Hand of the Day #2

I'm putting this in the "How Would You Play It?" format. I'm not sure I did the right thing in this hand, so feel free to leave some feedback.

$1/$2 NLHE at Motor City 10.28.09

UTG +1 & +2 limp in. Old Geezer in Hijack raises to $12. He's been here for a few hours chasing the BBJ, and has played few hands. When he does raise preflop, it's always been to $5, and he always plays passive after the Flop. This is the first time he has raised bigger. I think he's serious, and has a big pair: AA, KK, or maybe QQ. He's got about $250 total.

Button calls the $12. You're the BB, and look down at QQ. You've got around $200 total.

Your Turn.

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While I think all 3 options (Call, Raise, Fold) are plausible, I think Call is the worst. It allows the hand to become a multi-way pot, without any more information about the Geezer's cards, other than my read of "Big Pair". That essentially turns my hand into a set mine. With JJ or lower, this might be acceptable, but QQ is just to strong just call and hope to hit a two-outer.

I could just Fold based on my read, but it's only $12 which is a standard $1/$2 preflop raise. If someone else raised, and the Geezer made it $40, then Fold would seem prudent. But folding to just a standard raise just seems to tight, even for me.

So that leaves Raise. I don't want to blow up the pot, and commit myself. It would seem to make more sense to do a smaller raise, and hopefully isolate with Geezer. If he calls, then I may be good, or we're flipping with AK. If he re-raises, then I'll know to eject.

I choose Raise, and make it $30. Both UTG +1 & +2 call, which I didn't expect. Geezer counts his chips, and ships it All-In for about $250. Button folds. I flash my cards to my neighbor, and make the easy fold. UTG +1 & +2 also folds.

Geezer shows KK, and scoops a nice pot, thanks to me.

Of course, there is also the question, "What if I looked down at KK, instead of QQ?"

The Bad Beat Effect

Just like many players, I hate the Bad Beat Jackpot. It's just taking $1 out of the pot that I will never see again.

I know I will never be involved in a Bad Beat for two reasons. First, I'm not a lucky player. I'm not say that to bitch, whine, and moan. It's just a simple fact. I don't go on sick runs of cards and cashout for $1000+ like everyone else seems to do. I only get quads or better like once every six months. I don't think I've ever had a live Royal Flush. I know someone who gets quads at least once every two weeks.

Second, I've never been involved in a hand that would qualify for a Bad Beat. That includes casino and home games, tournaments and ring games. The closest I've ever seen was at Binion's during my last trip to Vegas. Someone flopped a straight flush, and another player hit running quads. But it was one in his hand and three on the board, so it wouldn't qualify (for example: Tc 9c 6c 6h 6s - 8c 7s vs 6d 5d)

Also, I've only been a casino one time when the Bad Beat hit, and I wasn't even playing. I was a Greektown railing a friend in a tournament, and the Bad Beat hit at a $3/$6 Limit table (of course).

But, like it or not, the Bad Beat Jackpot is here to stay. Mostly because it does what it is designed to do. It gets people in the door and at the tables. Gamblers love the Big Prize, even it's a 1/1million chance to win part of $100,000+.

As I previously mentioned, Motor City's Bad Beat Jackpot is at $101,000, which is huge for Detroit standards.

I got to the Poker Room at 9:30, and sat down at a $1/$2 table. The "plan" was to sit there for 8 hours, and take advantage of the Bad Beat chasers who are more interested in funding their retirement accounts than in playing poker.

When I arrived at 9:30 on Wednesday morning, about half of the 14 tables were full. By 11am, all the tables were full, with 9 of them being $1/$2 NLHE. And most everyone was there was for only one reason. At my table alone, there was a guy who had been there for 30 hours. Another dude call off work for two days, went home for 5 hours of sleep, and came right back to the Room. Another player, who was a regular in the Room, was going to other tables and making deals with other regulars to swap some money if it hits: $300 for a Table Share; $600 for the Winning hand; $1200 for the Losing hand. He ended up with deals on five different tables.

