First time to Foxwoods (trip report)

[sweetjazz]

Well, after about a year of becoming interested in poker, which involved reading a lot of books and 2+2 posts and playing in a more or less weekly home game with some buddies for ultra-low stakes, I had my first chance to make a trip to Foxwoods yesterday. I had played about 45 minutes of 1-5 stud in New Orleans one time, but that was the extent of my experience in casino and internet poker combined.

Arrived a little after 10:00 AM, my comment on driving up 2 and seeing Foxwoods come into view..."that's pretty obscene." Interesting setup for the casino; I signed up for a Wampum card in case it ever gets me free stuff at some point. I got to swipe for a chance at free gas; alas I didn't win, which wasn't all bad since I don't own a car to put the gas in.

When my friend and I reached the poker room, we were a bit surprised to see so many people playing already. I had the impression that by the evening the waiting list was going to really long. My friend sat down at 2-4 hold 'em, I decided to sit down at 1-5 stud. I actually have almost no experience playing stud, and would have been more comfortable at hold 'em. But I was under the impression that there was no ante for 1-5 stud (whoops that's the 1-3 game), and figured it would be a good warm-up to get my tightness working.

Even though I didn't know much, the players were so loose (half of the table was consistently willing to chase an obvious bigger pair down; the other half did so from time to time) and I knew the basics of starting hands (when to try to get the pot heads-up and when to try to keep it multiway) that I thought I had enough of an edge to win at the table. Three hours later, after a grand total of one starting hand above tens, I walked away down $49. I know I made some bad plays, and I think I could have held my losses down if I had been more patient. At 1:00, my friend went for lunch. My impression of the buffet -- it was a long wait for an expensive meal that wasn't anything close to remarkable. Maybe next time we'll just bring a bag lunch.

I got back to the poker room around 3:00 and got on the waiting list for 4/8 hold 'em. I was seated about 15 minutes later, and made it clear to the dealer that I didn't know what I was doing immediately. I put down $200 and the dealer said that he couldn't make change for me, that I should go to the window. He said something about yellow chips. I went over to the window, asked to get $200 in chips, and was asked which kind I needed. If I knew what was going on, I would have said yellow. Instead, I explained that I was sent over from my table. She asked which table it was, and I told her I had no clue what the table number was, but that it was for 4/8 hold 'em. She conferred with a partner, and decided that I needed red chips. I came back to the table with red chips, and the dealer asked why I had red chips; I explained that is what they gave me at the window. He told me they are clueless there and that I had to request yellow chips because they didn't understand what chips went with what game. So back I went, and this time I came back successfully with a rack of yellow chips. By now, my seat was near the button, so the dealer asked if I wanted to post. I told him that I'd just wait for my blind to come around instead (mainly because I needed some time to collect my thoughts and figure out the logistics of how the game was played -- where bets are placed, how the button moves, etc.), and he just rolled his eyes at me and started to deal the hand.

But within a few minutes, I started to feel very comfortable. By just sitting and watching seven hands, I already noticed a few passive calling stations and also a couple of loose aggressive clowns. It was definitely worth the wait to find this out. My very first hand was A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] in the big blind. A handful of limpers, a raise on the button, and I called. Flop completely missed me, and I folded. I got something like 84o in the small blind, which I folded after about 4 limpers, and just like that I was down $10. But the great thing is that at the time, I barely noticed (I mean I did notice it, but only because it was one of those hey-it's-my-first-time experiences and I was just trying to take it in) and was instead focused on playing the best poker I could.

I made an effort to play tight and was glad to see that I had no trouble folding K9o in early position on my first orbit -- I knew I would eventually see better cards. With the two loose clowns, there were some big pots developing, so I was hopeful that I would get some big hands. I got A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] two off the button and it was folded around to me (something that wouldn't happen again very often) so I raised. Only the big blind called (one of loose aggro clowns). I don't remember the hand too well anymore, but I turned an ace and my hand is good.

