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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Sunday, August 26, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Coming Home from Foxwoods
NOTE: This is not a trip report so if you just want to read about poker, skip this one.
Just a few minutes ahead of our returning Yankee Trails bus tonight some fast driving young person caused this accident:
The Glastonbury accident, at 7:30 p.m. Friday,
involved just one car.
Police said a 1994 Ford Explorer was heading west
when the driver
apparently lost control and swerved across the
highway from the left
shoulder to the right shoulder and then back to
the right lane.
The car rolled over several times, ejecting two
people and partially
ejecting the third, before stopping upside down,
witnesses told police.
Two of the three passengers were taken to
Hartford Hospital by Life Star
helicopter, and the third was taken there by
ambulance.
Word was that some had died, but I can't confirm that.
This has been a tough week for Connecticut. The night before 4 teens had died in a crash in Bristol and just a little while before there was an accident on Route 2 that killed two women.
Our bus stopped.
Rushing by us came a half dozen rescue vehicles, ambulances, the red and blue probing lights flashing along the length of our bus. Fellow passengers rose to watch the scene, strained to see what the two helicopters overhead were doing, wondered out loud what exactly had happened and how long it would take to get us back on the road.
After a while, we got out of the bus into the humid August air to stretch out legs and stand around talking and waiting. Bits of news trickled in from our sister bus ahead of us and directly behind the wrecked car. People left their cars, walked up to see, and returned to report back the details.
A woman in the vehicle behind me had been returning from the beach in her SUV with four children. She was happy that the youngest girl had urged them to stop back at the last rest stop bathroom. That stop had delayed them long enough so that they had missed any chance of being rear ended. She worried that next year her 15 year old daughter, who now sat on the guardrail sucking a summer lollipop and talking to her girlfriend, would be old enough to learn to drive.
“So many accidents are recorded for young drivers in the first year of their license,” she said. “80% of new drivers have some sort of mishap the first year.” Those seemed tough odds to buck.
Back on the bus again we bus people worried that we'd be late and our home people would worry. We fretted over the inconvenience of such a long delay. We were tired.
We lived in our small world of bus people. Ahead in the larger world people were dead and sometimes we knew that, but other times we better knew the delay was going to be long, and we knew it was hot. and we knew we were weary, and we wanted them to be quicker about clearing out the bodies of those people and cars, so we would not have to wait.
We complained that our bus had a broken electronic system. Our sister buses were playing movies as we waited. We had seen them while we were walking by, all those tiny screens lit with interesting diversion.
We had not been lucky enough to have a movie; our tiny screens were black. To give an announcement the bus driver had to walk half way down the length of the bus to be heard. He had no working speaker system.
One woman told us that everything electronic was broken on our bus, bus number 248, and had been broken for over a year. She said she had complained to Yankee Trails but to no avail. We felt cheated. Randomly we had been assigned this defective bus, and we thought it was unfair. Number 248, the unlucky bus.
A woman across the isle gleefully celebrated our luck in having our own bathroom right on the bus unlike those in private vehicles parked around us. I imagine such feelings of good fortune are rare for anyone who has actually ridden that bucking bronco bathroom toilet, and then looked in vain afterward for a place to wash.
Some of us had been unlucky losers at the casino. Some had not. Such a small way to play with fate, to put a few dollars in an entertaining machine or into chips to bet the cards. It was not like weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds on a humid August night. Some of us had been overly reckless at the casino, but we were old people, and we only risked the symbolic stuff of life, not life's real stuff. And we were also bus people who had avoided being rear ended.
The fellow across the isle told me how he was taken into the army in 1952 and because a certain vaccination had not worked right in his body, he was sent to be a meat cutter in Munich, Germany instead of to war in Korea. He helped to entertain officers and their wives in a plush military club. It was good duty. Off duty He drank some beer. Many of the successfully vaccinated in his group went on to die in Korea. He had not liked the dark, thick beer. But he had liked Munich.
I told him how I had been destined to go to Vietnam until I discovered that for a single month I could gamble on getting an assignment in Europe by putting in a volunteer statement. I won two and a half years in Spain. Others went on to fight in the Vietnamese jungles and died. I was sent to eat chorizo and manchego and to father a son who as a young man would drive safely enough and luckily avoid being rear ended, so that he could one day become a lawyer.
Just about every August day I buy Silver Queen sweet corn from Willie down the road. It is the same small kernel white corn I bought from Willie's father 30 years ago. Willie took a break from the family farm to fight in Vietnam and managed to survive many risky, hard fought battles that had left the enemy dead but luckily left Willie unwounded. The first summer back on the farm Willie lost his left hand when it was caught in a corn cutter.
Wille's brother had been a gambler in the days when that meant making illegal bets with unsavory characters. Like the brother in “A River Runs Through It,” he often had trouble paying off his gambling debts. One day he just disappeared. No one knows where.
My childhood friend Dick left his family dairy farm to join the Navy during Vietnam, but before he even finished his basic training, the Navy discharged him and sent him home, due to a back injury that they had not found in his initial physical. Dick figured he'd lucked out of going to war because the Navy did not want to pay for the injury or the mistake. After he came home, he spent many long hours over many years driving tractors and heavy earth moving equipment, using all sorts of carpenter's tools to turn his father's dairy farm into a campground and then into a historical Canal Town with over 40 historically representative buildings filled with locally collected antiques.
When Canal Town went bankrupt, the antiques were sold off in Georgia and Dick helped raze the buildings to lower the land taxes.
The campground went along pretty well and eventually became Dick's full time responsibility. He decided to add portable cabins and had one up on cinder blocks while he installed plumbing. Then, as his wife told it, “Something went wrong; the house slipped off the blocks.” I remember his casket draped with his carpenters belt and workboots. Dick's brother-in-law said that by going under the house Dick had taken a risk that he would have advised others against.
I don't think Dick ever visited a casino, but his father would take trips similar to my Foxwoods trip. I don't think he gambled his own money much, just went for the free play promtionals and free buffet with friends. He told me at at Dick's funeral that he had lost money so quickly on his last trip that after it was gone, he had kicked the machine.
We were telling such stories yesterday to pass the waiting time until a way for us could be cleared through the wreckage, and we could finally go home.
And then, finally, we were moving past the overturned wreck and on our journey once again. The woman next to me said the sight of the crushed wreck we passed made her a bit nauseous, and then we hit the open road and and the bus people applauded our luck.
When I got home, I took my fine new promotional Foxwoods T-shirt the bus company had given each of us today. I hung it on a hook in my closet, thinking I would wear it on some future gamble, and wondering if somewhere there was someone picking appropriate funeral clothes from an unfortunate person's closet.
