Derby Lane

I decided to start playing no limit poker at Derby Lane in St Petersburg, Florida where I thought the competition might not be as stiff as Vegas, especially in August when my next Vegas trip is planned.

Derby Lane does have some very low limit games. There is a 2-4 and a "straight 2" in which the bets do not rise on the turn. However, with a $5 rake and a dollar for the bad beat, I was further encouraged to try the no limit.

My first two nights I lost a total of $610 after about six hours of play each time. I made some mistakes, but felt it was more the cards than my play. I played very tight but not very aggressive. In each game I developed a table image of a tight player, so it was hard to bet unless I wanted to drive out the others. I did use that under the gun with medium pairs or after the flop to take a pot with second best. Just a $5 early in the game would cause people to fold or just call.
My third night I went with my buddy Lucky Pete. He has not been a poker player and wanted to try. So we played a 2-4 game and he did very well. The table was loose and passive except for one raiser. So I made money. $134. Pete lost about $27 even with hitting the jack promotion.
Monday-Wednesday Derby Lane had a promotion for winning with pocket jacks. The house double the pot up to $500. But you had to be called to the river, so it did change the play of the no limit games. Peter won for a small amount.
The next day I hit twice on the no limit winning $250 on the promotion alone and coming home with enough to put me up $9 for the trip. The no limit table really played more like limit poker. These players were cautious and not crazy. I managed to confuse them. Still again I developed a reputation for being tight so that I had to be careful not to bet. Slow playing did pay off.
My pocket jacks win on the first table was calling a fellow with a pair of tens (high flopped card) and an ace kicker. I never raised that then kept him trying to push me off the jacks. My second was similar. On that one a king came on the turn and an ace on the river but I kept calling decent bets. A guy with pocket 9's was trying to push me off. He would have gone had I raised. I was very lucky. He did not know about the jack promotion so did not consider that as part of the possibilities.
On my last night I was at a totally nutty table where raisers and callers pulled in pots on the river. When my ace went to a straight, I was beat by a fellow with a 6-2. On one hand I got aggressive. I held ace-queen and there was a queen on the flop and a decent bet from one woman in early position. I raised all in thinking that I could force out the competition and I did but she help a pair of pocket queens.
So I lost. My weekly losses were $331. Not bad for a beginner.
Still it is a much more complicated game and I don't yet really understand the nuances. I don't think I will play it much in Vegas, but it will be a better game for me at Turning Stone where the rake makes limit poker difficult. In no limit the rake is not too hard to overcome even when the table gets down to 6 players.
Derby Lane did have a bad beat, but the bad beat of the week was at Tampa Hard Rock and they hit it while I was there. It had risen to a half a million dollars o the loser of the bad beat hand won over $250.000.
One disadvantage of the dog track was that the card room can only stay open 12 hours a day so it did not open until 1PM or 2PM. On the 2-4 table the game is constantly slowed by people betting horses or dogs or that game played like hand ball with curved rackets. On the other hand this distracted the players in the same way that the horses do at the horse track.
I only be the dogs once. I bet a 2-3 exacta and the 2 came in first but the other dog was...well, a real dog. It was fun to watch them run.

Home from St Pete

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Well, another beating. The week has not done well for me. I do not have confidence as I approach a week of poker in St. Petersburgh, Florida.
I was never even today, but I did come very close. In the end I lost my $100 to Peter and Greg who took most of the money off the table. Phil made a small win. Bruce lost so fast he left very disappointed.
Bill's Dad died this week, so we missed him at the game.
Peter had a great day, racking up chips, losing many of them back, and then racking them up again for a $90 win. So Greg must have won about $100.
No really dramatic hands. Peter had four 7's, but no one was there to bet into him. Twice I beat Peter with a flush card just one number higher than his. I had straight flush draws twice but nothing came of them except winning one pot.

I think I played way too loose and then on tilt for the last few hands.
I have to get the idea that losing less is also good and quit making the total score for the day the measure of good play.

Dark Day for Dew at Foxwood

An old friend of mine, his 89 year old mother, his brother and wife, and another friend and wife all made the drive to Foxwoods yesterday for a day of gambling. No one came home with any money.

