Well, I just finished a nap in the RV this afternoon. I am going in to play for the evening in just a few minutes, but I thought I would tell you about my tournament this afternoon.
The tournament was a $50 buy-in and started at Noon. They paid bounties of $10, if you knocked someone else out. Everybody got a green token and you put that in with your all-in money. The person who knocked you out would receive the green token. You were paid $10 for every green token you possessed, when you reached the final table, or were knocked out yourself. (Assuming you had more then one green token at that time.)
There were 170 beginning players. I was steadily accumulating a chip stack. I was the big blind for $200 when a player two seats to my right threw in $800. I thought he was all in, because he had just gone all in for 400 and had won just the blinds the previous hand. It turns out he still had $200 hidden under his hand.
In a tournament you turn over your hand faceup, when you are in against one other person and all their money is in. It is considered bad form to slow roll, especially when you think you have the best hand. So, I promptly turned over my Ace, Queen hearts which I believed was the best hand at that point based on his previous play.
The dealer immediately said my hand was “dead” and pushed the pot to the other player.
I said “what are you doing? It is only him and me in the pot. He said that’s the rules. I appealed to the floor man who said “your hand is dead” and walked away. I couldn’t believe they had such a stupid rule. If you show your hand, even if one other person is in the pot with you before the dealer says turn over your hand, your hand is declared dead.
I am not convinced the regular hid two chips under his hand deliberately. It was a very unusual bet to bet $800 to try to steal the blind when you have $1,000 in chips.
I asked for the reason a rule like that was in place here? I have never heard of it anywhere else when you are heads up with someone. I was told in response that’s the rule.
I had to go take a walk to calm down. I was playing very well and I was upset and I knew I couldn’t play well this upset.
I came back a few minutes later, listened to music on the Ipod and decided the best thing to do was to get back on my game and play as well as I could. I have always had difficulty with rules, that make no sense, and especially with people, who simply say that’s the rules without being able to offer a explanation for why the rule is in place.
Later during the break the dealer admitted he hated the rule and had almost told me to turn my cards over, because he thought the other fellow was all-in also. He said if I had waited for him to tell me to turn them over things might have been different.
Later, when I got hold of the tournament director, he said the reason they have the rule is when a person goes all in and the other person who is thinking about calling shows his cards to him he may try to get a read off him. I said you mean like they do in all the WSOP and WPT tournaments? That is a regular part of poker. He sheepishly admitted well that’s how we do it here.
Then I said “in that kind of situation then can I just tell him what I have to try to get a read off him”? He said I won’t allow it. I said what if I lie and tell him something I don’t have? He said “I won’t allow it”. I thanked him and walked away thinking glad he wasn’t around a little earlier when I did just that.
I had pocket kings in the small blind. The blinds were $50-100 The first to act said I raise and he put in $200 Three people called. I said that’s not a raise. This is a raise...$1200. He thought about it for a moment or two and called. The flop came AA7. It couldn’t be worse for me. I checked and he bet out $1000. I thought about it for a long time. He didn’t go all in. Does he want a call? No, he could have checked or bet small if he did. He doesn’t totally look relaxed to me. I said time, and thought about it for a long time.
Finally I said “I haven’t gotten to a point where I can lay down pocket kings yet” as I slowly reached for chips. I thought I saw a slight flinch and I knew I had him. “I am all in”, I declared. He dejectedly said, “good call” and threw in his hand. The table was appreciative, and I heard one person say “now that’s good poker”. I felt good about my improvement in slowing down and reasoning out hands along with picking up information from others.
When I reached the final table I had 7 tokens to turn in. Whereas, I bought in for $50 and just cashed $70 and would make no less then $200 for at least 10th position I felt pretty good about the tournament, but still thought that odd rule was quite stupid.
I placed 2nd and took away $800 for this 4 hour tournament. It has been a while since I placed high in a tournament. It felt really good.
Monday, October 09, 2006
The great thing about RV travel.....
I awoke to another day of cold rain falling on the RV roof. I stayed under the covers as long as I could, but there is a tournament later this morning so I can’t stay here all day. (grin)
For those of you who have just stated reading, or haven’t read this blog for awhile I am one week into a month long trip to prove to myself I can be a professional player.
(Caren my wife, Pokey the dog, and I left San Diego in the RV to drive to Chicago to attend my sister-in-laws funeral. Then we spent the next 2 weeks enjoying Caren’s vacation time from work, as we traveled across the country from Chicago to Portland via Yellowstone National Park.
Caren flew back to San Diego on 9/30 from Portland, which began a month long poker trip from Washington to San Diego for me and Pokey. So far I have lived in the RV one month today. I just finished one week on my own with daily calls to Caren. It took me a week to get from Portland to just north of Everett, Washington (a typical 3 hour drive)
I have played in about 10 casinos and I am up almost, what I hoped to earn on the trip. I still have a long way to go and many casinos to play in. But, it has been a great trip so far.)
Yesterday was spent walking, reading, and then driving 2 miles into town where I knew I could connect with a Wireless Internet connectionn to upload my blog entries and read email.
I played 3/5 No Limit last night at a table of very good players. A couple of them told me after we had played quite awhile this table was unusually tight tonight. I was up around $100 for 4 hours of play when another table seat came open. I moved over there and was able to double my profit from some weaker players. I did lose a $100 the first hand I played when I tried a naked bluff that got called. After that everything I played got called, because they thought I was a bad player. I didn’t plan on getting “caught in a bluff”, but it worked out well for me with the play I got afterward.
I am at the most northern place I will be on this trip. From this point I am going to turn south tomorrow and begin a very slow trek toward San Diego.
My plan at this point is to play a few more days in Washington, then take a few days through Oregon on the coast. There are a couple of small card rooms in Crescent City, & Eureka, California I want to play. After that, then down through the Redwoods and Wine Country to the San Francisco Bay Area.
My plans also include at some point renting a car from Fresno and leaving the RV at my daughter Carrie’s home and driving to San Diego for a weekend trip with her to visit Caren. Upon my return to Fresno, I will then turn over to Las Vegas near the final leg of my trip.
The great thing about RV travel is you can make general plans, and just have a vague idea of where you want to go and no reservations are required. Many people see the destination of a trip. The true RV mindset sees the trip as the destination as soon as you begin as the trip. Or has Budda once said “The road is the trip”. Or maybe that was “Bubba” at the trailer park I heard that one from. You know now that I think about it, it may have been a line from “Easy Rider”. (grin)
For those of you who have just stated reading, or haven’t read this blog for awhile I am one week into a month long trip to prove to myself I can be a professional player.
(Caren my wife, Pokey the dog, and I left San Diego in the RV to drive to Chicago to attend my sister-in-laws funeral. Then we spent the next 2 weeks enjoying Caren’s vacation time from work, as we traveled across the country from Chicago to Portland via Yellowstone National Park.
Caren flew back to San Diego on 9/30 from Portland, which began a month long poker trip from Washington to San Diego for me and Pokey. So far I have lived in the RV one month today. I just finished one week on my own with daily calls to Caren. It took me a week to get from Portland to just north of Everett, Washington (a typical 3 hour drive)
I have played in about 10 casinos and I am up almost, what I hoped to earn on the trip. I still have a long way to go and many casinos to play in. But, it has been a great trip so far.)
Yesterday was spent walking, reading, and then driving 2 miles into town where I knew I could connect with a Wireless Internet connectionn to upload my blog entries and read email.
I played 3/5 No Limit last night at a table of very good players. A couple of them told me after we had played quite awhile this table was unusually tight tonight. I was up around $100 for 4 hours of play when another table seat came open. I moved over there and was able to double my profit from some weaker players. I did lose a $100 the first hand I played when I tried a naked bluff that got called. After that everything I played got called, because they thought I was a bad player. I didn’t plan on getting “caught in a bluff”, but it worked out well for me with the play I got afterward.
I am at the most northern place I will be on this trip. From this point I am going to turn south tomorrow and begin a very slow trek toward San Diego.
My plan at this point is to play a few more days in Washington, then take a few days through Oregon on the coast. There are a couple of small card rooms in Crescent City, & Eureka, California I want to play. After that, then down through the Redwoods and Wine Country to the San Francisco Bay Area.
My plans also include at some point renting a car from Fresno and leaving the RV at my daughter Carrie’s home and driving to San Diego for a weekend trip with her to visit Caren. Upon my return to Fresno, I will then turn over to Las Vegas near the final leg of my trip.
The great thing about RV travel is you can make general plans, and just have a vague idea of where you want to go and no reservations are required. Many people see the destination of a trip. The true RV mindset sees the trip as the destination as soon as you begin as the trip. Or has Budda once said “The road is the trip”. Or maybe that was “Bubba” at the trailer park I heard that one from. You know now that I think about it, it may have been a line from “Easy Rider”. (grin)
Saturday, October 07, 2006
"Work day, work day.....
As I awake in a dark RV I feel like I have had plenty of sleep, however, I usually don’t wake up while it is still dark. A glance at my watch indicates it is 10:30 and since I went to bed at 2 A.M. I realize it must be the morning. Sliding the curtain of the RV open reveals the answer to my dilemma .
It is dark and raining with a heavy cloud cover. That’s why it is so dark in the R.V.
A few minutes later I am dragging Pokey the dog out of the RV for his morning bathroom trip. He has never been out in the cold rain and wants to keep his record unblemished. But, whereas I out weigh him by over 260 pounds he is soon grumbling and peeing on a bush next to the driveway of the Super-Wal-mart we slept at last night.
Since this is not a good day for sightseeing and I won’t be playing poker until the evening I declare it a work day.
Wisely, we start it off with another hour under the covers until I am convinced the hot water heater I just turned on, will provide me with a “bone warming” experience. It does and I decide I might as well do a little RV house cleaning to further warm up. It can’t all be fun and games on this trip. (grin) All the same chores as a home, Vacuum, clean the kitchen, make the bed, clean the bathroom and mop the floor. Because this is a 26 foot Motor home I am done in about 9 minutes. (grin) I light some aroma candles to help mitigate the old guy and his dog smell that must be building in here. We of course are immune to it.
I spent a couple of hours writing blogs and looking at maps for gathering information regarding which direction I will start going now that I have reached my northern most point of this trip.
Then it was time to take a jaunt into town to use the access to the Internet I discovered in a neighborhood nearby here yesterday. I caught up on reading poker blogs and the news and speculation about the law against on-line gambling in the United States. So much for the World Trade Organization and it’s ability to influence the U.S. The rest of the world will be able to play poker on-line and it will become illegal to do so in the U.S. When the World Trade Organization told the U.S. it was a hypocrite because they said they morally object to gambling but they run Lottery’s in almost every state. What the government objects to is any successful business they don’t control. Now that’s immoral!
Most of us poker players want the government to regulate on-line gambling not prohibit it. We are going to have another prohibition on our hands. People still will play on-line, only illegal companies will provide it, which will fuel organized crime, until the government finally gives in to the “will of the people” and changes a ill conceived law. Then we will have a new well financed group of criminals that will now go into other business ventures.
Speaking of business ventures, I went into Tulalip Indian Casino last night to play 3/5 No Limit. I bought in for $200 and had to do a rebuy with in an hour. I made a call I shouldn’t and the other player had the goods. I played a K9 and he played a KQ. I don’t usually play K9 anymore unless I am on the button and this case was in early position. I bought another $100 and was able to cash out 3 hours later with a net profit of +200.
I went back to the RV and made a later dinner, and played with Pokey. After a walk for the two of us I went back in and joined the same table when a seat opened. It was almost an exact repeat of my first session.
The level of play here is a little tighter then Muckleshoot. I have to shift my game to primarily stealing blinds and being a little more aggressive then I am used to playing. I prefer to set traps and not be the most aggressive on the table, but on this table I don’t have much choice. There are about 4 rocks and 5 timid players that seem to only play and call the nuts.
So what would Brunson do? Play only when in good position. Come in with a big raise and then bet big if the flop is scary.
It seems to have worked. I cashed out another +200 for the night using this method.
I headed back to the RV for a night of sleep and another day here at Tulalip Casino tommorow.
It is dark and raining with a heavy cloud cover. That’s why it is so dark in the R.V.
A few minutes later I am dragging Pokey the dog out of the RV for his morning bathroom trip. He has never been out in the cold rain and wants to keep his record unblemished. But, whereas I out weigh him by over 260 pounds he is soon grumbling and peeing on a bush next to the driveway of the Super-Wal-mart we slept at last night.
Since this is not a good day for sightseeing and I won’t be playing poker until the evening I declare it a work day.
Wisely, we start it off with another hour under the covers until I am convinced the hot water heater I just turned on, will provide me with a “bone warming” experience. It does and I decide I might as well do a little RV house cleaning to further warm up. It can’t all be fun and games on this trip. (grin) All the same chores as a home, Vacuum, clean the kitchen, make the bed, clean the bathroom and mop the floor. Because this is a 26 foot Motor home I am done in about 9 minutes. (grin) I light some aroma candles to help mitigate the old guy and his dog smell that must be building in here. We of course are immune to it.
I spent a couple of hours writing blogs and looking at maps for gathering information regarding which direction I will start going now that I have reached my northern most point of this trip.
Then it was time to take a jaunt into town to use the access to the Internet I discovered in a neighborhood nearby here yesterday. I caught up on reading poker blogs and the news and speculation about the law against on-line gambling in the United States. So much for the World Trade Organization and it’s ability to influence the U.S. The rest of the world will be able to play poker on-line and it will become illegal to do so in the U.S. When the World Trade Organization told the U.S. it was a hypocrite because they said they morally object to gambling but they run Lottery’s in almost every state. What the government objects to is any successful business they don’t control. Now that’s immoral!
Most of us poker players want the government to regulate on-line gambling not prohibit it. We are going to have another prohibition on our hands. People still will play on-line, only illegal companies will provide it, which will fuel organized crime, until the government finally gives in to the “will of the people” and changes a ill conceived law. Then we will have a new well financed group of criminals that will now go into other business ventures.
Speaking of business ventures, I went into Tulalip Indian Casino last night to play 3/5 No Limit. I bought in for $200 and had to do a rebuy with in an hour. I made a call I shouldn’t and the other player had the goods. I played a K9 and he played a KQ. I don’t usually play K9 anymore unless I am on the button and this case was in early position. I bought another $100 and was able to cash out 3 hours later with a net profit of +200.
I went back to the RV and made a later dinner, and played with Pokey. After a walk for the two of us I went back in and joined the same table when a seat opened. It was almost an exact repeat of my first session.
The level of play here is a little tighter then Muckleshoot. I have to shift my game to primarily stealing blinds and being a little more aggressive then I am used to playing. I prefer to set traps and not be the most aggressive on the table, but on this table I don’t have much choice. There are about 4 rocks and 5 timid players that seem to only play and call the nuts.
