Thank You Rick, Hero and The Bike

[JimRivett]

As Rick mentioned in a previous post, there was a 2+2 get together at the Bike on Saturday. Rick, with the approval of the management at the Bike hosted a "private game" for us, and for that I would like to say a big Thank You.

Let me set the table for you -
Seat 1 - Rick and his Hero alternating
Seat 2 - me
Seat 3 - Ed Miller (Majorkong)
Seat 4 - Josh W
Seat 5 - Gabe
Seat 6 - Dynasty
Seat 7 - mike l.
Seat 8 - Clarkmaster
Seat 9 - Andy Fox

The game was to be 4/8 (played with $2.00 chips) dealers choice. We would select one game for the entire dealer's down (30 minutes). At the start of the game there must have been at least $5,000.00 on the table, so as you can imagine, these guys were serious. I felt like a wimp only buying in for $400.

Because Clarkmaster picked the ace of spades, he chose the first game - Crazy Pineapple. We played a number of different games- High Low Split (the dealer was a little concerned about this with 9 players but there were always enough folders, so we never ran out of cards), Omaha High, Regular Omaha, 5 Card Omaha, Low Ball, Draw, Hold'em, Hold'em with a joker and perhaps some I have forgotten.

When it got to Andy's turn to choose for the second time he chose an incredible game - 4 card, double discard, pineapple, high. I tell you, this man is a genius. The game is played in the following manner, 4 cards are dealt to each player, a round of betting and the flop, after the flop betting is complete, each player discards a card, after the turn betting is complete, the players discard another card, leaving each player with two cards to the river. Oh an another thing, if the pot was over $80.00, the next hand was a kill pot. This game was so popular that we ended up playing it for the rest of the night (well at least until I left).

I think I speak for all the players when I say that everybody had a good time, there was certainly a lot of laughing and joking going on and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Rick even had a cake made, and he distributed it out as we were playing, he and Hero also bought the first couple of rounds of drinks, they really were good hosts.

Once again, I would like to thank Rick, Hero and the Bike for providing us all with a very entertaining evening.

Jim

[Josh W]

I second everything that Jim said.

We did in fact play this newfangled game that Jim speaks of for the rest of the night/morning. We dubbed it "Crazy Fox", on honor of course of Crazy Andy (the inventor) and Foxy Pineapple.

Oh, and our game selection is atrocious.

Rick/Hero...a blast was had. A truly awesome night. Thanks a ton.

Josh

[Gabe]

Rick and Hero are the nuts for sure. Andy is a genius.

[Rick Nebiolo]

Jim,

It was great having all you guys. I'd also like to commend the Bike's dealers. I can't remember any significant mistakes despite all the different and sometimes unusual games. I think dealers do a better job dealing to nice people ;-).

[ QUOTE ]

When it got to Andy's turn to choose for the second time he chose an incredible game - 4 card, double discard, pineapple, high. I tell you, this man is a genius. The game is played in the following manner, 4 cards are dealt to each player, a round of betting and the flop, after the flop betting is complete, each player discards a card, after the turn betting is complete, the players discard another card, leaving each player with two cards to the river. Oh an another thing, if the pot was over $80.00, the next hand was a kill pot. This game was so popular that we ended up playing it for the rest of the night (well at least until I left).

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a great game and we ended up playing it seven handed until very late (so we could sober up!)

Thanks again for coming /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards,

Rick

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and our game selection is atrocious.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you mean the games we selected or the fact we played against each other? /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for coming Josh.

