High On Poker

Last night I was able to fit in three SNGs, with some fine success. The first SNG was a $6 9-person turbo on PokerStars while Ingoal watched. We tried to sign up for one together, but those SNGs fill up faster than a Cher concert on Castro Street! Yeah, I guess the analogy is a stretch.

Since Ingoal was in a rush and I didn’t have much time to play, I decided to have some fun with the table. I played much looser than usual and talked smack the entire way. I eventually went out 7th or so with 88 against one player’s KJ. The player who called my all-in preflop of 800 (the blinds were 50/100) was one of my smack talk targets. I have to admit that he probably called because of my smack talk. I would’ve preferred it if he folded, but it is what it is. At least I clearly had him tilting. If I could do it again, I’d simply wait for a better hand to push and he would’ve paid me off. Some follow up smack talk and he’d be gifting me the rest of his stack.

With that loss behind me, I took some time to myself (and wifey Kim). She eventually got on the phone, as she does. It amazes me how she can make 6 phone calls in a row, each with a different friend, gabbing away about this or that. I, meanwhile, can have a complete telephone conversation with any of my friends in less than a minute.

Seeing my opporunity, I fired up the comp and saw DP online. He had won a $15 turbo on Stars earlier, so we decided to go for another one together. Interestingly, my $6 loss more or less busted me at Stars. My SNG play there has been, how shall we put it, less than profitable. Of course, my net loss was only $50, but for my life-support bankroll, it was a pity.

With no money on Stars, I decided to reload another $50. The $15 turbo 9-person SNG was off to a fine start with DP sitting on my immediate right. Let me say this about DP and his play. DP knows what he is doing. He is selectively aggressive, and most of the time, he’s right on the mark. I’d much rather act after him, no matter what the situation. That said, I didn’t want him right on top of me. After all, you play most of your hands against the two players on your left and right.

As it turned out, DP and I were able to chip up early. We were both playing relatively loose due to the Turbo format and DP’s natural inclinations. I used to be a looser player, and I’m starting to see/remember the benefits of that style of play. However, I also remember the shortcomings, namely the big swings. It seemed like every other orbit, I was chipleader and then back to middle or back of the pack. I blame some of that on the quickly escalating blinds, but it also had to do with limping or betting with crap cards.

It got down to 4 and DP and I were still in it. The blinds were so high that DP was the only one not in the Rule of 10 (when you have less than 10x the BB, you either push or fold). I did my best to keep out of the fray, but eventually I had no choice but to give some action. I was hurt by Q4 v K4, but I was deep enough to keep going with 2.5K or so and 200/400 blinds, 50 ante. Luck eventually ran out for the two other guys, and DP and I were the only two left. In the very first hand, I was up about 1.5:1 in chips or less, but I got A3s. DP moved all-in. It didn’t matter at this point, with the marathon all-in fest I was calling. He had 57o or some other crap hand. I can’t blame him for trying. I took 1st, he took 2nd. Very successful overall.

I signed on later and decided to go play another SNG. Unfortunately, time being tight, I decided I wanted to play a 6-person turbo. Stars doesn’t have these for less than premium dough (I don’t think) and besides, I wanted to try something different, so I went for a Rio $20 6-person SNG at Titan. I have to pimp these SNGs because I love them. 6 players, with 2 spots paying. I eventually won the thing, for a $40 profit, but gave about $15 back in the casino games (damn you three card poker!) I am once again vowing to never play the casino games again. In their defense, I won $15 on them yesterday and used that to buy into the Rio. But…NEVER AGAIN! I felt like such a donk after losing to a fucking table game.

Here we go with some pimpage action. People, if you are interested in Titan or any other new site, first go to Poker Source Online and Vegas Poker Pro. Both sites offer bonus prizes for completing promos on new sites. I highly recommend the Royal Vegas and Poker Time promos on VPP, because they take about 2 days or 1 weekend day to complete. For your trouble you get the site’s cash bonus, plus VPP will send you either a $50 gift card (from Bestbuy, Amazon or Ebay), a poker DVD and book (both for one promo), a poker table top, poker chips, or a couple of other things. Free stuff is great!

You can get the same type of things from Poker Source Online, but I suggest that if you do go for PSO, you go for the PSO points (6K) because all of the prizes can be bought at the PSO Points Store for 5K, leaving you with 1K left to spend at the PSO Store along with your gift. PSO also offers Party Poker gift certificates (10,000 pts for $100, 20,000 for $200), which is great for building the bankroll. If you are using PSO, I suggest the Absolute Poker and Bodog Promos. Also, check their forum under promotions, because every month they offer bonuses to their bonuses for certain promos. So, you may be able to get 9K for doing the Party Poker promo, or some other deal. Check it out!