So what would Brunson do? Play only when in good position. Come in with a big raise and then bet big if the flop is scary.
It seems to have worked. I cashed out another +200 for the night using this method.
I headed back to the RV for a night of sleep and another day here at Tulalip Casino tommorow.
"Drift on Inn"
As I drove north on Hwy 99 we came to Shoreline. I had passed one Casino that looked like parking was going to be a problem. Then I saw the “Drift on Inn Roadhouse” Casino up ahead. It was right next door to the Hollywood Casino. They both have the same owners.
This was where I was planning on spending the night. However, the parking lot did not feel safe. The neighbors would be quiet though. The place I found to park the RV was right next to a large Jewish Cemetery. After walking Pokey next to the Cemetery, I went in and joined the only game going. It was a 4/8 limit game. I asked why there were only 5 people playing? The dealer said there was a tournament that had just started next door and it would get busy as people dropped out of the tournament and “drifted over”. He was right.
I began getting a great run of cards and was up over $200 on my buy-in of $100, within an hour. Then I looked down to see pocket 3’s in first position. I will usually throw these away to any raise and “for a change” no raise came. The game was pretty loose with a few players almost always playing non-premium hands. The flop gave me a three and I bet it. The turn came another three, for quad “3”s for me. I checked it. Then I checked the river. I really expected a bet I could raise. I also had noticed a sign that indicated I would get something extra for 4 of a kind. I didn’t know the rules whether 2 people had to get to the river or not with it for me to get the bonus.
I did get a bonus from the casino of $100 for the quad threes.
I also heard there was a free blackjack tournament that started at 8:30 p.m. It was now 8:15 and my run of cards seem to have ended. So I cashed out and signed up for the tournament.
The Blackjack tournament wasn’t totally free for me. If you made the final table you could buy add-on extra chips for $40. I did make the final table and everybody else was doing it, so I need to.
There were three rounds of blackjack, with 24 people in the tournament and we played 6 to a table. The top 7 would go to the final table. There was a ½ hour break between rounds. So the whole event took until midnight to complete.
I went back and played poker during the breaks. During the first break I won the $40 I paid out for the Blackjack tournament. The second break I was able to take another profit of $120 off the table. The third break I just waited for the final table without risking losing my profit of over $300 for the day.
In the BJ tournament only the top three players were paid. I came in 5th. But, I have to admit it was fun. I might play another little blackjack tournamentsif the opportunity presents itself again. But, it is totally luck and has no skill attached to it, in my opinion.
Most of the small casinos have pretty good food comps, worth at least one lunch or dinner. I had the Thursday special of Salmon & chips. Counting what I have purchased from Wal-Mart, I have eaten Salmon four times this week. It must be the Northwest. I never have Salmon at home. Of course Caren, dislikes the smell of fish, and that deters me from eating Salmon at home or when we are “dining out” together.
It was after midnight when we got back on Hwy99. The parking lot at this casino looked even more dangerous late at night.
My “backup” plan was to drive to Marysville close to the Tulalip Casino which would be our most Northern Casino we were going to visit, before I turned south to head toward home.
I did exit once in Everett and drove slowly around three motels. They did not have wireless. I got off one exit before the Wal-mart in Marysville and started trolling a neighborhood close to the business section for wireless presence.
I found it right away with a public parking lot close enough that I would go unnoticed. I up loaded to the Internet and checked my email.
It was only one more mile to the Super Wal-mart we were going to stay at. I had no idea how close it was to the Tulalip Casino. It was in the same parking mall strip. But, I was too tired to visit the Casino. Then it was “lights out” on a beautiful day, as we crawled into bed for sleep. Thank you Sam, for Wal-Marts.
This was where I was planning on spending the night. However, the parking lot did not feel safe. The neighbors would be quiet though. The place I found to park the RV was right next to a large Jewish Cemetery. After walking Pokey next to the Cemetery, I went in and joined the only game going. It was a 4/8 limit game. I asked why there were only 5 people playing? The dealer said there was a tournament that had just started next door and it would get busy as people dropped out of the tournament and “drifted over”. He was right.
I began getting a great run of cards and was up over $200 on my buy-in of $100, within an hour. Then I looked down to see pocket 3’s in first position. I will usually throw these away to any raise and “for a change” no raise came. The game was pretty loose with a few players almost always playing non-premium hands. The flop gave me a three and I bet it. The turn came another three, for quad “3”s for me. I checked it. Then I checked the river. I really expected a bet I could raise. I also had noticed a sign that indicated I would get something extra for 4 of a kind. I didn’t know the rules whether 2 people had to get to the river or not with it for me to get the bonus.
I did get a bonus from the casino of $100 for the quad threes.
I also heard there was a free blackjack tournament that started at 8:30 p.m. It was now 8:15 and my run of cards seem to have ended. So I cashed out and signed up for the tournament.
The Blackjack tournament wasn’t totally free for me. If you made the final table you could buy add-on extra chips for $40. I did make the final table and everybody else was doing it, so I need to.
There were three rounds of blackjack, with 24 people in the tournament and we played 6 to a table. The top 7 would go to the final table. There was a ½ hour break between rounds. So the whole event took until midnight to complete.
I went back and played poker during the breaks. During the first break I won the $40 I paid out for the Blackjack tournament. The second break I was able to take another profit of $120 off the table. The third break I just waited for the final table without risking losing my profit of over $300 for the day.
In the BJ tournament only the top three players were paid. I came in 5th. But, I have to admit it was fun. I might play another little blackjack tournamentsif the opportunity presents itself again. But, it is totally luck and has no skill attached to it, in my opinion.
Most of the small casinos have pretty good food comps, worth at least one lunch or dinner. I had the Thursday special of Salmon & chips. Counting what I have purchased from Wal-Mart, I have eaten Salmon four times this week. It must be the Northwest. I never have Salmon at home. Of course Caren, dislikes the smell of fish, and that deters me from eating Salmon at home or when we are “dining out” together.
It was after midnight when we got back on Hwy99. The parking lot at this casino looked even more dangerous late at night.
My “backup” plan was to drive to Marysville close to the Tulalip Casino which would be our most Northern Casino we were going to visit, before I turned south to head toward home.
I did exit once in Everett and drove slowly around three motels. They did not have wireless. I got off one exit before the Wal-mart in Marysville and started trolling a neighborhood close to the business section for wireless presence.
I found it right away with a public parking lot close enough that I would go unnoticed. I up loaded to the Internet and checked my email.
It was only one more mile to the Super Wal-mart we were going to stay at. I had no idea how close it was to the Tulalip Casino. It was in the same parking mall strip. But, I was too tired to visit the Casino. Then it was “lights out” on a beautiful day, as we crawled into bed for sleep. Thank you Sam, for Wal-Marts.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The Boston of the North West....
This time I was able to drive into the South Seattle area without consulting the map too often and located Hwy99. My plan was to sightsee up Hwy99 from South to North. It goes the length of the city. I passed the Sea Tac airport area and then came to a busy truck/train/ship industrial area before downtown.
I wanted to write, shower and make breakfast in the RV and I knew I could find plenty of room to park in this kind of area.
Downtown areas of large cities are a real challenge for the RV traveler because parking space is at such a premium. I made breakfast, cleaned up while Pokey watched the hyper-activity of trucks, trains and ships going by the windows. He was fascinated.
After breakfast we drove the rest of the way to the downtown area. I located the ball park. It was about 1 mile from the center of the downtown area I wanted to walk around in.
I found a parking lot that could handle the RV and I was willing to walk to save money. It was right across from the ballpark and I paid $6 for the entire day.
Pokey and I set off for our walking tour of Seattle. From the ball park to Pioneer Historic area was a very funky area. Artist studios, old loft type businesses and apartments, and lots of outdoor drinking areas ready for when there is a ball game on.
There were a lot of homeless people in the downtown area. Pokey, and I sat in the park and watched the pigeons, the homeless, (mainly mentally ill), and the office workers eating their lunch in Pioneer square.
We then walked down by the water front. This was the ferry terminal areas and there wasn’t much to see. It was busy with ferry commuters coming or going to Bainbridge Island, Victoria, or Bremerton and points west.
The buses in the downtown area are free and Pokey was allowed on. So we jumped on a city bus and did some sightseeing that way. We got off at the last stop in the free zone and walked through another funky area and made our way toward Pike Place market.
I heard a “whole lot of barking” and so we investigated and found a little doggie daycare. It is a store front with a large picture window. You can watch the dogs play. Rather then leave your pet at home alone, you drop him off to play with others while you are at work.
Pokey and I looked for awhile through the window while that old song “How much is that doggie…… went through my head. Pokey and a white cocker spaniel each put there paws on the windows from different sides trying to connect. We went in for a while and met a few of the dogs and then continued our walk. Within a couple of blocks there was a little dog park. Talk about a dog friendly city! They can ride the buses for free, go to daycare and even own their own park.
This was my first visit to downtown Seattle. In the sunshine, I loved it. To me it looks like “Boston in the Northwest.” I have never heard anybody make that comparison, but the downtown area I saw looks similar to me.
We found Pikes Market where they “throw the fish” and entertain the customers with their banter. There were visual treats and many exotic smells for both Pokey and I to enjoy. After Pikes Market, we caught another bus until the area looked familiar and we headed back toward the ballpark.
I stopped at an historic tavern and had a local brew and a falafel that I bought from next door. We chatted with a shoeshine guy between his customers while I read the paper. The guy at the next table bought the shoeshine guy a beer and then we all chatted. What a great day.
By the time we got back to the RV Pokey and I were both exhausted. I started to type a little and within minutes Pokey was asleep. That looked like a good idea so I joined him.
We were awakened about an hour later by a truck noise and a whoosing sound. Pokey was at the window barking and barking. There was a fire truck that had pulled up about 20 feet away and had attached their hose to a hydrant and were testing their “water cannon” and testing all their hoses. I watched for a few minutes and then went back to my writing. Pokey made sure he watched them the entire time they were there.
It was about 5 p.m. and gotten overcast, so I thought we better get going. I planned on finding a casino on Hwy 99 and playing and maybe spending the night there.
Traffic was a little heavy with people leaving downtown, so as soon, as I saw, a waterfront park we pulled over to walk and wait another walk for traffic to diminish. I had a cigar and looked at the water and mountains on one side and the Space Needle and downtown buildings on the other.
We left the park as it started getting dark and we set out to find the casino I was going to play in tonight.
I wanted to write, shower and make breakfast in the RV and I knew I could find plenty of room to park in this kind of area.
Downtown areas of large cities are a real challenge for the RV traveler because parking space is at such a premium. I made breakfast, cleaned up while Pokey watched the hyper-activity of trucks, trains and ships going by the windows. He was fascinated.
After breakfast we drove the rest of the way to the downtown area. I located the ball park. It was about 1 mile from the center of the downtown area I wanted to walk around in.
I found a parking lot that could handle the RV and I was willing to walk to save money. It was right across from the ballpark and I paid $6 for the entire day.
Pokey and I set off for our walking tour of Seattle. From the ball park to Pioneer Historic area was a very funky area. Artist studios, old loft type businesses and apartments, and lots of outdoor drinking areas ready for when there is a ball game on.
There were a lot of homeless people in the downtown area. Pokey, and I sat in the park and watched the pigeons, the homeless, (mainly mentally ill), and the office workers eating their lunch in Pioneer square.
We then walked down by the water front. This was the ferry terminal areas and there wasn’t much to see. It was busy with ferry commuters coming or going to Bainbridge Island, Victoria, or Bremerton and points west.
The buses in the downtown area are free and Pokey was allowed on. So we jumped on a city bus and did some sightseeing that way. We got off at the last stop in the free zone and walked through another funky area and made our way toward Pike Place market.
I heard a “whole lot of barking” and so we investigated and found a little doggie daycare. It is a store front with a large picture window. You can watch the dogs play. Rather then leave your pet at home alone, you drop him off to play with others while you are at work.
Pokey and I looked for awhile through the window while that old song “How much is that doggie…… went through my head. Pokey and a white cocker spaniel each put there paws on the windows from different sides trying to connect. We went in for a while and met a few of the dogs and then continued our walk. Within a couple of blocks there was a little dog park. Talk about a dog friendly city! They can ride the buses for free, go to daycare and even own their own park.
This was my first visit to downtown Seattle. In the sunshine, I loved it. To me it looks like “Boston in the Northwest.” I have never heard anybody make that comparison, but the downtown area I saw looks similar to me.
We found Pikes Market where they “throw the fish” and entertain the customers with their banter. There were visual treats and many exotic smells for both Pokey and I to enjoy. After Pikes Market, we caught another bus until the area looked familiar and we headed back toward the ballpark.
I stopped at an historic tavern and had a local brew and a falafel that I bought from next door. We chatted with a shoeshine guy between his customers while I read the paper. The guy at the next table bought the shoeshine guy a beer and then we all chatted. What a great day.
By the time we got back to the RV Pokey and I were both exhausted. I started to type a little and within minutes Pokey was asleep. That looked like a good idea so I joined him.
We were awakened about an hour later by a truck noise and a whoosing sound. Pokey was at the window barking and barking. There was a fire truck that had pulled up about 20 feet away and had attached their hose to a hydrant and were testing their “water cannon” and testing all their hoses. I watched for a few minutes and then went back to my writing. Pokey made sure he watched them the entire time they were there.
It was about 5 p.m. and gotten overcast, so I thought we better get going. I planned on finding a casino on Hwy 99 and playing and maybe spending the night there.
Traffic was a little heavy with people leaving downtown, so as soon, as I saw, a waterfront park we pulled over to walk and wait another walk for traffic to diminish. I had a cigar and looked at the water and mountains on one side and the Space Needle and downtown buildings on the other.
We left the park as it started getting dark and we set out to find the casino I was going to play in tonight.
Sunny Day in Seattle
Well, I got my wish for clear skies today.
I woke up at 7 a.m. which is really unusual for me and rushed in to Muckleshoot Casino to see if the game I left last night at 1 a.m. was still playing. It had been a juicy game for me. It wasn’t. It had stopped at about 4 a.m.
I was invited to sit down and play 4/8 limit, the only game going in the poker room. I enjoyed the conversation with the young man to my left who was well spoken, gracious and intelligent. However, the old crude, ignorant, outspoken old codger across from us kept jumping in whenever he heard a word he could relate to. It didn’t make a bit of difference to him that it had nothing to do with what we were discussing or that it made little sense. He had an opinion and he was going to “damn well give it” (it was laced with expletives and terms like, communists, U.N., nuke them all, stop giving them money, etc, etc, every chance he had. Both the young man and I would stop talking for a few minutes, let the air clear, and try to pick up where we had left off. This went on for about 20 minutes before it became apparent that he wasn’t going to stop and they we were both to gracious to say “Will you shut the F**# up! So we both just played our cards without comment. The old women too my right kept swearing under her breath in both English and Chinese Two young men at the other end of the table were talking about how to treat a women and none of their suggestions to each other were within a mile of political correctness let alone without potential jail time if some of the suggestions were followed.
