Springfield Poker

Will it Play in Peoria?

2009-06-13T09:54:00.004-05:00

"Will it Play in Peoria" is an old line used by the Nixon administration. Its been used by product marketing promotions too and I think originally comes from vaudeville.

But I'm not talking about any of that. Finally made the 70 mile drive to play the new poker room at the Peoria casino. Its pretty disappointing.

Five tables up on the fourth deck. Only game spread is NL. Two tables (then three) of 1-2 and a single 2-5 game that was shorthanded and almost broke a few times. This is during "Prime Time" friday evening.

Equipment was almost adequate. Tables were ok - good size, but blocked leg room on the ends. Chairs were cheap and uncomfortable. Chips were dirty. Tables had autoshufflers. Rake was 10% to a $4 max. There was no stupid BBJ additional drop.

Dealers were average to average minus. They have been dealing poker for a couple months now, but still are doing some things wrong. Floor staff was terrible. They are rotated out of the pit, so poker knowledge can be shockingly bad.

You can get a players card and swipe into the poker room --- but it does not do you any good. There are no comps for poker play.

Players were mostly bad and typical.

Peoria now joins the contender list for the "Worst Illinois Poker Room". It may not beat out Joliet or Aurora for this title, but it joins Metropolis, and Rock Island on the bad list. Elgin is still unrated. NOTE: there are no "good" Illinois poker rooms.

Rock Island Poker

2009-05-27T10:29:00.002-05:00

My first legal poker in Rock Island!

The old Casino Rock Island is no longer downtown. Its rebranded as a Jumers and relocated to the extreme southwest of town. And -- now it has a poker room.

Its a beautiful facility. 6 tables with all new tables, excellent chairs and all new supplies. Games play 10 handed, $4 max rake and no stupid BBJ drop.

Looks and sounds good, then I get the bad news. The brush says; "We have BOTH kind of poker here. 1-2 AND 2-5 !

Thats it -- its just NL. And not very many tables of that either. Friday night and they only get 2 tables of 1-2 and one table of 2-5.

I guess the Limit and other games and players stayed in Bettendorf.

Tournament Director Certification

2009-04-29T10:26:00.005-05:00

The national poker Tournament Directors Association (TDA) has an online test to take for certification as a Poker Tournament Director.

I just passed it -- maybe I should raise my rates -- haha

Omaha Fish

2009-03-21T10:24:00.002-05:00

Playing in a very loose Omaha/8 game and pick up AAKQ in middle position.

A couple of callers to me and I raise to try to thin the field. Want to scoop this pot and don't want any "accidental" lows. One late postion cold caller and the early limpers call.

Four of us see a flop of J 9 4. this is better than most flops for this hand. I bet and get one caller -- the guy in late position.

Turn is a T. I bet (maintaining the lie) and he calls again.

River is an A. Hey, I spiked trips. Theres a lot of worse hands that he'll call with so I bet again. This time he raises -- yow. Hope he doesn't have K Q for a straight, but I call and roll my cards over.

Whoops ! I have the K Q for a straight. Its the hand I was afraid of. I just called a raise with the nuts. "Nice hand sir, well played."

Always look around the table very carefully. If you can't spot who the sucker is in the game -- then its you.

St Louis Poker Rooms

2009-02-20T10:16:00.004-06:00

Starting a new job with the US Census - so poker may be on hiatus for a few months. Lucky the Census office is in Edwardsville and so its a quick drive to the three St Louis poker rooms.

Not much change in these three;

Ameristar has a new facility and its beautiful. Hope they can attract some more of the players and have different games.

Lumiere seems to have its opening jitters solved -- after a year. A very pretty casino and so convenient downtown. Games are still just 3-6 and 1-3 NL.

Harrahs seems to have lost traffic to the other two. They are even giving away promotions now like a $100 "Aces Cracked" at certain times. Tables still are only 3-6 and 1-2 NL. Thats all they ever wanted.

The Great Southern Road Trip

2009-01-31T11:03:00.003-06:00

John W and I headed South for 8 days of poker in mid January. Our plan was to play Tunica and Biloxi with enough free time to maybe go try some other spots as well.

A late start meant we didn't get into Tunica until about 8pm. Threw our stuff in the room and headed for the Gold Strike poker room. We were both very hungry but had not played a hand yet. A pleasant surprise to start the trip -- friendly floorman (Will) comps us both a meal based on me saying we are going to play lots of hours. I had played lots of hours on Will's shift in previous trips, but its still nice to get a comp for just showing up.

The next day we go to the new Harrahs (fka Grand) poker room to meet up with Greg L. John had not played it yet and we wanted to eat at the new Paula Deen buffet. A big surprise for us when Vikki T shows up in the room. She then goes on to cash in a tourney. Only one Limit game going and they call the next player -- "Greg L, your seat is available". I don't see him, so I take the seat. Two others in the game are Horseshoe regulars I have played with many times. Its "ole home week" in Tunica. We play 3 hours and get the buffet comped and go pig out.

Next day we drive to Biloxi - a long boring 6 hours. Theres a big tourney there and its packed at the Beau Rivage. Amanda is dealing the tourney -- and later deals the final Table of their main event for TV.

John and I play at the Beau Rivage, Imperial Palace, Boomtown, Isle of Capri, and Hard Rock. The Beau is the4 premier property -- all the others are second (maybe third) tier.

Couple days later we scoot over to New Orleans where much Katrina damage is still visible. The Harrahs in downtown N.O. is bigger and nicer than I had thought. And its then a quick walk thru the French Quarter.

Drive up to Vicksburg. Stay at Ameristar and play some more poker. then the next day its back to Tunica for another 2 nights. We find a highlight at the Gold Strike this time. They have started having a 4-8 Limit Holdem game. Their promotion is to have a drawing at each table every 2 hours. Winner gets $80. WELL NOW !!! We have found a home. We play it 12 hours each for two days. John wins the drawing 4 times and I get it 3 times.

2008 - Poker Year in Review

2008-12-18T20:55:00.007-06:00

Just my random & unscientific thoughts, observations, and comments - in no special order.

ST LOUIS - Missouri eliminated the $500 "loss limit" a few weeks ago and most think this will help their casinos and perhaps the poker rooms. Illinois smoking ban has also helped the St Louis casinos. I have not seen much evidence of a poker slowdown in St Louis. Dennis Phillips won a satellite WSOP entry at Harrahs and became a big star -- and millionaire.

Lumiere opened (badly) and did not improve much the next couple times I made the trip there. Have not been for months and should give it another try. Internet reports they are spreading 4-8 there now.

President closed their poker room. Finally! - its time to celebrate something "good for poker".

Ameristar opened a brand new poker room and its great. A beautiful excellent facility and even includes a private 3 table salon for higher limit games. They are getting much higher numbers of players now and are spreading several and different games. Good for them! They always were the most "player friendly" location.

Harrahs is now kind of tired looking and not packed at all - many vacant tables. They have been the big loser with Lumiere opening and Ameristar improving.

CHICAGO AREA - No smoking in Illinois casinos so many Joliet gamblers just go over the state line to the Indiana casinos. NO real impact on poker rooms since they are all non-smoking, except maybe they get a few more players.

Joliet -- yucky poker anyway.

Aurora -- blah blah blah.

Elgin -- is supposed to be opening a (typical) Illinois casino poker room. It will be only a very few tables with a high rake and limited games. They may even close it on weekends like Joliet and Aurora have done. Staff will be poor and the players will be rude suburbanites.

Hammond IN -- an excellent new poker room and very snazzy casino. The only poker room in the area worth visiting. Has made the below two close-by Indiana poker rooms a shell of their former activity.

East Chicago IN -- very sad since this used to be the "big" room. Now it has a stud game.

Gary IN -- still has some 1-2 and 3-6 games but its such a nasty place.

LAS VEGAS- I keep reading how the economy and the loss of the poker boom is hurting the casinos and poker rooms. I sure did not see it last June - but it was WSOP time. Now the internet is filled with stories about how much play is down.

Venetian -- is booming in the poker room. They have snagged much of the NL play because of their "deep stack" tourney series. The company itself is in trouble, though.

Hard Rock -- actually OPENED a poker room. Its supposedly way too nice and way too large to support itself. Hope it lasts till next June.

Excaliber -- converted to ALL electronic tables and has a 12 table room.

Several rooms have closed including Paris and Tropicana. Others were expected to close but have somehow hung on. Some other poker rooms have cut back hours.

TUNICA - This area was feeling the effects of the economy a year ago and its just gotten worse. Their status as a "regional draw" is losing steam with casinos in Biloxi, Florida, Kansas/Oklahoma and etc.

Grand - now Harrahs -- The rebranding is complete. New poker room is downstairs and its much nicer.

Horseshoe and Gold Strike have done some layoffs in response to reduced poker play.

PERSONAL RECAP - I played in 24 different casino poker rooms this year - 11 of them for the first time. Highlights and trip reports are scattered throughout this years blog posts. Seem to be falling into a rut with annual or repetitive poker trips to St Louis, Chicago suburbs, Tunica and Las Vegas. Maybe its time for something different. How about a road trip to Rock Island?

Election Day & Other Comments

2008-11-04T20:42:00.004-06:00

Its election day and I hope you voted for the right guy. Barry Goldwater again was not on the ballot - so I had to look for someone else. Excellent poker players like Eisenhower, Nixon or Obama don't run for POTUS very often.

Eight (count em; 8!) weeks of work are coming to an end next week. A wonderful experience teaching High School Government. What a year for it, too. Being retired for 6 years, its quite a shock to my system. This whole bit of getting up early every day, showering, shaving, putting on clean shirt, grabbing papers and driving to work --- well, it reminds me of the previous 30 years. Now I get my "poker life" back again.

An old post about Tunica

2008-10-10T16:54:00.003-05:00

Heres an old post I made 4 1/2 years ago on 2 + 2. Its got some (true) funny stories in it and theres a serious comment as a postscript.

Just Another Day in Tunica 3/8/04

Start off with a one table satellite at the Horseshoe. Winner gets an entry to a larger tourney. One very aggressive player is running over the table and knocking people out rapidly. He is raising with most anything. He has a huge chip lead and I am in 3rd place with 5 players left. He open raises and I have QQ on the button. I triple his raise and he puts me all in. He tables KJs which is a little better hand than I expected. HEY ! Wait a minute! This is the same matchup that McAvoy won the 83 WSOP with. I was just reading about this. I'm a big favorite here. I tell everyone this to impress them with my poker knowledge, while the dealer runs out the cards - ending with a K. (sigh) I walk away vowing to read no more McAvoy books.

Time to get in some cash games. Shoe spreads a low limit red chip Triple Draw Lowball game and its great fun. Only problem happens when a new dealer comes into table. After the first betting round, she burns a card and puts out the flop. A moment of shocked silence, then all break out laughing.

Get called for a 10 - 20 holdem game and its a surprisingly terrible game. 5 crusty locals and 4 other tight-azz tourists. I am the only action in this game -- thats a real bad game.

I get up to walk around and socialize. Recognize my favorite local player at the Omaha/8 table. Shes a beautiful dark eyed Irish lass - extremely talented poker player and a great sense of humor. Instead of saying "hi" she says; "Seat open for YOU!" and points at the open chair. (This lady is probably the best Omaha/8 player in town. She has beat me in Omaha/8 on prior trips and knows I have no game) I look at the other players and jokingly ask her if I would be the worst player in the game. She says; "YES, you would be the worst player in at the table - sit right there". She did not have to look around at the other players before saying this. I go back to my boring holdem game.

Late night now - time to go check out the Gold Strike poker room next door. About 10 tables running and I ask to be on the list for all their holdem games. Brush says; "3-6 or No Limit?" I ask if there is something in between and the answer is no.

Sitting in the 3-6 game and the gal next to me has had WAY too much to drink. She had been to the Eddie Money concert in the theater earlier that evening. She claimed to be a big fan and had gotten his autograph. She says; "Look at this! Eddie Money autographed my boob."

Things I learned today in Tunica:
-- Don't show off poker knowledge and lose a poker tourney.
-- Don't try to bluff the flop in Triple Draw.
-- Everyone in Mississippi knows I'm an Omaha fish.
-- "You want 3-6 or No Limit?" Whats the right answer?
-- Eddie Money has bad handwriting.

I love this town.

Postscript
I had been playing regularly in casino poker for about 7 years by early 2004. I did not realize that a huge 3 year poker boom had just begun, and many changes would ensue.

Triple Draw Lowball, especially the 2-7 variety was very scarce then. I had never seen (or played) it before. Now its a findable game in many poker rooms especially during tournaments and in mixed game formats. Its also online.

10 -20 holdem was a staple in many poker rooms back then. Now its hard to find. Most poker rooms would have almost all tables of Limit Holdem at different levels and maybe a stud table and maybe an Omaha/8 game. The monstrous influx of NL kids was just starting.

I was shocked that a poker room would ONLY offer 3-6 and a baby NL game. It was the first time I had seen that. Now its commonplace. There are lots of (terrible) cardroom that only offer these two games.

Tunica Poker -- Alive and Well

2008-09-03T13:32:00.007-05:00

Took a 4 day labor day weekend in Tunica. I had done this before and Tunica poker on a major holiday weekend is usually great.

Crowds were down a little from 2 and 3 years ago. Maybe its the economy. Maybe the poker boom huge growth of the past 5 years is over. Maybe its just supply and demand -- a slightly lower demand (# of players) and a continued high supply of poker rooms and tables. Actually, I think the number of players is down for a couple other reasons too; first off the NL games have burned out a lot of players and secondly the over supply of tournaments has players in those instead of in the cash games.

Tunica poker rooms still had plenty of games and players:

HARRAHS - This property was fka The Grand. Its now re-branded as Harrahs Tunica. Actually, this is the third building I've been in named the Harrahs Tunica. The first was a little casino that ended up as part of the Isle of Capri and is over by Sams Town. The second is now the Resorts Casino.

The Grand was very plush and upscale when opened, but they sure let it run down in recent years. Harrahs has redecorated it --and -- it looks like a Harrahs. Buffet upstairs is now a Paula Deen. Try it once.

The new poker room is downstairs and it looks great. 14 tables with a nice rail open on two sides to the casino. A little too noisy with some slot noise though. All tables are the small/medium holdem size and they play 9 handed. No autoshufflers that I saw. On a weekday afternoon, they had two 4-8 games and a 1-2 NL game and 2 tables remaining of a tourney going. I got off to a good start here. Came in behind the button and won the first hand I played on the first orbit. I was then money ahead the whole rest of the trip.

GOLD STRIKE - Very few changes to this place since January. GS had many management changes and there is a new poker room manager too. Upgrades to the poker room are on the way. Still 16 tables. Games are mostly 3-6 and 1-2 NL. Leo still deals on day shift - be sure to get at his table. GS bad beat jackpot is $220,000 + and so they are putting less money into that. Instead, they are running a nice promotion where every 2 hours someone at each table wins $60. Another promotion was where they put 2 Friday night concert tickets in for whoever won the next pot. I won and we went to see Davy Jones. Do you remember him?? "Here we come---" "Hey, Hey, we're the ---"
Hotel rooms are being renovated and the new decor is beautiful.

HORSESHOE - Still my favorite. 16 tables and all the holdem tables are the big ones and play 10 handed for Limit games. Games were always going and included 4-8, 15-30 (or 20-40 on wekends), 1-3NL, 2-5NL, and 1-5 seven card stud. Day shift dealers are just an awesome collection. I spent most of my hours playing the midnight shift, and several of them are great too. One of them (Gena) is about the fastest dealer I have encountered. I clocked her at 21, 22 and 24 hands per half hour down. Thats a lot of hands per hour. A typical dealer may get out 17 hands per down (thats 35 hands per hour) and many don't get that many out.

SOME GENERAL COMMENTS -

I was dealt AA four different times on this trip. Two were winners. Twice I flopped a set -- and LOST. The other two times were very unusual. I folded on the flop twice. Both times a coordinated board, multiple players and some raising starts. So they get pitched, throw them away-hey. I was in third place both times.

Sat down in a new game about 2am and I really didn't feel good. But watching the table I remembered an old Mason Malmuth essay about be sure to play poker with people who are sure to lose all their money. And, here I was. 4 of the players at this table were so bad they were sure to lose all their chips and as much extra that they could put into the game. One guy went thru 5 racks, and the others did multiple reloads too.

Saw my first poker room fight if a few years. Two big guys in a NL game (of course) stand up yelling at each other, then a point, then a shove, then punches, then a grab and tussle on the floor. Security took them out about a minute later.

Most poker rooms were running special giveaways and promotions to lure players to the cash games. Also the same poker rooms were running tourneys once or twice a day.

The 5 table Electronic poker room at Resorts is gone. An experiment that failed.
Evacuatees started showing up on Sunday from the Hurricane on the Gulf Coast. Many homeowners and residents just have to go north and hang out for a few days. Also, the poker tourney in Biloxi was cancelled so lots of players, dealers and staff came north to Tunica also.

The next two months is full of tourneys in Tunica. Harrahs is having one the first two weeks of Sept, then the Horseshoe for the last two weeks. Gold Strike is having their tourney the middle two weeks of Oct.

Compared to St Louis or Chicago, Tunica poker is such a such a great deal. $4 max rake +$1 for bbj/promotional drop. Free drinks, comped food and bargain hotel rooms. Why would you go anywhere else? In fact, now that the remnants of Hurricane Gustav are showing up in our town, I may have to be evacuated back to Tunica.

New Horseshoe in Hammond Indiana

2008-08-16T15:25:00.006-05:00

Wow! This place exceeded my expectations -- which were really high because of what I had read on the internet. Its beautiful and large. Very nice casino restaurants, etc. They had their grand opening on 8-8-08 and had a soft opening the week before.

An incredible world class poker room too. Very plush with Wynn/Venetian type decor. 34 tables; two in private salon, a high limit area with 7 more and a main floor with 25 tables. The room was packed on a Thursday evening and was about to fill up again by Friday at 2pm. Games spread were Limit Holdem of 3-6, 6-12, 10-20, 20-40 and up. NL of 1-2, 2-5, 5-10 and a few higher. PLO, and Omaha/8 were also going. On weekends there are some other games spread - high limit and mid limit MIX games (woo-hoo) and Michael Jordans 100-200 NL game. Wait lists for 3-6 and baby NL is much longet though.

Physical facilities are great. Big tables, comfortable chairs and all new chips, equipment and supplies. Lots of room between tables - no crowding at all. Cashier IN the poker room and several chip runners working. Room is enclosed on 3 sides and there is no smoke problem or noise form the casino. Electronics and technology were all working; automated lists, swipe in at table, etc.

Rake was $5 which is standard for the Chicago and NW Indiana area, plus a $1 promotional drop. Add in a dealer tip and you have $7 coming off the table almost every hand. All the tables were 9 handed - even the Limit Holdem tables.

When you first come to the table, or if you need to rebuy or add chips, the dealer will usually not sell them to you. You need to go to the cashier or get a chip runner. Even a chip runner will only take your cash and give you a "lammer". These are NOT in play - and neither is cash. You must have CHIPS on the table before a hand starts. Some players were cranky about this. But you just need to add another "player skill". Never get into this situation. Always have an extra 100-200 in green chips in your pocket for this situation.

Some of the dealers were new and were not sure of some of the rules. Floor staff was very knowledgable and helpful though.

This is the 110th casino poker room I have played. It fits nicely into my top four favorites along with the Mirage, Wynn, and Tunica Horseshoe. It has the beauty, space, and opulance of Venetian without some of the problems. Games were great and reminded me of the old Players Island in St Louis.

This is a great facility. It just blows away the (very weak) competition in the Chicago and NW Indiana area.

Rick J @ Bellagio

2008-07-19T13:59:00.005-05:00

Rick J plays at Bellagio 5 days a week.

Current game is the 30-60 Omaha/8, but he actually prefers the 40-80 Mix Game. He'll play some other games and play higher every now and then (like when wsop in town) but really prefers the edge he has at those Bellagio games. He has played in casinos all over the country and has been a winning player since the 1960's.

Rick retired to Las Vegas about 6 years ago to lead a happy life after being a CPA, lawyer, and a business owner. He blogs a sports handicapping site;

http://www.rickjshandicappingpicks.blogspot.com/

and this includes some poker comments too. These Poker Comments are excellent - go read them.

Now -- here's the funny parts.

--I've known Rick since 7th grade in 1959 and went to Jr High and High School with him. We, of course, tore up the games there as teenagers.

--I saw him once during college in the late 60's. I was visiting friends at Champaign and saw Rick in the Union hustling some guy at pool.

--In 1973, I was a young bureaucrat and opened the morning paper to see Rick being sworn in as an attorney and working here in Springfield. We played much bridge (no poker) for a year or so - then he moved away to be a District Atty. He also was Barry Greenstein's bridge partner about this time.

--The next time I saw Rick was 1999 at Harrahs East Chicago poker room. I had a rack of Red and was going to a 10-20 holdem table. He had a rack of Green and was going to a 40-80 HOSE game. We had not seen or talked with each other for 25 years and then end up in the same cardroom. I saw him a couple other times up there over the next 3 years. Phil Tanner played in the game with him a couple times and said that Rick played even tighter than I do.

--I talk with Rick about every summer in Las Vegas. Haven't joined him at his table yet, though. He seems very happy and secure in what he is doing. He is recently remarried to a young asian beauty. Seems to be a trend with the Springfield guys who move to LV.

Now -- go read his poker comments.

Is Your NL Game Getting Tougher?

2008-06-21T10:25:00.006-05:00

Is the No Limit Game you play in getting tougher? Well, of course it is. Its happening all over the country and there are several good reasons for it.

First off, the flood of new fish into the NL games is mostly over. The brand new totally clueless dupes who saw poker on TV have mostly found the game by now. They would look and say; "I wanna play that "1-2 all-in" game. It was fun while it lasted.

Secondly, the players who were truly terrible at the game have all been beat up pretty good by now and have either lost all their money or gotten a lot better.

Thirdly, the games are much tougher now that the worst and new players are gone and the remaining players are much better. This makes the previously marginal winners into the new fish in the game.

The next step is when its no longer fun for the recreational players to play in a game where they usually lose. Then the games get even tougher. Look who is remaining in the games then. Add to this the impact of suspected and actual cheating. All the angle shooting, taking the shots, collusion, and all the little "cheater moves".

The last reason is that there is finally (this year) some really good printed material on playing NL cash games. Limit holdem has a large library of excellent books, etc. Tournaments have had some good books too. NL has lagged behind until this year. The two new books are;
Professional NL Holdem, by Ed Miller, et al
Harrington on Cash Games, by Dan Harrington
Both are two volume books. PNL volume 2 is about to be released and HoCG is a two volume set. Both provide excellent information to the NL cash game player. If you are not reading these books, you are falling way behind your opponents. Many of them are reading these.

NL games will eventually fizzle and self destruct. This has all been written about and predicted for years. The usual NL game just takes the bad players money way too quickly. The money quickly finds its way into a few strong hands, and does not really circulate in the poker economy. Repetitive (and rapid) losers will find something else to spend their money on. The nature of NL players and games is to accelerate this trend. Look at the interest in "uncapped games" etc.

So, if you want to play NL, be sure to study up to remain competitive. Enjoy the rest of the ride. And be alert for the point when you have turned from a winner into a loser in the game.

Hammond Horseshoe

2008-06-19T14:40:00.003-05:00

The next big thing in poker for the Midwest (and probably the whole USA) is going to be the opening of the Horseshoe in Hammond, Indiana.

The Hammond boat has been completely replaced by a huge $500 million facility. Its supposed to be "Vegas style" and will include a 34 table poker room. The poker room will blow away the competition in East Chicago, Gary, and Joliet.

They are set for a mid august opening.

Road Trip?

Las Vegas Highlights - June 2008

2008-06-16T13:30:00.009-05:00

This was a great trip. Lots of time to play all the poker and see all the sights.

Hotels - We stayed 4 different places (we slept around) burning up CT's comps.

