Cowboy Up

No, not pocket Kings.” Cowboy up” is a phrase one will see from time to time out here, and I suppose in other areas where one finds ranches. Cowboys are okay in my book. Real cowboys, that is. Maybe not when they’re drunk…but even then, I imagine they’re more tolerable than a drunk who thinks he is a cowboy.

Last night I was at a PLO table with one such character. How do I know he was drunk? Because I know him. It’s tragic. No, maybe just pathetic. (Tragic in that I would imagine he capable of a solid game; pathetic in that he has allowed alcohol to impact on his judgment and makes him an overall consistent loser.) Anyway, he’s taken to showing up in rooms I playing with his very dynamic style of poker. He raises most pots, regardless of position and holdings, and predictably, gets the action (attention) he is seeking.

Three players to his left was his cosmic counterpart and another version of the make-believe cowboy, the calling station. They engaged many, many times.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $0.10 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($9.05)
UTG ($15.45)
UTG+1 ($23.30)
Hero (MP1) ($12.40)
MP2 ($10)
MP3 ($13.10)
CO ($5.20)
Button ($6.60)
SB ($6.90)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q, A, 7, 6

1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.10, Hero calls $0.10, MP2 (poster) checks, MP3 calls $0.10, CO calls $0.10, 1 fold, SB bets $0.80, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.70, Hero calls $0.70, MP2 (poster) calls $0.70, 1 fold, CO calls $0.70

Flop: ($4.20) 8, 7, J (5 players)

SB bets $4, UTG+1 calls $4, Hero folds, 2 folds

Turn: ($12.20) 9 (2 players)

SB bets $2.10 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $2.10

River: ($16.40) 10 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $16.40 | Rake: $0.75

Results:

SB had A, K, 4, 7 (one pair, sevens).

UTG+1 had 10, 3, Q, Q (straight, Queen high).

Outcome: UTG+1 won $15.65

Both of these hands are folds preflop, at least in my book (Mine probably was as well, but given what both players had been showing down with, I figured I wasn't too far off of having a comparable hand.) The caller lucked out with the straight draw and the idiocy of her opponent. Drunk cowboy rebought and started to rebuild, yet the onslaught continued. Both players had huge fluctuations in their stacks, which eventually slowed them down. The drunk player left after a while. He may have ended even on the night. Maybe. The calling station stuck around, so I did too. The great thing about calling stations is that they think their two pair is always good. Yet, by the time I started catching real hands, I managed only small pots with my flopped boat and, later, quad Jacks, both of which she paid off with value raises.