Not only was the ambiance characterized by “crude, dumb and dumber”, this was the worst play I had ever seen, and I managed to lose $140 at it. On a Kill pot that was raised, I got my buy-in of $80 in on pocket Kings in good position. The flop came 3,A,9,. Three players saw the turn and all checked to me, so I wasn’t worried about an Ace in one of their hands, as I continued to lead the betting all the way when checked to. We lost one at the flop. The turn was a 5 card and I felt pretty sure this older fellow wouldn’t be betting this much on a 2,4 hand. He checked and I bet. He called. The river came with a 4 and he bet out. With a sick feeling in my stomach I called and he turned over his two cards an suited 2 & 3. He had played, and bet big money for this level, in a game that is ruled by high cards, the two lowest cards in the deck. I looked at this with genuine amazedment and said “Wow, nice hand!!!! with all the feigned sincerity, laced with sarcasm I could get out. He had a fair sized chip stack. What gives here? The young man next to me said the old guy has started to make some of his money back but he was stuck over $1500 from that kind of play.
I bought back in for $60 more and had another similar experience that I won’t go into. I rarely give in to the “voices in my head” but finally gave in to the nagging voice in my head that was repeating over and over….. “It is a beautiful day out… what are you doing… sitting in here… and participating in this lunacy”??? What could I say to that? Beside the young man to my left it was the only voice of sense and reason at this table. I said goodbye to the young man and said “I think I have had enough”. (I guess I am not a true degenerate gambler. Here was an opportunity to play with possibly the world’s worst players and I knew I wouldn’t enjoy this experience at all. I passed it up for a little more quality of life.)
It did take too long bouncing down the road in the RV with pokey and a hot cup of coffee to shake off that experience. It truly was a beautiful, sunny day, and Seattle beckoned ahead,.
I woke up at 7 a.m. which is really unusual for me and rushed in to Muckleshoot Casino to see if the game I left last night at 1 a.m. was still playing. It had been a juicy game for me. It wasn’t. It had stopped at about 4 a.m.
I was invited to sit down and play 4/8 limit, the only game going in the poker room. I enjoyed the conversation with the young man to my left who was well spoken, gracious and intelligent. However, the old crude, ignorant, outspoken old codger across from us kept jumping in whenever he heard a word he could relate to. It didn’t make a bit of difference to him that it had nothing to do with what we were discussing or that it made little sense. He had an opinion and he was going to “damn well give it” (it was laced with expletives and terms like, communists, U.N., nuke them all, stop giving them money, etc, etc, every chance he had. Both the young man and I would stop talking for a few minutes, let the air clear, and try to pick up where we had left off. This went on for about 20 minutes before it became apparent that he wasn’t going to stop and they we were both to gracious to say “Will you shut the F**# up! So we both just played our cards without comment. The old women too my right kept swearing under her breath in both English and Chinese Two young men at the other end of the table were talking about how to treat a women and none of their suggestions to each other were within a mile of political correctness let alone without potential jail time if some of the suggestions were followed.
Not only was the ambiance characterized by “crude, dumb and dumber”, this was the worst play I had ever seen, and I managed to lose $140 at it. On a Kill pot that was raised, I got my buy-in of $80 in on pocket Kings in good position. The flop came 3,A,9,. Three players saw the turn and all checked to me, so I wasn’t worried about an Ace in one of their hands, as I continued to lead the betting all the way when checked to. We lost one at the flop. The turn was a 5 card and I felt pretty sure this older fellow wouldn’t be betting this much on a 2,4 hand. He checked and I bet. He called. The river came with a 4 and he bet out. With a sick feeling in my stomach I called and he turned over his two cards an suited 2 & 3. He had played, and bet big money for this level, in a game that is ruled by high cards, the two lowest cards in the deck. I looked at this with genuine amazedment and said “Wow, nice hand!!!! with all the feigned sincerity, laced with sarcasm I could get out. He had a fair sized chip stack. What gives here? The young man next to me said the old guy has started to make some of his money back but he was stuck over $1500 from that kind of play.
I bought back in for $60 more and had another similar experience that I won’t go into. I rarely give in to the “voices in my head” but finally gave in to the nagging voice in my head that was repeating over and over….. “It is a beautiful day out… what are you doing… sitting in here… and participating in this lunacy”??? What could I say to that? Beside the young man to my left it was the only voice of sense and reason at this table. I said goodbye to the young man and said “I think I have had enough”. (I guess I am not a true degenerate gambler. Here was an opportunity to play with possibly the world’s worst players and I knew I wouldn’t enjoy this experience at all. I passed it up for a little more quality of life.)
It did take too long bouncing down the road in the RV with pokey and a hot cup of coffee to shake off that experience. It truly was a beautiful, sunny day, and Seattle beckoned ahead,.
A shower and the Iron Horse...
Well, the prospect of not being able to take a hot shower in the RV until I got back to San Diego in a few weeks “dampened” (pun intended) even my big win.
When I got back to the RV I started to consider my options. I decided I would move on from Muckleshoot Casino, start driving, and look for an RV repair shop. Maybe I could a repair shop to get that wire soldered back on.
Within a few miles I came across Auburn RV. What a great place. I met Don the service manager and told him my plight. He said I would have to wait awhile.
No problem, I would wait here all day if he could take care of it. Within a few minutes he sent a man out, than he came out himself to supervise. The part that the lead went into had to be replaced as well as the main circuit board for the electronic ignition system. The total came to $260 including the parts that had to be replaced. I also watched them tune-it up, adjust the air/gas mixture and put in a new sensor. It starts first time every time now. It doesn’t hiss as much as it used to either.
While they were working on it, the young cashier fell in love with Pokey. He warmed up to her after awhile and even the parts counter man got involved in playing with Pokey. I bought a new power inverter and took it out of the plastic and plugged it into my lighter socket. (No go, nothing happened) They have a policy against taking back electronic parts, but they made an exception for me and pokey.
After I left I realized maybe they could replace the lighter socket. Don told me it was probably just a blown fuse. I looked under the dash and found the fuse box. There had to be about 50 fuses and I couldn’t make any sense of it. I went back in and appealed to Don and he came out with a fuse tester, located and replaced the right one. When I asked him how much? He said “no charge”. I handed him $20 and said thank you, please have lunch on me.
That kind of service and caring about other’s situation made this country great. I think greed and selfish is ruining our country’s value system and our quality of life. I find people much more available to help in smaller towns and cities then the large urban areas
Well, since I hadn’t got very far I went back to Muckleshoot. I made dinner for Pokey and me. He took a walk and then I went in to play some more. Between 6-11 p.m. I was able to triple up my $200 buy-in and walked away with another $400 gain.
We spent another night in the Muckleshoot parking lot and I went in at 10:30 a.m. to play the morning tournament. I did enjoy a nice “hot shower” in the RV and a fresh set of clothes. Pokey was sniffing me more then usual, so I tried not to get too close to humans until after the hot water heater got fixed. (grin)
I already talked about this tournament where I went out on the first hand. So I decided to go ahead and start driving to the Iron Horse Casino I heard wasn’t far from here. It turns out to only be a few blocks past Auburn RV.
We parked in the country owned Park-Ride facility, by a private airport with a grassy park area between the Airport fence and the parking facility. Pokey and I ran, and played on the grass. We watched the little airplanes takeoff and land just over our heads. Then it was in to the Iron Horse for some poker for me.
The Iron Horse was a friendly little combination restaurant, lounge, casino, and pool room. The poker area had two tables. One table had a 3/6 game going with one seat open. The staff was real friendly and quickly had me with chips in my seat and playing.
The table players were mainly guys older then me with two exceptions, and it was a lot of “old guy” humor. I took a couple of breaks to run Pokey in the park and played limit from until about 5:30 p.m. When I cashed out I was up $7.
A couple blocks away I located a “Comfort Inn” Motel that had open Internet Access and I was able to upload some more blogs I had written.
I had about an hour before the evening Tournament back at Muckleshoot, so I stopped at Albertsons and loaded up with groceries for the next week. Then it was back the four miles to my now very familiar parking area. A walk for Pokey and me, and then I headed in for the evening tournament while pokey napped in the RV.
I lasted a little longer in the evening tournament then the morning one. I went all in with KQ suited against JJ. I flopped a Q and then the turn was a Jack and I was out. The tournament was $50 with a $40 add-on.
I was first up for the 5-500 spread limit game and it took well over an hour before somebody left. There were 25 names behind me and they never would start another table. Who cares what the customer wants, we will offer what we offer! They seemed so afraid of losing another table if they opened this new game. This spread limit game is a new game for them. They have only been playing it here since I arrived on Sunday. So between the fear of the new, and the excuse of “we have never done it that way before” a lot of their customers were very frustrated.
I was very glad for the game. I was able to cash out about $300 up for the night. ($200 net after deducting my tournament entry money) And, I enjoyed the game and very much talk and banter at the table last night. The fellow that told me “I had given him a “wupping” sat to my left and he was the best player on the table. I can see why he got a little frustrated when I sat down Monday morning and beat him 4 hands in an hour without a loss. He is a pretty good player and we both tried to stay out of each other’s way the rest of the night.
Tonight, is much more mild and the sky seems to be clearing a little. I could see the light of a hazy moon through the dark gray skies. I may have to rethink whether I could live here or not. I thrive on clear skies.
If it is clear tomorrow I will probably take a day off poker and do sightseeing while I travel a little bit more north into Seattle.
Good night reader, good night Pokey, Good night Pokey, Good night…..
P.S. One of the only problems with Pokey is he sleeps from 7-midnight while I am playing poker. Then I come in to go to sleep and he wants to play and pounces on me and chews on me while I am trying to go to sleep. I take him for a walk when I come back to go to sleep and play for a while with him, but he is like child that wants to play rather then go to bed. It is really enjoyable to have him travel with me. Now, if I could just teach him to play poker……..
When I got back to the RV I started to consider my options. I decided I would move on from Muckleshoot Casino, start driving, and look for an RV repair shop. Maybe I could a repair shop to get that wire soldered back on.
Within a few miles I came across Auburn RV. What a great place. I met Don the service manager and told him my plight. He said I would have to wait awhile.
No problem, I would wait here all day if he could take care of it. Within a few minutes he sent a man out, than he came out himself to supervise. The part that the lead went into had to be replaced as well as the main circuit board for the electronic ignition system. The total came to $260 including the parts that had to be replaced. I also watched them tune-it up, adjust the air/gas mixture and put in a new sensor. It starts first time every time now. It doesn’t hiss as much as it used to either.
While they were working on it, the young cashier fell in love with Pokey. He warmed up to her after awhile and even the parts counter man got involved in playing with Pokey. I bought a new power inverter and took it out of the plastic and plugged it into my lighter socket. (No go, nothing happened) They have a policy against taking back electronic parts, but they made an exception for me and pokey.
After I left I realized maybe they could replace the lighter socket. Don told me it was probably just a blown fuse. I looked under the dash and found the fuse box. There had to be about 50 fuses and I couldn’t make any sense of it. I went back in and appealed to Don and he came out with a fuse tester, located and replaced the right one. When I asked him how much? He said “no charge”. I handed him $20 and said thank you, please have lunch on me.
That kind of service and caring about other’s situation made this country great. I think greed and selfish is ruining our country’s value system and our quality of life. I find people much more available to help in smaller towns and cities then the large urban areas
Well, since I hadn’t got very far I went back to Muckleshoot. I made dinner for Pokey and me. He took a walk and then I went in to play some more. Between 6-11 p.m. I was able to triple up my $200 buy-in and walked away with another $400 gain.
We spent another night in the Muckleshoot parking lot and I went in at 10:30 a.m. to play the morning tournament. I did enjoy a nice “hot shower” in the RV and a fresh set of clothes. Pokey was sniffing me more then usual, so I tried not to get too close to humans until after the hot water heater got fixed. (grin)
I already talked about this tournament where I went out on the first hand. So I decided to go ahead and start driving to the Iron Horse Casino I heard wasn’t far from here. It turns out to only be a few blocks past Auburn RV.
We parked in the country owned Park-Ride facility, by a private airport with a grassy park area between the Airport fence and the parking facility. Pokey and I ran, and played on the grass. We watched the little airplanes takeoff and land just over our heads. Then it was in to the Iron Horse for some poker for me.
The Iron Horse was a friendly little combination restaurant, lounge, casino, and pool room. The poker area had two tables. One table had a 3/6 game going with one seat open. The staff was real friendly and quickly had me with chips in my seat and playing.
The table players were mainly guys older then me with two exceptions, and it was a lot of “old guy” humor. I took a couple of breaks to run Pokey in the park and played limit from until about 5:30 p.m. When I cashed out I was up $7.
A couple blocks away I located a “Comfort Inn” Motel that had open Internet Access and I was able to upload some more blogs I had written.
I had about an hour before the evening Tournament back at Muckleshoot, so I stopped at Albertsons and loaded up with groceries for the next week. Then it was back the four miles to my now very familiar parking area. A walk for Pokey and me, and then I headed in for the evening tournament while pokey napped in the RV.
I lasted a little longer in the evening tournament then the morning one. I went all in with KQ suited against JJ. I flopped a Q and then the turn was a Jack and I was out. The tournament was $50 with a $40 add-on.
I was first up for the 5-500 spread limit game and it took well over an hour before somebody left. There were 25 names behind me and they never would start another table. Who cares what the customer wants, we will offer what we offer! They seemed so afraid of losing another table if they opened this new game. This spread limit game is a new game for them. They have only been playing it here since I arrived on Sunday. So between the fear of the new, and the excuse of “we have never done it that way before” a lot of their customers were very frustrated.
I was very glad for the game. I was able to cash out about $300 up for the night. ($200 net after deducting my tournament entry money) And, I enjoyed the game and very much talk and banter at the table last night. The fellow that told me “I had given him a “wupping” sat to my left and he was the best player on the table. I can see why he got a little frustrated when I sat down Monday morning and beat him 4 hands in an hour without a loss. He is a pretty good player and we both tried to stay out of each other’s way the rest of the night.
Tonight, is much more mild and the sky seems to be clearing a little. I could see the light of a hazy moon through the dark gray skies. I may have to rethink whether I could live here or not. I thrive on clear skies.
If it is clear tomorrow I will probably take a day off poker and do sightseeing while I travel a little bit more north into Seattle.
Good night reader, good night Pokey, Good night Pokey, Good night…..
P.S. One of the only problems with Pokey is he sleeps from 7-midnight while I am playing poker. Then I come in to go to sleep and he wants to play and pounces on me and chews on me while I am trying to go to sleep. I take him for a walk when I come back to go to sleep and play for a while with him, but he is like child that wants to play rather then go to bed. It is really enjoyable to have him travel with me. Now, if I could just teach him to play poker……..
