Burden Lake Game

Well, we had a very successful gathering here for a few hours of poker. We started session one at about ten thirty on Sunday morning and ended session three at 3:30 AM Monday. Fortunes were won and lost and won again. I was down most of the day, but recovered to clear $42 of profit.

We had two tables, one downstairs and one upstairs. I banked and managed the downstairs one and Greg banked and managed the upstairs. My banking never came out right (does it ever?) but shortfall in the first session was made up with overage in the second, so that seemed very fair. Peter banked for a bit and he came out right on the money.

The mix of players was delightful. My nephew from Buffalo came for a couple nights and met his brother-in-law Barry from Connecticut. John Blowers, author of Life on Full Tilt brought his latest Poker Pro magazine column. Son Peter came and passed around grandson Casey who thought the entire affair had been arranged to amuse him. Peter's friend Cassidy and Ivan really started this game with their suggestion Charlie Chuckmonk Town, the beer brewing fisherman from Troy brought me a few samples from his latest batch. Neighbor Ron came with his chili to play "just a few hours" and stayed for almost the entire event. Gail Gregory got back from Florida in time to win just too many racks of chips. Two of the Delmar highschool chums, Silver and Slink came to keep us honest. And of course, Pokermaster Greg came and banked the upstairs game, so I did not get to play against him except for a couple hours at the beginning and the end.

Memorable hands for me were two quads that won a bit of money and then a nice rush of good cards in the last session into the morning.

Ivan played an entire hand blind and ended with a full house.

Blowers writes:

My favorite part was when we got four handed briefly and I isolated Gregg
with a preflop raise when he was the dealer. He burned a card and I said
"Wait!", then pushed out a sizable bet in the dark before he dealt the
flop. The flop came 10 6 4. He was clearly flummuxed by my action and,
after a while, folded A/9 face up. I showed 7/2 and declared "the kiddie
game is down the stairs" (a takeoff of Mike Matusow's famous WSOP line "the
kiddie game is down the street").

Well, randomness prevented Blowers from playing us downstairs kiddies or we would have showed him a bit of "death on tilt." But I sympathize with his love of tricking the Pokermaster. Don't we all love to do that? One of my lifetime retirement goals is to flummox Greg.
One of my favorite hands with him was early in the morning when we had only one table. I went all in with aces full and Greg called "my bluff." Sweet.

We did draw in session two for random seating places, but it did not really mix us up much. Just a couple changes. Players could have exchanged seats, and a couple did, but few wanted to move. Greg and I were stuck in our respective places so we did not get to encounter one another except at the beginning and at the end.

I guess I had the best time I have had at any game. I just felt pretty relaxed, and I get a bit stressed when I run a party. The food seemed to work out fine, but I could have used one more pizza and the chicken soup needed a label. Ron brought some great chili. It disappeared very fast. My tuna salad pleased many, but I thought it bland until Chris suggested I add some of the slice black olives and that was really good.

Drinks seem to go well. Thanks to all who brought them. And thanks for moderation, folks. I did not have to worry a bit.

Mixed in the breaks were plenty of fishing, building, beer making and gambling stories. Folks got a long very well and seemed patient with one another for the most part.

We missed regulars Wild Bill and Robin, who generally do come to Burden Lake, as well as Bruce and Phil who don't come this far to play but play every Wednesday. And we missed seeing Peter's old Pal Kelsie. She stood us up. I was looking forward to her banter. And we hope to see more of you who come occasionally on the next occasion.

I'll add in more impressions and favorite hands on this blog post as I get feedback from other players.

Chris, Barry, Peter and I had a fine omelet and bacon for breakfast and told lots of family stories before the long distance travelers helped me jump Elizabeth's dead car battery and took off for home and work and responsibilities.