After waking up in the RV next to an old warehouse, across the street from the Commerce Casino, at noon in warm, but smoggy L.A, I decide to drive toward the Crystal Park Casino in Compton.
If I was in New York, that would be the equivalent of driving from Hell’s Kitchen to Harlem. It is about the same distance and about the same kind of neighborhood conditions.
We lived in La Palma about 10 years ago not too far from here.. We lived in what was then “a white middle class suburbia”. (It is now off-white, approximately 70% Korean.)
La Palma is on the county line of Orange and L.A. Our backyard was Orange County. The other side of the fence was L.A. During the Rodney King Trial riots we could see the smoke from the fires to the west from our backyard.
I remember the first time I stopped at the Crystal Park Casino before it was cleaned up. This was before the era of cell phones. I located a payphone and called my wife and told her “Honey, I have some good news, some bad news, and some worst news. “I am winning at poker. However, I am in Compton, and this is a local call”!
The casino has been cleaned up a lot. It is much safer now. Over this weekend I am camping in the RV in the back parking lot. It is well lit, but sometimes filled with background noises of the light rail system next door and emergency sirens wailing intermittently off in the distance..
I met my son Jonathan here last night. He was up from San Diego visiting a friend of his in Santa Monica. We arranged to meet and play poker at the same table for a few hours before he drove home to San Diego late last night. It was good to see him. He played well. He received poor cards and only played one hand in 4 hours. I was proud of his play, as well as everything else about him. I taught him to play years ago. His friend Geoff is going to work for Yahoo next week. I am encouraging Jonathan to do the same. They pay well and are a great company from what I hear.
I played two tournaments today. I got knocked out early in the morning one and the second one this evening was very frustrating. It was an unlimited re-buy tournament for the first hour and a half. Meaning there was horrible play and multiple re-buys. I patiently stayed out of trouble, even throwing away a few playable hands to make it to the end of the re-buy period with most of my chips.
About an hour later I limp in with AK under the gun. Two others limp behind me. The blinds are 100-200 with 50 antes. A late position player raises it to 1500. I have him covered by about 800 and since I haven’t played a hand for 2 hours figure this is a good time to make a play. I push all-in with my AK thinking he will lay down almost everything but Aces or Kings. He calls with AK! We turn our cards over and it is 95% probability we will split the pot and get on with the next hand. The flop comes with two diamonds, the turn is a diamond, and the river is a diamond. He has the Ace Diamonds and I have 800 chips left.
The very next hand is my big blind. In goes 200 and 100 ante. Three people limp in. The flop comes J,10 3. I put the remainder of my chips in, while matching the 10 on the board. The cards are turned over. I am ahead with my pair of tens, until the river. A jack comes, pairing one of the remaining callers. I am out of the tournament.
I was very proud of my non-reaction. I warmly wished everyone good luck and went out to play a live game.
After an hour of live play in one of the tightest tables I have ever played I went out to the RV to walk “Pokey the Dog”.
I may go back in later and play a little after more people have left the tournament and there are some more games going.
I will spend the night here again on the outskirts of infamous & dangerous Compton.
Tomorrow I head for the world famous Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens. It is located in another lovely neighborhood in L.A. For you New Yorkers reading this, we are talking the Bronx here.
Goodnight from Compton.
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