I also took down my swim suit. The icy Burden Lake water washed me clean of the day's sticky humidity. Suspended by a noodle, I floated and watched the moon between the branches of the tall trees and heard the light clanking of pans in the pizza kitchen at Kay's.
The poker had been fine. I had won all day, morning and afternoon. I had lost a hand or two in the first few minutes, and then won that money back and never again been behind more than a few dollars. I had sipped four iced glasses of Myer's rum and lime and watched Justine's sensual facial expressions as she dealt hand after hand of cards I tossed away. I had won $20 in my matchplay gamble, won $5 on free Keno bets and come home to icy lake water ahead $155 and full of prime rib, chili, battered cod, and ice cream covered brownie with rich vanilla sauce.
On Monday I'm going back to Foxwoods to gamble once again. Bill is going with me. I hope the bus has a clear route to the gambling and home again.
Just a few minutes ahead of our returning Yankee Trails bus tonight some fast driving young person caused this accident:
The Glastonbury accident, at 7:30 p.m. Friday,
involved just one car.
Police said a 1994 Ford Explorer was heading west
when the driver
apparently lost control and swerved across the
highway from the left
shoulder to the right shoulder and then back to
the right lane.
The car rolled over several times, ejecting two
people and partially
ejecting the third, before stopping upside down,
witnesses told police.
Two of the three passengers were taken to
Hartford Hospital by Life Star
helicopter, and the third was taken there by
ambulance.
Word was that some had died, but I can't confirm that.
This has been a tough week for Connecticut. The night before 4 teens had died in a crash in Bristol and just a little while before there was an accident on Route 2 that killed two women.
Our bus stopped.
Rushing by us came a half dozen rescue vehicles, ambulances, the red and blue probing lights flashing along the length of our bus. Fellow passengers rose to watch the scene, strained to see what the two helicopters overhead were doing, wondered out loud what exactly had happened and how long it would take to get us back on the road.
After a while, we got out of the bus into the humid August air to stretch out legs and stand around talking and waiting. Bits of news trickled in from our sister bus ahead of us and directly behind the wrecked car. People left their cars, walked up to see, and returned to report back the details.
A woman in the vehicle behind me had been returning from the beach in her SUV with four children. She was happy that the youngest girl had urged them to stop back at the last rest stop bathroom. That stop had delayed them long enough so that they had missed any chance of being rear ended. She worried that next year her 15 year old daughter, who now sat on the guardrail sucking a summer lollipop and talking to her girlfriend, would be old enough to learn to drive.
“So many accidents are recorded for young drivers in the first year of their license,” she said. “80% of new drivers have some sort of mishap the first year.” Those seemed tough odds to buck.
Back on the bus again we bus people worried that we'd be late and our home people would worry. We fretted over the inconvenience of such a long delay. We were tired.
We lived in our small world of bus people. Ahead in the larger world people were dead and sometimes we knew that, but other times we better knew the delay was going to be long, and we knew it was hot. and we knew we were weary, and we wanted them to be quicker about clearing out the bodies of those people and cars, so we would not have to wait.
We complained that our bus had a broken electronic system. Our sister buses were playing movies as we waited. We had seen them while we were walking by, all those tiny screens lit with interesting diversion.
We had not been lucky enough to have a movie; our tiny screens were black. To give an announcement the bus driver had to walk half way down the length of the bus to be heard. He had no working speaker system.
One woman told us that everything electronic was broken on our bus, bus number 248, and had been broken for over a year. She said she had complained to Yankee Trails but to no avail. We felt cheated. Randomly we had been assigned this defective bus, and we thought it was unfair. Number 248, the unlucky bus.
A woman across the isle gleefully celebrated our luck in having our own bathroom right on the bus unlike those in private vehicles parked around us. I imagine such feelings of good fortune are rare for anyone who has actually ridden that bucking bronco bathroom toilet, and then looked in vain afterward for a place to wash.
Some of us had been unlucky losers at the casino. Some had not. Such a small way to play with fate, to put a few dollars in an entertaining machine or into chips to bet the cards. It was not like weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds on a humid August night. Some of us had been overly reckless at the casino, but we were old people, and we only risked the symbolic stuff of life, not life's real stuff. And we were also bus people who had avoided being rear ended.
The fellow across the isle told me how he was taken into the army in 1952 and because a certain vaccination had not worked right in his body, he was sent to be a meat cutter in Munich, Germany instead of to war in Korea. He helped to entertain officers and their wives in a plush military club. It was good duty. Off duty He drank some beer. Many of the successfully vaccinated in his group went on to die in Korea. He had not liked the dark, thick beer. But he had liked Munich.
I told him how I had been destined to go to Vietnam until I discovered that for a single month I could gamble on getting an assignment in Europe by putting in a volunteer statement. I won two and a half years in Spain. Others went on to fight in the Vietnamese jungles and died. I was sent to eat chorizo and manchego and to father a son who as a young man would drive safely enough and luckily avoid being rear ended, so that he could one day become a lawyer.
Just about every August day I buy Silver Queen sweet corn from Willie down the road. It is the same small kernel white corn I bought from Willie's father 30 years ago. Willie took a break from the family farm to fight in Vietnam and managed to survive many risky, hard fought battles that had left the enemy dead but luckily left Willie unwounded. The first summer back on the farm Willie lost his left hand when it was caught in a corn cutter.
Wille's brother had been a gambler in the days when that meant making illegal bets with unsavory characters. Like the brother in “A River Runs Through It,” he often had trouble paying off his gambling debts. One day he just disappeared. No one knows where.
My childhood friend Dick left his family dairy farm to join the Navy during Vietnam, but before he even finished his basic training, the Navy discharged him and sent him home, due to a back injury that they had not found in his initial physical. Dick figured he'd lucked out of going to war because the Navy did not want to pay for the injury or the mistake. After he came home, he spent many long hours over many years driving tractors and heavy earth moving equipment, using all sorts of carpenter's tools to turn his father's dairy farm into a campground and then into a historical Canal Town with over 40 historically representative buildings filled with locally collected antiques.
When Canal Town went bankrupt, the antiques were sold off in Georgia and Dick helped raze the buildings to lower the land taxes.
The campground went along pretty well and eventually became Dick's full time responsibility. He decided to add portable cabins and had one up on cinder blocks while he installed plumbing. Then, as his wife told it, “Something went wrong; the house slipped off the blocks.” I remember his casket draped with his carpenters belt and workboots. Dick's brother-in-law said that by going under the house Dick had taken a risk that he would have advised others against.
I don't think Dick ever visited a casino, but his father would take trips similar to my Foxwoods trip. I don't think he gambled his own money much, just went for the free play promtionals and free buffet with friends. He told me at at Dick's funeral that he had lost money so quickly on his last trip that after it was gone, he had kicked the machine.