For an example of the mentality of the Bad Beat Chasers, here's a hand I played at Four Winds Casino back in December (Hand #1)

My session had it's ups and downs. With so many players buying in for just $100 and waiting for the lightning strike, there were times that the action was quite dead. I was able to win numerous small pots, but I don't think I won more than $70 in any pot. However, any time I took a hit I was able to rebuild by grinding out the small pots. I also made two River mistakes (a bet and a call) that cost me about $75.

I ended up playing 8.5 hours. During that time, my stack hovered between +160 and -50, I ended up leaving the Poker Room at 6pm +$116. And, surprising as it may be, nobody hit the BBJ.

I guess I should have gone to Greektown.

Hand of the Day #1

$1/$2 NLHE - Motor City - 10.28.09

I've got AA in the Cutoff, and make it my standard $7 preflop. Four players see a Flop of Kc Th 8h. It checks around to me, and I make it my standard $15. All fold except for the Hijack, an middle aged black lady, who check-raises to $30. She's one of the $101,000 Bad Beat chasers, and has been playing tight, passive poker. I'm 90% sure that I'm behind, but I still call.

Turn [Kc Th 8h] 9d. She bets only $15. I call.

River [Kc Th 8h 9d] 3c. She checks. OK, maybe I'm not behind. I value bet $20. She calls and show TT for a flopped set.

What the hell was I thinking? I knew I was behind from the moment she said Raise. So why didn't I just check the River, and be thankful for the free showdown. All I did was light a $20 bill on fire.

Never Go Gambling At The End Of A Bad Day

Today really sucked.

I had a terrible day at work. Our little group, the CPMG, also had some drama last night and today.

With tomorrow being an Off Day, I had a free room at Motor City booked tonight. Because of working late, and other stuff, I finally hit the road for Detroit way later than I wanted. By the time I got to Motor City, checked into my room, and got to the poker room, it was 9pm. And, of course, the poker room was packed. The Bad Beat Jackpot (BBJ) was $101,000 which is huge for Detroit, so 8 out of the 14 tables were $1/$2. I had to wait about 45 minutes to get a table.

I only sat at the table for about 1.25 hrs. I'm really tired and distracted, so I'm just not into playing poker. Plus I just wasn't getting a good feel for the table. So I ended up leaving down $74.

Since I wasn't in the mood to do much thinking, I figured I sit in the Pit, and grind out a bit of profit for the night. Well, that didn't go as planned. In about 45 minutes, I dropped around $450 at three different tables (Texas Hold'em Bonus, then 3-Card Poker, then Pia Gow). I was getting pummeled so badly at the first table, that I grabbed my remaining chips and went to a different table game. Of course, I continued to get thrashed by dealers who were catching more cards than Darvin Moon. How that is possible on three different tables with three different games, I'm not sure.

So, I hope tomorrow gets better, although it can't get much worse. I was planning on going to MGM for a $100 Blackjack tournament at 12noon. But with the oversized BBJ, I may just stay at Motor City, and take advantage of the Bad Beat chasers who are more interested in hitting the jackpot than winning at poker.

Packed In Like Sardines

Saturday night, we had a record breaking 47 players at our home game in Lorain. This wasn't a special event like the previous record of 44 for the annual Chili Cook-Off and Deeper Stack Tournament. This was just a regular game that everyone decided to show up for.

Overall, everything went smooth. Crowds are up this season with the Player of the Year contest (POY), so we are better prepared for the larger crowds with more chips and an folding 5th table that we could use if needed. And an hour into the tournament, we needed the table. Everyone was cooperative, and all had a great time.

Being the TD and Ringleader of Dave's Poker Pit, I didn't get to play much poker. In the first hour+ of the tournament, I think I played one hand. Fortunately, I won it, so it helped my stack that was slowly being blinded off. I did manage to double up with QQ before the first break, so my stack was around 13k at the first break. Next level, I lost a race when my pocket pair lost to a flush draw & 2 overs on the Flop. That brought me down to 8k in the 300/600 level. After that, I went brutally card dead. I eventually ran out of chips, and got knocked out in 23rd place.