Red Rock (Summerlin) was the nicest. WOW! Really plush and top notch room, restaurants, pool workout area, etc etc. Beautiful. We could have stayed here another day but it would have been $400+. So we moved on.

Green Valley Ranch (Henderson) was also very nice. Another upscale Station property. Not quite as nice as Red Rock. Confusing to get around in - lots of corridors, elevators, halls and staircases, etc.

NYNY (Strip) was a full step down from these, but they gave CT a nice room. No buffet or poker room on property, but still wonderful NY theme.

TI (Strip) was the place we should have stayed. Perfect location - next to Mirage and across the intersection from Wynn. CT had comps here but we chose to stay (and pay) at Palace Station. A very bad choice.

Palace Station (Off Strip) is a very blah place. I've stayed here before and you can always get a very good room rate here. Room small and quite a letdown from the other places. Kind of a downmarket crowd in the casinos and restaurants.

Rental Car - We caught a break and got a free upgrade to a Chrysler 300. Nice big car. Lots of "cool guy" tooling up and down the strip like Dan Tanna.

Parking Garages - Access to poker rooms is very important;
Excellent - Wynn -- park on 2
Good - Mirage -- park on 4
Poor - Bellagio
Terrible - Venetian, MGM, Planet Hollywood, Caesars

New Casinos and Poker Rooms -

The only new casino is the Palazzo, which is connected to Venetian. Its beautiful and spacious and is understated luxury as compared to the Venetian's eye popping opulance. No separate poker room in Palazzo, but they do have separate chips. I suspect this will be the case for the Wynn "Encore" property when it opens in a few months.

The only new poker room is in Bill's Gamblin Hall - the site of the old Barbary Coast. Its 2 tables stuck right in the doorway -- let the good times roll.

Too Many Poker Rooms - There are 26 casino/hotels on the strip and 24 of them have poker. Missing only NYNY and Casino Royale. Off Strip, about 2/3 have poker, maybe more.

The retrenchment/consolidation is now at hand. 3 have closed recently; Stardust, LV Hilton, and an off-strip property. Conventional wisdom has it that several more will close after the WSOP. TI and Paris are thought to be the first to go. Several others could go with no big loss. They are mostly small low limit dumps. Harrahs has several all in a row; Harrahs, IP, Flamingo, O'sheas, Bills, Ballys, Paris.. MGM could easily close Luxor, Monte Carlo, and TI with no big loss. All of these room offer the same product. Just a small NL game and a small limit game. Closing these room swould be good for everyone.

Construction Boom - What a difference from last year. Construction cranes everywhere and buildings going up all over the place. Many of these are residential, but many are casinos. City Center (between Bellagio and Monte Carlo) is huge. Echelon (old Stardust/Westward Ho site) is going to be almost as big. Wynn "Encore" almost complete.

Rick J @ Bellagio - Talked with my old Jr High and High School buddy. He is now a daily player at Bellagio. Quite a story. Think I'll make a separate blog post about him.

Poker Discussion Groups - Attended the meetings of the Wednesday Poker Discussion Group (WPDG) in the afternoon, and the NL discussion group on Tuesday eve. Good serious poker discussion at each and a chance to talk with some people I hadn't seen in a couple years. Dr Al Shoonmaker, Jan Fisher and Linda Johnson. Linda had just cashed in 2 wsop events so she bought lunch for the group.

I Just Wanna Beat The Old Guy - I was playing at the Wynn with my buddy Robyn. There was a young aggressive talkative player in the game and when I put in a raise it came back to him in the small blind. He paused and looked like he did not want to call, but then said; "I Just Wanna Beat The Old Guy". Everyone at the table broke out laughing while I was looking around the table to see who the old guy was. (haha- I was the old guy)

Floorman Ruling - You learn something every day. A dealer puts out the turn card and two players start betting. She drops the stack and mixes the muck, burns, and stack all together. Yow! Players hoot and holler. Floorman is called over and asks what happened. It gets explained a few times and it seems like he doesent know what to do. After a couple minutes, the two players agree to split the pot. I ask the floorman later -- how were you going to get a "retrievable stub" for the river card in that situation. He explains it all to me. Stub was NOT retrievable, so the only correct answer is to mix all the cards together (including discards, burns, etc) and put out a river card. He said that players do not like this and sometimes complain about this AFTERWARD, so he always stalls and lets them agree to split the pot.

Extra $ for Rake and Jackpots - Lots of Harrahs (and other) pokerrooms have $5 rake AND another $1 drop for a bad beat jackpot. Several of the other rooms have a $4 rake and the additional $1 drop for jackpots. The best pokerrooms (Bellagio, Mirage, Wynn) have only a $4 rake and NO bbj drop.

Assume I played 8 hours each of the 8 days. At 64 hours of play times 30 hands per hour, thats 1920 hands I was dealt in. My stats for several years have shown that I win about 5% of the hands I am dealt -- or about 1 1/2 hands per hour. So -- thats 96 winning hands for the trip. The $2 (rake and bbj) I saved on each of those hands is now the $192 sitting on the table in front of me. Plus, I got to play in the top notch poker rooms instead of the crummy dumpy ones. Its like they paid me $3 per hour to play the Wynn and Mirage instead of at Harrahs or Ballys.

Poker Rooms in Las Vegas - June 2008

2008-06-13T16:07:00.006-05:00

8 days of poker in Las Vegas and I enjoyed every one of them.

Played in 5 poker rooms that I had never played before:

Suncoast
Sunset Station
Gold Coast
These 3 are small dreary locals casinos. Nothing much to recommend them unless you lived nearby.

Bill's Gamblin Hall (the old Barbary Coast)
This property is a new Harrahs acquisition. They are using the O'Sheas model of putting a low limit (and small NL) game right on the entrance to the strip. Lots of drunks, kids and newbies stumble in and say; HEY! Its poker like on TV.

Green Valley Ranch
This is an upscale locals casino in Henderson. A very posh property with a nice poker room. Even a HORSE tourney on Wednesday nights -- I got 3rd.

I played another 10 rooms where I had played before. Some comments;

Mirage -- still my favorite. They have even made some improvements since last year. Automated wait lists, 10 handed tables, and starting to use a "swipe in" system with your MGM card to make comps easier. Also, while I was there they removed 4 tables from the poker room and repositioned the others for more space. The poker room manager told me that they are getting larger tables to make it even more comfortable.

Wynn -- 2nd choice and its very close. Wynn has changed their lineup of holdem games. Used to be 4-8, 8-16, then 15-30. Now its 4-8, then 9-18, then 20-40. The 9-18 game is cool. It uses $3 chips, so you are playing a 3-6 format.

Bellagio -- No rude staff this time. Really! Polite and friendly floor staff, brushes and dealers. They must have read the nasty things we were saying about them on the internet the last couple of years.

Red Rock -- Another really upscale and posh property. Very pretty poker room with lots of tables. Limited game choice and selection though.

TI -- A fun little card room. Only 2-4 this trip and no mix game when I was there.

Rio - WSOP side games -- lots of noise and chaos with no comps. If thats what you like.

Golden Nugget -- A new location for them --- 3rd in 5 years, and this ones the best. Nicest poker room downtown - and its not even close.

Palace Station -- blah

Planet Hollywood -- Their new location and cardroom is great. Easy access from the strip to attract lots of tourists and hotel guests. Very plush and well equipped. A buddy is the midnight shift manager, and when I was there the tables were filled with drunken Australians playing wildly and gambooling it up like (well) drunken Australians.

El Cortez -- The new owners have spent many millions of $ fixing up this place and its lost a lot of its old (dirty nasty) charm. Played there in a 1-3/1-6 holdem game with the previous owner Jackie Gaughan. He is 86 years old now and still lives there. He is a Las Vegas legend and has owned about a dozen different casinos in Las Vegas over the years. He bought the El Cortez from Bugsy Sigel in 1945.

Did not play at the following rooms;

Harrahs -- Went in and complained about the $5 rake though. Said I was going to an MGM property to get more for less.

Caesars Palace -- Just don't like this room. Hope they close it.

Venetian -- Got about the same treatment as last year. NO - we don't have ANY limit games, and we might not. A few days later did see one 4-8 game going out of their 25 + tables. A pretty room, but its better to play at Mirage, Wynn, or Bellagio.

MGM Grand -- Its SO noisy. How can anyone stand to play poker here?

So -- I played;
10-20
9-18
8-16
4-8 with 1/2 kill
4-8
3-6
2-4
1-3, 1-6
and a HORSE tourney.

Financial results were good. Booked winners on 7 of the days and the one day that I lost it was a small amount. Comped buffets were $7 at Palace Station, two @ $25 at Mirage, and $35 at Wynn.

May 2008 Review

2008-05-31T09:24:00.002-05:00

What a strange month.

Played live poker once -- thats right, ONCE.
Also only played one tourney. And ran only one tourney.
Played online for about 10 minutes total, and never went to a casino poker room the whole month.

Played golf twice (thats twice as much as live poker- haha)

Heres why the lack of poker activity. I was working! Had 20 days of work this month - which is WAY too much for an old retired guy.

To get my life back on track, I'm off to Las Vegas tomorrow for 12 days. Its the annual World Series of Poker. I'll be playing some at the Rio and also at many of the poker rooms around town.

Will I have some stories when back in mid June?
(Chad and Dan's Excellent Adventure?)

Something New

2008-04-12T16:07:00.003-05:00

This does not happen very often, but I recently saw something in a casino poker game that I had NEVER seen before.

A player is about to be the button when he sees another seat open up. He asks the dealer if he can move to that open seat. The dealer says go ahead. The player moves all his chips to the new seat ----- and takes the button with him.

Wow, what are some people thinking? I quietly watched to see what was going to happen (this could be good) -- but the dealer quickly put the dealer button back where it belonged before dealing any cards.

Presidential Candidates

2008-04-01T11:28:00.007-05:00

I have lots in common with the current 3 Presidential Candidates:

Hillary Clinton -- In high school in 1964, she was a "Goldwater Girl". Only 180 miles to the west, I was my high school and city chairman of "Youth for Goldwater". What a smart gal.

John McCain -- We were in the military together. He was an officer, pilot, POW, war hero. I was drafted, didn't want to go, and got out as soon as I could. Another good thing about McCain is that I love to play 7 card stud lowball (razz) and Senator McCain is always identified as R-AZ.

Barrack Obama -- We both have played lots of poker in Springfield. haha - never in the same game though. While in the State Senate here, he played in a game with lobbyists and other legislators. Reports have him playing a very tight serious game and usually winning. One conservative Republican legislator was quoted in a news article; "If he was as careful with the taxpayers money as he is with his own, the State would be better off."

Looking back on some other Presidents, candidates, votes, etc --

This will be the 11th time I have voted for a President. I've voted for 7 different guys - including 2 democrats. I've voted for everyone who has ever been elected President since 1968, except for Jimmy Carter. Voted against him twice. I've voted for incumbent presidents 6 times.

My first presidential vote was cast in the fall of 1968. I was so proud to click that switch over and vote for Nixon and Agnew.

I had seen Nixon in person twice in the '60s when he was speaking in Illinois. In the 1960 election, I was in the front row when the JFK motorcade came thru the downtown street. I was very close and was touching the car but didn't get a handshake. Saw Ford, Carter, and Reagan talk here in Springfield. I've not seen Clinton or either Bush in person.

In 1976 I met Bob Dole at the Holiday Inn East. He was there running for VP and making some speech and I was there with some friends. I walked up to him and got introduced. Stuck out my right hand for a handshake. whew - that was wrong. I was so embarrassed. I was still embarrassed 20 years later and did not vote for him for President.

You probably think all the above is an April Fools Day post - but heres the surprise; its all true.

The Poker Grump

2008-03-27T13:23:00.002-05:00

I've been reading another poker players blog and its pretty interesting.

The guy is the self appointed "Poker Grump" and his blog is subtitled "All the things I hate about the game I love."

He is a daily player in Las Vegas and plays in most of the poker rooms there. Has many comments, observations and sometimes a good cranky rant.

Take a peek; www.pokergrump.blogspot.com

Las Vegas - 1969

2008-03-19T16:32:00.005-05:00

My first trip to Las Vegas was in the spring of 1969. I was a 21 year old Army draftee Pfc on a 3 day pass.

Played poker, blackjack and/or craps at the Bonanza, Dunes, Mint, Landmark, and the (old) Aladdin. Drove by the Stardust, Desert Inn, Sands, etc. All of these casino/hotels are now gone.

Howard Hughes was living on the top floor of the Desert Inn, but I never saw him. A young Kirk Kerkorian had just built the largerst hotel in the world (International) and he would repeat this feat twice more in Las Vegas. Elvis was in town playing at the International - but he was all washed up so why go see his show?

Walked into Binions Horseshoe downtown and found no poker room. They didn't have one until a few years later when they bought the next door Mint Casino. I had read about the 1950 poker match between Nick the Greek and Johnny Moss in the front doorway. I guess I thought they were still there. NOTE: The first WSOP was held at Binions Horseshoe later in 1969.

Walked thru the Flamingo without knowing what I was looking for. Yow -- at that time it still had much of the original Bugsy Sigel buildings etc. Also, Johnny Moss was the poker room manager there.

Dunes (current site of Bellagio) was on my "must see" list. I played some blackjack there and did find their poker room. Lost $1.75 playing 7 stud and left. If only I had known that this was the location of the big game and the big players were all there.

Heard of the Tropicana Casino - but it was WAY out there on Tropicana Ave. Who would ever go WAY out there?

Stayed at the Bonanza Casino and Hotel on the LV Strip. Current site of Ballys

It was a Western themed casino with wood floors and decor. Played my first casino poker there. Game was straight 7 stud. Ante and minimum bet was 25 cents. Max bet was $2. Game was a mix of tourists and locals with a lot of old Jewish men. One player was an off duty showgirl wearing nothing under a loose fitting V-neck shirt. She would "peek out" whenever she put chips into the pot. Las Vegas was making a good first impression on me. I won a couple bucks in the game and decided to just take the winnings in 25 cent chips back home with me. Those chips are now chip collector rarities and sell for about $300 each. Where did I put them all?

Bonanza Casino had all the casino games. I was trying to play Blackjack and do a simple card count. As long as I tipped the dealer, he would help a little as long as the pit boss didn't hear. One time a dealer even exposed his hand to me. He had the Jack of Spades as his up card and went to check his hole card. When I looked back the Jack of Clubs was face up. Hmmm. I hit my 18 and busted. The player next to me said what a terrible player I was and then he lost to the dealers 20.

Went to the Craps table with 5 $1 chips. Table had no players - just a boxman, stickman and two dealers. I truthfully told them I really didn't understand the game, but wanted to learn. They took their time and explained all the bets and led me thru it. I got to experiment with most of the bets and was learning how it all worked when I lost the last of my $5. The boxman then tossed me another 5 chips and told me to keep betting. I was now a casino shill. By the next night I was a Craps regular and shot dice at a table with Wolfman Jack.

I really enjoyed my first trip to Las Vegas and was anxious to return - which I did - a mere 28 years later in 1997.

Lumiere, St Louis - Revisited

2008-02-11T14:07:00.000-06:00

Ok Ok, I said I wasn't going back here until the summer -- but some of my guys "made" me go again.

Its still a beautiful place in a choice location. 20 minutes faster (each way) than going to Harrahs or Ameristar. And really easy access from the King Bridge to the parking ramp. Then more really fast access right to the casino entrance.

Some things in the poker room are better than 6 weeks ago:
--The lighting is increased in most places, but some are still too dark.
--The noise factor is better. No overly loud music blaring from the casino. The bank of slots right outside the poker room have been muted so they do not make noise.
--The "swipe in/out" system now works so they don't cheat you out of your comps like last time.
--Some of their other technology is working now -- and some is not.
--All 13 tables were able to be opened now. So the "security camera" problems have been fixed. However (this must be really complicated) now some of the tables are too close together while others have lots of extra room.
--Dealer quality was better than last time, although this is not saying much.

Some things are still bad about this place:
--Dealer quality is Average-minus and thats being generous. Most are ok, some were terrible.
--Floor staff is still terrible. When we arrived, there were 8 tables running and 4 (count em, 4!) suits running the room. One was taking names for the lists and swiping players in and out, another was staring off into space and the other two were arguing. Floor staff was not as rude as last time, but still had trouble filling seats and responding to questions.
--There is still only ONE place in the casino where you can buy chips, and its about 150 steps from the poker room - dodging thru slots and table games.
--This time they were having some kind of drawing every hour on the casino floor. There would be continual announcements over a very loud PA system reading names and giving instructions. The announcer had the most annoying voice I have ever heard -- it was terrible. Thought it was a joke at first, but it went on and on.

I was surprised at the crowd. The casino was packed and very busy. Its a very nice layout with wide aisles and good traffic. The poker room was NOT packed even on a Saturday prime time. 8 to 11 tables going out of 13. Short lists. Only games spread were 3-6, and NL at 1-3 and 2-5. The crowd was very "Harrahs-ish" - kind of scruffy and downmarket.

Still have not seen the poker manager on site and we have been there on two different weekend days during "prime times". Choosing to make this facility a low limit 3-6 and low NL room sure cheapens it. Its almost just like a generic Harrahs poker room. Dealer and Floorman training seems to not be much of a priority.

Seems like a great opportunity missed. A great facility but the poker management and management decisions have made it a lot less than it should have been.

Tunica Stories - Jan 08

2008-01-16T16:23:00.000-06:00

Ahh - Tunica in January. An extra couple thousand poker players in town. The big WPO/WPT tourney at the Goldstrike. Lots of action next door at the Horseshoe. The WSOP-Circuit tourney at the Grand. And lots of "spillover" poker at Sams and Holywood. All the hotels are sold out and all of the poker rooms are jammed. Its too good to be true.

This years trip starts out with a "bad beat". Four of us were to leave at 10 am, but then one of the guys couldn't go. So, three of us head south for a 12 day poker trip.

The First Evening - Last year Mike M took only 800 in poker money with him and lost it all playing 10-20 Omaha the first evening there. This year, we talked about this on the drive down and he was going to be more careful this time. He was -- and got off 1600 winner the first night there. I just walked around and socialized - then took a four hour nap. My day starts at midnight.

Dave's Plan - Dave K is an excellent single table tourney player. His plan was to enter hundreds of them and win them all. He even got the nickname "SitNGo" after several days of this.

My Plan - I was going to play the midnight shift at the Horseshoe every day for several hours. The last couple times this had been good for 700 - 1000. Was also going to play several different games and a tourney. "Good habits" would continue from previous trips; 8 hours sleep, eat light and frequently, minimal drinking, excercise room and hot tub every day, etc etc.

My Results - Played the midnight shift every day for lots of hours and it was great. Won 11 out of 13 times. Lost on other shifts though. Only totalled a 280 winner for the 14 days - maybe I'll turn pro. Also played NL, Stud, Omaha/8 and a mixed game -- HORSE with Triple Draw added. Played one tourney and chopped. Good habits weren't as good this time. Had trouble sleeping sometimes during daylight. Ate too much early in the trip. Drinking was light except for a couple times (Phil T is a bad influence) and kept my grandfathers advice to drink something different every day. Excercise room and spa was closed after the first couple days.

Springfield Dealers - Amanda and Patrick were dealing again this year at the tourney and cash games. This was their second year here and they are experienced "ole pros" now. No "first time" jitters this time. Both have very good reputations with staff, managers and other dealers. Their boss (dealer coordinator) gave me a nice nickname --- "the old guy with the hat".

Seafood Buffet - The friday night seafood buffet at the Horseshoe has always been a highlight. Harrahs decided to quit comping it to poker players during Januarys last year. This year I was told of a way to beat the system. Since we had comps for 4, we invited Patrick to join us. Once in the buffet, Patrick did not eat any of the seafood that the rest of us were pigging out on. He says; "I don't eat ANY seafood, its disgusting."

WIFI in Food Court - Goldstrike food court is a WIFI location - maybe the only one around. A big change this year is to see all the young guys with laptops in there day and night. Most are playing multi tables of online poker. Some would root for each other. Yeah - thats right - I want to drive 400 miles to Tunica and then play on Stars. In other internet poker news -- it seemed the Full Tilt logo gear was worn by more players than Stars or any other site.

Electronic Poker Tables - I went over to the Resorts Casino to play their tournament which used the PokerTec electronic tables. I had played live cash game format on them in Michigan last fall and had gotten a demo on them in Las Vegas last summer. This was my first time in an electronic poker table tourney. There were 11 other participants. No chips, cards or live dealer though. Its kind of a "blah" experience, but I won some $. And I got to talk with Mike B who was next door at the Hollywood for the annual PSO group gathering.

Phil Tanner Update - Phil flew in from Chicago and was there for 3 days. He is still working for the airline and works about 6 days per month and gets to pick his own schedule. He also flys free to almost anywhere. His rich postmaster wife is now working in Dallas - so they have relocated out of St Louis. She says; "Honey, why don't you go to Tunica and play cards for a few days."

I try to introduce Phil to the joys of low limit 4-8 holdem at the Horseshoe. He was astounded at the bad players and he goes on tilt twice. First time we are sitting just relaxing and talking. Phil is up about a quick 100 and we are going to have a martini. A goofy guy calls Phils preflop raise with a T 2 and ends up with a winner. Then the guy says he just had to play a "Doyle Brunson". By the time we finish our 3rd martini, Phil is hot and stuck. Phil will forever tease me about causing him to have a free $300 martini. A couple days later, we get off schedule and I take him to the (next weeks) friday seafood buffet. Then we go play at the Horseshoe again and a terrible player comes to our table. He lays a bad beat on Phil-------------and Phil gets up and leaves. Good play, Phil.

The Worst Player, EVER - This is the guy who puts the bad beat on Phil -- and many others that night. He was the worst, drunkest, stupidest, most obnoxious player I have ever seen. He comes to the table and sits on my right. He brings 60 white chips and asks if they are worth $5 each. He had never played live before. He is so stupid that I dont even want to talk with him. He asks me if I had ever played poker on the internet and I just say no. He goes on a quick heater and wins about 250. After Phil leaves, I stay with the terrible player and he causes some big swings in the game. He loses 100 of it back then wins several hands and has about 400+ in front of him. He says he wants to play NL (of course - he fits the pattern) and when they call his name, I tell him it was someone else. I put 2 or 3 isolation raises on him and he beats me every time. There is another terrible player at the table too and also another who is a complete calling station. The pots are huge. The game is great -- just another weekend at the Horseshoe 4-8. There is a cranky local on the other side of the kid and I tell him to do his job and not upset this kid. He agrees. A player to my left starts complaining about bad plays and stupid players and so I have to have a talk with him also. The other bad player at the table eventually busts out and the calling station loses all his money too. These two are replaced with better players - so its just us against the stupid kid. He finally loses his piles of chips and is buying chips with cash after about 3 hours. I cash out $150 loser - -sigh.

Poker Rooms -

Horseshoe is still great. Harrahs management has not ruined it yet. The best facility, the best dealers and staff, the best comps and lots of games at lots of limits and lots of bad players. 16 tables in the room and another 8 put up as overflow for January. Jack B thinks this is the best poker room in Tunica, but what do old guys know. Also ---late one night we had a rowdy Springfield game going. Patrick, Dave, Andrew, Richie, John P and me in the same game at slightly different times. Much ranting and raving. I had to apologize to the shift manager --- yeah, these are some of my guys.

Goldstrike has gotten better each year. Room is redone from last fall and now has 16 tables (with 4 more as January overflow) with new tables and chairs. No slot machines in or near the room.

Grand has continued its multi year slide into shabbyness. Tables, chairs, and the whole room etc are all worn and used up. Staff is weird and dealers are kinda bad and cranky. Much backbiting and complaining. Very sad to see this decline, but its almost over. Robert McGovern is the new manager. He will be opening a new smaller snazzy room downstairs next month. Only 14 tables compared to their current 20 or so. Hope the downsize lets him fire some of the bad apples and hire different better staff.

I did not play at Sams or Hollywood this year. A token visit every 5 years or so is about right. Steve and Brandon did go over and were probably underwhelmed.

