A funeral, a burial, a riverboat & a "Cubs Game"

So much has happened since my last entry. I have been with family, been to a funeral, a burial, a "Chicago Cubs" home game and driven across six states. I will see if I can remember to pickup where I was after leaving Council Bluff, Iowa, and the Horseshoe Casino almost a week ago.

I am so impressed with the Interstate Highway System in Iowa. Each of the rest stops have free wireless Internet. Just pull off the National Highway Network System and log on to the International Network System. Why can’t all States do this? The default webpage that comes up has current road construction, locations of rest stops, and much more relevant information to the traveler.

I also discovered a few major intersections in Des Moines that also have free wireless service.

We were even more impressed with the Des Moines area then the Omaha area. I think it really reveals there is a lot of civic pride and future hope for the people who live here then in the big cities. The former looks healthy and prosperous, the latter looks decayed and dying.

We stopped in Altoona, Iowa. It is a N.E. Suburb of Des Moines. There is a large race track located there and about two years ago they got permission to develop a “Vegas-Style” casino. I really enjoyed the poker room. It was quiet, and plush, with friendly staff and about 7 tables. I joined a N/L game with a number of young men, some of them college students from the University nearby.

The level of play was fairly good.

It happened to me again.

One of the first hands I played was Pocket Aces. An Ace flopped, along with a 7 & J. I led the betting to the river. My three aces were ahead of three 7’s until the river. The river brought quad 7’s for the caller. I had Aces full of 7’s when I went all-in when the board paired. When he called me I assumed he had 7’s full. I could hardly believe it when he shouted four 7’s. Not even a bad beat jackpot. Just a low percentage bad beat on the river. He was drawing dead to every other card in the deck except that single “case seven”.

I was able to say “wow, and nice hand” with some sincerity.

The next three hours I enjoyed myself and played as well as I knew how, but was either “card dead” or my hands never improved. I left about $300 down consoling myself that I was up $600 from the day before so I still had a net gain of $300 on the trip so far.

We made our evening dinner in the RV and then I started driving for the Illinois/Iowa border. My plans were to play at the “Isle of Capri” in Bettendorf, Iowa on the Mississippi River. It was about 9:00 p.m. by the time we were at the border, and I had already let my family know I would be in Chicago by noon tomorrow. I decided it was a better idea to keep driving until I was about 2 hours away from Chicago, and then get a good night’s sleep. I wanted to be “ready” for my family tomorrow. So that evening we went to sleep in the RV in Rock Falls, Illinois, two hours west of Chicago.

The next morning we drove into Chicago and had lunch with my mother and brother. They filled us in on Donna’s last hours. It was pretty amazing. She had told us a few weeks ago she wanted to make it to her son’s 30th birthday, but she didn’t want to die on his birthday. She died at 12:03 A.M. (three minutes after her son’s birthday ended.) There is so much we don’t know about the human spirit. She was pretty much in great pain, no real ability to communicate with her family at the birthday celebration, in her home, but she “somehow” must have know when it was “over”.

The next day we attended the funeral. She had planned every detail of it and made every arrangement weeks before her death. She didn’t want her husband to have to do it during his grieving. She said she wanted to do that for her husband as a gift, so we would not have to do it after her death.

The funeral was attended by about 250 people and afterwards there was a dinner for all at the church where the funeral was conducted.

We spent Saturday evening just talking with my brother John and since the burial wasn’t until Monday I suggested I take him and his son to a “Cubs Game” at Wrigley Field. It was a pretty amazing game. The Cubs hit 4 homeruns and scored 7 runs in the first inning.
I had bought tickets from a “scalper” in a doorway right across the street from Wrigley Field. The tickets were fantastic. We were 5 rows behind third base on the Cubs side. I have never had better seats at any game I have attended. (B.T.W. When I was 16 I sold Beer in Wrigley Field for a few games because my grandfather was a beer vendor. I guess I looked old for my age. I just remember yelling “Beer Here!” and how heavy that case of bottles was. That was before the days of cans at the ball park).

The Cubs won 11-1 and as we were walking back to the car it began to rain.

We had Chicago pizza at my sister’s house that evening while Caren and my sister shopped.

The next day the burial was attended by about 20 family members. Then we all had lunch together at my sister’s home in Bolingbrook, (a western suburb of Chicago)

We were on the road by 2 p.m. I drove about 20 miles north and turned left on US 20. We are planning on driving US 20 all the way across the county, through Yellowstone Park, then on to Salem, Oregon. (Caren has family in Salem.)

So while the sun is dropping toward the horizon I have put the RV on “cruise control” and am driving as far west as I can today before I need to stop and get some sleep.

Aces "Cracked".....a good thing?

…… I was moved to the main game at the Horshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa when I looked down and realized I had pocket AA on my big blind. 5 people limped in and I raided it to $20 more. Three of us saw the flop come 9, Q, 7 (rainbow) I bet out $75 and only one person calls. The turn comes 3 and I decide to end this because I am sure he has a queen and I don’t want him to get a second pair with it. I shove all-in $175 more and he says “I don’t think you have AA or KK I have you on Jacks. He calls showing QJ. I calmly state I have Aces and turn them over. The river spikes a J to the audible gasp of 3 or 4 players at the table. He had a horrible read, a worse call, and he pulls in the pot of almost $500. I turn cold inside, calmly stand, and choke-out, “lock my seat, I’ll be back, “ and I walk away because I feel like I am going to “throw-up”……..

Before I finish telling you about this game at the Horseshoe, let’s go back to the night before………

It was cold in the Colorado Mountains. The furnace came on many times that night even though I had set it to turn on only when it dropped below 50 degrees inside. Our RV is well insulated, and usually our body heat keeps it above 50 unless it gets real cold outside. It was real cold outside. A check on the Internet indicated the overnight low was 37 degrees at the altitude we were sleeping.

The next day we started up & down Colorado scenic highways again and at 11,000 ft my cell phone beeped, indicating I had a message or two. We had not had cell coverage all night. There were two voice mails from my sister. The first one indicating my sister-in-law had gotten worse. The second one requesting I call as soon as I could!

It seemed so surreal, sitting here in the Rockies enjoying the beauty of the snow-capped peaks, against the backdrop of a beautiful sun shining day speckled with white fluffy could, knowing I was going to hear she was dead.

I called my sister.

My sister-in-law had died at 12:03 A.M. last night.

I consulted the map and decided to redirect us on a more direct path to Chicago. After a few phone calls to family, we found out the funeral would be on Saturday. We would have plenty of time to make it.

I did quite a bit of driving as we talked about things we remembered about my sister-in-law. It took awhile to get out of the Rockies. We passed Denver right before “rush hour”, and made it almost to the Nebraska border. We needed to stop for gas and supplies. We saw one of our “favorite road side attractions: A Super Wal-mart. Since we had about 1200 miles of hard driving to do, we had the RV lubed, oil changed, and checked over, while we shopped. Then back on the road again. I drove about ½ the night and we went to sleep in another Wal-Mart Parking lot in Kearny, Nebraska.

The next day we drove scenic byways, (Some people think there is no scenery in Nebraska or Iowa..grin) and reached Omaha in the mid-afternoon.

It has been 20 years since I have driven through Omaha. I was quite impressed with the West side of the city. We stopped at a nail salon because Caren needed a manicure, pedicure and treatment before we saw the family. (It’s a girl-thing) Pokey and I napped in the car, (“It’s a old-guy & dog thing”)most of the time Caren was in the salon.

We crossed the Missouri river and found Harrah’s Casino. I was planning on playing poker until I was ready to go to sleep for the night. We found a beautiful spot right next to the river to park. I showered and then went in to the Casino Riverboat, only to discover they no longer had poker there. They directed me to The Horseshoe Casino a few miles from there.

About 30 minutes later I was sitting at a 3/6 hold-em game waiting to be called for the 2-5 N/L. After 40 minutes of play, I had made $1 and was ready to get to the No Limit game. A new game was called and I took my favorite seat only to be moved to the main game after folding 5 hands in a row.

At the new table I was the very short stack with my $200 buy-in. There was a lot of money on the table. The stacks averaged about $800-1200 (I thought these “chip owners” of a late of players who came and have already gone from this table leaving their chips behind. These players must be fairly good or at least very lucky.

I played very tight for a while and watched some fairly decent play. The button’s were always raising and doing big continuation bets. There were usually one two players beyond the flop. When hands were showed down, they were very good hands.

I paid my blinds for an hour or so looking for a chance to win a pot when the AA hand I mentioned at the start of this blog occurred. After walking “aimlessly” around the casino I stumbled out into the Iowa night. I called Caren in the RV where she was watching a movie. I didn’t want to whine, but for some reason this beat was “really hurting”. Some of my feelings about the loss of Donna must have gotten mixed up in my poker feelings. I needed comforting. She was great. She was comforting, sympathized with my “bad beat”. Asked me what I wanted to do? When I said, I am going to go back in there in a few minutes after I settle down. She asked me if I could let it go and play my best poker. (What a great supportive wife. I am so grateful to have her as a life-partner.)