With the huge crowd, the Cash game was rockin'. We had two full tables of $1/$1 NLHE and a table of $2/$4 8-Game. That is the same as PokerStars' 8-Game with 2-7 Triple Draw, HORSE, PLO, and NLHE. The table was full with 6 or 7 players from the time it was opened up, until Host Dave kicked us out at 4:30am. Since I had to deal the Final Table, I only got to play around 1.5 hrs of 8-Game, and I was down $9.

Because I didn't play much poker, I don't have any Blog-worthy hands. So the premire "Hand of the Day" will be postponed for a few days. I do have a trip to Detroit planned this week (free room at Motor City), so hopefully I will have some hands to share.

Coming Soon... Hand of the Day

I just discovered that you can create blog posts, and schedule them to publish at a future date. Poker Grump does this on his blog. He's a Vegas grinder, and takes photos at different casino for his "Guess the Casino" segment.

I've noticed that my blog posts can be a little on the long side. And a majority of the post consists of 2-4 hands. So why not create more smaller blog entries, rather than one mega entry?

Starting on Monday morning, I'll be doing "Hand of the Day". Since I can schedule these a few days ahead of time, it will consist of hands from my recent home games, and well as recent casino trips. There will also be some classic hands of days gone by.

If this works, and you like the segment, please feel free to send in some hand that I can use. Maybe even a different version of the same hand, if you were involved in it. I'm sure there will be some days that I will need the material.

Going to Greektown

Tuesday was my Off Day from work, so I took a day trip to Greektown Casino in Detroit. I got there just before 11am, so I could play in the 11am tournament. It's a $75 buy-in (60+15). Back when Greektown was the big room in Detroit, it got 60-120 players for this tournament. The structure was terrible with 4k starting chips. But now, with just 20-30 players, the structure doesn't get stupid until we get shorthanded at the Final Table.

This one had 25 runners, and the field was as soft as ever. Someone commented that a lady at a different table was one of the good players here. I ended up sitting next to her at the Final Table. As it turns out, she just plays tight passive. The regular players view a "good player" as someone who plays Top 10 hands, and is able to fold to the money.

We ended up chopping this one 3-way. I was the obscene chip leader, and got $700 of the $1500 prize pool, and they got $400. (+$600 for me after the dealer tip) I could have kept playing and took first place, but the structure was getting stupid. It only takes one bad River card and a lost coin flip to screw me over. I have never been in a daily casino tournament that didn't chop.

Since the middle of June, I've played in four of these Greektown tournament, all in the 20-25 player range. I've chopped three times, and bubbled the other one (made a bad call, or I would have cashed). That's a profit of $1175 in those four tournaments. Yes, I've a had a few good breaks, but it's mostly because the field is terrible. There has been almost nobody that I would consider a good tournament player. Just a bunch of tight grinders who are trying to fold to the money, instead of trying to actually win. Any of the good CPMG tourney players could play these tournaments profitably. Just play pot control, avoid coin flips and courtesy double-ups, pay attention to who to steal from and who's a calling station, pick your battles carefully, and patiently chips up.

Afterwords, I went to lunch, and back to the Poker Room. Since I'm already up $600 for the day, I decide to just play a few hours of $3/$6 Limit Hold'em. As I've mentioned before, I feel that Limit Hold'em is my worst game, and I'm trying to get better at it. Greektown is the only Detroit room that regularly has Limit Hold'em.

Overall, I was happy with my play, but not the results. I sat down with $150 (25 Big Bets). The first table I sat at was playing crazy, with a few players just dumping money on the table. Two of them got into a raising war. They starting playing pots against each other (Bet Bet Bet Raise Raise Raise) while the rest of just watched the carnage. I did manage to win a few pots, but one of the Maniacs hit two different River cards on me. When the table broke after an hour, I was down $50.

