High On Poker

Some exciting news from Atlantic City. The new Atlantic City Express Service, known otherwise as ACES, starts this Friday. For those not from the NE (or, um, NYC, specifically), ACES is a new train line running express from New York City to Atlantic City. I’ve got a slew of opinions about the service, but before we look into it further, let’s talk generally about the state of casino poker for New Yorkers.

If there was one word that epitomizes the NYC poker player’s casino adventures it would be this: travel. The nearest legal live poker room is a minimum two hours away, assuming you live across the river from the city in New Jersey. More realistically, for anyone leaving from the suburbs to the North of the City or (god forbid) the East of the City (which requires a drive through or around Manhattan), the trip is going to be a good 2.5 to 3 hours. Add in rush hour City traffic on any weekday, New Jersey shore traffic during the summer, and any other excuse for traffic this city has seen, and you have a recipe for a long wait.

So what are the options for a New Yorker who feels the need for casino poker? Planes, trains and automobiles, with buses included for good measure.

On my most recent trip, bro-in-law Marc and I chatted about the easiest way to AC. He had the definitive answer, although I can only discuss it from the third-person: plane. Several years ago, Marc and wifey Kim’s new step-mother would make semi-regular trips to AC. I don’t know a lot of the details, but I do know that she had some sorta high roller status, the best perk of which was the free flight to AC. Marc went one time, flying out of a small airport in Long Island (suburbs east of NYC) and into a small AC airport. Small airports are the key, since it avoids the usual traps of air travel: busy airports, delayed flights, obnoxious (but necessary) security protocols, the need to arrive 90 minutes early. From there, they were picked up by a limo and brought straight to the casino. Absolutely ideal…if you didn’t have to play through what must be hundreds of thousands of dollars (as a conservative estimate).

If you can’t get a plane, though, there are several other options. The one I’ve used most frequently is simply driving. I don’t have a car (the joys of City-living), so usually that means that I must rely on one of my ne’er-do-well friends. Even though I’m living in the lap of luxury, usually picked up from Manhattan, the ride is a pain in the ass. Once you factor in a NYC stop, you have to deal with the traffic around all exits from this great island we call Manhattan. That can easily add another hour or more to your trip. Then you have gas and tolls, and a round trip costs easily $50-60, on the conservative side. Of course, that’s split among passengers, so it is fairly economical. Plus, you have the freedom of a car, which is a bonus. Naturally, if you don’t own a car, though, the cost will be several hundreds of dollars in rental costs, making it non-economical for NYers without driving friends.

Before the ACES line, if you wanted to travel to AC by train, you had to probably purchase through Amtrak (which, frankly, should have been bankrupt YEARS AGO if not for huge government subsidies, basically pork barrel spending from states whose residents actually rely on Amtrak for travel…shiver…). Right now, the price would be between $55 and $120 each way and takes about 3 hours. If you can do any math, you can see that this is a bum deal. It takes longer AND costs more than driving. Which leads us to…

Buses. I was very anti-bus at first, but since my last two trips via bus, I’m a complete convert. The bus is dirt cheap at $35 roundtrip, with a $20 cash voucher (just cash it in, no play through) upon arrival at the casinos. The trip has taken an easy 2 hours 20 minutes or less each of the four rides I’ve taken, regardless of weather or traffic. This is largely due to the fact that the busses have special lanes to escape the City, which is where the biggest traffic congestion occurs. For $15, roundtrip, you can get to AC faster and cheaper than any other form of travel. If you look scary enough, you can also ensure your own seat most of the time.

And finally, we come across ACES. When ACES was first announced, I thought it was a great idea. Express train service from NYC to AC is a no brainer, and I was shocked they didn’t have it before. Then I heard rumors that the price would be prohibitive. Well, it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. Each way on ACES costs about $50, cheaper than a regular Amtrak ticket, and definitely cheaper than renting a car or losing enough to earn a comped flight. However (and this part kills me) the trip takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes by train, at which point you have to get a shuttle (free) to individual casinos.

Why can’t they just get it right? I know it’s not easy or cheap. In fact, some of the casinos actually got together to fund the ACES line, merely to bring in more customers. And I suppose it does its job of offering a means of travel from NYC to AC for those without cars who refuse to ride a bus. But why is it $100 round trip and takes LONGER than a bus?! This is a problem that does not just permeate the ACES line but rather many train lines around the US. The Japanese have had the Shinkansen (read: bullet train) since 1964, traveling at about 130 mph. Test runs have even gotten up to 275 mph. Yet here, in the US of A, we are traveling around on slow ass trains, moving at a speed equivalent to an automobile. What the hell, America?! Hell, even South Korea has a bullet train. If I am going to pay $100 round trip, I expect to get there FASTER than a car.

In the end, ACES is a waste for a player like me willing to take a cheaper and faster bus. I hope ACES succeeds, merely because I like to see AC succeed and I like the idea of more players. However, time will tell. With so many other options around, the ACES line targets particular customers: players who are too elite for bus service but are too broke for car service. With the economy in its present shape, maybe that will be a lot of people. My guess, though, is that it won’t.