I walked back in, bought another $200 in chips and resumed my seat. I turned to the guy next to me and nicely asked if he had any more great catches since I was gone. He told me about a huge pot he took down when he flopped a flush while I was gone.

I waited till my blind came to me to take Cards and then folded 9 hands around one circuit. When my button reached me I saw I had A4 suited and gave it a raise. The flop came A,7,8 (none of my suite) There was one medium size bet and one call. I raised it ½ stack and both bettors called. The turn came a 3 and I was checked to. I pushed my last $75 in to a $200 and both other players took a long time to think about it and folded.

Then like an Epiphany, I realized this was a table of mid-western players. Hard-working, tight rocks, smart, “waste no-money”, tight-fisted, no bs kind of guys. I knew my game plan. I could make some creative plays. I could bluff at a few pots, because I knew almost everyone of these players were capable of laying down good hands. Well, that is exactly what I did. I ended up with a couple of creative hands I bluffed for small & medium size pots. Then I had pocket 2’s & pocket 3’s in early position “triple up” on the flops and I made two large pots with those hands. A couple of hours later, I was able to walk away about $600 up.

It is hard to believe, but the best thing for me that day was to get the AA beat after playing like a rock for an hour and then taking a walk to have to “re-think” my strategy at this table.

Rocky Mountain High...Part 2

Well, we did push on to the four corners monument. This is the only place in the USA where four states come together. This turned out to be as exciting, as when we saw the world’s largest ball of string in Darwin, Minnesota

We arrived an hour after it closed for the evening. Good thing. . We were met by a locked gate and a sign that said it closed an hour earlier. It would have been very frustrating for me, if we had arrived on time. The signs make it look like it is an actual national park. However, it is owned by an Indian tribe who charges $3.00 per person, and then tries to sell you tables full of Indian Trinkets. (B.T.W. one of the useless facts in my head that I read somewhere, indicates that when someone actually did a GPS on this site it was not totally accurate)

We were able to squeeze through the locked gate, and hike about a ½ mile to the “possibly, misplaced” monument.

Caren, the dog Pokey, and I had a lovely walk under a rising, full moon to the monument and were able to plant one of Pokey’s paws in each state. How many people can say their dog was in four states at once?

We continued on to Cortez, where we spent the night. It was cold in the RV that night. What a pleasant change from Laughlin.

Caren went shopping at Wal-Mart while I worked on the previous blog entry. We filled up the propane tank, and headed north up State Route 145. What a majestic route. We followed a beautiful river the entire way and the scenery was magnificent. We took a walk up by Lizard Head Pass at 10,322 ft above sea level. Just a short walk, and we were winded. We took out the lawn chairs and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while we stared at the “Alpine covered mountains” rising to over 14,000 feet above us.

Later that afternoon, we stopped in Ridgeway, a beautiful little town, with a clean alpine village look. We walked in a city park and Caren shopped in a thrift store while I took a ½ hour nap.

Then it was on to Gunnison, Colorado where we are spending the night in Blue Mesa Recreational Ranch. Good time to have hook-ups, empty the poop tank, fill the water tank and have Internet Access for the night.

Back in 2002, when we traveled around the country in our RV, I had to drag my laptop to the clubhouse and plug-in to a phone-jack and use dial-up.

Tonight, I am sitting in the comfort of my RV on High Speed Wireless. (It did cost an extra $4 for a 24 hour period of access from Tengo Internet Wireless) But, “the times they are a changing”. I noticed one of the RV’s had a sign that stated he was a dealer for a Satellite Internet, company (I forgot which one)and he could have you installed and going in 1 hour or less, so you could Internet in your RV, anytime, you wanted, anywhere in the U.S.

So after checking email, posting updates to my blog, and making dinner, I am ready to crawl in the sleeping bag and enjoy the rest of my night in a prone position.

I almost logged onto Party Poker, but it just didn’t seem right when I can enjoy this great outdoors.

Rocky Mountain High......

9/11 A day that will be in our nation’s psyche forever. I said a little prayer for the families of those victim’s that will have even more vivid memories then the rest of us. My parents remember where they were Pearl Harbor was announced. I remember where I was when Kennedy was shot. My children will tell their kids where they were when they heard the planes had flown into the “Twin Towers.” God help us for the stories there children will have.

However, today I am glad to be alive and traveling in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with my wife Caren, and pokey, the dog. We spent the night in a 24 hour, Super Walmart, parking lot, with about 12 other “covered wagons.” I mean R.V.’s

Right before my last entry we had heard my sister-in-law, Donna was given 1-2 weeks to live. (Final stages of cancer, and now kidney failure, & lungs filling with fluids) We were scheduled to go on vacation this Thursday to British Columbia in the RV.
Some creative thinking produced, a let’s jump in the RV tonight, leave early, vacation as long as we can in Colorado, and then drive to Chicago for my brother and his children when Donna dies.

So Friday night, while I threw things in the R.V. and asked the neighbors to get our mail, and move our 2nd car around on the street so it wouldn’t be ticketed, Caren was cleaning house, & making lists. She ran back to work and worked till 8 p.m. preparing her staff for her to be gone that long. Then we worked till midnight doing everything else that showed up on a list. The next morning we were on the road with a two hour stop in “Hillcrest” for Caren to have her done. I don’t like to stereotype, but for you women readers. no explanation is necessary. And for you men, no explanation would be sufficient. (grin)

Well, Saturday found us driving up the I15, making cell phone calls to our friends and families to let them know where we were going. One of the person’s we had called, passed us a few miles later heading for her mother’s home in Hemet. (lol) We turned right at Riverside, and headed toward Palm Springs. It was the weekend and I didn’t want to deal with the traffic on the way to Vegas, but I did want to play a little poker tonight. So, we took the back way, through Amboy, on country roads, through the desert and went to Laughlin for our first night’s stop.

9 P.M. found me sitting at a 2-6 Texas Hold-em game at the Riverside Casino. I asked one of the dealers if Felicia & Glenn had been in tonight. I was really hoping to meet them. Her poker blog is one I read every day, and I wanted to tell them in person how much it meant to me and probably many others. But, alas, they had already been there for the tournament and had already left for the night.

My commitment and promise to Caren, was to play until about midnight and then get a good night sleep for the drive tomorrow. I bought in for $80. At the table were two maniacs, one desert rock, about three tourists, and me. (The other two seats were like revolving doors, people came bought in for 20-30 dollars and left as they busted.)



By eleven I had re-bought for $40 more and had seen 3 open-ended straights and two flushes never make it. I was down to my last $25 when I played a K7 suited, just for the heck of it. As usual, the table capped it, and I was half-in by the time the flop came. (7, Q,A,) rainbow. I checked, the rock bet out, everybody else folded, and I against my better judgment called. It was just me, and him, when the 4 came on the turn. I checked, he bet, and I called with only six chips left. The river was another 7, I bet, he grimaced, called, my final six. As I turned over my suck-out of three sevens, his A,Q hit the table. I think I saw his “trigger finger”, twitching, imagining, emptying every chamber of his six-gun into me.

I managed to get back up to $115 in chips, by the time the “stroke of midnight” came. Because, I lecture my daughter, on keeping her inner promises, I was compelled to get up and keep mine, even though I wanted to stay. This was a table I could triple up on, when I “catch” some cards.

It still must have been 90 degrees out when I walked to the RV at midnight. It was quite warm inside even with the fans going and windows open. After an uncomfortable night sleep, 8 a.m. found us getting up and getting the RV ready to roll, because the sun was beginning to “cook the contents” of the metal box , (which is us) that is our RV .

We crossed the “mighty Colorado river” and turned left to drive through Golden Valley, (Where Felicia & Glenn live) to catch Interstate 40 at Kingman, Arizona. With due respect to F&G & anybody else who doesn’t deserve it, Kingman seems to me, to be filled with only Truckers, Bikers, Drug Dealers, and anybody else who doesn’t want to found by the authorities. However, for me, the one redeeming thing about Kingman, is they have cheap gas, compared to California, so I always stop, and fill up keeping a vigilant look out for the local chapter of “The Hell’s angels” or another biker gang filled with criminal, trucker, drug-dealers. (grin)

Well, after safely, leaving Kingman, we drove the Interstate to Flagstaff, Arizona. I think Flagstaff is beautiful and is so unlike the rest of Arizona. (Not to say the desert isn’t beautiful, it has it’s own kind of beauty, but I am a Ocean, and Forested, Mountains kind of guy.)

We drove through Flagstaff, and stopped for lunch at Taco Bell, and filled up the RV with provisions at a Safeway store. Then hours of driving across some unique countryside that was a Navaho, and then an Apache reservation. We drove across, the “Grand Canyon” near the start of it, where it was only about 100 feet across. Then angled our way up the foothills, and the start of what will become the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Then it came to me, like a flash of insight!!. “I am hundred’s of miles from home, but if I walk outside and take a pee, it will wash into a creek, and then the Colorado, through the Grand Canyon, past Laughlin, under the “London Bridge”, through a series of conduits, and then come out of my tap in San Diego when I fill a glass of water to drink”. “Talk about, your circle of life!! (I think I will stick to bottled water, like Caren does.)

