BLOGGER TOUR!!

Hello all, and welcome back. I'll have some more Casino Trip report posts as soon as the forum I posted them all on comes back from the dead. Serves me right for not saving backups locally :)

In the meantime, I decided to try to get into the WPBT event tonight.


I hopped into a token satellite and was completely card dead. Nothing was hitting. With 9 players left, I was 9/9. Then with 7, I was 7/7, when I got pocket 6s.

I like pocket 6s. This took me up to 3rd and I coasted in for the token. I'll cya all tonight!!

Morongo Casino Trip Report - aka Day 3

Okay, for all you jonesing for a 3/6 LO8 game, it's time to add some fuel to that fire. I came back to the hotel at lunch to do some work and post the report from last night. About 1:30 or so I was pretty damn hungry and jonesing for some poker myself. So I hopped into the rental car and pointed west towards the Morongo Resort and Casino (home of Poker Superstars 2, for those keeping track) I was told by the folks at Agua Caliente last night that the room would be "full of young punks" as the Morongo actually has an 18-or-older policy (vs 21 at most places). When I got there, they were right, but they were all at the NLHE tables. The room was pretty nice. It is walled off with doors from the main casino area and has a bathroom inside. Nice to not have to walk out through all the smoke for a call of nature. I got there and put my name on the 4/8 LHE and the 3/6 LO8 (only O8 game running) and went to grab a bite. Just outside the room is a little food court and there was a FATBURGER there. That should be against the law. I wanted to eat at a burger joint here in PS later, so I just had some chicken and took it to go back to the room. Unfortunately, they started up a new 4/8 table while I was gone and I missed the call. I got back on at the top of the list and ate the sandwich while I waited. A seat opened up pretty quick and I was off. Bought into the game for $200. First hour was torture and I was down about $65. Then the deck hit me. In 15 mins I dragged 4 pretty significant pots (one with 64 SOOOTED from the BB that I hit a runner runner full house. The woman betting was aggressive as hell with nothing). About that time they called my name for O8 and I racked up the chips to leave. I had $203, for $3 in profit! Went to the LO8 game and dropped off my racks and went to the mens room. Came back and a second seat was open near the BB. I asked if I could have it and the dealer nodded. I moved into the new seat, to the right of some bigger stacks. I also learned that they (for some strange reason) play 5-card Omaha. This means that at a full table of 9 players, the button is out and it is an 8-person game. Why not just seat 8? I don't get it. The first hour was okay, I was up a little on some high and low hands. The table was seeing a lot of flops. Out of the 8 dealt into the hand there are 5-6 seeing the flop. This table has a full kill on pots greater than $40 that are scooped as well. Then, at about the 1.5 hour mark, the deck gets warm. I get up to about $275 and think about leaving. The table is starting to look like it is gonna break as we are down 3 players. I decide to stick it out. Two more sit, and I'm glad I stayed. I tread water for a bit and then a 9th sits and we are full up again. I get up over $300. Then, the deck hits me in the face. I had the biggest run of cards I've seen in a long time. These weren't *great* starters, and some weren't even the nut possible hand. I'll list em here for you to chuckle over. Remember, this is a kill table. Hand 1: A2h2d5d4s. Board comes down 4d 5d Qs 8h 5s. I check the river forgetting I had the damn 5 (hard to remember 5 cards, and I was getting tired). I scoop. Now I have to post $6 and the table becomes 6/12 for the next hand. Hand 2: As4s9s9cKc. Limped to me. Flop is 9d9hQs. Bet into me! I just slowplay it and call. 3 for the ride. Turn is 5d. Bet into me again! ($12 now). I decide to just call again and get people to ride along. River is 3s. Checked to me and I bet. 2 call. I show the nuts and scoop. Still a kill pot. Hand 3: KsKc3sAdJd. Limped to me again. This time 6 players see the flop and I'm getting some "WTF?" looks. You want me out, raise you morons. Flop is Qd 3h 7d. Checked around. Turn is the 10d. Checked to me, I bet $12, two call. River is Kh. Checked to me, I bet, one raise, all others muck and I re-pop. He calls and shows Kd5d for 2nd nut. I'm now up to about $420, with about $135 in the last 3 hands. Hand 4: I have 3s3cAh2h6d. Everyone limps and I'm now getting some significant looks. Two dudes at the other end of the table are muttering to each other about my "luck". Flop is 3h Jh 10s. Bet to me, I call with my nut flush draw set of 3s. All call. Turn is 8c. I still don't think my 3s are good, so I check. One of the muttering dudes bets, his buddy raises. I feel like I can get half here with my nut lo draw. I call, buddy calls. River is Ad. Check, bet. I call, buddy calls. I show the hand and scoop with the set AND the lo. Hell, how did my A2368 win there? I post the kill AGAIN and get trash. I have 10-9-8-7-6 (nice for 5 card draw, but not here). Limped to me, I miss the flop completely and I muck to a bet. I check and now I'm up to about $500. My stack of $1 chips is getting close to me not being able to see my damn cards....lol. Nice problem to have I take two more flops before the BB reaches me. I tell the dealer I'm out and count up $501, for a $298 profit in about 2.5 hours. That's a hell of a nice run in 3/6 LO8. I'm scared to play anymore. I think I used up all my luck for the year. Day 4? Maybe. There's actually a $30 buyin LO8 tourney at 10am. I wish I could make it but I have vendor meetings starting tomorrow when the main show starts. I'll post here if I have the guts to run out again tomorrow night.