I’m crossing my fingers for ACES and AC, but frankly, I think this one was off the mark.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Lately, I’ve been writing a lot about my mistakes, whether it be some sloppy action in a home game or a poorly played hand. I was thinking about that as I reviewed a couple of PLO8 hands I saved, and it cause me a bit of concern. If I only post about my poor play, will that make me appear to be a poor player? Then I realized that this was all bullshit. I post to get insight into play, and it just makes more sense to focus on the flubs, because you can only learn so much from posting hands or situations where I played awesomely.

Of course, there is a larger picture to all of this. I think I’ve come to realize that there is a recent for my mistakes. I’m playing poorly lately. I can’t even pinpoint why that is, other than complacency and laziness. I’m just not working enough or thinking critically enough about my craft when I play. I’m thinking about it moreso when I’m not playing, but when the game starts, I’m relying too much on instinct and not gathering enough information and playing focused poker.

If you have the time, drop a comment about the following two hands. In both hands, we have a common theme, a river fold that might have been too tight. But maybe not. Hence, why I’ll leave it up to you and call it:

You Decide #66 – PLO8 Tournament Edition

I was playing in a $10+1 PLO8 MTT on Full Tilt, in the early 20/40 blind period. It was a deepstack event, and I was just slightly lower than the initial 3k starting stack, with 2,930. I was dealt 2c 3c 5x 6x and decided to limp for 40 from early/mid-position with no limpers before me. BJ (2,585) called in MP. WrongP (3,305) in the SB called, and Dorton (6,915) in the BB checked. We saw a flop: 5c 4d 9c. It gave me a draw to a baby flush, a wrap straight draw (any Ace, 2, 3, 6, or 7 gave me a straight), a crappy middle pair weak kicker, a draw to the nut low (Ace), and a draw to the third nut low generally (any 2, 3, 7, or 8).

WrongP checked and Dorton bet half-pot, 80. I decided to flat call to see which draw would come, if any. I also wanted to keep the other players in the pot. BJ folded, giving me position on the rest of the players. WrongP also folded, leaving me heads up with the big stack who bet out on the flop.

The turn was a Td, a card that was of no use to me. Dorton bet 120, which was just 1/3 of the pot. It seemed cheap enough to call, and call I did.

The river was an 8d, giving me the third-nut low and pretty much nothing else. I had my pair of 5s, but that’s pretty much rags in Omaha. Dorton bet 200…and I folded.

Good fold or bad fold? The pot was 560, plus the 200 bet, for 760 total. I assumed that I could only win the low, so the max I’m going to get for my 200 is 480 (760+200/2). I’m betting 200 to win 280, at most, and possibly losing to a better low (A2, A3). It just didn’t seem worth the call at that time in the game, but I’m not super adept at the odds in PLO, so if anyone has insight, please feel free to share.

In the same tournament, the blinds were eventually 150/300, and I had worked my stack up to 18,221. I was in the BB when I was dealt Qs Js Tc 4c. UTG, Imeat (26,025) raised to 675. In the cutoff, Wing (15,520) called. On the button, Obi-Wan (5,770, apparently without the force) called. The SB folded and I called the extra 375, after which the pot was 2,850.

The flop was Qd Ah Jc. I had a weak two-pair and an inside draw to the nut straight (I needed a King) that could very well end up splitting the high. With only one low card, I wasn’t worried about low draws (yet). With the Jc, I even had a backdoor flush draw, although not to the nut flush. I opted to check. Imeat continuation bet, 1,762. Everyone else folded and I thought it over. Frankly, I’m not sure why I called. I think I figured him for c-betting, and with my draw to the nut straight, my two-pair, and the lack of a low, I felt it was worth pealing off a card. In hindsight, maybe a fold was in order…I’m not quite sure.

The turn was a 4s, negating the chance of a flush, opening the possibility of a low (although I still wasn’t concerned based on the flop action), and giving me a useless third pair. Of course, if I rivered another 4, that turn wouldn’t be too shabby, but as it was, it was essentially useless.

I checked. Imeat took his time and then bet 1,500…less than his flop bet. That confused me, and I took it for weakness. Since the pot was already almost 6,400 before the 1,500, the now almost 8k pot called to me, and I decided to call again.

The turn was a Qc. It gave me Queens full of Jacks. I checked, expecting to call or check-raise. My opponent bet….10,049. WTF! Then it dawned on me. AA. The dude had AAXX. That explains the preflop raise, the flop continuation bet that was a fraction of the pot, the turn bet when perhaps he feared the low draw or conversely welcomed it because he was drawing low too, and then pushed on the nuts river. I just couldn’t fathom a push on that river absent AA or maybe AQ. It just screamed AA to me. So, I folded.

Was I seeing monsters under the bed or did I make a good laydown in a game where it’s easy to be second best. Looking back, I think my mistake was getting wrapped up in the hand without getting my bearings. A raise on the flop would’ve cost me more money, but would’ve also given me insight into where I was an maybe cooled his river bet to callable (or re-raisable) levels, if he did not have the full house. Conversely, if he was really strong, he’d probably re-raise my flop raise and I could get out of the hand.

Thoughts?

