Long Canterbury Trip Report written on the plane. No sleep..

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Canterbury Trip Report

Wow, was the floor staff nice. Sure the wait was an hour Thursday and 2 hours Friday, but they were so nice and efficient with the board that it really couldn’t piss you off to wait. Realizing that Minnesota has limited the number of tables, making it not Canterbury’s fault helps. A special thanks to the Vikings for playing a preseason game Saturday, because I got there at 9:00 and got an immediate seat in the 6/12 Note to Minnesotans: It’s the preseason, it doesn’t matter. Met only a couple 2+2ers. Vehn, Schneids, Andy, where were you? AnyTwoCards gave me an especially nice welcome, in the form of a Canterbury fishing hat and some valet parking passes. Since the Canterbury is primarily a race track, the parking lot is enormous and no fun to walk across. What I had no idea, is that the hat he wrangled was the hat people won by getting a straight flush. People kept asking me if I’d won the hat that day, and I kept giving these baffled looks, and they of course never told me that the hat was given to straight flush winners because they assumed I knew, which I didn’t. Eventually, I just started telling them I’d won it the day before, and then would scowl when they asked about the hand, as if pissed that I got no action on my Royal.

Oh yeah, the trip report. I was looking for all the soft and squishy tables, but found the 6/12 and 8/16 tougher than Vegas, with fewer clueless idiots. For the most part the players were much more experienced than I, but not as well schooled. In Vegas there were always a few at the table who were inexperienced and poorly taught, a sweet combination. Admittedly, I was operating on almost no sleep for the first few nights, but I found the games filled largely with players who knew what they were doing. Sure, a few idiots were mixed in, but the decent player to magoo ratio was much better in Vegas. Some of my new SSH strategy was misplaced on tables where 3-5 saw the flop, but stepped up aggression helped. Several badly played hands each night and a few suckouts left me exactly $10 up after two nights and some 12 hours of play. Not a very good winrate. I was determined to win Saturday, and decided to play the 4/8, which was a mix of college boys and twenties, with the odd geezer tossed in. The 6/12 and 8/16 games seemed to have a median age closer to 45. I gotta say, no doubt these mid-limit games were beatable, but I never seemed to feel like I had the kind of advantage I had at many 3/6, 4/8 and 6/12 games in Vegas. For some reason, however, I sat down at the 6/12, instead of the 4/8 (tilt? A desire to “win it faster?”). At about 10:30 on Saturday, down $80 at the 6/12, I noticed the table behind me seemed looser and asked for a change. As I got up, the regular sitting next to me asked me why I was going to table 23, saying, “do you see all those guys there, most of them are pros?” [censored]. Well, I stumbled into some cards worth playing and the “pros” paid me off. Up $200, I decide to follow my original and forgotten plan to play the softer $4/8. I rack up, and then get smoked out of $125+ on the next two hands when I failed to read what everyone else at the table had. Before the fellow in seat 6 showed his cards, seat 4 says, “Bill, you played that set fast because of the flush draw, right?” Bill showed the set of eights I had completely missed. I seemed the only one to not know that Bill had the set, as I was the only one hanging in the hand with some crappy second best hand.

At the 4/8 there was a mix of younger players and older players, most of whom were predictable and very readable. This was my sweet spot, but I watched as hand after hand was rags, and the best hands I got were limping hands, which never paid off, or were raised preflop. I picked up a couple of hands and actually went up a buck or two, when a cocktail waitress wandered by the table at about 1:00 am (just as I was chalking up the trip as a bust), and shoved a horseshoe up my ass. It stayed there for three hours, as I hit every draw, got AA, QQ three times, and a host of good cards. My JJ hit a set when the flop came AJ4r, and some other guy hit a middling flush when I got the nuts, stuff like that. I tilted a bit, thinking myself invincible (hey it’s like 3:00 a.m. and I have had 4 hours of sleep total in three nights of poker before this, including a wonderful NL game at the Moose Lodge the night before we left for Minnesota). So I’m in MP with QJ-o, and EP raises. So I call (stupid, stupid, stupid). On the Q high flop, it bet to me, I raise and get reraised. I call the fellow in EP down all the way, and he shows the inevitable AQ, made better when the A hits on the turn, and I STILL CALL HIM DOWN!! Took a breather after that hand, realized I was not superhuman and played solidly. The horseshoe stayed put and after being down to $140 at the table, I cashed out at 4:00 with $486.