We were telling such stories yesterday to pass the waiting time until a way for us could be cleared through the wreckage, and we could finally go home.
And then, finally, we were moving past the overturned wreck and on our journey once again. The woman next to me said the sight of the crushed wreck we passed made her a bit nauseous, and then we hit the open road and and the bus people applauded our luck.
When I got home, I took my fine new promotional Foxwoods T-shirt the bus company had given each of us today. I hung it on a hook in my closet, thinking I would wear it on some future gamble, and wondering if somewhere there was someone picking appropriate funeral clothes from an unfortunate person's closet.
I also took down my swim suit. The icy Burden Lake water washed me clean of the day's sticky humidity. Suspended by a noodle, I floated and watched the moon between the branches of the tall trees and heard the light clanking of pans in the pizza kitchen at Kay's.
The poker had been fine. I had won all day, morning and afternoon. I had lost a hand or two in the first few minutes, and then won that money back and never again been behind more than a few dollars. I had sipped four iced glasses of Myer's rum and lime and watched Justine's sensual facial expressions as she dealt hand after hand of cards I tossed away. I had won $20 in my matchplay gamble, won $5 on free Keno bets and come home to icy lake water ahead $155 and full of prime rib, chili, battered cod, and ice cream covered brownie with rich vanilla sauce.
On Monday I'm going back to Foxwoods to gamble once again. Bill is going with me. I hope the bus has a clear route to the gambling and home again.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
First of three on sale
Well, yesterday I took advantage of the first of three sale days at Yankee Trails. $14 bought me a bus ride with $20 in keno and a food voucher included. The next trips are on Aug 10th - Friday and on Aug 27th Monday. If you cant to come along with me book leaving from Rennselaer, and we will ride the same bus.
The poker started out just fine. My fourth hand I stayed with 3-4 clubs.
Ace -2 of clubs came on the flop, so I called. Blank on the turn. I called. On the river out came the 5 of clubs. There were three of us left and I had to act first. I bet out. I knew it would signal a strong hand, but I also knew anyone with a flush would call me and anyone with the king high flush would raise. However, no one had much. I showed the hand. It is fun to show high hands. It is also a good idea early on to show that you might play a 3-4. Sometimes all you need is for you opponents to have seen you win with trash one time to have them think that at least at times you play junk and to stay with that hope to the river another time. That may have made me some money four hands later.
I was dealt pocket 9's. To my right was the loosest player at the table. He was first to act and he raised. I reraised to push out some players behind me, but five more people paid $12 to see the flop. Nine was the high card on the flop. I checked, someone bet, and I check raised. No use slow playing this table. They were not going anywhere. I ended a winner for a nice pot.
I was up about $150 at around noon when I took a break to check my free Keno bets and stand in line for my $25 casino player matchplay. Keno paid $150. I used the matchplay at a craps table. The shooter threw a ten, then snake eyes, then another ten and I pocketed $50 more dollars and went back to my poker game. I no longer bet odds with matchplays. They usually reduce the house edge, but when there is a matchplay on the line, and I am only going to play one roll, they reduce my huge advantage. I have been doing very well in matchplays over the last year. The math says playing this was should have given me $145, but I have actually made $288.
I returned to the game to find a couple new players. One guy turned out to be "Raising Rick." There always seems to be one at the table who raises every pre plop. I started to get bad flops on my good cards, so I was throwing away $8 each after flop fold. And my money went South.
I went through the $150 and all the $200 profit from Keno and the matchplay and was working on losing some real money when the game turned. Suddenly, I had some good hands and some strange luck with trash.
Take the 3-6 of diamonds I decided to play after Raising Rick did not raise one time. I bet just a bit too fast. My loose neighbor to my right had raised and I had thrown in the $4 without noticing. Previously a woman player had forced the money bet by accident to stay there so knew there was no pull back. $8 to see the flop with 3-6 or diamonds. "I must be mad." Maybe too many Myer's Rum. Two diamonds came on the flop, blank on the turn, and a nice diamond on the river. I called my one opponent and had the table heads shaking when I showed my 3-6 of diamonds after not playing a hand to the river in an hour.
Then I took a pot with an Ace high. Four people still in at the river (none betting) and I take the little $40 with my ace, laughing all the while.
All afternoon I had been dealt nothing over pocket 9's as far as pocket pairs. Both had tripped, but one had been beaten by pocket 4's that made a full house. Now I got pocket aces. Raising Rick and Loose Louey were going to be in, but I bet out even against two flopped sixes. On the river came a third six and Loose Louey called my full house bet with his pocket 8's, knowing from my betting that I probably had a good pocket pair, but he had to see.
So at the end I drank about 4 fine Myer's Rum with lime, and won back enough to leave down only $62 from my $400 in play money. With the Keno and craps bailing me out, that left me $138 ahead.
I was too late for the long buffet line. I went instead to Pollo Loco
and in spite of it being a fast food spot, I was impressed with the quality of the food. For my $10 (voucher is good for the $15 buffet or $10 other places) I had two breasts and a wing, re fried beans, a shred ed lettuce salad and a nice portion of flan that you can see pictured in the menu if you click the website. I go it all to go and ate just outside at the many tables set up. I had a bottle of water left from my poker game, so it was a great meal. I was rushed, but I had I not finished, I could have easily packed the rest onto the bus and eaten on the ride back home.
Another good day at Foxwoods. After 13 trips to Foxwoods and Turning Stone I am ahead $1610 and Turning Stone is not that productive. I estimate I have probably won $2000 at Foxwoods.
The Keno win kept me above zero this trip. I did not really ever expect to win $150. However, this should not be an endorsement of Keno. The house advantage is 25%. At this point I am above the curve. I have realized about $190, but $220 has been wagered for me by the bus company. Had I used my own money, I'd still be behind, no matter how good the $150 felt yesterday. Of course, most gamblers do not keep notes on wins and losses so they have only their memory to coach them. Many Keno players would have rebet the $150, feeling they were on a rush; I put it in my pocket knowing any win in Keno is an aberation.
The poker started out just fine. My fourth hand I stayed with 3-4 clubs.
Ace -2 of clubs came on the flop, so I called. Blank on the turn. I called. On the river out came the 5 of clubs. There were three of us left and I had to act first. I bet out. I knew it would signal a strong hand, but I also knew anyone with a flush would call me and anyone with the king high flush would raise. However, no one had much. I showed the hand. It is fun to show high hands. It is also a good idea early on to show that you might play a 3-4. Sometimes all you need is for you opponents to have seen you win with trash one time to have them think that at least at times you play junk and to stay with that hope to the river another time. That may have made me some money four hands later.