I went to the remaining 3/6 table. It was playing much calmer than the first. But there was still a few players playing "7-Card Bingo". At this table, I was ridiculously card dead. I don't think I've ever seen so many baby Aces and baby face cards. It took me 1.5 hrs to win my first pot, and I think I only got to the River once during that time. Finally, after sitting there for 2 hrs, I walked away from the table with no chips.

Since I still have plenty of profit left, I ended up sitting at a 3-Card Poker table. I played for over an hour. I didn't hit an monster hands, but I did hit two straights, and the dealer was not running good. I ended up leaving the table up $160.

At 8pm, I walked back to my car and left Detroit up $610 for the day.

Hand #1 - Tournament 800/1600 200 ante (5 players remaining)
At this point, I've got a healthy chip lead on the table. It folds around to me on the Button with K8c. I decide to just limp rather than raise, because I do that sometimes. Both blinds call, and we see a Flop of Ah Ks 7h. Old grinder SB checks. Young kid BB bets 4000. I think for bit and then call. Old grinder folds.

Turn [Ah Ks 7h] 5c - Kid goes All-In for 10600. I go into the tank for around two minutes before acting. The Kid's been playing what seems like tight, solid poker so far. I think if he had any A or a big K, then he would have raised preflop. So this could just be a draw, or it could be a BBS of K7. Also, with the big chip lead, I've been avoiding conflict. I have said out loud at this table that I'm not stealing blinds, I don't want to get into a coin flip, and I want to avoid a courtesy double up. I've made some tight folds, including TT face up. It is possible that the Kid's just trying to get me to fold. If I call, I would still have around 16k left which would bring me back to the rest of the field. If I fold, I'm almost guaranteed to be involved in the chop when it happens. There is no real reason to risk the chips at this point.

Except for the "Little Man," as someone calls it. That little voice in the back of my head is yelling, "Call! Call!"

So I did. I pushed the chip forward, and turned over my K8. Kid shows K6. The River is a brick. I win a huge pot with 2nd pair, 8 kicker. The Kid is eliminated in 5th, and I am now the obscene chip leader.

Hand #2 - $3/$6 Limit Hold'em
As usual, a bunch of players limped $3 in the pot. I'm the Button with AJh, so I raised $6. SB calls. BB raises $9. He's one of the Maniacs at the table, and one of the only players showing any interest in raising preflop. Two of the players called, and so did I.

Four saw the Flop of Qh Jd 5c. BB bet $3, and everyone called. Turn [Qh Jd 5c] 2h. BB checks, and so do the rest. I bet $6. I like my pair and draw. Everyone calls.

River [Qh Jd 5c 2h] 7c. Everyone checks. I missed the flush, but I still think I've got the best hand, and these people will call with anything. Bet $6. BB raises $12. The other two fold. I shake my head, Call $6, and say, "I hope you didn't hit your 7."

He did. He show 7h 7s for a River set and scoops a big pot. Nice Hand, Sir.

Hand #3 - $3/$6 Limit Hold'em
A few limpers $3. I'm the Button with Kh Td, so I call $3. SB calls, and BB raises $6. Yes, it's the same Maniac from the previous hand. A few call, and so do I.

Five players see a Flop of Qh 9c 5h. BB bet $3. UTG (Middle aged Asian lady) raises $6. She's been playing "7-card Bingo". For some bizarre reason, her and the Maniac have started going after each other. Of course, everyone calls $6, and now it's my turn. Since this table is so loose, I'm trying to play tighter, and right now my hand ain't that good. All I've got is a nut gutshot (J), a backdoor K flush draw, and an overcard. Also, the BB still needs to call the UTG raise, and I think he might 3-bet. If I could close the action at $6, then I would call. But I still may have to call another $3 or $6 before the Turn. So I Fold. The BB does raise $9. Everyone else calls.

Turn [Qh 9c 5h] Jh - @$#&! BB bets $6. UTG raises $12. All fold. BB calls. River [Qh 9c 5h Jh] 3d - BB checks. UTG bets $6. BB calls. UTG shows QJd. BB mucks.