I had AJo UTG+2 folded to me and I raised. I get reraised by the other loose aggressive clown two to my left and we end up heads up. It's only been about 3 orbits, and I've already seen him show down Q7o and A3o which he had 3-bet pre-flop. I like how things have developed so far. Flop is T33. I think my hand is good and I know he will bet if I check and raise if I bet. I decide check-call is the right line of play. Turn is an 8. Check-call. River is a T. My hand is likely to be good and he may check behind, so I lead out and bet. He raises, and now I suspect I might be beat, but there's no way I am folding on the river to this clown. I call, he shows Q6o and my hand is good. That hand was easy to play only because of what I have learned from 2+2; without this forum, I probably would have screwed that hand up and probably chucked a winner.

Funny story with this loose aggro. He gets heads-up with a reasonable player pre-flop and puts in the fifth bet. Bet-raise-call on the flop. Bet-raise-call on the turn. A *big* heads-up pot. On the river, the semi-reasonable guy bets and loose aggro clown goes into thinking mode (which turned out to a very dangerous spot for him). The board is 98833. Aggro clown, who's seen his chip stack take a hit recently turns up 66 and says I don't want to waste another $8. I look over at the other guy and notice that he has a bit of a startled reaction at the fold. He quickly throws his hand in face down as the dealer pushes the big pot to him. Couldn't believe how badly loose aggro played that hand throughout, and couldn't believe he folded his sixs. I actually thought for a minute that I misread the board and it must be 99883.

The funniest moment came later when a nice guy flopped a straight draw, rivered the draw, and called the other guy's final bet. "I've got the nuts, but I'm just gonna call." He later explained that he felt bad outdrawing the other guy, and didn't want to make it worse. The other player had AA.

Helped by catching good hands while the clowns were still in the game, I went on a huge rush, making about $240 in the first hour and a half. I had pocket nines and reraised one of the loose aggressive players, getting heads-up against him. Flop is K93. He bets, I raise, he reraises, I call. Turn is an A. He bets, I reraise, he calls. River is a Q. He checks, I bet, he calls. My 99 beats his A7.

After the initial rush of good cards, where none of my hands got sucked out on, reality started to set in. I had A2s, limped in late position after 5 limpers, and I flop two pair. Turn is a 5, river is a 3. I keep value-betting, as it is now 3-handed, and I ain't afraid of no 4s when they'll pay me off with everything else under the sun. Of course, this time one of them had 54. I had K6o in the big blind and 4 or 5 limpers let me see a free flop. Flop comes AK6. I check, a bet on my left, one call, and I raise. (Maybe I should just call and look to raise the turn unless a reason emerges not to.) Two callers. Turn is a T. I bet, guy on my left just calls (my read is that he has an ace and wants to find out if it's good), and initial caller comes out of nowhere with a raise. First thing that goes through my mind is QJ, and I know that I can't just call the bet -- the right play must be to fold or to reraise and knock out the ace. I decided that reraise was the right play. I did knock out the ace, but the other guy raises again. Maybe I should fold here, but I called. Fortunately for me, the river puts a third spade on board. I check and my opponent checks as well, I guess scared that I had a horribly overplayed spade draw. He shows KT for the turned two pair. I'm not sure how this hand should be played, and because the player seemed not very aggressive, his turn raise must show two pair or better. I have second and fourth pair, and thus am probably beaten. I could have as many as 6 outs and as a few as 3. In hindsight, it looks like fold was right. I hope that with experience I'll be better equipped to deal with a similar situation the next time it comes up.

One hand that I was really happy with how I played was my only KK hand of the night. I raised UTG with the red cowboys, 3 people called. Flop is A88, all black. I bet, and 2 of the 3 other players call. Turn is a 4. I check, player on my left bets, next player calls, and I fold. Turns out the second player had A8 for the flopped boat, which he slowplayed. It was a bummer seeing my kings get cracked, but I was happy that I played this hand "textbook-style". Pre-flop raise is obvious. Flop is horrible, but I bet and expect to take it down if nobody has an A, 8 or flush draw. Two callers and I know I'm beaten. I check, hoping that they will both check through, giving me 2 outs improving. If it's checked through, then I plan to call on the river for one more bet, hoping that I have induced a bluff.

Okay, well this has gotten real long. I left at 11:00, up $152 after about 8 hours of playing. Less important than the result is that I felt like I had brought my "A game" the whole time. I did make a few mistakes (as shown above), but I also avoided a lot of pitfalls. I was rewarded for folding KTo UTG when the hand was reraised later by someone who ended up showing down his AA winner. I got fatigued a bit as this was by far the longest single consecutive time I played poker.

