07-22-2002, 09:58 AM
Since there's not much useful poker content in this post, I thought I better post this here. Lest Wrong Forum Man berate me.
For only the second time, I played at the poker room nearest my home at Harrah's in East Chicago. They have a lively 10-20 with usually a couple must-moves feeding the main game.
After reading a couple posts here (one by Tommy Angelo) about playing with a pile of chips rather than nice stacks, I thought I'd give it a whirl.
Now, I have a tendency to count my chips closely, segregate my winnings, etc. But playing with a rack of red chips in a pile before me was freeing after I got over the fact that I had little idea how I was doing. It's hard to be results oriented when you have only a vague idea of being up or down.
Everyone else had nice castles of chips, so I got a couple looks and some comments. My neighbors seemed to find it amusing. Occasionally I'd run my hands through them and let the chips flow through like water. Sadly, they tended to flow into the castles of the other players a bit too freely as well.
One hand of note. But word of caution, this is not how to play a hand. I'm not a poker expert, just a player who was having a good time.
I'm in the 7 seat of a friendly table - at least my end is friendly. We've been swapping bad beat stories and yucking it up for an hour or two.
I'm in the big blind. The dealer pitches my card a little high and it bounces of the felt at an angle and lands under the rail in front of me. I could easily see the card while it was bouncing, and the gentleman to my left also got a look. He could tell the color. I knew the color and that it was low.
There's some discussion about who saw what and whether the hand is dead, etc. I'm in the blind, so I figure, what the hell, "Let's play it." I still haven't looked.
UTG limps, limp, fold, limp...
I look away at something and then down at the far end of the table and see a little pile of four red chips. Looks like a raiser.
Button folds, SB folds. I squeeze my cards, see what I got.
"Was it a queen?" says the fellow to my left.
"Nope." I start to slide my cards across the felt to the dealer.
"It's still your option," says the dealer. The pile of red was two limpers, not a raise.
"Oh, sorry," My hand was still on my cards, so I slide them back and check it.
Lots of us see the flop that came with some cards, all black, and I'm pretty sure there were some suits and ranks involved.
"Bet," I say, tossing a couple chips in.
"What the hell?" says UTG who folds.
Next player calls, fold, call, everyone else folds.
The turn definitely was a card, but I don't know what.
"Bet." Call, fold.
I'm sure the river was a card, but I can't tell you what it was.
"Bet." Fold. I take it down.
"Alright, you gotta show us." And, at the risk of Dynasty's wrath, I tossed my cards on the felt face up.
7s3h, naturally.
My end of the table laughs and gives me a small round of applause. Remember, this is only for fun.
Also, if you're at Harrah's in East Chicago, try the hot chocolate. It may be 95 degrees outside, but it's 62 degrees in the poker room.
Good day, sir.
Troy
For only the second time, I played at the poker room nearest my home at Harrah's in East Chicago. They have a lively 10-20 with usually a couple must-moves feeding the main game.
After reading a couple posts here (one by Tommy Angelo) about playing with a pile of chips rather than nice stacks, I thought I'd give it a whirl.
Now, I have a tendency to count my chips closely, segregate my winnings, etc. But playing with a rack of red chips in a pile before me was freeing after I got over the fact that I had little idea how I was doing. It's hard to be results oriented when you have only a vague idea of being up or down.
Everyone else had nice castles of chips, so I got a couple looks and some comments. My neighbors seemed to find it amusing. Occasionally I'd run my hands through them and let the chips flow through like water. Sadly, they tended to flow into the castles of the other players a bit too freely as well.
One hand of note. But word of caution, this is not how to play a hand. I'm not a poker expert, just a player who was having a good time.
I'm in the 7 seat of a friendly table - at least my end is friendly. We've been swapping bad beat stories and yucking it up for an hour or two.
I'm in the big blind. The dealer pitches my card a little high and it bounces of the felt at an angle and lands under the rail in front of me. I could easily see the card while it was bouncing, and the gentleman to my left also got a look. He could tell the color. I knew the color and that it was low.
There's some discussion about who saw what and whether the hand is dead, etc. I'm in the blind, so I figure, what the hell, "Let's play it." I still haven't looked.
UTG limps, limp, fold, limp...
I look away at something and then down at the far end of the table and see a little pile of four red chips. Looks like a raiser.
Button folds, SB folds. I squeeze my cards, see what I got.
"Was it a queen?" says the fellow to my left.
"Nope." I start to slide my cards across the felt to the dealer.
"It's still your option," says the dealer. The pile of red was two limpers, not a raise.
"Oh, sorry," My hand was still on my cards, so I slide them back and check it.
Lots of us see the flop that came with some cards, all black, and I'm pretty sure there were some suits and ranks involved.
"Bet," I say, tossing a couple chips in.
"What the hell?" says UTG who folds.
Next player calls, fold, call, everyone else folds.
The turn definitely was a card, but I don't know what.
"Bet." Call, fold.
I'm sure the river was a card, but I can't tell you what it was.
"Bet." Fold. I take it down.
"Alright, you gotta show us." And, at the risk of Dynasty's wrath, I tossed my cards on the felt face up.
7s3h, naturally.
My end of the table laughs and gives me a small round of applause. Remember, this is only for fun.
Also, if you're at Harrah's in East Chicago, try the hot chocolate. It may be 95 degrees outside, but it's 62 degrees in the poker room.
Good day, sir.
Troy