Favorite Dealer - A Repeat Winner !!!! Its the lovely Brandy of the Horseshoe midnight shift. She didn't deal me three winners in a row like last year - or deal me into any +$400 sessions like a previous trip. But, its a pleasure when she taps into your table. An excellent dealer, great mechanics, fast, funny, and great with people. Really moves the game along. All the locals and regulars really like her too. Oftentimes she stays and plays in the game after her shift, so she sees the game from a players perspective too. A real sparkplug with a million dollar personality. She goes to Las Vegas for the first time next month - so there will sure be some good stories next year.

Bet Into Weakness - A very odd situation that I had never seen before. I'm on the button in seat 10 with a 78 of spades. Three limpers to me so I call. Small blind folds and we take the flop 5 handed. Flop has a high red card and some other odd cards - a complete miss for me. Big blind checks, the three limpers check and I check. The dealer then says check. The big blind then checks again as do the 3 limpers again in turn. At this point I should BET! But instead (being a poker rules nerd) I stop the action and ask the dealer about it. He then says everyone has already checked the flop and he puts out the turn card. All check to me and THIS time I bet and win the pot.

Homer's Odyssey - A nice older local player named Homer plays at Horseshoe all the time. He will play for 2 days straight then be back in another day or so. He has a great time playing 4-8 and seems to have lots of money. Homer likes to play a lot of hands. He favors low cards over high ones. Says he never gets high cards and cant win with them when he does get them.

I got to play two big hands with him on this trip;
First hand I have KK in late position. Homer raises in front of me, I re-raise and the button 4 bets behind me. Flop is K 8 2. Homer checks, I bet, button raises and all call. Turn is a 5. Homer checks, I check, button bets out, Homer calls and I raise. Button says "I knew it" and calls. I assure him --we probably have the same hand. Homer calls. River is a 4 and Homer bets out. WOW. Well, he could have 67 for a straight and I don't want to raise out the button, so I just call and the button calls too. A big pot. Homer shows a 3 - 6 for a "double inside runner-runner straight"
Second hand I have KJ in late position. Homer is the button and raises. I call and the flop comes K88. I bet and Homer raises and I call. Turn is a J. I check, Homer bets and I call. River is a K. WOW! I bet and Homer almost raises me. I turn over the worlds fair and Homer shows 8 5.

The next day at another table, I win a pot with a Ten Dollar bill and Homer hands me 10 white chips and wants to buy the bill. I say ok and he tells the table he is going to take the ten spot and go find a hooker. I bite my lip, another player spits beer out his nose and the female dealer screams. Homer walks off and is back in a few minutes mumbling about how young people have no respect for money these days.

More Horseshoe Action - I'm in a very quiet tight game with some skilled players. The gal next to me plays a lot tighter than I do. I ask for a table change to a table where I see some bad players with lots of chips. Jack B is next on the list so he gets my seat. About that time the gals boyfriend takes her seat and he is a wild player. He is taking a break from higher stakes games and wants to GAMBOOOL it up at low stakes. Another player at the table joins in and then another of his friends shows up and it changes the table completely. Jack B is now unhappy to be playing at table with "3 Randys". Jack moves to my table and is replaced with another high stakes player trying to blow off 200 or 300 white chips on max action - cap every street - whoop it up poker. Bold Brandon B later gets a seat at this table and does ok while having some big swings.
Jack and I are at a really good table, with big pots and bad players. Jack loses a hand or two and is down to his last chip. All in for ONE more! He wins that pot and another -- and another --- and a half hour later he has 500 in front of him

I'm So Easy - Its our last night in Tunica. Dave and Mike want to stay longer. They ask; "Cmon, can we stay another day and night?" Well, ok, I guess we can stay another night here. haha Twist my arm guys.

I miss Tunica already --- when can we go again?

Lumiere -- St Louis

2007-12-23T10:51:00.000-06:00

I was looking forward to the opening of this new casino and poker room. The Grand Opening was Wednesday and a carload of us went two days later.

Its a $500 million facility and seems as if run by some nickel-dime management nitwits.

There are many positive features;
This casino has a Prime Location right in downtown St Louis - close to the football stadium, close enough to the baseball stadium, very close to a convention center, and right next to the entertainment district. Quick parking garage access. Take an elevator down and you are right there at the entrance to the casino.
Everything in the casino is new. The building and all equipment. Casino is nicely laid out with lots of table games and wide aisles. Cocktail waitresses are well chosen and outfits are innovative.

The poker room is 13 tables and is very plush. There are all new chips, cards, tables, chairs, and all other equipment. Chairs are extremely nice. Many automated features will eventually help the rooms operation. Rake was $4 max, with an additional drop of $1 for bad beat jackpot and other promotions. Dealers kept their own tips. NL games are raked instead of time charge. No jackpot drop at 2-5 tables.

There were several problems with this casino and poker room. A few of these could be attributable to it only being open for 3 days, but the opening kinks should have been worked out.
First off-- getting IN to the casino was a huge pain. You must have a Pinnacle "My Choice" card for this property. Everyone who frequents Missouri Casinos knows this will be the case as the same thing has happened with Harrahs and Ameristar in the past. We purposely went on a mid afternoon to avoid any lines or problems. HA ! They were completely understaffed for the lines of people getting a new card. We had to wait for 40 minutes. Later at night when they had opened 2 or 3 other lines -- they still had huge lines of people waiting. What a huge frustration for new or first time customers. Their first impression. One employee even suggested I could get a card quicker by walking down to the riverfront and getting a card at the President that would work at the Lumiere.

Another big negative to the place is that they have only ONE Cashier Cage for buying and cashing in chips. Wow! I couldn't believe it. Plus - the lines here were long also. Poker room does not have its own cage, so you walk over to the main cage (7 cashiers) and stand in line. Same thing when you cash out. Be sure to buy extra chips when you do initially buy in, because it may take you another 20 minutes to get chips if you have to reload. Some players solved the buy in problem by going up to a BJ or Craps table, buying chips and then walking away.
Drinks and food were expensive. This is probably on purpose to keep the riff-raff out. Free soft drink stations around the casino including some expensive coffee machines that serve expresso, latte, cappacino, etc. These were broken or out of service by 8pm.

Poker room has some problems;
Ten tables were in operation. The other three were not allowed to open due to some security problem. Limit Holdem games spread was only three tables of 3-6. That was IT. They had a list for 4-8 with about 20 names. They later erased this list and started a new 4-8 list, got about 9 new names and never called it. Then about midnight, they erased that list and put up a 20-40 interest list with no names on it. NL games spread were a couple tables each of 1-2, 1-3, and 2-5. Now --- WHY would you initially set up a games spread with both 3-6 AND 4-8? Also -- Why both 1-2 and 1-3 NL? Goofy

The electronic wait list worked partially, but staff was not fully up to speed on it. Tables had an electronic method of notifying the floor when a seat opened, etc -- but this feature was not working. Shufflers at each table worked fine.
The room is in the shape of a rectangle with 3 sides enclosed. One long side is open to the casino. They have a nice rail for observation and casino player "walk bys" --- but it is very loud in the poker room with all the casino noise. The floor staff did not have any microphone and the voice calling of lists, etc was not very effective. Tables calls for the floor or to fill empty seats were also hard to communicate.
Tables were a little small. Plus they had the hardsurface "racetrack" around the table between the betting surface and the table rail. This feature always looks pretty but makes the table more crowded and causes other problems. All the tables had the dreaded betting line on them, but it seemed to not be in play-- even at NL.

Dealers were often terrible. I had heard this casino was getting its pick of dealers from the other poker rooms, but this is not the case. There were some dealers from President, Ameristar and Harrahs, and some dealers who had transferred from other Pinnicle properties. And there were some brand new first time dealers. Some very slow and confused, some card moving difficulties, some button confusion, one who couldn't figure out how to let a player buy the button, another who sometimes did not burn. And (my favorite) one dealer who started dealing to the big blind, got about 8 cards out and then asked the players; "Is that a misdeal?" All these bad dealers and floormen were working Prime Time shifts -- afternoon and evening on a Friday night.
Floormen were not a lot better. Some were first timers as floor staff. Most were not at all friendly or helpful in answering questions . Some confusion on procedures, etc including one very funny discussion as to whether the 2-5 NL game had an uncapped buy-in or not. There was no shortage of floormen. Each shift had 3 or 4 suits working the 10 table poker room. And they still couldn't keep the player seats filled - even with all the big wait lists.

The poker room "player swipe in and out" system was not working. It is supposed to track your hours played and reward you with $1 per hour in comps, similar to what Harrahs, Ameristar and several others use. No big deal. I figured they would make it up later like Harrahs and Ameristar always have done. (wrong!) After 4 hours of play, I went up and talked with a floorman. Told him I had heard the swipe system was not working and that was fine. But -- I had played for 4 hours and was going to play for another 4 hours - and could he comp me a sandwich or something. Think I also told him I was from out of town, first time here, brought 3 other guys, etc etc. This little line of patter is almost ALWAYS good for a comp of some kind. The floorman doesn't know the answer, so he calls the poker manager on the phone. The answer is NO! (haha Welcome to the Bellagio - where we treat our players like crap.)
Much later as we were about to leave a floorman said the swipe system was now working and he took the players cards and swiped everyone in. 20 minutes later I swiped out and he said I had almost a half hour in play. I asked about the other 7 1/2 hours and he said "Too Bad".

Yes - unbelievable customer service at this place. But it all fits the pattern. Lumiere had sent me a couple of e-mails in the last month, and the Casino Manager had given an e-mail addy for people to send him comments and questions. My two e-mails are still unanswered. I also called them twice with some questions a few days before we went. There was much confusion at the switchboard and I was twice given voice mails where I left my message and have received Neither response. I asked for Casino Comment Cards while there -- but they don't have them. I asked for Poker room business cards with the managers e-mail and they don't have those either.

Other Comments and Great Thoughts;
Chips were all brand new but a little generic. No "Grand Opening" chips. In fact, there was nothing festive, or "WELCOME!" signs or little giveaways indicating a grand opening.

Having only ONE Cashier Cage location in this casino is a huge mistake. Unbelievable.

The technology they have bought will be fine once they get it working and the people are trained to use it.

Poker room management seems poor. Confusion among the staff, stuff not working, not personally present in the poker room -- even on prime time on opening weekend. Maybe a knowledgeable experienced poker person is needed for dealer/floorstaff training -- and to come up with a reasonable mix of games spread.

The Poker room being only small stakes is fine for opening week. I personally would not have wanted to play for higher $ with that set of dealers and floormen. However if this room is going to be another 3-6 and 1-2 NL ghetto like Harrahs, they are missing a big opportunity.

I'm probably not going to be the only one with a funny NO COMPS story from this Poker room. They should take a quick lesson on how Ameristar and Harrahs have handled similar situations before they anger lots of prospective players.

And speaking of taking a lesson --- The Horseshoe in Tunica runs its 16 table poker room with ONE floorman. Maybe the Luminere should have put as much effort into employee training and communication as they did into picking outfits for the cocktail waitresses.

I'll go and try this poker room again next summer after a baseball game.

My First 100 Casino Poker Rooms

2007-12-22T12:04:00.000-06:00

Just played in my 100th different Casino Poker Room. Yes, yes - of course I have a chip from each one.

I've been IN lots of other casinos -- but these are the first 100 I have actually PLAYED POKER in. Many locations only once, and some of them many times.

Some double counting does occur if a casino closes their poker room and then years later reopens it in a different spot For example, I played in the St Louis Harrahs poker room when it was 8 tables in 1997. Then they closed it. When it reopened (Grand Opening 2004!) seven years later in a different location, I have counted it as a completely different room. Same treatment for the Harrahs and MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Same for the poker rooms at the Joliet Empress or Hollywood in Aurora. The East Chicago poker room is counted 3 times because of different ownership. Once as Showboat, once as Harrahs, and once as Resorts.

My favorites are still Mirage and Wynn in Las Vegas, Horseshoe in Tunica and the old Players Island in St Louis.

So --- heres my list!

Las Vegas Strip. Roughly in order by initial visit;
Bonanza 1969
Dunes 1969
Stardust 1997
Riveria
Harrahs
Mirage
MGM 1998
Flamingo
Mandalay 1999
Bellagio
Luxor
Monte Carlo
Excaliber 2000
Ballys 2001
Sahara 2002
Aladdin
Circus 2003
Harrahs 2004
Imperial Palace
Tropicana
MGM 2005 - new room
Wynn 2006
Caesars
Venetian
TI
Hilton
Tuscany
Paris
O'sheas
Hooters
Stratosphere
Planet Hollywood 2007

Las Vegas - Downtown;
Binions Horseshoe
Union Plaza
Golden Nugget
Binions -- MTR
Plaza -- Barrick
Fitzgeralds
El Cortez

Las Vegas - Off Strip
Sams Town
Orleans
Rio -- old room 1998. Have not played new room. wsop floor does not count.
Palms
Palace Station
Red Rock
Silverton
SouthPointe
Buffalo Bills, Primm

Laughlin;
Harrahs 1991, my first holdem game
Riverside
Colorado Belle
Flamingo

Arizona;
Harrahs, Phoenix
Fort McDowell

California;
Commerce
Bicycle
Hollywood Park
Hustler
Chumash, Santa Ynez

Illinois;
Hollywood, Aurora -- 2000 old boat/old room
Empress, Joliet - 1990's old room
Players, Metropolis 1999 -- have not been since Harrahs ownership
Hollywood, Aurora - 2006 new "room" in "dockside" facility
Empress, Joliet - 2007 new "room" (3 tables -ha) on casino floor

Missouri;
Station, St Charles
Harrahs 1997
Players Island
Ameristar, St Charles
President
Harrahs new room 2004
Lumiere
Aztar,
Harrahs, Kansas City
Ameristar, KC
Riverside Argosy, KC

Indiana;
Showboat, East Chicago
Harrahs, East Chicago
Resorts, East Chicago
Empress, Hammond
Majestic Star, Gary
Blue Chip, Michigan City
Argosy, Lawrenceburg
Belterra
Caesars, Harrison Co

Michigan;
Four Winds, New Buffalo

Iowa;
President, Davenport
Lady Luck, Bettendorf
Isle of Capri, Bettendorf
Catfish Bend, Ft Madison
Meskwaki, Tama
Riverside
Prairie Meadows, Altoona

Wisconsin;
Potawotomi, Milwaukee
Ho Chunk, Baraboo

Mississippi;
Horseshoe
Gold Strike
Grand
Ballys
Hollywood
Sams Town

A sad list is the other 5 poker room I have been in but did NOT play:
Red Lion, Elko 1991
Grand, Biloxi
Harrahs, Tunica
Sunset Station, Henderson
Grand Victoria, Rising Sun Indiana 2006 -- an empty room

Rake Increase at Harrahs

2007-11-24T12:15:00.000-06:00

Harrahs has been increasing the rake from $4 to $5 at a few of its Las Vegas properties. There is some speculation that they will eventually raise it at ALL properties - St Louis, Tunica, etc.

Station Casinos in Las Vegas tried to raise the rake to $5 a couple months ago at their Green Valley and Red Rock properties. The players voted with their feet and mostly quit playing at those locations. Station moved the rake back to $4 and apologized etc, but they still don't have all their traffic back yet.

About a month ago, Harrahs started increasing their rake in a very sneaky way. First the rake was increased at Ballys and Paris. Then it was started at the Harrahs, Falmingo, and some others on the Strip. Not clear what they have done at the Rio yet --- or what the rake will be at the WSOP sidegames this spring. Caesars Palace is the lone holdout so far. This is the Harrahs "flagship" poker room and the one that they have been trying to be taken seriously as one of the big 5 in LV.

Harrahs thinks the rake increase will not be noticed or matter to their main customers -- ie drunken tourists and college kids playing in a small poker room on the strip. Thats why all of their poker rooms have an additional $1 bad beat jackpot drop -- they think you are stupid. Even Caesars Palace has a bbj drop now -- unlike the real poker rooms; Bellagio, Mirage, Wynn, and Venetian.

I suppose the intelligent poker players approach to this is to visit a Harrahs room or two in LV, play a few hands and then ask about the rake. Ask the shift supervisor, not a dealer. Ask them why their room has a higher rake than the one across the street. Ask for a "comment card" for their management. Fill it out - then leave.

The real danger in this is not the Harrahs LV rooms (no big loss) but the Harrahs rooms all over the country.

Its probable that some rooms will have to increase the rake for NL games. They are so much slower and --well -- you know, they have to put up with the rude immature NL players.

More Poker in Iowa

2007-10-31T15:58:00.000-05:00

This trip got off to an odd start.

First stopped in historic Carthage. They were supposed to be the only ones that had a book that mentioned an ancestor of mine. Found it and sure enough --- all it did was mention him. And spelled the name wrong.

Then it was on to CATFISH BEND casino for some poker. (For those of you who are not chip collectors -- CB chips do picture a bent catfish.) CB casino boat used to cruise the Mississippi River between Burlington and Ft. Madison. Then it quit cruising and was docked in each city for 6 months of the year. I had played poker there twice -- and its an awful place. CB now has the boat permanently in Ft. Madison and they have just opened a new land based facility in Burlington. I wanted to play in this new facility. So I called them in Burlington to ask about poker. They said the poker games were on the boat in Ft. Madison. Called Ft Madison and they said all the poker was in Burlington, but there were no games today.
OK -- we'll pass on Catfish Bend then.

Off to RIVERSIDE. A brand new facility 15 miles south of Iowa City. Everything is new and beautiful. Great casino, golf course, and hotel. This is the type of top notch place that exceeds expectations. Poker room had told me to just check into the hotel and I could get the poker rate adjusted by them. Regular rate was $160 during the week for a excellent beautiful room. I was a little nervous -- thought they had given me a room that was not eligible for poker rate. I was not calmed when I saw the poker room had only one table going and its 2-5NL with a wait list. (And this is the only casino live game between Bettendorf and St Louis!)

Things got much better. They opened a 3-6 (with Kill) table and then another table of each game. Played my 3 hours of poker and got my room rate adjusted to a $40 rate.

Poker room is new and beautiful. 14 tables. 1-2NL is not spread. 2-5 is the lowest -- yum. One NL table was quiet, the other was loud and wild. The 3-6 tables were both alternating Tight-Passive and Loose-Passive. Most players were terrible. Rake was 4 + 1 for bbj. Dealer tips were pooled.

Buffet was great (NY steak nite), hotel was great, casino was beuatiful, and the golf course looked inviting too. I'd go back to Riverside.

Next was PRAIRIE MEADOWS in Altoona (just east of Des Moines)
This was also a nice facility. Located in a racetrack and casino but the poker room is a separate room and has its own cage, bar and restrooms. 12 table poker room. 3 were in play on a weekday morning. The 1-2 NL was loose, active, and bad. 6-12 Omaha/8 (with kill) was filled with tight passive regulars. 3-6 was loose passive and bad. Poker room runs a specialty game on certain days. Some days its HOE at 10-20 and 15-30. Rake was 3 (Thats Right- 3 !!) + 1 for bbj and dealers kept their own tips. One of the dealers talked of running illegal poker games years ago in the Quad Cities -- and sure enough, some of her players were guys I went to High School with.

Driving back thru Iowa I realize I had forgotten how pretty the rolling hills are in the middle of this state. Not flat and boring like Central Ill. Driving close by places I had not seen in many years like the Amana Colony, and the Herbert Hoover Museum.

Approaching the Quad Cities I noticed how the number of highway speeders increased. ALL types of crime increase when you get close to the Quad Cities. So I stop in Bettendorf to play some more poker. ISLE OF CAPRI - sigh, didn't I vow to never again visit one of these? Any way, this poker room is the same as always. 9 tables on the top floor of the boat.

A funny aside -- Bettendorf has the same number of legal poker tables that all of Northern Illinois has. Thats right -- 6 tables in Aurora and 3 in Joliet.

Bettendorf has multiple games going 3-6, 4-8, 6-12 and Omaha. Allmost tables are in use. Some young kids come in and ask for NL and they have a list but won't open it. They spread the limit games instead.

When I get home I read on the internet that a Bettendorf home game was busted that was being run by some casino employees. Then I read (elsewhere) about some Bettendorf history and how on the site of the present casino, Bettendorf police ran vice and killed people early in 20th century. Its all ok though ----its the Quad Cities.

Poker in Rock Island

2007-09-13T14:47:00.000-05:00

The first ever legal poker in Rock Island will begin at the end of 2008.

Casino Rock Island will relocate to a new facility, away from the river, and will have a poker room.

Chief Black Hawk would be proud of them. Actually their current site on the river in downtown RI is less than a block from where 1920's gangster John Looney ran his combined; Law Office, bordello, speakeasy and gambling operation. I could tell you a thing or two about illegal poker in Rock Island of the 1960's --- but that would be another story.

Some Wisconsin Poker

2007-09-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin has over a dozen different Indian casinos with poker rooms. Most are very small and in the northern part of the state. I have only visited the two largest ones which are located in southern Wisc.

Ho Chunk - Baraboo. Thats right -- the Tribe (and the casino) are named "Ho Chunk".
Its located about a mile off the Interstate on the Wisc Dells side of Baraboo. Kind of a dreary looking casino and cardroom.

Poker area is in a tent (the old bingo room) and includes a sports book and bar. Smoking is allowed a few feet away from the tables and was very evident. Twelve tables with three in play on a weekday late afternoon. Two tables of 1-2 NL and one table of 2-4. Played in an extremely tight NL game for a while then switched to the 2-4. The limit game was completely different with mostly multiway action and very bad players. Rake was $4 with no bbj. Beers were available and mid priced. Chips were brand new.

Most action in the room happened when the sports book started showing a race. People perked up and stood, some were cheering. I looked over at the screen -- and it was a dog race.

Potawatomi - Milwaukee. (nickname = The Potti) A big casino very close to downtown Milwaukee and undergoing a big expansion. Very nice Indian and Tribal decor and some historical pix, artifacts etc.

Quick History Lesson -- you probably remember this from history class in high school. During the War of 1812, Fort Dearborn (present site of Wacker Drive and Michigan Ave in Chicago) was evacuated by US soldiers and settlers. About a mile south, they were attacked by the Potawatomi with many killed. The rest were taken prisoner and sold to the British. Now - THIS band of the Potawatomi says it wasn't them; but the Potawatomi in Michigan say the same thing.

ok ok,back to the poker room. Its upstairs by a huge bingo room. Separated by a glass wall in its own separate, very quiet, non-smoking room. Very drab by comparison with the rest of the casino - I was underwhelmed. They will be expanding into a new area in a few months, so things may look better. Fifteen tables, ten of which were in play on a weekday afternoon and evening. Two tables of NL 3-5 with buy in of 200-600, and many tables of Limit --- 2-4, 3-6, 4-8, and 6-12 ALL with a Kill. Rake was $4, no bbj drop , and dealers kept their own tips. What a welcome change from Illinois and Indiana. Biggest complaint was that there is no beer served in the casino except for the sports bar downstairs. Must be an "Indian" thing. Think about it though --- No Beer in Milwaukee?

Games and players were plentiful and bad. Two funny stories;
A kid comes to a limit table and just looks the part of a young internet NL whiz. And he showed us that he was. Clumsy with his chips, watching and staring at all the players, etc. Waits until the action is to him before he ever looks at his cards -- haha so funny. He did this every time, so I started tapping on the table and counting to show him how much time he was wasting - he didn't get it. He would raise, then bet and have nothing at the end - and then "just can't believe that they called me".
Later, a gal comes to the table and says she only has an hour to play then she has to go to a concert. She puts her chip rack on the table and the dealer says no racks on the table --- she doesn't get it and he tells her again. She emtys the rack and puts the chips on the table, then wants to know what to do with the rack. Dealer then asks her if she wants to post and get a hand. She says, sure. He says go ahead and post, and she asks, "How do I do that?"

Both of these two went thru their chips very quickly.

Four Winds Casino - New Buffalo Michigan

2007-09-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

New Buffalo is located in the extreme southwest corner of Michigan - just over the Indiana state line. Its only a few minutes from Blue Chip in Michigan City IN, and about 30 minutes from Gary/East Chicago.

