Up $2450 (Mar 25 Commerce)

Today it's the same story of yesterday's donking off $1500 in the first couple hours. I'm not sure what the fuck is my problem when I first sit down to these tables... Maybe the higher stakes make me nervous and stupid. It's frustrating.. Anyway, I over play: Pocket nines, a stone cold bluff, and AK. It's stupid.. Ok.. so... same story as yesterday, I battle back to not quite even, on really good play when I get my grounding.

The rumors about this place are true, the donk fest is amazing, and I think the fact that I can come back from two days of huge stupidity is a testament to that. Every table I'm at, all the time, there's at least two total retards throwing away thousands. I saw this one crazy Asian put all his money in with AK on the turn (with no pair or draw), thinking his A high was good, and dude calls him with QQ (I think he didn't show), and of course the Asian hits his A on the river for like a $5000 pot. Any guesses on how long it took the Asian to lose the $5k? Yes, that's right, about four hours.

Anyway.. two big hands..
I have 44. I'm one of two callers of a $70 raise from this pretty aggressive pro looking guy who I'm slightly envious of as he can do some chip tricks that I can't (and maybe also because he has $15k on the table...).

Flop = 4AQ, 2 clubs.
Pro bets like $150, I call, other dude calls. Turn is a blank. Dude checks, Pro checks, and I do my best to take some time, take some deep breaths, and then put out a bet of $400. Dude calls, Pro folds.

Dude checks the river blind, which is a T of not clubs. I think about the straight for a second, but decide that his check blind would be incredibly stupid if he has KJ of clubs. I'm pretty sure at this point that he has aces up, or maybe even just AK, and is trying to keep the pot small. It's possible that he has a better set, but the odds of flopping set over set is under 1%, and it is a position I'm willing to lose all my money every time it comes up. So.. what to bet? It's a rare player who can fold two pair on a not scary board, and it's a very rare player who can fold top two, so, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get called on any bet, and so I go all in.

He has about $2k more in front of him, and I have him covered. He thinks for a long time, hems and haws. I sit with arms crossed on the table, looking at the pot, but more concentrating on him in my periphery, say nothing, have a completely blank face. He eventually calls. I show the set, he mucks. After leaving the table, and coming back with more chips, he says did indeed have aces up.

Next big un..
I have AA in early position, raise to $80. Dude from last hand raises to $200, one guy calls his $200. I am nervous about playing the aces against two people and am happy enough to take the $400, so I go all in for the $4k or so I have in front of me.

As I reflect on this, I think that I played this poorly. There was this one hand on High Stakes Poker where Esfandari took his sweet time thinking about what to do with his aces in the face of an Elezera call, and a Hellmuth raise. Because he took his time and made a reasonable bet, he managed to lure Elezera into the pot with jacks. Making the bet I did, and making it as quickly as I did, I might as well have put up a neon billboard that says that I have aces.

But, Dude is way on tilt from the hand above, and he can't fold any kind of a hand at this point. So he thinks and thinks, and calls! Then, instantly, the other guy calls too!!! I have them both covered! Wow!

I have an awful feeling that I'm sure that I'm going to lose, and when the flop comes QJX, and I see paint on Dude's cards I'm pretty sure I'm dead. But he shows KK!! And other dude said that he had no pair and was calling for pot odds... Errrr... what?? Whatever! Thanks for the money!!