I’m the self-titled Devil’s Advocate of Poker Bloggers for a reason. I’ve got to jump on this one, which I read in Iggy‘s most recent post (not his words, but a 2+2 post he quoted), but is seen in many places.

One player stated that if you can be successful at poker, you can be successful at other things that are better for you than poker.

Well, I say thee Nay!

This is one of those self-perpetuating fallacies. Here’s the deal. If you are good at poker, you might have some transferrable skills. You might be a good people person, or a good math person, or a hard worker, for instance. But just because you are a good people person, it doesn’t mean that being a waiter is a better living for you than poker. Just because you are good at math, it doesn’t mean that you would succeed as a scientist, computer programmer, or even mathemagician. Just because you are a hard worker at poker, it doesn’t mean you will be able to work hard at med school.

Poker is poker, and while you need some transferrable skills to play well and succeed, there is a reason why a given person chooses to play poker. That reason is also the reason why they will not necessarily be more successful in another career. Note the “not necessarily.” Some people may be better off in some other career.

The only general thing I will concede is that some poker players would be good entrepeneurs, because they are self-starters, like to be their own boss, are committed, and hard-working. BUT (and this is a huge BUT) some of those players are also bad at organizing themselves, are committed and hard working at poker because it is a passion, and are not so much self-starters as they are action junkies. So, even the entrepeneur angle isn’t locked up.

I guess I’ve made my point. I just don’t believe the general rule that a poker player could excell easily and have an easier lifestyle if he chose another profession. It just doesn’t work that way. The heart wants what the heart wants, and for many of us, the hearts wants poker.

My posting output is through the roof following the most recent AC Trip.

One of the reasons why I was successful in the two MTTs in AC was my unwillingness to be all-in. I wouldn’t allow myself to be in any situation where my fate was dependent on a coin flip, unless, of course, I was shortstacked and desperate. But I kept myself un-shortstacked and un-desperate by avoiding second best or coin flip situations.

With that in mind, I present:

You Decide #28

We are in level 7 (100/200 blinds, 25 ante) of a 45-person MTT on PokerStars. We are fairly shortstackde with only 2235. We only outchip one other player.

We are in the Small Blind with Qd8c. The button (5500 in chips) calls. I call. The BB (about 3500 in chips) checks.

The flop is 5h Qs 3s. I bet 2010, and am all-in. The pot was 750 at this point. Both players fold.

So, here is my question: With top pair and a medium kicker, but on a short stack, does it make sense for me to intentionally push out the competition here, or should I have given a massage bet to induce a call? I could use more chips, and this may’ve been my chance. Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Thanks, people.

That’s a whole lot of trip report! Let’ s wrap this up.

The next morning, we woke at 11:15, all shocked that so much time had passed. The guys wanted to play more, but I wanted to go home. Roose particularly wanted a tourney, and I finally convinced him and Hole over breakfast to go to the Taj for the SNGs. They hate the Taj, and I know why. That place is huge, as far as poker rooms go. It’s the largest in AC. But it’s also the dirties and loudest.

We decided to play in a $50+15 SNG. We all sat at the same table. Winner takes all, for $500. We agreed that if any of us won, the others got their money back. Might as well spread the love. At the table was a motley group. There were a couple of timid internet players. One woman was all miffed at the 1K in chips and quickly escalating blinds. At least, she was miffed before the tourney. As it turned out, it didnt’ matter. In the first hand, a guy limped with AA, she bumped it up with AT and then hit an Ace on the flop. She pushed, he called and that was that.

I tried to play loose, but lost a couple of early hands. I was at about 600 left and looked down to AA in the BB or SB. A big doofy guy on the button limped. I pushed. He called with QhJh. With some chips behind me, I began stealing blinds when the timing was right.

I should probably go back a bit and mention something humorous. A black guy on my right, who I’ll call Questlove, because, hell, he looked like Questlove, raised preflop. Hole is a loose mofo. He called. The flop was Ace high. Hole bet. Quest raised all-in. See, Quest was a seasoned player, but he wouldn’t stop table coaching. Hole took his time, a rare thing to him. When he finally called, he had AK to Quest’s AQ. Quest was short stacked, but managed to make it to third place (I took him out).

