Matt Bryant has conquered the World!

Or at least the 1-2 game for 2 straight sessions lol. And truthfully, I don't really know how. I can't remember any real hands were I made money. I went play last night at Harrah's. Joe and I arrived at about 10:30 or so. We both got on the 1-2 list and it wouldn't be long before my biggest nightmare would occur... We are starting a new game. I don't mind playing 1-2 at all if the stacks are somewhat deep. But I hate this shit. 3 people(including Joe & I) buy in for $200, 2 people buy in for about $150. 1 person for $100 and like 4 people buy-in for $60. I haven't played one hand and I'm aggravated already. Not to mention 5 people at our table were Georgia fans from the LSU/Georgia game. And these were the idiots who bought in for $100 and less. Half the table didn't know what a straddle was. Well I win a few small pots. I flopped the wheel and broke one of the short stacks. I'm up $100 or so. I remember one hand were I raised preflop to $10 from MP with 6c-4c. The table was pretty tight. I got one caller from a tight player behind me. The flop came out A-K-x... two clubs. This guy was tight so I thought this flop probably smoked him. I wanted to represent the ace. But this guy was so tight I thought he had an ace and I didn't want to get raised and not be able see if I hit my flush. So I check and he checks behind. The turn is a rag.. but my 3rd club. I bet out $15 and he called. The river was a 10. I bet out $30-$40. And he payed me off. He allegedly had A-K but who knows. Scooped up a nice one there. I win a few and lost a few here and there. I ran my boat into quads. Everyone was beating up on this one annoying ass woman from Georgia. Everyone but me that is. I played with her for 6 hours and I swear she did not shut up for 30 seconds. She was solid but bad.. if that makes any sense. She was decent but over-valued her hands. I could not beat her to save my damn life. I flopped a set of 6's on a 6-4-7 board. I reraised a bet on the flop from another guy. She cold calls. Turn is an 8 and she ships it. Unreal. I fold... Another hand I raised preflop with Ad-Jd. She called from the SB as did the BB. The flop came out jack high.. 2 clubs and she leads like $15 into me?? The BB folded. She had no imagination what-so-ever. But I mean I raised before the flop and it came like J-5-2 or something like that. I elect to just call because I don't know if I'm up against a set or J-10 or some shit like this. I played this hand pretty much the same exact way I did against the donkey in my last blog. The turn is garbage and now she bets like $25. I'm so clueless. I call.. the river is the Kc, completing a flush. And she ships it. (I should note that someone was all-in preflop or on the flop). I study for a second and decide to fold. She shows K-J for top two and wins the pot. I played this hand like a chicken shit but thank God I did. Because there's no way in hell she was laying down K-J postflop. And she would have rivered me. One guy came to our table with $100 and lost it pretty quickly. One of the million 1-2 players who over value top pair. And it's not a good idea to buy in for 50BB's and over value anything lol. Well he rebuys and quickly wins a nice little pot before we get into a hand. I limp for $2 with 7-8o and we see a multiway flop. Flop is 6-7-9. It checks to me and I bet $10. The before mentioned guy calls. The turn is an ace. I check and he bets $20. Now normally I would probably fold here but I know if this guy has an ace, and I make my straight(even with 4 to a straight out there), he's gonna give me some money. So I call and make a stupid play which worked out in my favor. Like an ass, I check in the dark. The river is a 10, making my straight. Luckily for me this guy was an idiot and bet $20. By checking in the dark, I made it easy for him to check behind, in which case I would have lost a bet. But he bet $20. I raised him to $75. And without much thought, he calls and flips over A-6 for 2 pair and I drag a nice little pot there. I wasn't really happy to make the turn call, that's why I checked in the dark. But if I did bet the river, he probably just calls and I lose $40 or so. I was lucky he was dumb and it worked out in my favor. Our table breaks and most of us move to the same table with some others. One young guy was over-playing the shit out of his hands all night. I ended up flopping a set of nines after he raised preflop. We were both deep-stacked and I was PRAYING he had an overpair because I knew he would he given me major money. But he ended up having like A-8 and paired his 8 and only gave me a little money. Like I mentioned before, I don't remember too many big hands. I guess I just picked up a few decent pots and stayed out of harms way for the most part. I flopped the nuts with K-J on a Q-10-9 board. Only to have someone else hold K-J also. I ended up winning $420 overall. I have been playing more patiently and it's worked out so far. I have played a fair bit of $5-$10NLHE and a lot of $2-$5. In those games, especially $5-$10, the stacks are deeper and you can play some serious poker. You have to be creative and always keep the other guy guessing. I knew this from the get-go, but now it's REALLY sinking in.... You should play $1-$2 pretty much by the book(unless you happen to run into a tricky opponent). Because nobody is folding. There isn't much room at all to bluff because the stacks aren't seep enough(usually), and again... BECAUSE NOBODY IS GOING TO FOLD! I've been trying to play small ball and ABC poker for now. It's worked OK in these last two sessions. But that can all come crumbling down in a second. But wish me luck!!

"Life is too easy to play dice."- Phil Ivey