FeliciaLee
11-17-2003, 05:21 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Larry looked unhappy on Friday. He was across the table from me at the 4/8 game. Larry always has this look of gruffness, but is really a great guy. He didn't seem to be putting on an act, and Gene even said something about it. Gene, another local, was sitting to my left and said Larry hadn't smiled all day. We can usually get Larry to break his cranky veneer by joking with him. Not on Friday. I told Gene I could make Larry smile. I went over and kissed his bald head, asking why he was acting like a grumpy old goat. He still didn't smile and said something had happened earlier that he wasn't happy about. I don't know what that something was, but I hate to see my poker friends unhappy.
On Saturday, Larry looked a little better, but still wasn't in good spirits. I told him that if there was anything I could do for him, if he wanted to talk, etc, I was always there for him.
I like almost everyone in the Belle poker room. The senior men I call "old goats." The younger guys are "little monkeys." I have no idea how I started this, but I've been doing it for years. Glenn has always been my "little monkey." Sounds stupid and childish, but whatever. I guess I never grew up!
We decided not to join the 10/20 game until later in the afternoon. It just seems too tight and solid early in the day. I had to take the ten seat, but at least I was able to act directly after Troy.
Troy told me about his play last Saturday, and how disappointed he was in himself. I told him that although he had been stuck, at least he hadn't tilted or altered his game, significantly, for the worse. He said after Saturday's nightmare, he'd driven to Palm Springs and played all week, working on his game, while taking the rich, LA retiree's money. That just goes to show you that old dogs CAN learn new tricks. I was very proud of Troy, and my initial view of him, from back in August, stands.
I was extremely aggressive and dominant in the ten seat. I raised with the right cards, at the right time. I felt in control. I started winning. Then, something happened. I was able to move to the three seat, and things were never the same. I don't believe in superstition, or that one seat will receive better cards, etc. I don't think that hands tend to stand up better in the five seat versus the nine seat, blah, blah. Cards are cards. We all get our share. But I couldn't get anything going on in the three seat. Not all night. I played until 2:00am, and I couldn't win. Nothing stood up.
I had pocket jacks about 9:00pm. I raised. Only two callers behind me. The flop was small. The turn was a queen, the river, blank. I lost when a fish held onto QJo until the turn to bust my jacks. C'est la vie, it happens, and thank God for fish. Unfortunately, this was happening all night. ALL night.
From 9:00pm, when I held the jacks, until after 1:00am, I was never dealt a pair. Not once. Not even deuces. That is probably 160 hands, or more, at our table, since we tend to move pretty quickly. A new record for me.
During that four hour time frame, I also never received AK, off or suited. I was dealt AQ twice, but no AJ or KQ, etc.
I won one pot in 3.5 hours. I had QJ and the flop came with a KJ. I had second pair and a straight draw. The river brought a third jack. Very small pot, as we were head's up.
I didn't win one drawing, I barely won a pot in ten hours. Blah! Most of it was just a horrible run of cards, but I do notice that there are holes again. I am playing more passively as I lose. I am not playing "scared," necessarily, as the money doesn't mean anything, but I am holding back a bit, not raising with hands I would normally raise with (AQs in late position with little to no limpers. AQo in early position to drive out those behind me, etc.). I am also folding on the flop easier if I don't get a solid hit. Even if I have two overcards! Blah! Back to Theory of Poker for the week.
I dropped close to $900 at the 10/20 table. Ick.
In another development, I saw a few things in the poker room that disturbed me on Saturday.
On a poker forum I participate in, there was a serious discussion about floormen "breaking up" shorthanded tables. Breaking them up whether players wanted to draw for seats or not. Breaking them up on a whim, whatever. Forcing shorthanded players to enter full games, no choice in the matter. I have seen this before at the Belle, but usually it is done with a bit of tact.
On Saturday night, the floorman came over to a table and stated, "After this hand, we are going to move you all to full tables. Five of you can go over there, and three of you can sit over there." No choice, no poll. Just move, and do it now.
In another incident, I was partially to blame.
I wrote about having pocket jacks about 9:00pm. One of the players who called my raise won the hand with QJo. By the time we got to the river, he didn't have much money left. He had three red chips to call my $20 bet. I looked down at his stack and said to the dealer, "He only has three red out there," since she hadn't called any side-pot or announced that he was all-in. She looked at his place and said, "He doesn't have any money left," or something to that affect. I said "okay," and exposed my hand. Like I said, he won with the QJo, and was pushed the pot. But I was not pushed the "side pot," which would have been $10, because there was another man in the pot who had called the $20, then mucked when I opened my hand.
The dealer was pushed out and I pulled her aside to ask her why she didn't push me the $10. She said there WAS no $10. I asked her how that was possible and she said that the man had called my entire $20. I told her that she had stated he was all-in, after I'd inquired, and she said that she had never said that, that he had the entire $20. Sorry folks, but I know three chips when I see them, and I know that three chips are NOT four chips, which is why I verified with her, in the first place, that he had three chips out in front of him. I verified with her BEFORE we opened our hands.