The sun is setting, but we want to make it to see the “Four Corner’s monument” before dark.

So we push on for the top of the Rockies.......

Life is short... invest in memories...

We were planning on going on vacation next Thursday and driving the RV up to the Canadian Rockies. And then I was going to take a month to see how many poker rooms I could play in between Canada and San Diego.

Well, we received some bad news. One of my sister-in-laws in Chicago has been given 1-2 weeks to live. So, we decided to modify our trip and go to Colorado for a week or so. While we are there we will monitor how she is doing and then drive to Chicago to suppport my brother and their children after she passes on.

I will do my best to update this blog, but there may be a few days that I won't get around to it while we are traveling.

If you are a "praying person", say a little prayer for my Brother John, and his two boys and their families. Donna is a great person and added much to our lives.

Tell somebody today," that you love, how you feel about them". My wife and I have a saying that we have adopted from our cell phone conversations and have applied it to our life in general. " In case I get cut-off I want you to know I love you and no regrets....."

In poker news I understand this year's winner, J. Gold, will have 6 million dollars of the 12 million released to him from Harrah's for his win at the WSOP. Apparently, there is merit in the case that he promised to split it with someone. So the court will decide the disposition of the rest of the prize money.

Tonight, I watched the conclusion of the PPT event. I enjoyed it a lot more then the WPT and hope it stays around. However, I am hearing viewership for all TV poker shows have decreased this year.

Tomorrow night Vegas, and then on to Colorado and the midwest. I had no idea when my mom and sister were here last weekend from Chicago I would be seeing them again so soon.

To rip off Forest Gump, "Life is like a game of poker. You never know what hand you will be dealt next......."

Hunting fish, the book.....

I met my wife for dinner tonight at our local Chevy’s Mexican restaurant

She had been near here for an afternoon business meeting. One of the reasons I like this Chevy’s is because it is right next to a Border’s Bookstore.

Border’s is one of those places that have a coffee shop inside and you can order coffee and read books there. Because I am an incredibly fast reader, (I read about 3500 words a minute)I can usually read books, (at one sitting), over a 3-5 hour span. I have purchased about 5 poker books, but I have read another 25 or so there. (grin) I sometimes, even slip a business card in a book I am reading when I don’t have time to finish it and put it back on the shelf to keep my place until I can get back to finish it.

Some of my friends think, I am one of the cheapest people they know. I ask them to tell me who the others are so I can pick up some “pointers or tips” from them. (grin)

Tonight, I read the new book “Hunting Fish, A cross country hunt for America’s worst poker players”. I really enjoyed it for a number of reasons. It was light & entertaining reading about poker and traveling. He even came to San Diego, and played at the Village Club. He does not have very flattering things to say about the Village Club. (LOL, he is right....)

Those are my two favorite things in life;Poker & Traveling. I am planning on my own Poker trip starting next Thursday.

I am hoping to make the trip last about 6-7 weeks and cover much of the country west of the Rockies, playing poker everywhere I go to pay for my trip and make a little profit. I will do my best to stop at libraries and other places so I can upload and post to this blog, so anybody reading this blog will be able to “virtually” travel with me.

So after dinner, my iced coffee, and finishing that book by 9:00 p.m., I felt I was ready for a little poker. I stopped in at the Palomar club, on my way home, and bought in for $200 to the 2/4 No Limit game. I was going to play, until one of three events occurred: I tripled up, lost my $200, or the club closed at 2 A.M.

After about an hour of play I was down to about $85. I had called 3 or 4 times to see flops with AJ, AQ, 10,J, I completely missed the flop each time and folded to good sized bets on the flop. I did play a K,10, suited and the flop came K,A,J and I bet out $25 to see where I was and had two people call all-in behind me. I quickly gave up that hand. The person who flopped the straight took it all.

Finally, on my blind I looked down and realized I had a pair of 9's. Two people just called a blind straddle, I raised all-in for my remaining $85 hoping to take down the pot of $30. I got two callers! I had the best hand until the river. An Ace hit on the river making a pair of Aces for my first caller and I left, having fulfilled one of my conditions of leaving.

I guess I should take solace in the fact that I am often getting “bad beats” or outdrawn recently. According to what I read, that means I am playing good poker, to put my money in, when I have the best hand at the table. My reads were accurate. I knew neither had a pocket pair, and when the A hit I knew I was beaten by an AK caller. I was indeed.

My daughter just called me from Fresno to discuss a poker hand. She is playing with some friends in a home game tournament. She went out 7th out of 17 and is now ready to start one more. I told her to call me tomorrow if she had any hands that she wanted to discuss in that game, because I am going to watch a little poker on TV and then hit the sack.

Blinded by Aces.....

I changed my mind about going to Sycuan Casino. I decided to go to Oceans 11 in Oceanside instead. Traffic wasn’t too bad, even though it is about 60 miles to the north.

I left before the rush hour about 3:00 p.m. and got there by 4 p.m. with only a few slow downs. Today was the final day for Del Mar Horse Racing, so I did have some traffic slowing near Del Mar and again in Oceanside. But, overall it was not a difficult drive.

Oceans 11 casino usually have plenty of games to choose from, good food, and the “bad beat jackpots” are usually large. Today the hold-em jackpot was listed as $32,000. Last year I was involved in three of them receiving over $13,000. This year I have not been involved in one. I hope I am due for one soon.

I bought into the 2/3 No-Limit game for $200 and played tight for about 2 hours. Then, I looked down and saw a pair of Aces during my big blind. I raised them only $15 because the table was playing tight up to that time, and I did want some action. I got two callers.

The flop was Ks7s4h. I bet out $25 and got one call. I am hoping he has a king and will stay with me. The turn is a 2d, so I bet $50 and get a call. This worries me a little, but I am now thinking he must be on a spade draw. The river is a Qd and I bet $100 and he goes all in for my last $25. He turns over K7h. #(#*#$$, I should have raised more pre-flop. He called my $15 before the flop and hit two pair on the flop.

I rebuy for $200, and win a couple of small pots over the next two hours, building up to about $300. I get Ah,10h, in middle position and just call a $20 bet. There are three of us to see the flop. It comes 9h, 7h, 9s. I have 4 hearts to the “best flush draw”. The blind bets $125. I decide this is a good time to go for the pot, because we are all equally stacked. I declare all-in, (thinking I will take it down right there.) The button folds and then the big blind calls and turns over 9d, 10d, for three 9s. I am looking at the possibility of “9 outs to” make my flush, and two cards to do it. The turn and the river miss us both.

I buy $200 more to stay in the game. The table is now much looser and there have been a number of buys by others, so there are at least 4 players at the table with over $600 and most players have around $300 in front of them.

I do a lot of folding and a couple of pot steals in good position over the next two hours.

Then I get AQ in first position. I am two in front of the big blind, and the utg did a “live straddle”, so the bet is $6. I just smooth call and about 4 others limp-in. The flop comes A,K,7, the UTG checks, I just check with my AQ and it gets to the button who raises it to $75 I raise it to $150 and he goes all-in. I am sure he doesn’t have an AK or he would have raised from the button. So I call him. The turn comes another K, and then a 3 and my AQ is the best hand. (He had A,10)

I am almost even now at about $600 in front of me. I am thinking of leaving now. I am almost “even”. But, I am playing well, it is a good table, I think I am focused. I have been concentrating on “pot odds” all night. I made some lay downs that I used to call when the odds weren’t right. So, I am feeling pretty good about my play. Besides, I came to win money, not break-even.

Oceans 11 casino serves great food to the players at a great price. I order the double cut pork chops with a baked potato. Because the meat is so thick, it takes 30 minutes after you order it. But, I don’t mind, I am not planning on leaving soon. Dinner came and it was great. I even had a scoop of ice cream for dessert with fresh blackberries & blue-berries on it.

Then I get “blinded” by Aces. I am planning on winning one more pot and then leaving for the night. I look down to discover two red ACES in my hand in the Big Blind position. I am not going to let people in cheap like the last time I was beat by a K7 off suit with pocket Aces.

Five callers limp in and I raise it to $30 more from $3. Only the button calls me. The flop comes Kd, 6h, 8s. I try to act like I am weakly trying to steal the pot by betting out $75 and he calls. I get a little excited inside. I am thinking, he hit the King, and I am going to raise the turn big and win this before anything bad can happen. (I did not take the time to really think about, what he could be calling me with).
The turn comes 5d. The person between us, grunts, and says something about if I hadn’t raised, he would have taken this down. I feel a little panic to end this right now.

I feel good that I had raised out a “middle hand that might have gotten a straight.

And because of what he said, I am comforted by the knowledge that, if he had a straight possibility, then there is less chance my caller has one.

I decide to use “shock & awe. I declare all-in. He had about $600 in front of him also.

Before I can even figure out what happened, he quickly says all-in. The river comes. I don’t even see it because I am hearing him say “I have a straight!”, as I am throwing my Aces face-up thinking “I have taken down a monster pot”. Then it “sinks in” he said he has a straight.

