Taking a stab at 6-12

I sat down at a 6-12 table for the first time in a long time at Casino Arizona. I was a little nervous. Not so much from the higher stakes but looking like a fool because it was the first time playing with $2 chips instead of $1 chips. Once I convinced myself it was just like 3-6 poker with blue chips, my brain figured it out.

A couple of things I noticed. First table image is becoming more important against the better players. I won a couple of pots by being aggressive knowing that the other players thought I only raised with the nuts.

Second, these players seemed to play a lot of under pairs through the flop and turn. I don't know if they had a tell on their opponets or were just trying to mix up their play. It sure seemed that if you held out for good cards and only played top pair you could make some decent money from that table.

I did well and won $200 last night, but it easily could have been $300. Both times I won big pots, I gave 1/2 my profits away in the next couple of hands by playing stupid. The last one really irked me.

I was dealt k-6 of spades on the button. No raises preflop and 5 players to the flop. The flop is K-7-8. Its checked a couple of times and a middle position bets. No other callers so I raise him, hoping to scare him out of the pot with this bet or one on the turn. At this point I put him on a medium K. He calls and 4th street is a 4 of diamonds. He checks, I bet and he calls. Now I am rooting for a 5 so I can get the straight. Bang the 5 of diamonds comes. Hooray! Except now he bets into me. Huh? Still not thinking I raise. He visibly thinks about it for a minute. I can see him going through the hand in his mind and remembering the bets. I think he's going to fold, but then he musters up the courage and calls my bet. I happily call out straight. He then turns over his k-10 of diamonds for a flush. What? I forgot to check for the flush on the board and sure enough there it was, runner, runner. I haven't made that mistake for a while.

Oh well, the $200 was a nice session and it made up for the losing one I had on the internet over the weekend.

My total gambling stake between cash in the house and online is now over $2400. So according to the experts that means I have the proper bankroll to play 4-8 since I have 300 times the big bet.