I was dealt pocket 9's. To my right was the loosest player at the table. He was first to act and he raised. I reraised to push out some players behind me, but five more people paid $12 to see the flop. Nine was the high card on the flop. I checked, someone bet, and I check raised. No use slow playing this table. They were not going anywhere. I ended a winner for a nice pot.
I was up about $150 at around noon when I took a break to check my free Keno bets and stand in line for my $25 casino player matchplay. Keno paid $150. I used the matchplay at a craps table. The shooter threw a ten, then snake eyes, then another ten and I pocketed $50 more dollars and went back to my poker game. I no longer bet odds with matchplays. They usually reduce the house edge, but when there is a matchplay on the line, and I am only going to play one roll, they reduce my huge advantage. I have been doing very well in matchplays over the last year. The math says playing this was should have given me $145, but I have actually made $288.
I returned to the game to find a couple new players. One guy turned out to be "Raising Rick." There always seems to be one at the table who raises every pre plop. I started to get bad flops on my good cards, so I was throwing away $8 each after flop fold. And my money went South.
I went through the $150 and all the $200 profit from Keno and the matchplay and was working on losing some real money when the game turned. Suddenly, I had some good hands and some strange luck with trash.
Take the 3-6 of diamonds I decided to play after Raising Rick did not raise one time. I bet just a bit too fast. My loose neighbor to my right had raised and I had thrown in the $4 without noticing. Previously a woman player had forced the money bet by accident to stay there so knew there was no pull back. $8 to see the flop with 3-6 or diamonds. "I must be mad." Maybe too many Myer's Rum. Two diamonds came on the flop, blank on the turn, and a nice diamond on the river. I called my one opponent and had the table heads shaking when I showed my 3-6 of diamonds after not playing a hand to the river in an hour.
Then I took a pot with an Ace high. Four people still in at the river (none betting) and I take the little $40 with my ace, laughing all the while.
All afternoon I had been dealt nothing over pocket 9's as far as pocket pairs. Both had tripped, but one had been beaten by pocket 4's that made a full house. Now I got pocket aces. Raising Rick and Loose Louey were going to be in, but I bet out even against two flopped sixes. On the river came a third six and Loose Louey called my full house bet with his pocket 8's, knowing from my betting that I probably had a good pocket pair, but he had to see.
So at the end I drank about 4 fine Myer's Rum with lime, and won back enough to leave down only $62 from my $400 in play money. With the Keno and craps bailing me out, that left me $138 ahead.
I was too late for the long buffet line. I went instead to Pollo Loco
and in spite of it being a fast food spot, I was impressed with the quality of the food. For my $10 (voucher is good for the $15 buffet or $10 other places) I had two breasts and a wing, re fried beans, a shred ed lettuce salad and a nice portion of flan that you can see pictured in the menu if you click the website. I go it all to go and ate just outside at the many tables set up. I had a bottle of water left from my poker game, so it was a great meal. I was rushed, but I had I not finished, I could have easily packed the rest onto the bus and eaten on the ride back home.
Another good day at Foxwoods. After 13 trips to Foxwoods and Turning Stone I am ahead $1610 and Turning Stone is not that productive. I estimate I have probably won $2000 at Foxwoods.
The Keno win kept me above zero this trip. I did not really ever expect to win $150. However, this should not be an endorsement of Keno. The house advantage is 25%. At this point I am above the curve. I have realized about $190, but $220 has been wagered for me by the bus company. Had I used my own money, I'd still be behind, no matter how good the $150 felt yesterday. Of course, most gamblers do not keep notes on wins and losses so they have only their memory to coach them. Many Keno players would have rebet the $150, feeling they were on a rush; I put it in my pocket knowing any win in Keno is an aberation.
Poker
Well, yesterday I took advantage of the first of three sale days at Yankee Trails. $14 bought me a bus ride with $20 in free keno dollar quickpicks and a $10-$15 food voucher included. Two more yet to go his month, one at $14 and another at $10.
The poker started out just fine. My fourth hand I stayed with 3-4 clubs.
Ace -2 of clubs came on the flop, so I called. Blank on the turn. I called. On the river out came the 5 of clubs. There were three of us left and I had to act first. I bet out. I knew it would signal a strong hand, but I also knew anyone with a flush would call me and anyone with the king high flush would raise. However, no one had much. I showed the hand. It is fun to show high hands. It is also a good idea early on to show that you might play a 3-4. Sometimes all you need is for you opponents to have seen you win with trash one time to have them think that at least at times you play junk and to stay with that hope to the river another time. That may have made me some money four hands later.
I was dealt pocket 9's. To my right was the loosest player at the table. He was first to act and he raised. I reraised to push out some players behind me, but five more people paid $12 to see the flop. Nine was the high card on the flop. I checked, someone bet, and I check raised. No use slow playing this table. They were not going anywhere. I ended a winner for a nice pot.
I was up about $150 at around noon when I took a break to check my free Keno bets and stand in line for my $25 casino player matchplay. Keno paid $150. I used the matchplay at a craps table. The shooter threw a ten, then snake eyes, then another ten and I pocketed $50 more dollars and went back to my poker game. I no longer bet odds with matchplays. They usually reduce the house edge, but when there is a matchplay on the line, and I am only going to play one roll, they reduce my huge advantage. I have been doing very well in matchplays over the last year. The math says playing this was should have given me $145, but I have actually made $288.
I returned to the game to find a couple new players. One guy turned out to be "Raising Rick." There always seems to be one at the table who raises every pre plop. I started to get bad flops on my good cards, so I was throwing away $8 each after flop fold. And my money went South.
I went through the $150 and all the $200 profit from Keno and the matchplay and was working on losing some real money when the game turned. Suddenly, I had some good hands and some strange luck with trash.
Take the 3-6 of diamonds I decided to play after Raising Rick did not raise one time. I bet just a bit too fast. My loose neighbor to my right had raised and I had thrown in the $4 without noticing. Previously a woman player had forced the money bet by accident to stay there so knew there was no pull back. $8 to see the flop with 3-6 or diamonds. "I must be mad." Maybe too many Myer's Rum. Two diamonds came on the flop, blank on the turn, and a nice diamond on the river. I called my one opponent and had the table heads shaking when I showed my 3-6 of diamonds after not playing a hand to the river in an hour.
Then I took a pot with an Ace high. Four people still in at the river (none betting) and I take the little $40 with my ace, laughing all the while.
All afternoon I had been dealt nothing over pocket 9's as far as pocket pairs. Both had tripped, but one had been beaten by pocket 4's that made a full house. Now I got pocket aces. Raising Rick and Loose Louey were going to be in, but I bet out even against two flopped sixes. On the river came a third six and Loose Louey called my full house bet with his pocket 8's, knowing from my betting that I probably had a good pocket pair, but he had to see.
