High On Poker

This hand is brought to you by the wonderful folks at Gaming Club Poker and PSO:

I’m at a 2/4 limit 6-person table in the CO. UTG calls. UTG+1 folds. I call with 3h4h. Button, a smart player, calls. SB folds, which is nuts, pot-odd wise. BB, who is very aggressive, raises (thereby making SB look smart). UTG calls. I call. Button calls.

The flop is Js7h5h. I have an inside straight draw and a baby flush draw. I also have an inside straight flush draw.

BB bets. UTG calls. I call. Button folds.

The turn is the 6h. Well I’ll be damned. That there is a straight flush! I best bet. But let’s see what they do first. BB bets. Good. UTG raises! What? I call. BB calls.

The river is a Qc. BB checks. UTG checks. I bet $4. BB folds. UTG calls. I win $52.50 with a straight flush.

While you are sitting down with your family to a nice Christmas ham, with the fire roaring in the fire place and the tree lit up for all to enjoy, thinking about all that is good in the world…

While your children wake up extra early to see what Santa Claus has left them under the tinsel-covered tree, with wide-eyes filled with glee…

I’ll be gambling until my eyes bleed.

Yes folks, it’s almost time for the best family tradition ever — The Annual Christmas in AC trip!

The trip had its origins about 5 years ago, but before then, it actually had its origin in Thanksgiving, circa 1989. I was a ripe 10, and my mother was in the middle of a fued with her three sisters. Now, my Mother High is always to epitome of reason and her good natured self was undoutedly not at fault for the sister on sister hate. But, nonetheless, she was upset that this year, the sisters would have to split up for the holidays. My paternal grandmother, always the wonderful and generous undercover degenerate, heard about my mother’s problem and came up with an ideal solution. “I know what will treat you up! Atlantic City!” And off we went.

For the next three or four years, Thanksgiving in AC was the norm. My brothers and I spent our time playing massive amounts of videogames, both on the Sega Genesis in the room and at the various arcades, which were a staple to any AC casino and the boardwalk. Ah, the boardwalk. I remember one day, I must’ve been no older than 12, that I entered into one of the arcades and saw a little-known new game by the name of Street Fighter II. Yep, II. I didn’t even know there was a I. I must’ve spent $5 in 25 cent games, but damnit I beat that sucker using my main man Blanka. SFII and I began dating after that. When I see her from time to time, I still get choked up.

There was another time when a bunch of “urban” youths surrounded me, my bros, and my two cousins on bikes on the boardwalk and threatened us in order to get our dough. Thank you old man, who came over to step in the way of a sure-fire pride assassination. Thank you much!

Unfortunately, time heals all wounds, and Mother High and her sisters restarted the holiday gatherings. The turkey sandwich at the Carousel Cafe in Tropicana Hotel was replaced by a real turkey. The dealers and floorpersons were replaced by aunts and uncles. The urban roughnecks replaced by cousins.

Fast forward. I had just finished college at the University at Buffalo. Wifey Kim, then a mere Girlfriend Kim, and I were deciding what to do for the holidays. My family no longer had any set tradition. Her family did the generic Xmas stand-in: Chinese food and a movie.

The idea struck like a light bulb. A-fucking-C. That year it was just Wifey Kim and I. Xmas time in AC is an interesting thing. There are fewer people, but it still feels crowded because most of the restaurants/bars are closed. It almost feels like its late night all of the time because so many places are closed. There is a sea of Jews, geriatrics and Asians everywhere you look. The Christmas decorations add a touch of extra spirit to the already gambling-crazed crowd. It may not sound like it, but it is sheer bliss.

The second year, Platinum and JDub joined us. Apparently, it was a hard sell for either of their women. Wifey Kim, always the trooper, hung tough with the boys. The year after that, Wifey Kim and I went solo again. However, we met up with my parents in AC. They had came to the same conclusion as us. AC was the place to be free, and I got what it takes to rock the mike right, yeah! We met them out at one of AC’s local restaurants, Rafici’s, way off the boardwalk in some nearby suburb. My parents grew up with Mother and Father Roose, so they were there as well.

