9/27/25 Session Recap: And the Roller Coaster Ride Continues

I was excited to get back to regular poker programming last night. Last weekend, I was in Indiana and didn't really have a chance to play (the nearest poker room seemed to be at least a couple of hours away and I think my wife would have noticed me missing all day). 

Prior to last night, my last session in Texas was on 9/13/25 and marked the third winning session in a row after a bout of up and down sessions. I was hoping that I could put on a nice consecutive string of victories. The following week I was in Vegas for work (work-work, not poker-work) but was still able to fit in two mini-sessions at the Venetian. Unfortunately, both were losing sessions. However, to feel better about myself, I decided that I would treat the two Vegas losses separately and go back to Texas with the mentality that I was still on a three-game winning streak. You know...losses in Vegas stay in Vegas.

I was back at the $1/$2 table at Palace Poker. There were a few big stacks, but the only person who caught my initial attention was two to my right, so I wasn't overly concerned (he was in the 1 seat and I was in the 3 seat). I started playing around 8:40pm.

Notable Hand #1 (8:58pm): Good Start!

I had KJs UTG+2. I raised to $15. [As a side note, for the longest time, my standard raise at $1/$2 has been $10 (before callers), but in Texas that just guarantees at least 3 or more callers. So I have started to raise to $15, even though I think that starts making less mathematical sense given the pot size, equity of a balanced range and $300 cap]. Fortunately, it folded around to the two buttons. They both called, but it also meant that I was now in position. 

The flop came QJ2r, giving me middle pair with a backdoor straight draw. It checked to me and I bet $15. Both players called. The turn came a rag and it checked to me again. I bet $35 (into a pot of about $90). The SB called and the BB folded. 

The river came another J, giving me trip Jacks with the K kicker. The SB checked. There was ~$180 in the pot. I definitely didn't think he had a Q and with three Jacks out, it seemed unlikely he had a J. So I felt that the only value I would get would be from a hero call, which I felt he was primed for because I had been pretty involved in little pots before this without ever showing a hand. So it was just a matter of deciding how much value I might be able to get as a hero call. I decided on $50 (less than 1/3 of the pot). The Villain tanked for a bit and then called. I showed my KJ and he mucked. It was a great start after less than 20 minutes of play. 

Notable Hand #2 (9:48pm)

It had been around 50 minutes since notable hand #1 and I was basically just hovering around the same stack level, losing some small ones and winning some small ones. 

I looked down at Q10o in late position. There were a few limpers before it got to me and I raised to $15. Two players called but I was in position. 

The flop came 10 high with a flush draw (not for me), giving me top pair with a not-so-great kicker. Villain 1 checked and villain 2 donk bet for $15. The other villain and I called.

The turn completed the flush draw. Villain 1 checked again and villain 2 bet 15 again. I called but villain 1 folded.

The river came a J. The villain checked and I tried to think if there was any value to betting the 10. I just wasn't sure if I was good there and couldn't think of what I would get value from that I was beating and so I checked back. I declared that I had a 10 and he mucked his cards.

Some context for those questioning why I wouldn't get him to show his cards first since it went check-check and he was first to act. This player (Seat 2) seemed to be new to poker rooms. He was not familiar with many of the rules/etiquette (he said that he normally just played home games). He was a friendly guy and I was doing my best to guide him. It was for that reason that I just decided to declare my hand.

Notable Hand #3 (10:17pm): Be Careful What You Wish For

I straddled on the button with A4o. The villain  in seat 1 bet $15 and I called. It was heads up.

The flop came Q94r, giving me bottom pair, and the villain checked. I am ALWAYS suspicious when the preflop aggressor checks on a board like that. And so I checked back.

The turn came a 2. The villain bet $35. Even though I was suspicious of the check on the flop, I also knew that the villain was capable of bluffing in this spot after my check back on the flop. Given that it was a pot-sized bet, the math was wrong from an equity perspective, but I figured I would use my position to see what he did on the turn. So I called the $35, hoping to get some help with an A or 4 on the river.