Its a stunning new and beautiful casino. The poker room has fifteen tables plus four heads-up tables. Five were in play on a weekday afternoon. Two were 3-6 and three were 1-2 NL. Poker room is brand new with lots of room, great chairs and very helpful staff. Beers were only $1.50.

All the tables are completely electronic - there are no dealers, chips or cards. There is a small screen in front of every player which shows your pocket cards, and buttons for bet, raise, fold, etc. The main screen is in the middle of the table with the board cards, pot size, bet amount, each players name. and chip stack. You buy credits on your player card at the cashier, then swipe your card upon entering a game. The software was very easy.

I expected the game to be very tight and quiet, with lots of errors with the first time players. My table was not real chatty as most were concentrating on hitting the correct button, but the game was very loose. And FAST !!!!! Wow --- 45 + hands per hour.

Rake was $3 + $1 for a bbj. So its $4 total with no dealer tip compared to a $7 total in Indiana. Plus you are getting a 50% increase in hands played.

How I spent My Summer Vacation

2007-09-03T16:07:00.000-05:00

Just in case I have to write a "back to school" essay -- haha.

Played poker this summer in 16 different rooms in 6 Midwest States.

10 of the poker rooms were brand new to me:
Indiana; Resorts in East Chicago, and Blue Chip in Michigan City.
Michigan; Four Winds in New Buffalo
Wisconsin; Potawotami in Milwaukee, and Ho Chunk in Baraboo.
Iowa; Riverside in Riverside, and Prairie Meadows in Altoona.
Missouri; Kansia City -- Harrahs, Ameristar and Argosy.

6 of the rooms I had previously played:
Joliet IL. Empress
Gary IN. Majestic Star
Bettendorf IA. Isle Of Capri
St Louis MO. Ameristar, Harrahs and President.

During the July Las Vegas trip, I only played 1 new cardroom (Southpoint) and another 7 I had previously played. Mirage and Wynn still the best out there.

35 Years in Springfield

2007-08-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

I moved to Springfield 35 years ago this week.

The State Fair had just ended. Myers Brothers (downtown) was having an "after-the-fair" sale. Marine Bank had a catchy jingle on radio with "Captain Marine" singing. It was "back to school" time -- even at that funny new College south of town.

People were mad at the Governor (not because of his quirky personality) because he had rammed thru a big tax increase and made a lot of changes in State Government. The previously elected Governor was in legal trouble and going to jail.

America was starting to pull its troops back from an unpopular overseas war. Lots of people were distrustful of the President, even though he would get re-elected to a second term. His opposition was so disorganized and innefective.

Housing prices were high and credit was tightening up.

Were those the "good old days" ?

Poker in Northern Indiana

2007-08-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

Had not played here for over 5 years. The players were not as rude and the games were easier than I remember. Rake is $5 (and taken very quickly) with another $1 for bbj. Dealer tips were pooled. Beers are expensive.

Blue Chip, Michigan City -- This casino is another 30 minutes further east than Gary, and I had never played here before. Its a very pretty casino with much construction and building expansion going on. Poker room is tucked away in a semi-private area, but its very loud with casino noise. They have 8 tables, 2 of which were in play on a weekday afternoon; a 3-6 and a 1-2 NL. Both tables were loose-passive with much polite talk. Chips were very dirty but tables and chairs were nice. The dang "Betting Line" was on ALL tables but was not in play.

Majestic Star, Gary -- This is two boats (one used to be the Trump Casino) and the casino areas are kind of run down. Poker room is in a separate area and has 21 tables, 10 of which were in play on a weekday evening. Multiple tables were going of 3-6, 1-2NL, and 2-5NL. A tournament with 60 people started at midnight. The facility and patrons were scruffy and downmarket. The 3-6 was played with a full kill and was super loose. The 1-2NL was quite loose also. For those of you that want to stay overnight in Gary Indiana, sign up at the desk and they give you 1/2 off on the hotel room with 2 hours play.

Resorts, East Chicago -- This is the old "Harrahs-East Chicago" that had all the great wild games a few years ago. Resorts Company didn't change much to the casino, but had changed the poker room a little. Room has 16 tables with 3 running on a weekday morning; a 20-40 (musta gone all night) a 1-2NL and a Seven Stud 1-5. This room still has the best selection of limit holdem games in the area and almost always has 5-10, 10-20 and 20-40 on a daily basis. Chips were reasonably nice, chairs and tables were worn.

I played 1-2NL for an hour waiting for them to open a 5-10 or 10-20 game. The game was very tight-passive. When the floor called the 5-10 game to start, five of the tight passive players moved over to it with me. The 1-2NL game then died and we had a tight-passive 5-10 game with 6 of the same players.

Resorts has sold this property to Ameristar. So we'll see what changes that brings.

Poker in these three properties may not survive. Blue Chip is just 10 minutes away from the brand new Four Winds casino and poker room in New Buffalo Michigan. The Gary and East Chicago properties will be threatened when the Horseshoe casino expands in Hammond --- with a big poker room.

The RAKE -- comparisons

2007-08-11T20:30:00.000-05:00

Here is what I have seen of the Rake (and other $ taken off the table) in recent casino poker.

Rake is usually 10% of the pot up to a specified maximum - usually $4. Many cardrooms also have a bad beat jackpot (or other promotions) drop of another $1 because their players are stupid. Also the dealer tip (usually $1 at players discretion) might be pooled with other dealers or kept by the individual dealer.

St Louis - 3 casinos. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Kansas City - 3 casinos. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Joliet IL. Rake is 5, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

Northern Indiana - 3 casinos. Rake is 5, bbj is 1, tips are pooled.

New Buffalo Michigan. Rake is 3, bbj is 1. Tips are 0 - no dealers, tables all electronic.

Wisconsin - 2 casinos. Rake is 4, NO bbj, tips are individual.

Tunica. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are individual.

Las Vegas.

Excellent Poker Rooms like Mirage, Wynn, Bellagio; Rake is 4, NO bbj, tips are individual.

Crummy poker rooms. Rake is 4, bbj is 1, tips are individual.

Harrahs poker rooms. Rake is 5, bbj is 1 , tips are individual.

Station poker rooms. In flux. They raised the rake from $4 to $5 at Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch, and lost lots of their players (good!)

So, just from my sample this year --- you can have anywhere from $4 to $7 coming off the table EACH hand. At 30 hands per hour, thats between $120 and $210 every table hour.

Obviously its in the players best interest to have a low rake, NO bbj drop, and have the dealers keep individual tips.

The rake however should allow the room to make some money, keep the room nice, and fund some promotions, comps, etc. El Cortez still has a $2.50 rake if you want to play there.

A Bad Beat Jackpot just takes $ off the table and usually takes it OUT of the poker economy. It also leads to predictable abuses by those in charge.

Dealer tips that are pooled just lead to lazy dealers. There's no reason for them to be competant and skilled.

The WORST Poker Room in Illinois - 2007

2007-08-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

Its Joliet again.
They have opened and closed this little poker room on the Empress Riverboat several times. Its open again now, which is a real shame.

The casino is dingy and depressing inside. The "poker room" is a roped off area in the casino. There are 3 tables. Thats right - THREE, two of which were in play on a weekday afternoon. 5-10 and a NL game were running and the other table would be used for 10-20. Brush told me a seat was open in either game and to go over to the main casino cage and buy some chips.

5-10 game was very tight passive with all regulars who knew each other. Rake was $5, plus $1 for a bbj. Chairs were dirty, tables and chips were well worn.

Heres the great thing about this room. They close it at 6pm on Fridays and do not re-open poker until 6pm on Sunday. Illinois silly 1200 "gaming positions" law forces casinos to decide who is more valuable; slot players or poker players.

I play PLO now...

2007-08-07T09:49:00.000-05:00

After a few months of playing single table tournaments on the internet, I worked the roll up to around 1k. At my lowest downswing I had one buy in to a 6.50 turbo. I won first, and things went from there. I learned a few good lessons and eventually my ROI went up, and I moved up eventually to the 12s. Now that I have enough of a roll to stab at some cash games (my original intention) I tried out some PLO. After a few sessions, and watching some play, I firmly believe that this will be the new big bet cash game of the future. The action is endless, and there are plenty of live ones. You just have to know how to play the game at the 6 max tables. Here's an interesting hand that came up:

1/2 PLO 6 max:
Me btn (266)
SB (234)
Villian BB (282)
MP1 (99)
MP2 (138)
Hijack (382)

Me: Ah Jc Jd Qc
MP1/MP2 fold.
Hijack limps.
I bet pot $9.
SB folds.
Villain calls.
Hijack calls

Flop: Js3cAs

Villain checks.
Hijack checks.
I bet $10.
Villain raises pot to $58.
Hijack folds.
I reraise pot to $202.
Villain folds.

Not really a special hand by any means. But (ego trip) the reason I post it as interesting is with my flop bet. I grossly underbet the pot with a hand that figures to be good in this spot. The reason I play the hand like this, is the likely hands that are going to call me if I bet pot, are the ones that are going to be scary down the line, and I will have to look out for any card over a T that doesn't pair the board, an A might even be bad for me, as well as any spade. I also know the aggressive nature of the villain. Since I have good handle on this situation, in general against hands that will play against me, I'd rather end the pot on the flop, so I need to give them to check-raise me, so I can blast them out of the pot or get my money in. I thought it would be likely that if someone had a hand to play against me, check-raising pot would be the way they would play. It turns out he typed in later, that he folded AJT w/ spades. Which is very good for me. The bottom line is that, I like my hand at this point and potentially there are a lot of cards that could present bluffing opportunities, in order to destroy any implied bluff odds or implied odds I tried to get all the money in on the flop. If I was called here would be that I would be up against AA, or KQTx w/ spades. If I was called with less, I would follow that person around for the rest of their lives making a living by gambling against them. This is 6 max, though and I don't think I just wait for the nuts to play.

Btw, I've been given a nickname, due to some short stacking tendencies, I've been dubbed Coinflip. I don't know how to feel about it yet. Catchy, yes. But I have a real name. So I'm not sure. I've also had my first losing month this year. $-450. Small loss, but frustrating.

Kansas City Poker Rooms

2007-08-02T10:50:00.000-05:00

The three casino poker rooms are all located on the river north of town - about 5 miles or so from each other. Signage is minimal and billboard advertising directions nonexistant. Make sure you have a good map or directions.

All the poker rooms had $4 rake plus $1 for BBJ. All tables had auto-shufflers, and dealer tips were pooled.

ARGOSY -- A very pretty (Moorish themed) casino. Poker room had seven tables -- two of them in play. A 3-6 game with a full Kill, and a 1-2 NL game. Poker room is just over ONE year old, but the tables were very worn. Chips were filthy. The room is open to the casino floor and has lots of slot noise. Players were loose, aggressive, and bad. Floorstaff was polite and helpful. Dealers were "so-so".

There is a Lewis and Clark historical marker by the Missouri river right by the casino. I think this is the site where Cap't Clark made his point 5 times in a row, but never took full odds.

I had to get an Argosy Players card to enter the casino. It was free --- unlike the "friggin" President in St Louis. Told them that the Argosy in Alton was a stupid and dangerous place to go - so I hadn't been there for over 10 years. Told them the Argosy in Lawrenceburg Indiana (just outside Cincinnatti Ohio) had a great poker room.

AMERISTAR -- An absolute "lookalike" of the Ameristar in St Charles -- bigger though. Same decor, colors, etc. Even the poker room looked almost the same. This is the nicest looking room in town. Fifteen tables -- four of them in play. Three 3-6 with a full Kill that was loose aggressive and bad, and a 1-2 NL game that was very nitty. Tables, chairs, and chips were all very new or clean. Tables all had the dastardly "betting line" in use.

I used the betting line only once. Was in position and was going to raise. Took a stack of chips out over the line and dropped only enough to call, then brought my hand back with the other chips. Sure enough - they called me on it and MADE me raise. The other player didn't bite though.

Another hand I was dealt pocket Aces and flopped 911.

Dealers here were the best in town. Ameristar poker room here (just like in St Louis) is TRYING to spread other games. Just as I was leaving, they put up a list for 6-12, and 4-8 HO with a half Kill. One interesting new rule they have here is that your hand is DEAD if you expose it while action is pending. This includes just showing One card. This rule will punish the overstimulated rude punkies.

Your Red Ameristar Players Card from St Charles is NO GOOD here. You have to get a new one that says KC - but looks the same. (No charge --- unlike the ultra creepy President in St Louis. did I already mention that?) Also -- Ameristar has the most expensive beer compared to the other two poker rooms.

HARRAHS -- Kind of a bland, generic Harrahs type casino. Nice hotel with room rates 1/2 of Ameristar. Poker room kind of looks like the St Louis Harrahs -- quiet, darker colors, and almost the same chairs, except these swivel. Twelve tables with half of them in play. Two or three tables of 3-6 with NO Kill, and one or two tables each of 1-2 NL and 2-5 NL. Just like the St Louis Harrahs --- these are the ONLY games they want to spread.

The games here were loose-passive and tight passive. But always passive. Their 3-6 game is the only one in town that does not have a Kill. So the action "raise it up" type players go elsewhere. The players here just want to call and play 3-6. One game here was about the loosest I have played in. Every pot was 6 way to 9 way seeing the flop - and not a lot of folding after that. Hardly any raising, and when someone did raise -- well, that didn't make much difference either. Most just called the raise. I blew off 25 bb in this game -- and thats with winning a $100+ pot. Even the NL games were passive. Dealers were inattentive and made lots of mistakes. Their knowledge level seemed low. Floorstaff was sometimes grumpy. Poker room runs two (four table) tourneys per day and they all looked full.

Early morning 3-6 players get in on a promotion. If your pocket Aces lose, you get $100. This is good for the first 3 times each day. I saw it twice. So, its the same 6 old guys buying in for $60 at 8:30 am and waiting to get their AA beat. (I fit right in-haha)

The first morning there, I get 66 in early position and call. Theres one limper behind me and we see the flop of Q Q T. Both check. Turn is an 8 and both check. River is a 6 -- wow. I bet and he calls. I show my full house and he shows pocket Aces. All the other old guys congratulate him and the casino gives him a stack of red. I win $12 and he wins $91.

This room had the BEST system I have seen. They had ONE station desk for the floorman brush and cashier, and you did EVERYTHING here -- signed up for a list (automated), bought chips, and got swiped in for comps. Sometimes this all happened at once. Hourly rate poker room comps are ON your Harrahs card within 3 days and can be used at any Harrahs property.

ISLE OF CAPRI -- Closed their poker room just over a year ago, so I didn't go. Just what I need -- another reason to NOT visit a pile of debris.

None of the poker rooms spread any game with 2-7 for Low. So -- that means you can't play Kansas City Lowball in Kansas City. What does this mean for my trip to Omaha?

St Louis Poker Rooms

2007-07-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

Current conditions of the closest casino poker to Springfield:

PRESIDENT - on The Admiral Riverboat, downtown.

This place is (and has always been) a dump. This trip it was not as dirty as in some previous years -- and the crowd was not as scary either. However, its still dingy and downmarket in its physical plant and customers. Chips, tables and chairs dirty, etc.

Poker room is downstairs on the lower level. Its a square-ish shaped "room" in the middle of nowhere with 8 tables. Three were in play. The 1-2 NL tables had buy in of 40-100 and used a betting line. The table of 4-8 had "mini-blinds" of 1 and 2. Both games were very soft and filled with bad players.

The "after baseball game" crowd was only 10 or 12 people. Very dissapointing and not like the old days. This year, the Cards fans are a little mopey and the Cubs fans are wildly optimistic.

It was very cold downstairs so I ordered a hot chocolate. Was about to tip the waitress a chip when she said; "That'll be 50 cents cash". Thats right! Its just like buying a drink.

Took a new player to their first visit to this casino. He has to get a Players Card to enter the casino and they CHARGE him $2 for it !!!!

Brush tells me; "Seat open - table two. Now go back upstairs and buy your chips". Thats right -- you have to walk upstairs to the main cage to buy chips or cash them in.

This was my last trip to the President. The new Lumiere Casino (see below) is being built just a couple blocks up the hill.

LUMIERE - Downtown St Louis.

Supposed to open this fall with 14 poker tables -- or this winter with 10 poker tables -- you get to pick your own story. Close to Lacledes Landing and the sports stadiums and will have its own hotel etc. I am optimistic.

AMERISTAR - St Charles.

30+ tables and they are trying hard. Daily tournaments. Several tables of 1-2 NL. Several tables of 3-6. But they are trying to spread other limit games. 4-8 with half kill, 5-10 Omaha/8, and even HORSE sometimes. Hotel is topped off and should be opening in a few months.

HARRAHS - Maryland Heights. Such a pretty room, but all they want to spread is 1-2 NL and 3-6. They did have a couple 2-5NL tables going and they were pretty good late night. Limit players are given the choice of 3-6 or 30-60 (sometimes 20-40) and nothing in between. They do NOT want to spread other games --- they're too slow, it costs them money and confuses the young players. The hot sweaty dancing girls still walk by twice an hour on their way to and from the show. Choose your table and seat carefully to avoid this.

Poker Rooms - Evaluation and Ranking

2007-07-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Theres just no absolute ranking. One poker room is not "Better" than another poker room to all people. Each person would have different features that attract them more than another. Its very subjective, based on what that person likes. For example, if a player wants BIG games (30-60 or 10-20 NL) then hes only going to like the Bellagio and a couple other places. If he only knows how to play 1-2 NL, then Harrahs in St Louis has everything he wants.

Heres what I like;

Beatable Games 50% -- This is my most important factor. If the games are too tough, or way too tight, or the rake too high, then I'm just not going to play there. A large supply of bad players is a must for a great poker room.

Number and Variety of Games 20% -- Closely related to the above. If a poker room only had one table going, thats no good. If they had many tables of only one game, then thats a little better, but not much. I like to be able to get a table change if my table is not good, or change limits or change games. Ideal is the Mirage or Wynn in Las Vegas where they have multiple tables going of multiple limits. Horseshoe in Tunica is good too.

Room Environment 20% -- These are the things completely under control of the casino and the poker room. Clean chips, size and comfort of the table and chairs, skill and politeness of staff and dealers, cocktail service, overall decor, noise level, smoke level from the casino, closeness to parking, comps for poker play,

Goofball Factor 10% -- This is bothering me more and more the last couple years. Are the other players reasonably clean and polite? Or are they rude, talking too loud, talking when they should be quiet, etc etc. Watching poker on TV coupled with some youthful immaturity has sure made many people hard to put up with in poker rooms. These guys are usually at the 1-2 NL tables, but can be found anywhere. Some poker rooms have a large number of them -- MGM, Ballys, Flamingo, and Bellagio in Las Vegas. Harrahs in St Louis.

So theres my factors, and heres my ranking of the best:

1. Mirage, Las Vegas. Almost perfect. 30+ tables, multiple games at multiple limits, plus an Omaha game and often 7Stud. Beautiful decor and equipment. Skillful dealers and excellent management. Only negatives are; the tables are now 9 handed, sometimes a slow cocktail service and comps are limited to one every 3 days.

2. Wynn, Las Vegas. Beautiful. 30+ tables, multiple games at multiple limits, plus a mixed game and some Omaha. Games a little better than Mirage. Comps earned at hourly rate by swiping card. Best access from parking garage to poker room of any poker room in Las Vegas.

3. Horseshoe, Tunica. Everybody loves this place. 16 tables, multiple games at multiple limits. Games can be outstanding. Meal comps, etc all there for the asking.

4. Mandalay Bay. Las Vegas. Beautiful casino and poker room. Game selection limited, but games are usually good. This poker room seems to make an effort to week out nasty undesireables.

Now, for some I don't like:

President, St Louis. Dirty. Yucky tables and chairs and really nasty chips. Pretty bad customer service. Other players are not the ones you would like to hang around with. Oh well, its only in business for another few months.

Venetian, Las Vegas. Looks like they are going to become just another NL room. Beautiful place though.

Caesars, Las Vegas. Virtually all NL now. A couple 3-6 games going and thats it. Just started a bad beat jackpot drop - how silly.

Harrahs, St Louis. Such a pretty place with 30 tables. But they have been operating it so you really only have two choices; 3-6 or 1-2NL. There are usuall a couple 2-5 NL tables and a 30-60 game. Having 20+ of their tables and 75% of their players in 3-6 and 1-2NL sure makes sense from a business standpoint, but you are really stuck as a player.

Bellagio, Las Vegas. Epicenter of world poker for the last 9 years. Low limit (4-8 and 8-16) players get treated like the scummy dogs they are. Only a couple tables of these two games now and they are crowded over into a corner. Very cramped. Ask for 1-2 NL and you get cuffed backhand in the mouth with a sneer; "Sir, this is The Bellagio, We don't have 1-2 NL". Always very long wait lists for all games. Like Yogi said, "Nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded."

MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Dark, noisy - I don't get it. Games can be great late night, though.

Un-named generic Las Vegas poker room on the Strip. And theres a dozen of them - many are Harrahs properties. These allow the casino to say they do have a poker room. Most will have a 2-4 table and a 1-2 NL table. Mostly a waste of time to play in them. Upcoming industry consolidation should close many of them. Better for all of us.

Locals Casino poker rooms in Las Vegas. I've about had it with these too. Usually a little nitty, and the players all know each other. You know the casinos; Orleans, Gold Coast, Sams Town, Palace Station, etc. The Station and Coast companies have each opened a new upscale property (RedRock and Green Valley Ranch) and these are much nicer.

Any Isle of Capri casino. Seen one - seen em all.

And some poker rooms that rate in the middle:

Ameristar, St Louis. They are making an effort to spread different games. Hotel is almost done.

Red Rock, Las Vegas. Very nice and new big room. Mostly locals play there, and they just raised their rake to 5, plus 1 for jackpot.

Gold Strike, Tunica. I really like to stay and play here, but all they have is 3-6 (and sometimes 3-6 Omaha) unless its January tourney time or a big holiday weekend. Staff is great, comps are great.

TI, Las Vegas. A fun little room. Sometimes has a rocking mixed game.

Tilters in Vegas

2007-07-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sure ran into a lot of people on TILT in the games in Las Vegas last week. More than usual. Maybe its the WSOP or maybe the heat got to them.

15-30 Holdem at the Wynn. A very active game. Theres an older local Jewish guy at the other end of the table playing very aggressively. Then he loses a couple hands and goes bonkers. Raises almost every hand and street. Blows thru 600-800, and is down to a handful of chips. Cusses the guy who beat him on the last hand and leaves. The player next to me has seen this all before and tells me; "Yeah, when Lanny gets stuck, he can really steam."

8-16 Mixed Game at the Wynn. A young asian hottie sits next to me and has lots of chips. Very pretty girl, but a big mouth barker. Likes to yap at the players she is in a hand with. Sometimes mixes languages and is not understandable. She too plays almost every hand, flings her chips into pot -- gamble gamble gamble. I finally get to play a hand with her:
TD2-7 and I am in bb with an 86532. She open limps,button raises, and I 3bet. All call.
I am pat, she draws 3, button draws 2. I bet, she raises, button folds, I 3 bet and she calls.
I am pat and she draws 1. I bet and she calls.
I am pat and she draws one. I bet and she cusses me in two unknown languages, then folds and throws her cards.

3-6 at the Mirage. A very quiet polite game except for one young guy at the other end of the table. He is real nice too, but is straddling, raising etc etc. Another young guy comes over and talks with him, then leaves and comes back. I see his t-shirt and its from Uof I. So I tell them; "No kidding? You guys are from Uof I? The way you play, I thought you were from Skandanavia." Everyone thinks this is funny except the young guy. Then an older guy (my age) sitting next to me leans over and says the two young guys are his sons. And yes, he does play a little too wild.