Now, after this hand, Quest started saying, “Weak tight man. That guy is weak tight.” Quest missed the first hands of the SNG, doing god knows what. He didn’t realize that Hole and I were buddies, so I decided to exploit that. Hole is anything BUT weak-tight. But that’s not what I was saying. From there on out, with any of Hole’s raises, I was mumbling to Quest, “He must have KK or AA to be raising like that. He’s so weak tight.” A little subterfuge if you will. Ultimately, Hole lost, but I was happy that I could play a little bit of mind games.

When it got to three, I took out Quest. I was left with the guy who doubled up on the first hand. We were about even so we agreed to a chop. With a lesser payout, I gave Roose and Hole half of their buy-in back. Most importantly, I felt terrific. 9th out of 58, 5th out of 38, 1st/2nd out of 10. I kicked some serious poker ass.

This trip wasn’t financially successful. All in all, I was up a small amount. Poker alone, I was up a bit (I don’t count Pai Gow, where I lost $75, in my poker ledger). I avoided table games for the most part. I played solid poker. I made some amazing runs, including 2 final tables in one day.

It made me feel like I could really do this. I could be a successful poker player. That’s the plan. I’m taking this for real now. Slow and steady, but progressing. I couldn’t be happier.

At the Resorts, we went through the regular rigamarol. Only this time, the lovely Indian woman at the counter was willing to give us our upgrade. Word to the wise, asking for a smoking room upgrade may be easier. It worked for us. The room was an odd one. It was like they just stuck a room in whatever shape could fit in the corner. But it had 2 beds and a couch, so Roose, Hole and I were good to go. Mind you, Hole was still at work, but he planned to arrive at around 8:15pm. The $60+15 tourney, meanwhile, started at 8pm.

The poker room at the Resorts, well, it kinda stinks. It’s out in the open casino, so you can hear the slot machines going the whole time. Plus, its new and not well frequented, so only 2/4 was spread. Now, I’m already a day and about 20 drinks removed from the trip, so I’m going to have to start writing in broad strokes. Bear with me.

Roose and I finally settled down to the only game in the place, 2/4 limit. The table was something from the Twilight Zone. I mean, I’ve heard of people referring to “No Fold’em Hold’em” but I’d never seen it firsthand, at least to this extreme extent. The beauty and the beast of it all is that when every player is limping into the pot and you are in late position, you have to call, even with 48s, because the pot odds are there. So, my $100 was down wot $50 or so, from limping into huge multiway pots and calling the flopped raise, only to fold on the turn. Fortunately for me, I was finally dealt AA and played it standard. Raise preflop, and got 5 or 6 callers. The flop was all unders, but there was a straight draw. I raised, someone re-raised. Everyone called. The turn was an Ace, so at least I didn’t have to worry about two pair. I bet, the field thinned to three players. The river could’ve helped a straight draw, but I wasn’t concerned. I bet. One player called. He had K-high. Fuckin’ Bizzaro poker!

When it was all said and done, Roose and I walked from the table, with me up $30 or so. He was down. It was a good thing that I won. My bankroll needed it. I could barely afford the $75 tourney buy-in and still have $100 for more grinding afterward.

A trip to the buffet was interesting. $8.99, but the spread was something straight out of a college cafeteria. When we were done, we went back to the poker room to figure everything out. The tourney was a mess to start. No one in the place knew what they were doing.

I was seated to the 2 seats to left of Vick Mackey of the Shield (or at least his look-alike). I played the same as the day before, keeping to good hands, but also taking opportunity when available. In one peculiar hand I held KK. It occurs to me now that most of the hands I wrote about involved a high pocket pair. I guess that was because those were the main hands I was playing. I mean, I did bluff preflop with 26o in the first tourney and followed with a continuation on the flop. I wasn’t entirely a rock. And my image, with my Superman shirt and loudmouth demeanor was that of a loose player. But no doubt about it, my hand selection was tight.

So, I had KK. I had been playing big pairs hard, hoping to take blinds only. A squeamish young kid limped in EP. Mackey, who I respected (it was mutual), bet out from the 100 BB to 300. I re-raised from 300 to 1K total. The kid pushed for 1,200. Mackey folded. I called with KK. The kid had A7o. I won. Mackey then mumbled something. “You know that guy?” “What?” “That’d be a great way to dump chips on a guy, if you are colluding.” I took off my headphones. Mackey was a fairly tough looking guy, but damnit, I was pissed. “Are you suggesting I’m cheating? If you are joking, that’s one thing, but if you are serious, you’ve got another thing coming.” Our voices escalated. And then if fizzled out. He said he wasn’t serious. He didn’t think I was cheating. I was cool: “Hey, no problem man. I can see that the kid made a stupid move, but don’t hang it on me.” We went back to poker. In a little while, Mackey and I were back to buddies.

