable hand I played from the Big Blind with hole cards of 10 and 2. There were several players in the pot and no raises so I checked and we saw the flop. 10-2-2. What a beautiful sight. I slow-played and checked and sure enough had players betting into the pot. I merely called and then checked the turn, as well. A player bet and it was folded to me. I re-raised him and he called. On the river I bet out and he called. I turned over my full house and scooped a nice pot.
I played until about 8 pm when I decided it was time for dinner. I was still up a few hundred and hadn't eaten at the Old Homestead in a while so I headed there. I walked past the long line at the entry and was seated immediately. I ordered the Gotham Steak, their signature 36 ounce rib eye and a glass of Bacchus cabernet. The steak was awesome and I even saved room for a little dessert: creme brulee. The dinner ate up half my profit for the night, but it was worth it.

I got back to the table around 9:30 and immediately went on a card rush. The second hand I played after sitting back down was an A-Q. I raised and had one caller. The flop came with an Ace and a King, but I didn't put him on A-K since he had only called my raise. I bet out and he raised me big. I thought about it for a minute and called. On the turn I checked and he moved all in. Now I had a big decision to make. I was looking at a nearly $600 pot and I didn't have the nuts, but I did feel in my gut that he didn't have A-K. He was sitting there solid as a rock and I couldn't really get any tells from him, but I just wasn't buying what he was trying to sell me. I called and when he hesitated to turn over his hand I knew I had him. My A-Q had trumped his A-J! The dealer pushed a huge pile of chips to me and the other players commented on how great a call I had made. One player even said, "that was the best call I've ever seen." I don't know about that, but it was pretty good!
It got even better after that. A few hands later I was dealt pocket fours and the flop came Q-4-J with two hearts. I bet out to try to keep out anyone chasing the hearts and was immediately raised. The next player moved all-in, but he didn't have alot of chips. There was no way the guy had pocket queens or jacks, so the best he could have was two pair or the flush draw. I said, "all-in" and he went into the tank. I really didn't want him to call at that point as if he did have the heart flush draw I would have to sweat nine outs with two cards to come. I told him it was going to cost him to try to suck out on me and he put it together pretty quickly that I had flopped a set. He thought about it some more, but finally folded. The other player turned over Q-J and my set held up. Turns out the player who folded had the same hand, Q-J, so in hindsight that was the best possibility for me and I wished he had called afterall. My chips were growing into towers now and I had at least 4 times as much money as the next player at the table. The very next hand I looked down at pocket tens and raised. Another player moved all in and I called. He turned over A-K and my hand held up again. I now had a three-story tower of chips that had to be intimidating as hell to the rest of the table. I used my table image and chip stack to take down several more pots with bets and raises that no-one dared to call. I started to rack my chips and left the table about 10:30 with one of the best profits I've ever made in an hour of play and cashed out with a four-figure win!
The World Series of Poker Circuit is coming to Caesars on March 5 so I'd like to get a few more sessions in before the tournament starts. My confidence is high and I can't wait.