Now I am watching the dealer push a $1200 pot toward him. He called my $30 pre-flop with a 9,7 and then he called my $75 flop-bet with an open-ended straight draw with less then 4 outs and caught the 5 on the turn. In hind-sight I now realized he was delighted when I went all-in on the turn.

Even though he made two poor plays in that hand, and then sucked out, I think I made one mistake that cost me over $200. I should have thought more about what he could have when he called the $75. I could have bet $150 or $200 on the turn instead of $400 and I would have realized he couldn’t just be calling me with a King.

Had I slowed down I would have realized he must have two pair or the straight that he did make on that turn.

I would really like some feed back on this hand. Is there anything else I am missing in analyzing this hand?

I left pretty discouraged, and ruminating over thoughts like “when is all my studying & practicing, and playing my best every time I play ever going to pay off for me?” I know I am in no frame of mind to play poker. So I will see if I can shift my tomorrow, or I need to take a couple of days off poker and get my thinking back in a more positive place.

This is the most challenging and frustrating endeavor I have ever pursued.

Pot odds, simple, implied, manipulated, oh, my!

This afternoon I am going to Sycuan Casino to play 2/4 hold-em from about 4-11 p.m. I am going to be concetraing on pot odds and calls only when they are in my favor.

Since this week I am going to be concentrating on making only “good pot odds” calls. I thought I would focus this blog on “simple pot odds”. I consider myself a "student of poker" not an expert just yet, so I offer the following, as what I understand thus far regarding pot odds. I am open to feedback or more information regarding "pot odds".

Because many people have heard of pot odds, but really don't understand, exactly, what that means, I have decided to reproduce an odds “cheat sheet” & a very simplistic explanation of pot odds. Pots odds only include what is actually in the pot at the present time. "Implied pot odds" is another subject, I will present at a later time.

The table below can help you learn how pot odds correlate with "how many outs" you have.

Here is a very simple example of using this chart. Let’s assume it is only you and one other player. He bets $10 at the turn and there is $40 in the pot. You need to call the $10 to see if you could make your flush on the river. Consulting the chart would show you, it would be just about the right odds for you to call the $10 seeing that you were getting 4-1 odds.

However, to draw to a open-ended straight in that same position would not be good “pot odds” because the pot would be offering you 4-1 odds, but the odds of making your straight would be almost 7-1. Therefore the pot would need to contain $70 for you to make that straight call with good pot odds.

If you would like to learn more about pot odds, Wikipedia has a great entry

Pot Odds Cheat Sheet The cheat sheet below shows odds against making your hand with both 2 cards to come as well as 1 card. Outs 2 Cards to come 1 Card to come 21 .4:1 1.2:1 20 .5:1 1.3:1 15 .9:1 2.1:1 14 1:1 2.3:1 13 1.1:1 2.5:1 12 1.2:1 2.8:1 11 1.4:1 3.2:1 10 1.6:1 3.6:1 9 1.9:1 4.1:1 8 2.2:1 4.8:1 7 2.6:1 5.6:1 6 3.1:1 6.7:1 5 3.9:1 8.2:1 4 5.1:1 10.5:1 3 7:1 14.3:1 2 11:1 22:1 1 22.5:1 45:1

I crash on-line again.....and the deck of cards in Iraq

Tonight, I decided to stay home and play some $22 tournaments on Party Poker. I played three of them and finished 6th, 5th, and just went out on the bubble on 4th.

I was on the dealer button with A7 suited, Chip stacks were 6K, 4K, 2K, & I had about 4 K. I decided to raise to 3,000 to steal the blinds and antes. The blinds were 800. The big blind re-raised me with 1K more. I called all-in and ran into his pair of tens. He caught one more on the turn and I was out on the “bubble”.

I can sense this was not a good play. But, I don’t know why? I could use some feedback from anyone on this play. I knew the A was strong even with a 7, with a short table.

But, should I have just raised minimum and then tossed when he came back at me? Should I have gone all-in? What was the purpose of my putting in 3 of my 4K? I think, I was thinking, I would see the flop at worst and be able to get away from it. I can now see that was faulty thinking. Nobody, who was going to play at me would just call.

Help….. Any feedback appreciated.

I think I am going to watch some poker on TV and think about this for awhile.

My on-line funds are almost depleted again. I am a steady loser on-line. In fact I have never had a big win or a series of wins like I do at Brick & Mortar games.

When will I ever learn?????

Before I turn on the TV, I will comment on last night’s play at the Palomar Club.

I think this narrative really shows the contrast of how I play on-line compared with live play.

I bought in at $100 N/L and played very tight for two hours. The table was very, very tight. When I would bet the table would either fold or the “stone-cold nuts” would call me without even a raise and let me throw money at him. Somehow, I did work my maximum buy-in of $100 up to $260 at this table.

Finally, a 2/4 game started up with a $300 buy-in. I move my chips over there.

The first hand I played was with QQ. There was a lot of action right from the start at this table. UTG called $40, two more called the $40 so I decided to raise it from the button, to $100. The blinds folded. One caller called and the person to my right went all in for $300.

I went into the “think-tank” and took about 2 minutes and finally figured out he probably had AK. I almost mucked, but decided to call. I don’t like QQ, or JJ, especially with 4 callers I was sure I was going to get drawn out on. Sure, enough he had AK, another had KJ, and another had A,J. who was all-in for the $100

Fortunately, 2,2,4, came on the flop, another 2 was the turn, and a Jack was the river. My queens held and I had $700 in front of me. I played another 4 hours and was able to leave $900 up without losing one hand I played. I played well, read well, and got away from a lot of trouble hands after the flop. I would have lost every one of the “trouble hands” I saw a flop with.

I decided to go home about 11:30 p.m. This club has to close at 2 A.M. and after midnight the games can turn wild & crazy as people try to catch-up before closing time. I would probably either double-up or go home with nothing, if I stayed till closing.

Since, I have been on a losing streak, this past week. I decided to leave with my money, and the good feeling, of knowing I played my “A” game every hand rather then take the risk.

That was probably, a good choice.


Somebody, sent this to me in an email. I liked it and present it for your reflection……


Deck of Cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard. The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, "Why aren't you with The rest of the platoon?"

The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord."

The sergeant said, "Looks to me like you're going to play cards."

The soldier said, "No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards."

The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?"

"You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Five is for the five virgins that were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives - the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten,but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, One for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards - there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this Old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?"

Bad luck? or Bad Play?

After my L.A. trip I decided to take a couple of days off of poker, examine my game, and just settle down from the loss of the weekend. By Wednesday I was ready to go back to the tables.

I got into a 1/3 game at The Village Club in Chula Vista for a buy-in of $200. Usually I do ok, in this game if I don’t get “sucked out on”. (Which can occur often if a maniac or two is in the game.) Of course I love and hate maniacs. If I am getting cards, focused and playing a patient game, I can make good money off them. If I get frustrated and play too loose or start chasing hands I can bust out, before the maniacs do, because they just keep re-buying. I won’t do more then 1 or 2 re-buys before I figure I better go home and play another time.

Well, I wish I could say it was a good night. I stayed even for 3-4 hours with a couple of maniacs and then made two calls I regret and ended up going all in with AA and got out drawn by two little pair. The blind played his 3,5 suited and called my last $40 all in bet pre-flop. I left without re-buying. Didn’t feel confident, and didn’t want to lose anymore.

I went home a little discouraged thinking I need to “tear my game apart, and put it back together again.” But, I read an article on-line when I got home, that encouraged me to really examine whether it is bad luck or bad play. If it is the former, then don’t change your game.

I thought a lot about the weekend and tonight and decided it was about 80% bad luck, so I wouldn’t change my game, but I would remind myself to raise or fold, raise or fold….

Don’t just call, unless I have the “nuts”.

I also found this little piece on-line and am copying here to remind myself and any who read this to “raise or fold”……

If you’re going to have a default mechanism built into your poker programming, instead of tending to call, let it be this:

Raise more than you call, and fold more than you raise.

There are times when calling is the best course of action, and they’re fairly obvious:
Call when you have a drawing hand and need to make your hand as inexpensively as possible.


--Call when you want to deceive your opponent into thinking he has a better hand, so that he will come out betting on a more costly wagering round and you can check raise him.

--Call when you want to take an inexpensive card that might improve your hand.

--Call from the big blind when no one has raised and you don’t have a hand to raise with either.

--Call when an opponent to your right comes out betting, you have a huge hand, but by calling instead of raising, you believe you’ll be able to attract a few additional calls from players who act after you do.

Most other times, you are better off raising or folding.

In fact, most poker players call too often in situations when they should fold. It’s the single biggest mistake you’ll see at the poker table.

So after reading a few poker blogs I logged on to Party Poker and took on a $22 Single Table Tournament. An hour later I placed first and collected my $100 for first place in my account.

There is nothing like winning a tournament, even a one-table one to boost my confidence again, and encourage me that I am a good player.

I took on another one and placed 2nd for $60.

Hey, this is great.!!!

My third one, I busted out in 9th place.