In another hand against Mackey, I was dealt A5d in the BB. Everyone folded to him on the button and he raised from 100 to 300. I called. The flop was AK5. I checked, hoping he’d continuation bet. He checked. The next card was a 5! BINGO! I checked, he checked. The river was a blank, I guess. It was sure as hell a blank for me. I had to get something out of this. I bet 1K, which was a little under pot-sized with the antes, but a usual bet from Vick or I. He thought for a while. “I know you don’t have anything. I’m just trying to decide if you have a Q.” He showed me his cards, J-high. He stood up and walked away for a bit. I started jabbering. I started with my usual line: “You don’t want a peice of htis.” He seemed to think some more. I decided to change it up again. See, when you want someone to call, you gotta do something. You can’t just sit back and let them realize that they are fucked. “You know, it’s only 1K though. You are pretty deep stacked.” It still needed some time to marinate. And then: “I call.” I showed A5. “You were right. I didn’t have a Queen.”

I continued playing smart, staying near chip leader at the table. We took a break and when I returned, I was dealt AA. I bet big and followed up big, and continue big and get paid off big. I then get JJ and get another guy all-in pre-flop to his A-little. He hit. On the very next hand I get TT and get another player all-in with his KT, but this time it holds up. Booya!

The tables were down to 2 and I went back to tight. I had to really. But i did make one move that was stupid and yet successful. It’d make you all proud, at least by the time the story is over. I held 72o. We were down to 5 players at our table, with 6 at the other. I was getting short, probably already in the rule of 10 because of the blinds and antes. I decided to make a play. On the button, I raise from 1K to 4K. The SB folds. Then I notice the BB. He is severely short, with 1K in the BB and about 1.6K behind. He had to call. With KJ, I was in trouble, until the flop. A 7 came down, and that’s how I made the final table. Of course, I yelled, “HAMMER!!”

Final table time. With 10 players and only 5 spots paying, I got my game face on. Mackey made it, as did a very drunk black guy from the No Fold’em 2/4 game. He didn’t know what he was doing. I’ll fast forward. We are down to 5 after Drunk Black got lucky on a short stack, tripling up with his pocket 2s. He then minimum raised from 3K to 6K and another player with a short stack pushed. DB called with Tc5c. Yep, he was raising with trash. He stunk of alcohol. The other guy had 22, but DB got lucky again and hit his T. And we were down to 5. I didn’t bubble, hallelujah.

I did, however, go out 5th. I held 77 and DB tried to minimum raise from my left. Only, this far into the tourney (and into the Whiskey apparently), and he still couldn’t follow the rules. His min raise wasn’t accepted and he was forced to just limp. As the small stack, I needed to make a move. I thought DB was playing trash again. Why wouldn’t I? He min raised with T5 a moment before. I pushed for 15K. One guy and DB called. I missed the flop. DB raised and the other guy folded. And then DB showed JJ.

I was out in 5th, netting a measely $29 profit and a Resorts poker room hat. DB ended up winning the thing. Mackey took 2nd. He pissed me off I lost by saying it was a bad play. I tried to explain the min bet with T5 and he said, “Get over it man!” I wanted to kick his teeth in, but instead I went to Roose and Hole to steam.

9th out of 58 people. 5th out of 38 people. Not a bad run. Not a bad run at all.

I eventually went to play some 2/4. I ended up even there after another No Fold’em session. I met up with Roose and Hole at Pai Gow and ended up even there as well. Finally, we went to 1/2 NL. It was almost 3AM and I sat between two girls. There were only 6 people at the table, including Roose, Hole and I. The girls were clealy good players. And then I noticed something. The girl on my left looked familiar. When I was in AC for one day with Ruff a while ago. When I was there, F-Train, Joaquin, SoxLover and some other bloggers were there. I didn’t know anyone really, except for Joaq and F at the time, but one of the crew was a girl…a girl who looked oddly like the girl on my left. “This might sound odd, but you look familiar. What is your name?” It wasn’t Dawn though, so I assumed I was mistaken. “You look like a friend of a friend named Dawn.” The girl on my right piped up. “Do you blog?” “What? Yeah. High On Poker.” “Dawn is her blogging name.” Yep. I bumped into a couple of bloggers at the Resorts at 3AM on a Thursday night. How random. So, without further adieu, check out their blog, I Had Outs. The girls are damn good poker players, as verified by me, Roose and Hole. Fortunately, I was able to keep out of their way.

