Seeing in the New year

I really wanted to go to the Casino on New Years Eve, so it should come as no surprise that I was busting to join the tables on New Years Day.

There was a big buzz around the place. Apparently pro's like Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G and Jeff Lisandro was at the tables the night before, no doubt warming up for the New Years eve fireworks (If only I could have been there a day earlier!!) I sat on the $80-$200 table again  and set myself the same rules - maximum 5 hours, leave when $500 up or at my time limit. I loaded my seat and sat in seat 10, view of seats 1-3 is restricted, but a seat is a seat.

I had a pretty standard first 3 hours. I dipped as low as $150 but recovered to be closer to $250. I missed a couple of chances but was not getting monster hands and was playing a relatively safe game - I tried to see as many cheap flops as possible and when i hit it, tended to make around $20-$40 a hand. It was at the 3 hour mark that a couple of Vietnamese people joined in seats 6 and 7 that changed the game for me.

The guy in seat 6 was an older gentlemen. I saw a cheap flop with 45 from the button. The flp came down 678, giving me a small straight. There were 2 clubs on the board which was enough to scare me, so I decided to bet big and take the pot there. I made a $40 bet and was immediately called by the guy in seat 6. The turn was a 3 of clubs, putting the flush into play. He checked, I put $50 into it, thinking he would have bet if he had the flush, he called quickly again. At this point I was worried. The river put out another 7 which was bad for me. if my opponent had trips, he now had a full house. He put his last $55 into the pot at which point I conceded and called. I thought I was beat but the pot was too big to turn down. He shows 8 -10 no clubs - he was calling with top pair and an inside straight draw. Very bad play on his part and I was delighted to win the $300 pot. He did a rebuy and won a few hands from others at the table.

I sat on that $450 mark for quite some time. I ran into a streak of good aces, however, struggled to get callers for my preflop raises. The 5 hour mark was just 15 minutes away when I managed AK hearts. I preflop raised $17 from big blind and had 4 callers, the 2 Vietnamese and one other. The flop was 274 with the 4 of hearts heart. I checked, seat 6 raised $20. other two called, so, despite having nothing, I decided to call as well, since the pot was already over $130. The turn was the 6 of hearts, giving me a flush draw. I checked, seat 6 bet $80, seat 7 was all in for $63 and the other guy folded. Action was on me, and I thought for an eternity. When he initially bet $80 i was ready to fold, however, It would be hard to put me on a flush and I couldn't put any of my opponents on a flush draw either, telling me there were more hearts out there. Furthermore, Seat 6 had been winning hands and had another $280 in reserve. If I hit my flush, it was going to be a good pay day. I decided to call but was in agony over it. River came 2 of hearts, I hit my flush bit it paired the board. I still felt like I had the best hand and led out $250. There was an extended pause but I realised pretty quickly that he had no full house - if he did he would have been all in straight away. he eventually called with pocket 9's - an over pair to the board but not good enough. The pot was over $850 and I was ecstatic.

My stack was a bit over $1000 and I was well over my $500 target now. I played out the last 10 minutes and left the table over $800 in front.  This is as good a start to the new year as I could have hoped for and I had lots of fun.