dogmeat
07-17-2004, 12:24 PM
Another week gone.......moving so fast towards the WSOP 2005 start, just 39 weeks left. My goal is to save $170 per week from my poker winning to fund an eight-day vacation for my family in Las Vegas and a buy-in to the first four tournaments. Harrah's will have the tourny at the Rio this year, but no word yet on exact dates. I've made reservations, and have $1,170 saved.
This was an interesting week for tournaments. I won an entry to the 7-card stud hi/low WCOOP on Poker Stars, but can't play the championship due to a conflicting schedule, so I posted in the MTT about a trade. The entry paid $530 in WCOOP dollars which can't be used in regular tournaments, and can't be cashed out. Since nobody was interested in a trade, I used TradePoker.com and sold W$300. Not a great deal, but at least I got cash - $240. I'll use the remaining $W for an entry to the WCOOP #3 on Friday (limit HE) or Saturday #4 (NLHE with rebuys). Event #4 will pay a lot more, but I hate rebuy tournaments.
I played the Thursday King of the Zoo tournament which was NL this time. There is a long thread under "internet" about the tournaments. They are a lot of fun, and you get to play some very respected posters. I made the final table for the third time in three tries, but failed to cash, coming in 8th. I've never played with the winner, but knew most of the final table, and the 2nd place winner, David Ross. I released my pocket KK after I reraised preflop and David (with equal stacks and about 15 players left) came-over the top with a $5,000 all-in raise. He showed QQ and I'm still sick about my lay-down. oh well...
Poker in Arizona:
There are a number of decent games to be found in Arizona right now. It was 117 degrees (no exageration) yesterday and 104 at 10:00pm Now that takes some getting used to!
From Scottsdale there are four pretty good casinos with poker. Blackjack is legal now (about 1 year old), but most places have 6-deck shoes and continuous shufflers. $500 max bet. As for poker, there are a bakers dozen casinos with games.
I played a NL tournament at Casino Arizona (off Indian Bend from the 101). $55 total buy-in and it seems half the room plays. They have about 50 tables and with 20 or so going, at 11am when the tournament starts most of the games go down for a short while. They cap the tournament at 100 players (and it always fills up I am told). You need to start playing at 9am in the live games to get your tournament entry stamped, and be playing at 10am to get it stamped a second time to get extra chips. If you don't, you start short and can't compete. I managed to learn the tournament rules on the first hand I was involved in. I had AQo in MP and took my little stack of $500 and $100 chips in my right hand, said "raise", and dropped three $100 chips on the layout. It was explained that any chips that move towards the center have to play, so I was actually raising all-in. Cool, all-in with AQo and I got called by KK. Guess who won? Two minutes later I was back in a $4/8 game.
There are pretty good $4/8 and 6/$12 games, around noon they get a $10/20 and sometimes up to $40/80 going, but the same players all the time I was told. I stayed at 4/8. Fair action, expect to get 35 hands per hour and win up to 2-bets per hour. Mostly weak passive players, somebody usually raises pre-flop but usually no reraise. Not many capped pots on any street. (480-850-7923) Don't go to the Casino Arizona on McKellips - they don't have poker there anymore.
Fort McDowell Casino is all the way down Shea Blvd. off the 101 (away from Scottsdale). They also have tournaments and sent a player to the WSOP $10K, but it was a multi-week deal with points for each week and you have to be there two hours early etc........lots of work. Great if you live a block away I guess. Games were mostly $4/8, not too exciting - about a dozen tables. I used my credit card at an ATM, stood in line at the cage because the ATM gave me a form that had to be cashed there. After 5-minutes in line the cashier told me, "No, you have to use that at the poker room". So, I found the poker room and stood in that cashier line, then they printed an actual check from some company that I signed and paid about $15 to get $200 - what a racket! (1-800-843-3678)
Gila River at Wild Horse Pass - off I-10 towards Tucson (1-800-946-4452). Small room with a dozen tables (which are so f-in tiny you can't move, and they cram 10 players on these things made for 7 7-stud players, and then they allow players to eat at the table). Not a comfortable place, reasonable action for $2/4, 4/8 and 6/12 - some tournaments - but I can't get comfortable on those tiny tables.
Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino - off I-10 towards Tucson (that's east), and down Queen Creek Road. Nice new casino with a poker room to the right, semi-secluded. In fact, secluded enough that nobody can find it I guess. Only one $4/8 game going when I was there, so out I went. I think there were eight tables. (nice room, but......)