4-8 at the Rio (Wsop side games) An oddball game. Two or three good (tight and aggressive) players and a few terrible players. New player comes to the table 2 seats to my right and plays every hand. EVERY HAND! Never made a raise, and rarely bet out. Just stayed in and called. Always saw the flop, usually stayed further with any draw, pair or overcards. Now (as usual) he won some pots with funny holdings. The good players all shut up and the bad players told him how bad he was. "How could you call with that?" He won some pots and was in the game for over an hour before he lost his rack of chips and left. Heres the funny part ---- he never talked to anyone. Was not friendly or talkative at all. Quiet, sullen, frowning. Just played every hand, lost his chips, and left.

So -- theres my four tilters for this trip.

Las Vegas - July 2007

2007-07-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

Only there for four days this summer. Had to miss some things, but got to most of the highlights:

HOT -- Yes, very hot. 116 one day, with most of the others about 112. Walking on the strip is miserable and its a steam bath to get your car from the parking garages too.

POKER - Played several rooms and limits;
Mirage, 10-20, 6-12, and 3-6
Wynn, 15-30, 8-16. And a 8-16 Mixed Game (2-7TD, O/8, Stud/8, and Razz)
Rio 4-8 (wsop cash game area)
TI 3-6
Ballys 3-6
South Point 2-4
Missed out playing at Bellagio, Venetian, Caesars, and Planet Hollywood.

$ WINNINGS - hahahahah, won 100 my first night there (the only triple digit result of the trip) and ended up plus 110. This is NOT enough to pay for the trip. In fact, its not enough to pay for ANY nights hotel room, the rental car, any airline ticket, or the Beatles LOVE show.

ONE POKER HAND - Really only had one interesting hand the whole time.
8-16 at the Wynn, I am in the bb with 77. Two limpers and a late position raiser - all call.
Eight small bets in the pot and four of us see the flop of 7 6 4 with two clubs.
I check, limpers check, pf raiser bets and I raise. Limpers fold and bettor calls.
Six big bets in pot with two players.
Turn is a red Ace. I bet and the other guy folds.

WSOP - I was there the day before the Main Event started and it was a madhouse. The crowd surge was again hilarious. Hundreds of young kids showing up at the last minute and complaining about long lines, etc. Harrahs AGAIN unprepared for it.

The side game area of the tourney room seemed to be set up better than the last couple years. More room and more organized. The "tent" tourney overflow area just looked awful.

Sure missed all the hospitality rooms from the last two years. There were only two this year; Ladbrokes (not open to US players) and PartyPoker (remember them?) had a room.

The Gaming Exposition was really cheesey. Some book selling, but mostly chip salesmen and strip clubs. The Jim Beam tasting booth was kinda ok. I was trying out one of the new "electronic" poker tables that casinos are starting to use. No dealer, no real cards or chips. Just 10 players at an electronic table. But --- the next booth had guys throwing baseballs at a target which would drop a stripper into a dunk tank. She would scream and the water would slosh out into the aisle. Way too distracting for my "A" game.

One funny story---- all the young kids were doing poker "celebrity" sightings and standing in lines to get autographs. "Oooh, oooh, theres Mike the Mouth". I was walking out the hall when I saw a scruffy old guy in blue jeans shuffling/stumbling along in front of me. No one was talking to him, so I went up and said; "Mr Preston, let me tell you a story." We laughed and talked and (as is his reputation) he told me a story too. It was of course Amarillo Slim, and as he walked away (with some difficulty) --- still, none of the young kids knew who he was.

POKER ROOMS:

Mirage - Still my favorite. Made arrangements thru the poker room for the poker room rate at the hotel and it was handled perfectly. Got the buffet comp one day with no problems. Room had games going at all hours and was usually almost full in the evening. Never had to wait long as there were lots of tables and different games and limits going. They had 7stud, Omaha/8, SnG's, nightly tourneys, NL (usually four or five tables) and Limit Holdem at 3-6, 6-12, 10-20, 20-40, and one night a 40-80 game.
Room decor is completely redone from a couple years ago and it looks nice. New table cloth and new chairs are great. Chairs are a little wider than before, so all flop games are 9 handed.

Wynn - A great place. Limit holdem (10 handed even with the huge chairs) at 4-8, 8-16 (with $2 chips) 15-30, and higher. Mixed Game goes sometimes. Omaha/8 at 10-20 and 20-40. Poker room rate at hotel of only $129 on weekdays.

Venetian - A very plush cardroom, but I got a very strange response this trip. Went to the front brush mid afternoon and asked to be signed up for all low and mid limit holdem and mixed games. They said they didn't have any. About 12 tables were running and a tourney was about to start using another 12, leaving the room 2/3 full. The bursh said that the first 12 tables of cash games were all NL and they wouldn't have any limit games until after the tourney ended that evening. He said it would be the same tomorrow. Thus ended my trip to the Venetian.

TI - It was so hot outside, I couldn't even walk from Venetian to Wynn without stopping. TI did NOT have their famous mixed game going when I was there. But its a fun little room, staff is great, players are nice and they are all having a good time and glad you are there.

Bellagio - Another surprise here! I was not treated rudely by the staff. They just took my name and put me on the 4-8 and 8-16 list. Then I saw the corner ghetto where the 4-8 and 8-16 tables are still packed in like sardines.

South Point - A nice little card room and casino. Located on the extreme south of town, just off the Interstate towards LA. A brand new facility (1 year old) with a new name (about 6 months ago). Eleven tables with LOTS of space. Great cocktail service and terrible players.

So thats my few days in Sin City this summer. But, now that we have direct flights_______.

F***ing Sopranos (lots of spoilers)

2007-06-18T08:16:00.000-05:00

This is off topic for this blog, but I recently caught up on the episodes of The Sopranos recently, and I'm a little bit upset. The ending (spoiler alert!) had Tony and his family getting together at a family diner a la ending of season 1. However, with some fancy cinematography, the director builds tension with close shots of some suspicious characters. Finally, the front door of the diner opens and after ten seconds of black screen, the credits roll silently.

Sick...

This ending upset me because of all the unanswered subplots. Yes, Phil Leotardo is dead. New York and New Jersey are working together, but what about AJ and his movie exec. career? What about Tony and his business and also with the feds? What about the two Arabic guys? What about Silvio Dante? Does he ever wake up? If the series ends with Tony getting whacked like many speculate who takes over Jersey? And don't forget about Carlo and how Tony and Sil thought he flipped over to being a rat. Unanswered questions, including what the fuck happened at the end of series finale.

The good thing about the ending is the same reason I hate it, ironically enough. It keeps you buzzing about what happens to the characters. However, the more and more I think about the actual plot-worth of the ending, the more I believe that it's the penultimate question mark fade-in at the "The End" screen right before the credits of a movie. And the series is over, why not satisfy the fans and say what happened to the characters in the end?

David f***ing Chase, you son of a bitch.

online poker update: yes, I'm in korea

2007-06-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here's the update. I was planning on playong on Party Poker and Pacific, but I don't have a bank account here. So, I'm stck playin on Poker Stars and Full Tilt. My online bankroll was small (because I wasn't confident in my online skills) so I had to play small. Originally, I multitabled 6-Max NL, but that got boring. So, I did what I usually do when that happens, play higher limits :) Unfortunately that didn't work out so well, and I was down to kess than $60 on Full Tilt (I didn't touch my stars money to play higher, so I wouldn't go completely broke. Smart boy, eh). Then I had somewhat of a moment of clarity. Instead of reloading onto Full Tilt, I decided to pull a Fergusonian experiment. Chris Ferguson (spelling?) tried to turn $0 into $10,000 starting out by playing the freeroll a few years back. He actually succeeded too. So, I decided to begin my road back from the depths of the red bottom line, by playing sit'n'gos. To date, I've played over 1600 sngs, and have made $700 doing it. I never got bored or tired playing cash games, but sit'n'gos are so gruellingly similar. I've gotten my maximum table threshold high enough so that now I can play 12 tables at once. I've also noticed something strange happening to me. Since I've forced myself to play lower, I'm stressing out over $50-$100 swings which are significant portions of my bankroll. Have I finally learned to appreciate the cost of a dollar? Will I ever tip Pat more than a dollar? Tune in to find out on the next episode of: DAVE'S ADVENTURES IN POKER CYBERSPACE!

Turning Stone

2007-06-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hi loyal followers.
It's been awhile but here's the trip report for Turning Stone:

Day 1
Get there after having maybe 4 hours of sleep in the car for the last two days (The night before there was a party at some frat). I get to the tables, decide to play within the amount of money I brought, which means I kind of have to play low...REALLY low. So I goof around for awhile at 3/6 and 1/2 NL. Afte 6 hours of playing I'm stuck 200. Not good. Since I'm operating on almost zero sleep, I make the obvious logical choice. Electronic sit'n'go poker tables. I always say that I play better tournament poker when I'm tired. End result: I lose more money. Frustrated and tired, I finally decide to pass out

Day 2/3
I wake up, refreshed and ready, go downstairs, eat, and hit the tables. The words "fuck 3/6 limit" come to mind, and I decide to play 300 max NL. I do well, winning back my losses from the night before, meat a two plus two poster at my table and proceed to suck out grossly. He raises in the cutoff, I think he's weak, so I call w/ Ad-9c on the button. Both blinds fold. Js-9d-3d. He continuation bets. I flat call, planning to bet the turn if he checks. 4d on the turn. He bets 3/4 of the pot, I still don't believe him, think he might be representing nut diamond draw, which I have, so I plan on the river going check check, and if he has a jack then so be it. River is the 8d. He checks, sudden change of plans, I have the nut flush, I push he calls, and shows Jd-5d. I was wrong about everything and it worked out I guess. The table breaks soon after. Then I decide to play some more SNGs, push w/ KQ get called by AT, that's the way it goes sometimes. Stuck again, I see 20/40 limit hold'em going. I look at my financial situation, I'm stuck for the trip, yet I decide to play. First table I sit at has some soft spots, but also has some good players. I end up winning $5 over 6 hours. Sick. That table breaks and I get herded to the other 20/40. The game looks really, really soft. Lots of open limping and somewhat poor post flop play from the older people. I sit, immediately lose 500 playing aggressively without reads, reload, and win it all back plus 100. That table breaks and I have to go play 1/2 NL 100 max. Play that all night and win a peanut. Final total 31 hours playing poker +250 sick.

Day 4/5
Another day where I play 30+ hours of poker. After waking up after 18 hours of sleep, I go downstairs, to play a $65 tournie. I 'm playing well, picking up small pots early, trying to amass a big stack so I can play in the later blind rounds when the antes kick in. Structure is so fast it's sick. Finally a hand comes up where an older dude raises 3x the BB in mid pos. One caller between us. I call w/ KQo on the button. Flop comes KT7, he bets again, and I min raise to see where I'm at. My preflop read was something to the effect of a middle pair or a hand like AK, and I need to see if I'm way ahead or way behind. At this point I was totally content with playing a small pot, however he hemms and haws, and makes a very trappy looking call. Now my read changed. Thank God for post flop poker. I thought he had either AK or AA, or TT. Turn came a Q, He checks and I bet half his stack, roughly a pot size bet. He calls, and the river is a J. He pushes in, and I brain fart and call. Donk! he shows AK, and I leave. I play 20/40 for a really long time, book a nice win, and someone informs me that there is a very very juicy 5-5 500 max NL game going. So, I pick up my chips, and sit. The table atmosphere was pretty interesting. Everyone at the table seemed pretty good except two players. A weak tight player in the 1 seat and a really big donater in the 8 seat. So pretty much everyone was taking turns taking shots at them. First hand I actually play, I limp w/ 99, the guy on my left raises 5x the BB, 2 players (including the donater) call between us. I call. Flop comes Ts-9s-2c. I check, PF raiser checks, donater checks, button bets 75, I check raise to 200. PR raiser moves in. Donater insta-folds, button thinks for a long long time and folds, I think for second (TT?) but without a read on him on whether he would do that w/ QsJs or AA I have no idea so I kind of have to call. He shows TT, brick turn brick river, and I'm stuck a quick 5. I reload, and the next hand I play I limp on the donaters BB w/ 5s6d. Not a limp I'd make often, given I was in mid pos. but like I said we were targetting the weak spots in the table. A girl in the cutoff makes it $40, donater calls, and I call, delighted to play a big pot w/ the donater. Flop comes: 3d-5d-6c. A total gin flop. I decide to fastplay my hand because if the preflop raise was AK it could easily just check around. I bet $100 Instead of folding, she raises to $275, the donater pushes for $330, and I think about the action. The girl has AA or QQ or something like that, maybe AdKd. The way the donater put his money in, I felt he had a draw Ad4d or 78 or something like that. I push for my last 400, the girl thinks thinks thinks thinks and finally folds. The turn come a 9s and the river comes a Js. A pretty good turn and river unless he had Jd9d, but of course if he had 78 he got there. He shows Qd9d, and I scoopo a 1200 pot. About three rounds later, I have JJ in the BB, the cutoff raises to 5x BB, SB calls, and I call. The flop comes QsJcX. I check, he bets 45, and I raise to 150, he instapushes. Deja vu visions of the 99 vs TT hand early in the night, and I finally call. Turn and river brick, and he mucks. The last big hand that I played I had 2d8d in the big blinds. Everyone including the donater limped. The flop came 2x5x7s. Everyone checked the flop, the turn was the 8s. I value bet about 3/4 of the pot. The donater called. River came the Ad. I value bet and he called, he had As2s. Sick. Immediately after that, I leave to go play another tournament, one of the $500 buy in ones. I play well running my 2k stack into about 10k. When the following hand comes up. I raise in the cutoff w/ J9, and the BB calls. Flop comes: J83 rainbow, he check raises about 2.5x what I had, I look at how much he has left which is less that 2BBs and I push. He instacalls, and a stack of 1k chips come from behind his cupholder into the pot! W...T...F... I'm crippled and have to push in 2 levels later w/ A9 in the cutoff and get called by 87, of course gets there. Sick... I go upstairs to go drink some beer and probably sleep. Actually, by "sleep" I meant go back to the poker room and play drunken 20/40. I sucked out w/ AQ against JT on an AK7Q board, getting three bets in on the turn, and the river came an A, and then I got sucked out on w/ AA against 78, when the flop came J63 three bets on the flop (my opponnent was also drunk) T on the turn, 9 on the river. Whee! Then I finally quit.

Running total 80+ of poker +1000

Last day (roullette!)
For those of you who went to Tunica with me, you know my problems with table games. Anyway, after an uneventful last day, where I might've lost 300 playing 20/40, and another 100 or 200 playing 1/2 NL, we went and played roullette. I started out horribly, losing 300 when I meant to only lose 100 playing the stupid game. Then I went on an amazing rush winning it all back plus an extra 120. Finally we left.

My internet poker upudate soon to come!

Updates on my poker life

2007-05-18T08:05:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted on this thing. But there are a few exciting new things that have happened recently to me. I'm going to go overseas for summer break, so I figured I should learn how to play online poker well. And thus begins my Frodo-esque journey leaving the Shire of live poker to delve into the world of online cash game poker. I recently gave up playing single table tournaments, mostly because I got tired of pushing all in w/ A-8. I plan on chronicling my journey of online poker in this blog. I will be playing low stakes (I don't have much money online and Abe says bankroll management...blah blah blah....) shorthanded no limit on Poker Stars. I'll need to adjust quite a bit since I play significantly higher stakes live. I've booked two sessions and I've been two-outed a six times. Whee!

More to come later.

Also! Had a trip to Turning Stone. Two 30+ hour sessions of poker, two 15+ hours of sleep sessions, and drinking Canadian beer in the room. I'll write up a more detailed trip report later.

And one more thing: I'm a poker player. I attend college as an English major. I'm dedicated to the game. So, the only logical job prospect for me would be to get a job working at Cardplayer college. any help from my readers would be nice.

Noted Poker Authority

2007-05-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

Ed Miller was a young poker player in Las Vegas and got the nickname "Noted Poker Authority" --- before he really became one.

His three (so far) books are generally considered the best in their field for specific audiences:

Small Stakes Hold'em --coauthored with Sklansky and Malmuth in 2004 is the best limit holdem book for playing in loose games.

Getting Started in Hold'em -- written in 2005 is the best beginner book for Holdem. It covers basics, limit, NL, and tourneys.

No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice --coauthored with Sklansky in 2006. An excellent book stressing NL concepts and containing a heavy math approach.

Also in 2006, he issued Ed Miller's Limit Hold'em. This is a 4 DVD set that covers limit holdem concepts and skills in an explanatory fashion.

Due out later this year is his first of two books covering NL Holdem cash games.

Ed used to be a prolific poster on 2+2 and his contributions were superb. He now has his own website where he writes great columns and discusses hands, etc.

Take a look; www.notedpokerauthority.com

Two Poker Stories

2007-04-26T18:51:00.000-05:00

Story # 1 -- Cavemen Playing Poker
Its 40,000 years ago. Ice age on the European continent. Theres a bunch of cavemen sitting around playing poker. One of the cavemen tables a 5 high straight, and says; "I got the wheel". The other cavemen look at him and ask; "What is that?"

Story # 2 -- Dog Playing Poker
I taught my dog how to play poker. Taught him all the games, all the odds, all the plays. When to fold, when to bluff, how many cards to take, how much to bet -- everything. But my dog could never win. Every time he had a good hand, he wagged his tail.

Kathy Hudson learns Badugi

2007-03-10T08:40:00.000-06:00

Playing in a mixed game rotation with Kathy Hudson in the game. We are all enjoying hearing her Las Vegas, WSOP, and Tournament stories.

Someone adds Badugi to the mix. (It wasn't me)
Kathy had never played Badugi before, so it gets explained and she "gets it" right away. Wins a few hands and says; "I like this game".
I think we've created a monster!

You can read some about Kathy in the Poker Dealer Hall of Fame at; www.razzo.com

Now - about that Badugi game. Well, its four card lowball. A234 is the perfect hand. But you can only use one card of the same suit. Also, only one paired card can be used. So if you had any hand of four different suit (a badugi), that would beat any hand with a pair or two of a suit. A paired hand or a hand with two of a suit can only play 3 cards -- and sometimes the best 3 card hand wins.

To start the game there is a small and big blind, four cards are dealt to each player, there is a betting round, followed by three drawing and betting rounds. Very similar structure as Triple Draw Lowball.

This game is usually played for HUGE stakes at tourneys. And its often included in mixed game formats at low to high stakes. Theres not much in writing on it yet. Best sources are the Other Games Forum at; www.twoplustwo.com and a writeup at; www.deathdonkey.com

Poker Tournament Feb 17th

2007-02-06T11:36:00.000-06:00

The next Poker Tournament will be Saturday, Feb 17th. Location is the Northender VFW at 2349 Stockyard Rd.

Doors open at 1pm and the tourney starts at 2pm. Sponsored by ABATE. Contact 638-2013

Probably 8 - 10 tables. $50 entry. Must be 18 to play

Are you receiving SpringfieldPoker e-mails ?

2007-02-05T20:22:00.000-06:00

Every month or so, I send out "group list" e-mails on poker topics of interest.

Are you receiving these e-mails? If not, its because I don't have your e-mail addy. So c'mon ----get ON my list.

Contact me at; SpringfieldPoker@att.net
Tell me what you would like to hear about, i.e. poker tournaments, dealing poker tournaments, etc etc.

MORE Springfield Tournament pictures!

2007-01-26T19:14:00.000-06:00

The eventual winner. Congratulations!
The winning hand.
The other dealer for the final table.
A nice lady I met, named Muffin.

Some Springfield Tournament Pictures

2007-01-26T17:48:00.000-06:00

The final table
The final Table.
The singular worst suck-resuck bad beat I've ever dealt in one of our tournaments.
Getting ready for the Abate tournament.
The final hand.
Winner of the K of C bounty thanks to Greg Langdon.

Blue felt?
The famous one fingered salute a la Dotty.

An old tournie picture.

My final table

2007-01-22T17:10:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone, it's Dave again. I assume you've read what Abe has written about my experience in Tunica. Not to toot my own horn, but I am currently the 256th best tournament poker player in the world, according to Cardplayer magazine. Since I'm sort of a big deal now here in Springfield, I decided to write about it, since I am an English major anyway (Cardplayer college, this is my request to join your bullpen of writers, I play poker and I'm in college, perfect match, no?).

Abe tells everyone differently, but my road to the final table of the stud 8/b tournament was a little bit longer than he says. In actuality, you need the back story, beginning with the day I arrived.

As soon as we got to Tunica, and after running to the bathroom stall, I was a kid in a candy store. In fact, compared to everyone else at the casino I was a 21 year old wet behind the ears baby. My eyes were dancing from the slot machines to the dice tables to the blackjack tables. I was having the greatest time of my life. I'm glad I'm not epileptic, because I would've collapsed on the floor, twitching in seizure with a ridiculous grin on my face.

Then I got carded for the first of a million times.

This is something that eluded me. I specifically tried to have conversations with all the casino workers to somehow imprint myself into their memories so they wouldn't card me. They never stopped. I kept pulling out my passport after statements like "They let you into the casino?!!" and "Yeah, you look young...". I decided to conduct a little personal survey, and asked casino personal how young they thought I looked. They said 26. Why they carded me? No idea...

After looking at the Gold Strike poker room, I was chomping at the bit to get my money on the table. I might've been a little over-eager, because within three hours at a 10-20 Omaha 8/b table, I experienced my first and biggest loss at a casino. Stuck $800 and a little dejected, I stumbled into the tournament room, only to get my second wind of excitement. I sat down to play a $65 sit'n'go tournament (my bread and butter game online) only to lose that too. I wasn't too dejected, however, because I had found I was playing the sit'n'gos much better than everyone else there. I was actually invigorated, and mad at myself for being such a big loser for the day. Big losses aren't the only thing given out liberally to 21 year olds, though, and got the first of many comped meals, and went to bed vowing to destroy the sit'n'go tables.

I slept for four hours, then woke up at 7:30 AM, because that was when the tournament room began to spread sit'n'go tournaments. Still a little groggy, I picked up some money at the ATM for buy-ins, and proceeded to win three $500 entry chips. I was getting ready to pick my seating card for another single table tournament, when I found, to my surprise, I had no cash! While I was an overall winner for the trip, I was broke! All my money was in tournament entry chips. Luckily, I found some people willing to buy my entry chips for cash, and ended the day a few hundred dollars ahead.

The next day, I discovered a hidden trait of mine that I had never known before. I was grinding it out, playing 10/20 limit hold'em at the Horseshoe, and our table broke after fifteen hours. I was stuck about $150. The only games that were being spread at the time were 4/8 limit, and 20/40 limit. My decision was to either drop down, or take a shot. Since I'm an action junky, I walked to the 20/40 table. They were playing Omaha 8/b with a half kill to 30/60. I had about $370 in chips, nowhere near enough to play comfortably at that level. I was nervous, and to make it worse, no one was saying a word at the table. I tried my best, in my most congenial manner to liven up the table. I was greeted by cold stares. My first hand I played I ended up having to call someone down with a weak hand for the high half of the pot. My read was right, though and I ended up chopping. In the next round, I watched the table, and found something interesting. The players here were much, much worse than any player at the 10/20 game. In the next hour and half, I carved the table up, turning my $370 into $1700, playing exactly five hands. Then I politely excused myself, and cashed out three racks of red chips, and some spare greens, silently praying that those players played every day. I looked at my watch, and was surprised to see it was 6:30 in the morning. I had been playing for 18 hours! And I was nowhere near tired, so I went back to the Gold Strike to play some of the sit'n'gos, and won a few before lunchtime came, and I went to sleep.

I grinded out a small profit in the cash games in the next few days. With my newfound talent for stamina in poker sessions, I played an 18 hour 10/20 hold'em session and broke exactly even, minus a half hour massage. Frustrated and working 36 hours of being awake, I walked to the tournament registration desk and registered for the day's tournament, 7 stud 8/b, which was my best game.