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Muckleshoot
Well, I went out on the first hand of a tournament. It was not even a great hand. I had just read an article on aggressive tournament strategy in the Poker Player Newspaper while waiting for the tournament to begin. I was in middle position with A7 hearts and raised it to 200 when the blinds were 25-50. We had a beginning stack of 3,000 chips which was a double stack tournament day for this room.
Usually, they have 1500 starting chips. I figured the regular players here would play this a little slower because they had more chips to play with. So I decided to play it fast. A player two positions to my left called. The flop came Kh, 2h, 9s and I bet 1,000. He called me and I went all-in fully expecting him to not risk his tournament life on what should have been a AK or better for me to bet like that in early position. He called without hesitation and turned over K,Q off suit. (A hand that is easily dominated in that type of call)
It was about 50/50 for me to catch the heart for the flush. It did not come and I was out the door.
I want to think a little more about that play but I am not sure it was that bad a play.
Right off, I know it would have been a smarter move to raise with a hand like that from later position. When he called I assumed he had a small pair or single Ace. I didn’t expect him to have AK or he should have re-raised me. So I really thought I could get him off any other hand he was likely to have after the flop came. I was wrong. Oh, well it could have gone the other way with a heart on the turn or river. Had I won it I would have had more options to dominate the table afterwards and increase my chip stack.
So now I am getting ready to leave the Muckleshoot Casino and venture forth a little more. It is a 3 hour drive from Portland to Seattle. It has been over 3 days for me and I am not there yet.
Yesterday, started off very badly. I couldn’t write for my blog, because of the power inverter problem. I needed a shower, so I pushed the button to ignite the hot water heater and it wouldn’t start. It had been getting difficult to start and I tried a couple of tricks that had started it before. I tried warming up the sensor a little with a match, I tried multiple attempts on the switch. Then I wiggled the sensor wire and it fell off in my hand. The connection had rotted away.
So I decided to go in and play the tournament anyway. When I walked in, I found out the floor person who told me there was a tournament this morning was wrong. As I was about to leave I noticed the game I had left at midnight was still going in the corner with three people.
I play pretty well short handed so I went over and bought in for $200. These three guys had been playing for 12-14 hours and I assumed I could do well here being rested and refreshed while they had to be exhausted.
Sure enough I played a couple of hands reading the board, and their hands well, and picked up a couple of pots by aggressive betting. I now had almost $300 on the table.
I played A6h on the big blind. I bet out $25 and was called by the dealer button. The flop came Jh, 7h, 8s. I bet out $75 and was called. I had two hearts and needed the flush.
The turn was the 10h and I bet $150. The dealer position player raised it! I checked again and sure enough I had the nut flush.
I called all in with the nut flush and the river was a 3c. When I flipped over my hand he said he had a flush also and assumed I had a straight.
Nice, I was now over $600 when a true maniac sat down. He went through 3 buy-ins of $500 in the next 20 minutes. He lost one and won one calling all in with nothing to the same player. I felt like I had a pretty good read on him and waited for my chance. It didn’t take long.
I had the AQ. He bet pre-flop $40. I called. The board came Q,7,9 He bet out $75 instantly. I raised him to $150 and he instantly went all-in. I went into the “think tank” and also watched him.
This was his 3rd buy-in he had to be feeling the loss a little by now. He looked a little nervous and everything in me thought he is bluffing. Finally, I came to a settled conviction that it was another of his “nothing bluffs”.
I called making the pot now $600. I was right. He turned over K, J for no pair. I was complimented by the other players for my reading of the situation.
For me the best part was I now had over $1200 in front of me. After one more hand where I beat the original player again and he said to me “I had given him a genuine ass-whuping” today.
He lost over $600 to me which was ½ of what he had spent all night earning. He did replace it from the maniac’s play. But, he gave me a hard time when I left after an hour when the table filled up.
I wished him luck and told him let’s play for his Harley “Fat-Boy”. I had heard him bragging about it last night to another player. He broke into a big grin and I “won him” over with that remark. He said if he lost that he would lose his house too, because his wife would leave him. I wished him luck, as I left, and told him I would bring his money back Friday and he could have another crack at it then.
Usually, they have 1500 starting chips. I figured the regular players here would play this a little slower because they had more chips to play with. So I decided to play it fast. A player two positions to my left called. The flop came Kh, 2h, 9s and I bet 1,000. He called me and I went all-in fully expecting him to not risk his tournament life on what should have been a AK or better for me to bet like that in early position. He called without hesitation and turned over K,Q off suit. (A hand that is easily dominated in that type of call)
It was about 50/50 for me to catch the heart for the flush. It did not come and I was out the door.
I want to think a little more about that play but I am not sure it was that bad a play.
Right off, I know it would have been a smarter move to raise with a hand like that from later position. When he called I assumed he had a small pair or single Ace. I didn’t expect him to have AK or he should have re-raised me. So I really thought I could get him off any other hand he was likely to have after the flop came. I was wrong. Oh, well it could have gone the other way with a heart on the turn or river. Had I won it I would have had more options to dominate the table afterwards and increase my chip stack.
So now I am getting ready to leave the Muckleshoot Casino and venture forth a little more. It is a 3 hour drive from Portland to Seattle. It has been over 3 days for me and I am not there yet.
Yesterday, started off very badly. I couldn’t write for my blog, because of the power inverter problem. I needed a shower, so I pushed the button to ignite the hot water heater and it wouldn’t start. It had been getting difficult to start and I tried a couple of tricks that had started it before. I tried warming up the sensor a little with a match, I tried multiple attempts on the switch. Then I wiggled the sensor wire and it fell off in my hand. The connection had rotted away.
So I decided to go in and play the tournament anyway. When I walked in, I found out the floor person who told me there was a tournament this morning was wrong. As I was about to leave I noticed the game I had left at midnight was still going in the corner with three people.
I play pretty well short handed so I went over and bought in for $200. These three guys had been playing for 12-14 hours and I assumed I could do well here being rested and refreshed while they had to be exhausted.
Sure enough I played a couple of hands reading the board, and their hands well, and picked up a couple of pots by aggressive betting. I now had almost $300 on the table.
I played A6h on the big blind. I bet out $25 and was called by the dealer button. The flop came Jh, 7h, 8s. I bet out $75 and was called. I had two hearts and needed the flush.
The turn was the 10h and I bet $150. The dealer position player raised it! I checked again and sure enough I had the nut flush.
I called all in with the nut flush and the river was a 3c. When I flipped over my hand he said he had a flush also and assumed I had a straight.
Nice, I was now over $600 when a true maniac sat down. He went through 3 buy-ins of $500 in the next 20 minutes. He lost one and won one calling all in with nothing to the same player. I felt like I had a pretty good read on him and waited for my chance. It didn’t take long.
I had the AQ. He bet pre-flop $40. I called. The board came Q,7,9 He bet out $75 instantly. I raised him to $150 and he instantly went all-in. I went into the “think tank” and also watched him.
This was his 3rd buy-in he had to be feeling the loss a little by now. He looked a little nervous and everything in me thought he is bluffing. Finally, I came to a settled conviction that it was another of his “nothing bluffs”.
I called making the pot now $600. I was right. He turned over K, J for no pair. I was complimented by the other players for my reading of the situation.
For me the best part was I now had over $1200 in front of me. After one more hand where I beat the original player again and he said to me “I had given him a genuine ass-whuping” today.
He lost over $600 to me which was ½ of what he had spent all night earning. He did replace it from the maniac’s play. But, he gave me a hard time when I left after an hour when the table filled up.
I wished him luck and told him let’s play for his Harley “Fat-Boy”. I had heard him bragging about it last night to another player. He broke into a big grin and I “won him” over with that remark. He said if he lost that he would lose his house too, because his wife would leave him. I wished him luck, as I left, and told him I would bring his money back Friday and he could have another crack at it then.
lost lake
It was another cold night in the woods at Lost Lake, but we slept well. I may stop on the way back from Seattle and stay another day there. Last night we set out walking to find the pool and hot tub, but we couldn’t find them in the dark. Today, before leaving we drove to find them. No wonder we couldn’t find them. They were about a mile away.
But, the hot tubs were inside and there were very nice shower rooms leading to them.
Today it is starting to drizzle a little and the thought of sitting in a hot tub is very appealing. But I checked out without using the hot tub and got back on Interstate 5 north. We got about 10 miles down the road and came to Fort Lewis, Washington.
It brought back some memories. When I was in the Army in 1969 I was here for about 3 days getting ready for a flight to South Korea where I was stationed at Panmunjom, (A United Nations Compound) where the “peace talks” are being held. The United Nations continues to be ‘all talk’ wherever it tries to help. These “talks” have been going on since I was 4 years old and I am now 57. I only had to stay in South Korea for 14 months, but saw some folks die while other people talked and talked while each side accused the other as being the aggressor.
I stopped at a KFC right outside one of the gates to Fort Lewis. I saw signs of support, yellow ribbons, and memorial altars to our military. My eyes teared up a little. When we came back in 1970 people were screaming at us and calling us the “bad guys”. I am glad these troops have our support.
I saw about 10 army guys and women eating lunch at the KFC and said to them “God bless you.”
Back in the RV and down the road to South Tacoma I decided to exit the freeway and just drive blindly around South Tacoma.
Boy, did I.
I lost all sense of direction and was trying to use the waterfront as a landmark. (Bad idea). I didn’t know Tacoma came to a point with water on three sides. Once I got to that point I knew I was in trouble and my “water navigation method” was not going to work.
Finally I saw a sign pointing the way toward I5 and I was soon passing the Tacoma dome. I wanted to stop and look at a map to see how I had gotten so lost. But, before I could do even do that, I saw a casino up ahead, but couldn’t get over for the exit. I got off the next exit after it when I saw a Flying J service station off to my left.
I had dropped my power inverter and broke it, or so I thought. I use the power inverter to take power from the RV cigarette lighter and run it to the laptop computer. The inverter converts the DC from the RV to AC. I don’t want to run the generator just to produce AC to power the laptop so the inverter is a great solution. However, the power inverter wouldn’t work anymore after I dropped it while it was plugged in. I had thought I had “shorted” it out. I found out the next day my inverter still worked and I had blown a fuse in the cigarette lighter. I knew Flying J’s sold power inverters. So I thought I would buy one and maybe double back to the casino I just missed at the same time.
This flying J was at the entrance of the Port of Tacoma. What a busy place! I saw Trucks, cranes, containers and ships everywhere I looked.
The flying J was out of power inverters so I thought I would write and upload with the generator on next time I saw a motel advertising wireless. I saw one as soon as I came out of the Flying J It was “Freddies Casino” in Fife at there I would spend the afternoon.
They had two games of 3/6 limit going on and I soon lost about $100 over the next couple of hours playing second best hands. Then I was moved to the main game where I was able to take down a couple of monster pots. It was a wild game, and I was taking risks with flush draws and suited connectors and completed a couple to get all my money back.
This particular Casino is also a pretty good restaurant. I had fresh salmon, stuffed with crab over wild rice with steamed vegetables for lunch and a bud light beer. Poker players get 60 percent off the price so this great meal was only $8. I have been primarily eating only in the RV or a couple of wings at KFC or a bean burrito at Taco Bell so this meal felt extravagant.
At the main table one of the guys claimed to be a poker pro from Las Vegas that made 10K a month playing poker for a living. He said he grew up in this area and was visiting for a month long fishing trip. When asked why he would play this little game? He claimed it was just for fun. When he found out I was from San Diego he asked if I was up here fishing? I said, “just at the tables….” Yuk, yuk….
I am a little suspect of his story. I think he is from Las Vegas, I am sure he plays a lot of poker there, but he was unaware of the on-line prohibition that might be signed into law by the President tomorrow. His only response to that news was, “I don’t care, I don’t play poker online”. If he earned his living via playing poker, I would think he would realize that wasn’t a good thing because it could decrease the numbers of people in places, where there are no casinos, from playing on-line and then coming to Las Vegas to play live.
He also was a little frustrated when he was down a $100, but that may have only been his ego. He seemed to have a pretty big one.
After I broke even, I decided to head for the Muckleshoot Indian Casino. They have the largest poker room in Washington and some bigger games.
But, before I jumped back on the Freeway, I pulled into two different motels that advertised wireless in every room. Both of them had wireless security in place, I could not use them without knowing the password. Apparently, locked doors is still the difference between the country and the citys, even virtually.
I also have been frustrated in the three state rest stops I have tried. My computer will not connect with their open access wireless service. I pull as close as I can get to the wireless antenna on the roof of the rest stop. Even showing a strong signal received, it will not connect to my computer.
About a 15 minute drive took me to the Auburn area and the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation. They do have a large casino and a nice size poker room. It is about the size of Oceans 11 in Oceanside.
They did have some big games. Even bigger then I want to play. They had 50/100, 40/80, 30/60, 20/40 limit games going. Most of the stacks in the 50/100 game were about $5000
I arrived just in time to buy-in to a $135 tournament and played well in it until I was eliminated in 23 place.
I then played 4/8 limit for a couple of hours and tripled up my $100 buy-in in a couple of hours. That was some poor play by a couple of players that accounted for my profit.
I got called to a $10-20 limit game, which is about the biggest limit game I am comfortable playing.
I lost my profit from 4/8 after a couple of hours at the 10/20 game. The play was definitely better then the 4/8 game. I played a little too fast and loose. I would have done better moving right to the 3/5 No Limit game. (Technicially, it is not no-limit.) The bets are $5-500 and the buy-in is minimum $100, maximum $500. The rules in this reservation only allow a max bet of $500 It is very similar to the 2/4 N/L game I play at Sycuan.
After finally getting on the No-Limit, (which is all I wanted to play here), at midnight, I was too tired to play very long. I had already played 9 hours today. I doubled up my $200 buy-in within 30 minutes. Now that I was even for the day, I wished everyone a good night and went back to the RV and went to sleep.
I was told there is a 10:30 a.m. tournament so I set my mental alarm to wake me in time.
During the night, I dreamed of poker hands. But, I don’t remember if I won or lost in my sleep.
But, the hot tubs were inside and there were very nice shower rooms leading to them.
Today it is starting to drizzle a little and the thought of sitting in a hot tub is very appealing. But I checked out without using the hot tub and got back on Interstate 5 north. We got about 10 miles down the road and came to Fort Lewis, Washington.
It brought back some memories. When I was in the Army in 1969 I was here for about 3 days getting ready for a flight to South Korea where I was stationed at Panmunjom, (A United Nations Compound) where the “peace talks” are being held. The United Nations continues to be ‘all talk’ wherever it tries to help. These “talks” have been going on since I was 4 years old and I am now 57. I only had to stay in South Korea for 14 months, but saw some folks die while other people talked and talked while each side accused the other as being the aggressor.
I stopped at a KFC right outside one of the gates to Fort Lewis. I saw signs of support, yellow ribbons, and memorial altars to our military. My eyes teared up a little. When we came back in 1970 people were screaming at us and calling us the “bad guys”. I am glad these troops have our support.
I saw about 10 army guys and women eating lunch at the KFC and said to them “God bless you.”
Back in the RV and down the road to South Tacoma I decided to exit the freeway and just drive blindly around South Tacoma.
Boy, did I.
I lost all sense of direction and was trying to use the waterfront as a landmark. (Bad idea). I didn’t know Tacoma came to a point with water on three sides. Once I got to that point I knew I was in trouble and my “water navigation method” was not going to work.
Finally I saw a sign pointing the way toward I5 and I was soon passing the Tacoma dome. I wanted to stop and look at a map to see how I had gotten so lost. But, before I could do even do that, I saw a casino up ahead, but couldn’t get over for the exit. I got off the next exit after it when I saw a Flying J service station off to my left.
I had dropped my power inverter and broke it, or so I thought. I use the power inverter to take power from the RV cigarette lighter and run it to the laptop computer. The inverter converts the DC from the RV to AC. I don’t want to run the generator just to produce AC to power the laptop so the inverter is a great solution. However, the power inverter wouldn’t work anymore after I dropped it while it was plugged in. I had thought I had “shorted” it out. I found out the next day my inverter still worked and I had blown a fuse in the cigarette lighter. I knew Flying J’s sold power inverters. So I thought I would buy one and maybe double back to the casino I just missed at the same time.
This flying J was at the entrance of the Port of Tacoma. What a busy place! I saw Trucks, cranes, containers and ships everywhere I looked.
The flying J was out of power inverters so I thought I would write and upload with the generator on next time I saw a motel advertising wireless. I saw one as soon as I came out of the Flying J It was “Freddies Casino” in Fife at there I would spend the afternoon.
They had two games of 3/6 limit going on and I soon lost about $100 over the next couple of hours playing second best hands. Then I was moved to the main game where I was able to take down a couple of monster pots. It was a wild game, and I was taking risks with flush draws and suited connectors and completed a couple to get all my money back.
This particular Casino is also a pretty good restaurant. I had fresh salmon, stuffed with crab over wild rice with steamed vegetables for lunch and a bud light beer. Poker players get 60 percent off the price so this great meal was only $8. I have been primarily eating only in the RV or a couple of wings at KFC or a bean burrito at Taco Bell so this meal felt extravagant.
At the main table one of the guys claimed to be a poker pro from Las Vegas that made 10K a month playing poker for a living. He said he grew up in this area and was visiting for a month long fishing trip. When asked why he would play this little game? He claimed it was just for fun. When he found out I was from San Diego he asked if I was up here fishing? I said, “just at the tables….” Yuk, yuk….
I am a little suspect of his story. I think he is from Las Vegas, I am sure he plays a lot of poker there, but he was unaware of the on-line prohibition that might be signed into law by the President tomorrow. His only response to that news was, “I don’t care, I don’t play poker online”. If he earned his living via playing poker, I would think he would realize that wasn’t a good thing because it could decrease the numbers of people in places, where there are no casinos, from playing on-line and then coming to Las Vegas to play live.
He also was a little frustrated when he was down a $100, but that may have only been his ego. He seemed to have a pretty big one.
After I broke even, I decided to head for the Muckleshoot Indian Casino. They have the largest poker room in Washington and some bigger games.
But, before I jumped back on the Freeway, I pulled into two different motels that advertised wireless in every room. Both of them had wireless security in place, I could not use them without knowing the password. Apparently, locked doors is still the difference between the country and the citys, even virtually.
I also have been frustrated in the three state rest stops I have tried. My computer will not connect with their open access wireless service. I pull as close as I can get to the wireless antenna on the roof of the rest stop. Even showing a strong signal received, it will not connect to my computer.
About a 15 minute drive took me to the Auburn area and the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation. They do have a large casino and a nice size poker room. It is about the size of Oceans 11 in Oceanside.
They did have some big games. Even bigger then I want to play. They had 50/100, 40/80, 30/60, 20/40 limit games going. Most of the stacks in the 50/100 game were about $5000
I arrived just in time to buy-in to a $135 tournament and played well in it until I was eliminated in 23 place.
I then played 4/8 limit for a couple of hours and tripled up my $100 buy-in in a couple of hours. That was some poor play by a couple of players that accounted for my profit.
I got called to a $10-20 limit game, which is about the biggest limit game I am comfortable playing.
I lost my profit from 4/8 after a couple of hours at the 10/20 game. The play was definitely better then the 4/8 game. I played a little too fast and loose. I would have done better moving right to the 3/5 No Limit game. (Technicially, it is not no-limit.) The bets are $5-500 and the buy-in is minimum $100, maximum $500. The rules in this reservation only allow a max bet of $500 It is very similar to the 2/4 N/L game I play at Sycuan.
After finally getting on the No-Limit, (which is all I wanted to play here), at midnight, I was too tired to play very long. I had already played 9 hours today. I doubled up my $200 buy-in within 30 minutes. Now that I was even for the day, I wished everyone a good night and went back to the RV and went to sleep.
I was told there is a 10:30 a.m. tournament so I set my mental alarm to wake me in time.
During the night, I dreamed of poker hands. But, I don’t remember if I won or lost in my sleep.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Day 2 a slight comeback.....
Today we started out in Rochester, Washington and made it all the way to Olympia, Washington. (A distance of about 25 miles) But, it was an enjoyable trip anyway.
I found a back country road that wound through forests and a tree lined scenic byway. We stopped near the Capitol Grounds in an historic park, so Pokey could run. It was another beautiful day in the Northwest. I heard it rains around here, but I haven't seen it yet.
Later, I found a wireless connection outside a motel I could “hitchhike” on and uploaded the last two blogs.
We arrived at Red Wind Indian Casino, just outside of Olympia, around 1 p.m.
I was not impressed with the RV parking area. It was an unpaved lot, with dry weeds all around. It looked like a dumping area for old cars, and vans across the highway from the Casino. I knew I did not want to stay in that lot overnight, but I did want to play a few hours of poker and have a good place to sleep tonight. So I took out my camping book.
We have been Coast to Coast members since 2001 and the membership allows us to stay in a member park for $8. I still have 4 or 5 nights of credit in their system. So, I located one less then 5 miles from the Casino and made arrangements to show up by 7 p.m. that evening.
Since I am back eating healthy today, I made a turkey sandwich and had an orange for lunch in the RV before I went in to play.
Red Wind Casino is pretty non-descript, nothing impressive about it. They did have a poker room off the bar area with 2 tables of 3/6 limit. I hope to hit some bigger games pretty soon. I think tomorrow I will be at the largest poker room in the Seattle area at Muckleshoot Indian Casino in the Auburn area.
I had to wait about an hour and finally got on to one of the tables. I bought in for $60 and played a couple of hours and took a break to walk Pokey. I went back and played until about 6:30 p.m. and cashed out $120.
That reduces my net loss for the Washington portion of the trip to -$40
We checked into Lost Lake RV Park and plugged into Electricity. We still had about 30 minutes of daylight left so Pokey and I took a hike around the park until I couldn’t see him anymore.
Tonight was pretty much a night of chores. I had a can of soup and popcorn for dinner. Then I spent the remainder of the night organizing the cupboards above my driving compartment where we keep our videos and games. It is good to know what is in there now and to be able to see it all when I open the cupboard.
The rest of the night before we go to sleep will be spent in finishing watching the video “Small Time Crooks” with Woody Allen
Good night from somewhere in Lost Lake RV park.
P.S. It was a cold night of sleeping. It might have been a "Three dog night", and I had only one. And a small one at that. But, under the heavy quilt, we both slept well all night and it was only cold during the dash to the bathroom. In the RV, that is only about 14 feet. So I was back in bed quickly, with only a slight grumble from Pokey that I had disturbed him.
A hot shower in the campground shower area and I topped off our fresh water tank.
And we are back on the road again.
I found a back country road that wound through forests and a tree lined scenic byway. We stopped near the Capitol Grounds in an historic park, so Pokey could run. It was another beautiful day in the Northwest. I heard it rains around here, but I haven't seen it yet.
Later, I found a wireless connection outside a motel I could “hitchhike” on and uploaded the last two blogs.
We arrived at Red Wind Indian Casino, just outside of Olympia, around 1 p.m.
I was not impressed with the RV parking area. It was an unpaved lot, with dry weeds all around. It looked like a dumping area for old cars, and vans across the highway from the Casino. I knew I did not want to stay in that lot overnight, but I did want to play a few hours of poker and have a good place to sleep tonight. So I took out my camping book.
We have been Coast to Coast members since 2001 and the membership allows us to stay in a member park for $8. I still have 4 or 5 nights of credit in their system. So, I located one less then 5 miles from the Casino and made arrangements to show up by 7 p.m. that evening.
Since I am back eating healthy today, I made a turkey sandwich and had an orange for lunch in the RV before I went in to play.
Red Wind Casino is pretty non-descript, nothing impressive about it. They did have a poker room off the bar area with 2 tables of 3/6 limit. I hope to hit some bigger games pretty soon. I think tomorrow I will be at the largest poker room in the Seattle area at Muckleshoot Indian Casino in the Auburn area.
I had to wait about an hour and finally got on to one of the tables. I bought in for $60 and played a couple of hours and took a break to walk Pokey. I went back and played until about 6:30 p.m. and cashed out $120.
That reduces my net loss for the Washington portion of the trip to -$40
We checked into Lost Lake RV Park and plugged into Electricity. We still had about 30 minutes of daylight left so Pokey and I took a hike around the park until I couldn’t see him anymore.
Tonight was pretty much a night of chores. I had a can of soup and popcorn for dinner. Then I spent the remainder of the night organizing the cupboards above my driving compartment where we keep our videos and games. It is good to know what is in there now and to be able to see it all when I open the cupboard.
The rest of the night before we go to sleep will be spent in finishing watching the video “Small Time Crooks” with Woody Allen
Good night from somewhere in Lost Lake RV park.
P.S. It was a cold night of sleeping. It might have been a "Three dog night", and I had only one. And a small one at that. But, under the heavy quilt, we both slept well all night and it was only cold during the dash to the bathroom. In the RV, that is only about 14 feet. So I was back in bed quickly, with only a slight grumble from Pokey that I had disturbed him.
A hot shower in the campground shower area and I topped off our fresh water tank.
And we are back on the road again.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The end of Day 1 of Poker Month.....
Well, I made it to Kelso, Washington. I am just up the road about 30 miles from the last casino I played in. I had noted on the Internet, that there was an Elks Club/Casino here in Kelso. When I stopped in to check it out, I found the 6 p.m. tournament was ready to start in 5 minutes. I bought in to the tournament for $16 and played for the next hour. The level of play was awful. I would guess about ½ of these players only exposure to No Limit play is watching TV.
I was able to steal a couple of blinds and won one pot with pocket Jacks unchallenged. We started with about 40 players and were down to about 27 when I picked up pocket Aces in the Big Blind. The “know-it all, big-mouth, went all-in with pocket tens and I called. The flop came giving him a third ten. He said he knew when he saw my Aces he would catch the third ten. He was right. How come I can’t be that good a player. And how come the biggest loudmouth at the table often catches the biggest suckout? Actually, I was able to congratulate him. He had no real choice in his position with pocket tens, he made the right play to go all in, and I just got unlucky. (Again,) Nothing, wrong with his play, only his mouth and his poker etiquette.
I got to play an hour of tournament poker for $16. I went all-in with the best hand. I will not always be unlucky.
Pokey and I are back on the road again going north to the next rest stop where we can stretch our legs.
Then we make another rest stop, another walk, and another wireless connection.
I see a billboard on the side of the road announcing that Lucky Eagle Casino is off exit 88B.
Well, I could use a little luck that sounds good. It is now about 9 p.m. and I think this just may be where we spend tonight. I turn off onto the exit and a sign indicates Lucky Eagle is 8 miles ahead on US12. There is a quarter moon out, but everything on both sides of the highway is dark, as far as I can see in all directions. After 8 miles there is a wooden sign that says turn left for Chehalis Tribes Reservation and Casino.
This is the first indication this will be an Indian Casino. Back at La Center I was told the Indian Casinos of Washington are better places to play poker because they are not restricted from betting limits like some of the licensed places. In La Center the restriction was no more then $20 per bet. That may be a state wide limit.
Now we are definitely in the Northern Woods. Another left, and I see some lights ahead through the trees. I come to a 4 story hotel that looks like a large lodge and a pretty good size casino across the street. It is a very attractive setting, with a heavy forest of pine trees all around. I see about 20 RV’s parked in a parking lot across from the hotel. I have found my place to spend the night.
After walking Pokey, I head into the Casino and find I am just a weekend too early to see Mel Tillis… (grin) As I walk through the Casino I am a little concerned because I don’t see a poker room. After stopping a security person I found out it is located outside the main casino room, past the buffet, and down by the Bingo room.
Sure enough, there are three poker tables in a little room that looks like a private dining area of the buffet. There are two ten handed games of middle aged “Branson-Toursit type folks playing 3/6 limit. There is an empty table with 3 names on the wait list. I become number 4. I stroll down to the deli and after a week of very healthy eating with Caren, I really want something not so healthy. Hot pastrami, on grilled sourdough, with pepper cheese, that will do the trick. It was great and about 30 minutes later, well lubricated with grease, I buy in for $50 at the table.
An hour later I re-buy for about $40 more. The level of play here is not bad, but there are a couple of “calling stations” playing and if I can hang on I think I can get my money back. Finally, I pick up an A4 diamonds and the flop comes 8d, 10,d, 7s, I bet out with two callers, the turn is a Qc, and I check, and get bet into, I call, and the river is a beautiful Jack of Diamonds. I bet out, thinking I won’t get called. I checked the turn, and now I bet the river after the third diamond hit. Instead, I get “raised”? I do a double-take at the board and sure enough I have the “nuts”, so I re-raise and get called by the river straight. I scoop a nice pot for a 3-6 game.
I play a couple more hours and then by 12:30 I am yawning and thinking I better go before I make a mistake from playing tired. The same bettor and I get tangled up in a pot where I have an open ended straight draw. I catch it on the river and realized I am now about even. In fact, I have made $4 for the night. Well, technically the Pastrami cost me $4.25 so I am down 25 cents for the evening. But, that sounds like a good time to head for the RV and sleep.
Pokey the dog is excited to see me. We go for a walk and then wrestle in the RV and play tug of war for a while. It has gotten quite chilly out so we both crawl under a heavy quilt and after a few more attempts to play tug of war with my hand, pokey settles down, and I drop off to sleep dreaming of playing poker.