So, Casino Arizona at Indian Bend. Good games. I won $350 playing $4/8 HE, a tight-boring O/8 $4/8, and a $6/$12 stud game in a dozen hours.
Hope to see many of you at the WSOP in April/May 2005.
Good Luck this week!
Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif
This was an interesting week for tournaments. I won an entry to the 7-card stud hi/low WCOOP on Poker Stars, but can't play the championship due to a conflicting schedule, so I posted in the MTT about a trade. The entry paid $530 in WCOOP dollars which can't be used in regular tournaments, and can't be cashed out. Since nobody was interested in a trade, I used TradePoker.com and sold W$300. Not a great deal, but at least I got cash - $240. I'll use the remaining $W for an entry to the WCOOP #3 on Friday (limit HE) or Saturday #4 (NLHE with rebuys). Event #4 will pay a lot more, but I hate rebuy tournaments.
I played the Thursday King of the Zoo tournament which was NL this time. There is a long thread under "internet" about the tournaments. They are a lot of fun, and you get to play some very respected posters. I made the final table for the third time in three tries, but failed to cash, coming in 8th. I've never played with the winner, but knew most of the final table, and the 2nd place winner, David Ross. I released my pocket KK after I reraised preflop and David (with equal stacks and about 15 players left) came-over the top with a $5,000 all-in raise. He showed QQ and I'm still sick about my lay-down. oh well...
Poker in Arizona:
There are a number of decent games to be found in Arizona right now. It was 117 degrees (no exageration) yesterday and 104 at 10:00pm Now that takes some getting used to!
From Scottsdale there are four pretty good casinos with poker. Blackjack is legal now (about 1 year old), but most places have 6-deck shoes and continuous shufflers. $500 max bet. As for poker, there are a bakers dozen casinos with games.
I played a NL tournament at Casino Arizona (off Indian Bend from the 101). $55 total buy-in and it seems half the room plays. They have about 50 tables and with 20 or so going, at 11am when the tournament starts most of the games go down for a short while. They cap the tournament at 100 players (and it always fills up I am told). You need to start playing at 9am in the live games to get your tournament entry stamped, and be playing at 10am to get it stamped a second time to get extra chips. If you don't, you start short and can't compete. I managed to learn the tournament rules on the first hand I was involved in. I had AQo in MP and took my little stack of $500 and $100 chips in my right hand, said "raise", and dropped three $100 chips on the layout. It was explained that any chips that move towards the center have to play, so I was actually raising all-in. Cool, all-in with AQo and I got called by KK. Guess who won? Two minutes later I was back in a $4/8 game.
There are pretty good $4/8 and 6/$12 games, around noon they get a $10/20 and sometimes up to $40/80 going, but the same players all the time I was told. I stayed at 4/8. Fair action, expect to get 35 hands per hour and win up to 2-bets per hour. Mostly weak passive players, somebody usually raises pre-flop but usually no reraise. Not many capped pots on any street. (480-850-7923) Don't go to the Casino Arizona on McKellips - they don't have poker there anymore.
Fort McDowell Casino is all the way down Shea Blvd. off the 101 (away from Scottsdale). They also have tournaments and sent a player to the WSOP $10K, but it was a multi-week deal with points for each week and you have to be there two hours early etc........lots of work. Great if you live a block away I guess. Games were mostly $4/8, not too exciting - about a dozen tables. I used my credit card at an ATM, stood in line at the cage because the ATM gave me a form that had to be cashed there. After 5-minutes in line the cashier told me, "No, you have to use that at the poker room". So, I found the poker room and stood in that cashier line, then they printed an actual check from some company that I signed and paid about $15 to get $200 - what a racket! (1-800-843-3678)
Gila River at Wild Horse Pass - off I-10 towards Tucson (1-800-946-4452). Small room with a dozen tables (which are so f-in tiny you can't move, and they cram 10 players on these things made for 7 7-stud players, and then they allow players to eat at the table). Not a comfortable place, reasonable action for $2/4, 4/8 and 6/12 - some tournaments - but I can't get comfortable on those tiny tables.
Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino - off I-10 towards Tucson (that's east), and down Queen Creek Road. Nice new casino with a poker room to the right, semi-secluded. In fact, secluded enough that nobody can find it I guess. Only one $4/8 game going when I was there, so out I went. I think there were eight tables. (nice room, but......)
So, Casino Arizona at Indian Bend. Good games. I won $350 playing $4/8 HE, a tight-boring O/8 $4/8, and a $6/$12 stud game in a dozen hours.
Hope to see many of you at the WSOP in April/May 2005.
Good Luck this week!
Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif