3-Betting Light in Minnesota

So my job has been taking me all over the place.  One of the few good parts is getting into poker games all over the place.  Poker is great because it seems there’s a game everywhere and because it gets going late at night.  It is hard to sight-see starting at 9 PM and really see anything.  But, after a day of working and dinner with the customer or co-workers, you can simply slip over to the card room and get in a game.

This customer is in Minneapolis (they are a division of a big card retailer).  There are a few places near Minneapolis where they play.  Unfortunately, state law says they can’t play no limit.  So everywhere you go, they spread limit poker.  So I played $1/2 limit hold ‘em.  I’m awful at limit poker.  The great news is that mistakes cost a whole lot less than in the no limit game.  So, I just decided to have fun and go with it.  I decided to raise a lot and use position.

I played a lot of hands.  I was unpredictable and tricky and earned a reputation as a maniac, which was fun because normally my image is pretty tight.  Here are some true hand stories:

I raise in middle position with 46 off, the flop comes 37K.  I bet, I get raised and re-raised so I call.  The turn comes K and I bet, I get raised, a call and I call.  The river brings a 5 and I bet, I get raised, one fold and I re-raise and get called.  In fact, all of my biggest pots that I won were crazy junk like that.  On another hand I bet in early position with 8T suited, I get raised and I re-raise.  He calls and the flop comes 345 rainbow.  I bet and he raises and I call.  The turn comes 6 and I bet and he raises and I call.  The river comes 7 and I bet and he raises and I re-raise and he calls.  He was fuming.  I caught so many rivers that even I began to believe it couldn’t fail.

Limit poker is tough work.  I played all night and I ended up down $33.  For the record, this is the exact amount I was up this weekend when I played in Tunica.  Strange.  I had a blast.  I might play limit poker more often.