This situation is a good example of my lack of skill at this game. I don't know "the math" of Limit Hold'em, and how much does one chase without just dumping chip on the table.

Weekend Update

I played at the Nautica Charity Poker Festival on Friday night after work. My normal plan for Nautica is show up with $300, and I will play for about 3hrs. Because of the $15 seat fee at the top of the hour, I will "hit & run" if I'm up $200+ when the vultures come around.

This time, I lost the whole $300 in about 2hrs. The table was playing super loose, which is to be expected on a Friday night. I just didn't have many opportunities, or when I tried something, I would get called. I'm one of the few in our group that is a loser at Nautica. Poker is all about adjusting to the table, and I think I need to adjust my game more than just playing tighter.

Saturday Night was our usual home game in Lorain. We had 39 runners for the tournament, which is the 2nd largest we've had since we started back up in September. My tournament had the usual ups and downs, and I finished in 20th place,

The Cash Game went better for me. With the large crowd, we finally got the Mixed table going. It consisted of NLHE, PLO, and NL Crazy Pineapple. Unfortunately, I only got to play about 45 minutes at the Mixed table before it broke, and we all went back to the TV Poker (NLHE) tables. When the game finally broke for the night, I left Dave's basement about 5:30am up $218 in the Cash game.

Hand #1 - Tournament Level 3 75/150
Two limpers, then Bill D raises to 1200. Ryan calls in the CutOff. I'm the Button, and I look down at AA. I decide to just call. (I'll explain later.) Both blinds fold, but the UTG limper calls. Four players see a flop of T 4 2. Everyone checks to me, and I shove for 2900. UTG folds. Bill D thinks for a moment, and then folds. Ryan thinks for a while, counts his large chip stack, and reluctantly calls with 54s. Turn card is [T 4 2] 3 to give Ryan an opened-ender. But I've got two A, and I fairly sure that Bill D folded AK. River is [T 4 2 3] 6, and Ryan wins a pot of 10975 with the backdoor straight. I rebuy using my 3000 AddOn.

There were a few reasons that I just called, rather then doing the obvious All-In. First is that my image of Bill D is very tight & passive. If I shove there, I think he may fold AQ, AK, JJ, QQ or maybe even KK, because he thinks I'm a tight player. Next reason is, as the TD, I get to handle all the late buy-ins, which there were many on Saturday. So I have played very few pots, and have essentially blinded off to this point. Since the structure of this tournament is not on the deeper side, I have the opportunity to play a big pot with AA, and I'm gonna take it. And considering that I was only one card away from almost tripling up, I'm happy with my decision. It just didn't go as planned. That's poker.

Hand #2 - $1/$1 NLHE
I had not been sitting at the Cash table for long, and decided to do my first preflop raise to $3 with 56h in late position. The BB, Dave M, called along with one other player. Flop was 8h 4h 3c. That's a wonderful board for someone who raised with a suited connector, because I can represent an overpair. Dave leads out for $6, the other player folds, and I raise to $20. Dave thinks for moment, and calls.

Turn [8h 4h 3c] Qh. Dave checks, and I bet $25 with my flush. He tanks for a long time, and finally pushes 5 red chips forward, leaving just $27 behind. River [8h 4h 3c Qh] 9h. Dave insta-shoves his remaining $27 in to the pot of around $105. I make the crying call, and he turns over Ah 8c. Top/Top on the Flop, and then Rivered the nut Flush.

I think I underbet the Turn, but I doubt it would have mattered. Being a home game, we've all played a lot of hands together. I think Dave M would have called anything that I bet on the Turn, including an All-In. Also, maybe I could have not made the crying call. At what point do you have to make the call, even though you know you're crushed?

Hand #3 - $1/$1 PLO
We're playing either 5 or 6 handed at the Mixed table, and we're in the PLO round. I'm in mid position with As Ah 7c 5h and I just limp. Our PLO game is usually rather tame preflop, with lotsa limping. Everyone limps in, and the BB, Hip Hop, raises to $6. Two players call, and I decide to squeeze for $25. I know this sort of turns my cards face up, bet I feel there's enough in the pot to go for it. Only Hip calls.

