At Gregg's game I collected some money and Gregg collected some money and then I took all the money that Gregg had collected and a couple extra buy-is besides in head to head play that for some inexplicable reason favored me.
At first Gregg took enough so that he almost had two trays and I was almost down a tray from the head to head session. Then the luck changed.
I have 7-2 and the flop comes 7-2-4 so Gregg figures his pocket kings are good and goes all it. I call. Gregg says that he can still win, he just needs two pair, but I remind him that he needs a four or a runner-runner pair or a king. On the river comes another 2 and Gregg has two pair, but I have a full house.
Greg rebuys and goes all in soon after that with two pair, only I have two bigger pair when my 10 and 3 connect on the turn.
I can't remember too many of the earlier hands. I remember cracking Robin's Aces with a full house. I remember that Bruce held on and called Greg's push out bet with a king high and won. Bruce is persistent and eternally hopeful. If he has some chance at something, he stays.
Scott drove me out to Mohegan Sun where we met up with Bill who was on his way to Atlantic City. The three of us stayed at a Micro-hotel that is one mile from the casino. We took the free shuttle over so we could drink. The shuttle service lasts until one AM (two on weekends) After that a cab is $7-$10. We played poker until 4 AM but Bill had his car, so he gave us a lift back. With the RoomSaver coupon, rooms were $77 (taxes and everything) and included microwave, refrigerator and a fine island separating the two beds. Sleeping was easy except for some fan noise. Next time I'll check that before taking the room. The clerk was very nice and accommodating and told us if there was anything wrong with the room she would move us. A light breakfast (cereal, muffins and doughnuts, juice, coffee, waffle machine waffles) was included.
The 2-4 was a good game, and I had a fine time as did Scott. Scott played much better poker than I did. We took a walk around and I played $20 in a slot, winning and then stopping when the win was gone, and rolled craps for a while, winning about fifty dollars and then stopping when one seven took out three of my numbers. I ended up $3.
At the end of the night I was $30. Scott was up $28 and Bill was up $4. So we were all winners.
I also had downed a few Myer's rum.
Bill was pretty sleepy. He kept falling asleep between hands and then waking up to check his cards.
Alcohol ended at one. I drank some coffee to stay awake.
After the light breakfast in the morning, we all went over to Foxwoods for a couple hours of poker, but the early tables were dominated by locals and tight nits. I was going to move, but we had so little time there, I stayed. I decided that the only way to play these guys was to play tight, but to always raise preflop on nondraw hands played in latter position. My rule was I raised or folded. No limping.
This told the tight nits to either put some money in the pot or fold.
It also made the pot worth playing for those who stayed, and gave my high cards with more chance of winning some money if they won. Consistent raising also meant that the old nits knew every raise was not pocket aces, stayed in, and my loss of respect meant I got good pay for my pocket kings, the last hand I played. I lost $3 taking my score for the trip down to $27.
We left Bill at the casino as he was traveling on to Atlantic City while Scott and I stopped on the way home for some Mexican and had a great meal. Once we were beyond Hartford, we felt that we could not get held up easily in traffic, so there was time to eat.
It was great to have a long visit with my old colleague. I was sorry Bill was not in the car with us. It was fun to play three at the same table, but I think Scott would like to play at a separate table, and that does make sense if we are all going to have a chance to win since we were winning each other's money.
My most memorable hand was when I played no limit for a while at Mohegan. Most of the ten tables did not look inviting to me, but one looked very good and I managed a seat. The brush was very accommodating all night in getting us together, in giving us seats. Often they don't want to deal with seat changes, but this fellow was easy going and helpful.
I had lost about $20 and played few hands winning only one small pot on an Ace-King after the flop showed an Ace.
I was dealt Q-10 of diamonds and the fellow to my right made it $12. All others folded. I suppose I should have folded too but I called. The flop was 10-10-Q. I checked my full house. He bet $10. I called. The turn was a 10 giving me quads. I checked. He bet $10 and called. The river was nothing of value, and I had to decide what to do. The dealer asked me if I checked and I said no. I was a bit rattled. Finally, I just picked up my largest stack of reds and dropped them as a bet, leaving a bit over $10, so that it would look like I did not want to risk everything. Holding a queen, the fellow called and I had a very nice win. After that the table dwindled in numbers and I left. When I did, the table broke. I went back to play 2-4. So really on the 2-4 I lost money over the course of my play.
Scott ended just under $200 profit and very pleased with himself for his discipline and attention to the game. He had come a bit worried. He left knowing he could easily play this game.
My confidence after so many losing sessions was higher.
One thing I learned was to scout out the tables and then ask for the one I wanted. I could not do that in many casinos. Table selection is clearly important. Looking at accumulated chip stacks, faces, and just the patterns of betting helps eliminate places that are harder.
Gregg almost came with us. He thought about it. Perhaps he will next time. Perhaps others will as well.
While at Foxwoods, I got my 10 comp points for showing up at the Player's club and that brought me up to 33 points, so I have my third free trip voucher now for the bus and enough points to get my fourth free trip voucher on my next visit. Just I am ahead over a hundred dollars in free rides, free bus, food, and freeplay just over the last few trips. This is one advantage Foxwoods has over Turning Stone. Lately Foxwoods gives me $10 for just showing up while Turning Stone charges me $2 to play poker.
Total score for these two days is $256 plus $28 or $284.
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