I Enjoy Being a Girl

I was up at the boat yesterday putting my governmental money to good use. There was hardly anyone there, so I was forced to sit down at one of the two $1/$2 NL tables. Man, did I get stuck at the wrong one. There were two guys, both very drunk, who were basically getting it all in every hand. Each had around $1000 in front of them compared to my paltry $200. The one bright spot was that I was seated to the immediate left of them, meaning they had to act before I made any decisions. Well, my very first hand I pick up queens and raise to $10. The first drunk guy reraises me and every fiber of my being says "shove all in", but I, being a big wimp, elect to call instead. The flop is K 8 3 rainbow. He bets. Again, every fiber says shove, I fold. I know I know, I play like a shameful little girl, but I just HATE going broke on the first hand. And, as I had just seen, this guy was calling any and everything. Considering how bad I was running, I didn't even want to take them up against just an ace. He showed AJ, smirked like he was some big shot, and went broke a couple of hours later. So did the second drunk guy, who I picked up about a hundred bucks off of.

After the two drunk guys busted out, the table calmed down and I proceeded to sit there for an hour and a half folding all my crap hands. I got nothing to work with. The big stack at the table is a guy I have played with a few times (I think his name is Scott...we'll go with that). He raises to $25. This may seem like a lot, but that is generally his standard raise. He is a fairly tight player, but his range on opening in early-middle position here is probably 77+ and KJs+. I have QQ again. Yee haw, I think to myself. I then pop it up to $75. It fold around to him and he looks disgusted. He asks how much I have total, which is $143 in addition to the $75. He then says, "I hate to do it, but I guess I go all in. I mean, there's only one hand that beats me."

Oh crap.

I ask, "only one, huh?" and he nods his head. I don't think he' s lying either, so I tell him there are two hands that beat me and fold my queens face up. He shows the kings. Bummer.

Well, later, he raises to $20 and I am in the big blind with 10 10 and I elect to flat call and avoid a situation like last time. It is just him and I in the hand and he asks if I have a pair. I say I do, he tells me he has one as well. The flop comes out and it is 8 high. I inform him my pair is bigger than the board and he is like, "I flopped a set." Seriously? I check, he puts me all in, I fold, he shows 88. At this point, all of the other guys at the table are like, "Woah man you are WAY too nice." He says, "come on man, I don't want to take all her money, we're friends, it is fine." Granted, this guy and I don't technically know each other's names, but I appreciate the kindness nonetheless. Later, my friend insisted this was not some good samaritan, but just a dude with a crush.

This has gotten me thinking. I mean, to be perfectly honest, I suppose it crossed my mind that being the only female under 30 in the room went into this guy's decision making process. That being said, if that is the case, honestly, I don't feel bad about it. First of all, I am not in the poker room, whoring myself out to get guys to be nice to me. I sit at the table, I am personable and, anyone who knows my personality realizes I am just friendly in general. Secondly, I have to sit at tables with so many disgusting, mysoginistic men who HATE to be beat by a girl that it seems only fair I get some advantages being a female as well. Finally, this is a game where everyone is developing some sort of table image and what is going on in this situation is more of the same. I have established a reputation as a solid player who is also kinda fun to have at the table. As a result, I get respect from the regulars when I raise and people who are in marginal situations stay away from me sometimes.

So, I don't care if he thought I was cute because I am secure enough in my card playing skills to realize if I didn't know how to play cards, I probably wouldn't get that kind of treatment at all.


Oh, and current balance: 997.14