Flop is 7 3 2 rainbow. Hip leads out of $50. If I call, I've only got $54 left, so this is either an All-In or fold. I think for about 2-3 minutes, and say, "All right. Let's go." All-In for $104. He calls. Turn [7 3 2] 3. "That's a really good card for you," says Hip. River is [7 3 2 3] 8, and I say, "just Aces." He has that "You're a fuckin' donkey" look on his face, and he folds. I scoop a pot of about $270.

Normally, I know better than to overplay AAxx in Omaha. Had this been a single raise, mulit-player hand, then I wouldn't have shipped it all-in. But this was a heads-up, 3-bet preflop hand. The flop of 7 3 2 was about as dry as you will see, so what exactly should I be afraid of? 22, 33 and two pair are unlikely. 77 is a possiblity, but I've got a 7 in my hand, so that makes it unlikly. A wrap draw of 654x is also possible.

Hip Hop plays alot of online PLO, so he is more experienced than I am. He know I probably have AAxx in that spot, and that Flop does nothing for me. So a lead out there with a big bet would be a good way to steal the pot.

Finally, even thought he never showed his cards, his comment on the Turn indicated that he flopped two pair, and got counterfeited. Why would he raise in the BB, and then call a 3-bet out of position with xx72?

Atlantic City

I made my first trip to Atlantic City from Wednesday, Sept 30 to Saturday, October 3. I had the weekend off work, and my Saturday home game had a bye week, so it was the perfect time for a road trip.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, instead of a casino. I have found that it's a better deal for me to do so. I get free breakfast and free Wi-Fi at the Holiday Inn Express, Plus, I belong to their club, so I have already earned two free nights, which I will use in November. If I stay at a casino, the food is more expensive, and I tend to play more in the Pit, which is never a good thing.

Since it was my first trip, I wanted to hit as many poker rooms as I could, so I ended up playing many short sessions in the 2-5 hr range. On Wednesday, after I got to town in the afternoon, I hit up Borgata and later Harrah's since they're next to each other. On Thursday, I played in the Tropicana and Caesar's. I also checked out the Hilton, Bally's and Trump Plaza, but I couldn't find any poker rooms in those casinos. On Friday, I played at Taj and Showboat, and then back to Borgata for a Friday evening session. On Saturday, I decided to check out and drive to Mountaineer. I though it was better for me to drive 6 hrs to Mountaineer, play some cards, and then two hours home, rather than play in AC on Saturday and then start the 8+ hr drive home.

Overall for the trip, I made a little at poker, lost a little at gambling, and was around break even after expenses, which were more that I realized they would be. The amount of tolls was ridiculous. It was in the $35 range one-way, with around $25 just to get through Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the PA turnpike is really the only option. Any other route would add a few hours to the drive.

Unlike Reno, Atlantic City is definitely a poker town. Most the rooms are 20+ tables, which is larger than anything in Detroit. Borgata is the largest with 85, followed by Taj Mahal with 75. I would have to say that Borgata was my favorite. Not just because it is the largest and has the most variety of games, but I also won the most there. (+500 in two sessions).

One of the pluses of AC is that all of the card rooms use player's cards to give comps. Most you just swipe in when you arrive, and swipe out when you leave. Caesar's comes around every few hours to swipe everyone at the table. Also, every $1/$2 game had a $300 max buy-in.

One of the negatives of AC was that every casino charges $5 to park, unless you've got a High Roller Players card. I was very annoyed with this first, until I realized that the rake for all poker rooms is just $4 + $1. Even with the extra $5 off the top, it's still better the usual rake of $5 + $1 around the country, or $6 + $1 in Detroit. (All rake is max 10%, of course, with the +$1 for the Bad Beat Jackpot.)