Until next time, make mine poker!

Last Friday night, I spent a few hours over at the Wall Street Game, playing 1/2 NLHE with an assorted cast of characters. Jamie has been hosting a bi-weekly (or bi-monthly, whichever means once every two weeks) 1/2 NLHE game at the behest of another player who had arranged for his corporate crew to play in Jamie’s fantastic apartment. I had joined a few weeks ago and was happy to return on Friday. 23Skidoo was in town, so that was an extra bonus. As per usual, I was home and ready to go way too early, so I took my time walking over and eventually arrived about 5 minutes to 7pm.

The table was already full. I don’t mean to be a baby, but I just can’t wait. Having my home so close to the game is way too much temptation. Fortunately, several other people arrived shortly thereafter and we started a second game, first playing four-handed. We eventually reached 8-handed at one point, but never had a full table.

I love shorthanded tables. I got a feel for the table relatively early by folding a bunch and seeing how hands developed. Everyone was fairly tight at first, but then the table opened up. The other table was full and had a slew of dangerous players. From my perspective, it seemed like serious poker was going on over there. In contrast, our table was cracking up and having a jovial time.

I opened up to an early lead and eventually pulled ahead about $150, but lost it all in a hand against the newest player at the table, an Asian guy who I believe was named Rich. Rich had arrived late, and if I deciphered the conversations correctly, he was the brother of our dedicated dealer. I could tell immediately that he was a serious player, largely from the way he talked and handled himself at the table. In the hand in question, I flopped a straight with J7o. It was one of those tables where most hands could be limped for cheap. Even so, I normally wouldn’t play that hand, so I must’ve been in a blind. The flop was 89T, rainbow, and by the turn, a blank diamond, creating a flush draw, I check-raised all-in to get the most out of my hand. My opponent called and the river was another diamond. Of course, my opponent had 67d, proving that (a) it wasn’t my mad skillz that got him to overcommit, it was his flopped under-straight, and (b) you shouldn’t count your chickens before they’re fried. His improbably flush took a lot of wind out of me, but I was able to get back on the horse.

At some point, I began to realize that my brain was fried. It may’ve been a week’s worth of work taking its toll on a Friday evening; it may’ve been that last hand I mentioned; shit, it may’ve just been that I wasn’t on my game that particular day. Regardless, I made two stupid errors that finally made me decide to walk:

Mistake #1 – Misreading a hand. I was in a hand against Cheryl where my Q8 rivered the idiot end of a straight. The flop was QXT, the turn was a Jack and the river was a 9, giving me a Queen-high straight. I bet out, as I was the entire time with top pair against Cheryl, a player who can sometimes be manic. By the river, I was simply praying that she did not have a loose King with whatever other card was worthy of calling me down. She called the river, which to me was a clear sign she didn’t have the King. After all, the only hand that could’ve beaten a King was Ace King, and the hand didn’t seem to go that way. When she called, I tabled my hand and announced, Queen-high straight. She put down her cards and announced, “I have the King.” I growned inwardly. As I thought about the shitty result, I looked at the board. The flopped Ten was a diamond, the turn was a Jack of diamonds, and the river was a 9 of diamonds. I then looked at my cards, sitting exposed on the felt, Qd8d. SHIT! “Wait! I hit a flush.” I paused a beat, “Um, it’s a straight flush.” The donk that I am, I didn’t even realize that the board went runner runner flush and didn’t think to check my cards for their suits. Fortunately, the pot had yet to be shipped, and I took down the pot.

Naturally, I apologized profusely to Cheryl for the rest of the night. I don’t slowroll unless you do it to me first, so I felt like a complete tool.

Mistake 2 – Playing Like a Donkey. Eventually, a few players left the main game, and being a must move, I was sent to the big boys’ table. Fairly early, I flopped an open ended straight draw with 89s and after calling down bets from Alceste, I hit my straight on the river. Being out of position facing a bettor, what did I do? Bet a stack of my chips immediately without counting, totaling $53 in all. The pot was apparently about $30, if not less, at the time, so Alceste folded. On one level I hoped that he had a strong hand like two-pair, but that’s just rationalization after the fact. The truth is, even considering that possibility, a smaller bet was in order, since it could induce a raise from great hands and a call from good hands, both of which I could beat (my straight was the nuts). A while earlier, Darko and I were discussing prop bets and he proposed one in which either player can call out any other players’ hand after all action is complete, and if he gets it right, he gets 3:1 on the bet. I rejected it several times, knowing full well that the game gave Darko a significant edge, since he’d played it before and the game really comes down to picking your spots. He, naturally, announced my hand, 89, to which I replied, “Oh, come on! Everyone and their sister knows I have 89!” Fortunately, I already rejected his prop bet. At least I wasn’t a complete donk.

That hand really disgusted me. After all, it’s one thing to have bad cards and another to have bad luck, but to squander the good luck you have is a terrible crime. I ended up cashing out up $79 at 10pm, after a bit less than 3 hours of play.

Profit is nice, but if I didn’t recognize my sloppiness, it would’ve been gone quick. I suppose I did do one thing right.

Until next time, make mine poker!