Blue Chip and a Chair

On Day 1 of the tip, I visited Four Winds Casino and Blue Chip Casino. Overall, I didn't catch many cards. I ended up winning a little at Poker, and lost a little more at gambling. That is a sentence that use way too often, and is something that I really need to fix.

Four Winds Casino is huge. Someone told me they are the second largest gaming area in the country. (Foxwoods is the largest.) The poker room has 14 of the PokerPro electronic tables. They have a Bad Beat Jackpot which has ballooned to over $280,000. I assumed that the room would be busy with old geezers playing low stakes poker trying to fund their retirement accounts. But when I walked in at 11am, there was only one full table of .50/1 with a small waiting list for 1/2. It took almost two hours to get a seat at the table. The 1/2 game didn't get started 'til a few hours later. When I left at 8pm, there was only two tables of .50/1 and one 1/2 that wasn't full.

Blue Chip Casino is much smaller, but they are going through an expansion. The poker room is just 10 tables. When I got there at 9pm, they had two tables of 1/2 and two with the evening tournament.

Here are three hands of interest.

Hand #1 - $1/$2 @ Four Winds
I'm the Button with 6h 5d. A few limpers see a Flop of As Tc 6h. Everyone checks.
Turn (As Tc 6h) 5s. BB leads out for $7. One other player calls. I raise to $20 with Bottom Two Pair. BB calls, and other player folds.
River (As Tc 6h 5s) 2s. BB checks. I figure I got the best hand and bet $30. BB check-raises All-in $21 more. I make a crying call, and he shows K7s for the Flush.

I'm such a donk for making the River bet. All I had was Bottom Two Pair. Anything that calls the $30 probably has me beat. The call of the All-In was also bad, since he obviously had the Flush. But it was the River bet the started the mess.

Hand #2 - $1/$2 Four Winds
66 UTG. Table has been passive with not much raising, so I limp in. Someone raises to $6. A few players call, and so do I.

Five players see a Flop of A 9 6. Sweet! I check. A real short stack bets $20. The Cutoff raises enough to put the bettor all-in ($62). The Cutoff is a solid, no-nonsense player, so his raise probably means Two Pair. It fold to me, and I decide to raise to $125. Short Stack calls All-In. Cutoff goes into deep though. He finally says, "I'm not good enough to fold this," and calls.

Turn (A 9 6) 4. I bet $153, which puts Cutoff All-In. He thinks for a bit, and says, "I don't know what you got, but I fold." He shows A 6. The River card is meaningless, and I win a nice size pot.

In hindsight, I think I overplayed my hand. Being a solid, no-nonsense player, he may not be willing to dump his stack on the table with Two Pair. He showed aggression on the Flop. I think I should have just called, and then check-raised the Turn, when he would be more pot-committed.

Hand #3 - $1/$2 Blue Chip
I just sat at the table a few hands ago. UTG+1 raises to $7. Two callers to me. I'm the Cutoff and look down at Ts Th. I don't want to play this hand with a lot of callers, so I raise to $20. Button cold calls. UTG+1 calls. Player A thinks for a bit, and reluctantly calls. Player B calls. Five player go to the Flop of a +$100 pot. This is gonna be fun.

Flop: Ah 7d 4d. Yuck! I hate the A, and since the Td make the Flush, only the Tc helps me. I mentally click the 'Check/Fold' button. All five players check.

Turn: (Ah 7d 4d) Tc. Holy Crap! I just hit a one-outer. UTG+1 bets $10 into a +$100 pot. Player A calls. Player B fold. I grab a stack of chips, and shove it forward. It ends up as $60. Perfect. Button folds. UTG+1 pauses, then folds. Player A, who reluctantly called preflop, goes into the tank. He's only got $55 left, and finally pushes it in.

River is a brick, and I show my Set. He doesn't show, but I can assume that he had a weak Ace.