Big casinos, part 2

Above: Mohegan Sun is the second largest casino in the U.S. according to Wikipedia.

I decided to play at Mohegan Sun today at the 2 p.m. tournament (see here).. The buy-in was $200 and 145 runners signed up.

Things went wrong from the beginning. I had A-Q twice, raised, got two or three callers, then had to fold when I whiffed the flop and somebody else bet. The worst was when I picked up A-A and raised dicw times the big blind. Two called. The flop was J-10-9. I bet two-thirds of the pot, got a caller and the next guy raised three times my bet. He was an older guy, so no way he was making a move. What would you do? I folded.

I made it through five hours and dribbled from the original stack of 20K to 9K. The blinds were 1200/600/100. There were four callers to me in the big blind and I held ♥Q ♠9. I checked and the flop was:
♥10 ♥8 ♥7.

I moved all in. I have a straight and flush draw, but more importantly, I need to win the pot. A guy with J-J (but no hearts) called. The turn was the ♣8 and the river was a heart: ♥J. At first I thought, hey a flush, then I realized that it gave the villain a boat because the stupid turn paired the board.

I enjoyed playing there. The interior had Native American themes. The various casinos were called Casino of the Earth, Casino of the Wind, etc. The poker room had 43 tables and each had places for 10 players. The place was well-run and staff were competent and friendly.

Which did I like better, Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun? I can't say as they were both just super.


Above: The Mohegan Sun Casino opened in 1996.


Above: The place is big, so it's a good thing they provide lots of directions.

Photos taken with my P&S.

Does size matter?

Above: The tournament poker area at Foxwoods Rainmaker Casino about 30 minutes before yesterday's tournament started.

They say that the Foxwoods Casino is the largest one in the U.S. in terms of gaming floor space. I'm in Connecticut on a holiday visit and decided to check it out. Let's see what an old man from Memphis can do.

Very Josie conveniently posted a schedule of the tournaments at Foxwoods and a Wednesday tournament caught my eye: a 6 p.m. $230 Super Bounty Deep Stack ($20K starting chips). (See here for the schedule.) $100 went to the prize pool, $100 was your bounty (collected by whoever knocked you out), and $30 went to the house.

There were 186 runners who signed up and 20 got paid. The blind structure was good. Example: When we got to blinds of 100/200, they next level was a repeat of that with 25 ante.

I doubled up early when a someone overplayed A-K on a flop of A-8-2. I had 8-8 in the hole and doubled up. After that, I was able to pick and choose my spots and play my typical nitty old man game. (Note to self: blogspot spell-check doesn't like the word "nitty" -- what's up with that?)

When we got to the final table, some players wanted to chop. The three short stacks would get $1000 and the rest would get around $1500. There was a huge stack and he (rightfully) didn't go along with that plan.

When we got down to four, the aforementioned big stack had 1,200,000 and the rest of us had in the 450K to 550K range. The blinds were 60,000/30,000/10,000 and I raised to 150K from the button. The big stack called from the big blind and looked reasonably comfortable. The flop was A-7-2 (good hand for the hammer) and he checked and I checked. The turn was a second ace and the big stack bet 200K. I pretended to think and finally called. The river was some low card and the big stack moved all in. I called and showed him ♥A ♦9 to double up and take the chip lead.

My trap had worked. He couldn't conceive that I had an ace and didn't bet the flop. Against an aggressive player, why bet? Let him bet it for me was the plan,and it worked. Never underestimate tricky old men from Memphis.

Now, the former big stack wanted to chop! He proposed for he and I to take an extra $500 and then divide up the rest equally among us. That, along with my four bounties, was a nice payday, so I decided to agree.

Did I mention the tournament was well-run? It was. The TDs were on the alert and stayed busy. I love rulings. Here's one where they called the floor. See what you would do.

The guy on my left was the small blind. On this particular hand, the big blind and the guy to his left were knocked out. The button moved (to the guy on my left) and now they brought in two new players from another table to replace the two who were eliminated. Would you make them take the small and big blind? Would you make them sit out until the button passed? How would you rule? Leave your answer in the comments section, and, after people get a chance to respond, I'll tell what happened. Here's a clue: What they ruled is probably not what you'd expect.

The tournament ended around 2 a.m. (after eight hours of play). We had to get our vouchers, and take them to the cage to get paid. Then I had to find my car. This place is huge. I didn't know which of the five casinos that comprise Foxwoods held the poker room It was in the Rainmaker Casino and my car was in the Grand Pequot parking area. After asking, I was able to find it and got home around 4 a.m., tired but happy.


Above: The blinds and antes were sky-high when we stopped play. There were four players, not five -- the clock had not been updated.

