A wild player in the $40 No Limit Game

So I was sitting in the $40 NL Hold’Em game with a guy who was making some bizarre plays. The first hand I saw him in, he limps in under the gun for $2, then calls a $8 raise. When the flop comes a King with two blanks, the check raises most of his stack (some $50 or so) then blindly bets the remainder of his stack on the turn. He turns over KT and loses to AK. A couple of hands later he calls an all in bet preflop with AQ and manages to beat QQ. His play was simply bizarre.

I wait to get a premium hand against him and eventually find myself with two red Kings. I raise it to $6 and get four calls, including the wild guy. Flop is Qs 10s and a blank. They check it to me and I bet $10. I get two callers including the wild guy. Turn is the Ace of spades, the absolutely worst card for me. They check it to me and I bet $15, the wild guy goes all in and I fold.

In a later hand I pick up Q7 of hearts in the small blind. It’s raised $5 so I call $4 to see the flop along with five other players (including the wild guy). Flop is Jh 9s 5h. I check and wild guy makes it $25, there’s one caller after him, so I figure I’ll call two and hope to catch a heart or a queen. Turn is the 4 of clubs. I check and wild guy goes all in. I fold and wild guy shows J5 off suit for two pair. A couple of hands later he stands up to leave. It’s after my quiting time as well, so I’m playing my last round. I get pocket 10s in middle position. Under the gun raises it to $6 and gets a caller after him, I raise it to $20 and get of the original callers calling to see the flop which is Qd 2d2s. They check it to me and I go all in for the rest of my $40 or so. Under the gun calls me and we turn over our hands and he has JJ. Fortunately, I suck out a 10 on the turn to win.

I think this last hand is the one I have the most questions about. He raised under the gun, but did not four bet my $20 raise. I mentally eliminated AA KK and QQ from his range and put him on AK or pocket pairs lows than queens (which is what he had). With that flop, and my preflop aggression, I’m good against AK and pocket pairs under me, JJ is my only real weakness, and it’s possible that I could have gotten him to fold the better hand with my bet. I think I did the right play, but, in retrospect, I’m thinking I was better off calling preflop or checking on flop and waiting to catch a 10 or fold.

Gangrel Dominate Deck: Stanislava and Ingrid

Recently a purchaser of my Barbed Wire decks off of eBay asked me to make an advanced deck for him. I put together a deck that was a longtime favorite tournament deck. I had worked on it with Paul Johnson of the Los Angeles VTES crew. Here’s the decklist:

Crypt

7 x Stanislava, Gangrel Inner Circle Member, +2 Bleed, Allies can not block, retainers lose abilities in combat, DOM CEL PRO FOR ANI
5 x Ingrid Rossler, Prince of Geneva, +2 Transfers when ready, ANI PRO FOR dom

Library

Master Cards

Golconda: Inner Peace x3
Ecoterrorists
Dominate
Legendary Vampire
The Barrens
Dreams of the Sphinx x3
Storage Annex x2
Minion Tap x5

Actions

Restoration x2

Political Actions

Anarchist Uprising
Ancient Influence
Ancilla Empowerment
Banishment
Disputed Territory
Parity Shift x2
Reins of Power

Action Modifiers

Conditioning x3
Earth Control x5
Forced March x8

Combat

Claws of the Dead x4
Earth Meld x4
Forn of Mist x4

Reaction

Guard Dogs x5
Cat’s Guidance x4
Obedience x4
Deflection x8
Second Tradition: Domain x2

Combo Cards
Rapid Change x4
Murmur of the False Will x7

This deck would be classified as a tool box by most VTES players because it does a lot of different things. Continue reading Gangrel Dominate Deck: Stanislava and Ingrid