Our yearly trip snowballed, and last year consisted of me and wifey Kim, Roose and his girlfriend, and Robbie Hole and his girlfriend. Hole’s girl was actually not a member of the tribe (of Israel, if you catch my drift), but Hole, the degenerate that he is, still brought her along and then left Christmas morning to drive 4+ hours to Connecticut to be with her family. The six of us had a chance to bond and know each other a litttle bit better. AC will do that. The High and Roose parents also made the trip, along with Dave’s bro Ian, and we all had our usual dinner at Rafici’s. This was the location of the famed Mama High tasting incident, in which she looked at our neighbors at another table and said to me, “I want to get a bite of that food.” Five minutes later, I saw them hand her a plate. They were complete strangers, but apparently Mother High’s friendly demeanor and chatty self (and possibly a little of that Xmas magic) had the table neighbors OFFERING her a bite. She never even had to ask.

This year, Hole and woman will not attend. Apparently, 2 Xmases in AC was not in the cards, and they will be sorely missed. On the upside, my little brother Clam David will attend with his lovely girlfriend. They are a welcome addition to the crew, which also will include parents High and Roose, and Ian and wife.

So, what’s the point of all this? I guess for me it is partially just reliving old memories. I’m also psyched up for this weekend, but not for the usual reason. Poker is great, but on these trips it takes a back seat to spending time with friends and family. Sure, we do it at a craps table rather than a dinner table. Sure, we go to the cashier’s cage instead of openning presents. But in the end, it’s all the same. Christmas is a time to enjoy the company of family. Even I, a tribe member, understand and appreciate that.

So, lots of -EV games with Wifey Kim. Lots of time shooting the shit with friends and family. It’s Christmas time and I couldn’t be more excited!

I’m eating humble pie today. My prediction that the MTA strike would not occur has been derailed. As of 3AM last night, all Subways and Buses stopped operating. As a result, people are hoofing it to work when possible and are otherwise getting around however possible.

To me, my initial thought was ‘Adult Snow Day’! I take the subway to work daily. The walk is about 80 blocks, or 4 miles. It seemed like a no brainer….BUT stupid taxis are still operating. So, I am going in to the office late probably. I have some work that I could do at home, but overall I suppose I should go into the office. Keerist!

Last night I attended an impromptu live game at Robbie Hole’s apartment in Queens. At first, it was just Robbie, Randy Hole, Roose and I. We played a $10 winner take all tourney. I placed 2nd. I had a couple of great hands in which I maximized profit. Maximizing the good hands seem to be my specialty. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Roose took 1st. More power to him.

J.R. and Scotty showed up and we played a .25/.50 NL cash game with a $20 buy-in. Scotty is an interesting character. He is near twice the age as the other players. He plays for leisure and, while his game has improved overall, at times he reverts to very fishy play. I think he ended up losing 4 buy-ins ($80), maybe 5.

Luckily for me (and Roose, I believe), Scotty is in many ways an open book and wallet. He’ll call pre-flop bets with crap. He’ll call you down with crap. If he bets pre-flop get out of the way. If he bets at all slow down.

And that was all there was to it. As for JR, he is definitely a better player than Scotty, but he’s tight as hell.

So, let’s look at the hand that helped me win $55 for the cash game ($45 total profit after the $10 tourney loss):

I held Jh3h UTG. It was late and near time to leave. I decide to just play it, hoping to get lucky. Scotty calls in UTG+1. Roose calls in the cutoff. JR raises to $1.50. Randy calls in the SB. Rob calls in the BB. I feel obliged with implied pot odds and call. Scotty calls. Roose chucks it in.

The flop had two hearts, QT4 or thereabouts. I check. Scotty checks. JR bets $2. Randy raises to $5. Rob begrudgingly calls. I call. Scotty folds. JR thinks it over and pushes all-in for $8 or so more. Randy calls. Rob hesitates and seems to be having a real hard time with this hand. He calls. I call. Everyone is surprised that we have so many players.

The turn is 5h. I’ve made my flush. Now, I’m a bit worried about an over-flush. That was always on my radar. But now that I had my flush made, it seemed like I only had one move. Randy and Rob check. I push all-in. Randy calls relatively quickly. I pushed all-in with 15.50 and he only had 8.50 left. Rob is trying to decide. After a while, I start goading him. “Hey, if you beat me only you get $7 back” (our side pot). Rob verbalizes, “You are acting like you want me to call, so you don’t want me to call…” I’m salivating. Clearly he doesn’t have the heart (literally). He finally mucks his hand. Damn! A good decision by him.