My favorite hand of the whole trip was the one of three AA hands I got that was NOT cracked. I’m on the button in a relatively tight 8/16 game, when everyone decides their hand is worth playing. EP raises, three callers, I reraise, two callers, EP four-bets, and I cap. Five see the flop for five bets, with a couple dropping out along the way, and several speculating that my cap means nothing short of aces. Flop comes 7c8cXd, and EP bets out. Unhappy about the flop, I raise, and he calls. The turn is an ugly 9c. He checks, I check it through (mistake?). The river is a J, just in case his JJ or T needs help. He bets, and I just call, telling him I think I’m beat and asking to see his straight or flush. He thinks his hand is good, and he throws KK across the table in front of me. I turn over the red aces, and get pushed the biggest pot of my casino career, which now stretches into it’s sixth day.

In the end, I finished up about $390 for the three days, glad I was up that much in 18 hours of play, but frustrated that I made a few rookie mistakes. I know better than to chase against a made hand when I’m not getting odds, etc., I could have been up another a great deal more had I played better. I don’t mind when the cards miss, I do mind when I screw up. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the trip immensely, and am looking forward to Vegas in September.

In Vegas 9/4 to 9/10? Look for the avatar!

-Milo

[Vehn]

I played all of wednesday thursday and friday in the evenings. I even won one of those fishing hats on wednesday. I was the guy with all the chips at 30/60 at table 33.

Similar to "there's no sex in the champagne room", there are no pros at 6/12.

Nice report.

How'd you like the room? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

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Nice report.

How'd you like the room? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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Loved it. The folks working the board really worked hard to keep the games moving and the horrific list moving. At The Mirage and Bellagio, the floor held lists on clipboards and seemed annoyed when folks would inquire. At Canterbury they had a huge markerboard everyone could see, and seemed to see themselves as in league with the players, against the board, rather than in league with the board, against the players. Even with monstrous crowds, the girls at the board recognized me by name on Saturday, and everyone was pleasant. I played at the Mirage for three days, and although they were polite and cordial, I was always a visitor and never a guest. I just wish there were more drunk tourists at Canterbury. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[FatMan]

I am headed to Canterbury this Friday. Can you call ahead and get you name on the wait list? What are the best games for a tight semi-aggressive player who is just starting out. I have read SSH and can follow the starting hand recommendations but am still working on the pot odds & reading other players.

[Vehn]

You cannot call ahead. If you're trying to play below 6/12 you will have a 2-3 hour wait if you get there friday after 5.

[Schneids]

I'm sorry we never met up.

I got there Thursday night/Friday morning around 12:30am and played until around 7:30am. There was immediate seating, one seat open, for 30/60 when I got there so I did not have much time to look around for you. I briefly looked but wasn't able to find you when I tried.

I hope you enjoyed your time in MN.

[any2cards]

Milo (or should I say Dan) ...

It was nice to meet you and have the opportunity to play against another 2+2er. How did you end up doing in that 8-16 game I sent you to Thursday night? That was a very juicy game.

Anyway, just wanted to remind you that we will be in Vegas from 9/8 through 9/14, staying at the Mandalay Bay. Perhaps we could get together with the better halves and have dinner (that is if I can drag mine away from the Poker table).

Also, sorry providing you a hat caused so much grief [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Will

[Andy B]

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I just wish there were more drunk tourists at Canterbury.

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Canterbury puts a fair amount of effort into ensuring that people don't get drunk. I think it makes for a better atmosphere, and therefore, better games.

[Andy B]

The general consensus seems to be that $6/12 is the easiest game to beat in the room. If the prospect of losing $300-400 is of concern, though, you may want to start smaller.

[Andy B]

Sorry. I had a busy week last week, with a buddy moving to Texas, and then the Irish Fair over the weekend. I managed to spend $200 at a "free" event. Thursday was the only night I had free, but I had some things I wanted to get done around the house. Maybe next time.

Maybe we have different standards, but I find it hard to believe that there was a shortage of good yellow-chip games during your stay. Of course, without me to fuel them....

"Pros." Ha!