I had the dealer take a photo of me with my one million chips (mostly 10K denomination), but it was fuzzy, darn it. Shots taken with my P&S.

Back in the saddle

Above: Nice return on a $13 investment (click to enlarge). Notice Bodog is now called Bovada and there's no more MemphisMOJO -- everybody has a number.

I haven't been able to play poker lately. I went to Seattle for 10 days, then had minor back surgery when I returned (nothing too serious). After the surgery, I had doctors orders: I could stand or lie down, but no sitting! Yikes, that makes it tough to play online poker.

Yesterday, cleared by my doctor, I played in this same tournament. Eighteen players got paid and I was 19th. I decided I could do better than that today, and so I did.


Above: The cooler shown above knocked me from chip lead to short stack when we were three-handed -- ouch.


Above: I returned the favor on the final deal, although by then I had a three-to-one chip lead.

What's this losing trick count?

Above: A total of 11,429 tables of bridge were in play at the Fall NABC in Seattle. A table is four persons who play one session of bridge.

Your partner opens 1♥ and you hold:
♠7 5 4 ♥Q 9 7 ♦K 9 2 ♣A J 7 5.

Would you make a limit raise to 3♥? Would you only bid 2♥ with 10 high-card points? Would you do something else?

If you think this hand is worth a limit raise, you need to think again. Yes, you have 10 HCP, but you should subtract 1 point for your flat distribution. Better yet, you should learn about losing trick count. This hand has 9 losers and you should have only 8 losers to invite. If LTC makes your eyes spin, check out the web site Jenn Bridge. Jennifer Jones has written a booklet that explains what it's all about. She also has written some articles for the Bridge Bulletin, the first of which is in the December issue.

I played this deal in the first qualifying session of the Senior Mixed Pairs -- board No. 25. Here are all four hands:



Kate and I received a bonus when the opponents balanced. I was able to double the final contract and +300 was worth 23.5 on a 25 top.

For information about ordering Jennifer's booklet, go here.

Photo taken with my Canon 40D.

Seattle slams

Above: The spillway at the Chittenden Locks is a popular Seattle tourist destination. It has a fish ladder that allows salmon to circumnavigate the dam.

Kate and I bid several slams at the North American Bridge Championship that just concluded in Seattle. We play a big club system (our version of Precision Club), and it's awesome for bidding slams.

Look at the deal below (rotated) from the first Sunday Fast Open Pairs, board No. 8 in the first session:



Kate's 2♣ bid was a transfer positive showing 5+ diamonds and game-forcing values. At IMPs, I would have bid 2♦ to set trumps and ask about controls. Because it was matchpoints, however, I had to introduce my good five-card heart suit. Over my 3♦ bid, Kate bid out her pattern because on some layouts, I would have to give a false preference. My hand is only 16 high-card points, but turned into a monster as the auction unfolded.

My left-hand opponent, Dick Budd, led a spade, but it didn't matter. The 6♦ contract is cold with any lead.

I wonder how the auction would go playing standard 2/1 methods? We scored 32- on a 35 top for getting to slam.


Above: No beauty and the beast jokes, please. Photo taken by Jonathan Steinberg.

Top photo taken with my Canon EOS 40D.

Airlines are crazy

Above: The Seattle skyline is normally overcast -- lots of drizzle and not too much sun. (Click images to enlarge.)

I was in Illinois for Thanksgiving so could leave to travel to Seattle from St. Louis or Memphis. When I checked the fare, it was $100 cheaper to fly out of Lambert Airport in St. Louis, so I did. When I checked my itinerary, I saw that my return flew from Seattle to Memphis and then a plane change to continue to St. Louis.

Let me get this straight: It's cheaper to fly to Memphis and then St. Louis than it is to fly to Memphis. What's wrong with this picture?

On the return, my flight was to leave at 9:14 a.m. and arrive in St. Louis at 6:09 p.m. They asked for a bump and I volunteered. For this, they gave me a meal and a voucher for $400. Then they put me on a 10 a.m. flight to Salt Lake City (instead of Memphis) connecting to St. Louis. I arrived at 5:30 p.m., forty minutes ahead of when I would have landed.

Let me get this straight: You change my flight to get me in 40 minutes sooner and pay me $400 and feed me? What's wrong with this picture?


Above: Because Dale Chihuly calls the Seattle area home, glass blowing is huge there.


Above: United Parcel Service began in Seattle in 1907 as two nineteen-year-old boys who made deliveries on bicycles and evolved into what it is today. The Waterfall Garden Park is built on the UPS birthplace.


Above: The Pike Place Market as seen from Matt's in the Market restaurant.

Photos taken with my Canon 40D.