I expected the field to be weak, since stud was a dying game. But to my surprise, my first table was a disciplined, and full of tough east coast-ers. I played really tight, and stole antes on one hand, and got lucky and scooped another pot and when the table broke, I had turned my initial 3000 into 4000. Then, I picked up a few good hands. There was one hand I played funny. I had (K2) 4, and brought it in. I called the completed raise, planning to dump the hand if he caught good. The only way I was going to go ahead with the hand was if I caught good (K,A,3,5,6,7,8) and he caught bad. And that's exactly what happened, kind of. He paired his door card (3) and I caught and ace. He bet, and I decided to call. The fifth street brought him a 7 for a board of (337) and I caught a King for (4AK). He checked and I bet, to his surprise. He called, and caught a queen on 6th street, I caught a 6 and bet the hand. I checked in the dark, in case he made a scoop hand, like a small straight or two pair. He checked behind, clearly missing his low and, my pair of kings scooped. In retrospect, although it worked out for me, my third street call only got me in trouble. If I had suspected him to be stealing, the third street call isn't horrible, as I could outplay him in the later streets, but there was no chance that he was stealing, considering his position, and the door cards up. After the dinner break, I was all in for the first time. I had four little ones with a pair of kings, squeezing my 7th street card, hoping for a low. I felt I didn't have much of a chance of winning the hand since I was against two players, but to my surprise, my lone pair of kings scooped the pot, tripling me up! I then went on a little rush picking up split kings a few times, and scooping a few pots, and getting away from some close hands, when I had two pair. When we got down to the final table, I had been awake for close to 50 hours, and been playing the tournament for around 10 hours. I was third in chips.

It took a little convincing to get me to not play cash games after the tournament broke for the day. But my conscience and my friends urged me to sleep. I didn't feel tired, and wanted play some 10/20 or 20/40.

The next day, after having slept for the first time in two and a half days, I went to work at the final table. I started out with some nice hands, and I played them aggressively and after my opponents missed fourth and fifth streets, I picked up some small pots, building my 93,000 into around 120,000. Then disaster struck. Around four or five hands in a row, I had to squeeze my 7th street cards. If I picked up my perfect card usually a small suited card for a flush and low, I would've scooped and terrorized the table. But to my disgust, I ended picking up tens, and pairing my small cards. Eventually, I threw my last 1000 chip as an ante. I hadn't looked at my hole cards, because I had no chips, but I didn't have much of a board. I think it was something like Q,6,10,7. Anyway I squeezed my first card, and it was a 5. I squeezed my next one and it was an 8. Now, I had a hand. My opponent had no low with a pair of aces. I needed 9 to scoop, or an ace, 2, 3, or 4 for half. I squeezed, and it was a ten. My day ended, the way my last five hands went, squeezing the river card, only to catch bad.

Tunica Highlights - part 1

2007-01-17T20:28:00.000-06:00

11 days in Tunica -- SO many stories:

The New Dealers - Patrick and Amanda got jobs dealing at the WPO tournament, a WPT event. They were dealing tourneys, satellites, big limit cash games and the regular Gold Strike poker room. Both doing great, and getting good reviews. SO much better than most of the usual tournament dealers. They were both dealing Stud, Omaha, the whole bit. Patrick even dealing some Triple Draw.

Final Table Dave - Dave K enters a 7stud Hi Lo Tournament with 160 others and makes the Final Table. Wins 7th place and much $. See his picture and complete tourney stats on; www.pokerpages.com click on WPO and select the 7stud hilo event, then click on his name.

All the Springfield Guys - 15 of us there by my count, maybe more. Great fun seeing so many of the Springfield players there. I've been going to Tunica since '96 and to their tourneys since '99. Its a wonderful time and a great value.

The Midnight Shift - I played from midnight to 5 or 6am almost every day. The players were worse and more numerous than in past years. Also - I never had to wait for a seat.

My "0 for 2" Day - One morning I played at the Horseshoe until 3am then went to the Gold Strike until 5:30. Very bad timing. At 3:15 the Horseshoe poker players saw a huge fight that started in the snack bar then rumbled out into the casino pit. At 5:45 the Gold Strike poker room hit their $250,000 bad beat jackpot. All players seated got $1,700.

Off to Tunica We Go

2007-01-03T09:25:00.000-06:00

Theres SO many people from Springfield going this year. This should be great fun.

WPO tournaments - at the Gold Strike starts on Jan 4 and runs for 3 weeks.
WSOP-C tournaments - at the Grand starts Jan 8 and runs for a week.
Horseshoe will have daily tourneys and they have added 16 tables so theres lots of room for cash games.
Sams and Hollywood will probably have increased poker action too.

Hope to see you there.

DUDE ! -- I'm gettin a Dell

2006-12-01T15:26:00.000-06:00

Finally. A desktop computer again.

Had been operating with only a laptop at home for the last year. Was getting pretty tired of the itty-bitty keyboard and the small screen that you had to hunch over and look down at.

Desktop has much bigger processor, memory and hard drive compared to the laptop. So funny though -- the laptop is about 10 times better than the first computer I bought 10 years ago. Got a great deal - from Alex of course.

Now: this new computer is going to make my e-mails better, my blog more informative, and improve my play on PokerStars.

Hand of the Week -- needs a title.

2006-11-20T14:26:00.000-06:00

First lets describe the hand, then we'll talk about comments, themes and titles.

I'm in a loose limit holdem game with black 8's in mid position. Two limpers to me, I call, the button calls and the big blind raps.

5 small bets in pot, 5 players see flop of; 9d 8d 2h. Blind and first limper checks, second limper bets, I call, button raises, blind and first limper fold, second limper and I call.

11 small bets in pot, 3 players see turn of; 7d Limper checks, I check, button bets, and both call.

8 big bets in pot, 3 players see the river of, 2s. Limper checks, I check, button bets, limper calls, I checkraise, and the button RE-Raises. Limper folds and I call.

Hand Play Comments:
--Pre-flop, an optional play is a raise to drive out the button and the blinds and play vs the limpers with position.
--On flop, there should be lots of draws in play. I'm just going to wait till the large bet round and if a brick falls, then bet or raise. Button raise spoils my plan, but looks like a flush or straight draw.
--Turn is a "death card" putting a straight, flush and straight flush up. I go into check-call mode, and expect to on the river also.
--River pairs the board - HA! Back to my original plan. I checkraise (very rude) and then get RE-raised. A reraise of a checkraise usually signals a very strong hand, and theres lots of hands that beat my 88822: straight flushes, quad 2's and 99922. But, she could have 2's full or even a big flush. So, I call it.

Results: Button shows 99. My first "set over set" loser this year. I was beat the whole hand. I was "drawing dead -- and got there".

Hand of the Week 7: Razz Edition

2006-11-14T11:39:00.000-06:00

Here's a hand that happened to me recently in the HORSE games on stars. No one was short stacked enough to make going all-in a possibility:

3rd Street
seat 1 [Qd]
seat 2 [Kd]
seat 3 [9h]
seat 4 [5s]
seat 5 [3d]
seat 6 [6c]
seat 7 [Ah]
Me [7d 5c 9c]

The Kd brings it in. The 9h, 3d, 6c, and I call the bring-in.
Before we go any further, we can analyze what has happened so far. Since the bring-in was only flat called by all these players, the marginal holding of [7d5c9c] is not a bad call, because the multiway pot and the cheap price. Considering the fact that all the hands that flat called, they probably have weak hands similar to mine. With this knowledge, outplaying them would be simply done by watching their boards.

4th street

seat 2 [Kd Jd]
seat 3 [9h 7c]
seat 5 [3d Kc]
seat 6 [6c Qs]
Me [7d 5c] [9c Ts]

Action: Everone checks

Fairly standard so far. At this point, there a very good chance that my hand is good, considering seat 3's check. If he does have a hand that dominates mine there is no reason for him to check here. He has no need to fear any of the boards that contain paint. I check simply to be play it safe.

5th Street
seat 2 [Kd Jd 5d]
seat 3 [9h 7c Ks]
seat 5 [3d Kc 3s]
seat 6 [6c Qs 8s]
Me [7d 5c] [9c Ts Qc]

Seat 6 checks
I check
Seat 2 checks
Seat 3 bets
Seat 5 calls
Seat 6 folds
I raise
Seat 3 calls
Seat 5 calls

I plan on ripping 6th street for free, because everyone's board sucks. However the action that goes down changes my plans. Since the only hand [6 Q 8] I fear folds, I can now really punish these players who are playing with open threes and AT BEST a 9-7 draw. I am fairly sure I have the best hand here. The open threes calling me worries me, but no two hole cards could scare me.

6th Street
seat 3 [9h 7c Ks Qh]
seat 5 [3d Kc 3s 4h]
Me [7d 5c] [9c Ts Qc Ad]

Action
I bet
Seat 3 calls
Seat 5 raises
I 3-bet
Seat 3 flat calls
Seat 5 calls

I have the best hand and I'm betting and raising, the best that seat 3 is drawing for is a 9-7, the best that seat 5 could have is wheel draw. In my mind that couldn't be true, because he would've raised 3rd street instead of limping. And even if he does have A-2-3-4, then I still have the best hand, going into the last card. Why he raises, I have no idea.

7th street
seat 3 [9h 7c Ks Qh]
seat 5 [3d Kc 3s 4h]
Me [7d 5c] [9c Ts Qc Ad] [8d]

Action
I check
Seat 3 checks
Seat 5 bets
I call
Seat 3 calls

Seat 5 [Ac 2h 3d Kh 3s 4h Th] (Lo: T,4,3,2,A)

Me [7d 5c 9c Ts Qc Ad 8d] (Lo: 9,8,7,5,A)

Seat 3 [2d As 9h 7c Ks Qh 8h] (Lo: 9,8,7,2,A)

What happened:
I decide to play it safe and check-call the last street. Seat 5's aggression is perplexing, and I have absolutely no idea why he would be so aggressive into our boards, which clearly have him beat, but it's enough to get me to slow down, even though I improved on 7th street. Another perplexing thing is Seat 3's willingness to put so much money in on 5th street and 6th street, where 2 big bets and 3 big bets went in on a very very small pot, when he was clearly behind.

This hand buggered my mind. I still have no idea what to think of it. Perhaps I pushed small edges too far in this hand, but considering the circumstances it seemed like the right thing to do.

Thoughts?

Gifts from PokerStars

2006-11-12T16:49:00.000-06:00

PokerStars sent me a large box filled with goodies (mostly books and chips) to give away at upcoming tournaments. Tracie and Robert will no longer be able to laugh at me for handing out schlock prizes.

The stuff was completely free. I had attended a Sklansky seminar at the Stars hospitality room at last summer's WSOP and talked about it with one of their "muckety-mucks".

Thanks, PokerStars. - - - - -Now, about that Triple Draw Lowball game.

Hand of the Week -- Flopping the Nuts

2006-10-30T15:48:00.000-06:00

Playing 10 -20, I'm in the cutoff seat and pick up Ad Qd.
UTG limps, a middle position players limps, and I raise it. Button cold calls, big blind calls, and all limpers call.

$100 in pot and 5 of us see flop of; Td 7d 2d.
UTG bets out, and middle limper calls. I call (we'll discuss this later) and the button raises. Blind folds, UTG and Middle limper calls. I call.

$180 in pot and 4 of us see turn of a black 2. UTG bets out (again) and now the quiet middle limper puts in a raise ! --- "Action is to you, sir."

I'll put in a comment with my action and reason. Also - a discussion of the flop call (S) and will tell the results of the hand.

You think about this hand and put in a comment too.

Poker in Southern Indiana - 4 Poker Rooms

2006-10-28T12:01:00.000-05:00

ARGOSY - LAWRENCEBURG
This casino has been open for 10 years and is the closest to Cincinnatti Ohio. The poker room opened 6 months ago and has taken most of the players from the next two listed rooms --with good reason.
Nice new facility with 15 tables - 10 in play on a Thursday evening. Four tables of 1-3 NL, and one table of 2-5NL. Four tables of 3-6, and one table of 6-12. Bigger games and Omaha on weekends.
A big surprise! Both the manager and the day shift supervisor (Robert and Terry) used to work in similar positions at the Gold Strike in Tunica. Much asking of; "What are YOU doing here?"
I liked this room. Got to play 6-12 while watching the Cards beat the Mets for the National League Championship too. This is only a 5 hour drive from Springfield and could easily be base for a Cincinnatti Reds game.

GRAND VICTORIA - RISING SUN
10 miles down the river road, and its a ghost town. A nice separate 7 table poker room. Completely empty on a Thursday afternoon - no players, no dealer, no floorman. Had a "sign up list" though. 2 names on it.

BELTERRA - BELTERRA
Another 20 miles down the river road. A beautiful facility out in the middle of nowhere. A 12 table poker room with 3 in play on a Friday afternoon. 1-2NL, 2-4 and 3-6. The dealers we saw were excellent and the players were pitiful.

CAESARS - ELIZABETH/NEW ALBANY
Over the bridge from Louisville, KY. Another set of huge new buildings out in the woods. Then a walkway over the highway and you step onto the boat. Biggest damn gambling boat I've ever seen. A 30 table poker room everyday. Supplemented by another 20+ tables for the WSOP circuit event. Poker room has ists own cashier, snack bar, and bathrooms.
Big lists for a dozen different games. NL Holdem was 1-2, 2-5, 5-10 and an interest list for higher. Limit Holdem was 2-4-4-8, 4-8, 5-10 w/K, 10-20 w/K, 20-40. PLO at some different limits, and 30-60 stud. Interest lists for Omaha/8 and mixed game.
Tournaments running at noon, another at 3, megasats later, and single table sats running most of the time. Cash games were pretty squeezed out. Big waiting lists from 10am to midnight. And the staff seemed to have great difficulty making the transition from breaking a tourney table thru all the details to starting a new cash game table.
One funny story - althought I have seen this a lot in the last year or two. Dozen different games on the list. 150 names on the 1-2 NL list. Couple of young guys get in line, look at the list, and tell the brush; "I wanna play 1-2 No Limit". She writes their name on the bottom and asks them if they want on list for any other games. They stare dumbfounded; "Duh? Huh?"

Poker in Southern Indiana - general

2006-10-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

CT and I went on a driving tour of some Southern Indiana poker rooms. Got to play in four different casino poker rooms, see the WSOP Circuit event, and then visit our ole buddy Randy.

My first time in this part of Indiana and in these poker rooms. Some general comments first:
--Indiana has been very clever in its location of casinos -- right over the border from Cincinnatti Ohio, and right over the bridge from Louisville KY.
--All had a huge, nice, expensive physical plant (hotels, central building, restaurants, shops, golf courses, etc) and then a walkway to the gaming area -- on a BOAT. Thats right - an actual boat. Usually in a separate landing area (moat) but sometimes actually on the river. No cruising though - it just has to be on a boat.
--Poker available 24/7 in most. Good variety of games/limits. $5 rake everywhere + $1 for BBJ. Yow - thats pretty hefty for the low limits. Soft drinks are complimentary, beer and cocktails you pay (a lot) for.
--Poker rooms all had nice facilities. Nicer than Ameristar in St Louis, not as nice as Harrahs. Nicer than the Grand in Tunica, not as nice as Horseshoe.
--Dealers were surprisingly good in all locations. Only had one bad dealer, and he was an extra hire for the WSOP tourney.
--Players were pretty unskilled. A little rural, but nice and polite. Not as nice as Tunica, but much nicer than the goons in northern Indiana.

This was way too long, so I'll do a separate post about the individual poker rooms.

Ladies Poker Night -- Oct 17th

2006-10-06T15:29:00.000-05:00

The next Ladies Poker Night will be Tuesday Oct 17th, from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Knights of Columbus on west Iles.

Poker Tournament in Springfield

2006-10-05T16:26:00.000-05:00

Sunday Oct 15th starting at 6pm. At the northside VFW, located on Stockyards road just 1/2 block north of Sangamon Ave.

Entry fee is $50 and the tourney will be limited to 12 tables.

This tournament is sponsored by ABATE and is a charity gaming event. Its 100% legal - with a license from the Dept of Revenue. Its perfectly ok, you can bring your aunt, your minister, or your policeman neighbor. ABATE will be having three more of these in the upcoming few months.

Final table will start about 9 and tourney will be over by about 10. Those of you with jobs to go to on Monday can still get lots of sleep. (Man - I sure wish I still had a job to go to on Monday mornings)

Food and bevs available at the VFW.

To get a seat, you can show up the day of the tourney and hope. You may want to be a little early - cards will be in the air right after 6pm. Or you can pay me. Or you can contact Sandy Barnett (891-6297 and pay her.

The Nation's Ports are More Secure Now !

2006-10-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

Congress passed the Port Security bill over the weekend.

At the last minute, Senator Frist snuck in 30 pages of prohibitions which will make it a lot harder for online poker players.

Playing online poker was not and is not against the law. The new legislation attacks the funding of accounts - and perhaps the cashing out as well. Some online sites will shut off service to USA customers.

Keeping you from playing a Party sit-and-go will certainly make our Ports more secure. International terrorism will be defeated by keeping you from that H.O.R.S.E. game on Stars.

Ladies Poker Night -- Tuesday Oct 3rd

2006-09-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

Ladies Poker Night is starting again on Tuesday.

The first meeting will be Oct 3rd at the westside Knights of Columbus, located at west Iles and Meadowbrook. We will start at 5:30 pm and finish at 7:30. Future dates will be decided by the participants and announced.

This is for instructional purposes only - there is no real money betting. We will have a short "poker lesson" or discussion topic, an instructional hand, and then have a mock tournament. Based on participant interest, we can also replicate the casino poker cash game situation.

Friends, relatives, co-workers and strangers are welcome. We will have a "beginners table" for those who have never played or are unsure of the rules, mechanics, etc.

There is no charge of any kind for this.

Tunica - in January

2006-09-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Its only a few weeks away!

TWO major tournaments:
-- World Poker Open (a WPT event) at the Gold Strike starting Jan 4 thru the 25th
-- WSOP Circuit event at the Grand starting Jan 8 thru the 18th

Both locations will have single table sats running around the clock. Both will have super-sats daily. Gold Strike will have daily "Second Chance" ($200 and $500) No Limit Hold'em Tournaments - for those of you who only know how to play one game. Horseshoe will also be having tourneys. And Sams will probably join in too.

The first weekend (Jan 5-7) will have the most players because of the $500 buy-in events. Single largest field will probably be on Saturday Jan 6th. The second weekend (Jan 12-14) will be real good too, because its a three day weekend. Talk with me about tips for dealing with the crowd surge.

Side games will be plentiful at Grand, Horseshoe, Gold Strike and the Gold Strike tourney area. ALL the games at a wide variety of stakes.

Rooms are available NOW at the Gold Strike. Tourney rate is 45/65. If you want to wait, you'll be able to pay more later. Call the Gold Strike on a weekday afternoon, 888-245-7529 and ask for the Poker Room. Then ask for Sonya and tell her what dates you want. She will book and confirm right then. You will need a credit card to be charged for the first night - refundable if you later cancel. Gold Strike players card is nice but not required.

Your costs for this trip will be your room, gasoline, -- and thats it. All drinks are free, plentiful and semi-required. You can pay for food if you want - or you can get several buffets, reataurants, and players area food all comped.

See you there. We can go to the museums, the mall, the old downtown, and the Gospel Churches.

Holiday Weekends in Tunica

2006-09-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

This is really the best time to go.

The poker rooms are full of players, but not overpacked with long waiting lines. Several games at several limits are available. The other players are a "touristy mix" from a 400 mile radius. Games are much easier than in January when all the good poker players from everywhere are in town.

Labor Day Weekend Update:

Gold Strike had 3-6, 4-8, and a sporadic 6-12 and 10-20. NL was 1-2. Omaha/8 was 3-6 with a full kill.

Horseshoe had 4-8, 10-20, and 20-40. NL was 2-5 and usually 5-10. Even 7 stud 1-5 went everyday.

Both poker rooms had daily tourneys, sometimes more than one.

Grand, Sams, and Hollywood poker rooms are still open; but I never left "campus".

Gold Strike hotel rooms are still 25 - 35 on weekends. Meal comps are still plentiful - Shoe is even comping the Friday seafood buffet again.

I'm ready to go back. Is it January yet?

Tournament Hand of the Week: Why Lucid75 is an tournie idiot and should stick to cash games

2006-09-11T02:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I said I was going to stick to side games. I'm just better at them. but after trying the week of tournament poker only, my preflop poker has dramatically improved, and I found a new outlet for my tournament poker degeneratum. I am a sick gambler and keep coming back to Stars like a crack addict. I found out that Stars had a new set of tournaments, deep stacks! 30 min. blinds, 5k in starting chips, blinds starting at 10/20. What more could you want? So, I registered for a Pot limit hold'em tournie.

Things went very very very very very very slow for the first two levels. I had literally no pairs, and the best 3 hands I had preflop were: AJo, ATo, and KTo. Sick. But because of the blind structure, I could hang around and had about 4.6k at the end of the second level. After the first break, I started picking up some hands, and by about 150/300 I had about 18-20k in chips. I think I was about 9th in chips. Then this hand came up:

The BB is sitting out.

Hero [QcJd] raises in middle pos. to 750
Player to immediate left flat calls.
blinds fold.

Flop [Kh Th 3d] pot: 1950
Hero bets 1000
player raises the pot (about 3.7k).
Hero calls.

Turn [Kh Th 3d] [Jh] pot: 11850
Hero checks.
Player bets the 3000.
Hero raises the pot and moves in (about 12k).
Player calls and shows [Ks Ts]

River is a blank and I lose.

Here's what I was thinking, and why I'm an idiot. Preflop raise is a little unorthodox, considering my positioin, but the BB was dead, so I can raise from earlier positions. My flop bet continuation is standard. When the player to my left raises the pot, I feel like he's hitting the pedal to the metal with AK or AA or TT or 33, and if I can spike a card he'll pay me off bigtime. Betting/raising the pot from this player usually meant he didn't stop usually no matter what came, unless it was a scary scary card. So, I'm calling the 3.7k bet to get the rest of his chips (about 13k). The turn comes the third heart, and when he bets less than his flop bet, he's fearing the hearts. So, game plan out the window here, and I just bluff w/ outs if he does call.

Here's why I'm an idiot, and that a dumb bluff. Considering his position preflop, he is not calling to defend a dead blind. He, more than likely has a legitimate hand, a pair or two big cards. My play until the turn, I feel is fine, when the turn comes, and I throw my original plan out the window, is where I get stupid. This player was more likely to just fold on the flop, if he missed, rather than trying a re-steal. Based off my read, he didn't have a flush already. Now, if he has the hand that I think he has, two big cards, he has almost the same hand I have, plus he could have the nut flush draw w/ Ah Ks, or a hand similar, Kc Qh, or even a two pair hand, like Kc Jc. In all of these cases, he either is pot commited (almost always) has to call the check-raise on the turn, or just won't fold two pair. Considering the range of hands he had in this spot, he wasn't laying down most of them, and only a small percentage of the time would fold two black cards that made two pair here. Even if I was right and he did fear hearts, he has to call most of the time, and when someone is going to call you most of the time in any spot where you're bluffing, that's a bad spot to bluff.

It's a better bluff if I have the Qh. That eliminates the chance that he has it, and the only hearts he could hold and is the Ah.

'Till next time, I hope I run better...

The WORST Poker room in Illinois ?

2006-09-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Thats right - I went to Aurora again.

Funny story: When the casino boats were required to "cruise"; they used to push this boat out into the Fox River, have it go chug-a-chug, then haul it back in.

This used to be a small poker room on the upper deck of the boat. The room was poorly run, closed on weekends, and you had to cash in chips downstairs. When Illinois raised the taxes on casinos a couple of years ago, Aurora responded by CHARGING ADMISSION to the poker room, charging for the self park, and eliminating most comps.

I had played there once in the '90s and once about 6 years ago. Thought this poker room was much worse than the other 2 existing Illinois rooms. Saw no reason to ever return to Aurora, but there I was last month.

Hey ! Things are a little better. They have a "land based or dockside" casino now. Its small but kind of nice. Lots of 1920s and '30s Art Deco and Hollywood Movie stuff. The poker room is a hard to find unmarked alcove. Several six foot high panels separate it from the main casino. These panels do not keep the casino smoke and noise out. Two tables of 10-20 with 1/2 K to 15-30. Three tables of 5-10. One table used for SnG's.