I show my flush. Randy never showed his cards. Robbie had top pair, Qs. JR, my real competition in this hand, held AA, with one heart. The river was a blank, and I grab my fat pot.

That’s pretty much one of the few hands I recall. Robbie’s games are often hazy, and slow to boot. Some of the players are there to socialize more than to play poker. It was tough for me because I didn’t want to seem overly excited or anxious to play. There is definitely a social aspect of the game that I love. If I didn’t, I’d be playing online and not at Hole’s homegame. BUT, and this is a big but, I am there to socialize while playing poker. So when you are UTG and you say, “I really want to play some hands but these cards are horrible” and then start a different conversation without folding, I’m saying something. When you are constantly distracted, I’m saying something. Will any of it help? Temporarily. But overall this is the largest problem facing Hole’s game. I don’t knock Hole for it though. It isn’t him, but rather some of the players, and those are the same players that buy in multiple times, ensuring my $45 win.

That was my 4th winning live poker session in a row. It’s nice being on a winning streak at the end of the year. According to my ledger, I am up a little over $850 for the year, not including any online profit that is still online. My goal for the year was to be up $1200, or $100 per month. My theory was that if I could win $100 per month, then this time playing poker was worth it at least somewhat. I mean, $100 a month is a drop in the bucket, but at least it is better than losing AND it is a comfortable sum to win per month for a guy who started with $50 online and played micro games live once every two weeks in January. As you can see, I’m short of that goal, but hopefully I can win $350 in AC this upcoming holiday weekend. Even if I don’t play a lick of poker for the rest of the year, I still consider this year a success. With the $450 in BestBuy gift cards (I just got one recently) I received from PSO and VPP this year, I have in a sense “earned” over $1200 in poker. Yep, it wasn’t by winning pots entirely, but without poker I’d never have that $450 in gift cards and my TV would’ve costed a couple of hundo more.

So, there you have it. I’m looking forward to the rest of this year. Things are going well at the tables and at home. Work is super. One of the attorneys just resigned, which oddly makes me the attorney with the most seniority in the firm, aside from the partners. A new attorney starts in January and we are going to replace the resigning attorney, so there will be two new faces soon. This means less of a work load which is also a good thing.

Have a great day everyone.

No other factory in the world mixes its chocolate by suckout. But it’s the only way if you want it just… right.

Sometimes, I feel like I have a poker hangover on Mondays. This weekend, I had some success at Genoa, followed by some minor success online. If you haven’t read about my Genoa trip, check out the last post. To sum it up, I dance on the grave of those I have vanquished.

But, onto yesterday, when I placed in a 250+ person MTT at Royal Vegas. I am a big fan of Royal Vegas, mainly because their bonus via VPP is very easy to earn. After that, they sent me a free $10 to use at their site, to entice me to return after I left for more Bonus Whoring (more on that later). Soon after, when I was centralizing my poker funds, I found an additional $50 in my Royal Vegas account, provided as a Refer a Friend bonus. Lucky me! I don’t know who signed up there, but thank you!

So, I sign up for the 12:10 pm $10 freezeout MTT with GCox. I double up on the first hand with KK, when some yahoo re-raises me all-in with AJo. Gary doubles up as well, when his suited connectors flop a straight flush. An hour later and we are seated at the same table. Veneno railbirded for a bit, and then disappeared. GCox and I were well into the field when he suffered a string of losing hands which I don’t presently recall. As soon as he lost he was gone from the comp. I don’t blame him one bit. DP railbirded for the remainder of the tourney. I was in great shape when we were near the bubble (30 places paid), but my KK (I think) ran into AJ again, and the AJ hit a J on the flop and a J on the turn. At least I think that was the hand that crippled me. I stuck it out until I was in the money and finally made my move when the timing was right. I still lost, but at least I placed. Yeah for small victories!

After that, I took some time off the comp. I went back a little later to do some bonus clearing on Gaming Club Poker via my PSO promotion. I’ll get back to that later. But let’s fast forward to late last night. It was 11pm and I decided to fire up the comp one more time. This time, Veneno, DP, Weak Player, Sox Lover and I decided to play an SNG. We played on PokerStars, which was a mistake. Those tables fill up so fast that V got left out. I wish I was left out too.