So at the end I drank about 4 fine Myer's Rum with lime, and won back enough to leave down only $62 from my $400 in play money. With the Keno and craps bailing me out, that left me $138 ahead.
I was too late for the long buffet line. I went instead to Pollo Loco
and in spite of it being a fast food spot, I was impressed with the quality of the food. For my $10 (voucher is good for the $15 buffet or $10 other places) I had two breasts and a wing, re fried beans, a shred ed lettuce salad and a nice portion of flan that you can see pictured in the menu if you click the website. I go it all to go and ate just outside at the many tables set up. I had a bottle of water left from my poker game, so it was a great meal. I was rushed, but I had I not finished, I could have easily packed the rest onto the bus and eaten on the ride back home.
Another good day at Foxwoods. After 13 trips to Foxwoods and Turning Stone I am ahead $1610 and Turning Stone is not that productive. I estimate I have probably won $2000 at Foxwoods.
The Keno win kept me above zero this trip. I did not really ever expect to win $150. However, this should not be an endorsement of Keno. The house advantage is 25%. At this point I am above the curve. I have realized about $190, but $220 has been wagered for me by the bus company. Had I used my own money, I'd still be behind, no matter how good the $150 felt yesterday. Of course, most gamblers do not keep notes on wins and losses so they have only their memory to coach them. Many Keno players would have rebet the $150, feeling they were on a rush; I put it in my pocket knowing any win in Keno is an aberation.
The poker started out just fine. My fourth hand I stayed with 3-4 clubs.
Ace -2 of clubs came on the flop, so I called. Blank on the turn. I called. On the river out came the 5 of clubs. There were three of us left and I had to act first. I bet out. I knew it would signal a strong hand, but I also knew anyone with a flush would call me and anyone with the king high flush would raise. However, no one had much. I showed the hand. It is fun to show high hands. It is also a good idea early on to show that you might play a 3-4. Sometimes all you need is for you opponents to have seen you win with trash one time to have them think that at least at times you play junk and to stay with that hope to the river another time. That may have made me some money four hands later.
I was dealt pocket 9's. To my right was the loosest player at the table. He was first to act and he raised. I reraised to push out some players behind me, but five more people paid $12 to see the flop. Nine was the high card on the flop. I checked, someone bet, and I check raised. No use slow playing this table. They were not going anywhere. I ended a winner for a nice pot.
I was up about $150 at around noon when I took a break to check my free Keno bets and stand in line for my $25 casino player matchplay. Keno paid $150. I used the matchplay at a craps table. The shooter threw a ten, then snake eyes, then another ten and I pocketed $50 more dollars and went back to my poker game. I no longer bet odds with matchplays. They usually reduce the house edge, but when there is a matchplay on the line, and I am only going to play one roll, they reduce my huge advantage. I have been doing very well in matchplays over the last year. The math says playing this was should have given me $145, but I have actually made $288.
I returned to the game to find a couple new players. One guy turned out to be "Raising Rick." There always seems to be one at the table who raises every pre plop. I started to get bad flops on my good cards, so I was throwing away $8 each after flop fold. And my money went South.
I went through the $150 and all the $200 profit from Keno and the matchplay and was working on losing some real money when the game turned. Suddenly, I had some good hands and some strange luck with trash.
Take the 3-6 of diamonds I decided to play after Raising Rick did not raise one time. I bet just a bit too fast. My loose neighbor to my right had raised and I had thrown in the $4 without noticing. Previously a woman player had forced the money bet by accident to stay there so knew there was no pull back. $8 to see the flop with 3-6 or diamonds. "I must be mad." Maybe too many Myer's Rum. Two diamonds came on the flop, blank on the turn, and a nice diamond on the river. I called my one opponent and had the table heads shaking when I showed my 3-6 of diamonds after not playing a hand to the river in an hour.
Then I took a pot with an Ace high. Four people still in at the river (none betting) and I take the little $40 with my ace, laughing all the while.
All afternoon I had been dealt nothing over pocket 9's as far as pocket pairs. Both had tripped, but one had been beaten by pocket 4's that made a full house. Now I got pocket aces. Raising Rick and Loose Louey were going to be in, but I bet out even against two flopped sixes. On the river came a third six and Loose Louey called my full house bet with his pocket 8's, knowing from my betting that I probably had a good pocket pair, but he had to see.
So at the end I drank about 4 fine Myer's Rum with lime, and won back enough to leave down only $62 from my $400 in play money. With the Keno and craps bailing me out, that left me $138 ahead.
I was too late for the long buffet line. I went instead to Pollo Loco
and in spite of it being a fast food spot, I was impressed with the quality of the food. For my $10 (voucher is good for the $15 buffet or $10 other places) I had two breasts and a wing, re fried beans, a shred ed lettuce salad and a nice portion of flan that you can see pictured in the menu if you click the website. I go it all to go and ate just outside at the many tables set up. I had a bottle of water left from my poker game, so it was a great meal. I was rushed, but I had I not finished, I could have easily packed the rest onto the bus and eaten on the ride back home.
Another good day at Foxwoods. After 13 trips to Foxwoods and Turning Stone I am ahead $1610 and Turning Stone is not that productive. I estimate I have probably won $2000 at Foxwoods.
The Keno win kept me above zero this trip. I did not really ever expect to win $150. However, this should not be an endorsement of Keno. The house advantage is 25%. At this point I am above the curve. I have realized about $190, but $220 has been wagered for me by the bus company. Had I used my own money, I'd still be behind, no matter how good the $150 felt yesterday. Of course, most gamblers do not keep notes on wins and losses so they have only their memory to coach them. Many Keno players would have rebet the $150, feeling they were on a rush; I put it in my pocket knowing any win in Keno is an aberation.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Worst player as opponent
Compared to Turning Stone, I have found the $4- $8 game at Foxwoods easier to beat. I don't win at Turning Stone. I have only lost twice out of 13 times at Foxwoods. My trip there on Sunday was a perfect example. In the beginning I was down and stayed down for a couple hours. At one point I was $100 down. But then I won some pots and finally one huge pot. I left $205 ahead for the day.
I did not get good cards. In that entire time my higher pocket pairs were kings one time and jacks one time, My big win was K-5 of clubs. But my opponents were not very good. There were a few good players, generally rocks but at one point a very aggressive player. The rest were passive and predictable or just plain terrible.
For example":
One guy bet his "straight" right through the river and turned it over while we all explained it was missing a middle card. Another time he called his pair of kings to the river and turned them over and we explained that his other card, a jack, made a straight. He also got his hand mucked by the dealer because he pushed out his unprotected cards (he sat next to the dealer.) He was the BB. We let him take back his BB $4.
