Every Monday I'll be posting a hand that had me scratching my head, causing me to wonder, "Hmmm... what did this person have?"

Sometimes I was right, most times I was wrong.

Studying these hands after every session has helped my critical hand-reading skills; I hope they help yours as well.

If you're the first person to guess correctly, you'll get a pat on the back. If that's not enough, you'll also claim the cash prize which will be a minimum of $20.

The hand may be simple, it may be hard. I may have won the hand, I may have not. I may include helpful clues, I may include misleading clues.

But here's a strong hint: pay particular attention to the type of game and where it was played. If it was Party, all bets are off!

Onto the hand:

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Party 30+3 No-Limit SnG, Big Blind is t100 (5 handed) converter

MP (t2960)
Button (t1190)
SB (t780)
grubby (t1480)
UTG (t1590)

Preflop: grubby is BB with Q 4
UTG calls t100, MP folds, Button folds, SB completes, grubby checks.

Flop: (t300) 4 K Q (3 players)
SB checks, grubby bets t100, UTG raises to t1200, SB folds, grubby raises to t1380 (All-In), UTG calls t180.

Turn: (t3060) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t3060) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t3060
Main Pot: t3060 (t3060), between grubby and UTG.

Click here to post your guess and view other guesses.

§
What a weekend. In preparation for my poker downgrade (I'll be limited to no more than two hours per night), I played all Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with only breaks for McDonald's.

My neck hurt so much from craning down at the laptop that I propped it (the laptop, not my neck) on some dusty plastic file shelves. Now the monitor is eye-level but in danger of tipping over. Dell sells a docking station but it appears it's only for the Latitude laptops. The one that's for the Inspiron specifically comes bundled with a keyboard and cordless mouse, which I don't need. Dell hasn't responded to my email about buying the stand unbundled. And besides, I shouldn't be buying more toys. The plastic shelves will have to do.

With the exception of a couple excursions into 5/10 6max, all my play was in SnG and multi tourneys. I tried registering for Party's $1M but was shut out when they capped it the night before at 2000 entrants. This was just as well, as Party had quite a few problems toward the end, adding $83K to buy off their network crashes. I've marked my calendar for their next one -- May 29. Hopefully Party will have fixed their servers by then, but it's not likely.

On Sunday I played the quarter-million tourney. I hadn't intended to play but Party tempted me with a $100 deposit bonus for all participants, which effectively knocked the entry fee to 100+15 from 200+15. Total prize pool was $313K. I lasted 3 1/2 hours and busted out 70 places away from cashing. The tables were tight from the get-go, and my flops seen stat reflected this: 13 percent.

hdouble and I were chatting one night about bad beats, The Big Lebowski, and wanting to take a shot at the higher limit games but not being able to because of ailing bankrolls.

We then casually came up with a goal: $1K by Sunday. This would amount to winning $1000 in one week, which we would then use to buy in to the 15/30 game (separate tables -- no need in taking each other's money).

If we lose, it's only a week's work lost. If we win... there ain't no looking back!

So that's my goal this week, made a bit more challenging because of my cutback in poker hours plus I've had to pay some bills (damn laptop!) dropping my bankroll to $500. A 200 percent increase? I know I can do it. Particularly if I stop throwing away money on the big multis.



breakfast:
McDonald's Egg McMuffin
hash browns

Diet Coke (a new thin Flex Straw to suck in the junk slower, not the regular yellow-striped fat straw left over from the '50s... guess they ran out)

lunch:
porkloin sandwich (too many pickles and onions)
Cookes & Snickers bar
Tostito Scoops chips & salsa
Terra Red Bliss potato chips

7 Diet Cokes (allergies)

dinner:
Ritz Bitz s'mores
2 Rice Krispies Treats
Portable pudding
Wendy's chicken nuggets
fries

poker: 30+3 SnGs (0,0,1,0,3,2,0,0,2,3), 2:15h, +53.33/hr
bankroll: 500+120 = 620