Two in a row?

I played and won a tournament last night at Harrah's Casino. Tonight I went to the Goldstrike. Could I do it again?


The Goldstrike has a new big high-def-looking sign in front. It looks like the one I saw in Las Vegas that is between the Wynn and the Palazzo. I took a photo of that one when I was in Vegas, and you can see it here.


Another shot of the new fancy sign.

The poker wasn't very exciting. We started with 6000 in chips. I couldn't get anything going. In level 5, the blinds were 200/400/25. I had around 5000 left, so my M was about 6. In late position, I held: ♠Q ♠J. The guy to my right came in for 800 (twice the BB). I called (would you?) and the big blind also called. The flop was pretty good for me: ♠4 ♣5 ♠5. It was checked to the raiser and he bet 1200. I moved all in, expecting to win the pot right there. Instead the BB also moved all in (uh oh) and the raiser folded. The BB had ♦A ♥5. My flush didn't get there and I was out.

Scenes from the poker room tonight:
#1. Here's the writing I saw on a tee shirt at the poker game:

    save the drama
    for your mama

How true this is. I guess these people see all the theatrics when they watch poker on TV. If you bluff and get caught, just fold. You don't need to put on a show; it's not necessary, and doesn't fool anyone. The Poker Grump wrote about playing slowly in tournaments, and you can read what he said on his high-quality blog by clicking here.

#2. During an early round of the tournament, a player had bluffed and shown it. About 20 minutes later, the flop came and he made a big bet. His opponent was considering whether to call or not and the guy blurted out, "I'm probably bluffing you again."

"Um, no you're not," I thought to myself. The other guy folded and the bettor showed the set he had flopped.

#3. Still in the tournament, but about an hour later, a different guy was down to around 1700 in chips and moved all in pre-flop. Another guy was considering calling him. The all-in guy now said, "You don't have to call, just let me win this one." His attitude was extremely relaxed, and I thought to myself, "He wants a call." The other guy did call him, and the all-in guy turned over ♣A ♠A.

So many of these people would do a lot better if they just kept their mouths shut. I'm just sayin'.


Here's a shot of the jumbotron (or whatever they are calling it) that I took when I left around 8:30.

I'm not sure how good my photography is, but it must be better than my poker was tonight!