Regards,

Rick

[Rick Nebiolo]

Gabe,

Andy is a genius but Hero and I are just plain nuts. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

~ Rick

[mike l.]

it was a really fun night. huge thanks to rick and hero for being such wonderful hosts. it was great playing with these guys and a lot of laughs were had by all. 4 card double discard pineapple is a fascinating game.

earlier in the day clark, andy, and i played some 40-80 at commerce. the game was good and some guy there was kind enough to buy me about 5 tequila sunrises after announced "i need a drink!" and after clark declared to the whole table "this guy is a retard! look at his perm!" loud enough so the whole top section could hear it. i thanked clark, who was dumb enough to pay me $20 to trade seats with him and sit on his right for the couple hours we were there. for some reason i didnt tilt this session so it was a waste of $20 for him, but my bad position did give me the chance to stop n go him on the turn one hand and bluff him out of a pot (although, who knows, my 98 may have been the winner anyways). seriously though the guy plays so well, it was a treat to sit there and watch him at work. he catches sets on the turn when he's badly beat and everything.

let's see, what else? there was an 800-1600 full table hold em game going at commerce. i watched some guy take down a $20k pot with a flopped set of deuces. it looked like a pretty good game. on one hand a player was all-in and the dealer apparently didnt know how to create the side pot. she fussed about for a fews seconds and then gave up and let the players do it for her. nice. i had some truly awful chicken piccata from the supposedly wonderful kitchen there. all the games are good there all the time. a guy at our table who was lucky enough to get quads twice in about an hour finally lost a hand so he threw his cards not at the dealer, but completely over her head and behind her chair out in the aisle between the tables. fortunately nobody poured any scalding hot coffee on my head while i was there, but i did have dynasty as a bodyguard. clark's a puss for not playing the 80 game i scouted out for him. that's about it.

[mike l.]

"Do you mean the games we selected or the fact we played against each other?"

he means the latter, but it's +EV in a non-chip way.

it was interesting to see what games had action and what games we nitted to death. Omaha 8 was not a very good game for us. lots of preflop folding, we seem to all play it pretty okay at least. stud 8 was also boring wasnt it? and draw and lowball were also not very good, we seemed to have a pretty okay understanding of how to play those. maybe a little too much value betting of rough tens and stuff in lowball, but that's to be expected i think from hold em players. big O (5 card omaha) and omaha high were sort of okay, i dont know. that foxy pineapple is the nuts though.. it's weird cause it starts out having you think like an omaha high hand, but then as you start to discard it's just plain old hold em buy the river. it was weird how sometimes something like top pair or overpair would hold up against 3 players, but other times youd see quads and boats and stuff in 3 places. challenging game to jump into cold for sure. my guess is it would have some value as a regularly spread casino game. the double discard part makes for some interesting read-based and odds-based decision making on the flop and turn.

[andyfox]

13. Dynasty loves chocolate cake, especially when he can have four pieces for free. The man survies on a strict diet of junk food and glasses of ice.

12. While everyone else became Jerry Lewis as a teenager after a few drinks, only Rick Nebiolo got nittier. His speech exonerating the Bike for any responsibility for any drunken debauchery was only slightly less funny than Clarkmeister telling him to shut up and sit the f*ck down, dad.

11. It's very tough to beat that crowd when you play every hand. I played my usual tough game in the 40-80 at Commerce and then experimented playing every hand to the river in the 4-8 at the Bike. I lost $234 at the Bike, which was $1500 better than I did at Commerce.

My eternal thanks to all the guys for not mentioning this up to now.

10. Josh W. is one funny man. My favorite was when, on the river, head up against the very tough Gabe, he tried to bluff him out, for $8, into a $2,500,000 pot, when it was obvious Gabe had some cards. Of course Gabe called and Josh turned over 3-2o, announcing, "bottom pair, bottom kicker." His hand was not good. But his line was one I'll always remember.

9. In the middle of it all, Tommy Angelo called me on my cell. After we spoke I started to pass the phone around and after he spoke to Clarkmeister, Clarky gave me the phone back. I said pass it around for him to talk to everybody. Clarkmeiester told me Tommy had hung up, saying something about being in a hurry.

Smart guy that Tommy. He knows when to fold 'em.