Oh, well, a reminder that luck still has a large factor in winning tournaments. My KK got out flopped when a third Queen came. A nice compliment to my opponent’s QQ in his hand.

Spent the rest of the evening watching High Stakes Poker and still trying to figure out how Daniel Negreanu didn’t get upset when he got sucked out by Gus Hansen’s river 5. Gus’s river 5 gave him quads to beat Daniel’s 6’s full. Daniel lost $600,000 on that one hand alone.

I am hoping to have a season where the sum of my winnings for a three year period reaches that amount. (Maybe, I am aiming too low…. Grin)

My mother and sister are coming in from Chicago for this “labor day” weekend. It is my mom’s 82 birthday, so I will be the “tour host” to show them San Diego. May not get a lot of poker in this weekend.

I meet lady luck's boyfriend.....

The “Bike” Casino in L.A. Sunday, Aug 28th

(If you haven’t read the previous entry, this is a continuation of the last two entries, you may want to go back and read those first to appreciate this one better.)

As I take my seat back at the N/L table, the “self-proclaimed” expert at the table, declares, that he has won enough for today and it is time for him to go. Then he left with $400 of mine and $600 from others, all on 1 or 2 outer suck outs. I know nobody promised “life would be fair”, but this….#$@$@%.

Oh, well there are at least two loose players and two novices left that are playing almost every hand. So, I am going to get my money back. (Me thinks…)

I buy in for my third buy-in and my first hand comes QQ. I raise the BB $25 and get 3 callers. The flop produces Js9h3c. I am first to act so I go in for $75 and get 2 callers.

Hmm, no raises, I am sure I am still ahead the turn is a 4c. I push in the rest of my chips from this latest buy-in and I get called by one person. She had earlier declared this is her first time in a casino. She played a little on-line on her son’s computer, but she said she “watches a lot of poker on TV”. (I knew I was in trouble...)

The river is a 5s and I turn over my queens and she is "giggling", (I am not kidding, giggling) that she got a straight. You guessed it. She bet on her A,2. With no pair and a gutshot straight draw after the turn when I pushed all-in with my queens.

I muttered to the dealer “seat open”, and slunk out to my car thinking I am going to see Rod Serling in the Parking Lot saying “You have just entered the Twilight Zone….” But, only my car was there to greet me. I decide free room or not, I am going to start working my way south to go home. I have had enough of poker in L.A. today.

A half-hour later I am walking into the Hawaiian Gardens Casino. I request a seat in 8/16 limit.

I have had enough of No-Limit for awhile. My confidence is shaken. I know I cannot play my best no-limit poker right now. I win and lose a few pots in limit and my confidence is starting to come back to me.

I hear them announcing a one-table “shoot-out” for $125 buy-in. First place is $550 and second is $250. Third gets you your buy-in back. That sounds good to me. I can win this and be close to even for the day. I have won a few of these before at WPT events and the WSOP. So, I buy-in.

After being told the “shoot-out” would start in 12 minutes I take a stroll and find a hotdog vendor in the casino selling “Chicago Hot Dogs”. I grew up in Chicago and consumed a lot of that fine cuisine in my life-time, so for old time sake I order two. Of course I had them with mustard, onions, hot-peppers, tomatoes, and that bright green relish you only see in Chicago.

Back to the “shoot-out” just in time to get the High Card for the button! That’s a good sign to me, that just maybe my luck is going to change. That was about the last high card I got. I was cold-decked and card-dead for the next hour. I went out in 5th place with KJ suited running smack into a pair of pocket Aces. That’s poker, as they say.

I did feel good about my play, and did the best with what I had, and no monstrous suck outs occurred. I walked away feeling good about my play, but now I am down more then I have ever been in one day of play.

It is now about 10 p.m. and I decide I will drive 90 miles toward home and stop at Oceans Eleven Casino. I have often done well there. In fact my biggest one day win, not counting jack-pots occurred there. I bought in for $300 about 6 months ago at the 20-40 limit table and left 5 hours later cashing out 5 racks of red chips. That is $2500.

As I stroll into Oceans 11 I decide my “game plan” is to play only the rocks. To play extremely tight and double my $300 buy-in at the N/L game and then go home “licking my wounds”, but gaining back a little money.

I stick religiously to my plan, I throw away hand after hand. Even threw away JJ in first position. Finally, it happens, I am "one off the button" and I look down to see 2 Beautiful Red Aces.

Two people limp in and I raise $25. The flop comes 9,7,2 rainbow. I bet $50 and get called by the button. The turn is a 3 I go all-in for my last $200 and the button thinks and thinks about it. I am “screaming inside” don’t call, don’t….. Finally, after two other players say something about that’s enough time, he shrugs his shoulders and meekly mutters call. The river is a nine and he shows K,9 for three 9’s. There is a loud laugh from someone across the table, and the dealer looks at me and says "I’m sorry". I must have had a “pitiful” expression on my face. I know I sure was feeling sorry for myself and starting to drown in a choir of voices, all mine, singing, in my head, the old county-western song “Why me, Lord!”

Now I am 60 miles from home, with only $25 in my pocket and it is 2 A.M. My arrangement with Caren is I wouldn’t come home until 5 A.M. That’s when she has to get up for work. She is a light sleeper, and if woken after 2 A.M. would haved a difficult time going back to sleep.

So what should I do? I could take a nap in the car. No, I am too “wired” to sleep. So I take a look in the Table Games area. They have blackjack, Caribbean Stud and 3 card poker.

There are two people seated at the 3 card poker table. One of them is explaining to the other the strategy and best odds for playing this game. I have never played 3 card poker. He sounds like he knows what he is doing, and he does have a considerable stack in front of him so I sit down to listen. I slap my last $25 on the table and proceed to win the next few hands and I before I know it I have a little over $200 in front of me. A friendly gentleman sits down and for the next hour or so we have pleasant conversations. The new person says he is a “producer” in Hollywood and this is his first time ever in a “card room”. He has been to casinos in Vegas, but didn’t know about these card clubs in California.

He proceeds to go on the most incredible amount of luck I have ever personally witnessed. If you hit a Royal Flush you get paid 200 to 1 at this casino. He hit one on a $50 bet resulting in a $10,000 pay out to him. He tips generously everybody, and then puts up $300 for each of us at the table on the next hand. The dealer doesn’t qualify and we each get to pocket the $300 which I thank him profusely for. 2 hands later he hits a straight flush at 40 to 1 resulting in a $2000 payoff. He put up bets for us again. The dealer beat us on this one. So the $1200 he put out to cover all our bets goes back to the house. Within the next hour he hits another straight-flush and three of a kind twice. Each time he bets for us. We never won when he did that, though he was sure, his luck would work one of these times. I left about 4 A.M. while there was a crowd around him mesmerized by this “run of luck”. With my $200 win and the $300 he gave me I felt a little better about my loss today even though it was the biggest loss I have had in one day ever.

Finally, I arrive home shortly after 5 A.M. kiss Caren good morning, play with Pokey the puppy and go to sleep for the next 8 hours dreaming of poker hands and draws that never came.

Warning Tilt danger!!!

Sunday 11 A.M. Crystal Casino, Los Angeles, California

Woke up and stumbled down to the poker room to find there were only 3/6 & 6/12 limit games going. There was a list just starting for a no-limit game. I have to admit, this is a very friendly card room. Once they know your initials or name, they address you by them every time they see you.

That reminds me of an incident at Commerce Casino that occurred about 2 weeks ago.

When I lived in the L.A. area, prior to 1999, I used to play stud at the Commerce Casino.

I was just getting into Hold-em, but never played it there. Like the majority of players back then, I still felt more comfortable with stud. So, that was all I played at the Commerce Casino. If you don’t know, Commerce is allegedly the largest poker room in the world! Of course, during the World Series of Poker, at the Rio in Las Vegas, when they set up the tournament room, for the month, with 220 tables, I guess that poker room has more tables. But, not by much, and Commerce would still have more square feet of poker space and 24/7 action every day of the year.

I had only stopped in one-time on a trip back from Central California to play a little hold-em for a hour or so. Beside, that time, I had not been in there, since we moved to San Diego in 1999. So imagine my surprise, when two weeks ago I stopped in on another trip home from Fresno, and saw a familiar “floor man” I remembered being there back before 1999.

Here was the shocker, he greeted me by my first name and asked if I was still playing stud? Wow, what a memory. There are literally thousands of players that come and go through that place and somehow he remembered me. What a skill. It also benefited him, because I slipped him a red chip later that evening when I told him how impressed I was with his greeting.

Well, back to Sunday morning at the Crystal Casino. I thought, not having the game I want to play here, is no problem. I am 10 minutes away from the Bike, Commerce and Hawaiian Gardens. Between the three of them, there must be 50 N/L games going, even on a Sunday Morning to choose from. Like a “kid in a candy store” I excitedly tried to decide which one I wanted? Hawaiian Gardens was closer. Commerce would have more games. But, the Bike was also hosting the “Legends of Poker” event and maybe I could watch some the “legends” play. So the Bike it was.

