Gambling with board member Innit

Foxwoods

I went up again on Friday and had a fine time playing poker. We could not play a movie because the electronics were broken on bus number 248. Other people on the bus said they had been broken for over a year when they first complained. They gave us a fine Foxwoods T shirt which alone was worth the $10 ticket. There was no movie this time, but I brought along my nice little cassette tape player and some recent Prairie Home Companion shows, one from 1981 and another 1984. They helped pass the time. Ain't modern technology grand!

I was supposed to be traveling with Innit from this board. He lives near me and may join our local games. He is not retired yet, but soon. However, the ten dollar sale meant that Yankee Trails had at least five buses going to Foxwoods and we were scheduled for different buses. We did get to have lunch together and hang out a bit by the craps table and the poker table. He was not yet comfortable playing Hold Em in the casino. He did have a heck of a run on the craps table. I think he said he hit 15 sixes in one roll. Had he pressed, he would have been rich. He did have the six placed so he did okay.

The Wampum line was not too long, so I stood in line to get a $10 matchplay voucher using a coupon from Louisiana Mudgriff Dan, my silver strike Vegas buddy. While I was there I checked my points and I had enough for a $26 Trailways voucher. Sometime in the next three months my bus fare will be free.

Innit and I went to the craps table and I played the matchplay. Not very dramatic. The shooter rolled six- something – six and I walked away with my $20 win on my $10. This puts me way ahead of the mathematical expectation for matchplays. I have lost one I split with Robin, and one $10 play and hit all the rest.


I played 4-8 in the morning, lost a few hands, and then started to get well above average cards. I was doing well, but at noon I noticed I was only $50 ahead. I am paying more attention to how much I am winning or losing and I knew this indicated that the pots were too small, so instead of staying around, I cashed out and went to lunch with Innit and his women friends at one o'clock. I was $40 ahead. The buffet line was not very long. The women told me that before two we would miss the bingo crowds, so I learned a good buffet time. I also found out that I could cash out and leave my initials at the main desk when I went to lunch. When I came back, they would put me on the top of the list for a seat. This is much better than the table rules if you don't cash out. The first two people have just 45 minutes away from the table before chips are locked up. If a third person leaves, s/he has only ten minutes. I can't have a leisurely buffet in 45 minutes. This time I was gone an hour and a half.

I checked my keno winnings. No $150 this time, just $5.

I came back and checked out the 4-8 table. Seeing many of the same rock players, I decided to try 2-4. I thought I could probably play all the rest of the afternoon, relax and drink some Myer's rum and lime and at worst break even. That would leave me $65 ahead for the day. On the 2-4 I knew I could play without paying so much attention to trying to confuse my opponents and I was ready for more relaxed play.

In the morning I had made some “tell” mistakes, so I did not trust my poker face. One in particular was pretty funny. I got pocket kings when I was on the button and when the betting got to me only the blinds were left. The rule is to raise, but most of my opponents were gone and I felt that the blinds were weak. I did not want to just take six dollars on my pocket kings. However, I hesitated and then said, “I guess I'll just raise” and that was enough so that they put me on a high pocket pair. The small blind said that he had been prepared to ask for a chop, and I believed him, so I expected I had the best hand. The flop came K-queen-blank and two clubs. They checked and I bet my trips. They called. The turn came 3 of clubs. They checked and I bet, and the big blind check raised me. So I knew I was beat and he had caught the flush. The turn paired the 3 on the board. He checked and I bet. He called. Nice lucky river win for me. The BB told me that he knew I had a large pocket pair, but he hoped at the end that it was aces.

Still, I did not want to be so much on my guard. And then the best thing happened. A new 2-4 table opened. It is so fine to play at a new table. The poorer players still have some money and no one knows anything about their opponents.

It was a fine, easy table. Calling stations. Chasers. Everyone was pretty predictable. They bet their cards. If they raised, they had high pocket pairs. There was one fellow who raised preflop on less than premium just for fun. He played directly across from me. If I had cards and good position, I usually reraised him, trapping the calling stations and slowing him down so I might see a free turn card. Later in the afternoon, a Yahoo joined and raised often and bluffed and then proudly showed us his winning trash. I could not get a free card from him. If I raised post flop on a draw, he reraised. He was a lot of fun, however. He gathered some chips and then the rock predictable players slowly drained him. One fellow never bet until he raised on the river with a high full house. So I knew we now had one who would wait while we bet into his apparent weakness.

With so many people in pots, a few times I took a chance. Once I caught a gut straight on the turn. At this table, in spite of the fact that I raised my straight, everyone who was in stayed to see what I had. The rive gave me a better straight and still they stayed with nothing. Nice pot.

I got one stretch of bad cards just at the right time. I know some of you poker players do not think there is a right time for bad cards, but in the late afternoon, when the rum is starting to work and a young girl's charming face is dealing the cards and calling the game in a sweet and charmingly cadenced voice, it is time to sit back in your chair and only interrupt your sensual enjoyment when the most premium cards come along. The name of the rum was Myer's; the name of the dealer, Justine. I thought I was in Vegas.

I left $90 and 4 Myer's rums ahead which put me up $155 for the day. On the way home an accident held us up for an hour and a half. I wrote that experience up IN the next post
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