DP was on my left and catching cards. He also was playing extremely well, and took me for a couple of hands. I busted out in 6th or so when I was on the button with KJ. I called someone’s small raise and hit my K on the flop. The player, a big stack, bet small to me. I bet back small expecting and hoping he would re-raise all-in. He did and I called. He had a flush draw and hit it on the river. God damnit! That’s poker.

Now, let’s do a little discussion about Bonus Whoring. I discovered something very upsetting from Gaming Club. On top of the PSO promotion, I was trying to earn their promo, which I believe is a free $50 after 350 raked hands. I was at 300 raked hands (.25 or more raked, .50/1 limit or higher), when I realized that the counter for the bonus wasn’t increasing. After contacting Gaming Club, I was informed that their bonus was only available if the raked hands were at 2/4 or higher. I believe that the other raked hands will count for my PSO promo. So, what is a man to do? Yep. I moved to 2/4. Oh well oh well.

I still hope to get back to Hollywood and finish my bonus there. I was fairly close before I last busted. Then I’d like to finish my bonus at Titan, which is still over $100, released in $10 increments. I love Titan/Noble too, so it’ll be nice returning. Noble gave me a free $10, which I lost half of in an HU SNG. Damn you, free money!

AC this weekend. I’m damn excited.

I don’t muck him as far as I can throw him.
And with your bad knees you shouldn’t be mucking anyone.

Yep, 4 for 6. That’s my record playing at Genoa’s tournaments. Today, I entered their 3pm $40+10 NL HE tournament, which included an added $300! The result, a solid 2nd place payday of $100 profit, after I made a deal with the uber-chipleader (he had more than a 3:1 chiplead). It was touch and go, too, after a failed semi-bluff early on that left me with 525 (down from 2000) within 20 minutes of the game’s start.

It was an interesting tournament. When it started, there were only 5 players, so only the top place would get paid out. As is Genoa’s policy, three players jumped in within the first 3 rounds, raising the pot and the competition. I was able to withstand my short stack and make some great moves to make it to 2nd.

With only 5 players starting, I knew I had to play a little looser than usual. To my left was a guy who looked like Will from Will & Grace, a handsome, well groomed and dressed guy. His look and more importantly his very calm demeanor screamed that he was a player that was not a show-boater.

To his left was a guy who I’ve played with a number of times. He looks similar to me, with a shaved head and similar figure. He’s the type of player to overvalue his good cards that miss the flop. He’s also willing to mix it up with crappy cards. In the end, he was shortstacked and lost when he stupidly pushed pre-flop in the cutoff with 67o. Sucker! He was the first of the late players.

To his left was Josh, a guy that really pissed me off. I can’t exactly explain it. He was over-confident, a bit of a wise-ass. When I doubled up from 525 (my 66 v. his 33), I said, “back in business.” The prick jumped all over that line, “I hope to say ‘back in business later’”. I shot back, “you can do it. I’ve been watching you and you aren’t completely hopeless.” As it turned out, he was. He busted in 5th place. On my sunglasses: “Those glasses are making it impossible to read you.” (Wiseass prick!) My response: “Maybe you should get them and I wouldn’t have been able to peg you on 33.” I took particular glea when he busted out…with 33. Prag!

Following him was the eventual winner, an Aussie named Jordan (hey, two Jordans won), who was actually quite obvious and bad. But, he was getting good cards and the other players were playing stupid against him. God bless them, because I’d rather have him win than Josh.

Next up, the latest-comer of all, Asian dude. Good thing he showed up. It ain’t poker without an Asian dude or chick, hopefully with glasses. This won wore them glasses. He was really never a factor in my game. Another donator to the pot.

Next was the owner. I think his name is Billy. He told a story early on about how he busted last time with KK v. AA. Fifteen minutes later, he busted when his KK ran into AA.

Finally, Fat Slob rounded out the table. I tried to keep out of his way, not because of his skillz, but rather, I don’t like winning pots off of him…his chips are often covered in bacon grease and smell of cheatos.