Overall, I had a great time, and I have to give a lot of thanks to 2+2, especially the short-handed forum (which is the one I had read the most -- my home game usually has about 6 players). I learned a lot from these forums, and I suspect that instead of walking away with $103 overall in winnings yesterday, I would have been in the red if it were not for what I have learned here. I am also lucky that my home game has two other good poker players, one of whom I think is probably better than anybody I saw at the 4/8 table I was sitting at besides one player. It's from those friends and the people on this forum that I have learned how to correctly think about poker and develop the skills necessary to becoming a winning player. It's much too early to tell whether I am a winning 4/8 player, but I'm a much better player than I would be without you guys.

[daryn]

good report!

[rjc199]

Everything sounds good except that KK hand. You check the turn? I don't understand. Callers call with anything. Just becasue somebody called doesn't mean they have an Ace. If you get raised on the turn, then I think you can re-evaluate the situation. That is just far too weak tight.

[MrHorace]

I'm impressed by the detail of your report, your read on the other players, and your ability to take advantage of the situation. Whewww.
I have only been playing about a year and play 2/4 alot at Foxwoods as I live only an hour away. That said, you've taught me that I must continue to study my game, concentrate, and maintain discipline and composure at all times. My experiences have not been overly successful, but I accept that this is a learning experience, and know that I will be successful!! I just need to bring my A game at all times, and accept nothing less. Thanks for setting the bar.
Good luck!

[sweetjazz]

Thanks for the feedback. My reasoning on the KK hand is that I hit just about the worst flop I could. When I got called in two places I became concerned. I don't think that there are many hands that bad players would call with in that spot, and the two callers were not horrible players (they were too loose preflop and a little too loose/passive postflop, but not horribly so). There just aren't many hands that are going to call a bet from a preflop raiser with an A88 flop. Had I only gotten one caller, I would have strongly considered taking another stab at the pot. Two callers made it much less likely that my hand was good, especially the two particular callers. There were three bad aspects about the hand: (1) the ace on board, (2) the pair on board, which was a card that loose players will play (I would have felt better about my hand on an A22 flop), and (3) there was a flush draw on board, so even if I was ahead against a draw, I still lose 15% of the time or so when the third card of the suit comes.

I think your analysis is certainly right if I hold TT and the flop comes J44 -- there are simply too many other hands players could have called with (a single overcard, esp. ace high). But KK on an A88 flop seems to me to be a much worse spot to be in. I'm curious what other people think about this.

[nothumb]

I liked your report.

I disagree that A88 is the worst possible flop for KK. It's probably something like 89T suited (not yours).

I'd bet the turn and fold to a raise in this hand.

NT

[potato]

good report. and your KK fold is just fine.

[BeerMoney]

[ QUOTE ]
I told him that I'd just wait for my blind to come around instead (mainly because I needed some time to collect my thoughts and figure out the logistics of how the game was played -- where bets are placed, how the button moves, etc.), and he just rolled his eyes at me and started to deal the hand.


[/ QUOTE ]

I hate this crap.. Why do the dealers feel the need to do this stuff. I always wait just to spite them. Tell them you'll remember that look when you're thinking about tipping them.

[rory]

Checking the turn seems right. Those guys call with anything but they are always scared of the ace. It seems pretty unreasonable that two people will call a preflop raiser with A88 on the board on the flop without at least one of them having an A or an 8.

His two opponents are basically drawing dead if they are trying to hit a K or Q or something, so there is no reason to bet to protect the hand. Checking behind gives him a free shot at cracking the A or 8 or whatever that they probably have. I think that I would even check and fold this river most of the time.

-rory

[MrBlini]

Yeah, the worst thing is that the quantity and type of chips you'll need for a game might be different for different games that you're signed up for (4/8, 5/10, and $100 NL all have different requirements, for example). Although they want you seated ASAP, you can hardly be prepared with the chips you'll need. Then the dealers seems upset when it takes you five minutes to get chips at the cage.

Foxwoods needs chiprunners.