My mistake was not calling the floor immediately and getting a decision. I tried to remedy that mistake by getting up after the hand ended, but by that time, I was basically called a liar. I tried to talk to the floorman about this. I told him that he could just ask the gentleman if he'd gone all in for three chips or four. The gentleman seemed like a nice guy, I don't think he'd lie. I wasn't even asking for the money back, I just wanted them to know that the dealer had made a mistake, then gone to the extreme of saying "I" was mistaken, and that she had never said what she'd said. I hate being called a liar. In fact, I will not tolerate it.
So I asked them to run the tapes. Then, to my horror, I was told that they WEREN'T taping our table. The floorman said they don't tape all of the poker tables, that it is just random, etc. The ONE big game in our cardroom is NOT being taped???? The only 10/20 game in Laughlin???? Now he was either lying, to placate me (right), or this is true? Funny that they taped a little $2-5 hold'em game the other day, and played back the tapes to see Ward getting hit, but they aren't taping a PLANNED $10/20 game that goes on every Saturday???? Like I said, maybe he was lying to placate me.
Isn't it ironic that a casino will do everything necessary to prove that THEY are right, when there is a dispute, i.e., playing a tape, getting witnesses to make statements, etc. Yet when I ask them to prove ME right, and a dealer wrong, suddenly there IS no tape, they CANNOT ask witnesses, nor can they just confirm the situation with the all-in player. Not even a simple, "Sir, can you tell us if you were all-in for your last three red chips?" No. The floorman refused to ask the man, just out of courtesy to me. I told him I did NOT want the $10, I would not ask the man for the money back, but would just like to be proven correct, so that he could see that the dealer had made a mistake, then tried to call me a liar, on top of it.
Sometimes poker is harsh. Dealers will try their best to not make mistakes, but they happen. It is no big deal. I tried to be nice and pull her aside privately. She basically went off on me. She seems like a nice lady in every other respect, but if she thinks for one minute she may have made a mistake, it is much better for her to blame it on the player. That is human nature, I suppose. I have never had that problem, thank God. I am very, very self confident and have high self-esteem. If I am caught making a mistake, I have no trouble admitting it. Too bad not everyone has such a good life.
Later in the 10/20 session, a tourist sat down. He seemed a little drunk, but friendly. Things quickly changed. He got into fight after fight with other players.
One player, who was on his left, is deaf. He has one of those things attached to his skull, but he is 100% deaf. I can't remember how those nerve things work, but I believe it helps a deaf person "hear" certain things by vibration, or something like that. Anyway, the drunk player started going off on the deaf guy, not realizing he was deaf. The dealer did nothing. The floorman was called over several times by players, but did nothing, save issuing empty threats. The drunk kept boasting that he had been kicked out of the Belle several times, and didn't care, but they obviously weren't going to kick him out this time. And he was right. They didn't.
Anyway, he was ranting and raving over the deaf guy drawing out on him. He was promising revenge, he was going to "get" the deaf guy, anytime he was in a hand with him. The deaf guy missed all of this. I finally said to the drunk, "Dude, what is your name?" He answered. I said, "Johnny, listen to me. That guy is deaf. You are being mean and he doesn't even understand one word of what you are saying, anyway. Why don't you tone it down?" He jerked with realization, but then "defended" his meanness with a whole bunch of BS. Don't they always? They always have some reason why they are allowed to be mean, lol.
In the end, he recruited two of his drunk friends to come over and play. They were seated in the seven, eight and nine, the deaf guy having moved to the one seat, to escape the drunk and his blather. In his defense, the deaf guy had tried to explain to the drunk that he was deaf. He tried to read his lips, but couldn't understand why the drunk was so mad at him. He kept saying he didn't understand what he'd done wrong. What a nightmare.
So the seven through nine seats were taken by the drunk and his friends, who were "sharing" their cards. I got up. Obviously, the floorman wasn't going to do anything about this horrible situation, as you have seen in the actions of the floormen all night at the Belle.
I sat next to Glenn, in the 4/8 game, which was starting to break up. I kept it alive for about 30 minutes, but my horrible sucking out continued. I raised with pocket queens. The big blind called with K5o. He flopped a full house, lol. Such had been my luck all evening.
Glenn and I finally just packed up and left. Horrible day, horrible floormen, horrible drunks, horrible cards.
Although all of my poker strengths are rendered null and void online, I completely understand why some people give up live play altogether and play only online poker, even when they are privy to such poker cities as L.A, Vegas and Atlantic City.
Poker can be cruel. We have to have virtual alligator skin to withstand some of the atrocities we experience every day in the poker room. Thank God I don't have thin skin.
