Mark Heide
08-09-2004, 05:04 PM
Left August 3rd and picked up mom for the trip. It took about 10 hours to drive down to the Gold Strike in Tunica. The cheapest gas was at a place called Boomland which sold regular unleaded for $1.65 a gallon. I recommend stopping there if you need to fill up. I drove from Illinois, through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and then to Mississippi.
After I arrived at the Gold Strike and checked in I went over to Binion's and played two $65 satellites for the $500 + $50 No Limit Holdem tournament for the 4th.
During the first satellite this hand came up when we were down to four players. I don't remember the exact amount of chips I had left, but the blinds were $50 and $100 and I moved in under the gun with a pair of 2s. I get called by the button with a pair 3s. The flop comes down 3-Q-7 giving my opponent a set. Then the unbelievable happens. On the turn comes a deuce and on the river comes the case deuce giving me a four of a kind. This was definitely one of those Hollywood movie hands. ESPN would probably die to get this on video. Eventually, there was just two of us left. I had $800 in chips and my opponent had $2200. He offered a deal for $125 and I accepted.
I busted out on the second satellite I played. We were down to three players and I had $1200, the chipleader had $1300, and my opponent had $700. I was the big blind with Q2 offsuit. The blinds were $200 and $100 and my opponent, the small blind calls. For quite a few hands he has been doing this and folding to me when I bet the flop, turn, or river. I decided to check. After the blinds were in I had $1000 and my opponent had $500. The flop is Q-7-4 rainbow. The small blind checks and I bet $200. To my surprise, he calls the $200 and raises $300. The pot is $1100 giving me 3.7-to-1 to call. So, I called and he turned over his rockets. Now, I only have $700 in chips, and busted out on the next hand with a pair of 8s.
The next day I played the $500 No Limit Holdem tournament. They had us spread out at three different areas. They used the Binion's poker room, a meeting room in the Gold Strike, and set up poker tables on the casino floor in Binions. I started the tournament at the poker room. There were 364 entries so the prize pool was substantial. After a few hours they moved all the players to the Gold Strike. We were down to nine tables, but the blinds and antes were eating me alive. When I busted out we were putting up a $25 ante with blinds of $200 and $100. I decided to go in on a pair of twos and was called by Jacks. You definitely need some luck at getting cards or making something with them.
The beds in the hotel room were terrible. I didn't get much sleep the first night, so I decided to take a nap and got up at 8:00 p.m., had dinner at the buffet, and met up with mom and played some slots.
At midnight, I went over to Binion's poker room and played $10-$20 limit holdem. They were spreading $4-$8, $10-$20, $30-$60 limit holdem and they had a pot limit Omaha high game running. The game had three players playing any ace. The quality of play is what I usually see at a $6-$12 game.
Here's a hand that came up during the game. I'm in early position and raise with a pair of queens, late position player calls, and the blinds fold. Flop comes down Qd-Kd-4s. I check and my opponent checks. The turn is a 7c, so I check again. This time my opponent bets, I check raise, and he calls. On the river is an 8d. I bet and he calls, and I win the hand with a set. Any comments welcome. I played for about 4 hours. My variance was 12 big bets for the game and I cashed out $47 ahead.
The next day, mom and I went to visit some of the other casinos in the area and play slots. We went to the Grand, Sam's Town, Harrah's, and Hollywood. I dropped some cash at the Grand and Sam's Town, but got lucky and won a $300 quarter jackpot on the blazing sevens double jackpot machine at Harrah's. We then went to Hollywood and played the progressive blazing sevens nickel machines. I was surprised that they still have a three nickel machine. Mom won the $80 jackpot.
We went back to the Gold Strike and I went over to Binions to play the super satellite for the $2000 no limit holdem tournament. Did one add-on and tripled up before the break. But, as the blinds got higher and the antes kicked in, I made a blunder and lost half my stack on a garbage hand. I was in the small blind and didn't notice that a small stack went in next to the dealer. The blinds were big enough to win, so I moved in with 37 offsuit in the small blind thinking that I could pick up the antes and blinds. You should have seen the look on the players faces when I had to turn that hand up. The rest of my stack went on the next hand with 8J of diamonds on the button. I was out and decided to go eat a late dinner.
After midnight, I went to Binion's poker room and played $10-$20 holdem for about 4 hours and cashed out $57 ahead. My variance was 10 big bets during the game. This game was mostly passive, even some family pots. These were much easier games than the ones I've played in Vegas or East Chicago. I highly recommend going to Binion's to play at their poker room.
I slept in late on Friday and met my mom at the penny slot machines by the poker room at the Gold Strike. Mom was taking advantage of the free donuts, hot dogs, chili, and coffee that the casino gives to the poker players. After eating lunch, mom wanted to go play slots at Harrah's. We went to Harrah's but no luck. It was about 7:00 p.m., so we decided to go back to the Gold Strike and have dinner.
After dinner the waiting lists were too long to get in a game. Binion's was packed with people. So, I spend the rest of the evening watching Rambo III. We left Saturday morning. I had a lot of trouble trying to sleep on this trip because the beds were terrible, and decided that we would have to stay somewhere else next time. If anyone has stayed elsewhere in Tunica that has comfortable beds let me know.
