09-29-2002, 11:39 PM
The wife and kids went to see Grandma and I was in Manhatten on business - so instead of flying home on Thursday night, I rented a car and headed down the GSP to AC for a two day marathon. We had a very late night Wednesday and an early start Thursday so I was working on about 4 hours of sleep (with the hangover special) and a 6 am start time. I drove through the rain and got to the Trop (where I was staying for $78) at about 8:30. I was seated in the 4/8 game by 9.
It was your basic nightmare. Big hands didn't hold up, draws didn't get there, blah, blah, blah. A dream game, loose passive players playing any two. I could be patient, the whole table knowing that I only played premium starters and I would get 7 way action. Ended up -164 or -20.5bbs - not the best start to the weekend. About 2 am I feel like I am about to start falling asleep at the table - and I was just check raised on the river when my set was beaten by a straight that I didn't see. The only other misplay for the night that I didn't see was a missed bet on the river - but that was $24 or 3bbs and they add up over time. I set the alarm for 11:30a and checked out about 2 minutes until noon - refreshed and ready for a long session at the Taj.
I love the room and probably should have bit the bullet and stayed there on Thursday night - but I figured the extra $60 went toward the bank roll. I got in a must move 5/10 game a little after one. I was up about 150 (although made a hayuge error and missed about $40 worth of bets on an AA top set..but that is for another post). I was moved to one of the two main games that were always guaranteed a full table. I went backwards about 200 in the first two hours. A completely different game. A fellow named Rob loved to cap and make plays with anything and it took a few showdowns to figure it out. Couple it with big hands that didn't hold up, lots and lots of preflop rags, blah, blah, blah, and I was wishing to be must moved back to my original table. After about 2 hours 7 of the 10 from the first table were now at the main table and it settled down. I caught a few big hands - including a straight flush with lots of action against the A high flush and got back up a couple hundred. moved up steady, down a hundred, up 150 until about 11pm when Dorothy sat down.
Dorothy was a nice lady probably about 60. Her husband was playing in a big stud game and she was keeping busy. Big diamonds and lots of cabbage in the purse. She bought in for 100 - 28 times!!!! She paid the rake for us and was still there at 11 am when I had to leave. I would love to tell you that I got all 2800 - but the cards weren't totally in agreement, JJJ busted by K10 when straight hit the river, AQs with AQ on flop killed by J4 when K and 10 hit turn and river, but that's poker, right...
I had a 6h5h on button with 8 seeing flop, flop was 552h, turn was Ah, river was a 3 of hearts, after pumping the whole way, CO+1 leads out - I start seeing monsters under my bed and only call fearing a bigger flush and he shows me A4o for his gut shot straight. I was kicking myself for missing the raise and potential reraise from that play.
I was up about $550 at the peak, the last three hours were brutal, I got beat bad a couple of times and then cold decked with starters and went about 6 cycles without seeing that flop - but paying my blinds like a champ.
I ended up +375 - +37.5bbs in 22 hours, coupled with the nightmare at the trop I was up $211 in 27 hours or 17bbs - not quite the bb per hour I was hoping for - but I at least paid for the hotel, food and rental with the winnings. Momma wasn't home until Sunday - so I was able to go to bed at 6:30p Saturday and woke up at 9 this morning - off to church and then back at noon for a 5 hour nap this afternoon before she was home.
Some observations.
As a 98% on-line player it gets a lot tougher to stay patient and wait for the correct starters. The table is playing 6 and 7 handed every hand and it gets tempting to call a 3 bet with AQo, I have to breath deeply and throw it in the muck.
I heard the phrase, gotta call - the pots too big - about 500 times - even when they are the ones that made the pot big by calling the whole way - only to show down Q high on a 4 flush board.