My poker day created my the worst loss since November of 2005. I ended up down $310 playing $4-$8 limit

And I did everything I could to win, even took along Louisiana Mudgriff Dan's 3 Musketeer lucky coin. Everyone touched the coin for luck. Everyone lost money. All eight of us. I' have written Dan for directions. We must have gotten some part of the coin ritual wrong. Perhaps he'll send over the correct page from the Aligator Brotherhood Lodge so my play in Tampa this week won't be so sour. Yep, I'm takin' the coin to Florida. It has no where to go but up.

Still, I loved the the game. There was the right mix of players at each of my sessions ( I cashed out to go to lunch) They might have sucked me out on a few hands except I was never in long enough to have that experience. Other players did get rivered with gut shot draws. I was generally beat long before the river. Also I had the habitual raise4r just two to my left. I hate when that happens unless I manage to get great cars and use him to squeeze the table, but I could never get a seat change.

Because there was enough of that loose play at the table, there was very little bluffing. Often hands would be over bet. One fellow holding Q-6 bet when I checked my pair of queens (Q-K) on a river that created a pair of 4's.
Once I got pushed off a pot. Three of us had held aces and called an A-J-J flop to the river. One ace bet and the second raised, so I folded mine. I lost my third of the pot. I'd do that again. But I would not have played like those guys. I would never have bet the ace after getting called to the river and certainly not raised with two guys in, one of them a tight player like me.

One woman took nearly half of my losses in two hands. I flopped a king high club flush and with 4 clubs by the flop, she raised my bet. I called. The dealer said, "Show me the ace" and she said she did not have it, but turned over pocket sevens for 4OAK.

On another hand her pocket 3's flopped a full house. I had trip tens. She never raised my bets, even on the river.

What was unnerving was she often called other players to the river with second and third best hands. But when I had cards, she had better cards.

There was no other great drama.

My son played a 30 home game tournament last night planned by an Albany Pokerpal meetup group. I'd have gone with him had I not gone to Foxwoods. He won $30 in third place.

It was a fine day. The almost 3 hour ride went very quickly with plenty of stories. It was not as slow as the bus by myself. One fellow bought lunch with his points for everyone. Waiting in line they met a small woman who spoke Italian and had a little exchange of thoughts in Italian. That was fun to hear.
I picked up a voucher on my points for a free bus ride within three months. And I learned that there is a poker rate of $59 at the Two Trees Inn, their cheapest motel like rooms. So I could take the bus up and back, getting both bonuses, and stay a couple nights. Sounds very good.
The new MGM was interesting to see. The machines were all very new and it felt pleasant enough. I am not a great fan of the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun expansions. They seem to be less interesting, more like huge lobbies in expensive hotels than casinos. And waling from MGM to Foxwoods (15 minute walk) was like walking through a mall with fewer shops. But the days of there being real themes seem over now even in Vegas where Wynn and Palazzo have that same dull feel to me.

I wonder what the Trump in AC will look like as a Margaritaville themed casino or what some of the newer building may look like in Vegas. The renovations I like best in Vegas are the old style neon added to the the East Freemont renovation. Downtown as a town of old neon seems delightful. I am bored with flat screen videos. I want to see more things like the Bellagio Conservatory, or the statues at Caesars, the fountain in front of Paris, Excalibur at night or the canals at the Venitian or the Stratosphere Tower. We have malls and 5 star hotel lobbies at home.

Tomorrow is Gregg's home game and then we go to Florida for 8 days. I'll play at Derby Lane dog track. Have to get my money back.

GREG'S GAME May 28

Boy, I really never thought I'd make this game. First, I was so sick this past week. When I stayed in bed on Monday with the oppressive sinus migraine on top of the head cold from hell, I gave up the hope of Greg's game. Then by Tuesday it had passed and the hope was back again, until late that night when a short in the hot water tank kicked out every circuit serviced by the generator, including the deep freezer.
So I expected to spend the day getting that fixed.
Instead, a plumber electrician came and just disconnected the faulty element so we can limp along with one element for a while until we decide just what we want to install.
It is a good thing it all happened before we went to Florida. A week without electricity to the freezer would cost us plenty in spoiled food.
So I managed to make Greg's game.
And perhaps I'll make the other social events leading up to going to Florida.

