Politics in Geezer-ville

I ran for mayor of Geezerville and came in 12th. Say what?

Saturday night was the Seniors event of the Magnolia State Poker Tournament. The minimum age was 50. There were lots of geezers, so that's why I call it Geezerville. In the end, the geezers got the best of me as I finished 12th.

When I sat down to play, I saw a friend who is a lawyer from east Tennessee. He comes to Tunica fairly regularly, so I know him on a casual basis.

"Hi Dick," I said. I couldn't resist adding this: "They carded me when I bought my entry. Did they card you?"

Tee hee. This was a bunch of BS, of course, as they don't check any IDs. You have to use your player's card to sign up so they already know that information.

I had good cards for a change, but lost all my races. Whether I had A-K vs 10-10, or the opposite, I couldn't win. Each time I had more chips than the villain, so it didn't knock me out, but the cumulative effect was devastating. Besides losing chips, I was failing to win chips..

When we were down to 14 players, the average stack size was 24,000, and I had around 22K. One short stack moved all in. Another short stack did the same, and I peeked at my hole cards to see: ♠A ♣K. I decided to run with them. I'd be left with only around 14K (not good, but barely playable) if I lost, but it was a good chance to chip up. I would win 8K from one, 7.5K from the other and 2.5K from the blinds and antes. This would move my stack close to 40K, leaving me positioned to make a run to win (first place paid ~$7100). Short stacks might go all in on anything (often A-J or any ace, for that matter). If it were a race, maybe my racing luck would change.

The other hands were Q-Q and 10-10, better than I expected, so I had to hit my ace or king. I flopped a king, yes! But I looked and there was also a 10. Because the flop also had a jack, I could win if a queen (straight) came on the next two streets, but that was a two-outer and I don't hit two-outers. (Notice that another king would give the villain a boat.)

A few orbits later, the blinds were 600/1200/100a and a guy made a raise to 3600. I had a pocket pair in the big blind. It folded to me, and I decided to "stop and go." I called and the flop was Q-x-x, excellent! I moved in and he called with A-Q. I ran into one of the few hands I wasn't going to be able to drive out. That left me out in 12th place -- nice showing but disappointing.

I did have this cute "yoyo" hand earlier. I was UTG and raised to three times the big blind. It folded to the BB who moved all in. My hand was ♣Q ♠Q. The average stack was around 12,000 at that stage. My stack was about 9000 and the villain had slightly more. What would you do?

I think you have to call. Even though you raised and said you had a good hand, he doesn't have to have A-A or K-K. With those, he would likely make a big raise to see if I'd play. On the other hand, these players don't necessarily think like you and I do. Anyway, I called.

He turned over ♠J ♥J -- S-W-E-E-T. The flop was another queen, but not so fast: ♥Q ♥6 ♥4 -- the villain had a flush draw. Indeed, fourth street was the ♥8 giving him the flush. Now, I needed to pair the board to make my full house, so I had outs.

The river was the prettiest lady I've seen in a while: the ♦Q. Quads, baby. I mean, puh-leeze. Get that crummy flush outta here.

I had a good time, but it's always disappointing to run deep and then miss the money.

Lightning36 asked me about playing in a senior's event (he is thinking of playing in the one at the WSOP this summer). Lightning and I don't like to think we're old. We like to think we bring a "mature presence" to the table. Just sayin'.

Here are some observations:

1. Conservative play: The players are more passive. Example: A guy limped UTG and I was next to act with ♦10 ♥10. I've had bad luck playing 10-10 out of position, so I limped as well. Let's play for set value or (at least) see what happens. Maybe I'm one of those passive geezers I'm talking about -- just sayin'. One other guy called and we say a flop of: ♥Q ♦7 ♠2. The UTG guy checked, I checked and the last guy checked. The turn was ♠6, UTG checked so I fired a two-thirds-the-pot bet. The late position guy folded, but UTG called. I put him on a pair lower than a queen, or an A-K type hand. The river was a brick and after he checked, so did I. Something about the way he acted told me to do so. Sure enough, he turned over ♠K ♣Q for top pair, second kicker. See how passively he played it?

2. Continuation betting: Many of them don't understand the concept of a CB. They won't make one, and if you do, they fold. I'm not talking about all the players, some know how to play. But you can identify pretty quickly which ones are which.

3. Other conservative play: Let's say you're on the button with K-Q. Two players limp in, and you do, too. Remember, they'll limp with big slick and all kinds of hands including A-A! I'm not making this stuff up. The flop is X-X-X and it is checked around and you check, too. The turn is a 10, and it is checked to you again. I would bet around two-thirds of the pot now. This is an orphan pot waiting for someone to claim in. This isn't the type play you see very often, however, in a senior event.

4. Blinds stealing: They have no clue. I had a bunch of walks. Also, several times I limped in SB with drek, then bet on the flop to steal. I raised from the button liberally and again chipped up. These simple things work against many of the seniors.

Out west they may be different, but this is what I saw.