Hand #1 - Caeser's $1/$2
I'm in Mid position, and raise to $7 with JJ. I get the usual four callers. Flop is K J J. Quadzilla! It checks to me. A wise man once said, "If you want to win a big pot, then you gotta bet it." So I did, $20, which is my standard bet here. Only the Button calls, an older Asain gentleman.
I don't remember the exact Turn and River cards, but it doesn't matter for the story. I bet $30 on the Turn, and he called. I bet $40 on the River, and he shoved all in for around $60 or $70 more. I'm not sure exactly how much it was, but I really didn't care either. I called, and said "Quads". Stunned, he showed K7. I don't think his kicker even played.

Hand #2 - Borgata $1/$2 (Friday night)
A solid player in mid position raises to $15. I'm the BB with Jd Td, and about $250 in my stack. I call, and four players see a Flop of Jc Ts 5s. Yahtzee! I check, and so does another player. Raiser counts out some Reds and bets $60. We've been playing at the table for a few hours, and he's a fairly no-nonsense player who been on a good run of cards. I'm fairly sure that this bet means an overpair, and not a c-bet. The fourth player folds, and I check raise to $150. The player between us thinks for about a minute. I'm assuming that he's deciding whether to gamble on a draw or not. He eventually chooses NOT, and folds. The Raiser insta-calls me. As the Dealer grabs all the chips into the pot, I move the rest of my stack forward (around $100-ish). The Raiser pushes another stack of Reds in as the Dealer flips over the Turn card, 2h. And then, of course, the River card: [Jc Ts 5s 2h] 5d.

"NO!" I say in disgust, as I assume that my two pair just got counterfeited. I show my J T. The Raiser shakes his head, and says, "No, you got it." (wtf?) He looks at the board for another moment, mucks his hand towards the Dealer, and says, "You got it." The Dealer puts his two cards in to the Muck, and starts counting the stacks.

Since this is the biggest pot of the night, everyone at the table starts talking. A couple of them were wondering why I reacted to the River card. I just sat there dead quiet, waiting for the Dealer to gather up the Board and ship me the pot. I'm not saying a word because at this point, I'm still 97.3% sure that he's got an Overpair, and I got fucked on the River.

And then, all of a sudden, the Raiser's eyes get very wide. He points to the Muck, and says to the Dealer, "I need my cards. Can I get my Hand back?" The Dealer says, "No. The hand was mucked," and ships me the pot of $548.

I have to give a lot of credit (and thanks) to the Raiser. He handed this very professionally. He mumbled something about QQ, and simply walked away. When he came back 15 minutes later, he grabbed his remaining stack of $40-ish, and left without saying a word.

We now return to our regularly scheduled Blog, already in progress...

I've decide to give this Blogging thing another try. A few of the players in my home games are now blogging their poker adventures, and other people actually want to read what I have to say (weird, I know.) I'm not sure how long this will last, or how often I will post, but I'll give it my best shot.

Since my last post in January, it hasn't been a good year for my Poker. I had a terrible run of cards over the summer. I actually went busto in August. The cards have improved a little in the last six weeks, but the rebuilding of the bankroll is going slow. It's up a little over 1k right now, which is ok for my home games and a few casino trips. When I get it over 2k, I can start to take some shots in $2/$5 at both Motor City and Nautica.

I've practically given up on Online Poker. It's rare that I play, and when I do, it's only for an hour or two. I've been playing mostly Limit Hold'em. I think it's my weakest game, so I've been trying to get better at it. I also think that Limit Poker is better suited for online play.

On the Road Trip front, new places I've visited this year are Reno in May, Argosy (Hollywood) Casino in July, and last weekend I was in Atlantic City. Reno has a lot of casinos, but it's not much of a poker town. Limit Hold'em is big in Reno, but most of it is either 2/4 or 3/6. There is only one 'big' room, the Peppermill, and the biggest regular games it has is 20/40 Limit Hold'em, and 5/5 NLHE.

Hollywood Casino, formerly Argosy, is located outside of Cincinnati, just over the border in Indiana. They opened up a new 45 table poker room, and it is gorgous. It is one of the best rooms in this part of the country, along with the Horseshoe Hammond. The WPT is coming to Hollywood in March, and I might just sneek down there for an event or two.