The range of talent in the box was very very wide. The best dealer was by far Hugo, he got out 24 hands in 30 minutes. He didn't say much and ran a great game. I threw him two whites when he left (even though I didn't win a pot during his shift) because he ran such a good game. A guy named Andrew from south Philly was also strong - as well as an african american fellow who I can't recall by name but ran a very solid game. Brent was the worst - 7 hands and he fell asleep twice (6 am). Got dealt 4 cards by two different dealers thinking we were playing O8 and had another lady who yelled at me for looking at my hand when I was UTG with AKs when she dealt me a third card. They told me that they kept their own tokes - I know that some places split them up among the whole staff regardless of performance - so this was nice to hear.
Missed bets and poor calls really kill the earn. I counted about 12 bets either missed or called - that was the difference between +29bbs or +17bbs - it can really be the difference between a winning player and a losing player. I am still hurting over the AA hand - I acted to quickly to reraise against a guy who reraised me and the third player in the hand (I though it was heads up) said, I guess my 99 (with an Ace and nine on the board) is no good and folded on the turn...ugh.
Seems like player profile is either loose passive or loose aggressive - not a lot in between. LAGS run up and down chips like crazy, a couple of fellow were up over 1000 in chips before reaching into their pocket for another 100. LAGS talk a lot when they are building those big towers.
Because Dorothy was donating so nicely, there were 4 decent players that were there her entire time. We all had stacks of at least 800 chips - it was quite a site for a 5-10 game - probably about 6000 in play.
All in all, it was a grind. 25 hands per hour meant a long time between playable hands - but it gave a lot of time to pick up betting tells and player tendencies. I made a point to not look at my hand until the action was on me - it was tough some times - but it kept me from jumping out of my chair when I had AA.
I asked around for MK420 but shame on me for not making contact before the trip. I should have at least got a name. I knew that everyone was called to tables by initials and code names - so I thought by some chance that was his name there.
I probably should have quit about 8 am - not because I was up $550 at the time - but because my game was starting to lose its edge. I didn't play very well the last three hours and it probably cost me 5 bbs - but the plane didn't leave until 1:43 and I wasn't leaving for the airport until 11:30 and I would just fall asleep in the car and miss my plane - and that would cost $300 for another plane ticket.
I admire you B&M guys. It takes a lot of patience to deal with all of the extra stuff you have to deal with - bad dealers, slow games, 25 hands per hours and guys next to you who aren't real fond of showers... It is also tough to leave an incredible game to go eat and you look up and it has been 15 hours since the last meal.
Lots of fun - break even after expenses.
Kevin A
It was your basic nightmare. Big hands didn't hold up, draws didn't get there, blah, blah, blah. A dream game, loose passive players playing any two. I could be patient, the whole table knowing that I only played premium starters and I would get 7 way action. Ended up -164 or -20.5bbs - not the best start to the weekend. About 2 am I feel like I am about to start falling asleep at the table - and I was just check raised on the river when my set was beaten by a straight that I didn't see. The only other misplay for the night that I didn't see was a missed bet on the river - but that was $24 or 3bbs and they add up over time. I set the alarm for 11:30a and checked out about 2 minutes until noon - refreshed and ready for a long session at the Taj.
I love the room and probably should have bit the bullet and stayed there on Thursday night - but I figured the extra $60 went toward the bank roll. I got in a must move 5/10 game a little after one. I was up about 150 (although made a hayuge error and missed about $40 worth of bets on an AA top set..but that is for another post). I was moved to one of the two main games that were always guaranteed a full table. I went backwards about 200 in the first two hours. A completely different game. A fellow named Rob loved to cap and make plays with anything and it took a few showdowns to figure it out. Couple it with big hands that didn't hold up, lots and lots of preflop rags, blah, blah, blah, and I was wishing to be must moved back to my original table. After about 2 hours 7 of the 10 from the first table were now at the main table and it settled down. I caught a few big hands - including a straight flush with lots of action against the A high flush and got back up a couple hundred. moved up steady, down a hundred, up 150 until about 11pm when Dorothy sat down.
Dorothy was a nice lady probably about 60. Her husband was playing in a big stud game and she was keeping busy. Big diamonds and lots of cabbage in the purse. She bought in for 100 - 28 times!!!! She paid the rake for us and was still there at 11 am when I had to leave. I would love to tell you that I got all 2800 - but the cards weren't totally in agreement, JJJ busted by K10 when straight hit the river, AQs with AQ on flop killed by J4 when K and 10 hit turn and river, but that's poker, right...