Three older women came and played a while. At one point I had not played a hand in over an hour and decided to see what a raise might do. I held A-2 and there was a 2 on the flop. I checked and one of the older women bet. The ace was a club. There was a club on the flop. I certainly did not want to pay on the river, but I was ready to play. I raised. Well, she grumbled and grumbled about how she hated check-raisers, but I did not manage to push her out. I looked right at her when I checked the unhelpful turn card. My eyes said. "I'll check raise again" So she checked. The river was an Ace and I bet my tow pair, and she called. I had gotten my cheap view of two cards. I won. But then she was really grumbling. How had I check raised on a pair of deuces and then just caught on the river? Of course, I loved it. Her grumbling woke up the others to think that perhaps I did play badly at time after all.
One of the other women got in a long discussion with her neighbor as to whether 8-5 seemed to "come up a lot." "Don't you think that happens,"she asked me. I hardly knew how to answer. "Sometimes," I said.
But the worst player at our table, well... the worst player I have ever seen at any table........ was this Black guy from some country in Africa who did not know the game or the language, and was a very slow learner. We tried to tell him to go play 2-4, but he either did not know what that meant or wanted this game. He did not know, or learn, how much to bet and needed to be told each and every time. He rarely knew when it was his turn. He held up the game. But he did contribute. A good Black player next to him would explain after each hand what he might have done better, but his English was so bad that he could not really understand much of it. Once he bet his pocket threes on the river when there were two higher pairs on the board because he thought 3 pair must have an advantage. He could not understand the power of an ace in your hand when the flush was there. He could not get it that a pair on the board meant a possible full house. Once he asked me "What wins that" pointing to a guy's four deuces. He did not understand straight flush, but he did get it that he had not had a hand that would have beat the 4OAK. All that would have been bad enough, but he was on the end and his vision was so bad that he could not see the cards. Every once in a while he would stand up and study them, sometimes with reading glasses which must have been useless, but it was clear that he often confused suits.
Of course, he did get lucky, especially when some players thought they should just bet and call him no matter what. He did recognize some hands. But it was sad. I guess he played thru about $300. He bet nearly every hand.
He was very useful because the other Black player was hard to figure, so as he explained how he would have played each hand, I got a good sense of his own play. He advised the guy to be very careful when I bet because I only played premium hands so if I was in the pot, watch out. That Black guy had trip nines when I took the biggest pot of the day that I was in, probably $150. I held K-5 or clubs and got caught in squeeze betting both before the flop and just after. Two clubs were on the board. The turn gave us a king so I had a very good full house draw and a very good flush draw and the pot was packed full. I called. When the river was a club, the Black guy bet his nines and it was my turn. There were two people after me. I knew that if I raised after having showed no strength, it would give away my flush and might push the Black guy out, as he respected my play. I also knew that there was the full house possibility. I just called. The next two people called me. I can't imagine with what. I did not see their hands. But I sure liked raking in those chips.
My good gambling buddy, Louisiana Mudgriff Dan, had sent up a couple of Foxwoods matchplays, so I took one for $25 to the craps table. I had had a few too many Myers Rum and was tired. I missed my first chance to bet and was glad because the guy crapped out. Then the guy next to me took the dice and he was a setter. And he had the throw. His dice just hit the crack at the end of the table and barely rolled back. Point 8. Next roll 8. And I scooped up my $50 win.
I went to the buffet, but the line was too long. I'd miss my bus. So I played my buffet coupon as a $10 matchplay but it lost. Damn/ Gambled away my supper. Nothing but cheese and crackers and a peach on the bus ride home. But the cheese was this fancy sage cheddar I had bought for company, and the crackers a whole grain specialty I had left from Hawaii. So I did not feel so bad riding home with cheese and crackers and $245 of new money in my wallet.
Well, I hope to play with all of you soon.
Good gambling.
Edit/Delete Message
I did not get good cards. In that entire time my higher pocket pairs were kings one time and jacks one time, My big win was K-5 of clubs. But my opponents were not very good. There were a few good players, generally rocks but at one point a very aggressive player. The rest were passive and predictable or just plain terrible.
For example":
One guy bet his "straight" right through the river and turned it over while we all explained it was missing a middle card. Another time he called his pair of kings to the river and turned them over and we explained that his other card, a jack, made a straight. He also got his hand mucked by the dealer because he pushed out his unprotected cards (he sat next to the dealer.) He was the BB. We let him take back his BB $4.
Three older women came and played a while. At one point I had not played a hand in over an hour and decided to see what a raise might do. I held A-2 and there was a 2 on the flop. I checked and one of the older women bet. The ace was a club. There was a club on the flop. I certainly did not want to pay on the river, but I was ready to play. I raised. Well, she grumbled and grumbled about how she hated check-raisers, but I did not manage to push her out. I looked right at her when I checked the unhelpful turn card. My eyes said. "I'll check raise again" So she checked. The river was an Ace and I bet my tow pair, and she called. I had gotten my cheap view of two cards. I won. But then she was really grumbling. How had I check raised on a pair of deuces and then just caught on the river? Of course, I loved it. Her grumbling woke up the others to think that perhaps I did play badly at time after all.
One of the other women got in a long discussion with her neighbor as to whether 8-5 seemed to "come up a lot." "Don't you think that happens,"she asked me. I hardly knew how to answer. "Sometimes," I said.
But the worst player at our table, well... the worst player I have ever seen at any table........ was this Black guy from some country in Africa who did not know the game or the language, and was a very slow learner. We tried to tell him to go play 2-4, but he either did not know what that meant or wanted this game. He did not know, or learn, how much to bet and needed to be told each and every time. He rarely knew when it was his turn. He held up the game. But he did contribute. A good Black player next to him would explain after each hand what he might have done better, but his English was so bad that he could not really understand much of it. Once he bet his pocket threes on the river when there were two higher pairs on the board because he thought 3 pair must have an advantage. He could not understand the power of an ace in your hand when the flush was there. He could not get it that a pair on the board meant a possible full house. Once he asked me "What wins that" pointing to a guy's four deuces. He did not understand straight flush, but he did get it that he had not had a hand that would have beat the 4OAK. All that would have been bad enough, but he was on the end and his vision was so bad that he could not see the cards. Every once in a while he would stand up and study them, sometimes with reading glasses which must have been useless, but it was clear that he often confused suits.
Of course, he did get lucky, especially when some players thought they should just bet and call him no matter what. He did recognize some hands. But it was sad. I guess he played thru about $300. He bet nearly every hand.