I was able to steal a couple of blinds and won one pot with pocket Jacks unchallenged. We started with about 40 players and were down to about 27 when I picked up pocket Aces in the Big Blind. The “know-it all, big-mouth, went all-in with pocket tens and I called. The flop came giving him a third ten. He said he knew when he saw my Aces he would catch the third ten. He was right. How come I can’t be that good a player. And how come the biggest loudmouth at the table often catches the biggest suckout? Actually, I was able to congratulate him. He had no real choice in his position with pocket tens, he made the right play to go all in, and I just got unlucky. (Again,) Nothing, wrong with his play, only his mouth and his poker etiquette.
I got to play an hour of tournament poker for $16. I went all-in with the best hand. I will not always be unlucky.
Pokey and I are back on the road again going north to the next rest stop where we can stretch our legs.
Then we make another rest stop, another walk, and another wireless connection.
I see a billboard on the side of the road announcing that Lucky Eagle Casino is off exit 88B.
Well, I could use a little luck that sounds good. It is now about 9 p.m. and I think this just may be where we spend tonight. I turn off onto the exit and a sign indicates Lucky Eagle is 8 miles ahead on US12. There is a quarter moon out, but everything on both sides of the highway is dark, as far as I can see in all directions. After 8 miles there is a wooden sign that says turn left for Chehalis Tribes Reservation and Casino.
This is the first indication this will be an Indian Casino. Back at La Center I was told the Indian Casinos of Washington are better places to play poker because they are not restricted from betting limits like some of the licensed places. In La Center the restriction was no more then $20 per bet. That may be a state wide limit.
Now we are definitely in the Northern Woods. Another left, and I see some lights ahead through the trees. I come to a 4 story hotel that looks like a large lodge and a pretty good size casino across the street. It is a very attractive setting, with a heavy forest of pine trees all around. I see about 20 RV’s parked in a parking lot across from the hotel. I have found my place to spend the night.
After walking Pokey, I head into the Casino and find I am just a weekend too early to see Mel Tillis… (grin) As I walk through the Casino I am a little concerned because I don’t see a poker room. After stopping a security person I found out it is located outside the main casino room, past the buffet, and down by the Bingo room.
Sure enough, there are three poker tables in a little room that looks like a private dining area of the buffet. There are two ten handed games of middle aged “Branson-Toursit type folks playing 3/6 limit. There is an empty table with 3 names on the wait list. I become number 4. I stroll down to the deli and after a week of very healthy eating with Caren, I really want something not so healthy. Hot pastrami, on grilled sourdough, with pepper cheese, that will do the trick. It was great and about 30 minutes later, well lubricated with grease, I buy in for $50 at the table.
An hour later I re-buy for about $40 more. The level of play here is not bad, but there are a couple of “calling stations” playing and if I can hang on I think I can get my money back. Finally, I pick up an A4 diamonds and the flop comes 8d, 10,d, 7s, I bet out with two callers, the turn is a Qc, and I check, and get bet into, I call, and the river is a beautiful Jack of Diamonds. I bet out, thinking I won’t get called. I checked the turn, and now I bet the river after the third diamond hit. Instead, I get “raised”? I do a double-take at the board and sure enough I have the “nuts”, so I re-raise and get called by the river straight. I scoop a nice pot for a 3-6 game.
I play a couple more hours and then by 12:30 I am yawning and thinking I better go before I make a mistake from playing tired. The same bettor and I get tangled up in a pot where I have an open ended straight draw. I catch it on the river and realized I am now about even. In fact, I have made $4 for the night. Well, technically the Pastrami cost me $4.25 so I am down 25 cents for the evening. But, that sounds like a good time to head for the RV and sleep.
Pokey the dog is excited to see me. We go for a walk and then wrestle in the RV and play tug of war for a while. It has gotten quite chilly out so we both crawl under a heavy quilt and after a few more attempts to play tug of war with my hand, pokey settles down, and I drop off to sleep dreaming of playing poker.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
The month long Poker trip begins......!!!!
Yesterday, (Friday) we spent the day in Portland. It was another, beautiful, sunny day in the great Northwest. How untypical. While Caren spent the day with her sister Nancy, I spent the day in the RV in their driveway utilizing their wireless connection. I wrote, posted, read blogs and played Party Poker. Five hours of Party Poker and I made $40. I could have done better many other places. But, of course I could have done a lot worse.
Today is the Big Day. It is the start of my “Month-long poker trip with the dog Pokey.
We dropped Caren off at the Portland airport about noon for her afternoon flight to San Diego. We hugged and said our goodbyes’ while the security people stared uncomfortably at the RV sitting curbside at the Airport. Trucks and big things like RV’s have them pretty concerned. Who can blame them after the Timothy McVeigh thing in Oklahoma City.
Before Caren could make it through bag check and security, I was across the Columbia River and driving north to the first card room I would play at, in La Center. (About 20 miles north of Portland.)
But, before getting there I stopped at a rest stop to exercise pokey and me. We found a very nice rest center in Washington. It had a RV dump, (we utilized) woods to walk Pokey in, (we did) and wireless connectivity in the first one I stopped in. I hope that is a pattern for the rest of the way to Seattle.
La Center is a beautiful little town about 7 miles off of I5 in a hilly, valley setting. There were 4 little casinos: Two on each side of the street each pair connected together. Each set of two had one poker room. I played at Chips Casino. They had just finished a tournament and the only games they had were 3/6 limit. I bought in for a hundred. I played most of the afternoon and stole a few pots. Which is really tough to do in 3/6 limit, but I still managed to lose my $100 in the four hours I played. I did enjoy it, except for not catching any cards. They comp anything on the menu after an hour of play. I had a tasty, pepper steak, smothered in green peppers & mushrooms.
So far my month starts on a loss. I hope to make that up tonight in a no-limit game at an Indian Casino. I think it is called Muckleshoot Casino. We are planning on spending the night there.
I’ll try to make another entry tonight if I have connectivity.
Washington trip net, 4 hours of poker, -100
Today is the Big Day. It is the start of my “Month-long poker trip with the dog Pokey.
We dropped Caren off at the Portland airport about noon for her afternoon flight to San Diego. We hugged and said our goodbyes’ while the security people stared uncomfortably at the RV sitting curbside at the Airport. Trucks and big things like RV’s have them pretty concerned. Who can blame them after the Timothy McVeigh thing in Oklahoma City.
Before Caren could make it through bag check and security, I was across the Columbia River and driving north to the first card room I would play at, in La Center. (About 20 miles north of Portland.)
But, before getting there I stopped at a rest stop to exercise pokey and me. We found a very nice rest center in Washington. It had a RV dump, (we utilized) woods to walk Pokey in, (we did) and wireless connectivity in the first one I stopped in. I hope that is a pattern for the rest of the way to Seattle.
La Center is a beautiful little town about 7 miles off of I5 in a hilly, valley setting. There were 4 little casinos: Two on each side of the street each pair connected together. Each set of two had one poker room. I played at Chips Casino. They had just finished a tournament and the only games they had were 3/6 limit. I bought in for a hundred. I played most of the afternoon and stole a few pots. Which is really tough to do in 3/6 limit, but I still managed to lose my $100 in the four hours I played. I did enjoy it, except for not catching any cards. They comp anything on the menu after an hour of play. I had a tasty, pepper steak, smothered in green peppers & mushrooms.
So far my month starts on a loss. I hope to make that up tonight in a no-limit game at an Indian Casino. I think it is called Muckleshoot Casino. We are planning on spending the night there.
I’ll try to make another entry tonight if I have connectivity.
Washington trip net, 4 hours of poker, -100
Friday, September 29, 2006
The end of the WSOP is near!!!!
Poker is in the mainstream and here to stay…. The end of the WSOP is near!!!
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player?
(A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.)
How can you tell a poker player is lying?
(His chips are moving.)
The following is no joke, though many people won’t believe it until it happens suddenly!
I believe in just a few years the WSOP will be gone. We have only to look at a parallel from the computer world.
Before most people could spell "computer" there were a few computer conventions put on by people who loved computers. One of the most popular became COMDEX. It was an annual event in Las Vegas until two years ago and it’s history predicts the future of the WSOP.
The first Comdex was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand by Venetian casino and former Sands owner Sheldon Adelson.
Comdex was to computer lovers what the WSOP is to poker players. An annual event to look forward to for the following reasons.
1. Rub shoulders with the professionals. (Bill Gates would be in a booth and you could talk to him about his software. Peter Norton had his mother selling his homegrown software in his booth)
2. See the outlandish (Every booth tried to top the others, bikini clad girls, celebrity look-alikes, important industry announcements etc.)
3. “How many people this year”? (Each year we couldn’t wait to get their to see how big it had grown this year. And how big it could be next year.
4. The good natured bantering & arguments between the old school, IBM, Data General, Hewlett Packard & the new "young guns" Compaq, Microsoft, Lotus 123 etc….which way was better, old school or new?
Any of this sounding familiar to the WSOP?
Then came corporate greed.
Attendance at the 1997 Comdex hit 220,000 people and more then 2,500 companies exhibited at the show.
In short Comdex was a "cash cow". For the past few years Comdex officials pressured vendors to buy bigger booths at higher prices and gave them less for their money.
Take it or leave it…(IBM, famously, left it in 1997)
As Brian Caulfield of CNN Money said in 2003, “Comdex was a magnet for dumb money". Every year a new “star of the show” would emerge, splash around, and the next year no one would hear anything else about it.
In 2000, major companies such as IBM, Apple Computer, and Compaq (now merged with Hewlett-Packard) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX because of its runaway costs and decline in quality.
In June 2004, COMDEX officially postponed the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas due to lack of heavy-weight participants. COMDEX was cancelled for 2005, and its future status is uncertain.
Don’t think the WSOP can die a quick death???
There was a lot more money and players involved in COMDEX then the WSOP.
.
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player?
(A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.)
How can you tell a poker player is lying?
(His chips are moving.)
The following is no joke, though many people won’t believe it until it happens suddenly!
I believe in just a few years the WSOP will be gone. We have only to look at a parallel from the computer world.
Before most people could spell "computer" there were a few computer conventions put on by people who loved computers. One of the most popular became COMDEX. It was an annual event in Las Vegas until two years ago and it’s history predicts the future of the WSOP.
The first Comdex was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand by Venetian casino and former Sands owner Sheldon Adelson.
Comdex was to computer lovers what the WSOP is to poker players. An annual event to look forward to for the following reasons.
1. Rub shoulders with the professionals. (Bill Gates would be in a booth and you could talk to him about his software. Peter Norton had his mother selling his homegrown software in his booth)
2. See the outlandish (Every booth tried to top the others, bikini clad girls, celebrity look-alikes, important industry announcements etc.)
3. “How many people this year”? (Each year we couldn’t wait to get their to see how big it had grown this year. And how big it could be next year.
4. The good natured bantering & arguments between the old school, IBM, Data General, Hewlett Packard & the new "young guns" Compaq, Microsoft, Lotus 123 etc….which way was better, old school or new?
Any of this sounding familiar to the WSOP?
Then came corporate greed.
Attendance at the 1997 Comdex hit 220,000 people and more then 2,500 companies exhibited at the show.
In short Comdex was a "cash cow". For the past few years Comdex officials pressured vendors to buy bigger booths at higher prices and gave them less for their money.
Take it or leave it…(IBM, famously, left it in 1997)
As Brian Caulfield of CNN Money said in 2003, “Comdex was a magnet for dumb money". Every year a new “star of the show” would emerge, splash around, and the next year no one would hear anything else about it.
In 2000, major companies such as IBM, Apple Computer, and Compaq (now merged with Hewlett-Packard) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX because of its runaway costs and decline in quality.
In June 2004, COMDEX officially postponed the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas due to lack of heavy-weight participants. COMDEX was cancelled for 2005, and its future status is uncertain.
Don’t think the WSOP can die a quick death???
There was a lot more money and players involved in COMDEX then the WSOP.
.
Another Wal-Mart, perchance to sleep or dream...
We awoke for the last time in Salem ready to get going to Portland to visit with Caren’s sister, Nancy. Nancy doesn’t get off work until 6:30 p.m. and Portland is less then an hour drive from Salem, so we set off to do a little thrift store shopping before we left Salem.
Caren is in the process of losing weight on the Weight Watcher’s program. So, a new size, demands new clothes, that fit better, each week. However, the new clothes are only transitional as she progresses downward. She has learned to glean a new outfit or two at the thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Deseret Industries etc. She is a very smart lady. She had found clothes that still have the original Macy’s or other department store label on them listing the original purchase prices of $120-180. Some of these items have never been worn. However, because these are in thrift stores they will be in bins marked 99 cents to $8.00
She get so excited about her “finds” and I love her “beating the system”, so we both enjoy her browsing these stores when we have time. While she does that I cruise the neighborhood close by with my computer on searching for Wireless Internet Access. I usually “jump on”, the Internet while she is shopping. I have never failed to find an open wireless Internet access anywhere I go. I guess the neighbors sometimes wonder why a motor home from California is parked in their little residential neighborhood? But, I imagine they would be shocked to know I am on their computer network doing work or answering email.
I have taught computer security and networks at San Diego City College and teach how important it is to not have an open access wireless computer network in your home or business. But, still about 80% of them out there are open with no security in place. If I was a person who wanted to go through their personal information on their computers it would be a simple matter for me to do it. However, I have never done anything on another person’s computer network, except utilize it to get to the Internet.
Portland was sunny and almost 90 degrees today. It was actually too warm for me. By the time I leave this area I should probably have some rain and bad weather. However, so far, this entire three week trip has been blue skies and warm weather everywhere we have been. We did have one exception in Yellowstone Park where it dropped below freezing one evening.
We arrived at Nancy’s about 7 p.m. and all headed out to have dinner at Appleby’s. This Appleby’s just happens to be right next door to the Wal-Mart on 82 Street in Portland where we planned on spending the night. So after a lovely dinner with them, we turned in for the night to read and sleep, perchance to dream at another Wal-Mart.
Caren is in the process of losing weight on the Weight Watcher’s program. So, a new size, demands new clothes, that fit better, each week. However, the new clothes are only transitional as she progresses downward. She has learned to glean a new outfit or two at the thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Deseret Industries etc. She is a very smart lady. She had found clothes that still have the original Macy’s or other department store label on them listing the original purchase prices of $120-180. Some of these items have never been worn. However, because these are in thrift stores they will be in bins marked 99 cents to $8.00
She get so excited about her “finds” and I love her “beating the system”, so we both enjoy her browsing these stores when we have time. While she does that I cruise the neighborhood close by with my computer on searching for Wireless Internet Access. I usually “jump on”, the Internet while she is shopping. I have never failed to find an open wireless Internet access anywhere I go. I guess the neighbors sometimes wonder why a motor home from California is parked in their little residential neighborhood? But, I imagine they would be shocked to know I am on their computer network doing work or answering email.