Ten minutes later I parked and walked in and was set down right away at a 2/4 No-Limit table. I would check the “Legends” out later. I bought in for $200 and after playing about ½ hour I realized this was a “rock garden”. (A rock is a person who plays very few hands and only with the “nuts”, the absolute best hand.) I wanted a friendly, action, table and I heard them calling a brand new N/L game so I jumped up and moved my chips over to that new table and took my favorite seat #8. This was the dream table. Three novice players, a couple of loose players, two that appear to be more experienced and a friendly, let’s us fun, kind of atmosphere right from the first hand. I should get an “A+” for my table selection for this one.

What a disaster occurred in the next two hours! I still am recovering from it. I fold the first few hands I am dealt. This is more like it. People are chatting, and there are 5-6 people calling to see the flop and at least 3 or 4 to the river each hand so far.

Wonderful, I am dealt A/K. Four people have already called the big blind and seat 6 raises it to $15. I decide to just call because I think others will call this bet. Sure enough all 4 call. I am in with AK and 5 others, how favorable is that? The flop comes Ks, 7h, 9c,. My Kh with a Ah kicker is looking pretty good. The check is to seat 6 and he bets $40 into a $90 pot. I decide to just call, because I want a call behind me and three people call behind me. The pot is now almost $300. The turn is a 2c. Seat 5 bets out $75. Still not seeing any real danger I call the $75. We get one caller behind us. The river brings a Qc. Seat 6 throws in his remaining chips, I do the same and we lose the other player. My entire buy-in is in the pot with a pretty good hand and seat 5 turns over KQ for two pair on the river queen.

Well, that happens in Poker, but what almost made me crazy, is he announces to the table “I only play real tight cards that’s why I win a lot”. Then he proceeds to advertize his ignorance even more, by saying he doesn’t hold back from teaching others because he has learned a lot about poker. Over the next few hands he wins three hands, apparently unaware he is catching 2 and 3 “outers” on the turn or river.

And I can’t wait to get into a hand with him again. He now has $500 in chips and I am looking for a hand to play against him. I find a 7/8 spades. That is a good hand to play at this kind of table. We end up with only 3 of us seeing the flop.

It comes 9s, 6s, Jd. Seat 6 bets out $25 I am looking at an open-ended straight flush draw. How great is that? I have at least 15 outs and two cards coming to hit one. I raise it to $75, still a little shaky from that river card beat seat 6 gave me. I am thinking maybe I can win it right here. He is the only one who calls. The turn is a Qc. He looks at my remaining chips and says “I put you all in.”

In goes the rest of my 2nd buy-in of $200 and the river is a 4 of hearts, missing my straight, and my flush, and my straight flush possibility. He proudly turns over Jh,Qh and announces to the rest of the table “I knew they would be good because they were suited!”.

I am seeing red flashing lights & Sirens are going off in my head. I am hearing inside my head police radios squawking, “investigate possible 187, code 3 at 7301 Eastern Avenue, get a move on it”! Then I realize the dealer is asking me if I want in for the next hand. I feebly mutter, “lock it up”, and I walk away from the table in a shell-shocked fashion.

Usually I quit for the day after I lose two buy-ins, but I am 120 miles from home, still have a free hotel room for the night and this can’t keep happening, I think. (I was never more wrong.)

But, at least I am smart enough to know I have to “settle down. So I decide to take a walk over and see some of the “legends”. I am hoping to gain a little inspiration, to get back emotionally, to a place where I can play well without going on tilt.

As I approach the tournament room I am met by a burly security guard who won’t earn today what I have already lost and he demands to see my “day pass?” “What’s a day pass” I ask? “You must have a pass for today to get in” he announces, in that, (I am the official club bouncer, and you are part of the unwashed masses, I live to keep out, kind of voice.)”

But, I just want to watch a little tournament play”. “No spectators today” he drones in an official manner, “there are a lot of poker pros in there”. Apparently, it had been decided by the WPT officials that spectators would not be allowed in until at least day 3.

Further adding to my “shrinking self-image, I can’t even be a poker spectator today, let alone a “winning player.” Well, at least my homicidal urges are gone. They have been replaced by self-destructive thoughts.

Maybe, I should get drunk? Heck no, I don’t even like to drink. That won’t work, and I will feel worse afterwards. Maybe, I could throw myself in the Los Angeles River, out behind the Casino, and be swept out to sea. That won’t work, it is the summer and the L.A. river is an inch or two of sewage slowly seeping toward the ocean.

I know! I could walk out into a Freeway lane and end the suffering. Nah, I couldn’t do that to other drivers, it would cause a traffic snarl ruining thousands of people’s day off.

Oh, well, I guess I will get a cup of coffee, read a poker magazine that I saw in the lobby and go back and get even at the table.

Well, the coffee was good, and I enjoyed the latest issue of CardPlayer Magazine. But, about winning my money back?

That story continues in the next blog entry.

2nd Day at the Crystal Casino

Crystal Casino in L.A. 7:00 A.M. Saturday, August 26th

Well, I arrived here shortly after midnight and have played all night. When I went to check-in to my room, I was told I couldn’t do it until after noon. Since I had asked about that when I called from San Diego and was told it wouldn’t be a problem, I requested to speak to the shift manager to gain an exception. Once, that was accomplished, I crawled into bed in my free hotel room, about $150 up from a night of play and slept soundly until 4 in the afternoon.

I love the blackout curtains most hotels have. Caren would like to have those in our bedroom, but we haven’t been able to find “blackout panels” that work with the curtains we prefer. Maybe, we will find them when we move and outfit our next home.

After getting ready to go downstairs I decided to check out the T.V. stations in the room. I usually don’t even watch TV when I am in a Hotel, room preferring to either be on the computer or read. There were about 12 choices available, including a 24 hour Chinese News Channel a Chinese Drama Channel, and a Chinese movie channel. I wonder who their primary demographic target market is? I did notice there was a large Cambodian event scheduled for later that night in the hotel.

After taking a seat in the poker room I asked about their tournament. I was told they have a dedicated room for those and there was one starting in about 20 minutes. The buy-in was $50 and the house fee was $10 but it also included a buffet in the back of the room. So, I was set for my food for today, with just enough time to eat before the tournament started.

I lasted about 3 hours and made a couple of questionable plays near the end. Tried to bluff with a Jack, Ten when a jack, queen, seven came on the flop. He re-raised me and I backed down. The next hand I chased an open ended straight and didn’t catch it and I was walking down to the poker room to play some cash games.

Another full night of poker and I am still the same $150 after 8 hours of play tonight. I went to bed about 4 A.M. with plans of going to the Bicycle Casino tomorrow to play a little bigger game and make all my profit there……..

I was also looking forward to seeing a lot of famous players at the “Bike” because of the “Legends of Poker Tournament” day 1b.

Curtains were shut in anticipation of the dawn and the “do not disturb”sign on the door in anticipation of the morning maid service and I went to sleep to dream of poker games, and big profits tomorrow. My last thought before I went to sleep was I haven't been outside or even looked outside since I arrived.

A weekend of Poker with a free hotel room & food...

Last Friday, during the day, I got the brilliant idea to take a poker trip for the weekend.

That usually involves taking the RV and “Pokey the Puppy” and heading out for a Casino or two. We spend the a night or two in the RV (read free lodging) and the casino comps usually takes care of my food. So beside fresh fruit, drinks, and dog food for pokey we generally have only gas expenses for these trips. Of course, gas is no small expense, especially when the RV gets about 8 miles to the gallon.

Unless, we are actually traveling somewhere and not a dedicated poker trip Caren won’t join us for these short trips. These poker adventures average 60-200 miles (For the round trip gas expense is usually well under $100. I pay cash for gas out of my poker bankroll, so I add that into my net profit or loss, (like a true business expense) The mileage variance depends on whether or not I go to L.A. or stay in the San Diego area. If I venture further out to Vegas (round trip about 600 miles) I typically plan on staying for a week to get my money’s worth of free lodging to make up for the gas expense.

However, summertime in Southern California or Las Vegas (both are Deserts) is not a great time to be spending the night in an RV. It is just too hot to sleep without running the air conditioner all night. Since I am not plugged into electricity, in these parking lots, I would have to run my generator all night. I don’t want to do that because of the generator noise, possibly disturbing others, or attracting attention that translates roughly “Hey, I am sleeping in here”. Both at the poker table and in life I like to “fly under the radar” So, summer greatly restricts my Poker RV trips. I am hoping to take frequent ones this fall & winter.

Because of our new dog and his training schedule, especially while he is a puppy, we don’t want to leave him unattended for 8-10 hours while Caren is at work. Flying with him would be a problem. Having him in hotel rooms, could be a problem. So, my poker playing usually takes place, in the local cardrooms & Indian Casinos nearby, after Caren comes home and her and Pokey settle in for the evening.

Therefore, I came up with the brilliant idea to take a weekend trip, while Caren was home, and could be with Pokey as necessary.

I had recently read in a poker magazine that the Crystal Park Casino & Hotel in L.A. was giving free hotel rooms to poker players in exchange for 5 or more hours of play in their poker room. Plus they also gave $4 in food comps for every 2 hours of play. I was set for the weekend! What a win-win situation. I am excited to get there.

