Thursday, February 19, 2015

Tampa Downs and Silks with Wild Bill

I went down to the Silks yesterday to meet up with Bill, watch some horses, and play some cards.  It was a good day.
I played 1-1 no limit.  I like this game. 
My afternoon table was dull.  No action.  No interesting characters.  One really annoying woman on my right.
I had one good hand against the loose player at the table.
I had pocket queens.
After the flop, the one loose player at the table went all in for $13.  The annoying woman to my right called.  I put lose guy one nothing and her on a diamond flush or straight draw using a 7-8 of diamonds on the board. 
At this small stakes game, this was a decent pot, so I pushed.  It would cost her $54 to see two more cards. 
She thought about it.
Then she folded with one of those sarcastic, "Okay, I'll give you the $20."
I'm thinking, "Oh, did I unsettle your grumpy, dejected churlish self with an all-in bet at a no limit table?  Well, hey, life is unfair and I'm just hear to help it."

All-in Lose guy was on an inside straight draw to his jack.  He caught it on the turn.
But when another jack came on the river, my queens made the larger straight.
Very lucky and funny hand.

I sat around with Bill's friend Al and his friends who were all old guy horse players. 
I bet just the last two races and lost both.  Bill gave me an good exacta on the last race and it was a close one, but another horse edged in between my two horses.

I watched these races from the fence and it was so cold I actually thought of going back to the car for a jacket, but I was too lazy and just staying in the sun in my shirt sleeves.  Florida winter.

The early evening 1-1 table was quite a bit more delightful. There were some old guys telling jokes and kidding each other.  One looked like an old Jack Nicholas.  Bill sat next to me.  There were some who were fairly new to the game including a very pleasant woman at the far end.  I had a grand time. 
There was plenty of action, and unlike the other table, if I had cards, folks paid to see them.

One regular named Woody was there.  I like to play with him.  He is aggressive and often tried to steal or bluff.
I have pocket sixes that flop trips and I slow play. 
Quite a few people are in and Woody is betting so I check to him.
On the turn don't check raise because I want to see the river.  There is a high hand award with just a half hour left.
The river is the case six.

I hesitate wondering how much to value bet and Woody misreads me and out of turn he pushes about $40 all-in.
I am careful because some of these guys play games like turning over their cards as if to fold, watching the opponent and then betting them.
So I ask the dealer if that is a bet.
"It is"
And I call for a nice pot and a great chance at the high hand award.

With about 12 minutes left four nines come on the board and one of the guys holds the Ace.  Well, the rules at the Silks make this a high hand that beats out mine.  Only the guy gets a penalty because his kicker does not play and because there is but $10 in the pot so when he knocks me out of my potential $400, he only gets $100.  I get a consolation prize of $50.  These are the strangest high hand rules I have ever seen.

So, I was a bit disconcerted to have lost the big bucks, but my winnings at this table covered my earlier loses at cards and horses so that I came home with a score of $64 in the black.  Not a bad day at low no limit.

I went with Bill and his two sons to a seafood restaurant and had oysters and a chicken wing special with a couple of pretty good merlots on a 2 for 1 happy hour that ended one minute after we ordered.  That was good timing even if my quad sixes were not.

Overall I liked the Silks. Perhaps I liked it better than Ocala in the evening. It is fine to be able to take a break from a boring table and watch the horses. 
The ride back was not so bad.  I took the toll road and was home in a bit over an hour with very little traffic and some good NPR all about the emergence of UTube as the new source of entertainment and news.  Nicely done.  Better than listening to the endless reports of beheading.
I got the directions to Whole Foods wrong, but I stopped a Target and bought a few things, including the organic Earl Grey I'm sipping as I write this morning.
And I listened to a bit of Jack Williams who we saw here in an Inverness concert a couple years ago.
I was home by a little after ten.