So, that was the field. Will & Grace won an early pot off of me when my TJ flopped an inside straight draw. It checked around. I bet on the turn, which gave me a T-high flush draw. He called. The river gave me the flush. I bet big and he called with the 2nd nut flush. Oh well, oh well. He had me the whole was with top-pair anyway.

With only 525 after a couple of blinds, I finally saw 77. I limped, with slightly more than 10x the BB, and Josh pushed all-in. There were a few limpers, so I thought, here is a guy who doesn’t want callers. He wants to take it down with an overbet. I pegged him at AJ. But if I wanted to win, I’d have to make a move. I called after everyone else folded. I took down the hand when the turn gave me a full house (626/7/8).

I lost a couple of small hands and was back to 550 UTG, with 50/100 blinds. I was hoping for any Ace to push with the entire orbit. UTG I get JJ. I push all-in and the Asian calls with KT. No K and I doubled up and effectively put him out (he had 75 left). The next hand, the button got messed up, and I was the SB. I didn’t complain. Asian went all-in. I called with Q2. Will & Grace called in the BB. Other Jordan (OJ) called as well. The flop was 228. I checked. Will checked. OJ bet 400. I called. Will folded. The turn was another low card. I checked, and OJ checked. The river was a T. I bet 750 (of my 1250 chips). OJ thought and then folded. Asian was upset. His A5 meant he was out. Sucka!

At the end, it was Will, me and OJ. I was the shortstack but doubled up when my AQ hit a 9QK flop with two hearts. I pushed. OJ insta-called with A5h. He missed his flush and I had 4K+ in front of me for the first time of the night.

Will was still well over me in chips. However, he messed up in the SB when his pre-flop raise was called by OJ. The flop was 9JQ. Will bet big. OJ pushed. Will called, as a lot of chips were already in the pot. That said, he should’ve folded. His K9 lost to OJ’s KQ.

OJ and I played 2 or 3 hands, and I was down to 3500 or less. We had bounced around the idea of a deal. I figured $100 was a decent payday. I offered a $150-470 split and he agreed. Overall, if was counted out our chips and did it by proportion, I’d receive less. I could’ve played for it, and he even suggested that we play for honor. “Sorry, guy, but I play for money, not honor.” I was tempted to jump into the cash game, but players had stacks of 400, and my $150 would’ve been wasted.

I should also note that I played the hammer both times it was dealt to me and won once with a pre-flop bet and once with a flop bet. I showed both times and said, “hammer.” Saying hammer is a lot less effective live, but if I don’t do it, I just feel empty.

So, there it is. In 6 attempts, I’ve placed 4 times and bubbled in 3rd place once, with fields ranging from 8 to 18+ players. Not a bad record at all. Love my Genoa.

Take care of yourself, and your poker.

The local news makes me sick. SICK I say! Last night, Fox 5 news ran a little clock in the corner of the screen, counting down to the NYC Transit strike, which would effectively shut down the city. Without public transportation, no one would be going to work. No one would be going anywhere. Just to drive into the city, you would need 4 people in your car. Hells yeah! This city is so badass and fortified that we can stop people entering if they don’t carpool. How ya like that!

At my firm’s holiday party last night, the potential strike (scheduled to start at midnight if no resolution was passed) was a topic of conversation. When we all left, it wasn’t “goodbye”, it was “see you tomorrow, hopefully.” At least that’s what our mouths said. We were all thinking, “hopefully we’ll all be stuck at home tomorrow.”

But, you know what? I said that there wasn’t going to be a strike. I said this yesterday morning, yesterday afternoon, and yesterday night. DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!

So, the point of this non-poker rant is this: Fuck you local news, you lying, bottom-feeding scum suckers! Fuck you all in the fucking ass!

The strike was a blatant empty threat from the MTA (metropolitan transportation authority) workers, and a boon for the local news, who use d it to drum up ratings. Fuck you local news!

A week or two ago, there was a Monday where we expected heavy snow, which would have meant another forced day away from the office. For a week, everyone anticipated the storm, following the local news closely. When Monday rolled around, there were barely flurries. Fuck you local news!!

And I’m not even going to go into that usual cliched “Weatherman gets paid for being wrong” rant. I mean, fuck you, Weatherman, but it ain’t just you. You are just a cog in the propaganda machine that is local news. And Fuck you local news!!!