Larry looked unhappy on Friday. He was across the table from me at the 4/8 game. Larry always has this look of gruffness, but is really a great guy. He didn't seem to be putting on an act, and Gene even said something about it. Gene, another local, was sitting to my left and said Larry hadn't smiled all day. We can usually get Larry to break his cranky veneer by joking with him. Not on Friday. I told Gene I could make Larry smile. I went over and kissed his bald head, asking why he was acting like a grumpy old goat. He still didn't smile and said something had happened earlier that he wasn't happy about. I don't know what that something was, but I hate to see my poker friends unhappy.
On Saturday, Larry looked a little better, but still wasn't in good spirits. I told him that if there was anything I could do for him, if he wanted to talk, etc, I was always there for him.
I like almost everyone in the Belle poker room. The senior men I call "old goats." The younger guys are "little monkeys." I have no idea how I started this, but I've been doing it for years. Glenn has always been my "little monkey." Sounds stupid and childish, but whatever. I guess I never grew up!
We decided not to join the 10/20 game until later in the afternoon. It just seems too tight and solid early in the day. I had to take the ten seat, but at least I was able to act directly after Troy.
Troy told me about his play last Saturday, and how disappointed he was in himself. I told him that although he had been stuck, at least he hadn't tilted or altered his game, significantly, for the worse. He said after Saturday's nightmare, he'd driven to Palm Springs and played all week, working on his game, while taking the rich, LA retiree's money. That just goes to show you that old dogs CAN learn new tricks. I was very proud of Troy, and my initial view of him, from back in August, stands.
I was extremely aggressive and dominant in the ten seat. I raised with the right cards, at the right time. I felt in control. I started winning. Then, something happened. I was able to move to the three seat, and things were never the same. I don't believe in superstition, or that one seat will receive better cards, etc. I don't think that hands tend to stand up better in the five seat versus the nine seat, blah, blah. Cards are cards. We all get our share. But I couldn't get anything going on in the three seat. Not all night. I played until 2:00am, and I couldn't win. Nothing stood up.
I had pocket jacks about 9:00pm. I raised. Only two callers behind me. The flop was small. The turn was a queen, the river, blank. I lost when a fish held onto QJo until the turn to bust my jacks. C'est la vie, it happens, and thank God for fish. Unfortunately, this was happening all night. ALL night.
From 9:00pm, when I held the jacks, until after 1:00am, I was never dealt a pair. Not once. Not even deuces. That is probably 160 hands, or more, at our table, since we tend to move pretty quickly. A new record for me.
During that four hour time frame, I also never received AK, off or suited. I was dealt AQ twice, but no AJ or KQ, etc.
I won one pot in 3.5 hours. I had QJ and the flop came with a KJ. I had second pair and a straight draw. The river brought a third jack. Very small pot, as we were head's up.
I didn't win one drawing, I barely won a pot in ten hours. Blah! Most of it was just a horrible run of cards, but I do notice that there are holes again. I am playing more passively as I lose. I am not playing "scared," necessarily, as the money doesn't mean anything, but I am holding back a bit, not raising with hands I would normally raise with (AQs in late position with little to no limpers. AQo in early position to drive out those behind me, etc.). I am also folding on the flop easier if I don't get a solid hit. Even if I have two overcards! Blah! Back to Theory of Poker for the week.
I dropped close to $900 at the 10/20 table. Ick.
In another development, I saw a few things in the poker room that disturbed me on Saturday.
On a poker forum I participate in, there was a serious discussion about floormen "breaking up" shorthanded tables. Breaking them up whether players wanted to draw for seats or not. Breaking them up on a whim, whatever. Forcing shorthanded players to enter full games, no choice in the matter. I have seen this before at the Belle, but usually it is done with a bit of tact.
On Saturday night, the floorman came over to a table and stated, "After this hand, we are going to move you all to full tables. Five of you can go over there, and three of you can sit over there." No choice, no poll. Just move, and do it now.
In another incident, I was partially to blame.
I wrote about having pocket jacks about 9:00pm. One of the players who called my raise won the hand with QJo. By the time we got to the river, he didn't have much money left. He had three red chips to call my $20 bet. I looked down at his stack and said to the dealer, "He only has three red out there," since she hadn't called any side-pot or announced that he was all-in. She looked at his place and said, "He doesn't have any money left," or something to that affect. I said "okay," and exposed my hand. Like I said, he won with the QJo, and was pushed the pot. But I was not pushed the "side pot," which would have been $10, because there was another man in the pot who had called the $20, then mucked when I opened my hand.
The dealer was pushed out and I pulled her aside to ask her why she didn't push me the $10. She said there WAS no $10. I asked her how that was possible and she said that the man had called my entire $20. I told her that she had stated he was all-in, after I'd inquired, and she said that she had never said that, that he had the entire $20. Sorry folks, but I know three chips when I see them, and I know that three chips are NOT four chips, which is why I verified with her, in the first place, that he had three chips out in front of him. I verified with her BEFORE we opened our hands.
