Last night in New Orleans!

Day 4 in New Orleans... this is my last night here in New Orleans so I couldn't just stay at the hotel and play online poker. So, despite the light rain and my laziness, I ventured out to go eat at Bone Fish Grill... except I got lost... well, kinda. Hard to believe but when I figured out where I was, I was a block away from Harrah's. Well, I was ready to eat and not ready to play so I was a little upset. Plus, even though I figured out where I was, I wasn't going to go back in the same direction just to eat at that restaurant... so, instead, I ventured over to Emeril's. My last experience there was a fantastic one so even though I wasn't going to have a big meal, I decided that since this could be the last time I eat at Emeril's in New Orleans, it was fitting. So, I enjoyed a hearty meal there, fantastic food, fantastic wine (it better be... the glass of cabernet cost $20!). And once I was satisfied, I walked 4 blocks back to Harrah's. Honestly, part of me just wanted to go back to the room and play online and avenge my losses from last night. Oh yeah, in case you were wondering what happened in the two YMTC's that I put down. First one where I had the aces, I folded on the river. My read was that he had trips. Either way, I was probably beat on the turn so I should have folded there. Then few hands later where I had the kings, I called the all-in. But the guy had AA. What a quick turnaround. Going from being up $50-60 to being down $400 within the hour. (Well, I did play this morning and actually made up about half of my losses back but nothing eventful happened there aside from the fact that I woke up at 5:30am).

Now on to Harrah's. Harrah's is great. I don't know what it is about this place or this casino. I've never seen a higher concentration of donkeys at the table than the one I play with on a monthly or bimonthly basis (sorry guys). But I mean these guys are literally throwing money around. Fortunately, I was able to catch some of that. No particular hands here and there. But there were plenty of calling stations so if you bet your hand strong, you were bound to be paid off. One memorable hand which didn't involve much in terms of the pot size was when I held 9-10 offsuit and I was on the button. Relatively loose aggressive player from middle position limped and there were maybe 2 more limpers before another loose aggressive player who was sitting to the right of me made it $10. Now generally, I would not play this hand when raised. But literally, he was in the cutoff seat and based on the way he was playing, he could have been playing anything. And because he was so loose, if I hit my hand hard, I was gonna get paid. Plus at this point, I was already up like $100 so it's borrowed money anyways. So again, I call and the early LAG (loose aggressive) calls leaving just the 3 of us going into the flop. Flop comes 5-6-7 with two diamonds. First player checks, the LAG to the right of me bets $15. I knew that he would bet regardless of the flop (I had a very good read on this guy) so I called with my gut shot straight draw. Then strangely, the first position LAG also called. So, still the 3 of us going into the turn (pot size approx $80). Turn brings a 6 of diamonds, completing the flush draw if there was one. The first LAG checks, guy to my right also checks, and it's rare that these two check. Before I continue, a little background. For the prior hour or two, whenever I bet or had to showdown, I had a hand. A very good hand. These guys would bet if they hit any part of the board. Even if they hit a monster, they would come out firing. So the fact that these two checked the turn with such a weird card was a good sign for me. Still, I didn't want to build on what was already a big pot so I checked after contemplating what to do. The river brought an offsuit 5 and the first lag checked. The one next to me on the other hand checked and then started playing with his chips as if to say "I'm gonna call if you bet." Trust me. I picked up on this tell quickly. As in, he wanted me to check also so he's showing off as if he's gonna call if I bet, indicating the fact that if I bet, I must have a monster. And he was doing it subtle but still a red flag. Plus, with 9-10 offsuit, I had no chance of winning this pot if it went to show down.... so I did what every good poker player would do here. I took a stab at that pot. And I contemplated what a good bet was to convince them that I had a 6 (and if you think about the sequence and how I reacted to the 6, though accidentally, which completed the flush draw), it makes sense for me to have a 6. So, I bet out $40 into the $80 pot. The only concern I had was the early position player possibly calling me. But when he folded, I knew I was golden. I knew it even when the LAG next to me played with his chips, separated out the $40 to see what he should do. I knew there was no way he was calling me. I'm telling you, my read on this guy was dead on. And so after a little while, he folded. And of course, as a courteous a$$hole that I am, I flipped over my cards. No harm done though. I was being nice to all of them (you would too if they're giving you money) but a little salt rubbing in the wounds wouldn't hurt.

So, a few more hands and 2.5 hrs of poker playing later, I'm up $254, bringing my trip total to a net gain of $350+. Vegas may get a lot of tourist traffic but boy, New Orleans gets the donkey traffic.