Gregg's Birthday Game

I had such a great run of luck at this game this week.  It seemed I could not lose.  If I bet to bluff, everyone folded or called me with less than I held.  I started with great cards often and they won, even my pocket jacks.  I only remember losing one hand that I bet on the river.  I was trying to push Bruce out.  I had a pair of fours and he had a pair of nines.  Plenty of better hands out there, but I could not get him to budge.
Here is how I wrote the game up in an email:

There are those days when it just seems that losing is impossible.

I cleared actually $303 in profit, but still I think that is a record for me at Gregg's.  

No matter what I did my opponents seemed to be second best.

I played a few minutes of head-to-head with Gregg before the real game.  When we do this, we cash out afterwards so everyone starts even. I lost $16 dollars in just those few minutes.  A few hands in an all-in with Gregg brought all that back.

In one hand I held junk.  The flop gave me 3-4-5-6.  I bet $2.  The turn gave me a 7.  Bruce had a king and Jim had a king and the river put two on the board.  They bet, raised, reraised and it put Jim all-in and Bruce close to that.  I figured I'd lose to a full house.  Nope!

I won twice with pocket jacks, catching the third on the flop once.

I tried to push Gregg off the river with an all-in bet when I held just 10-J of diamonds with Q-9-X on board and two diamonds gave me both a flush and a straight draw.  I was very disappointed when Gregg called me, but he had 5-6 of diamonds.  Nothing developed, and I beat him just on the high card.

I won once in a hand where I was behind with Gregg until the river gave me a Queen that made my two pair into a full house and overcame his flush.  I had out-Gregged Gregg.

Jerry was mentioned because there was a huge debate on rebuy rules.  Gregg wanted to rebuy twice in a row with no hands in between because his first rebuy gave him just $10 in chips, the old limit.  The new rule is $19 in chips or less so a guy can't just fold a small blind and rebuy.  Of course, anyone can fold a preflop call and rebuy, so it has not changed actual practice much.  However, I am not concerned since by next game, that rule will certainly change once again.  The basic rule is that all rules must change and most of those changes need to be initiated in the middle of a hand, if possible, but at least in the middle of the game.

Once I tried for my own rule change.  I was dealing but had no cards, and I decided that after the hand was over the dealer ought to be able to take either the winning player's cards or his winnings.  Phil thought this was an ill advised rule and made me give back the pot stack.  It seemed a good rule to me, as long as it was changed back again after I followed it once.

Slink, who is now a professional dealer has decided that it is wrong to stack the chips when the pot is collected after any round of betting.  If we stack them on his deal, he will destroy all that pot order.  So, chips are collected after a round of betting, stacked by some helpful player, unstacked by Slink and then restacked once again by the winner.  

But then poker is more about playing with chips than actually efficiently playing cards.

I'm certain that next game, Slink will decide on his deal that the cards too need to be mixed up and redealt just before the river.  Whenever that happens, Gregg can rebuy.

So the suggestion was that Jerry be contacted by video phone and become the new skyped poker rules Czar.  

At the end of the game I discovered why I had won.  The  card protector that old Alligator Louisiana Mudgriff Dan's daughter sent me after Dan died had been left last week in the box that is the bank.

Thanks, Dan.  

And thanks to all the rest for an enjoyable rainy day.

Oh, and Gregg:  Happy Birthday!!

I hope I can play this well and be this lucky in Vegas.  Sure does boost my ego.