He was very useful because the other Black player was hard to figure, so as he explained how he would have played each hand, I got a good sense of his own play. He advised the guy to be very careful when I bet because I only played premium hands so if I was in the pot, watch out. That Black guy had trip nines when I took the biggest pot of the day that I was in, probably $150. I held K-5 or clubs and got caught in squeeze betting both before the flop and just after. Two clubs were on the board. The turn gave us a king so I had a very good full house draw and a very good flush draw and the pot was packed full. I called. When the river was a club, the Black guy bet his nines and it was my turn. There were two people after me. I knew that if I raised after having showed no strength, it would give away my flush and might push the Black guy out, as he respected my play. I also knew that there was the full house possibility. I just called. The next two people called me. I can't imagine with what. I did not see their hands. But I sure liked raking in those chips.
My good gambling buddy, Louisiana Mudgriff Dan, had sent up a couple of Foxwoods matchplays, so I took one for $25 to the craps table. I had had a few too many Myers Rum and was tired. I missed my first chance to bet and was glad because the guy crapped out. Then the guy next to me took the dice and he was a setter. And he had the throw. His dice just hit the crack at the end of the table and barely rolled back. Point 8. Next roll 8. And I scooped up my $50 win.
I went to the buffet, but the line was too long. I'd miss my bus. So I played my buffet coupon as a $10 matchplay but it lost. Damn/ Gambled away my supper. Nothing but cheese and crackers and a peach on the bus ride home. But the cheese was this fancy sage cheddar I had bought for company, and the crackers a whole grain specialty I had left from Hawaii. So I did not feel so bad riding home with cheese and crackers and $245 of new money in my wallet.
Well, I hope to play with all of you soon.
Good gambling.
Edit/Delete Message
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Turning Stone
TURNING STONE
Well, yesterday I got my butt kicked. Lost $263. The Foxwoods trip canceled so I switched to a Turning Stone trip at the last minute. As before the game was mostly local regulars in the morning. They know and play with one another often. They are not any better players than I am, but when I get poor cards over a period of time at such tables, I can�t make much on the good cards.
I started with good cards. I made two preflop raises in the first four hands and was called around and then had to toss them when the flop came to nothing. Still, that gave me a loose table image. But that only lasted a while. Then I went into rock mode.
The game stayed fairly easy. One raise preflop perhaps but hardly ever a reraise. I liked the game. Just not my cards. Acting two places before me was one fellow who liked preflop raises a little too much for my blinds. Especially hard was to toss one 4-6 off suit blind, see two pair on the flop and then a full house on the river. It probably would not have been much of a pot. I�d have won on a two pair bet. But still.
I got to watch people�s faces more than I do when I am actually playing hands. I saw one of the best I ever remember. The flop came 10-10-5 and a fellow at the far offered a very tiny wince and followed with a half hearted call. I told myself to watch for that as I was certain he did not have a ten. Then he played poker faced and on the river surprised the table with a full house that he had on the flop. I never remember being so subtly fooled and was happy to have been out of the action.
After the buffet I had my own time to act. I was to the right of a fellow who raised often. He was on the button. I had pocket kings. Forcing anyone out was going to be impossible with a raise, but if he raised, they would call him and then if I reraised the pot would be nice and big. No raises. So my pockets were invisible. The flop was lots of unconnected trash. It checked to me and I bet. Half called. The turn was a king. It checked to me again and I said, �Well, someone has to bet� and half heartedly threw in the bet. Three called me. By the river there was no hand possible. I bet again and one guy called me. My trip kings received the kind of surprise from others that let me know I had fooled all of them. Of course, it did not help me in future hands.
Diamonds killed me. Once on the small blind I had 5-8 and it flopped with a 3 of diamonds. The big blind bet, I raised. On the river the big blind had turned his 5-8 into a runner, runner flush.
I reraised preflop with A-K and it was capped. Three diamonds came on the flop. Everyone checked. Nothing on the turn, and the capper bet. I folded. Others called. He had capped the bet with A-K of diamonds and flopped the nut flush.
The buffet was good but the chocolate fountain where you can dip strawberries was not working.
My free craps rolls got me $10. On the last paper bet the dice were mine and I rolled box cars. My three keno bets with coupons yielded zero. I tried the pull tabs. My $5 gets me $7 worth. I won back $2.50.
But on the way home the movie was fine. Fools Rush In. That Salma Hayek is one of my favorite fantasies and movies with Spanish and Vegas are perfect for a day of poor poker.
The rest of my life is all winning. We are going to Hawaii after all. Today we make last minute plane reservations. So no Vegas in July. but remember that I am still going in June and going solo, so if anyone wants to pick up some of my poker losses there, think about it. June 20 - July 5. I�ll see Vegas on the 4th. $22 average room rates. Binions right now on i4Vegas has $25 rooms weekdays and $50 rooms weekends. Center of downtown. Pool. Hard to beat that.
The fishing has been wonderful. The lake is empty and the fish are biting. I cleaned over 75 this week. My neighbor Ron brought Lu Ann, his cute blond, date out in the boat for a day of big perch and I showed them how to cook them over the grill and bone them for eating. She is a gambler, so in between screaming when she caught a fish, she told gambling stories. It can�t get better than that.
In the money for food on line poker games, Greg is losing, finally. I am 78% of the way to a free lunch next week.
Today we are off to Chicago to see son Frank graduate from law school. It will be a fine celebration. The final tickets on DING ended up $25 each way. Not bad airfare.
Well, get lucky and win big. See you next week.
dew
"I'd give you advice on how to play poker Son, but I've only been playing the game for fifty years, so I'm still learning the game.
--VP Pappy
Well, yesterday I got my butt kicked. Lost $263. The Foxwoods trip canceled so I switched to a Turning Stone trip at the last minute. As before the game was mostly local regulars in the morning. They know and play with one another often. They are not any better players than I am, but when I get poor cards over a period of time at such tables, I can�t make much on the good cards.
I started with good cards. I made two preflop raises in the first four hands and was called around and then had to toss them when the flop came to nothing. Still, that gave me a loose table image. But that only lasted a while. Then I went into rock mode.
The game stayed fairly easy. One raise preflop perhaps but hardly ever a reraise. I liked the game. Just not my cards. Acting two places before me was one fellow who liked preflop raises a little too much for my blinds. Especially hard was to toss one 4-6 off suit blind, see two pair on the flop and then a full house on the river. It probably would not have been much of a pot. I�d have won on a two pair bet. But still.
I got to watch people�s faces more than I do when I am actually playing hands. I saw one of the best I ever remember. The flop came 10-10-5 and a fellow at the far offered a very tiny wince and followed with a half hearted call. I told myself to watch for that as I was certain he did not have a ten. Then he played poker faced and on the river surprised the table with a full house that he had on the flop. I never remember being so subtly fooled and was happy to have been out of the action.
