Monday, September 7, 2009

What a difference a day makes

The cash game Saturday was wonderful, but I ended up a small loser. That changed on Sunday. The game was wonderful, and players tried their hardest to give me their chip$.

Where do I start? I was in late position with 10 8 and limped in. I love playing hands like this in position. The flop was 10-10-4. An early player bet $10, and it was folded to me. I raised to $35, and he re-raised to $135. He was a young ballcap guy. I eat players like this for breakfast, but because they're aggressive, they can be dangerous.

What would you do? My reads were pretty good last night and he seemed like he had the goods, so I folded. He showed Q-10. Yes, he had me beat, but why show? All he did was give me insight into his game. I decided to lock in on him.

A few hands later, he raised UTG to $15 and there were four callers to me in the BB. I called. The flop was 7 4 4. He bet $30 and I raised to $70, and he reraised to $170. I already knew from the previous hand he would make huge raises with a good but non-nut hand. He had started with $350, so I moved all in. He called and proudly turned over Q Q.

Do you think I had that beat? Of course, and I showed 7 7 for the flopped boat -- about what I said I had. Did I do anything great and wonderful? No, I sat there and stacked his donkey chips. What did that Chau Giang guy say on TV? "I love play pokah."

I won lots of pots. I don't believe I went to the river and didn't turn over a winner. There was one other big pot I won, I had A 5. It was a straddle hand (which is $5 at the Beau), so I called. A player raised to $15, and three people called and I shrugged and called, too. Raising from $5 to $15 is for donks not good poker, but I'm just a reporter.

The flop was rather nice for me: J 10 7. A player bet $20 to me. I'm not a fan of slow-playing in situations like this -- just go ahead and raise and see if they'll play a big pot with you or not. This time, I just called, however, and a guy behind me raised to $130. WTF? The first bettor folded, and I had a delicious problem. I decided to re-raise to $230, and he called. Notice I don't have the nuts -- 9 8 would be a straight flush.

The turn was a rag, and while I'm thinking it over, he says "I'll show you one," and flashes K. Now I know what he has: either K Q or K 9. In other words, the second nut flush and a redraw to a straight flush. Thanks for the information, buddy. I moved all in and he called. He had K Q and seemed surprised to see my hand.

There was some other amazing stuff at the table. A guy sat down to play and it was obvious he hadn't played much live poker. They say the economy is bad, but players were whipping out three and four $100 bills at a time. This guy counted out 10 $20 bills. What's with the twenties? On one hand, a guy (who raised a lot preflop) made it $15 and the new guy called. The preflop raiser had 9 8 and newbie had K Q. The flop was J 10 4. Both players had flush draws, yes straight and straight flush draws, and the betting was heated. I don't remember the turn, but there was more betting. The river was a rag and none of the flushes or straights got there and neither player had a pair. The first guy says "I have 9 high," and shows his hand. The second guy mucked! I couldn't make this stuff up. The guy sitting next to newbie asks couldn't you beat a 9? Now, the newbie sees what has happened. He gave a $200 pot to a guy with 9 high.

Most of the players were not this incompetent, but there was one other one. She was young, cute, and perky, but obviously inexperienced. She sat there and folded for several orbits. Finally, she raised to $15 and got one caller. I remember thinking uh oh, she probably has aces. Now, one of the players, who was not in the hand, says out loud, "What color are they? I mean, I know you have aces, but are they red or black?" This is bad form, of course, but the dealer or no one else said anything. The flop was 7-7-x. The young lady bet $25 and the other guy folded. Now she showed her hand: A 7! LOL, but that's poker with tourists.

Seen on a tee shirt
"Yeah, I'm a donk, so what?"

I took a break at one point and took the escalator to the tournament which was on the convention level. There I saw a friend. We exchanged how's it goings, and he told me the day before he played in the tournament and came in 61st. Of course, they only paid 58. "I played 14 hours for nothing," he whined, although there was a word between 14 and hours and it started with an F. That's the trouble with tournaments: The payoff is hit or miss. Also, you miss out on the cash games.

Why were the cash games so wonderful? I believe that when it's a holiday weekend, there are more bad players, and even the semi-competent ones are there to gamble. This is especially true at a tourist destination such as Biloxi -- it's just that simple.


Above is the lobby at the Beau Rivage. It was lovely.


If you look straight ahead (above), you can see one of eateries in the food court. There are some shops to the left, and out of sight.

Images by MOJO and taken with my point-and-shoot.

9 comments:

  1. Well, all right! Your excitement is showing, as it should. A fun night/

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  2. Excellent! I guess we know where you'll be this time next year :-D

    /j.

    Word verification word was "Cereatan" - if that was a breakfast the slogan would be "Just add sunshine", I guess...

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  3. Great read on the Q,10. Tough to fold trips but you read him right

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  4. As I've told you before, I don't understand very much about poker, but it is great fun reading your commentary!

    I think you could write some neat short stories - jazzed up, of course, with details of the lives of some of the players...

    You've got an eye for what's happening and an ear for dialog...

    Nice photos, too!

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  5. your poker stories are funny! I agree with jacob, you could write short stories out of your poker experiences. people would love them. Wait, maybe you are doing so one your site :) I am glad you enjoyed the mare and colt on my site today. As you can see, I started a series on my website from my photography tour. It was quite an interesting trip to the slot canyon and Vermillion Cliffs. Also, if you like travel photos, we have posted action photos from Buenos Aires, Argentina on our travel photo site, www.vivalavoyage.com. Happy Monday!

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  6. Thanks to all who commented. Yes, I had a good time, and the poker was just a bonus. I have a few more anecdotes or vignettes or whatever they're called, and I'll write them up tomorrow or Wednesday.

    I've said it before, but if you love good photos, try Jacob's Ocala Daily Photo.

    Julie's blog is Scottsdale DP, and it's high quality, too. It's interesting that on Monday, they both did a shot with mare and a colt! check them out and see which one you like best.

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  7. I meant better (not best). Sorry for the sloppy English.

    New brain, just got it today.

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  8. Labor Day weekend in Biloxi sounds like when the pool players come to the Riviera - crazy, crazy, crazy.

    Trips is the most treacherous hand - hard to lay it down, but the kicker can be costly - good play.

    Glad you made some money.

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