When they left, we found out that the room closed at 3:15am. One guy at the table proposed a bet. We all would bet 25$ on the next hand, blind. It’s essentially a 5-way coin flip. I decided not to play. I was there to play poker, not gamble. But Hole, having recently busted out, played my hand with his money. Roose ended up winning it with 29 when he flopped a 9. He had the worst hand preflop.

Final day, coming up…

The alarm clock went off at 7AM. Unfortunately, it was the neighbors alarm clock and the neighbors either didn’t exist or were not answering the call. The sound through the wall was unbearable. Not only was I suffering from a rum and coke and Corona hangover (the official alcoholic beverages of High on Poker casino play), but I was also suffering a $330 loss hangover. I tried to force myself back to sleep, but by 7:07, I had enough. I called the front desk and complained. In five minutes the alarm stopped. But I was still awake. Roose was sleeping away, god bless him, so there was only one thing to do. I got dressed and headed to the poker room.

The Showboat poker room is great. It’s away from the main floor, but not hard to get to. The tables and room are nice. But, unfortunately, the action was a little light at 7AM on a Thursday. There were 2 games spread: 2/4 limit and 1/2 NL, and neither table had more than 3 people! I decided to play 2/4 limit, given my depleted bankroll ($170 left out of $500). My goal was to grind out a $50 profit, enough to pay my way into the 11AM tournament.

When I sat, the two players were middle-aged patrons taking the game semi-seriously. One gent went to the bathroom, so I found myself playing 2/4 limit heads up. It felt like I was online. Unfortunately, variance and his selective aggression got the best of me. When the third guy came back, he too was catching cards, although playing very passively. With 22 I raised and he called. The flop was K44. I bet, he called. The turn was a 6. I bet he called. The river was a blank. I bet, he called. He had KQ! I don’t know why he didn’t reraise. I don’t know why I didn’t check.

Other players joined the table. Two black dudes sat down. They were of the friendly variety. They played to win, but they weren’t exactly sharp shooters. An old guy to my right was fun to hang with. At one point I was down to about $40 of my original $100 buy-in. That’s when I started to play better poker, working my way up with a few large pots, including one where I rivered a straight because of pot odds. I love dem pot odds! Suddenly I was up $15 or so. That’s when I started announcing: this is going to be my $35 hand (remember the goal). Well, it didn’t work out that way. At 9:30 I had to leave to meet Roose. I was up $14. I don’t remember the last hand, but it was playable. Unfortunately, my neighbor also had a playable hand, and at showdown, I had lost. My net profit for 2 hours of poker: $0.

With $170 left in my wallet, I met Roose upstairs. We threw on some clothes, me opting for the Superman shirt that had done me so well. We skipped the -EV showers and signed up for the tourney. A breakfast later and we were ready to play. We got into a small conversation with two other players, young guys who looked barely 21. I joked that we’d see them at the final table.

At the tournament, I was seated with a fun group. There were two ladies, one who looked liked my grandma (I felt a tad guilty when I made huge pots off of her). The other was a friendly lady on my left. Besides them, there was a mix of older players. One guy was in his late 20s or early 30s. He was an aggressive guy, but he showed down some crappy starting hands. I tried to be cautious of him. Hell, I tried to be cautious of everyone.

I have to admit, I played the perfect balance of hand selection, considering my opponent’s personalities and actions, and aggression. In one orbit, I’d fold A9s. In the next, I’d raise. I coasted by most of the tourney, amassing chips and staying in the top 3 chipstacks at the table. I don’t even thing I reached many showdowns. I wasn’t chasing. I wasn’t taking coin tosses. I was on my game. Roose held strong too, but eventually went out when he was in the Rule of 10 and pushed with TT. Someone called with J8o preflop and hit a straight. Meanwhile, I did my best to keep it moving. I sat at my table, alternatively playing my mp3 player and leaving it paused while I pretended to bob my head.

I’ll cut to the chase, since I don’t remember a lot of hands. There were 58 or 59 players. I wasn’t getting any good cards. About 3 hours into the tourney I got my first premium hand, AA. It was folded to me on the button. Even without premium cards, I was playing premium poker, so that was all that mattered. The two young kids got moved to my table. We had fun bantering. I had especial fun raising the timid one off of hands. Each time he’d say, “you’ve been playing tight, so I’ll believe you” I had been playing tight…but not against him.