My mistake was not calling the floor immediately and getting a decision. I tried to remedy that mistake by getting up after the hand ended, but by that time, I was basically called a liar. I tried to talk to the floorman about this. I told him that he could just ask the gentleman if he'd gone all in for three chips or four. The gentleman seemed like a nice guy, I don't think he'd lie. I wasn't even asking for the money back, I just wanted them to know that the dealer had made a mistake, then gone to the extreme of saying "I" was mistaken, and that she had never said what she'd said. I hate being called a liar. In fact, I will not tolerate it.
So I asked them to run the tapes. Then, to my horror, I was told that they WEREN'T taping our table. The floorman said they don't tape all of the poker tables, that it is just random, etc. The ONE big game in our cardroom is NOT being taped???? The only 10/20 game in Laughlin???? Now he was either lying, to placate me (right), or this is true? Funny that they taped a little $2-5 hold'em game the other day, and played back the tapes to see Ward getting hit, but they aren't taping a PLANNED $10/20 game that goes on every Saturday???? Like I said, maybe he was lying to placate me.
Isn't it ironic that a casino will do everything necessary to prove that THEY are right, when there is a dispute, i.e., playing a tape, getting witnesses to make statements, etc. Yet when I ask them to prove ME right, and a dealer wrong, suddenly there IS no tape, they CANNOT ask witnesses, nor can they just confirm the situation with the all-in player. Not even a simple, "Sir, can you tell us if you were all-in for your last three red chips?" No. The floorman refused to ask the man, just out of courtesy to me. I told him I did NOT want the $10, I would not ask the man for the money back, but would just like to be proven correct, so that he could see that the dealer had made a mistake, then tried to call me a liar, on top of it.
Sometimes poker is harsh. Dealers will try their best to not make mistakes, but they happen. It is no big deal. I tried to be nice and pull her aside privately. She basically went off on me. She seems like a nice lady in every other respect, but if she thinks for one minute she may have made a mistake, it is much better for her to blame it on the player. That is human nature, I suppose. I have never had that problem, thank God. I am very, very self confident and have high self-esteem. If I am caught making a mistake, I have no trouble admitting it. Too bad not everyone has such a good life.
Later in the 10/20 session, a tourist sat down. He seemed a little drunk, but friendly. Things quickly changed. He got into fight after fight with other players.
One player, who was on his left, is deaf. He has one of those things attached to his skull, but he is 100% deaf. I can't remember how those nerve things work, but I believe it helps a deaf person "hear" certain things by vibration, or something like that. Anyway, the drunk player started going off on the deaf guy, not realizing he was deaf. The dealer did nothing. The floorman was called over several times by players, but did nothing, save issuing empty threats. The drunk kept boasting that he had been kicked out of the Belle several times, and didn't care, but they obviously weren't going to kick him out this time. And he was right. They didn't.
Anyway, he was ranting and raving over the deaf guy drawing out on him. He was promising revenge, he was going to "get" the deaf guy, anytime he was in a hand with him. The deaf guy missed all of this. I finally said to the drunk, "Dude, what is your name?" He answered. I said, "Johnny, listen to me. That guy is deaf. You are being mean and he doesn't even understand one word of what you are saying, anyway. Why don't you tone it down?" He jerked with realization, but then "defended" his meanness with a whole bunch of BS. Don't they always? They always have some reason why they are allowed to be mean, lol.
In the end, he recruited two of his drunk friends to come over and play. They were seated in the seven, eight and nine, the deaf guy having moved to the one seat, to escape the drunk and his blather. In his defense, the deaf guy had tried to explain to the drunk that he was deaf. He tried to read his lips, but couldn't understand why the drunk was so mad at him. He kept saying he didn't understand what he'd done wrong. What a nightmare.
So the seven through nine seats were taken by the drunk and his friends, who were "sharing" their cards. I got up. Obviously, the floorman wasn't going to do anything about this horrible situation, as you have seen in the actions of the floormen all night at the Belle.
I sat next to Glenn, in the 4/8 game, which was starting to break up. I kept it alive for about 30 minutes, but my horrible sucking out continued. I raised with pocket queens. The big blind called with K5o. He flopped a full house, lol. Such had been my luck all evening.
Glenn and I finally just packed up and left. Horrible day, horrible floormen, horrible drunks, horrible cards.
Although all of my poker strengths are rendered null and void online, I completely understand why some people give up live play altogether and play only online poker, even when they are privy to such poker cities as L.A, Vegas and Atlantic City.
Poker can be cruel. We have to have virtual alligator skin to withstand some of the atrocities we experience every day in the poker room. Thank God I don't have thin skin.