I had a 6h5h on button with 8 seeing flop, flop was 552h, turn was Ah, river was a 3 of hearts, after pumping the whole way, CO+1 leads out - I start seeing monsters under my bed and only call fearing a bigger flush and he shows me A4o for his gut shot straight. I was kicking myself for missing the raise and potential reraise from that play.
I was up about $550 at the peak, the last three hours were brutal, I got beat bad a couple of times and then cold decked with starters and went about 6 cycles without seeing that flop - but paying my blinds like a champ.
I ended up +375 - +37.5bbs in 22 hours, coupled with the nightmare at the trop I was up $211 in 27 hours or 17bbs - not quite the bb per hour I was hoping for - but I at least paid for the hotel, food and rental with the winnings. Momma wasn't home until Sunday - so I was able to go to bed at 6:30p Saturday and woke up at 9 this morning - off to church and then back at noon for a 5 hour nap this afternoon before she was home.
Some observations.
As a 98% on-line player it gets a lot tougher to stay patient and wait for the correct starters. The table is playing 6 and 7 handed every hand and it gets tempting to call a 3 bet with AQo, I have to breath deeply and throw it in the muck.
I heard the phrase, gotta call - the pots too big - about 500 times - even when they are the ones that made the pot big by calling the whole way - only to show down Q high on a 4 flush board.
The range of talent in the box was very very wide. The best dealer was by far Hugo, he got out 24 hands in 30 minutes. He didn't say much and ran a great game. I threw him two whites when he left (even though I didn't win a pot during his shift) because he ran such a good game. A guy named Andrew from south Philly was also strong - as well as an african american fellow who I can't recall by name but ran a very solid game. Brent was the worst - 7 hands and he fell asleep twice (6 am). Got dealt 4 cards by two different dealers thinking we were playing O8 and had another lady who yelled at me for looking at my hand when I was UTG with AKs when she dealt me a third card. They told me that they kept their own tokes - I know that some places split them up among the whole staff regardless of performance - so this was nice to hear.
Missed bets and poor calls really kill the earn. I counted about 12 bets either missed or called - that was the difference between +29bbs or +17bbs - it can really be the difference between a winning player and a losing player. I am still hurting over the AA hand - I acted to quickly to reraise against a guy who reraised me and the third player in the hand (I though it was heads up) said, I guess my 99 (with an Ace and nine on the board) is no good and folded on the turn...ugh.
Seems like player profile is either loose passive or loose aggressive - not a lot in between. LAGS run up and down chips like crazy, a couple of fellow were up over 1000 in chips before reaching into their pocket for another 100. LAGS talk a lot when they are building those big towers.
Because Dorothy was donating so nicely, there were 4 decent players that were there her entire time. We all had stacks of at least 800 chips - it was quite a site for a 5-10 game - probably about 6000 in play.
All in all, it was a grind. 25 hands per hour meant a long time between playable hands - but it gave a lot of time to pick up betting tells and player tendencies. I made a point to not look at my hand until the action was on me - it was tough some times - but it kept me from jumping out of my chair when I had AA.
I asked around for MK420 but shame on me for not making contact before the trip. I should have at least got a name. I knew that everyone was called to tables by initials and code names - so I thought by some chance that was his name there.
I probably should have quit about 8 am - not because I was up $550 at the time - but because my game was starting to lose its edge. I didn't play very well the last three hours and it probably cost me 5 bbs - but the plane didn't leave until 1:43 and I wasn't leaving for the airport until 11:30 and I would just fall asleep in the car and miss my plane - and that would cost $300 for another plane ticket.
I admire you B&M guys. It takes a lot of patience to deal with all of the extra stuff you have to deal with - bad dealers, slow games, 25 hands per hours and guys next to you who aren't real fond of showers... It is also tough to leave an incredible game to go eat and you look up and it has been 15 hours since the last meal.
Lots of fun - break even after expenses.
Kevin A