8. Major Kong cannot enter a pot without saying, "I'm only going to call," or "I have a pretty good hand." Gives you a running narration as he plays. Beats you in Omaha looking at only three of his cards, the sonofabitch. The guy ought to write a goddamn book. Chapter one should be entitled Two Outs, Motherf*cker"

7. I know Jim Rivett as the sweetest, kindest, most generous gentleman on the planet, so it came as some surprise when, after only three or four hours of constant needling by Clarkmeister he casually gave him the one finger salute. Not that Clarky didn't deserve it.

6. There's one wonderful cocktail waitress they have at the Bike who will, how shall I say, make you feel like your 7-2o is worth a raise, if you catch my drift. I'm not sure which wives and/or girlfriends read this forum, so I won't say which one of our group fell in love, but he certainly has excellent taste. I only wish it had affected his play to his detriment to a greater extent.

5. Hero is truly heroic, as good a person and as enjoyable as company as can be. She was unfortunate that some idiot, playing every hand, called twelve bets with A-J to her 9-9 on a J-9-2 board and caught an ace on the turn and another ace on the river. I'm so sorry, hero, you deserved better. Wonderful to see you, and to see you looking so well.

4. mike l., all indications to the contrary, is a delightful, polite, thoughtful young man, with four children who have a great dad. I wish I had half as much gamble in me as he does, and one quarter the amount of hair. His 'do looks kind of half-way between Harpo Marx in Horesefeathers and Barbara Streisand circa 1977. And, yes, it is jealousy on my part.

Happly, he appeasrs to have given up his aspirations to become a dealer.

3. Gabe can stay out of my game any time he likes. He plays too well, he's too smart, too handsome, too well dressed, and too well spoken. And, yes, it is jealousy on my part.

2. My thanks to the assembly for naming our Game of Choice after me. I will endeavor to win one hand of it the next time we play.

1. Last, thanks to everyone, most especially our esteemed and generous and spectacular host Rick Nebiolo for a wonderfully enjoyable and entertaining evening. Without sounding too much like the old fart that I am, I truly felt young again. No more folding every hand, it was like being back in high school with the guys, having a few drinks, forgetting about the difficult parts of life that we all have to endure. No pain, just pure pleasure with a bunch of great guys (and one gal).

Who could ask for anything more?

[andyfox]

"I tell you, this man is a genius"

Thinking up the game is nothing. Now, winning a hand of it every now and then, that would require genius.

Thanks too for not mentioning that my original idea was that you could also discard a card, optionally, at the river. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Tommy Angelo]

What a fluke I called Andy for the first time in months right while the main game was going on. I was of course sick with jealousy for not being there and joining in but then the thought of all you creeps robbing my blinds made me even sicker.

So I'm reading along all the nice posts and putting myself in the scene and then this:

"double discard, pineapple, high"

You basstards! Andy! That's my best game! I swear!

lol


Tommy

[andyfox]

The first dealer comes to the table, obviously able to find it by the unyielding stench of cheap alcohol. She spreads the cards for us to pick to see who draws high card for the button.

Clarkmeister picks first. He doesn't show. Everyone else picks and when they see my jack of diamonds, they pick again in an effort to beat it. Cheaters. The only one who doesn't attempt to cheat is Ed Miller, who is as honest as the day is long, and who picks a king on his first try. As he is fondling the button and making notes about it for a chapter in his book, Clarkmeister turns over his ace of spades.

Slowroller. He then proceeds to win the first nineteen hands. Then he gets hot.

[andyfox]

One of my few wins:

Omaha 8: Flop comes Q-Q-T. I have Q-T-T-x. Jim Rivett bets and I call. As they're burning and turning Jim says, "Be careful, Andy." The turn, of course is a queen. Jim bets and I just call, exposing my queen,`to a chorus of "be careful Andy" from the rest of the players, and then exposing my two tens to a chorus of "what the hell could you have Jim, Andy's got all the cards." The river was a blank and I checked behind. And my hand was good.

