After having a Sunday morning breakfast at their buffet, I walked into the Poker Room at the Atlantis, and sat down in the only game they have running. It's a $2/$3 NL game, and I was the fifth player. I could tell right away that this was gonna be a rough session. I had to keep making laydowns. For example. I get the K-high Flush on the River, and bet. The old geezer on my Right instantly check-raised, and said "RAISE" very loud and aggressively. It was rather obvious that he wasn't doing that with the Q-high Flush. In another hand, I raised in late position with 54h. The Flop was Q84. The SB lead out, and I called. The Turn was [Q84] 4. Again the SB bet, and I just called with the plan of raising the River. However, the River was [Q84 4] Q. The SB start to grab some more chips. I tell him don't bother betting, and I fold my hand face up. He said he had AQ.
At 11am, they had a $70 Bounty Tournament. I haven't played a tourney yet in Reno, so I signed up for it. Plus, I'm hoping my luck will change. But it didn't. I had no cards to play, and blinded out. I finished 8th out of 11 players.
Since I live five minutes away, I just went home for a while, and came back around 4:30. I sat down at the only game with an open seat, which was the same $2/$3 game. I bought in for $300. A few of the players from earlier were still here. Unfortunately, my Luck was still here. My stack started to dwindle, until I won a big pot with AA against an old geezer with a big stack. A bit later, I have JT with a Flop of 9 8 x. I bet the Flop, and the same old geezer calls. The Turn was a [98x] K. I fire again, and he calls. I miss the River, and I fire again. Even though my bets are about the same size as the AA hand, he still calls me down with just a 9.
After this, I add on to my stack, and go really card dead. I slowly bled down, and it was getting late. I decide to leave at a certain time. In my final hand, we're playing shorthanded (7 players), and I limp with T9o. The Flop is 865. I bet out $11 with a Gutshot and two Overs. The SB and Button call. The Turn was [865] 7. The BB bet $22. I just call with my six-card Straight, hoping to not scare off the Button. Not only was the Button not scared, she raised to $50, and the SB called. I shipped in my remaining stack of around $175. Both players thought about it for a bit, and called. They both have a 9, and I triple up.
So after a day of horrible, frustrating, ridiculous cards, I head home up $25 for the day.
On Monday, I walk into the Peppermill Poker Room around 1pm. I sit down in the only game with an open seat, $4/$8 Limit. Once again, I could quickly tell this was gonna be a rough session. I was only at the table for 1.75 hours, and I never had a chance. When I had KK, there was an A on the Flop. I kept getting out kicked, or I had Top Pair against a old geezer who limped in with an Overpair. Even my final hand, I ran into a flopped Set of Threes.
Just like the day before, I head home for a while, and came back at 6pm. I sat down in the $1/$2 game, and my luck improved dramatically. I won a few pots, and was up around $150 when the 6:30 tournament started. I didn't play in the tourney, but almost everyone else did. We only had three players left, but we kept playing. It didn't take long for me to bust one of the players when I hit Two Pair on the Turn with J5o.
So for the first time ever, I played Heads-Up Cash in a casino. It was against an older Eastern European gentleman named Sol (short for Salomon). Earlier in the day, he had lost $1500 in the $20/$40 Limit game, and was at the $1/$2 just blowing off steam. He had a big stack, and was the Action Guy earlier. But in the Heads-Up, he played relatively friendly, with the preflop raises in the $5-$7 range. Even though we were both over $450, I was happy to play Small-Ball.
Usually in Heads-Up, whoever gets the best cards usually wins the match. And he kicked my ass. Every time I had a Hand, he folded. Every time he had a Hand, I had something to call him down. He won all the big pots, and I won all the small pots. Even when I started grinding back, I lost another big pot. I ended up losing around $200 to him. For example, in one of our last hands, I flopped a Set of Tens. He's calling the whole way, and raised on the River when he hit his Gutshot.
After about 45 minutes of Heads-Up, a third player sat down. And then a fourth. Eventually the table filled up, but I was still not winning, especially against Sol. He just had my number on this night.
Later on, I had around $200 left in my stack. I called a preflop raise of $12 with 3h 3d in the SB. Four players saw a Flop of 5c 3c 3s. I check my Quads. The preflop raiser goes All-In for $95 (yeah, that's a slight overbet). The player next to him calls quickly. He's an older gentleman who recently sat down, and bought in for around $500. (In Reno, it's common for rooms to allow a player to buy-in equal to the largest stack at the table. I don't like this rule, but that's another post for another day.) I think for a bit, look over my stack, and go All-In for another $93. The old guy thinks for a while, and finally tosses a $100 bill into the pot. As the dealer gathers up the chips for the Side Pot, I show my Quads. The other players don't show their hands, and I win a sweet pot. I also won $50 from the Peppermill for a High Hand Bonus.
So after another day of horrible, frustrating, ridiculous cards, I head home up $36 for the day.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna make it in this town.
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