Greg's game was fun, but initially I lost regularly in all-in bets where I was beat on the river.

Peter took me down one time when he called a huge bet (semi bluff really) with only a pair against my 2 pair and caught an ace on the river. Bruce called me with a 3-4 of spades and went on to catch a 3-4 for two pair.

Peter also successfully bluffed me on a couple occasions. We tend on rare but delightful occasions to bluff each other with nothing at all and then show in order to add to the other's annoyance.
One all-in I made early in the game when I was not bluffing. Peter went all in holding two spades for a jack high space flush (ace and king on the board) and yes, I also had two spades and one of mine was the nut queen.

However, things went bad for me for the first couple hours. I was $80 down when the game turned around. At about that time Bill lost a terrible all=in bet. He went all in after flopping a straight. Peter called with two pair that never developed. Greg called with a gut shot and caught it on the river to end up with just a bit higher straight. Bill was pretty deflated and just called it a day and went home.

I had pushed him out of a hand earlier when he had top pair (jacks) but a very low kicker after the flop and my aggressive bet made him think I had more than I really did. Had he stayed in that hand, he would have made a good bit of money because he would have had 4 jacks against my eventual full house.

So he was understandably frustrated.

Without Bill in the game, I seemed to do better. I caught some fine cards, won some hands and by the end of the day I had $108 profit and Peter had $124.
No one else had any money.
Peter had only bought in once. I had recovered after 8 buy ins and gone on to win almost as much as Peter for the day
.
Half way through the game, Greg had racked up quite a pile of chips, but slowly they slipped away. At the end of the afternoon, Peter and I took all he had.
He bought in a few more times, and we took that too.

The "Hill boys" took home all the money lost by anyone that day. This was a great psychological break for me. I have been on a losing streak and dropped over $500 in my last half a dozen sessions; session after session had left me down money.

Now I am back trying to pull myself out of my lifetime hole and get in the black.

I think the saddest hand of the day came when we were down to just three of us. Greg slow played his straight flush in hearts, just waiting for someone to bet in to him. But with only three of us, it was overkill. There was not much for Greg to do except show us the rare random event, smile, rake in a few paltry chips and shuffle up.


I remembered how often this happens in casino games when the players get down to five. Good cards come. No money is bet. And there the casino takes perhaps a third of the pot.
Avoiding that scenario is top on my list of things to improve.
It is hard to do. In Vegas it is easier as there is a game down the street. but at Turning Stone it means finding something else to do.
One more game at Greg's before we go to Florida for those games. I hope I can make the adjustment to ten people when I hit the Tampa games. Helpful may be another visit to Foxwoods with Jerry and his Mom on Monday. Foxwoods sent me 10 more free points for every week in June. Each of these coupons pays for almost half a Yankee Trails bus trip. Foxwoods certainly does a better job of taking care of the poker players than Turning Stone. Also they still spread a 4-8 game which I like.

Bruce announced that he had made the final tournament at Turning Stone, getting blinded out of any money. He was pleased to have gotten that far. I guess he played for 4 or more hours. That is what discouraged me about tournaments. Good hard play and a little luck may get a player close to the money, but too often those quick escalating blinds make the last half hour a game entirely of luck.

Foxwoods May 20

Bill and I went up to Foxwoods on the Yankee Trails bus. I lost again in both the morning 2-4 and the afternoon 4-8 sessions. I played badly a few times, but most of the loss was just getting drained with cards I bet and folded.