WPBT Blogger Event #2

You should know the PW

Agua Caliente Casino Trip Report - aka Day 2

Wooot! Live poker rocks!

When last we left our hero, he had been through a marathon day and ended up down $130 at the Commerce in LA.

Day 2 started with a course on "IT for Laboratory Automation". There were no celebrity sightings, alas. The class ran from 8:30am and was supposed to end by 4:30pm, but due to issues with the instructors droning on and on and on we finally got out of there about 5:30. I stopped by the hotel to drop off my stuff and headed out to the Agua Caliente Casino, the place that is pimped by John O'Hurley (famous Seinfeld man).

Got to the casino about 6:15. They had 3/6, 4/8, 6/12, and 10/20 LHE as well as 6/12 LO8 going. They had an interest list for 100/300 buyin NLHE as well, but no open tables. I got on the LO8 and the 4/8 LHE list. Went to find some grub. There was a pizza place right next to the poker room, so I grabbed a slice and a water. The Agua was frio, but the pizza was muy caliente (steeler can correct me if my grammar is off) and I almost burned the crap out of the room of my mouth. Luckily, I spit it out prior to serious injury, but I did get a few strange looks from the Geritol Generation that was eating there as well.

After the slice cooled and was consumed, I went to see where I was on the boards. Still 4th in line for LHE, and 5 for the LO8 game. Damn. Went walking and found the 5th sign of the Apocalypse in the form of a "Deal or No Deal" slot bank. Is there anything that casinos won't try to use to make a quick buck? I neglected to feed any of the machines nor sit at blackjack and came back to the poker room about 15 mins later after my circuit of the place. I was at the top of 4/8 and 3rd for LO8. About 2 mins later I get called for the LHE game.

The floor points me to my table and it doesn't look good. I see 6 seats with silver hair and a walker leaning against the wall next to one. Uh oh. Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

There are 2 seats open, and one is about to post the BB so I take that. I sit with $160 and have about a medium-sized stack. First hand is the red 10s. I love this hand, but have no idea how the table is gonna play. 4 limpers to me, SB completes. I raise and all call. Gonna be one of those types of tables, I guess.

Flop is a thing of beauty. 10 7 5 rainbow. I check to see what will develop. Check, bet, call, call, muck back to me. I raise to see how many I can get on the hook, and I'm slightly worried about str8 draws. All call.

Turn is a black Ace, but so now there's a possible flush (don't remember if it is a club or spade one tho. Would be nice if it was clubs, since club flushes are impossible to hit). I bet out $8 and next guy pops it to $16. One muck, one call. I'm loving this. They probably both have Aces. I reraise to $24 and both call. The pot is VERY nicely sized. The river is the 5 that completes the flush. I bet, hoping that the flush hit someone, but doubt it. One caller. I show the boat and rake in a $120ish pot. Nice way to start the game!

Three hands later I find AsKs in the CO. Raise again, only 2 callers. Flop is all red (but not all a suit), A high. Checked to me, I bet, two call. Turn is a black card. Checked to me, I bet two call. River is a black 7. Check, check. I bet, one muck, one calls with A9 offsuit and I rake in another pot.

I try to play the rush with Q10 suited and miss. KJ off and miss. I finally get back to folding. About this time a new guy comes into the game across the table from me. I wish I paid attention to how much he bought in for, but I didn't. He will start to play a key role at the table.

A few hands after the new guy sits I notice that he's calling PF without looking at his cards. He only checks them after the flop. Hmmmm...this could be fun!

This game has a kill, as did the LO8 at Commerce (forgot to mention that one). A few hands later the guy to the right of the calling station gets the Kill in the SB. I look down to see two red 5s. I'm in the CO or CO+1 so I raise to take it down right there. SB and calling station call. Flop is 5 7 10, all spades. Ick. Checked to me, I bet. Two callers. Turn is Kh. Checked to me, I fire again. Both call. River is 6d. Check check, bet. SB calls and calling station mucks. SB shows 66 (one 6 was a spade, and he said he was trying to hit the flush) and rakes in a big pot. Next pot is another kill, but I have nothing and muck. Dude took out quite a bit from me, and I'm gonna start watching him, too.