Caren agrees to release me for the weekend.

I quickly call the Casino to confirm the ad I read in Card Player Magazine. They confirm it for me. “Is life good or what?” I am also planning on “stopping by the “Bike” because there is a big WPT tournament going on this weekend. What a great Poker weekend this is going to be…..

Now the only obstacle remaining is “I hate driving in L.A. traffic”. Whenever I drive through L.A. I like to do it between 10 p.m. and 4 A.M. to not have to deal with traffic snarls. Well, that can be easily solved. I spend late afternoon Friday with Caren. I take a nap between 7-9 p.m. Awaken, take a shower, then throw one change of clothes, a tooth brush, poker book, pad of paper, and the ipod in a bag. I am “ready to roll”. Out of the house by 10 p.m. I am expecting to have cards dealt to me in the Crystal Casino shortly after midnight in L.A. and I will play until the sun comes up and I can check into my free room.

A quick stop at the corner 7/11 for a 44oz diet coke, and to top off the gas tank. 15 minutes later and I am heading north on Interstate 5, smoking a cigar, listening to Clive Cussler’s latest book on my ipod, and thinking about the great hands and profit I will have this weekend.

At 1 p.m. I scoop in my first pot at the ½ No-Limit tables at the Crystal Casino Poker Room and the weekend is going just as I planned…… However, it did not continue that way, all weekend……. As “Paul Harvey” used to say and “now, for the rest of the story, stay tuned….”

The Dog Whisperer and Fresno

Last Friday I spent the morning taping “The Dog Whisperer” with Ceasar Milann.

If you have a dog, or know somebody with a dog you need to know about him. He was an illegal that came across the board a few years back. Had always been interested in dog behavior and “dog psychology” and started shampooing dogs for someone. They saw how he was with dogs and promoted him up the doggie ladder to handler and then trainer.

Today he has a successful consulting business with specials on the National Geographic channel. We have learned much from him. I am taping some of his specials, off my tivo to vhs tape so my daughter Carrie can watch and learn.

Carrie lives in Fresno with her husband David, who is the Worship Director at an Assembly of God Church. They have some interesting conversations about Poker. In fundamentalist churches “Card playing” historically has been considered a “sin”. Now it is being reconsidered, along with many along things, such as dancing, movie attendance, drinking, & other self-pleasuring behaviors that according to church policy, used to send people “straight to hell.”

Carrie is a pretty good no-limit tournament player and often calls to discuss “poker strategy” with her daddy. I sometimes to Fresno to visit her. There is a poker club, and a couple of Indian Casinos outside of town that have poker rooms. The one downtown, called Club One is almost an ATM machine for me. Fresno City law forbids “no-limit” games and places a cap on a single bet at $200. Therefore, they have historically only played limit. Recently, someone figured out that they could play a “limit game” of 4-200, where the blinds are 2/4 and any bet could be from $4-200 and still be within the letter of the law. That structured game plays identical to the 2/4 no-limit game I usually play at Sycuan where the max buy-in is $200. So in this “sea” of limit players, I have the most experience playing this particular game.. I usually triple up and leave within a few hours . Each time I have visited I have paid for my trip and come home with about a “grand”. Eventually, their regular players will become a lot stronger, resulting in many more stronger players in that game, and I won’t have the same edge, but I want to go back again whenever I can before that time comes. (grin)

Usually when I take a poker trip I spend 2-3 days playing a lot of poker. I often play all night and go to bed around 7 A.M. and get up in the afternoon to go at it again for the next night. I have always broke even or come home with money from those type of poker trips.

That is, until this past weekend one I went on. But, that is a story for the next entry.

A day in the life of a poker player and his dog.

Back in April my wife Caren flew to Portland to see her family.

I received a phone call from her and she blurted out... "that she never meant it to happen, but she had “fallen in love” while in Portland on this trip.

Not to another man, but to a little dog that is ½ Chihuahua & ½ Yorkshire. She named him Pokey. His full name is really “my husband plays poker, so I bought a $700 dog and named him pokey” He flew back first class with Caren from Portland on Alaska Airlines.

When I am asked “what kind of dog is that?” I explain “he is a Mexican, Englishman”.

He arrived here in San Diego weighing almost 2 pounds (or almost 1 kilo as they would say in either of his countries of origin.) He is now at his full weight of 5 pounds. He is about the size of a small stuffed animal. But, I have to admit he has captured my heart also. And our lives would not be the same without him.

Because of our different schedules, Caren gets up for work at 5 A.M. and Pokey helps her get ready in the morning. He then rejoins me to sleep in, when she leaves for work at 6:30. We both then awaken about 10 or 11 A.M. stretch, pee, and go for a walk and pee. (That is me inside, and him outside. I guess he is the only one of us that is really “house broken” Bada-Bing)

We spend the day together being house husband & house dog doing errands and chores until the highlight of our day about 4 p.m. when Caren comes home. We have the early evening together as a family, usually at home, but sometimes going out to dinner. Pokey usually takes a nap in the car while we are eating out, but sometimes he will join us, if we dine in an outside café.

Then it is to bed for Caren by 7 or 8 p.m. while I head out to a club or casino to play poker. (Or go to the office, as I refer to it.) I try to get home by 1 A.M. and get Pokey up for awhile We watch a little Television together. We usually watch a poker show that was pre-recorded on our DVR. Then it is to bed by 2:30 or 3 A.M. so Pokey can get ready to get up at 5 A.M. and help Caren get ready for work again. Then his day begins all over again.

Don’t think he has a “dull life”. Usually once or twice a month he joins me in the RV and we head out for 2 or 3 days of poker staying at various Casinos. During those trips he catches up on sleep in the RV. He does take periodic walks to give me breaks from the poker tables. The life of a poker player and his dog never gets boring… grin…..

We are all going on Vacation in the RV on September 13th for a couple of weeks together. On October 1st Caren will fly home and Pokey and I will be “On the road again” visiting every poker room we can between Seattle and San Diego. We are also going to sweep east to include Reno and Las Vegas on this trip. We hope to give you regular updates on this blog as we travel.

Six months of poker & no blog... wass up'?

½ a year, 140th of my life expectancy has gone by since I have added to this blog.

If there were any readers before this, which I suspect there were not anyway, (based on the number of comments, I had received,) there are certainly none now.

So, why I am adding to this?

I guess to be really honest, it is because it helps me focus, on what I am doing with my poker.
It gives me a historical timeline. And it is “feedback” that let’s me know how my thinking has changed or stayed the same over time. I also very much hope others will read it at some point, be helped by it, and enjoy it. I know I enjoy and read on a daily basis five other poker blogs.

I may also have just contributed to one of the great metaphysical questions in history. If a tree falls in the forest……? Is winking in the dark, really flirting…?, and is a blog that no one reads really a blog….?

I have been steadily playing poker these last six months, averaging 25-40 hours a week in live play. I am still on my original bankroll and have a small net gain. I would have a much bigger one if I didn’t include my on-line play.

Others tell me they win all the time on-line. I want to believe that. I keep going back to on-line, believing the “grass is greener” on the other side of the fence from “live play” at the clubs & casinos. However, I win often at live games. I never have had a winning week on-line.

That can probably be explained because I am a “visual represented” person according to Neuro-linguistics. Finished grad school in Psychology, been a Pastor and a psychotherapist for years. Duh, none of that experience seems to help on-line or has any relevance.

Even though I have played a lot of poker these last six months I am one of the few who didn’t go to WSOP. Why? Because I like staying in my RV, and Vegas is just too darn hot in the summer. Also, I have been the primary guardian during the day, to a little puppy named pokey, but that is a whole other story I will tell you about later.

Flat tires & conspiracy theories about online poker

Last night on the way home I dashed into the store to pickup eggs, milk, bread etc. And when I came out my front tire was flat. This was 2 days after my RV blowout. I guess trends happen in life as well as cards. I was tired and didn't want to deal with it so I asked my wife to drive her car the two miles from our home and pick me up.

Today I took my RV down to the parking lot where I had left my car overnight. I left my RV there while I waited for the Automobile Club to come and change the tire on my car.


The tire was filled with dry rot and just gave way.

How does a rubber tire that is used almost every day and is never parked exposed to the sun develop "dry rot".

Ah, the mysteries of modern life and synthetics.

As a licensed driver for almost 40 years I know it is a good idea to buy two new tires and not just one. And common wisdom dictates having them put on the front. That way front tires are newly balanced and you are less likely to have a tire failure, affecting your steering and control.

Or so I thought. Costco refused to put the new ones on the front and claimed it is Michelin's policy (which is the only tire they sell) that if you buy 2 they must be put on the back.

When I questioned it, they even showed me a 3 minute video about how the average driver is more likely to lose control if they hydroplane the the rear two tires instead of the front two. So the implication is this is for my safety. I pointed out the video didn't say anything about tire failure or a blowout and loss of steering control.