In fact, two bad bets won me pots. In one I caught a straight, but failed to notice that it also created a spade flush. I bet and was raised. I groaned and called. The fellow thought he had a flush, but he had only one spade. Lucky. Then I stole one pot when I bet against one opponent but only had J-Q overcards. He tossed away two little pair. he turned them up. Luckily, I just asked if it were a fold. I think he was hoping to see what I had and then bet with them up if he had me beat. With no money coming, the dealer mucked his cards. He pushed me about whether I had him beat, but I stepped around the question, claiming that I was confused by his unorthodox fold.
This is the technigue that the brush used at the Palms and there I was beat and just folded when I saw that I was beat. But the brush did not want another bet. I should have bet from the beat position to see if I could force him out.

I had trip kings and was beat by a full house by a fellow who flopped trip sixes and slow played them with a raise on the river.

I had trip jacks and was raised on the turn. I reraised because I had the ace kicker. My opponent did not raise again so I figured he had no full house. The river was a 7. I bet and he reraised. My opponent had beat me with J-7 offsuit.

I was dealt only one pocket pair all afternoon. Just one: Pocket kings in the big blind. Everyone folded and the small blind asked to chop. That also was the only chop all afternoon at that table.

Well, the damages equaled $214, a huge single day loss for limit poker. This brings my lifetime average loss up higher than it has been since the great Turning Stone $278 win on March 18. Roughly, I am at break even for April/May.

I hope the Tampa poker goes better in June.

Bill did well because he went up to the craps table and the shooter hit a fine run. He left ahead.

Except for the losses, it was a fine day. Foxwoods is just a better room than Turning Stone. They now have a bad beat, but it is just $1500 and they fund it with no rake. The tables were always filled. In the morning the 2-4 was the tightest game I've seen there in all my visits and the pots were very small. We should have left and looked for another table. My afternoon table 4-8 was perfect. I even managed to grab a seat to the right of one of two habitual raisers and the left of another, so I had good position. Just bad cards. I played well in the afternoon.

Foxwoods also gives a jacket for a royal. I remembered the turkey hunter at Turning Stone talking the guy in to a hat that happened to be there because of the East Coast Tournament Players.

And they give me some free Myer's rum.

Turning Stone mails me only advertisement. Foxwoods sent me 10 free player's points in the mail for each week in May. With those I will have enough for a free bus voucher after my next visit.

Also, the bus bonus is better at Foxwoods. I hit the keno for $5. I bet Bill I would beat him on that and I did. So he had to leave the buffet tip. That buffet tip bet was the best bet I made all day.

The buffet included duck. It was not done in the way I best like, so that things are crispy, but it was good nonetheless as was the deep fried cod.


And Bill as always was a fine companion. The bus was only 2/3 filled and I sat next to him for some good stories, and then moved to my own open seat for a bit of a nap or for the movie on the way back. The American President.
I have certainly seen it before, but I forget them almost as soon as I see them. It set up many of the characters as well as the paced chatter for the show West Wing.

Across the aisle was Beverly Jones who I taught in 7-8 grade at Livingston many years ago. We had a fine visit. She remembered me and Jerry and many of the teachers. She said she is an auditor now for the state now and the English I taught helps her in her job. it was a kind thing to say. She married a Goodbee. I also taught some of his family.

Greg's Guys and their Game

It was my first day out of the house in many days. I was tired. But I think I played well enough.
Peter, Jen and I went to the Dragon Buffet for lunch.
She and the baby seem well. She started maternity clothers.
Then Peter and I joined Phil, Bruce, Bill and Greg for a few hours of exciting poker.
I caught so many second best hands that it was not funny.
I got annoyed.
But once I had bought in $10 at a time for a record $110, my luck turned and I made some back.
My 4-5 suited yielded 4 fives with Bruce going all in on his river full house.
Other hands held up better. I ended up $64 behind.

Greg on two buy ins at one point had three racks of chips. He is hard to beat.

Peter's game was all over the charts. He is getting pretty aggressive. We now have two Gregs at the table. He won a good bit, lost it all back, and then recouped his losses.

It was a good day, but it did tire me out. I was in bed by 8 and slept until 8. Never had anything quite like this.
Bill and I are off to Foxwoods next week Tuesday on Yankee Trails. Bruce is off the Turning Stone. Greg and Ann head to Foxwoods on Wednesday. There will be some gambling stories to tell at our next game.