Floorstaff was pretty good, dealers were nothing special, customers were typical rude suburbanites. Rake was a breathtaking $6 per hand. No charge for admission or parking.
Number of "Gaming Positions" is sometimes a problem, especially on weekends. Poker room gets the word to NOT open another table. Or --- to shut one down.

Someone drive down to Metropolis and play a few hands in their Poker Room. Then post a report here and then we'll select the current WORST poker room in Illinois.

K of C tournament 2

2006-08-27T18:07:00.000-05:00

Carol, the second place finisherJack and Chad enjoying being shortstacked.

Another table.

The final table.

K of C tournament pics 1

2006-08-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

Dan shows us his game face. He has a big tell here. I think he needs to use the bathroom.

Marla playing with chips. I am the "little shit" that can't deal cards.

The final 3! Jack (background green shirt) won a bottle of conyac. Congrats.

Walter, member of the Knights of Colombus and eventual winner. Congratulations!

More pictures to come.

Arguably - - -

2006-08-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

See the S J-R article about Eric Seiz (front page) on Sunday, August 20th.
Or look at; www.sj-r.com

Thats no misquote. I said it just like it's written.

"Eric is arguably the best tournament no limit hold'em player in Springfield"

Actually I could have said that he's probably the best tournament OR no limit player in town. That would make even more people cranky.

The newspaper article is good for poker, and so would be any discussion about who IS the best player.

I used the word "arguably" because it has four syllables. Those are rarely heard in poker games. Its an anomaly

Hand of the Week: Tournament Edition

2006-08-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

Hi guys. It's me again, and it's been awhile since I've posted a hand of the week. I've been a bit busy.

Primarily, I am a cash game player. But there is a surprising amount of local tournaments, as well as the abundance of online donkey-hunting-fests. I hear things from the various poker sites about the difference between cash game players and tournament players. And apart from the obvious strategic differences, there must be some sort of other difference in the swings one takes as a tournament player or as a cash game player. So I tried an experiment. I tried to see if I could make it for one week playing only local tournaments and the s&gs online.

Here is a hand that I played in a s&g which demonstrates the way I believe the early stages of a s&g should be played:

It's the first level of the tournament. There hasn't been much action at all yet, so all the chip stacks are about equal. I don't really have a bead yet on how the other players play, but I have played enough of these s&gs to know that there will be plenty of gamble early. I have [8c 8d] one off the cutoff, there is one limper in early position. I limp.

I think this is a standard play in the first level. There is no need to raise here to "steal the blinds". They are so inconsequentially small that they don't add any sort of leverage to your chip stack. The time for stealing blinds will come when the blinds will add 10-25% of your chip stack. At that point, stealing the blinds will be the same as winnning 3-4 medium sized pots at the beginning levels. Which is easier stealing one blind? Or having to show down 3 or 4 hands at the river, and risking more chips?

The cutoff and SB limp, and the BB checks. The flop comes up [As 6s Ah] pot:100. They check to me. I bet 50.

This is actually a bit more aggressive than I usually play in this spot. But at the same time, my stab isn't that many chips, and by no means commits me. Plus if more than one player puts money in the pot, I don't put another penny in. Maybe I pay off a 30 bet on the river ;) I know my hand might be good anyway. But the downside is that, because I don't gamble early, it's easy for a hand to outplay me on the later streets.

Anyway...

The cutoff calls, and the rest fold.

The cutoff voluntarily put money in the pot before the flop, so while I might have the best hand, the range of hands he could have here on average has me beat. He could be slowplaying an ace, have a pocket pair like me (he might limp w/ nines, or tens however unlikely. I haven't played with him enough to know.) He could have a hand like Js Ts which has me beat on the flop (two live overs and spades) which is certainly a play I've seen people make early in a tournie. The hands I can beat are unlikely to improve, or call much more money to me. So, my plan is not to put another cent in the pot, maybe I call a small river bet and pray he has a 6 or two 7s. If a spade comes, or a paint card or a ten comes, I fold.

The turn is the [8s] for a board of [As 6s Ah] [8s] pot: 200. I check (trapping. I "fear the spade") and he checks behind me.

The 8s is a HUGE gins card for me. It completes spades and gives me full. So I get paid by spades. I think a trap here is right, because I don't need to pick up the pot just yet, as it doesn't represent a large percentage add to my stack. He is unlikely to catch up, and I represent weakness.

The river is [As 6s Ah 8s] [Qh] pot:200. I check again. He bets 100. I check raise move-in for 1330 more. He calls instantly and shows [7d Ad]. And he is knocked out.

My check is very questionable. Because of my check on the turn AND on the river, he might bet 7-7, or lull him into betting his ace, and some people slowplay the spades on the turn, so he will have to bet there anyway. If he's weak he might also feel obligated to bet. That being said, I already missed bets on 4th street, and it's far too easy for him to check a hand like 5-6 on the river, when he might pay off a value bet. All the other likely hands he could have will probably pay off a bet on the river. I do not like my check on the river.

I think moving in on a check-raise isn't that bad. I've already got his 100 bet locked up and added to my stack. Another 150 will not make a big difference at this stage, so I went for the whole thing, by representing a big muscle move bluff, instead of a squeezing bet.

As bad as I played my trap, I think he might've played his hand worse. I don't mind limping in w/ the suited ace in the cutoff, because at the early stage of the tournament you're trying to make nuts for cheap and double through. You have to give up if you just hit top pair though (kicker problems and no need to gamble early). The thing is though, he hits a big flop in a multiway pot and when someone bets into him, he flat calls. The board is fairly safe, but you do not want to price spades into calling here. Plus, three aces is a hand you usually want to play a small to medium sized pot with. The 7 is a terrible kicker, if a big pot comes up he's probably beat and who knows what back door draws he let in by flat calling and charging more money. However he gets lucky when everyone else folds. When he checks behind on the turn, he's completely in the dark to where he's at. A small pair would check there, maybe a big trap, like spades or aces full would trap check there (or in my case 8s full). And if he gets check raised on the turn, he looks at the price, and if it's right he calls, and if he fills on the river, he might get paid. I don't think that calling the check-raise all-in is a big mistake, because that move is used in these s&gs. Also since he didn't define his hand on the earlier streets he doesn't know if it's a big bluff move or a big hand representing a big bluff move. The problem is that the tournament is very very early, and there is no need to gambel there. Let's assume that 60% of the time that move will be a real hand, and 40% of the time it's a real hand. He's still not getting the right price to call there. It's very close to a break even play. AND if he folds he still has plenty of chips to play, considering the blinds.

That's the hand of the week.

Which Hand Do You Like?

2006-08-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

An interesting NL situation from this week.

A raise and a call preflop. Two players see flop of;
6c 3c 2h
More bets, raises and all chips get in pot.

"Sleazylawyer" has Ac Kc
"SIU grad" has 6h 4h

The two players disagree about who has the advantage in this situation. Others at the table also disagreed about which is the better hand in this situation. What do you think?

Sleazylawyer has 9 flush card outs to win, and the other 6 Aces and Kings. So -- 15 outs/twice.

SIUgrad has top pair - a winner right now, if neither improve. He also has "redraws" which can beat sleazylawyers 6 outs for one pair. Those are an inside str8 draw (only 3 of which are good) a backdoor flush draw, plus two 6's and two 4's.

Which hand would YOU rather have? Opinions at the table varied from 53% - 47% to the reverse of 47%- 53%.

Don't look it up. I already did that, and the results will surprise you.

A NO LIMIT Lesson from Las Vegas

2006-08-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

Playing 1-2 NL with a bunch of young guys.

Dealt T 8s on the button and theres 3 limpers to me. I call, the sb folds, and the bb checks.

Flop is a T 8 8. UTG limper bets out (pot size) 10. Two folders to me, and I am looking at my hole cards. Showing him -- hmmm, do I have a T or an inside straight draw? I call, bb folds.

Turn is a 5. He bets 30. I look at board and call.

River is another 5. I am shaking my head no and looking at my hole cards. He goes all in for 45-ish and I call. He shows KK and leaves in disgust.

Game is now 6 handed and the worst player just left. One other large stack - and he seems a good player. Other players are very short stacks on the table. I play around to my bb and leave. Game is now 5 handed and it breaks up.

So ---- whats the No Limit LESSON here? Well, its the same no limit lesson thats been extensively written about in the '80s and '90s. Its been discussed on many online discussion groups and by knowledgable "old timers" in poker matters.

In NO LIMIT, the money moves (quickly) from the bad players to the good players. The good players are NOT going to put this money back into the game. The bad players will leave the game (sometimes rapidly) when they run out of money. The games will then die out - or decrease in number. Sometimes this takes a little while as the games get tougher and the prior winners become losers. As the games become tougher, even the good players find it less worthwhile.

No Limit games are good for everyone. The losers lose their money quickly - and oftentimes think they've been cheated. The winners get a worse and worse game. The people running the game get less and less of a game to run. Everyone has known this for years - except the young guys who are nowadays running and playing the no limit games.

Las Vegas - Hand of the Week

2006-07-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

8-16 at the Wynn, and its a real good game.
Bought in for one rack of $2 chips and have doubled it so far. Have a very neat 10 stack triangle (with some strays on top) in front of me.

Guy to my left is telling me that his records show he loses the first 3 weeks of every month and then wins it all back in the fourth week -- every month. Local across the table from me will bet EVERY time you check to him. Tourist on tilt to my right -- playing most every hand and into his pocket for more 100s three times now. I love the Wynn.

On the button and pick up Aces. 6 limpers to me. Thats Right ---- 6! I raise, the small blind folds, all others call. The raise here is not going to get anyone out. Its just to get more $ in the pot. I'm probably only going to win this pot about 25% of the time, but I "probably" do have the best hand preflop.

Flop is 7 8 T rainbow. All check to the tilter on my right, who bets. Perfect! I get to raise and face the field with cold calling TWO bets. Now my raise is to thin the field. Should get all the 4 and 5 out draws to fold. I am feeling very confident right now.

The big blind now checkraises (a double!) and all fold back to the tilter who calls. Yow -- a three-bet checkraise. Thats a pretty strong hand.

So, I fold the Aces for only one more small bet.

ITEMS OF INTEREST:

After the checkraise, do I have 2 outs or NO outs to win this hand?

I made a raise and then folded on the same betting round. Kinda rare.

Raised preflop to get more $ in pot, then raised on flop to thin the field. Odd

Look how the hand changed in value so suddenly. From -- top of the world raising on flop, know exactly whats going on. To --my hand is sawdust after the checkraise.

Many players will probably say that the pot odds are there to call the flop raise for one more small bet and try to spike an Ace on the Turn. Thats probably true -- ok ok, lets do the math. 16 small bets preflop plus 8 more on the flop, so I am getting 24 to 1 for one more call for a two outer at 23 to 1. However --- if I do hit it, it may still lose. And, I'll have to pay two more big bets to be shown some 9 6 or J 9 by the big blind. Plus the 5 other preflop limpers should make me think the Aces are more likely to be in the muck than the 9's, 6's and J's.

It was an easy fold for me. Your comments are welcome.

"Other" Activities in Las Vegas - WOO-HOO!!

2006-07-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

8 days/7 nights in Las Vegas by myself.
Lots of $ and a rental car. I can do anything I want.

Besides playing poker, here's my "activities":

Wednesday Poker Discussion Group - lunch meeting downtown. Lunch with Mike Becker.

Monday NL Discussion Group - evening meeting. Very serious topics with 2 poker authors and several good players.

Wednesday -- Mike Caro Seminar in the DoylesRoom Suite at Rio. Very entertaining. "I am a lucky player. A powerful winning force surrounds me."

Wednesday Poker Discussion Group - lunch downtown with Kent Young, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher. Much talk of items at WSOP.

Thursday -- David Sklansky Seminar in the PokerStars Suite at Rio. Lots of serious math and several examples and topics from his new book.

Saturday -- Breakfast meeting with authors Jim Brier & Alan Schoonmaker and three other excellent players. Limit and NL topics.

See? I was real naughty in Sin City.

Las Vegas - Game Selection

2006-07-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

Game Selection is a skill we don't get to practice very much here in town. It may come into play a little in St Louis or Tunica, but its very critical in Las Vegas.

The classic case is the Bellagio 15-30 game. They usually have 3 to 5 tables of this game running and the quality varies wildly. One table can be overly tight local nits, another filled with very aggressive skilled players, another mostly loose passive tourists.

Game Selection is much more important in Las Vegas because there are so many more poker rooms, games, tables, and limits. These tables can be filled with locals or tourists. Tables can be filled with excellent players or poor ones. Games vary between all quadrants of; loose-tight-passive-aggressive. At WSOP time, there is the added feature of all the tourney players in town.

Here are some of the Game Selection skills that I use:

First off, when you are just arriving and looking at the list of games, have the brush put you on the list for more than one game or limit. (Its always funny seeing the young kids come in and say they only want to play 1-2 NL -- thats all they know) In many of the Las Vegas casinos, I was able to initially sign up for different limits of Holdem, an Omaha game and a Mixed game.

Then go look at a table of a game you are NOT likely to be called for first. Is this game any good? Go look at another table and another if you have time. Two or three hands at each table is probably enough. Are there lots of callers? Are there lots of chips on the table? Are the players happy and talking or are they sullen and cranky?

When you are called for a game, go take it. Sit and play in that game and quickly evaluate it. Is this a great game, an OK game or a poor game? If you don't like this particular table, but its a limit that you may want to play, ask the brush to put you down for a "Table Change". When the next seat opens at another table of the same game/limit, you will have first choice. You won't have time to compare the other game. If your existing table is not great, then move. You can repeat this cycle over and over in a large poker room. Never stay in a bad game.

When you are called for a different game/limit that you do want to play, go to it unless your current table is great. Just tell the brush that you'll stay where you are. You can ask to be "rolled" -- thats put at the bottom of that list again.

Maybe you don't find any table or game thats real good. Just go across the street to the next poker room and try there. I say again----never stay in a bad game!

Game Selection Stories from this Las Vegas trip:

Venetian --On the list for 3 limits of Holdem. Got in a 3-6 and its pretty good. Get called for 6-12, I move and its not as good a game. Went to look at the 9-18 and its filled with desperados. Next limit up was 40-80 (I wasn't on that list) Called for 9-18 and passed. 6-12 game is really no good, so I got back into a nice 3-6 game.

Caesars Palace --On the list for 3-6 and 6-12 Holdem. On the interest list for Omaha and Mixed Game. Called for 3-6 and its an ok game. Called for 6-12 and I move and its a GREAT game. Loose passive happy tourists with lots of chips on the table.

Mirage -- On Holdem list for 3-6, 6-12, and 10-20. Called for 10-20 and its an ok game. Mostly tight locals, but they don't seem very good. I'm a little winner and my buddy calls me over to the 20-40 game. Says "Open Seat". Earlier thay had been playing this game with a Full Kill and a Rock -- Yow. Now it was just regular 20-40 and the table looked happy and mostly tourists. So I moved. Turns out to be the very best loosest Mirage Day Shift 20-40 that I have ever played. Have a nice win and then a free buffet.

Wynn -- On the list for 4-8, 8-16, and 15-30. (Again, I passed on the 40-80, haha) Get called to the 8-16 and its a great game. Asked my buddy in 15-30 how that game was and she says not very good. Person on list in front of me is Jim Brier (poker author and good/tight player) --so this game is going to get worse. I am called for the 15-30 and pass. Stay in a Great 8-16 and book a nice win.

Mixed Games

2006-07-25T12:30:00.000-05:00

One of my goals for this Las Vegas trip was to play a lot of "Mixed Games".

A mixed game rotation would be decided by the players. They would choose which games to play. The classic mixed game format is HORSE --holdem, omaha, razz, stud, and stud/8. The dealer would deal one round (sometimes 8 hands) of one game then it would switch to the next.

Omaha is now usually played Omaha/8. Other games can be added--Triple Draw Lowball, Pineapple, Badugi, etc etc. Many players don't like to play holdem in a mixed format. Many players don't like to have 3 different stud games in the mix.

The initial players to start the game are the ones who decide which games will be played. Later players can request that a game be added or excluded and it will sometimes happen. Initial players can often also change the stakes. One game was called for 3-6 and we changed it to 4-8.

Last week in Las Vegas, I played several sessions of mixed games at the Venetian, Caesars Palace and the T.I. Limits were 3-6, 4-8 and 6-12. Sporadic games will also break out at MGM, Aladdin, Wynn and Red Rock. The casinos would often put the mixed game in a very visable location. Great fun watching the young punkies walk by and look. Their "one trick pony" background had only prepared them for 1-2 NL Holdem.

Mixed games may be trending to more popularity. The HORSE tourney at this years WSOP ($50,000 buy-in) attracted the best players in the world and should perk up some interest when its on TV. Online, PokerStars is about to offer a HORSE format. Triple Draw and Badugi are surging in player interest.

Mixed games have always been the choice of the most skillful players - and these have mostly been for big money. Now we are starting to see the mixed games played for moderate stakes.

Anyone interested?

LV Local -- angle shot

2006-07-24T15:50:00.000-05:00

Las Vegas Locals make money from tourists. Sometimes its because they play better.

I'm in big blind with 9 8 s and call a raise from a Local in late position.
Flop is J T x and I check and call his bet.
Turn is a 7. I check, he bets, I raise and he calls.
River is another x. I bet out and he says; "I call".

I look at him and turn over my hand. He says something under his breath and throws his cards face down into the muck and tells the dealer to push me the pot.

I keep looking at him. Dealer starts to push me the pot. I say; "Wait!"

Do you see whats missing? Local never actually put his chips in the pot on the River. I have seen this move before -- even in St Louis poker rooms. Its usually intentional by the player. Can be an oversight by the dealer (especially with the misdirection) or sometimes the dealers just know who tips them all year.

Las Vegas Poker -- Rooms

2006-07-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

The best source of information about Las Vegas Poker Rooms is found at;
www.allvegaspoker.com

Last week in Vegas, I played in 13 new rooms. 9 of the poker rooms were new in the last year, while 4 of them had been missed on previous trips. I also played in 6 rooms that I had played before. Selected comments and opinions are below:

NEW ROOMS

The Big Two -- Caesars Palace and Venetian. Wow, these two are great.

Venetian -- is the plushest nicest poker room I have ever seen. Based on others comments, its probably the nicest on the planet. Beautiful, everything new, lots of space, lots of dealers, lots of floorpeople, all the new technology. NL games were 1-2, 2-5 and up. Limit Holdem was 3-6, 6-12, 9-18, and higher. Saw a 7 stud game once. No Omaha that I saw. Mixed game was 6-12. Player comps at $2/hour. This is a "Must see - Must play" room on your next LV trip.

Caesars -- Yes, Vito is the Manager. Great to see him. This is the largest room in Vegas. A semi-separate Tournament room with 30 tables. Cash game room of 27 tables. Several NL of 1-2 and 2-5. Limit Holdem of 3-6 and 6-12. Mixed Game (sometimes two) varied in stakes from night to night. Played 3-6, 4-8, and 6-12. Upper deck for higher games didn't have much action.

Other New Ones --

TI -- a fun little room. Wild Mixed Game at 3-6.

Paris -- just changed their format to All tournaments.

O'Sheas -- what a HOOT! Two little tables almost out on the street. A "beginners game" with lots of people who have never played before. 1-5 holdem with a single blind of 1. Cocktails!!!

Hooters -- like the wings?

Red Rock -- new very nice room up in Summerlin. Only a few blocks from Kent Young's house.

Silverton -- small but pretty room. Only 2-4 limit and 1-2 NL.

Fitzgeralds -- downtown.

ROOMS MISSED ON PREVIOUS TRIPS--

Las Vegas Hilton--

Stratosphere--

Tuscany--

Buffalo Bills -- only poker room in Primm.

ROOMS I HAD PREVIOUSLY PLAYED --

Palace Station -- this room has cleaned up some, has some new equipment and is now non-smoking until midnight. Still - too many nitty locals saving their quarters and getting upset about any "betting line infractions" etc. PS keeps sending me those $30 room offers though.

Binions -- way too generic now.

Aladdin/Planet Hollywood -- room was great last year - a pleasant surprise. This year they are in a temporary location. Its way too noisy and unplayable until they get back into a real location.

Wynn -- a great room. Very plush and nice. They bought some larger tables so the limit games are now played 10 handed. Limit games are 4-8, 8-16, 15-30. Best overall access from the self park to the poker room.

Mandalay Bay -- the game here is 4-8 with a 1/2 kill played with "mini-blinds". Competition is always soft. Other players are wealthy young hotel guests with a few very polite well behaved locals.

Mirage -- still my fave. Ahhhh, sitting on the upper deck. Playing 10-20 and 20-40. Games seemed so much easier than I remembered. Lots of 3-6 and 6-12 tables open in room too.

HOT - in Vegas !

2006-07-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

Yeah ---- damn hot. 112 one day 110 the next.

Thats just the air temp. Add in the direct sun, the street, buildings and auto temps to this; and the strip was just about unwalkable. The parking garages were toasty too after accumulating the heat all day.

So --- I spent most of my time in the poker rooms.

Poker Books - Part 2: Essentials - The Best of the Best

2006-07-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

Some people ask; whats "the best" poker book? There may not be a single answer to that question. Almost all the "best" books target a specific audience or market segment, and then cover it very well.

Here are my choices for the very best poker books in various areas. More detailed reviews on each can be found in the appropriate Part of this series.

General;
-- The Theory of Poker, David Sklansky
-- Super System 2, Doyle Brunson et al

Limit Holdem;
-- Holdem for Advanced Players, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth
-- Middle Limit Holdem, Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier
-- Small Stakes Holdem, Ed Miller and Sklansky/Malmuth

No Limit Holdem -- cash games;
-- No Limit Theory and Practice, Ed Miller
-- Harrington on Holdem vol 4, Dan Harrington ----not yet issued

Tournaments -- NLHE;
-- Harrington on Holdem vols 1, 2 & 3, Dan Harrington

Other Games;
--High Low Split Poker, Ray Zee

All of these are serious, strategy oriented books. No fluff, personalities, stories, etc. Some are pretty tough reading. You can find other books on the same topics, but they're not as good as the ones listed above.

Poker - and the Man on the Moon

2006-07-06T13:25:00.000-05:00

July 20, 1969 -- "That's one small step for a man_ _ _"

I couldn't believe it. Heard the noise and stepped into the barracks day room to see what was happening. Other GI's were watching TV and talking excitedly. Cronkite was announcing and showing todays pictures of the first men walking on the Moon. A historic day. Took my nightly walk to play poker at the NCO club and stared up at the Moon -- Wow -- our Astronauts were actually there right at that moment.

BACKSTORY: Playing (maybe a little too much) poker in 1968 had gotten me in a little college and draft board difficulty. So, here I was in the Army. Stationed in NY City harbor -- just look out my barracks window and see Statue of Liberty and the (not yet completed) Twin Towers.

Lots of other Army guys on base and a lot of civilians working there too. Two Navy ships docked here and they were in port every few weeks. The poker games were just excellent. Never in my life have I seen such poor poker played by so many people. Civilians were usually drunk and the money meant almost nothing to the other Service people.

Both Navy ships were IN right now -- so it was going to be a very good few days. One thing bothering me was that one of the ships had a big tough Chief Petty Officer that cheated in the games. He had called me aside a couple days earlier for a "now hear this". He said that I was the best player in the poker games there, and he was the best cheater -- so we were going to work together and clean everyone out. I declined and he said I better do it or he would beat the crap out of me.

Walked into the NCO club and its the same familiar scene. Lots of people drinking, playing pool, dancing, and playing poker in the little card room alcove. Game was usually $1 limit --- tonight it was $2 limit. Must have been Navy payday. Got in the game and was a little bit winner when two new young Navy guys got in the game. Had not played with these guys before and they started right off cheating. Every few hands, they would do a very rudimentary card switch. One of them would then have a full house. I just never played a hand when they were doing this. No one else seemed to be aware of this -- most were drunk anyway. I eventually (umm, uhh) devised a countermeasure and they lost a big pot. I purposefully was going to stay in the game for a couple more rounds so as to not arouse any suspicion.

