Lovely Gilroy...a trip report with a crash (not cash) (long)

[SossMan]

So, yesterday I had a boy's day out with twoplustwoer double eagle. Played golf in the morning and I played better than I have in a long time and somehow still managed to drop $20 to him in a combination of skins, greenies, birdies, sandy pars, overall suckiness.

So, after allowing him to buy me 4 or 5 beers at the 19th hole, we go back to his house to play a little on stars before heading to the lovely "Garlic City Cardroom / Mexican Restaraunt". I piss away a big chip lead in a sit and go and finish 3rd. So we set up face to face laptops and play a heads up SnG. Yes, we paid $1 of our hard earned money to stars instead of going upstairs and fining some cards. I hate dealing, though, so it was money well spent. I of course dominated him since I am a much better poker player. He begs me to play him a rematch in "his game", PLO. So we sign up for a $5 heads up PLO and I whoop him there, too. Before we know it, it's time to head down to the cardroom for their 5pm tourney.

First off, I don't want to offend people that might frequent this establishment, but it is the jankiest cardroom I've ever been in. The structure is strange ($55 buy in w/ one $50 rebuy gets you t4000 in chips. Blinds start at 50-100, so they race off the t25 chips after round 2. They don't have enough t100 tourney chips to cover all the buyins for two tables, so they bring out $5 chips and say that they are the same as t100. (Yes, by the end, there was probably $2000 in $5 chips at the table for a first place prize of $900. Yes, if they let you keep the physical chips, they would be worth more than first place.)

So, I start off good enough winning my first hand (and overpair reraise on the flop for what looked like overcards for the villian) and taking t2000. I rebuy right away and have a stack of about 10k when the following hand comes up. I have only played the initial hand for about an orbit. In this time, a guy in seat 7 had raised 5 of 6 pots preflop (everywhere from a min raise to a 5x raise, regardless of # of limpers). He opens from MP for t500, I reraise to t1500 from the SB. Only he calls. I have KsQs.
He has about 1k less than me.
Flop comes Qxx w/ one spade. I check, he bets 2k into the 3200 pot. I checkraise all in, after thinking a bit he calls w/ AQ and I don't get help and am crippled.

Now the craziness ensues. I sit tight for a while, paying one set of blinds, stealing another. I have 1k when the following hand occurs.
It gets folded to me in the button with A8s. I take my 10 chips, extend my left hand with all ten chips in my hand, put down 5 chips, cut the stack and placed the remaining 5 chips next to them (a very standard way of betting across the universe) without hesitation, without looking at my opponents, with the clearest intent of going all in, obviously. Dealer graps 8 of my chips and throws them back to me and says 'string bet'.
I look at him appalled and say, "what?". He says that you have to verbalize if you want to raise and you can't 'cut your stack'. He goes on to explain to me how an unscrupulous player could shoot an angle by slowly cutting chips while looking at his opponent for magical eye-twiches to gain strength of his hand. I ask for the floor and he gives his rehearsed "verbalize all action" speach.

So, my action is a call, button calls, blinds call/check. Flop comes QJx and I fold to the two all in's from the blinds.
Very next hand, I have 800, blinds 100-200. I'm now in the CO w/ QQ. AQ guy from the first hand limps, guy in between limps, I grab my 8 chips and throw them in three or four inches in front of my cards, while saying "here, is this a raise?". Dealer looks at me apologetically as he throws 6 chips back and says, you didn't say raise. I nearly explode. The floor comes back over and I ask him if he has ever played poker before and where are the rules that define that as a string raise, etc...I think I insulted his grandmother by the time it was over, I was steaming pretty good. All the regulars were there wondering who this douchbag insulting their rules were. Fortunately, the BB raised anyway, and i got all in 3 ways against A7 and JT. I hold up and triple up plus blinds. I have about 4000 for a while, blinds go to 1million,2million and I end up getting all in with a shortstack with AA vs. his KsJs. J on the flop, J on the river, and I'm down to about 2500. Next hand I get all in three ways with AKs vs. KJ and A5.
Flop is QTx. Turn is a 9 for the all in short stack with KJ, but there is a largish side pot with the A5 guy that I lose when a 5 comes on the river. And I'm out in 15th place or so. Double eagle goes on to take 2nd place after entering the 'final' table with a huuuuuge stack of approx. 4xBB. Oh, and apparently in "Garlic City" the BB is on the button when heads up. What Jopkers!

I play in the $100 max buy in NL cash game with 2-4 blinds. (you didn't misread that). With the guys giving their money away, somehow I manage to drop 3.5 racks by losing with KK on back to back hands (all in preflop on the first one with a rock that can only have AA-QQ in that spot, he had QQ, flop is safe, but Q's on turn and river help him a little. After the commotion on that hand, I get the same red KK the very next hand and raise, get one caller, see an ace on the door card and almost muck out of turn. I check-fold face up and go take a walk. Last hand of the night, I turn a nut straight, don't have enough chips to price out a good player from calling with his flush draw and he hits flush on the river. I call it a night and head home the hour drive back to the bay area.

Now comes the real bad beat.....

As I'm driving home, I get fairly tired from the hot sun, golf, and the beers at the club, but I think that I'll be fine since I'm almost home. I get off at my exit and next thing I know, I'm plowing into an SUV in the intersection. My airbags deploy, and my car spins around and I'm really f'ing dozy. I manage to pull the car to to the side of the road and soon the cops show up. I have no idea what happened, but I must have dozed off for a few crucial seconds. They smell beer on my breath and I am given a field sobriety test that I dominate. I definitely wansn't beyond the legal limit, but anything over a zero wouldn't have been good for the insurance. Luckily, that won't be an issue. So, they tow my new car that's all f'ed up to the yard, and I get to have it appraised tomorrow. Luckily everyone involved just has bumps and bruises and my insurance will cover everything, could have been much, much worse.
Weird, I go 25 years without ever being involved in as much as a small fender bender, and in the span of 8 months, I am in two full blown crashes. Strange.

Stange trip report, huh?

[ZBTHorton]

Glad to hear your okay Soss. As for those two situations, I've played in some weird card rooms..and never had those issues before.

[sirio11]

Good to hear you're ok.

Some bad beats in life are really terrible. But lets say, you choped this pot.

[Chief911]

Stange indeed you angle shooting string better!

Thanks for the read Soss!

Nick

[Prime Time]

1st of all Soss, I am glad you are ok. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

2nd , stop all those angle shooting string raises. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

3rd, you mess w/ Kev (DE), you mess w/ me, so I put the wammy on you and Kev came in second. Congrats Kev! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

4rth You busted my stones about falling asleep during on-line play, and that I am past my Prime. Should I say more? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

5th Glad you are ok, B/c I like you and your posts. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Pete

[SossMan]

Is it too late for an apology, old man?

[Double Eagle]

So are you coming down again this Saturday?

[ntq816]

Plus



Equals

[nolanfan34]

Worst trip report ever, all things considered. OK, the SNG's were good. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Really though, you internet players have no respect for the game, just throwing chips out without a verbal declaration like that. How dare you. You're going to need to learn the rules if you want to play B&M poker.

Too bad about the car, but it's a good thing that everyone involved is OK! Insurance is good.

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
So are you coming down again this Saturday?

[/ QUOTE ]

golf only.