I was in heaven when the three of us actually did make the final table. With 10 people left and 8 spots paid, I decided to focus on making the money. The blinds were 2000/4000, and because of cold cards, I was down to less than 15K. One player went out. Only one more to go. I raised all-in with 99 in EP and all players folded. With 500 antes and 15,500 in front of me, I knew I’d have to make a move. There were two other small stacks, but I was playing for 1st, not 8th. I was dealt AcQc on the button and decided to make my move when it folded to me. I pushed for 15K. The SB folded. The BB thought for a while. I was going to talk some smack, but didn’t have the heart. I didn’t want to give anything away, especially since I got the BB to fold with 99 by saying stuff like, “You don’t want a piece of this!” He eventually called…with KQ!!!! And then he turned the K. AQ v. KQ preflop. I still couldn’t help but feel like I fucked up. Roose was right there. I got up and grabbed my stuff. I said goodbye to the several players who I had spent the day with. They all had a lot of respect for me and my game. I don’t mean to hype myself up. But that was how they reacted, and I was flattered. I didn’t say a word. One guy asked if I was okay. I nodded. I flipped up my hood and walked away as techno music played on my mp3 player. Roose joined me. He was starving. It was 3pm. I told him we should eat when we got to the Resorts. I was starving too, but I had to get out of the Showboat as soon as I could. My heart was broken and I was ready to explode. We grabbed a sandwich on the way out. I could hardly eat.

Sounds like fun, right? Down $350 or so (after winning $30 somewhere doing something…I swear I can’t remember what), my prospects didn’t look good. I placed 9th out of 58, but I was wiped from the bubble finish. So close, yet so far. Resorts, here I come…

Well, where to begin. I guess I’ll begin at the beginning, and go on till I come to the end: then stop. Sounds about as good as a plan as any one.

As expected, Roose showed up before my work day officially ended, but I still high-tailed it out of there. We got to AC in just short of 3 hrs, arrive at 8:51. Yep. 8:51. I was practically staring at the clock in anticipation. We checked into the Showboat and dropped off our stuff in our (un-upgraded, but not for lack of trying) room.

Robbie Hole had to work on Thursday, so he was going to meet us out Thursday night. I paced the room while Roose got settled in. Its uncanny how some things are so predictable. We walked around the floor games. Roose had a hankerin’ for a Pai Gow spankerin’ but I was a bit more timid. My goal this faux-weekend was to control the temptation to gamble. I was going to AC to play poker, and play poker well. After pacing the floor for 10 minutes (it was a desperate sight, quiet and a whole sesction of tables closed), I laid it out to Roose: “I’ve been here 20 minutes and I haven’t had any action!” I was incredulous.

Not surprisingly, Roose, a full fledged fellow moderate to extreme degenerate (my how he’s grown!), complied in no time. We both were sat for 1/2 tables…2 different tables. I remember when we were about to be seated, one table were all younger white males, and the other one was a women’s lib meeting at the UN. I was shipped to the yound white males. It didn’t take long until I dropped this line: “Floor! Open seat! We beed another white male over here!” Yeah. I’m a real riot.

The white male table was great though. In seat 1 was quiet white guy. 2 was jolly fat pothead white guy. He actually had a bong as a card protector. But we’ll learn more about that later. In the 3 seat was skinny, jerky, slightly older white guy. When I got to the table, he was holding his head like he just walked in on his girlfriend and his father. He might as well have worn a target. That tilting mo fo was gonna pay me off. Then there was the preacher’s son. He claimed he used to have face rings and really long hair. Hahahaha! Sorry dude, that’s a bluff if ever I saw one. To his left was a succession of players that could all be described as timid white guys. One was as scared as a fish on his first day in the big house. I had fun raising him off of hands. To my right was a real by the book guy. A little nerdy. One to his right was Pat, my official table buddy for the night. I have a lot of respect for his game, even though he did bust me eventually. That’s the kind of guy I am.

Here are the highlights. I was pretty aggressive, but only when opportunity arose. I got into a hand against Pat that got me a lot of respect. Preflop, I raise with QQ in BB to 22. There were two or three limpers. Everyone folded to Pat on the button. He called. The flop were all under cards. I check. He bets 20. I raise to 50. He looks down and goes all in. Now, Pat was a sharp player. No doubt about that. He had me outstacked. At this point, having started with 160, I was up to about 230, not including what I had already thrown into the pot. I decided to lay the QQ down, but I wanted to confirm my suspicions. I announced rather loudly that I was laying the hand down while I put the two ladies face up on the table. Now, call me crazy, but this was not an amazing move to me, folding QQ. I thought I had lost, either to a flopped set or to an overpair. I could just read it in the hand. He’s smart. Calls my raise, hits a flop, go absurdly over the top with an all-in bet because it’ll make me (another smart player) think that he is bluffing. That was my thought process. When I tabled the Queens I thought nothing of it. But when he showed his KK faceup, the table sorta lit up. A bunch of the players near me and across the way were talking about the hand. “Would you’ve laid down Queens?” Most wouldn’t have. That made me feel…special. For a while at least.

