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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Starting off the Year with a Bang! (and a Thud!)

For the last few years, I've gone to casino on New Year's Day with one of my poker buddies, Chan, who is also a mailman. Last year, we went Mountaineer. This year, he wanted to play some $2/$5, so we went up to MGM Detroit.

12:00 $50 - We got up to the Poker Room, and got seated at a $1/$2 table that just opened. There was only seven players at the table, and nobody has over $200. So I decide to shortstack it, and buy-in for the minimum of $50. I've got more chips in my pocket if I need to rebuy, or feel like I should add-on.

12:30 $95 - Doubled up with a flopped set of Q. Table is playing fairly passive, but two $2/$5 players just sat down to play while waiting for the $2/$5 game to open.

1:00 $157 - Won a pot against Chan with the Nut 4-Card Flush. Later, I limped and called a $12 preflop raise with KTs. I flopped top pair (T), bet out, and everyone folded. The $2/$5 game just opened, and we lost a couple of players, including Chan.

1:30 $153 - I'm starting to call more preflop, but usually missing. I also limped on the Button with 73, and flopped two pair.

2:00 $140 - Action is picking up at the table, but none for me. I need to quit calling raises preflop, and try to see flops cheaper in position until I get some more chips.

2:30 $238 - I can't hit a #$%! thing. I add-on $150 due to an older Eastern European gentleman three seats to my right. He's got over $500 in front of him, and he's generating most of the action at the table. He will lose those chips at some point, and I want a chunk of them.

3:00 $272 - Won a decent pot with QQ in the Big Blind.

3:30 $588 - My patience finally paid off. Won a big pot with JJ against old Action guy and another loose player.

4:00 $652 - Stacked off a short stack with Top/Top (AQ) on the Flop. There was an AA vs QQ vs JJ preflop train wreck. Old Action guy had AA, but the QQ hit the Flop to scoop a huge pot.

4:30 $633 - An older gentleman raised to $12 in EP. I was on the Button with 33, but nobody called, so I folded. Just the SB called, and I would have hit a set. Action guy has been bleeding chips since his AA got cracked in the train wreck. His stack is now down to $50, and he add-on $200 more.

5:00 $596 - Lost a decent pot with TT against slowplayed KK. I got some of it back with AK. I checked Top/Top on the Flop, and then bet the Turn and River.

5:30 $609 - Reraised in late position with QJh, and won the pot with a c-bet on an A high Flop. The old Action guy has really tightened up his game since he reloaded his stack.

6:05 $664 - Cashout. I won a sweet pot with a semi-bluff with AQs.

On a side note, MGM keep the rake ($6 max) in the dealer's tray, instead of dropping it down a slot. Six hours after the table opened, there was $660 in the rake tray, and that doesn't even account for the $1 for the Bad Beat Jackpot that was taken out of every pot. Who says that Poker Rooms don't make money for the Casinos?

After I cashed out, I left Chan in the Poker Room, and went downstairs to get some food. Being a holiday, the food court was packed, and I had trouble find a seat.

I then went over to a 3-Card Poker table to gamble with some of my winnings. Unfortunately, I lost $400 in just 30 minutes. I was getting terrible cards, and the dealer just kept getting better cards than me. It was just one of those times that nothing went right, which was basically the opposite of my $1/$2 session.

As I was going broke in the Pit, Chan finished up his poker session, and we headed home. I only left Detroit with $64 of profit. Yippee! At least my Saturday night tournament buy-in is covered.

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