Image Is Everything

I slept on Friday night. Saturday I spent up playing the Binions $200 tournie and then flew on Sunday morning, arriving on Monday in Ireland. Do I sleep? Do I do the sensible thing? No, I head to the Fitz for the 100 game of course. Someone slap me.

So I get there and the deck hits me in the face for the first level... and I play a rush and get myself up to 6.5k. Then the cards desert me but I keep at that level for a long while.

Then the table changes. Alan Gibbons has been on my table and I've been wary of him, there are much easier chips at this table, including the most unbelievable calling station I've ever seen! Q-high is worth 500 on the river to this guy. But now I have Vivion, Norman and Joan Vickers on the table. I'm not liking this.

I find A9o in the 400-Big-Blind with about 5K in my tank.Viv goes all in on the button for 1600 and I decide to drop it. I show it to earn a little respect but Viv shows 83o and the consensus is that I should have called with any two cards. I disagree but suddenly I dont feel happy about my table image. My small raises (which by and large were bluffs) arent being taken seriously and I'm getting big reraises of them when they should be striking fear into my opponents. I dont have what I'm representing but thats not why they are reraising. They think I'll drop it! Oh Oh... what have I done?!

But my time in vegas wasnt all just reporting, I learned a few new moves too. Time for what I refer to as Judo-Flipping. They think I'm a rock, ok, lets rock their worlds... I limp in first position with a pair of 8's. I know exactly what I'm doing with this hand. If I get through unraised I have a nice hand to see a flop with. If I get reraised, I'm going to blow them away.

Reraised it is, not only that but called in 3 spots. All the better for Judo-Flipping I think to myself! So, now where are we... They think I'm a rock. Ok, I'll use that against them. They think my game isnt very sophisticated. Ok, I'll use that too. I have two early position callers a medium position raiser and two late position callers. I'd have to be absolutely bonkers to push here. So thats what I do. I push all my stack in and sit back grinning like a fool. A self-satisfied fool. All Fold.

So, now I go on a run, I raise with 4,2. I reraise with 97o. The cards no long matter at all. I stop my rampage when one of the quieter players at the table says " we havent seen your cards in about 5 pushes...". I figure its time to leave Dodge!

But whats this? AQs. niiiiiiice..... Lets go trapping. I raise to 2000 in EP. Its about triple the blinds and previously these sort of bets have been snapped up by the table like succulent canape's at a cocktail party. I dangle my bait and wait for a "Reraise, 6000". Gotcha! I only have 6900 but the guy doesnt look too happy about it and clearly would like to fold for the extra 900 but doesnt and flips QJo to my AQ. Feeling terrific about my play, I walk out the door when a J-high board arrives.

Stupid game.