Little bit later I have AcKc. Raisy-daisy!. Three callers. Flop is Q-hi with 2 clubs, no pairs. Bet into me, I raise. Two call. Turn is a blank. Checked to me. I bet it again, one caller (not the calling station). River completes my flush. I bet, he calls and shows Q-8 off (didn't have 2 pair). I'm starting to realize that these folks will play just about anything.

I go up more by tightening up a little, since they are all so loose. I get my stack up to a nice $330 when the wheels fall off and the deck goes cold. I have AQ outdrawn by 63 on a A 6 10 flop that he rivers a 3 (mr calling station there). My stack moves back down to about $220 after an hour and a half and I'm thinking about leaving. I'm now #2 on the list at LO8 and I'm debating if I should play if they call me.

I look down UTG+2 and find two black 10s. Could lightning strike twice? Let's find out! Flop is 10 K 5. I bet, two to my left raises. Calling station and 2 others call. I'm a bit worried about str8 draws again. Turn is an A. QJ just got there, but I don't think anyone has it. The table has been playing and A like it is going out of style, so I bet it again. Another raise by the same guy, calling station and one more call. River is a 5. I bet, both call. Raiser shows A10 for 2 pair, calling station shows A3 off. I rake a nice pot and get up over $300 again. I get up to take a leak and notice that there's an empty seat at LO8 and think "sweet, I might be able to just move over without having to buy in for more". I see there is a guy sweating the guy to the right of the open seat. On my way back from the men's room, the sweater is now in the seat and the dude is sliding chips to him (wrong on about 4 levels). I look at the board thinking it is the guy in front of me, maybe. Nope. Still #2 on the list.

I get back to my table and post my BB and ask the woman next to me if I should say something to the floor. I don't want to be an ass, but I've been waiting for a seat over there for like 3 hours. The floor comes over for something else, and she says something to him about it. He says he'll check it out, that it was wrong for someone to slide in. I'm now getting tired tho, and feel like an ass for saying something (must be my good manners). I decide to get up on my next blind and leave. The floor is over at the LO8 table. I stand with $296 and go to cash out. I don't want the damn LO8 seat anymore. I'm a little ticked that the dealer didn't do anything about it and let the dude sit. Just as I get to the window...they call me for LO8. Whoops. Guess they booted the guy. I tell the floor that I'm not happy about the dealer letting it go, and that I don't want the seat. I leave up $136 and now am up $6 for the trip!!! Wooo HOOOOO!!!!

Life is good. I'm off to the Morongo Casino here in a bit after I grab some lunch. Took a 1/2 day course this AM on the "Introduction to Lab Automation" and I'm chomping at the bit for more action. I'll post later with a Day 3 update.

Commerce Casino Trip Report

Okay, time to have some fun. I have a conference this week in Palm Springs, CA. I decided (well, more like I was forced) to fly into LAX due to a) the lack of rental cars in PS and b)the fact that I have a business appointment with our very own DEEEEMON on Thurs at UCLA.

So I get up early Friday morning (5:30am) to catch my flight to LA. Catch about an hour nap on the plane, watch the original "Dirty Harry" from Netflix, and land safely at LAX.

Three minutes off the plane is my first celebrity sighting. It's Ron Jeremy, catching a flight to Salt Lake City. This could be a good sign or a bad sign. Guess I'll have to wait to find out.

So off to the rental car, and 30 mins later I'm at the Commerce. For those who haven't been there, the place is HUGE. They have 4 separate sign-up boards on the 4 sides of the pit, and then more tables outside the pit on the same floor that are spreading LO8. I decide to go on the 4/8 LHE list and want to know more about the LHE LAPC prelim event that starts in 4 hours (it is 11am). I go to talk to the concierge to find out how many people have entered (more than 100 makes it a 2-day event, and I can only play Friday). I'm less-than-thrilled with the customer service. When I ask his first reaction is "why do you want to know that?". Uh, because?

At that time they have enough on the 4/8 list that they open a new table. I hear my name called and say "forget it" to the concierge and go sit.

The good news when I sit with my $200 is that I have the biggest stack. The bad news is that I am the youngest at the table by at least 200 years. It is a Friday afternoon, so I guess I can't complain too much. The one bonus of the Commerce is that the food is good and cheap. I order a club sandwich with fries and a Diet Coke and the total is $5.25. SWEEET!!

So after an hour of fold, fold, raise, fold, and no action or cards I'm down $104. I decide to go look at the LO8 prospects. I get on the 3/6 and 4/8 lists in LO8 and in the meantime go sit at the "baby NLHE" game with a $100 max buy in and 1/3 blinds.

