Poker players sometimes use the term “Hit & run” derisively to describe a player who comes in, hits big, and leaves. Such an event is more likely in no-limit, where it’s not hard to get all the money in quickly, but less common in limit, where betting is, well, limited.
Yet it happened to me today. Hitting up the club midday, where the games have been soft, I was racking up in less than half an hour after nearly doubling my $200 buy-in. Which begs the question: Why leave if the game is so good?
Well, first of all, I had an incredible run, one that is possible in the short run but unlikely to continue. It began when I raised just a few hands in with AJ offsuit and got no callers. A few hands later, I found 7h6h in the big blind after a few callers and checked my option. The flop came seven high. I checked, the player 3 seats to my right bet, and everyone folded to me. I had intended to check-raise, but thought about trying something different: I just called. The turn brought another small card. I checked, he bet, and I called again. The river brought a Q and I immediately bet out. The disgusted look on his face and his hesitation told me I had him, and I was right. He folded.
I was in the 3 seat at the table. I player I knew was in the 9 seat, one I knew routinely played badly, calling way too much preflop and calling down too often post-flop. A few hands later, I raised with AJ and he was the only caller. The flop came king-high with 3 hearts. I checked, and he checked behind. The run came a blank. I checked again, and he bet out–and I check-raised. He stared at the board, muttered something about 3 hearts, and folded!
So early on, I ran 2 successful bluffs. Who says you can’t bluff in limit poker?
A few hands later, I got pocket queens in early position and raised. I got only one cold-caller, someone I knew called a lot. I was not happy with seeing an ace on the flop, and even less happy when my flop bet was called. Yet his response to my turn and river checks were checks in response, and my queens won to his KQ.
Just a short time after than, I raised in early position with AQ suited and flopped top two pair. My flop bet got a couple of callers, but my turn bet got everyone to fold, whereupon I showed my hand and commented that I “should go across the street and but a lottery ticket, I’m getting so lucky.”
But I realized too that while the table was soft, it was also somewhat high variance. For example, I saw someone who called with 3-8 just because the two cards were suited. And there was a good, solid player in seat 8. So not long after that, less than half an hour after I sat down, I did something I never do (and probably should): I got up and walked away with my profit.
It seems kind of crazy to drive 15 minutes, wait for a good half an hour, and then play for such a short time. But I’ve also been in similar situations where I’d stayed after making a profit, believing the game was good enough that I could make more (aka greed), and seeing the law of averages kick in, the hands start to be not so good, the flops getting missed instead of hit (missing flops actually happens far more often, of course), and then watching the chips I’d worked so hard to accumulate slip away. So is it crazy or smart?
I say smart. A good day, and I’ll be ready for another day tomorrow.