I have taught computer security and networks at San Diego City College and teach how important it is to not have an open access wireless computer network in your home or business. But, still about 80% of them out there are open with no security in place. If I was a person who wanted to go through their personal information on their computers it would be a simple matter for me to do it. However, I have never done anything on another person’s computer network, except utilize it to get to the Internet.
Portland was sunny and almost 90 degrees today. It was actually too warm for me. By the time I leave this area I should probably have some rain and bad weather. However, so far, this entire three week trip has been blue skies and warm weather everywhere we have been. We did have one exception in Yellowstone Park where it dropped below freezing one evening.
We arrived at Nancy’s about 7 p.m. and all headed out to have dinner at Appleby’s. This Appleby’s just happens to be right next door to the Wal-Mart on 82 Street in Portland where we planned on spending the night. So after a lovely dinner with them, we turned in for the night to read and sleep, perchance to dream at another Wal-Mart.
More evidence poker is in the "mainstream"
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player? A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.
How can you tell a poker player is lying? His chips are moving.
It was another unseasonably warm, sunny day in Salem, Oregon today. I found a motel to park close by to use their wireless Internet to upload a couple days of blogs and to check email.
Caren spent some time with her sisters shopping. Tonight, we had a BBQ at her eldest sister’s home tonight. They have 10 children, at least 7 of them are married, and were there with their 2-4 children. This little family get together was bigger then some church potlucks we have been too.
Tonight, is our last night in Salem, Oregon. Tomorrow we start driving up to Portland to spend a little time there with another sister. Saturday, I will take Caren to the Portland Airport and she will fly back to San Diego.
Pokey, the dog, and I will then embark on a poker trip for the next three weeks to a month that should include Seattle, San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & San Diego and many points between.
I will do my best to keep the blog as current as I can during our trip, so you can enjoy the trip with me.
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player? A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.
How can you tell a poker player is lying? His chips are moving.
It was another unseasonably warm, sunny day in Salem, Oregon today. I found a motel to park close by to use their wireless Internet to upload a couple days of blogs and to check email.
Caren spent some time with her sisters shopping. Tonight, we had a BBQ at her eldest sister’s home tonight. They have 10 children, at least 7 of them are married, and were there with their 2-4 children. This little family get together was bigger then some church potlucks we have been too.
Tonight, is our last night in Salem, Oregon. Tomorrow we start driving up to Portland to spend a little time there with another sister. Saturday, I will take Caren to the Portland Airport and she will fly back to San Diego.
Pokey, the dog, and I will then embark on a poker trip for the next three weeks to a month that should include Seattle, San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & San Diego and many points between.
I will do my best to keep the blog as current as I can during our trip, so you can enjoy the trip with me.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The next best thing to playing poker, and winning...
The drive from Bend to Salem was as beautiful as the drive from Ontario, Oregon was boring.
We stopped in Three Sisters, Oregon, a quaint little tourist town that was quite beautiful. Then we stopped for awhile in a campground by a river and let Pokey the dog run while we enjoyed the beauty of the setting.
Finally, we arrived in Salem, Oregon and pulled the RV up in front of Caren’s dad home. Her sister Patti, and her husband Tracy and their daughter Felicia, along with Caren’s dad Bill, greeted us and made us feel right at home. We had tacos for dinner and watched a movie and then slept in the RV on their street.
The next day Caren had a “sister’s day while I headed for “Spirit Mountain Casino” to play poker. I played very well all day long on a 2/4 no limit table. For almost 10 hours with a couple of breaks to walk Pokey the dog I held my own going up and down with a variance of 50-100.
Then 15 minutes before I was to leave I was down about $75 when I picked up pocket tens. I bet $15 and 5 people called. The flop came 10s,2h,7s and three people check to me. I threw in $20 into a $90 pot and got two callers. The turn came a Ad, and I bet $100. The river was a 4s, and seat one went all in for $125. With a sick feeling in my gut, I realized he had probably made a spade flush. After a long time of thinking whether I should call him or just lay down my three tens, I realized he was a good enough player to make a play and go all in representing a flush. So, I called him and he turned over two spades.
I had promised Caren I would be back to her sister's home in Salem, by midnight and it was 11:20 p.m. I didn’t have the time to make up this bad beat along with a hand I lost bluffing at the wrong person who called me down with a pair of twos in his hand. I have made those kind of calls, when I got a good read on a person and I am not sure if he got a read on me or could tell by my betting pattern that I had nothing. Either way I felt pretty frustrated and outplayed by him.
So the end of my first “real” poker day since Des Moines, Iowa ended for me with frustration, and I am now a small amount down for the trip. However, as most poker players will agree, any day spent playing poker is a “good day”. And I think the legend Johnny Moss is the one who said, “The next best thing to playing poker and winning is playing poker and losing.”
Since I haven't had a lot of poker info on this blog for the last week I am going to share something I picked up from tightpoker.com for on-line play........
The following was written by tight poker.......
I'll start off by saying that everyone should take player notes at Party Poker. Don't know how to take notes? Just right-click on the avatar (picture) of the target player and click "Player Notes" - it's that easy.
The hard part is figuring what to take notes of however. So that's where I'll try to help.
Here is a template of my player notes:
(Tricky/Good/Ok/Poor) :: (Tight/Semi-Tight/Loose)/(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive) :: (PSER / NO PS) :: (BLUFFER!)(Tell descriptor)Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips, etc)No Bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc)PR: (Cards) NOPR: (Cards) TRN: (Cards)p: (Cards)
(Tricky/Good/Poor)
This is my overall view of the player when I need to take a quick look and figure them out. You should usually only note this down after many hands, when you have got a good sense of whether or not this player is a complete moron (poor) or card shark
(Good/Tricky/Solid). This is most useful actually after you've left the table and meet this person again somewhere down the road. This piece of information alone will give you a good idea of how to deal with this person.
(Tight/Loose/Maniac)A very important note to take down when you need information. Tight players are those that are selective about their hands and won't see too many pots or showdowns. Loose players are the opposite and will play many hands. So for example, when a tight player is in the pot with you and is raising what seems like rags on the board, you should start to get a hunch that they're either holding complete crap or have a monster like trips waiting for you. For poor players however, they could quite likely have paired the rags. If there are high cards on the table however, a tight player will more likely to have paired, while the poor player is more likely to not have paired, or is holding a weak kicker.
(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive)This is the demeanor of the player, which combined with how Tight/Loose they are, should tell you *a lot* about their hand strength. Maniacs are people who bet everything under the sun and bluff at all sorts of pots. Agg means aggressive, which doesn't necessarily mean bluffer, but this person will bet with any kind of strength, be it a draw, low pair, mid pair, Ace high and so on. Solid is a player who plays the game straight up, meaning they'll bet strong cards and fold when they are weak or have nothing. Callers are those who don't bet often, but will call many bets and raises to the river. Passive players are Callers who just never, ever, ever bet. So, an example combination would be Loose/Caller, which should tell you this guy is going to be in the pot with you with just about anything, so you shouldn't always be afraid if he calls your raise. If you have a Tight/Solid player however, then any bets or calls from this guy could be a warning sign for you.
(PSER / NO PS):Short for "Pot stealer" or "Pot shooter". This means this person will bet at the pot when it's been checked to them and they are in late position. I find this specific piece of information very useful, because while many players just don't bluff, many players do like to try and steal the pot in this situation. Players who consistently do this, you can setup with a check-raise trap or even a check-raise bluff. A lot of times when you also want to make a call, this is important information when you want to know if someone is just trying to steal the pot or actually has strength.
(BLUFFER!):This is an optional tag that I don't use often, but when I do, it means this player is a major bluffer and needs to be called down when there is ANY shred of doubt. A number of players will *always* raise/re-raise a trip or flush threat (among other things) to try and scare people out. These players need to be called or raised if you have any kind of strength (although that said, watch out for players with stronger hands calling the bluffer too).
(Tell Descriptor):I don't have anything written for this field for most players, simply because in my opinion, tells are a bit overrated than what they actually are. Especially in online poker. That being said, some players *do* have tells that will give their hand away. The most common descriptors you'll see in my notes are simple and to the point:
PAUSE = MONSTER (a drawn out delay means this person has the nuts or close to it)
AUTO = MONSTER (auto means they use the 'Raise anything' button that bets out immediately)
CR = MONSTER (cr = check-raise)
Note that I will only write these tells when I'm pretty darn sure after seeing this behavior enough times. If I'm not sure, I'll add a (?) to the end of it and verify it later. Otherwise, I don't want to fold a hand when I'm not really sure if they have the nuts or not. But otherwise, when I do have this tell, I know to basically fold when the person does this.
Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips):This is getting into the fine details of this person's behavior. This is where you specifically write down what kinds of hands this player bets with. Does he only bet with top pair, or with low pair and mid pair too? What kind of kicker does he bet with? (very important!). By tracking these, you can then figure out what category of player this person falls into (Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive).
No bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc):Exact opposite of the above, you can also tell a lot about a player by what they're *not* willing to bet. Are they the type to just check on the flop if they have trips? Do they not bet their flush/straight draw? Will they not raise with a King high flush? Little notes like these can give you a fine aspect of this person's game.
PR or PF (Cards):Short for "pre-flop raise". Also referred to as PF. What I list after PR is the actual hands I see this person pre-flop raising with. This is usually very important information, because you will always stand to lose the most money when you hold a dominated hand. And most of the time, you won't know if you're dominated until you flip those cards over. Because most people only raise strong cards pre-flop, you can tell with varying degrees of success how powerful your opponents' cards are. A large group of players will only raise three hands: AA, KK and AK. If you can catch onto this and note it down, the next time they PR, you'll know to fold your hand quite quickly, even if you're holding a hand like AJ or possibly even AQ - which will save you lots of money in the long haul. Versus a hyper-aggressive player, if you notice them raising pre-flop with K2o, you'll also be well prepared to call their PR if you hold ATo or another moderately strong hand.
NOPR or NOPF (Cards):Short for "no pre-flop raise", the exact opposite of the above. Why mention this? Sometimes, there are players who never raise AA, KK, AKs, QQ, JJ or many other strong hands. Then suddenly, they'll bite you on the flop with some unexpected raises. By recording this information down, you can possibly tell if that person is hiding something strong that they didn't let anyone know about pre-flop.
TRN (Cards):Short for "Train" as in the locomotive. I use this metaphor when someone will pretty much bet these hands to the river without any hesitation or thought; when they've already decided before the flop what they plan on doing. This is not a compliment. What this usually indicates is that this person will over play certain hands because he/she thinks they are strong and can just force people out of the pot. A common theme is marking people as "TRN: AK", which means they will bet big-slick like there is no tommorow, even if they don't pair on the river. I also use it when they train a draw, like "TRN: flush draw", as many people seem to fall under that category.
p (Cards):Short for "plays". This is a listing of what kind of cards this particular player will play. An example would be "p: 95o,A5s,23s.." and so on. This is useful because a quick look at your notes will tell that this player is a garbage collector, as opposed to another player with the notes "p: ATs, KQ, AJ, TT..". An important thing to mention is to ignore the players in the big and small blind when taking notes on what hands they play, since they'll automatically be playing those hands for the most part.
Other acronyms I use when taking player notes also:
RR: Raises (Example: RR top pair)
RRx: Re-raise multiple times (Example: RRx flush draw)
(Cards)*: Usually this means they'll play this hand when it has been raised (Example: "p:TT**" means they'll play TT even with two raises pre-flop)
And finally, some pointers when taking notes:
Don't directly insult players in your notes, it'll make you play worse against that person
Following the above, don't take notes after a bad beat, calm down and make a note later
Don't be so excessive about your note taking that you miss out on the action
Don't always take notes when people play good cards (KQ, QJ, KJ, etc). Everyone plays good cards, it's a given.
If it can't all fit on the notes screen, it's not going to be useful in a pinch.
Don't worry about keeping your notes neat and tidy. I try but often fail. As long as it's useful, it's good.
Anyhow, that's pretty much my system of player notes. Don't think of this as a defacto standard; this is just what I use and what works for me. If you have no system, hopefully this will get you thinking to what kind of things you want to jot down when you play.
From Tightpoker.com
We stopped in Three Sisters, Oregon, a quaint little tourist town that was quite beautiful. Then we stopped for awhile in a campground by a river and let Pokey the dog run while we enjoyed the beauty of the setting.
Finally, we arrived in Salem, Oregon and pulled the RV up in front of Caren’s dad home. Her sister Patti, and her husband Tracy and their daughter Felicia, along with Caren’s dad Bill, greeted us and made us feel right at home. We had tacos for dinner and watched a movie and then slept in the RV on their street.
The next day Caren had a “sister’s day while I headed for “Spirit Mountain Casino” to play poker. I played very well all day long on a 2/4 no limit table. For almost 10 hours with a couple of breaks to walk Pokey the dog I held my own going up and down with a variance of 50-100.
Then 15 minutes before I was to leave I was down about $75 when I picked up pocket tens. I bet $15 and 5 people called. The flop came 10s,2h,7s and three people check to me. I threw in $20 into a $90 pot and got two callers. The turn came a Ad, and I bet $100. The river was a 4s, and seat one went all in for $125. With a sick feeling in my gut, I realized he had probably made a spade flush. After a long time of thinking whether I should call him or just lay down my three tens, I realized he was a good enough player to make a play and go all in representing a flush. So, I called him and he turned over two spades.
I had promised Caren I would be back to her sister's home in Salem, by midnight and it was 11:20 p.m. I didn’t have the time to make up this bad beat along with a hand I lost bluffing at the wrong person who called me down with a pair of twos in his hand. I have made those kind of calls, when I got a good read on a person and I am not sure if he got a read on me or could tell by my betting pattern that I had nothing. Either way I felt pretty frustrated and outplayed by him.
So the end of my first “real” poker day since Des Moines, Iowa ended for me with frustration, and I am now a small amount down for the trip. However, as most poker players will agree, any day spent playing poker is a “good day”. And I think the legend Johnny Moss is the one who said, “The next best thing to playing poker and winning is playing poker and losing.”
Since I haven't had a lot of poker info on this blog for the last week I am going to share something I picked up from tightpoker.com for on-line play........
The following was written by tight poker.......
I'll start off by saying that everyone should take player notes at Party Poker. Don't know how to take notes? Just right-click on the avatar (picture) of the target player and click "Player Notes" - it's that easy.
The hard part is figuring what to take notes of however. So that's where I'll try to help.
Here is a template of my player notes:
(Tricky/Good/Ok/Poor) :: (Tight/Semi-Tight/Loose)/(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive) :: (PSER / NO PS) :: (BLUFFER!)(Tell descriptor)Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips, etc)No Bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc)PR: (Cards) NOPR: (Cards) TRN: (Cards)p: (Cards)
(Tricky/Good/Poor)
This is my overall view of the player when I need to take a quick look and figure them out. You should usually only note this down after many hands, when you have got a good sense of whether or not this player is a complete moron (poor) or card shark
(Good/Tricky/Solid). This is most useful actually after you've left the table and meet this person again somewhere down the road. This piece of information alone will give you a good idea of how to deal with this person.
