Charlestown Part 2, Electric Boogaloo

After the private tournament bust out, since I thought I'd played reasonably well, when Lance busted out I talked him into a late run to Charlestown. I probably should have opted out of that since I was a little tired, but I wanted to give C-town another go now that I'd been there and gotten a bit more comfortable with the place.

I bought in for $250 at a $1/$2 table. And then I proceeded to get the worst string of cards I've ever come across. Normally when people complain about their cards, it means that they played poorly and blamed it on "bad luck." But, trust me on this one... in the span of 2.5 hours, the best started hand I got dealt was Q-8 off-suit. But, for the first couple of hours, I was disciplined and didn't play mediocre hands. I took a small pot here and there but didn't tangle with anyone, figuring that I'd just bide my time until the cards improved and I had a better opportunity.

After 3 or 4 hours the cards hadn't improved and I made the decision to play a few hands as if the cards had improved. I was dealt a weak hand and raised it pre-flop from a bad starting position. This was an incorrect move for a number of reasons, but I had played conservatively enough that, if someone didn't hit their flop, I could potentially pot steal. Several players called. The flop came down with mostly under-cards but I had "my Ace," even though I didn't really have one. There were two clubs on the board, which I didn't notice at the time. I had no clubs. I bet into the pot way more than I should have, but I was worried about my "ace" not holding up and wanted to get players out early.

Lance called. I didn't think he had an Ace and had correctly pegged him as having a low or middle pair on the board. The turn showed a Queen or something similar and didn't help either of us. I checked, unsure of what to do and hoping that his inevitable bet would tell me something about his hand. This was yet another mistake I made. Lance checked.

The turn came down with another under-card that was a club. There wasn't a straight possibility on the board and I found it unlikely that Lance would have stayed in with two clubs and nothing else. So, I pegged him on a middle pair with a slight chance of two pair and made a large, incorrectly sized bet on the river trying to bluff him off the pot.

Lance called with his middle pair. And his flush.

That's when I learned three very crucial lessons:

• Don't bluff Lance. At least not very often.
  


• My bet sizing was all wrong.



• I had no idea how to handle dry runs of cards like what I'd experienced that night
  


• I wasn't yet ready to truly accept Lance's advice. I was taking it all way too personally.