This summer, I watched the news following Katrina. Word had it, a hurricane was going to touch down in Florida. The local news assholes saw their opportunity and showed their sheep viewers a projection of the hurricane’s path…which would run right through New York! A Hurricane in NYC!!!! Unheard of!!!! Amazing!!!! We had all just seen the devastation of Katrina, so, yeah local news, exploit our fears! Oh, and fuck you too!

The path showed the hurricane’s range of path, reaching deep west and well into the fucking Atlantic Ocean. A hurricane in New York! Fucking impossible! In the end, nothing came even close. But when we had some windy weather, the news still played it up as Armaggedon. So, fuck you news!

Have you ever heard this commercial between your primetime shows: “What common household clothe is killing your child! Find out tonight at 11!” Well, fuckface, if my kid is dying, maybe you could do a fucking public service and tell me now! “Find out what food could actualy be poisoning you, tonight at 10!” Assholes!

Hmmm….

Okay. I’m cool. FUCKING LOCAL NEWS.

Okay, I’m cool, I swear. Ah!

So, um, I played some poker, to the tune of -$4.50. Doesn’t bother me none, though, since I was three-tabling 1/2 limit and I feel like I am getting back into the swing of things. I’d give more info, but I’ve wasted enough time.

Come with me if you want to win!

I’m back from Seattle. I’ve got so much I want to write about, but I have so much to do. I’ll do my best to zip through this.

I arrived in Seattle at 8:15pm (Seattle time; 11:15pm NY time), and hopped in a $40 cab ride to my posh hotel in downtown Seattle. My suite was a beaut. Best of all, it had free Internet. I hooked up my comp and got down to business, working off my Gaming Club bonus at 1/2. I left up $4.50 or so, a minor victory (and acually a loss after losing a $5 HU at Noble, which gave me a free $10). Meanwhile, I railbirded Weak Player, who took 2nd in a $40 MTT on UB, for a cool $2K+ payday. Congrats to him. After the little bit of poker, I headed to the sack, 11pm Seattle time, 2am NYC time.

The next morning, I received a phone call at 7:30am from room-service apologizing for being a little late with my breakfast. Thank god! My alarm clock, set for 7am didn’t go off, so I guess luck was already on my side. I finally got my overpriced (but soon to be comped by the office) breakfast, wolfed it down, and checked out, leaving my bags with the conceirge for the day. A short walk later, and I was at my destination 20 minutes early. I can’t help it folks. I’m nothing if not punctual. This gave me the time to walk around Seattle. It is a beautiful city from what I could see. There are a lot of steep streets (i.e., hills), so I worked my way down some and across until I could find an easier walk back. In the meanwhile, I left behind the posh stores and Starbucks for the homeless shelter and bus depots. Ah, both sides of the coin in 20 minutes. I could only imagine how I must’ve looked in my black power suit, white shirt and red power tie, along with my flowing overcoat.

Upon arrival at the firm, I made small talk with the other attorneys and finally got down to business. I won’t bore you. Lord knows it bored me. Suffice it to say, several hours later we wrapped it up. Two of the attorneys were on the same flight back with me. One of them, an attorney from Pennsylvania, was questioning what he would do between our 5pm end time and the 10:15pm flight. I suggested, “Do you want to go to a casino?” He didn’t even respond, as though such a concept was absurd. Well screw you buddy! I don’t want to play with you either!

I took the 5 minute stroll back to the hotel and got my bags from the concierge. As he helped me out the door, I bit the bullet, “Do you know anything about the cardrooms?” He didn’t, but it was a swank hotel that knows how to treat its customers…even the degenerate gambler customers. In 5 minutes, he was back with directions to the Silver Dollar casino. A cab picked me off and off we go, me with a laptop case, a briefcase, and a rolling suitcase, wearing a suit and going to a dingy poker room. On the ride, I made small talk with Don, my driver. I looked at the taxi window and saw it’s number: 777. “This is cab 777?” “Yes, sir.” “Looks like it is going to be my lucky day.” Upon arrival, I saw three casinos. They looked like roadhouse bars, but poker is poker. Don dropped me off at the Great American Casino in Tukwila, WA. “This is the biggest one. I’ll pick you up at 8:15, but if I’m not here, call this number.” He handed me a card.

