So over the course of the years, I've met most of the bloggers that I've wanted to meet. There are still a few out there that I haven't but they are getting fewer and fewer... one of the guys that I've "known" the longest who I actually never met was cmitch. He never came to the winter gatherings that I've been to and I have not gone to any blogger gatherings that happen during the summer (during WSOP which I think cmitch goes to). Well, now that I've moved to Tampa and he lives in Orlando, I figured it was a matter of time till we met, especially considering there's a casino in Tampa. Recently, FL passed a law that no longer caps the buy in at the poker tables so all the more reason for degens to get together right?
Well, so Thurs, I get a text from Cmitch telling me he's gonna go to Hard Rock Casino (here in Tampa) on Fri. Since i live 10 minutes away, I told him that he can just text me when he gets there and I can go meet him. Now the last time I was in this casino was back in December... during my apartment hunting trip. And sure enough, the games were shitty and but so was the rake/service so I decided that I see no point in coming to this casino... So despite living 10 minutes away (like 6-7 miles away), I never bothered to go... until tonight... and boy did I underestimate the power of degeneracy...
Friday evening, the Hard Rock Casino exit is packed... I mean there's a line on I-4 to get off the exit. I patiently wait and eventually, I enter the parking garage where I proceed to text cmitch (who was already waiting for me at the bar) that I am now in the parking garage... This begins the 30 minutes of trying every level of the parking garage looking for a spot! Eventually, I got tired of being stuck behind a long line of cars doing the same thing I'm doing so I drove to a nearby neighborhood, parked my car in there and just walked to the casino.
Cmitch and I had some drinks together to get acquainted and then we hit the tables. He quickly got to his 2-5NL table and I was seated at a 1-2NL table shortly thereafter. I also signed up for the 1-3NL table but since 1-2 was starting a new table, I figured I'd go sit there. With the law no longer capping the buy in, I show up with $200 stack when the dealer quickly tells me that for 1-2nl, the cap is a $100. WTF!? And then I see a bunch of people buying in for like $40 or $50 bucks... 3rd hand in, I don't even remember what I had but I stack this other guy and yet I'm only up like $50... WTF!?
Fortunately, I hear my name being called for the 1-3NL where the minimum buy in is $100 and max is $300. While there will still plenty of guys buying in at the minimum, at least it was a $100. The table was fairly nitty but there were two juicy calling stations who kept buying in $100 at a time (one of them bought like 5 times while I was there) and then there were some other donkeys that would spew for a while and leave empty handed. I was one of the lucky recipients of such donkeys when my AA > JT on a J high flop. T9 was also a great hand for me tonight as I hit two pair twice, both times getting me a decent pot. Some more wins and spews here and there netted me +$253 for the night. Considering the stack sizes, not a bad night.
I called it quits around 1:30am when my table started getting short.... cmitch didn't quite seem ready to go home yet but I saw on twitter that he left about an hr after I did with a profit of $200... follow him on twitter or go check out the blog (linked above) for his trip report (assuming he posts something).
Overall, it was pretty fun... the players were pretty terrible and it was an enjoyable activity... having said that, I doubt that I would go there more than once a month. Let me put it this way... It ain't no Vegas...
Showing posts with label Live Poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Live Poker. Show all posts
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Mookie, Bloggers Gathering, and a little Poker in the Big Apple
Wow... so much to write... and so little time. Well in the interest of time (and the readers), I'll try to keep this short. After my missed bluff opportunity on Monday against jeciimd, I woke up still pissed with myself on Tuesday... Sadly, I had to wake up super early since I was flying up to NY for a business trip. Going into the Mookie, I was determined to play well and make up for my weak play on Monday... well, I guess I overdid it... I held pocket tens and raised to 140 from MP (blinds at 20-40). When Pushmonkey72 reraised me to 480, instead of calling (his reraising range is larger than an average person... maybe right on par for a blogger), I decided to push. He called with AK and everything was looking good... of course, until the river ace... so rigged. :) I'm out in 48th place out of 51. Maybe I should be folding to the points...
However, even better was BuddyDank's live radio feed of the Mookie. Nothing like having good music with an occasional commentary during the bloggers tourney. Apparently, InstantTragedy was supposed to be the special guest but unfortunately, he never made it (where were ya Sean???). Anyways, in case you haven't seen, InstantTragedy's got the full report of at least Day 1 (at this time) of his trip to Maui so go check it out. Very nice! Seriously though, that live feed was very cool. I really enjoyed it... too bad my tournament life was cut waaaaaaay too short.