After the buffet I had my own time to act. I was to the right of a fellow who raised often. He was on the button. I had pocket kings. Forcing anyone out was going to be impossible with a raise, but if he raised, they would call him and then if I reraised the pot would be nice and big. No raises. So my pockets were invisible. The flop was lots of unconnected trash. It checked to me and I bet. Half called. The turn was a king. It checked to me again and I said, �Well, someone has to bet� and half heartedly threw in the bet. Three called me. By the river there was no hand possible. I bet again and one guy called me. My trip kings received the kind of surprise from others that let me know I had fooled all of them. Of course, it did not help me in future hands.
Diamonds killed me. Once on the small blind I had 5-8 and it flopped with a 3 of diamonds. The big blind bet, I raised. On the river the big blind had turned his 5-8 into a runner, runner flush.
I reraised preflop with A-K and it was capped. Three diamonds came on the flop. Everyone checked. Nothing on the turn, and the capper bet. I folded. Others called. He had capped the bet with A-K of diamonds and flopped the nut flush.
The buffet was good but the chocolate fountain where you can dip strawberries was not working.
My free craps rolls got me $10. On the last paper bet the dice were mine and I rolled box cars. My three keno bets with coupons yielded zero. I tried the pull tabs. My $5 gets me $7 worth. I won back $2.50.
But on the way home the movie was fine. Fools Rush In. That Salma Hayek is one of my favorite fantasies and movies with Spanish and Vegas are perfect for a day of poor poker.
The rest of my life is all winning. We are going to Hawaii after all. Today we make last minute plane reservations. So no Vegas in July. but remember that I am still going in June and going solo, so if anyone wants to pick up some of my poker losses there, think about it. June 20 - July 5. I�ll see Vegas on the 4th. $22 average room rates. Binions right now on i4Vegas has $25 rooms weekdays and $50 rooms weekends. Center of downtown. Pool. Hard to beat that.
The fishing has been wonderful. The lake is empty and the fish are biting. I cleaned over 75 this week. My neighbor Ron brought Lu Ann, his cute blond, date out in the boat for a day of big perch and I showed them how to cook them over the grill and bone them for eating. She is a gambler, so in between screaming when she caught a fish, she told gambling stories. It can�t get better than that.
In the money for food on line poker games, Greg is losing, finally. I am 78% of the way to a free lunch next week.
Today we are off to Chicago to see son Frank graduate from law school. It will be a fine celebration. The final tickets on DING ended up $25 each way. Not bad airfare.
Well, get lucky and win big. See you next week.
dew
"I'd give you advice on how to play poker Son, but I've only been playing the game for fifty years, so I'm still learning the game.
--VP Pappy
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Mike's poker news
Hi, Dewey. Played till 1 a.m. the other night and won a whopping $8.00. I
suppose I shouldn't quibble as at one point I was down $70.00. That night,
the theme of the table was "River City" as I never saw so many hands made on
the river. In fact, guys were apologizing to one another, it happened so
much. My hand of the evening:
I have pocket 3's and the flop comes with another 3, so now I have a set. I
bet and many stay with me, and the turn card is something or other, but I
notice that the board now has two spades. I bet again and a couple of guys
stay with me. The river card comes and turns out to be a "good news-bad
news" joke for this one guy. The good news for him is that it's another
spade, which makes his flush. The bad news is that it's the THREE of spades,
which gives me quads! I bet, he raises, I re-raise, and he just calls and I
turn over the hand. The guy sitting next to him, who's a biker, says "It's
kinda like running into a wall on your bike, ya know?" Very funny. I rivered
this guy again later to pick up the nut flush and he busted out. I never
stay with ace-low card. I always fold it, unless I'm on the blind, which I
was in this one hand. I have ace of hearts and 3 of diamonds. So I stay on
the big blind and the flop is junk--all numbers, so I still have high card,
and from the betting, I didn't get the impression that anyone had an ace or
pair. But I also notice that two of the cards are hearts. So everyone
checks so I check. The turn is another heart, everyone checks, so I say,
what the hell, and I bet. The river is ANOTHER HEART so now I have the nut
flush and bet and a bunch of people call including this guy who goes all in.
So I win again. I shook his hand before he left and he said, "I've never
seen rivers like this game!"
Other trends: Big Slick and pocket aces ALWAYS won. Pocket kings, queens,
and jacks ALWAYS lost. It got so that the guys who got these latter hands
NEVER raised pre-flop, they felt so snake-bit. I lost with pocket queens
THREE times and pocket kings ONCE. It never failed that after I pre-flopped
raised with these cards, I was ALWAYS dominated with an overcard on the flop
that gave someone else a higher pair. I just started to fold on the turn or
before the river card. It was just getting too expensive to chase.
It's amazing how different this game can be from one session to another.
Mike
suppose I shouldn't quibble as at one point I was down $70.00. That night,
the theme of the table was "River City" as I never saw so many hands made on
the river. In fact, guys were apologizing to one another, it happened so
much. My hand of the evening:
I have pocket 3's and the flop comes with another 3, so now I have a set. I
bet and many stay with me, and the turn card is something or other, but I
notice that the board now has two spades. I bet again and a couple of guys
stay with me. The river card comes and turns out to be a "good news-bad
news" joke for this one guy. The good news for him is that it's another
spade, which makes his flush. The bad news is that it's the THREE of spades,
which gives me quads! I bet, he raises, I re-raise, and he just calls and I
turn over the hand. The guy sitting next to him, who's a biker, says "It's
kinda like running into a wall on your bike, ya know?" Very funny. I rivered
this guy again later to pick up the nut flush and he busted out. I never
stay with ace-low card. I always fold it, unless I'm on the blind, which I
was in this one hand. I have ace of hearts and 3 of diamonds. So I stay on
the big blind and the flop is junk--all numbers, so I still have high card,
and from the betting, I didn't get the impression that anyone had an ace or
pair. But I also notice that two of the cards are hearts. So everyone
checks so I check. The turn is another heart, everyone checks, so I say,
what the hell, and I bet. The river is ANOTHER HEART so now I have the nut
flush and bet and a bunch of people call including this guy who goes all in.
So I win again. I shook his hand before he left and he said, "I've never
seen rivers like this game!"
Other trends: Big Slick and pocket aces ALWAYS won. Pocket kings, queens,
and jacks ALWAYS lost. It got so that the guys who got these latter hands
NEVER raised pre-flop, they felt so snake-bit. I lost with pocket queens
THREE times and pocket kings ONCE. It never failed that after I pre-flopped
raised with these cards, I was ALWAYS dominated with an overcard on the flop
that gave someone else a higher pair. I just started to fold on the turn or
before the river card. It was just getting too expensive to chase.
It's amazing how different this game can be from one session to another.
Mike
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