LOL Donkaments #7

Peppermill 6:30 $95 Cash Me Out - 09.25.11

It was a small crowd for this one, as we eventually had 26 runners when the late buy-in period ended.

There was a player at my table who we will call Fred. He is a 60's gentleman with an Indian accent. He said he had never played this game before. As it turned out, Fred had no idea what this game was, or anything about the game. He didn't understand things like blinds, betting, how hands were determined, or what beat what. He seemed to think this was a table game, as he held his cards like he was at a Blackjack table, and asked the Dealer a couple of times what he should do with his cards. You can do this at various table games, like Pia-Gow. The Dealer said that he could not give Fred any advice, and he could only tell Fred what his options were. I've played a lot of home games with some very new players, but I have never played with someone who was a complete blank slate.

Once I realized what was going on with Fred, I tried to play in every pot that he was in. For example, I limped from early position with 76o because it was Fred's Big Blind. It folded around to the SB, who called. Fred min-raised to 100. Naturally, I called, but the SB folded. Flop was 4 3 2. Fred bet 50, and I called with Two Overs and a Gutshot. Turn [4 3 2] 6. Once again, he bet 50, and I called. River [4 3 2 6] 6. Now Fred goes All-In, and I quickly call. He proudly turned over AQo, and I showed my Trip 6s. The Dealer gathered up the pot, and shipped it to me. Fred didn't understand why he lost, because an Ace and a Queen are bigger than a Seven and a Six. (No, I'm not making this up. He actually said that.) The Dealer did his best to explain how the game worked, but I'm not sure that Fred got it.

However, Fred did pull out $30 to use his first rebuy, in spite of various players at the table saying that he should save his money. I was not one of those players, as I mentioned that tournaments are a good way to learn the game. One of my poker sayings is, "Tournaments are for teaching, and Cash Games are to get schooled."

On a side note, I have often been critical of the Peppermill on this blog. This is mostly because of how disorganized they are about various things. But this time, I have to give some major props to the dealers for how they handled a complete newbie at the table. The first one was a full-time dealer named Francis. He was very patient, courteous, and professional with Fred. It's a very frustrating situation for a dealer to constantly answer the same basic questions over and over, and he did a wonderful job of it. The other dealers after him also did very professional job.

Anyways, back to the action. Shortly after I got Fred's first buy-in, I limped for 100 in the Cutoff with 44 . The BB raised to 250, and I was the only caller. Flop was Kd Qh 4c. The BB bet 250 or 300. He's a 50's gentleman whom I know nothing about. I just called, as I thought the bet was weak, and I didn't want to scare him off. Turn was [Kd Qh 4c] 2d. Now the BB checked. I grabbed a 500 chip, and tossed it forward. The BB thought for a moment, and called. River was [Kd Qh 4c 2d] 7d. The BB checked again. For some reason, my Spider-Sense was tingling, as I thought that he could be slowplaying a big hand. But I had a Set, so I bet another 500 chip. The BB went All-In for around 1300 more. I thought for a little bit, and made the crying call. After all, I was up from the hand with Fred. The BB showed A8d for a backdoor Nut Flush. Nice Hand, Sir.

Play continued, but a rather slow pace due to Fred. He had tightened up, and was playing considerably less hands. But when he played, he either limped or was All-In. He hadn't figured out that you could raise something between a min-raise and everything. He was still asking a lot of questions, and slowing the game down. Eventually some of the old nits started snapping at Fred for being so slow. I was getting annoyed at the old nits for "taping on the 'tank", and almost spoke up. I didn't want to cause any problems, so I simply bit my tongue.

There was a group of guys who showed up late, and were able to buy-in. One of them was seated on my direct Right, and he bought in using all his rebuys. He's a large 40's guy, and we'll call him Larry. (By the way, I'm completely making up these names.) I remember seeing Larry earlier in the day when I was playing 3-Card Poker. He was with his buddies at a roulette table, and was very loud and rude with everyone around him. A supervisor came to that table, and warned Larry about his unfriendly language concerning the lady dealer. I could tell before he even played a hand that he was going to be a bullshit artist. And I seemed to be right, as he raised his very first hand, and took it down on the Flop. A few hands later, Larry raised again, and got one caller. Larry bet on the Flop, got called, and then put the other player All-In on the Turn. The other player called with AK, no pair. It was good as Larry had AJ, no pair.

A little later (maybe in the 100/200/25 level), Larry raised again. I had AJo, and considered a 3-Bet. But I thought that Larry might 4-Bet All-In, and I didn't want to call everything with AJ, so I just called the initial raise. The Flop was Js 9s 5s. Surprisingly, Larry checked, so I bet 800 with Top Top. Larry looked over at my stack, and pushed his big chips forward. Even though I didn't have a Spade, I insta-called. Larry had KQo (no spade) for a Gutshot, and proceeded to hit it on the River. Nice Hand, Sir.

I used my last rebuy for 4000 chips, and was rather card dead. Larry kept hitting hands, and stayed very active. Since I had position on him, I was able to stay out of his way. But the blind of 100/200/25 and 150/300/50 started eating away at my stack, and I got short-stacked.

Once again, it folded around to Larry on the Button in the 150/300/50 level. He simply grabbed some big chips, and bet them. I looked down in the SB at 76c. Not exactly premium holdings, but Larry's range is more than half the deck. I don't remember exactly how many chips I had, but I figured this was a good spot to gamble. Larry had a better hand than I expected, AJo, but I still had two live cards and a live suit. The Board ran out, and the lowest card was a 9.

I finished in 21st place, and this was the first time in quite a while that I didn't even make the first break. Fred was still at the table. He had some ups and downs, including using his last rebuy. I don't remember the specifics.

I walked out of the tourney room, and into the main poker room. It was kinda slow for a Sunday, with around five tables open. I considered just heading home, and putting an end to this losing day. But it was only 7:45pm, and I did have money in my pocket.

I walked over to the desk to see if they had any open seats. The only one was at the $1/$2 table. So I bought $300 in chips, and walked over to the table.

(To be continued...)