Four Winds

E and I went down to Four Winds for the afternoon. She played some 8/5 $1 bonus but short played just one dollar at a time. She was stretching out her $20 for just a little while. She won $12.

Today we found the self service coffee and soda. Nice. No dollar tip for delivery. Alcohol is charged, and tipping a dollar for a cup of coffee which may or may not have the correct amount of sweet and low is not fun for me. There are quite a few self serve spots scattered around the floor. I liked being able to just warm up a cup by topping it off.

There is also a section of smoke free machines and they had pretty good VP. I did not find dollar 9/6 JOB there; it was 9/5 JOB, but the Bonus was 8/5.

I played live poker and left just $6 up for the day after many ups and downs during the afternoon. I found the table full of regulars, for the most part, who were tight and passive so it was an easy game to play, but a hard game at which to win money. One of the players was the best from yesterday's table. It turns out he plays everyday. He has only missed about ten days all year. He was very hard to beat.

I had a few fine hands. I got paid once when I played a 9-7 offsuit just for the hell of it and had the nut flush by the turn. After the river made smaller straights possible, I went all in and was called by a tough opponent to my left.

I had another fine all-in bet when I had queens full of kings and my opponent was almost down to his last bit of bankroll. Otherwise I may have made more money on that one. I made no money on my four sixes. That same fellow bet $5 into me to try to steal, but would not call my raise to $15.

I see some of my errors and will work to correct them. But overall I believe I am ready to play some no limit on occasion. I won't play much in Vegas. I like the volatility to be about a swing of $100 over hours and hours of play with comps and free drinks being the real winnings. I could not play no limit everyday for 15 days.

Now, I have some more observations about dealerless tables.

1. the idea that there is no exchanges among players is not quite true. We had a great time talking and there were even some fishing stories. There were lots of stories about regulars and odd events. It was a fine, friendly table.
We had one fellow who refused to sit in the chair, but rested on his knees in the seat a head or so higher than out heads. I did not like that, but I did not know that the rule was to be seated. Another player took him to task about it out ow worry it would void the bad beat award. The award is now up to $210,000. (Imagine your aces full of kings beat by four of a kind and as consolation you win 105,000.)
The floor was a young fellow and he was much too nice about the issue and permitted the obnoxious kid to argue with him. In Vegas, once the kid said no to the floor, security would be called and he would be ejected. I remember one obnoxious kid who argued with a dealer too long about a hand being not only ejected from the casino but walked to his room in that casino and monitored while he packed his bags.

But I did feel that it did not take much to solve a dispute even without a dealer as the first round of support.

2. Using a plastic card to make decisions is just fine until some player's decide they need to tap it on the hard plastic of the screen. Repetitive tapping is pretty annoying. Since decorative card protectors have no place in this game, I suggest that decorative playing pointers be designed and I may get my own before the next game. Perhaps designing some that fit over the finger and act like a decorative finger nail would be very useful and comfortable.

3. I actually saw a fellow bring in chips and sit playing while he merged two stacks into one stack and played with them. They were of no use in the game, but clearly helped him concentrate and reminded him of the "old days."

4. I want to spend some time at a game with a friend to my right and left and develop a perfect way to be certain that even if someone is looking from above me, my hand is protected. The machine requires new hand positions.

5. Don't confuse players who have no idea how the machine works with players who have no idea how the game is played. When players need the dealer to help them understand blinds and raises, etc in a live game, you know they are not very good or faking ignorance. Here they just have not played using the computer.

6. Number one bluff reported to be working is to make an all- in bet and then fake being upset that by "mistake" you bet it all when you wanted only to bet only a little. The act is on in order to encourage people to call the nuts hand all-in bet or one of good strength.

7. That being said, do not get in the habit of confirming the bet too quickly. I wanted to bet $5 as an informational gathering bet and hit the $5 twice by mistake. I confirmed without really seeing that mistake, so I had to fold a $10 bet when the guy to my left went all in. I got the information I wanted only it cost me another $5.

8. Be sure when you go to the bathroom to go to options and choose "sit out a hand" and then hit Okay to confirm. Then when you come back you must swipe your card, enter your pin, and then you will be dealt back in. If you leave without doing that, you frustrate the table because the machine will indicate it is your turn. You can get timed out, but that is very impolite. When you come back, give yourself time to swipe and enter your pin so as not to miss a hand.

Okay, that is all I have. That is probably my last visit. We go home on Sunday.
See my next post for more response to the dealerless tables.