So in addition to these two blogger tourneys that I really didn't do anything in, some of the bloggers are heading out to Vegas in the next couple of days. At first, I contemplated going but since I didn't really know anyone or really talk to anyone for that matter (at the time), I thought that maybe it wasn't worth going... (Ok, aside from the obvious question of "when is Vegas not worth going!?!?" I just wasn't sure about how this whole thing was going to go). But in the past few weeks as my blog has gotten more and more visitors and I've started to talk to more people, I started thinking that this could really be fun. And then I read up on a lot of other bloggers who are going and it appears that many of us don't know or have never met the others who are going (it's almost like a blind date for poker degenerates... and mostly men). So, in other words, it wouldn't have mattered, it would include a lot of drinking and playing cards... wtf was I thinking???? So, I'm kinda upset that I'm not going to Vegas this weekend. For those of you who are going out there, have fun!!! Maybe next time, I will join you guys. Scratch that. Next time, I will be there.
However, I did have a blogger encounter. So, I'm in NY and since I have heard of live poker clubs, I reached out to pvanharibo to see if she can hook me up. Well, she came through big time. She told me about some of the clubs and she told me that she will meet me at one of them. So, sure enough, I go out there and I'm at the door negotiating with the dude who says he's never heard my name and that he can't let me in. Until I find out that I'm at the wrong club... So, I had to go over to the other club and eventually, I met her and she let me in. Now, I'm an "official member." We didn't get to sit at the same table but it appears that she did real well. Me? Well, I did fairly well. I couldn't believe how soft the competition was. I don't know why but I always think that players who play live must be better. And every time, I'm shocked as to how bad the players are. Example? This one guy flopped two pair with J8 on a Q-J-8 board. There are two or three players and a round of betting. Turn is a blank. Another round of betting and one of them folds so two to the river. River is a Q. Check, the guy bets, call. The guy that check called had AJ. The other guy proudly flips over J8 and goes "I got two pair." And looks very confused when the dealer ships it to the guy with AJ. Dude, your two pair got counterfeited... how do you not see that? Nice "value bet".
So, I didn't really get any cards but the one big hand that I was involved in was relatively early in the night. Bunch of limpers and I find AQs on the button. I raise it to $15. (Sorry, this is 1-2NL) I get one caller and then a short stack reraises all in for another $21. I thought it was shady for her to limp call but I called without hesitation for two reasons. 1) She was shortstacked. 2) This is gonna sound super sexist but a middle aged female poker player is generally a donkey. Ok, ok. So it's wrong to stereotype... but if you just get to the table, you go by impressions and my impression is that they suck. So I call. Well, to my dismay, the other guy who also had a very big stack calls. So, three people are in and the pot already has $120+ (did I say this was 1-2NL) and we haven't even seen the flop. Well, flop sucks. It comes J-7-5 rainbow. Very raggy. I was willing to check it down... except the big stack decides to bet into the dry side pot. He bets $50. Now it was early in the night and I didn't know anything about him aside from the fact that he accumulated a big stack but one other thing I knew was how soft this table was (so you didn't have to be all that great to win a lot) and how it was common for EVERYONE to limp so he may have just gotten lucky. Couple that with the fact that I sensed weakness, I decided to call. That's $120 main pot, $100 in the side pot if you're keeping score. Turn is another blank and he checks. Now, at this point, there is enough in the side pot that I really wanted to take it down. I figured if the all in lady is going to win the main pot, I need to at least snag this side pot that's grown. So, I was trying to figure out a good bet but since we could only buy in for $300max, at this point, I had about $200 behind. So, at first I counted out a $100 but there's no point in leaving a $100 behind so I said "I'm all in." The guy thinks about it, looks over to the guy next to him, shakes his head and reluctantly folds. So, the side pot is mine. Now, I had to turn over my bluffy AQs and the guy is like "unbelievable!" Well, you know what was even more unbelievable? The all in lady who I stereotyped as a donkey? She had A3 of diamonds. Another blank on the river and the main pot was mine too! A3 of diamonds!? Nice limp reraise all in, ma'am. You're not helping the stereotype. You are a donkey. Thanks for your money. But aside from that, I take a few stabs here and there but nothing exciting. After an hour and a half, I'm up $160 and I call it a night. Again, pvanharibo, thanks so much for letting me into the club and have fun in Vegas!
However, even better was BuddyDank's live radio feed of the Mookie. Nothing like having good music with an occasional commentary during the bloggers tourney. Apparently, InstantTragedy was supposed to be the special guest but unfortunately, he never made it (where were ya Sean???). Anyways, in case you haven't seen, InstantTragedy's got the full report of at least Day 1 (at this time) of his trip to Maui so go check it out. Very nice! Seriously though, that live feed was very cool. I really enjoyed it... too bad my tournament life was cut waaaaaaay too short.