First hand is QQ. I am in the BB and 3 limp. I pop it to $12 and one calls. Flop is rags, 9-hi. I bet $20 and he mucks. Nice way to start. Unfortunately, that's my ONE winning hand at the table. I have a few more decent starters but all miss the flop, and I check/fold or bet and fold on the reraise for a bit. Finally get AsQs in EP and raise to $15. Folded to a guy who's a wannabe pro (he was wearing sunglasses and a visor and was very very serious) he flat calls from the BB.

Flop is 8 8 7. He bets $10. I call. Turn is 7. He bets $25. I think about it for a bit and decide he's either got a weak A (which we are not tying) or he has a low PP and hates that 7. I smooth call since I have position and I figure I'm getting half the pot. River is a Q. He goes all-in right away. I think for 2-3 mins and I just can't put him on an 8 or 7. I say "call" and 2 guys at the table both say "Nice call, he's got nothing". He turns over a 7 though, and now I'm down $204. I decide not to rebuy since I'm next on both the LO8 games. I'm feeling like Mr. Jeremy might be screwing with my karma, dammit. I need a fun game. The two tables so far have been full of rocks and wannabes.

As I walk towards the O8 area, they call my name. Nice timing. They have a seat for me at the 3/6 game. I take my seat and buy in for $116 (I had kept $16 in my pocket at the NLHE game as it had a capped $100 buy in). Right away this table is a lot more fun. There's quite a few asians playing that are talkative and a lot of fun. One guy kept raising my blind "for spite" and I knew I was going to have a good time, regardless of how I did.

About the 4th hand in, I have Kh2hAs7s and raise from MP. Three callers. The flop is 10 7 4 with 2 hearts. I have the 2nd nut hearts and nut low draw so I bet it again when it gets checked to me. All call. Turn is the 9h. I bet, 2 fold. Me and "Mr. Spite" are HU. River is Ac. I check. He checks and shows the A-high flush and 23 for the low. Dammit, I got scooped.

A few hands later I have Kh4h2h7s and call from the SB. Flop is three hearts, with a low draw (think it was 10 8 5). I bet, it gets raised, reraised, capped, back to me. I call thinking that the K *might* be good. I know this is a loose call, but I think that I have some good outs, especially if an A hits. Turn is a 3. I check, BB bets. One call (MR Spite again) back to me. I'm trying to figure out why there was so much action on the flop but it slowed down. I decide that Mr Spite might have the nut flush on my again and the BB has a low. I decide to call and take off one more as there's no one behindme to raise.

River is a thing of absolute beauty. It's the Ah. I now have the wheel and nut flush. I bet, and the BB mucks and starts muttering about the A killing his lo. Mr Spite calls and shows A2 for A23x for two pair and a now counterfieted lo. I scoop a decent pot and start the climb back out.

Only one other hand of note. I'm UTG and look down to see 8d9dAsKs. I'm going to leave after the hand and decide to take a flop. The flop is 6d7d10d. That's right boys and girls, I flop the str8 flush. The jackpot is at about $8k and I want it. I check it in hopes that people won't go nuts and someone will have a chance to catch up. Turn is Jd. I just improved to a bigger str8 flush. I check, hoping someone has a set and the board pairs the river. River is 3h. Boooo. I bet, one caller and I show the hand. I get 1/2 the pot as the caller had A4 for the low. Everyone, including Mr Spite all say that I played it well trying to let someone catch up for the jackpot. Such is life.

I stand up with $190 after 2 hours. $74 in 3/6 in an two hours isn't too bad. I scooped a few pots, but don't remember all the details. It's late saturday now, and I didn't write out any notes since I had to get in the car to drive the 100+ miles out to Palm Springs and I was tired as hell, so sue me :-P So overall at the Commerce I ended up down $130 in 4 hours.

And now I remember why I just like to visit LA instead of living out here. I left the Commerce at 3pm and was told I should be able to make PS in "about 2 hours". Well, people and the internet BOTH told me to go down to take 91 out. Problem is, I don't have one of those fast-pass thingys to get into the toll express lanes, and there was a wreck on 91. I sat in bumper-to-bumper for 1.5 hours to make it 4.5 miles past the wreck. Then there was construction on 60. Another 45 mins of wasted time. I finally rolled into my hotel in PS at 6:45, almost 4 hours after I left the Commerce. It took me almost as long to fly from Cincy to LA, as to drive from LA to PS. ICK.

More to come. I'll cya at the tables.

Casino TripReports

Hello all, thanks for stopping in for a look-see. I'll be posting several casino trip reports over the next few days, so stay tuned...