The river came another 9, pairing the board. The villain bet around pot again, pushing $100 towards the middle. It was a good polarized bet and I was trying to decide if he was really strong or really weak. But ultimately I decided to fold and he flipped over AA. I thought that an A on the river would have saved me, but it likely would have cost me my stack, so silver lining in the lost pot.

Notable Hand #4 (10:29pm)

Once again I straddled on the button and looked down at 107o. The main villain in this hand (Seat 8) had just come from a nearby table that had broken up and had a big stack (as a side note, I am finding that Palace Poker seems to have an issue with tables breaking up). The villain in seat 8 raised to $20. There was one caller before it got to me and I called as well on the button, throwing in an additional $15 on top of the $5 straddle.

The flop came 997, giving me 'effective' top pair (as it was unlikely anyone had a 9 in their hand). It checked around (I would likely check in this scenario even if I had a 9 in my hand).

The turn was a Q. It checked to me and I bet $20. Both players called and we had managed to build a pot of ~$120. 

The river was a J. It checked to me and I decided to just check. Both players indicated they had nothing so I declared my pair of 7s to claim the pot. 

Notable Hand #5 (11:09pm): Wishing I had a Time Machine

It was two hours into the session. Although I had been steadily exchanging winning and losing pots, I had managed to consistently stay in profit territory all night. But then the dealer change happened, which meant another double-board PLO bomb pot....

I can't even really go into detail about the hand itself. Ultimately, I had trip 7's on the bottom board and a pair of Queens on the top board. Both boards had flopped AK and so I didn't have a lot of concern of someone holding trip Aces or Kings and the other card on the bottom board was lower than my 7. 

The river on the bottom board was a 10, which meant that QJ would beat me. I also knew I had no chance of winning the top board with a pair of Queens. So my only chance of winning was trying to win the bottom board with trips and as someone once said to me, trips in bomb pots is like a pair in regular hold'em. I've also been given the same advice on more than one occasion that without the nuts on one board, one should not continue unless you have good equity on BOTH boards. I ignored both these pieces of guidance in this hand.

All that being said, I'm still not sure that I played it wrong. Once the river cards came, the short stack in Seat 7 jammed for his remaining $135. Two other players called the $135 before it got to me. If either of the other two players had re-raised, I would have insta-folded. But there was at least $550 in the pot and I just couldn't seem to let it go at that price. And so I called. And as you probably can guess, I got beat on the bottom board by the short stack who was holding QJ.

During any given poker session, there can be one or more turning points. Kind of like a basketball game where one team just suddenly starts gaining or losing momentum. This bomb pot was clearly that turning point for me. I had suddenly plunged into deficit territory and was forced to top up.

After the bomb pot, I just couldn't get things going. I topped up once more (just top ups, not complete stack buy-ins) but was struggling and slowly moving more downward.

I've mentioned previously that I always look for that sign telling me that it is time to go home. I got a clear sign around 12:30am with two omens. First, multiple players had left our table and we were suddenly down to five players. The second sign was even more ominous as almost immediately after the sixth player left, the dealers changed and I was about to be faced with a bomb pot. My mind screamed "Hell, No!" and I politely asked the new dealer to clock me out for the night.

And so the roller coaster ride continues. The three-game win streak has now been followed by a three-game losing streak.

In poker, and in life, it's important to find the 'wins' even in the losses. Even though I haven't been able to break through into consistent profitability over the last several months, there are still two big positives I can take away. First, I may not be able to get that extended winning streak going, but at least I've so far avoided any significant losing streak. Second, I know poker players have a tendency to exaggerate how card-dead they are, but aside from the poker session on 8/30/25, I really haven't had many premium holdings (many of the notable hands from past session recaps support this). So I just need to hold-on and stay steady until I can catch the next ride on the run-good variance train.