Empire Tuesdays

CC and I played Empire on Tuesday and it lived up to its reputation of a loose, fishy game. I unfortunately made 2 mistakes, costing me 350 GBP and left with only a +100 GBP profit, while CC had a much better night despite me mucking up an opportunity for him to take another +200 off a very fishy Italian mobster ("IM") with his bodyguard at tableside.

"IM" was the definition of a calling station. He wouldn't lay anything down. My mistake was trying to out-play him when I raised the 1/2 blinds to 15 from the button and he was the only caller. Flop of TQ2 rainbow hit my As2s. He bet out 25 and I raised to 75. He called. Turn was harmless 7. He checked, I moved him all-in for another 150. I correctly identified he was VERY weak and did not want to call, but this calling station would not lay down a hand. So, he calls reluctantly with AT, and I puked off 250 to this guy. BIG MISTAKE #1.

A bit later "IM" called my button raise of 12, along with 3 others at the table, including CC. I held KsTs, and played agressively from position. Flop was 78T rainbow. "IM" leads out with 40. I was pretty sure "IM" was on a draw or had paired the T with a worse kicker. "IM" only had about 50 behind. Foolishly, I didn't see CC deliberating on my right, thinking he had thrown in his hand, and I raised it to 100 to push out the two players on my left. CC, rightly so, was flaberghasted and he ended up throwing his 2nd-nut 69 straight away after I bet out of turn. I'm so pissed off that I mucked up that hand, because if CC had bet, I definitely would have folded. Instead, "IM" calls along with one other player. In a stroke of lightening, "IM" actually had hit the same straight the CC had thrown away, the 6-9. So, I puked another 112 quid off to "IM", and prevented CC from taking down half the pot. BUMMER and my bad, sorry CC!!


Overall, Tuesday confirmed that Empire is a hotspot for loose, crappy players and will be a regular Tuesday night venue.