I stepped into the Great American, and it was anything but Great. No poker = sad Jordan. Fortunately, they were kind enough to direct me to the casinos across the street.

So there I was, running across the street, carrying three bags like a pack-mule, looking to kill time in a weird place with weird people. I hustled across and stepped into the Silver Dollar. “Sorry sir, no poker here.” The pitboss suddenly got a grin. “Unless you want Pai Gow Poker!” “Sorry man, but nice try.” 2 down, 1 to go. My hopes were dwindling.

Enter the Golden Nugget. As soon as I walked into this poor excuse for a casino, it felt like home. Picture a 3rd rate Vegas casino like Ellis Island. Now cut that in half. Welcome to the Golden Nugget! I put my name on the 3/6 list (two tables were going), and went to the bathroom. I think I hit bottom when I was desperately changing in the only stall in a dingy casino as fast as possible so I wouldn’t miss being called to sit. I stepped into the bathroom in a suit. I stepped out in crappy jeans, a shitty t-shirt and a hooded sweat shirt, ready for poker.

I sat down a little while later with $150. Within an hour and a half, I was up $90+. Another hour later and I was up only $23. At that point, after playing from 5:30 to 8pm, I headed out, with $22 in winnings and a souvenir chip.

But let’s go to the action. I was hit in the face with the deck early on, but I also made things happen. The table started fairly tight. One guy, a middle aged guy in a leather jacket that said “mid-life crisis” rather than “tough guy” was donking away, fortunately catching against other players. He caught against me once, rivering a straight to my two pair, but overall, I was making a profit on the guy. On my right (and later on my left, slightly further on my left, still further on my left, and then across the table) was the traveling granny Asian woman. Her and I had a great time. I bluffed her with 34c on an Ace high flop after everyone checked. I bet on the turn, narrowing the field to her and me. The river brought out a possible flush and I bet again. She laid it down and I showed. She then smacked my head. I looked at her with steely eyes, “Lady, if you and I didn’t have such a good thing going I’d take exception to that.” When I ordered a grilled cheese, traveling granny Asian came over with a napkin. She recommended the fries earlier. So she comes over, napkin in hand and says, “Give me some fries.” “What? Hell no. No fries for you!” She looked back sternly. “Just kidding, just kidding. I filled her napkin. As she walked back to my seat, I joked with the young Asian on my right and the white dude left, “Good thing she’s hot, otherwise I woulda told her to fuck off.”

One hand was an odd one. There is a royal flush bonus of about $2300. I had KhQh and the flop was JhTh. I bet, both players folded and I showed my cards face up. The table went nuts. A black guy who was very friendly overall, looked pissed. “You had two chances to make the royal flush!” “So what? I’d miss it and lose the hand. I wanted the pot.” At this point, I thought the bonus was only $50 (which was actually for straight flushes), but I still stood by my answer, sorta. I mean, I did mention that if I knew it was $2300 I might’ve played it differently. But fuck these Washington locals. To their defense, traveling granny Asian and a couple of other players said that they should let me play my game. Oh well oh well.

So, I left the place and ran across the street to the Great American. When my taxi failed to show, I called the card he gave me. I got picked up in 15 minutes or so and was at the airport by 8:45pm. Here is where I go uber-lucky. I usually avoid dealing with human beings if a computer can help me out. However, I avoided the computer check in terminals because I wanted to change my seat from a middle of the row seat to just about anything else. When I got to the counter, the guy asked me, “Would you like to take the 9:25pm flight and get home a little earlier?” Now, I knew that there was no 9:25 direct to NY, so I told him I didn’t want to transfer. But, as it turned out, it was a delayed direct flight….delayed from 3:40 pm!

When I arrived at the gate, everyone around me was miserable. They had been waiting more than 5 hours. Meanwhile, I strolled in with 15 minutes to take off, expecting over an hour wait. To make matters better, I got an aisle seat. When I sat down, a family of 3 came up to me. “Excuse me sir, but we have seats E and F (the two inside seats).” “Well, where is your third seat?” “C.” (right across the aisle from me) “Would you like to switch with me so you could sit together?” I’m a good samaritan. They were enthused. I sit down, and soon an old dude comes by and takes the A seat. But…get this…no one took the B.