I played the suited hammer and bluffed big on a flop. I had to show it. Jerky guy, across the table, must’ve noticed it. A little while later I had AKs. I bet preflop and Jerky called. Remember, this is the guy wearing the target. The flop was all unders, 873 or some such nonsense. I thought for a moment and checked. He hadn’t played many hands. He checked right back at me. I let out an inner sigh. The next card was another 8. I decided it was time to take my hand. I bet 20 or so. He went into the tank. “I know you have nothing. I know you do. God. I think I have the best hand. Gah!” He folded face up: KT! HAHAHAHA! Don’t waste my time buddy.

Not too long after, I hear Jerky talking to Fat guy. Suddenly, Fat gets up and raises his voice. Jerky shoots up too. “You wanna go outside?” Jerky asked. “Hell yeah, I’ll take this outside.”

Now, rewind. From what we pieced together later. Jerky was bitching about his bad luck. Fatty was finally fed up after several hours and told him to stop bitching. Jerky replied, “Shut the fuck up you fat fuck!” That’s what did it.

Suddenly, Jerky is stepping through the “windows” of the poker room. Basically, instead of a solid wall, the poker room’s walls have huge open-air “windows” into the main hallway that you can pretty much step over. Fatty made his way over too. While he was doing it, Jerky yelled, I’ll meet you at the garbage. Fatty replied with this golden oldie: “The garbage? What’s in there? Your mom?! I’ll fuck her up too!” From there, we went back to poker while security came in. When Fatty was getting his coat, Jerky’s friend was getting Jerky’s stuff. Fatty started up with Jerky’s pal, so the pal said, “Let’s take this outside!” Fatty’s response: “What’s wrong with you people! It’s always outside! I’m right here! Why do we always gotta go some place!”

But, um poker. It went well. My reads were good. I made a couple of great laydowns, if I must say so myself. I was selective and picked my actions considering everything, especially the players. I seem to get a loose image, what with the hammer (which I dropped a 2nd time) and my large bets. But in reality, my hand selection was good, and I made the most of it.

At my peak, I was up 160 or so. But, um, that didn’t last. I don’t remember a lot of the specifics, but I do know how I ultimately busted. The cliff notes are this: KK v 34o, 34 flops a straight. I had raised big pre-flop and he called. But I then was stupid, because, frankly, the flop had an Ace. I don’t remember the specifics, because now, I’d never get deep into a hand (either he or I were all-in) with KK and an A board in this situation unless I had more info. But, sure enough, I was in that situation and lost a chunk. I think I lost the rest after in QQ v A5. I had QQ, all in pre-flop. It was one of those nights. I rebought in for 60 since I left the remainder of my cash upstairs. Good news! I have a new rule. No buying back in for lesser amounts if I bust at a NL cash table. I always get desperate, feeling short stacked and get myself in trouble. I think there was another suckout in there, but that may’ve been my imagination.

I pulled Roose away from the NOW/UN meeting and we headed to the room…until we ran into Pai Gow Poker. The min bet was 25, so I agreed to play only 100. Roose and I proceeded to play and not win one hand. That was how I spent my first night at AC, down $330, expecting to play a tourney tomorrow morning worth $50 when my total bankroll and spending money ($500 for the trip, $170 left) was on life support. I said to myself inside, “You are going to play great poker tomorrow. You have to.” I called wifey Kim and left her a voicemail. I admitted to being down almost $330. To wifey Kim’s credit, when we spoke the next morning and I brought up my losses, she was very cool. I felt terribly guilty that I was in AC losing our money, and I heard in her voice the concern. But when she heard how crestfallen I was, her voice changed. Wifey Kim is an angel, and that was what I needed right then and there. With her support, I was ready for the next day…

Well, the cat is out of the hamper! The head secretary, office manager and I were talking briefly when it came out that I wouldn’t be in the office tomorrow. They asked why and I’ve decided not to bluff. I told them the truth…AC.