Good Luck
Mark
After I arrived at the Gold Strike and checked in I went over to Binion's and played two $65 satellites for the $500 + $50 No Limit Holdem tournament for the 4th.
During the first satellite this hand came up when we were down to four players. I don't remember the exact amount of chips I had left, but the blinds were $50 and $100 and I moved in under the gun with a pair of 2s. I get called by the button with a pair 3s. The flop comes down 3-Q-7 giving my opponent a set. Then the unbelievable happens. On the turn comes a deuce and on the river comes the case deuce giving me a four of a kind. This was definitely one of those Hollywood movie hands. ESPN would probably die to get this on video. Eventually, there was just two of us left. I had $800 in chips and my opponent had $2200. He offered a deal for $125 and I accepted.
I busted out on the second satellite I played. We were down to three players and I had $1200, the chipleader had $1300, and my opponent had $700. I was the big blind with Q2 offsuit. The blinds were $200 and $100 and my opponent, the small blind calls. For quite a few hands he has been doing this and folding to me when I bet the flop, turn, or river. I decided to check. After the blinds were in I had $1000 and my opponent had $500. The flop is Q-7-4 rainbow. The small blind checks and I bet $200. To my surprise, he calls the $200 and raises $300. The pot is $1100 giving me 3.7-to-1 to call. So, I called and he turned over his rockets. Now, I only have $700 in chips, and busted out on the next hand with a pair of 8s.
The next day I played the $500 No Limit Holdem tournament. They had us spread out at three different areas. They used the Binion's poker room, a meeting room in the Gold Strike, and set up poker tables on the casino floor in Binions. I started the tournament at the poker room. There were 364 entries so the prize pool was substantial. After a few hours they moved all the players to the Gold Strike. We were down to nine tables, but the blinds and antes were eating me alive. When I busted out we were putting up a $25 ante with blinds of $200 and $100. I decided to go in on a pair of twos and was called by Jacks. You definitely need some luck at getting cards or making something with them.
The beds in the hotel room were terrible. I didn't get much sleep the first night, so I decided to take a nap and got up at 8:00 p.m., had dinner at the buffet, and met up with mom and played some slots.
At midnight, I went over to Binion's poker room and played $10-$20 limit holdem. They were spreading $4-$8, $10-$20, $30-$60 limit holdem and they had a pot limit Omaha high game running. The game had three players playing any ace. The quality of play is what I usually see at a $6-$12 game.
Here's a hand that came up during the game. I'm in early position and raise with a pair of queens, late position player calls, and the blinds fold. Flop comes down Qd-Kd-4s. I check and my opponent checks. The turn is a 7c, so I check again. This time my opponent bets, I check raise, and he calls. On the river is an 8d. I bet and he calls, and I win the hand with a set. Any comments welcome. I played for about 4 hours. My variance was 12 big bets for the game and I cashed out $47 ahead.
The next day, mom and I went to visit some of the other casinos in the area and play slots. We went to the Grand, Sam's Town, Harrah's, and Hollywood. I dropped some cash at the Grand and Sam's Town, but got lucky and won a $300 quarter jackpot on the blazing sevens double jackpot machine at Harrah's. We then went to Hollywood and played the progressive blazing sevens nickel machines. I was surprised that they still have a three nickel machine. Mom won the $80 jackpot.
We went back to the Gold Strike and I went over to Binions to play the super satellite for the $2000 no limit holdem tournament. Did one add-on and tripled up before the break. But, as the blinds got higher and the antes kicked in, I made a blunder and lost half my stack on a garbage hand. I was in the small blind and didn't notice that a small stack went in next to the dealer. The blinds were big enough to win, so I moved in with 37 offsuit in the small blind thinking that I could pick up the antes and blinds. You should have seen the look on the players faces when I had to turn that hand up. The rest of my stack went on the next hand with 8J of diamonds on the button. I was out and decided to go eat a late dinner.
After midnight, I went to Binion's poker room and played $10-$20 holdem for about 4 hours and cashed out $57 ahead. My variance was 10 big bets during the game. This game was mostly passive, even some family pots. These were much easier games than the ones I've played in Vegas or East Chicago. I highly recommend going to Binion's to play at their poker room.
I slept in late on Friday and met my mom at the penny slot machines by the poker room at the Gold Strike. Mom was taking advantage of the free donuts, hot dogs, chili, and coffee that the casino gives to the poker players. After eating lunch, mom wanted to go play slots at Harrah's. We went to Harrah's but no luck. It was about 7:00 p.m., so we decided to go back to the Gold Strike and have dinner.
After dinner the waiting lists were too long to get in a game. Binion's was packed with people. So, I spend the rest of the evening watching Rambo III. We left Saturday morning. I had a lot of trouble trying to sleep on this trip because the beds were terrible, and decided that we would have to stay somewhere else next time. If anyone has stayed elsewhere in Tunica that has comfortable beds let me know.
Good Luck
Mark