So in addition to these two blogger tourneys that I really didn't do anything in, some of the bloggers are heading out to Vegas in the next couple of days. At first, I contemplated going but since I didn't really know anyone or really talk to anyone for that matter (at the time), I thought that maybe it wasn't worth going... (Ok, aside from the obvious question of "when is Vegas not worth going!?!?" I just wasn't sure about how this whole thing was going to go). But in the past few weeks as my blog has gotten more and more visitors and I've started to talk to more people, I started thinking that this could really be fun. And then I read up on a lot of other bloggers who are going and it appears that many of us don't know or have never met the others who are going (it's almost like a blind date for poker degenerates... and mostly men). So, in other words, it wouldn't have mattered, it would include a lot of drinking and playing cards... wtf was I thinking???? So, I'm kinda upset that I'm not going to Vegas this weekend. For those of you who are going out there, have fun!!! Maybe next time, I will join you guys. Scratch that. Next time, I will be there.
However, I did have a blogger encounter. So, I'm in NY and since I have heard of live poker clubs, I reached out to pvanharibo to see if she can hook me up. Well, she came through big time. She told me about some of the clubs and she told me that she will meet me at one of them. So, sure enough, I go out there and I'm at the door negotiating with the dude who says he's never heard my name and that he can't let me in. Until I find out that I'm at the wrong club... So, I had to go over to the other club and eventually, I met her and she let me in. Now, I'm an "official member." We didn't get to sit at the same table but it appears that she did real well. Me? Well, I did fairly well. I couldn't believe how soft the competition was. I don't know why but I always think that players who play live must be better. And every time, I'm shocked as to how bad the players are. Example? This one guy flopped two pair with J8 on a Q-J-8 board. There are two or three players and a round of betting. Turn is a blank. Another round of betting and one of them folds so two to the river. River is a Q. Check, the guy bets, call. The guy that check called had AJ. The other guy proudly flips over J8 and goes "I got two pair." And looks very confused when the dealer ships it to the guy with AJ. Dude, your two pair got counterfeited... how do you not see that? Nice "value bet".
So, I didn't really get any cards but the one big hand that I was involved in was relatively early in the night. Bunch of limpers and I find AQs on the button. I raise it to $15. (Sorry, this is 1-2NL) I get one caller and then a short stack reraises all in for another $21. I thought it was shady for her to limp call but I called without hesitation for two reasons. 1) She was shortstacked. 2) This is gonna sound super sexist but a middle aged female poker player is generally a donkey. Ok, ok. So it's wrong to stereotype... but if you just get to the table, you go by impressions and my impression is that they suck. So I call. Well, to my dismay, the other guy who also had a very big stack calls. So, three people are in and the pot already has $120+ (did I say this was 1-2NL) and we haven't even seen the flop. Well, flop sucks. It comes J-7-5 rainbow. Very raggy. I was willing to check it down... except the big stack decides to bet into the dry side pot. He bets $50. Now it was early in the night and I didn't know anything about him aside from the fact that he accumulated a big stack but one other thing I knew was how soft this table was (so you didn't have to be all that great to win a lot) and how it was common for EVERYONE to limp so he may have just gotten lucky. Couple that with the fact that I sensed weakness, I decided to call. That's $120 main pot, $100 in the side pot if you're keeping score. Turn is another blank and he checks. Now, at this point, there is enough in the side pot that I really wanted to take it down. I figured if the all in lady is going to win the main pot, I need to at least snag this side pot that's grown. So, I was trying to figure out a good bet but since we could only buy in for $300max, at this point, I had about $200 behind. So, at first I counted out a $100 but there's no point in leaving a $100 behind so I said "I'm all in." The guy thinks about it, looks over to the guy next to him, shakes his head and reluctantly folds. So, the side pot is mine. Now, I had to turn over my bluffy AQs and the guy is like "unbelievable!" Well, you know what was even more unbelievable? The all in lady who I stereotyped as a donkey? She had A3 of diamonds. Another blank on the river and the main pot was mine too! A3 of diamonds!? Nice limp reraise all in, ma'am. You're not helping the stereotype. You are a donkey. Thanks for your money. But aside from that, I take a few stabs here and there but nothing exciting. After an hour and a half, I'm up $160 and I call it a night. Again, pvanharibo, thanks so much for letting me into the club and have fun in Vegas!
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