What jumps into my suspious mind is "yea right". If you put the new tires on the front and they blow or fail causing loss of control the tire factory or store may be liable. I have had blowouts on the front and on the rear. I would much rather have one on the rear anytime. The car still goes straight and there is much less danger of losing control.

Once I slammed on the front brakes of my bike instead of my rear brakes. I'll never to do that again.


Regardless of my insistence, they told me they could only install them on the back. Two hours later I am driving home and find my car is pulling very badly to the left. Back I go to the store and tell them about this problem. Their solution is I could buy two more new tires for the front.

My solution is take the back ones and put them up front. They are unwilling to do that. The comprise solution is to switch the front right and the front left.

So what does this have to do with poker you might ask? Good question. As I was playing online I was ruminating over the store's insistence that Michelin was setting policy for my own good.

I believe large corporations are really only out for protecting themselves and their proft.

That got me thinking again about the claims of online poker sites claiming there is no way you can cheat on their systems.

I decided to see if I could open a new account on the online poker site I was playing on with another screen name and join the same table I was playing at. Well it worked.

I was successfully able to get on the same table with two different hands on two different computers on my home connection. I can certainly think of a few advantages that would give me. I considered that unethical and logged off after determing it could be done. I imagine somewhere in the agreement, that nobody reads anyway, it forbids me from doing that.

Could it even be illegal? Now there is any interesting question. Playing online poker for money in the United States is illegal. But nobody is enforcing it. Kind of like the 21st century prohibition act. So is it more illegal if I play two hands at once with two different identities on the same table?

It still doesn't explain why I lose more online then I do in live play at the casinos. But, I think I am going back to playing only tournaments online. There is no way you could get on the same table with yourself and even if you could I couldn't think of a real advantage in tournament that would offer you.

I know many players at the casino who will not play online because they think it is rigged. I don't think it is rigged. But, there are a number of ways to get an edge that I can't or don't want to do online. But, I believe there are people doing it and doing many other things to gain an edge that I couldn't even think of.

Comments?

Am I missing something here.......? Am I a conspiracy theorist or a 60's revolutionary that never grew up and fully joined the establishment?

3 A.M. Party Poker...

I should really go to bed. It is almost 4 A.M.

I joined a tournament and played 5 hours before midnight. I placed 26th out of 748. I felt good about my performance. Since midnight I have been trying to get up just a little at the 3/6 Hold-em o on-line so I can get to bed.

The cards are not good and I am waiting for a good hand. Meanwhile, I am watching my tournament win money, get blinded away. It is really amazing to think that people all over the world are playing me. Most of them at this table are up really late because they are on the west coast or South America. But, for a few on the east coast it is probably time for them to head to work.

Well, I finally won my first pot in over 2 hours. And it was on a stone cold bluff. AQd and K 4 6 rainbow came on my big blind after I had raised pre-flop. I bet out on the flop, turn and river. 3 people called on the flop, 2 called turn, and nobody called on the river. What a crazy game.

I finally realized today that I still play too loose on the small games, 2/4 & 3/6. I have got to stop that leak in my game.

When I play N/L tournaments I only play premium hands. When I play 8/16 & 20/40 Limit I play premium hands, but when I play lower limits, I tell myself there are so many bad players at this limit that I can outplay them. Well, maybe I do, but I get sucked out a lot and end up losing money time after time.

I just did it again. I tend to underestimate the players at the smaller games. That is becoming an expensive mistake. I just chased a guy all the way to the river, because I thought he was bluffing. He wasn't. Then the very next hand he wins a large pot by chasing 3 people to the river with J/2 off suit. It's a mad, mad, world out there.

Good night........

Back in the saddle again....

Well the skies have cleared and the clouds have gone awayfor awhile.


Last night after writing yesterday's blog on Party Poker I placed 16th in a 660 person N/L tournament. Then, just before I went to bed, I placed 3rd in a 220 person tournament for $700.

The "voices" in my head, that kept saying your are one of the worst and most unlucky players in the world have been silenced again for awhile.

I have no problem with getting a bad beat anymore. I have seen a lot of them. They don't even excite me anymore. Even if I am on the losing hand of stupid play. It is when I go seven or eight sessions losing, when I have played well, and have not gone on tilt that I get the "voices".

I know that short term variance can account for it. But, I have not yet embraced the concept that I can play very good poker, even my best poker and still lose 7 or more sessions in a row.

I get, and have experienced losing 7 or more hands in a row at a blackjack table. And I am sure if I played many sessions of BJ I could lose 7 sessions in a row. But, I want to argue that the dealer has the edge and so that makes sense.

There is no "edge" in poker, except knowledge & skill. Of course there is "luck", but that is distributed evenly over a long period of time or the laws of the universe are wrong. I know I am a greatly improved player then last year when I got serious about improving my game. And I read that the best at this game also having losing streaks.

Maybe, I am unrealisitic about the odds. Normally, I am playing 8 other players, so I have only about a 12.5% chance to win. If I am better then 1/2 the players at the table that means I will still only win less then 2/3 of the time. My win rate is really only 35-40% of the time, but it still has given me enough profit to overcome the "house rake" and show a little profit.

So what I am really "whining" about is, how come I can lose 7-8 sessions in a row, but never win that many in a row?

Is the universe skewed to make sure I lose, as my deepest darkest fears believe or am I missing something here.....?

Any thoughts?

Losing it in L.A.

A week ago about this time of the night, I packed my RV and left on a road trip that was going to cover 6 or 7 different casinos. The month of January was a great month of winnings and I was looking forward to the trend continuing.

I was in for a real surprise.

I drove about 10 miles from home and traffic slowed like there was an accident ahead.

I decided instead of driving longer I would just go to Sycuan here in San Diego and spend the night. Play a little tomorrow then drive on. I went to bed a little up that evening after a late night of playing N/L.

The next day I drove to Oceanside.

It is almost 1/2 way to L.A. from San Diego. I played the rest of that day until about 4 in the morning. I was up a little from the play there.
But, I wanted to get to L.A. before the morning commute traffic began.

By 5:30 a.m. I had parked at the Casino in Hawaiian Gardens and crawled into my sleeping bag.

2:oo p.m. saw me up and showered and ready to play.

Within a few hours I had lost two racks and decided to go back to R.V. and read awhile.

A few hours later back at the tables a series of bad beats cost me another two racks and I was "feeling an attitude". (Another way of saying starting to go on Tilt)
I knew I was so, I went back to the RV and had a fairly early turn-in.

The next morning after losing a rack, I walked to a bookstore about a mile away and read over a cup of coffee for a few hours. Then back to the RV for a nap.

Rested and ready I went in and decided to play in a bigger game. I bought in for $500 at a 15/30 holdem game and for the next 7 hours went from 500 to 200, then 200 to 500 for six cycles. I was happy not to lose anymore money, but frustrated I was down as much as I ever have been on a trip.

Maybe a change of location will help, I think. I relocate the RV over to the Bicyle club knowing I have done well there before. A day so of the same occurs. Lose a rack, take a break, lose a rack, another break.Lose a rack take a nap.

After a day of this I am ready to head toward home, but not yet ready to give up on my trip. Saturday afternoon finds me in horrible L.A. traffic driving to Corona to catch Interstate 15 to Pechanga Casino about 1/2 way home. L.A. is gray, and ugly, the other drivers appear mean and angry. Many people don't like to get behind an R,V so I have to slam on my brakes a number of times to avoid someone cutting in or changing lanes right in front of me. All my household goods shift and groan whenever that happens and I know the cupboards are going to be a mess.

But, Pechanga is one of my favorite poker rooms and Temecula is in a beautiful valley in Southern California wine country, so I am looking forward to getting out of L.A.

A few hours later I am seated in the beautiful Pechanga Poker room.

Different location, but same luck and results and I am down even more.
Saturday night is a dark night in the parking lot of the Pechana Casino.
If I was a drinker this would be a good reason for a major drunk. I am not, so to bed I go.



Superbowl Sunday, playing poker at a friendly table. What could be better? Playing and winning could be! For 8 hours I broke even at the 8/16 table before losing almost all the cash I had brought with me that I hadn't already lef in L.A.

Midnight Sunday finds me driving toward home, but I am not yet ready to give up. I have one more day before I have to be home. I head to the Sycuan Casino, 25 miles from my home.

12 hours of poker playing later I leave $60 up for the day. At least I am not a total loser.

Tuesday morning I don't even want to go in and play a little in the two extra hours I have between the time I woke up and when I need to be home.

So without even taking a shower, or having breakfast I decide to drive the 45 minutes home.

15 minutes later I am startled by the sound of an explosion, the RV shakes like I have been hit or struck something. Then the shaking stops. I realize I have blown a tire on the left rear. Because they are dual tires I am still driving. I pull carefully over and get out to look. The explosion of the tire was so dramatic that not only is there no tire left on the wheel, but a hole has been blown in the side of the RV.

Three hours later after the Auto Club changed the tire, I am home feeling like a person returning from a war, not seriously wounded but a little shell-shocked.


This was not the exciting poker trip I had looked forward to.

Two days later I am still trying to get out from under the grey skies that I have brought back from L.A.