[JimRivett]

Andy,

I believe, if my memory serves me well, I had J J 10 /images/graemlins/wink.gif. I think I may have shown my hand

I think Clarky wanted me to lose because I was, at that time, in contention with him, for being ahead the most /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

btw judgin by the volume of your posts, it must be slow in the office for you this morning /images/graemlins/smile.gif

See you later in the week,
Jim

[JTG51]

This is great stuff, Andy. I hope you guys can play another game soon so you can tell more stories.

[Clarkmeister]

"I think Clarky wanted me to lose because I was, at that time, in contention with him, for being ahead the most "

Nah, I just liked the easy taunting of the 3 TOMs to my left. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Despite the fact that I tipped my would-be girlfriend somewhere around a stack, I managed a tidy $456 win. Running good is fun.

My favorite moment was when Andy chided me for discussing the correct strategy for the Stud/8 game. Showed that despite his crazy play that evening, he was still clicking on all cylinders. I expected nothing less, but it was funny to have him "yell" at me for talking strategy at the table.

A special thanks to Rick, because he did everything humanly possible to make sure everyone had a great time. This included scoring free cake and donuts, as well as breakfast at 4AM. He may not have gotten one penny of action from me, but he does have my gratitude for pouring his heart into making the evening wonderful for all.

Oh, and despite the fact that they were both somehow stuck, at a table of excellent players, Gabe and Josh seemed to be the most dangerous players in the game. Just goes to show that results don't mean a whole heck of a lot when you are talking about just 10 hours.

I had a great time and thanks to everyone for putting up with my yammering at the table. Next time lets plan ahead so we don't have to pay $1k in rake+tokes. I nominate Andy's house. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[mike l.]

"Next time lets plan ahead so we don't have to pay $1k in rake+tokes."

as much as i love rick and his workplace for the other night, i definitely agree!

[Tommy Angelo]

"Next time lets plan ahead so we don't have to pay $1k in rake+tokes."

as much as i love rick and his workplace for the other night, i definitely agree!
------------

This just booked. I'm driving to Vegas in May and I'll be at the Nugget May 11-15, and what I'm really hoping for is that we play some no rake poker at Dynasty's again. It's like playing poker at 7-11.

[Clarkmeister]

Just 5 days? I'm bummed. But I'm selfish like that. I want as much Tommy around as possible. I'm having a tough time not telling my girlfriend that I'm heading down to LA again this weekend simply to hang with my man Tommy.

We'll have to play some pot limit Crazy Fox at Dynasty's place. That will be epic.

[Josh W]

So, we're playing 5 card draw. This is normal 5-card draw, but the joker can be used as anything, not just aces/straights/flushes.

I raise before the draw with Kings. Andy calls.

I draw three, as does Andy. I bet after the draw, unimproved (likely a mistake, but the beer told me to do it), and he called and said "I guess I call".

I figure my hand is good, so I turn over my AKK74.

Andy says "I just have a pair of nines", and turns over his Q996.....joker.

In normal draw, he has a pair of nines. Here, he has three of a kind.

Some meathead at the table (named Josh) says "no, you have three of a kind". This was during the 4th dealer, so I still hadn't won a pot. And I wanted to keep it that way /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Revenge is sweet Andy, and it'll be mine!!! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Josh

[Ulysses]

Hmmmm... I'm in Vegas the weekend before the weekend before that(Apr 29 - May 2). If I win a WSOP bracelet, maybe I'll stick around for a couple of weeks. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[andyfox]

"I nominate Andy's house"

OK, you're on and all invited.

[andyfox]

It's good to have friends who can read your hand better than you can.

[JimRivett]

Just got back from the Bike, and I surprised by the number of people, both customers and dealers, who commented on our game from Saturday/Sunday. They all said we seemed to be having a very good time. One dealer wanted to know who the other players were, I told her that most of them had just got out of jail. She looked at me a little strange and I told her I was joking. I guess our game was quite a talking point for the dealers and more than one of them thought that "double discard pineapple high" was a great game, they also said they enjoyed dealing to us and wanted to know when we are going to do it again.