“With wifey Kim?,” they asked, minus the “wifey”.
“Um, no, with the guys.” They were shocked.
“Wha? Let me get this straight. You are newly weds and you are going on vacation without her?”
“Well, it isn’t like that. It’s just a couple of days.”
“And she allows this?”
“She does when I come home with a couple of hundred extra.”
“What? You expect to win?”
“I play poker, and you’d be surprised.”

Not such a big deal, outting myself to two secretaries (essentially). However, the close proximity to the big boss man may not have been the smartest move. Not 5 minutes later, the Big Man comes into my office.

“So, you are leaving tomorrow?”
“Um, actually tonight. Right from work.” I nodded over at my backpack. Degenerate alert! Degenerate alert! Abort conversation!
I foolishly tried to recover. “One of the guys got some free rooms (notice I didn’t mention that I had the free room) so…”
“You’re not going with Kim?” Is that so weird? I guess so. Damn. This’ll be the last trip without her for a long time anyway.
“No, just the guys this time.”
From the other room I hear it, “Tell him why she lets you!” Damn!
“I told R______ that I’d be back with a couple of hundred for Kim.”
“You plan on winning!?” This idea is apparently incredulous. “What do you play?”
Here we go. If I’m going to out myself, I better put on the best face possible. “I play poker. And I don’t mean to brag, but I’m pretty good. At least with poker, you aren’t playing against the house. You are playing against another guy at the table, and he can be a terrible player.”

And then I heard it:
“I used to play every week with some friends. We play real low stakes, where you lose a hundred at most. One night I won $350 and I came home to tell my wife. She yelled at me, ‘You don’t take $350 from your friends!’”
I smiled and chuckled.

I’m outted. Fuck! Nothing to do but ride the wave…

AC. T-Minus 45 minutes.

AC is near, and certain things are already falling into place. I’m trying to get through my psuedo-Friday at the office. I have to tell a client today that we cannot continue with her case. It’s going to suck, but it’s part of the job. I must admit though, I’m nervous as hell. It’s not that I am concerned about the client’s reactions. Its that I know that these laypersons don’t know everything that we do, and they don’t understand the intricacies of the law. To the client, they underwent surgery, something was done wrong, and now they have pain. That’s an easy case. To us, the client underwent surgery, something was done wrong, and now they have pain, but the pain cannot be connected legally to the surgery problems and the current problems are also documented as not existing in certain records. The law is the law, and this case is a clunker. But the poor client doesn’t know this. They just know that they came to us for help, we acted like we were helping, and then we dropped her cause. It’s kinda like a new player holding AK and missing the flop. They think AK is still good, but sorry, its time to fold.

My predictions for AC are coming true. I spoke to Roose and he already gave me shit about timing. He gets off of work at 5pm. Well, sorry guy, I need until 6 or 6:30, and even then I’m cutting it close. I expect to probably wimp out and meet him at 6.

Meanwhile, when I spoke to Hole, he announced that the first thing he is going to do is hit up roulette and then poker. It’s like a goddamn ritual. First roulette, then poker. God bless!

Last night I played in the 180-person $20 Stars SNG for the first time. I didn’t play any hands for the first hour and a half or so. When I finally did, I doubled up. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Eventually, I got all-in preflop with TT v. AQ. I ask the same question again: Aside from when you are shortstacked, is there ever a reason to push all-in on a coin toss, assuming you know it will be a coin toss? I think the answer is yes. More often than not, you’ll win. Of course I’m talking about those tosses when you are ahead by a narrow margin, not the ones when you are behind.

After losing the tourney at about 57th place, I called it a night. I was a bit steaming, and I think I had my fill. I planned on hitting the sack early, but then realized I hat yet to pack. I threw some clothes together, and then realized that I needed to update my mp3 player. You might have your iPods, but I got me a ghetto $30 Sandisk that holds about 3-4 hours of music. Yep, its not your 20,000 song iPod, but 4 hrs is enough for me, especially when I’m playing poker. The music of choice were a couple of hour-long live Paul Oakenfold sets. He’s techno, for those who don’t know. I find techno to be the music of choice. It sets me up with a rhythm, doesn’t distract me with lyrics, and helps me hit the zone. I also threw in some classical music, Ave Maria by Pavarotti and some other Italian song from the GTA soundtrack, some hip hop from the Wu Tang Clan, Jay-Z, and Dr. Dre, some random rock music, and Uncle Fucker from the South Park Movie, for when I need a mental break. Ah, I love my portable poker-inspired music!

T-minus 7 1/2 hours. Wish me luck!