Just then, the big Navy CPO enters the game. He stares at me, but does not seem to know the other two Navy guys. Maybe they are from different ships. Now -- how do you like THIS situation? Plus ---half the table is going to be cheating. So, I just got up and left the game. "Take the money and run"

Found a couple of buddies and we drank and played pool for a bit when all hell broke loose. From the poker alcove, yelling then fighting. It spills out into the main room. Navy fighting Army, Navy fighting Navy -- yow. An actual knock down drag out "wild west style" bar brawl.
My 2 buddies and I grabbed the pool cues and stood our ground behind the pool tables and did not get attacked. Then the MP's came in and kicked butt. Saw us standing behind the pool table with cues ready and laughed at us. They said to get out now --- and we did.

Think I should have stayed in that poker game? I have often wondered who caught who doing what in that game. But --I never did see any of those 3 Navy guys again.

Walking back to the barracks that night, looking at the Moon again, thinking -- well, this was interesting. I'll remember this day for a while.

Poker Books - Part 1: Your First Poker Book

2006-07-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

A good introductory poker book can really help a new player. Even if you have played for a while without reading a poker book, one of these is your best bet.

Getting Started in Holdem, Ed Miller
New in 2005 and is the new BEST introductory poker book. Covers the basics in a clear manner and has chapters on whats really important. Material in this book that is NOT in other beginner books. Covers Limit and NL cash games -- and various tournament formats.

Winning Low Limit Holdem, Lee Jones
Historically the most popular starter book. Be sure to get the revised, Second or Third edition. This work will cover all the basics and plug the major leaks in a new players game. This book may turn you from a loser into a small winner in the low stakes public cardroom games.

Holdem Poker, David Sklansky
The first really good Holdem book. Originally written in the mid 1970s. Be sure to get the revised edition from 1997. Sklansky isn't the easiest poker author to read (and also, sometimes way too theoretical and lacking in examples) but he does have the best material. You will probably reading some other Sklansky books later. Do NOT start with his similarly titled book - Holdem Poker FOR ADVANCED PLAYERS" yet. Thats one you will be reading later.

Internet Texas Holdem, Matt Hilger
New in 2004 and got lots of good reviews. Most think this is a better work than WLLH. Its directed at new players and is NOT only about playing on the internet.

Holdem Excellence, Lou Krieger
Krieger is a better writer than most poker player/authors. The material is well presented and easy to understand. some question parts of his technical and strategy advice. some others love this book.

Be careful about which poker books you do start with or get for others. Many will be way too advanced. Others will contain WRONG information. Any of the above 5 will be fine to start.

Hand of the Week: 1/2 NLHE

2006-07-05T16:16:00.000-05:00

This hand of the week was one that I wasn't even involved in, but witnessed. A friend of mine (let's call him Johnny) was in the BB in a hand against 5 limped in players. Now, this game was kind of special, as it occurred immediately after a tournament, and there were plenty of tournament players ready to gamble. Let's just say that on a scale of difficult to soft table selections, this one was like warm butter.

Anyway, so Johnny was in the BB w/ 5-2 offsuit. BE-AUTI-FUL hand! It got limped in 5 ways and Johnny checked. The flop comes up A-3-4 rainbow. I think I might have this wrong, but I think Johnny check raised, and going to the turn the pot was three handed. The turn was an offsuit jack, bringing no flush possibility. Johnny bets out again about half the pot, I assume to get action on the nuts. The UTG player (a tournie player) calls. The river is an 8. Johnny once again bets the same amount he did on the turn. Now, "Johnny" whom we all know, won't check-raise the flop and continue pushing, without a set, two pair, or the nuts straight. And here is where the hand gets funky. The UTG limper (tournament player) RAISED! At this point trying to read him, which is sort of diccicult as he plays an unorthodox style. I'm thinking he's sandbagging a big hand like a set or two pair. Maybe he has two eights, or two jacks which wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. He could've slowplayed the nuts straight. He maybe even could've had an ace and hit his kicker on the river. Johnny sat and thought for a moment (counting the board and his hole cards "A-2-3-4-5, yep it's the nuts all right") and went all in. After a moment the limper called.

Any guesses to what his hand was? Post some comments. I'll let you know what he had in the next HAND OF THE WEEK

Poker Books -- Parts 1 thru ??

2006-07-05T09:56:00.000-05:00

There are lots of poker books out there. More and more every day. The poker boom during the past 3 years has increased the mainstream availability of poker books greatly. B&N etc now have racks of poker books for sale.

Be careful. Quality varies greatly! Many books are excellent and some are terrible. Some are well written and understandable and some are tough to get through. Some are very theoretical while others offer practical "how to" advice. Some try to be all things to all people and cover all games, all limits and types, while others are specifically written to one specific audience.

This series will offer comments, opinions and recommendations on many of the poker books. I will only comment on books that I have read.

Tentative outline looks like this;

Part 1 -- Introductory - Your FIRST poker book.

Part 2 -- Essentials - The best of the best.

Part 3 -- Limit Holdem

Part 4 -- NL Holdem

Part 5 -- Tournaments

Part 6 -- Other Games

Part 7 -- General

Part 8 -- Essays

Part 9 -- Fiction

Part 10 -- Historical

Part 11 -- Some Others

If there is one or more of these "Parts" that can be handled better by someone else, I am going to find that person. For instance, I have not yet read "NL Theory and Practice" by Sklansky and Miller. So; I'm looking for someone who has read this, to write the NL (cash game) Part.

July in the "Blogosphere"

2006-07-01T20:27:00.000-05:00

Wow - we made it to a second month. Lots of blogs don't do that.

JULY PREVIEW:
Golfing with poker buddies in an outing this week and I have a surprise for them. They think I will be their "A" golfer. Not me. One bad shot and I'm into the Wild Turkey.
Will be gone to Las Vegas in the middle of the month.
Back for the last week of the month to finalize some tourney arrangements - need 6 dealers and 9 more players.

LAS VEGAS PREVIEW:
Hearing all good things about the poker rooms at Venetian and Red Rock. Also - the new Poker Manager at Caesars Palace is Vito Casucci. Vito was the poker manager at St Charles and also Harrahs St Louis. Now -- thats one more place to scam a buffet comp. Boy, will Vito be glad to see me.

BLOG PREVIEW:
Will have all sorts of "trip report-ish" stuff when I get back from Las Vegas. Also-- will be starting a series of articles about several poker books. Hand of the Week type posts will continue. Other gossip, links and stories every now and then.
Your comments are always welcome on ANY post. And -- if you want to write something and have it posted, thats ok too.

Hand of the Week -- Cash Game - Omaha

2006-06-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

Heres a hand from a couple days ago. I'm in a very loose Omaha/8 game. Yeah ---- its THAT game. Some of you know about THAT game.

In the BB, and pick up Ac 4c 7h 7d. Not a great hand, but theres a raise (means nothing in this game) and several callers. I call.

Flop is 7 2 2. Wow. SB (uber-loosey) bets out and I call (??) I think this is a "pull", not a "push" situation. Three other callers.

Turn is a 3. ZOUNDS !!!! Nut low and nut high. Pesky SB again leads and I call. ???? I'm thinking that I want callers. My image is so tight in this game that a raise will scare loose callers off.

River is a K. SB (finally) checks and I bet. Three callers.

So -- what do you think. A reasonable case could be made for; folding the raise pre-flop, raising on the Flop, raising the Turn, and even going for the check raise on the River. Those of you who think I played it wrong on EVERY street will not hurt my feelings.

Results to be posted later.

Barry Tanenbaum & his Website

2006-06-27T12:59:00.000-05:00

Here's another good one you should be aware of;

www.barrytanenbaum.com

Barry T is the poker author/player/teacher who makes the most sense to me. He is a real person (corporate retiree with family and a balanced life) who has always played poker. He worked his way up from playing low stakes, thru the mid limits and now usually plays higher stakes almost every day in Las Vegas. His articles in Cardplayer (and before that on PokerPages) are excellent.

His website has great "weekly thoughts". His forum is small but has attracted a following of serious players - many are his poker students.

Casino Poker in St Louis

2006-06-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

Three choices for you in St Louis, ranging from the Excellent to the Terrible.

# 1 EXCELLENT: --- Harrahs has a new poker room and its just a knockout. Wow, I was impressed. Nicest room in the Midwest. 21 tables, all tables and chairs look and feel great. Room decor is perfect. Separated from the main casino by lots of glass. Very quiet in the room. Lots of space between tables. Beautiful.

Games spread were 3-6, 5-10 and 30-60 Limit Holdem. 1-2 and 2-5NL with an interest list for 5-10 that got called but did not go. All tables were full on a Friday evening. Tourneys daily ranging from $25 to $200.

Dancing girls from the I-Bar have to walk thru the poker room after each show back to their dressing room. A hot sweaty spectacle, but you only have to watch it once every hour.

Some of us old guys will remember this specific location as where the old Players Island poker room was located. (sigh)

Poker room manager wants to know when we are bringing the "Ladies Poker" group back down on a Saturday morning and afternoon.

#2 VERY GOOD: --- Ameristar in St Charles is still a fine room. Expanded to 19 tables. This facility is only 3 years old, but it sure suffers in comparison to Harrahs. Seems so much louder too. Dealers were a little better.

Games spread were 5-10 Omaha/8 with a Kill; 3-6, and 4-8 (with a half kill) Limit Holdem. Several tables of 1-2 NL. Also one NL table with a curious structure of 1-2-5. Blinds are 1 -2, but the "bring in" is 5. Blinds must complete to 5 or fold. Hmmm - like playing 2-5 NL but with smaller blinds. Ameristar PLO game goes two days a week and they also have a larger Omaha/8 game one day. Daily tourneys.

#3 TERRIBLE: --- President, downtown on the Admiral. What an awful place -- but then its been that way for years. Jump off the Eads bridge instead of going here.

Hand of the Week: Tournament edition

2006-06-25T00:27:00.000-05:00

Our buddy, the blog admin, said that I could start putting in a Hand of the Week guest blog. So, for clarification purposes, this isn't written by Abe. It might be good for the blog to put in a different playing style perspective. As you might know, I can play a little looser, and Abe is a nit...I mean he's a rock...I mean he's solid. ;)

Earlier this week, I played a satellite to get a WSOP main event seat online. The structure of this tournament was actually a lot better than the smaller S&Gs, and smaller buy-in tournaments. The tournament started with 1500 in chips and had levels of 30 min instead of 15 which gave you plenty of time to play, instead of forcing you to gamble. There were 300+ entries, and I was cruising fairly well. I started off kind of slow, because I was kind of card dead preflop. The biggest pair I had was 99. I had AK once or twice, won small pots. But I got my stack up to 7500 by flopping a set or two and picking off a few "can't call" spots on the flop.

Then with about 150 players left, I got moved to a table. w/ 7500 I was third in chips at the table, and both chip leaders were doing the "chip leader" tournament thing. You know, steal the weak blinds, and don't risk a bunch of chips playing a big pot. They were pretty much staying out of each other's way, and were fairly tight. The chip leader, who had 12000, had a weird thing about him though. Any time a short stack went all in, and the chip leader had any of his chippies in the pot, he would call with less than strong holdings, Ace-baby, small pocket pair coinflip, that sort of thing. He'd won both of them. Other than that, his play was fundamentally solid. Tangling with him wasn't really a big problem since I had position on him and the other chip leader was on the other side of the table. After a round or two this hand came up:

With the blinds at 100/200, I was in the cutoff with two kings. Everyone folded to a short stack in middle position who raised to 600. He might've had a real hand, or just stealing the blinds. I didn't really know. The chip leader flat called. It felt like AK or a hand with two unpaired big cards, because usually with a pair bigger than 88 he would re-raise the short stack there. I didn't put it past him to flat call there with a big pair though. And the short stack didn't have enough money for him to have some suited connector. Before that, I had planned on flat calling the short stack and getting the chips in on the flop if it came with no ace, and he continuation bet. But with the third player in, raising was obvious. I re-raised to 2500 total (the short stack had 2700). He moved in quickly. Then, the chip leader did something surprising, he moved in behind after thinking for a few seconds. I began to think that that would be a clever play for AK, because it would isolate the all-in player, and play for the extra dead money. But of course, he could've also had aces, kings, queens, maybe jacks? Plus, he had a predisposition to protecting his children. Usually in that spot, (call a bet, re-raise when someone raises the original bet) a tight player has aces. If I folded, I would've had about 5000 left to play with (about avg. chips) at a table where I had decent control. Or, I could play a three way all in pot against possible aces where the best shape I could be in against two hands is about 70%.

I call. the short stack has 99, the chip leader has AA. Wonderful. An ace and a nine flop. Just the spot I like being in on the turn, drawing dead. I heard Men the Master in my head saying, "You play pokah very well. Nice hand sah!" I've folded kings once before the flop (and was wrong), but I think this was probably the best spot I could think of to do it again. Maybe overzealous with KK? Anyone have thoughts?

Nice Hand Sir. Well Played!

2006-06-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

This won't make any "Hand of the Week" list, and I'm too embarassed to post it on 2+2.

Ameristar St Louis - Limit Holdem - 4-8 with a half kill to 6-12. There are "betting lines" on the tables. I had asked the floor about these and he said they are only enforced in NL games.

Its late (actually early am) I'm tired and have been here too long. A terrible player wins two hands in a row and now has the kill button and is also on the button. I decide to play one more round. Lady to my right posts the SB of 2 and I put in the BB of 4. Killer posts the kill blind of 6 on the button.

Preflop - I have 9 7 suited. All fold to the killer, SB puts in 4 more to complete to 6, I put in 2 more to complete to 6. THEN - the dealer asks the kill about his option. Well ---- haven't seen it played like this for a while. He checks.

Flop is 9 7 3 rainbow. SB checks, I check (wanting to checkraise?) and the button checks.

Turn is a 5. I hear someone say check and I bet 12. Dealer and SB both say that she had not acted yet. I had bet out of turn. (This is an old obvious angle shot that has been overused for years) I apologize and say I had not done that on purpose. The dealer pushes my bet back over the betting line towards me. SB now goes into the tank and thinks. I think too; What should I do if she checks? What should I do if she bets? About this time the button folds. Then the SB says "I call" and puts 12 in. Before I realize what had happened, the dealer scoops her bet chips and my bet chips into the pot and puts out the river.

Wait ---- this gets worse.

River comes a 6. Board reads; 9 7 3 5 6. I look at it and see my top two pair are now beat by any 8 for a straight. SB is still first to act. She doesn't bet or check, she says; "I have a straight". Hmmmm. I say; "Well, I check then too." She shows 7 4 for a small straight that I had not even seen. I table my cards ------and----and----my hand is 8 7 instead of 9 7. I have the higher straight.

Dealer pushes me the pot. I play goot. Time to stack chips. Snort

Ha - Ha - Ha. Lessons to be learned from this mess:

1. Don't play when you are tired.
2. Why - if you are about to leave, would you optionally choose to post your BB into a kill pot?
3. Know the rules. I had not inquired about their betting sequence rules with the Kill. This can vary by cardroom.
4. Just bet out on the flop with 2-pair. Checkraise does not work in this situation.
5. Wait for your turn to bet. Make sure that others take their betting action in turn. Make sure that the dealer enforces this.
6. One little error or problem or confusion in a hand sometimes leads to others.
7. If you are confused about the way something is happening in a hand, others may be too.
8. Know what your holecards really are.

Casino Poker in Tunica

2006-06-23T12:41:00.000-05:00

Tunica !!! Now we're talking --- lets go. WOO-HOO I'm ready right now.

HORSESHOE: Best poker action, nicest poker room - and located right by the best buffet in town. 16 or 18 tables. New facility - all nice tables, chairs etc. Excellent dealers and mgmt staff. 4-8 holdem is lowest level, then 10-20 and 20-40. NL is 2-5. PLO plays big. And usually an Omaha/8 game (4-8 with Kill) and 1-5 Seven card stud. Food comps are plentiful, tableside food service if you like and all drinks free. Be sure to tip the waitresses. Hotel rooms are ok and you can sometimes get a poker rate ($25/$35) by calling ahead. 800-303-7463 ext 5543, ask for Anita.

GOLD STRIKE: Right next to Horseshoe --75 steps away. Second best poker room in town --- some like it better than Shoe. Another 18 tables with a lower key feel. Usually no big stakes games, but lots of 3-6, 4-8, 1-2 NL and Omaha/8. Recently moving over from the Shoe; Ken Lambert is the Director of Poker Operations, and John Grooms is the Tournament Director. This room is also quick to comp food to buffet, Atrium Restaurant or food court. Drinks are free and plentiful. Hotel rooms are a bargain if you get the Poker Room rate. Usually $25/$35 but higher during large Tourneys - January and June. Call in advance to 888-245-7529, ask for the Poker room, then ask for Carole or Sonya. They will get some info from you and see if they have Poker rate rooms available. I usually stay here. Rooms are nicer, plus an indoor pool, hot tub, exercise area.

GRAND: Casino complex is off by itself. Very plush casino area. Poker room is upstairs and is nothing special. Large number of tables and a mix of low and mid limit games. Buffet is often yucky. Poker rate Hotel rooms are often available, but the Hotel buildings are separated from the casino. Not walkable, but they do have a very frequent shuttle.

SAMS TOWN: Blah - not much to recommend here. Used to have 2-4 holdem and also smoking at the table.

HOLLYWOOD: Small, dark, very noisy.

SHERATON, BALLYS, FITZGERALDS, and RESORTS: No poker

Other Tunica Attractions---- What? You kidding? Actually there are several, but you have to take me along with you.

Driving directions--- About 6 hours gate to gate. I-55 south (take the I-255 bypass around St Louis) then stay on I-55 all the way thru Missouri into Arkansas. You will merge with I-40 east, but you want to keep in the lanes for I-55 south to Jackson, Miss. When you go over the bridge into Memphis, be alert. The I-55 exit comes up very quick. Stay on this bypass around Memphis for a few miles. You then want to exit on Route 61 south to Vicksburg. The "Tunica" casinos are about 15 miles south.

Large Tournaments in Springfield

2006-06-22T09:45:00.000-05:00

None scheduled for June or July.

Activity should pick up after the State Fair, summer is over and school starts.

Still talking with a couple groups that want to have large multi-table tourneys, and the "fund-raiser" groups will want to have another event or so starting in the fall.

Potential dealers and players - stay in touch, and don't give up. We will be busy starting in Sept.

Casino Poker in Iowa

2006-06-20T14:16:00.000-05:00

I have only played the four easternmost of the poker rooms in Iowa;

Davenport -- (pronounced Dammmmport by us Quad City boys) Used to have a President casino that had poker before most anyone else. Busloads of people came in from the Chicago area on weekends. Room was always crowded and the games were wild. Note--- Davenport casino currently does NOT have poker.

Bettendorf -- Isle of Capri (aka: Pile of Debris) Has a brand new poker room. 9 tables, with all new tables and chairs. Chips a little old and dirty though. Standard games spread; 3-6, 4-8, and 1-2 NL. One oddball game-- 5-10 limit mix game. Omaha/8 and Holdem mix. Both with a Kill and TWO Kill buttons in play. Thats right, you could be holding BOTH Kill buttons. Tournaments almost daily. Good management and friendly skillful dealers. If you go, be sure to see all the sights and attractions that Bettendorf has to offer.

Catfish Bend -- Burlington (sometimes Fort Madison) Other than the clever casino name and chips with a catfish on them, theres NO reason to go here. In fact -- WHY are you even in this part of the country?

Tama -- Meskwaki Indian (on Route 30, between Iowa City and DesMoines) Kind of run down facility and-down market clientele. Mainly catering now to locals and bus trip seniors. Old crummy tables and chairs, but new chips. Distracted management and D+ dealers. Standard low limit games. Their oddball game was Omaha/8 played 2-10 SPREAD limit with a Kill. Wow --- talk about a locals advantage game.

Quick History Lesson--Meskwaki (Fox) Indians were from the East and were forced west into Michigan/Wisc in late 1600's. In early 1700's they fought a long war with France (The Fox Wars) and the French tried to exterminate them. Remaining Fox Indians fell in with the Sauk and had main settlement in whats now Rock Island. (Westernmost battle of US Revolutionary War fought here---George Rogers Clark sent men to burn village. Also westernmost battle of War of 1812 fought here - Sauk & Fox attack US troops under Zachary Taylor, who retreats downriver) In the early 1800's the USA took its turn to try to kill off the Sauk and Fox. William Clark (of Lewis&Clark and also the little bro of G.R.) started the Black Hawk War. Pres Andrew Jackson decreed all Indians to be removed west of Mississippi River. Sauk and Fox under Black Hawk resisted and most were killed. Sauk and Fox were eventually relocated to Kansas. Some Fox were never caught and never left central Iowa. Some others received their annual payment in Kansas and brought a few hundred $ to Iowa. They bought 40 acres for their "Settlement". This was added to over the years and now they have over 7000 acres and a big casino.

Now - where were we? Ah yes, Casino Poker in Iowa. I have not yet been to the following:

Iowa City --is getting a new casino with poker --- a few miles south of town.

Altoona --just outside of DesMoines has a facility with poker.

Council Bluffs -- Horseshoe Casino and poker room is getting good reviews.

Casino Poker in Illinois

2006-06-19T12:29:00.000-05:00

Your three bad choices just got reduced to only two.

Joliet (Empress/Argosy/whatever) casino just closed their poker room. This is the second time they have opened and closed a poker room in this facility. Its no big deal and not a big loss.

Aurora (Hollywood) is still open which is a real shame. Its one of the worst rooms I have ever played. Bad management, poor dealers, stinky players, a poor facility, and very expensive. Huge rake (5 or 6!) plus no comps, pay for parking,and an admission fee. But the "BEST" part is that they close the room on Friday nights and don't reopen until Sunday eve. More money to be made on weekend slot players. Poker players should get out of the way.

Metropolis (Harrahs) has reopened their poker room for the third time. They had one when the facility was a Resorts property and closed it. Players Island opened and closed a poker room there too. Now Harrahs tries. This is a small boat with a rural feel and clientele. Maybe go there if you're a SIU student or on a visit to Paducah. Otherwise, not worth a trip.

What accounts for the terrible status of casino poker In Illinois? Well ---- its the State Government's fault. Its a purposeful policy, not an accident. Each of the 9 "boats" is taxed very highly, and is restricted to 1200 "Gaming Positions". That means if they open a poker table they have to shut down 10 slot machines. And -- they make a lot more on the slot machines.

So the State is going to protect you from evil gambling (but OTB and Lotto are ok)

We poker players make a rational choice by going to Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, etc for casino poker.

Troutblogs

2006-06-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Many of the poker related web-logs are listed at;

www.troutblogs.com

Theres 100 + of them and the content quality runs the full spectrum. Felicia Lee usually has some good stuff.

Now --- about that name---. The 2+2 Internet Forum was very unruly when first started a few years ago. Got nicknamed; "The Zoo". So, we Zoo members needed some way to identify each other on online poker sites. The catchphrase became; "There is a brown trout in my closet". This was later shortened to just "brown trout" and was picked up by other 2+2 posters. Its now sorta like a gang sign or a frat handshake.

Where is Phil Tanner ?

2006-06-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

Where IS Phil Tanner?

Why do people keep asking me this? I don't know. I'm not in charge of him.

Seriously. Phil is living in St Charles, MO. Located conveniently close (5 minute walk) to the nice historic downtown .

And (big surprise) he's also close enough to Ameristar -- 5 minutes driving. In a pinch, he can make it to Harrahs in 7 minutes. He is still a force in the PLO game and is playing more Omaha/8 and NL Holdem too.

Hint to Phil: Your life is good right now, don't buy a restaurant or get engaged.

We may never see Phil here in Springfield again. Especially since he got beat up so bad in that Omaha game. Lost 14 out of 16 weeks and left town - thought we were ruining his reputation.