So, to recap…I get in cab 777, find a poker room in a random city, win $23, get an earlier flight, get an aisle seat, and get room to move about when I voluntarily change my seat. What the hell am I doing typing this? I need to go play some poker!

It’s 5:23pm now, and I’m soon off to my work holiday party. Wifey Kim looks doubly amazing, as opposed to her usual single amazingness. I’m looking forward to some free food and a light amount of alcohol (I’m no fool!). Tomorrow, if all goes well, the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Association) will strike, shutting down the busses and subways, essentially the veins that keep this city alive. I’ll walk to Court in the morning and spend the rest of the day working from home.

Saturday afternoon at 3pm I’ll be at Genoa in their $40 no fee, $300 added tourney. Damn! An illegal cardroom with overlay? How can I say no. I may be there again for the same deal on Sunday.

Happy Poker Everyone!

You’re gonna eat suckouts and you’re gonna crap Aces!

T-minus 6 hours before I catch a cab to the airport. In that short span of time, I need to do about 8,000 things. This morning I’ve already received “reminders” from two co-workers about things that must be done. This is on top of some other work that has to be out today but also must be reviewed by a partner that is perpetually unavailable through no fault of his own. But hey, in T-minus 6 hours, I’ll be on my way to Seattle.

I want to thank Chipper and TripJax for their kind comments. Reading my post, I realize that I may’ve sounded so fed up with poker that one would think that I was going to stop playing and blogging. Not so, good reader. I was just trying to explain recent feelings that the urgency I once had is gone. Lately, online poker has been more of an afterthought.

With that in mind, I played at Gaming Club last night in pursuit of my PSO bonus and a bankroll pick-me-up. Variance came into play…but this time, it was on my side! I played 1/2 and won with overpairs (JJ 2x, QQ once, AA once) left and right. I raised with 33 and hit a set. I was on a roll so I played the 38 special and flopped a set of 3s. One player, a particular whipping boy for the session, typed, “your pre-flop play is horrible!” after my 38 beat him. My response, “yep. your post-flop play is horrible too.” The difference was, his post flop play costs him $. My pre-flop disguised my hand and took down a huge pot.

That was how it went. I hit big cards and won. I even won with the Snowmen (88) after a KQ7/A/9 board, betting the whole way and being called down by some yahoo who I can only guess had 78s or maybe 66. Nothing else makes sense.

The results: +$50. My bankroll is officially over $200 again. Good too, because I was playing above my bankroll at 1/2, which is utterly pathetic. Luck helped, but I also maximized the profit on my big hands, something I think I excel at.

Tonight, hopefully I’ll be playing in Seattle. Be good to each other.

[insert movie quote here]

As I sit in my office exhausted but moving along, one thought passed through my head: I am sick of online poker.

Sick of it I say! As you may have read, I’ve hit a bad run. My play isn’t particularly inspired and my luck is in the crapper. My bankroll was at $760 three weeks ago (or thereabouts), and now, it is down to probably $250 at most, after a withdrawal of $125. The loss is hard to take, but I do believe it is due in large part to our ole friend Variance. Even so, I will not be a slave to Variance. And I can take a break.

Other things are making online poker seem less important. First, my live game has been decent lately, and I vastly prefer it to the online game. I am going to Atlantic City for Christmas and the NYC underground poker clubs I frequent have restarted their low buy-in tourneys recently. Often after one of these, playing online has lost its luster. It’s like going out for a big steak dinner and then coming home and finding out that the wife has made you a meatloaf. Meatloaf is good honey, but I’m full. Throw that stuff in some tupperwear. I’ll be ready for it tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, thanks to Chipper, I’ve found a new outlet for my game-addiction. I use addiction lightly of course. When I’m sitting around, watching TV can only go so far. I need to engage my mind. So, I’ve been playing a videogame, Command & Conquer, which is fairly old. It serves its purpose, allowing me a distraction and a bit of mental exercise which doesn’t involve gambling money. In fact, when I feel the tilt come, I sign off and turn on C&C. I believe it is a highly recommended way to control tilt.

Holidays are also a welcomed distraction. With my bday, Xmas, and New Years coming up, I’ve found other things to do than play online.

I’ve got to go because time is tight lately, but I wanted to share with you my fed-uppedness with online poker.

In two days, I’ll probably be all over it once again. Until then…