(Tight/Loose/Maniac)A very important note to take down when you need information. Tight players are those that are selective about their hands and won't see too many pots or showdowns. Loose players are the opposite and will play many hands. So for example, when a tight player is in the pot with you and is raising what seems like rags on the board, you should start to get a hunch that they're either holding complete crap or have a monster like trips waiting for you. For poor players however, they could quite likely have paired the rags. If there are high cards on the table however, a tight player will more likely to have paired, while the poor player is more likely to not have paired, or is holding a weak kicker.
(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive)This is the demeanor of the player, which combined with how Tight/Loose they are, should tell you *a lot* about their hand strength. Maniacs are people who bet everything under the sun and bluff at all sorts of pots. Agg means aggressive, which doesn't necessarily mean bluffer, but this person will bet with any kind of strength, be it a draw, low pair, mid pair, Ace high and so on. Solid is a player who plays the game straight up, meaning they'll bet strong cards and fold when they are weak or have nothing. Callers are those who don't bet often, but will call many bets and raises to the river. Passive players are Callers who just never, ever, ever bet. So, an example combination would be Loose/Caller, which should tell you this guy is going to be in the pot with you with just about anything, so you shouldn't always be afraid if he calls your raise. If you have a Tight/Solid player however, then any bets or calls from this guy could be a warning sign for you.
(PSER / NO PS):Short for "Pot stealer" or "Pot shooter". This means this person will bet at the pot when it's been checked to them and they are in late position. I find this specific piece of information very useful, because while many players just don't bluff, many players do like to try and steal the pot in this situation. Players who consistently do this, you can setup with a check-raise trap or even a check-raise bluff. A lot of times when you also want to make a call, this is important information when you want to know if someone is just trying to steal the pot or actually has strength.
(BLUFFER!):This is an optional tag that I don't use often, but when I do, it means this player is a major bluffer and needs to be called down when there is ANY shred of doubt. A number of players will *always* raise/re-raise a trip or flush threat (among other things) to try and scare people out. These players need to be called or raised if you have any kind of strength (although that said, watch out for players with stronger hands calling the bluffer too).
(Tell Descriptor):I don't have anything written for this field for most players, simply because in my opinion, tells are a bit overrated than what they actually are. Especially in online poker. That being said, some players *do* have tells that will give their hand away. The most common descriptors you'll see in my notes are simple and to the point:
PAUSE = MONSTER (a drawn out delay means this person has the nuts or close to it)
AUTO = MONSTER (auto means they use the 'Raise anything' button that bets out immediately)
CR = MONSTER (cr = check-raise)
Note that I will only write these tells when I'm pretty darn sure after seeing this behavior enough times. If I'm not sure, I'll add a (?) to the end of it and verify it later. Otherwise, I don't want to fold a hand when I'm not really sure if they have the nuts or not. But otherwise, when I do have this tell, I know to basically fold when the person does this.
Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips):This is getting into the fine details of this person's behavior. This is where you specifically write down what kinds of hands this player bets with. Does he only bet with top pair, or with low pair and mid pair too? What kind of kicker does he bet with? (very important!). By tracking these, you can then figure out what category of player this person falls into (Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive).
No bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc):Exact opposite of the above, you can also tell a lot about a player by what they're *not* willing to bet. Are they the type to just check on the flop if they have trips? Do they not bet their flush/straight draw? Will they not raise with a King high flush? Little notes like these can give you a fine aspect of this person's game.
PR or PF (Cards):Short for "pre-flop raise". Also referred to as PF. What I list after PR is the actual hands I see this person pre-flop raising with. This is usually very important information, because you will always stand to lose the most money when you hold a dominated hand. And most of the time, you won't know if you're dominated until you flip those cards over. Because most people only raise strong cards pre-flop, you can tell with varying degrees of success how powerful your opponents' cards are. A large group of players will only raise three hands: AA, KK and AK. If you can catch onto this and note it down, the next time they PR, you'll know to fold your hand quite quickly, even if you're holding a hand like AJ or possibly even AQ - which will save you lots of money in the long haul. Versus a hyper-aggressive player, if you notice them raising pre-flop with K2o, you'll also be well prepared to call their PR if you hold ATo or another moderately strong hand.
NOPR or NOPF (Cards):Short for "no pre-flop raise", the exact opposite of the above. Why mention this? Sometimes, there are players who never raise AA, KK, AKs, QQ, JJ or many other strong hands. Then suddenly, they'll bite you on the flop with some unexpected raises. By recording this information down, you can possibly tell if that person is hiding something strong that they didn't let anyone know about pre-flop.
TRN (Cards):Short for "Train" as in the locomotive. I use this metaphor when someone will pretty much bet these hands to the river without any hesitation or thought; when they've already decided before the flop what they plan on doing. This is not a compliment. What this usually indicates is that this person will over play certain hands because he/she thinks they are strong and can just force people out of the pot. A common theme is marking people as "TRN: AK", which means they will bet big-slick like there is no tommorow, even if they don't pair on the river. I also use it when they train a draw, like "TRN: flush draw", as many people seem to fall under that category.
p (Cards):Short for "plays". This is a listing of what kind of cards this particular player will play. An example would be "p: 95o,A5s,23s.." and so on. This is useful because a quick look at your notes will tell that this player is a garbage collector, as opposed to another player with the notes "p: ATs, KQ, AJ, TT..". An important thing to mention is to ignore the players in the big and small blind when taking notes on what hands they play, since they'll automatically be playing those hands for the most part.
Other acronyms I use when taking player notes also:
RR: Raises (Example: RR top pair)
RRx: Re-raise multiple times (Example: RRx flush draw)
(Cards)*: Usually this means they'll play this hand when it has been raised (Example: "p:TT**" means they'll play TT even with two raises pre-flop)
And finally, some pointers when taking notes:
Don't directly insult players in your notes, it'll make you play worse against that person
Following the above, don't take notes after a bad beat, calm down and make a note later
Don't be so excessive about your note taking that you miss out on the action
Don't always take notes when people play good cards (KQ, QJ, KJ, etc). Everyone plays good cards, it's a given.
If it can't all fit on the notes screen, it's not going to be useful in a pinch.
Don't worry about keeping your notes neat and tidy. I try but often fail. As long as it's useful, it's good.
Anyhow, that's pretty much my system of player notes. Don't think of this as a defacto standard; this is just what I use and what works for me. If you have no system, hopefully this will get you thinking to what kind of things you want to jot down when you play.
From Tightpoker.com
Idaho to Bend
Yesterday was the most boring day of our whole trip. Compared to the drive from Ontario, Oregon to Bend, Oregon, the trek across Iowa or Nebraska was exciting. The scenery was the same monotonous semi-arid desert mile after mile.
Finally, we were able to see the peaks of the “Three Sisters”, and Mount Hood off in the distance and we knew the scenery was going to change to beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Bend, Oregon is a beautiful town. The Dechutes river snakes through the middle of town. The downtown is so very picturesque, with a small town feel and what appears to be a thriving, growing economy. All of this quaintness is displayed against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains.
I was unsuccessful again at finding a place to play poker. Apparently, when I saw articles about tournaments and advertisements about Poker in Bend, I failed to notice it was referring to North Bend! Well, you might think North Bend would be just north of Bend like I did. However, North Bend is about 250 miles to the south-west of Bend on the Ocean just above Coos Bay. Duh, in Oregon the term “bend” is more about naming places because of a “bend in a river”, as opposed to a specific place name. I haven’t checked yet, but there is probably a south bend, west bend and east bend somewhere in Oregon too.
I looked in the local phone book and found a reference to an Indian Casino about 100 miles north of here and a another reference to Casino Productions in Bend. So I called the Casino Productions number and talked to a gentleman who runs charitable casino events and he told me there are no card clubs in Bend. However, he did say some of the sports bars do offer a table or a tournament at nights, but he didn’t know which ones.
I was actually feeling like I needed a poker fix.
So resourceful guy that I am, I began looking for motels that advertised that they offered wireless Internet. The last few days I have found out that by parking near some of these I can connect on their wireless service and upload to my blog, and check e-mail etc.
So, I pulled in next to the first one I saw and sure enough I was able to get on Party Poker and play an hour of poker. I only have about $70 in my PP account and I wanted to play a little so I played 2/4 limit for about an hour. I was able to run it up to $130 and then back to $68 when it was time for me to make dinner. I logged off still wanting to play live, however, Party Poker took some of the craving away to play.
We stopped and filled up with gas and found out a Wal-mart was about a mile north. So we planned on spending the night there. On the way I saw a “sports bar” that advertised live poker. I stopped in an found out they stopped offering it a few months ago and hadn’t taken the sign down yet. They did tell me another bar they knew had a game going 24/7 according to them. It was back about 5 miles and I decided I would wait until tomorrow or Tuesday and I would drive to “Spirit Mountain Casino” about 30 miles from Salem where Caren will be visiting her family. “Spirit Mountain” has the largest poker room in the state of Oregon and I am planning on logging some poker time there.
So instead of a spending a night in a poker room, I have made pistachio, pudding and we are tucked in bed in the RV eating pudding and watching the movie, “The Gift” a scary, supernatural, suspense movie with a litany of big starts. It is pretty good, and so is the pudding.
Well, good night from another of many Wal-Mart parking lots to come over the next few weeks.
Finally, we were able to see the peaks of the “Three Sisters”, and Mount Hood off in the distance and we knew the scenery was going to change to beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Bend, Oregon is a beautiful town. The Dechutes river snakes through the middle of town. The downtown is so very picturesque, with a small town feel and what appears to be a thriving, growing economy. All of this quaintness is displayed against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains.
I was unsuccessful again at finding a place to play poker. Apparently, when I saw articles about tournaments and advertisements about Poker in Bend, I failed to notice it was referring to North Bend! Well, you might think North Bend would be just north of Bend like I did. However, North Bend is about 250 miles to the south-west of Bend on the Ocean just above Coos Bay. Duh, in Oregon the term “bend” is more about naming places because of a “bend in a river”, as opposed to a specific place name. I haven’t checked yet, but there is probably a south bend, west bend and east bend somewhere in Oregon too.
I looked in the local phone book and found a reference to an Indian Casino about 100 miles north of here and a another reference to Casino Productions in Bend. So I called the Casino Productions number and talked to a gentleman who runs charitable casino events and he told me there are no card clubs in Bend. However, he did say some of the sports bars do offer a table or a tournament at nights, but he didn’t know which ones.
I was actually feeling like I needed a poker fix.
So resourceful guy that I am, I began looking for motels that advertised that they offered wireless Internet. The last few days I have found out that by parking near some of these I can connect on their wireless service and upload to my blog, and check e-mail etc.
So, I pulled in next to the first one I saw and sure enough I was able to get on Party Poker and play an hour of poker. I only have about $70 in my PP account and I wanted to play a little so I played 2/4 limit for about an hour. I was able to run it up to $130 and then back to $68 when it was time for me to make dinner. I logged off still wanting to play live, however, Party Poker took some of the craving away to play.
We stopped and filled up with gas and found out a Wal-mart was about a mile north. So we planned on spending the night there. On the way I saw a “sports bar” that advertised live poker. I stopped in an found out they stopped offering it a few months ago and hadn’t taken the sign down yet. They did tell me another bar they knew had a game going 24/7 according to them. It was back about 5 miles and I decided I would wait until tomorrow or Tuesday and I would drive to “Spirit Mountain Casino” about 30 miles from Salem where Caren will be visiting her family. “Spirit Mountain” has the largest poker room in the state of Oregon and I am planning on logging some poker time there.
So instead of a spending a night in a poker room, I have made pistachio, pudding and we are tucked in bed in the RV eating pudding and watching the movie, “The Gift” a scary, supernatural, suspense movie with a litany of big starts. It is pretty good, and so is the pudding.
Well, good night from another of many Wal-Mart parking lots to come over the next few weeks.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Oregon Trail....
We arrived in Boise around noon on Saturday. My first stop was to get a haircut.
There I found out the bad news when I asked the Barber if there was a Card Room in town. There is no poker in Idaho and I wouldn’t be able to play until I reached Bend, Oregon sometime tomorrow. After my trim, we drove by the Boise State University Broncos Football stadium where a big game was going to take place later today.
We decided to do a sightseeing drive around Boise. It is known as the City of the Trees.
Both Caren and I appreciated the beauty of the city. After driving a slow circle around the city we came back to near where we started the tour. After passing countless Chinese Buffets I decided to stop in and enjoy one. With the exception of a couple of bean burritos from Taco Bell, we haven’t eaten out on this road trip at all. So it was a very enjoyable meal for me.
Most of the afternoon was spent at Border’s bookstore reading poker books. I did buy John Vorhaus’ new book Killer Poker Online 2. It is an interesting read. It is not so much strategy as it is about his philosophy and “ways of looking” at online play.
After showering in the RV, we went back downtown to explore the greenbelt of Boise. There is a strip of green, parks, and paths that follow the river about 25 miles. It was unique to be downtown in a metro area of a half-million people and to see a guy fly-fishing in the river within a few blocks of the city center. Apparently, in the summer we would have seen people floating on inner tubes!
We viewed an interesting Ann Frank memorial, and walked over the bridge behind it.
We walked through a beautiful park and pokey the dog enjoyed running back and forth with a game we play with him. The game consists of Caren and I getting about 50 yards from each other. One of us calls to him, and he runs at full speed to that person. After running to and circling the one who called he waits for a moment for the other to call him. Then he runs at full speed back to circle the other. This can go on 12-15 times until he is exhausted and plops down on the grass.
The evening found us driving to the Oregon border to spend the night at the Ontario, Oregon Super Wal-Mart parking lot in our RV. Tomorrow, we drive across the middle of Oregon and are planning on spending the night in Bend, Oregon.
There I found out the bad news when I asked the Barber if there was a Card Room in town. There is no poker in Idaho and I wouldn’t be able to play until I reached Bend, Oregon sometime tomorrow. After my trim, we drove by the Boise State University Broncos Football stadium where a big game was going to take place later today.
We decided to do a sightseeing drive around Boise. It is known as the City of the Trees.
Both Caren and I appreciated the beauty of the city. After driving a slow circle around the city we came back to near where we started the tour. After passing countless Chinese Buffets I decided to stop in and enjoy one. With the exception of a couple of bean burritos from Taco Bell, we haven’t eaten out on this road trip at all. So it was a very enjoyable meal for me.
Most of the afternoon was spent at Border’s bookstore reading poker books. I did buy John Vorhaus’ new book Killer Poker Online 2. It is an interesting read. It is not so much strategy as it is about his philosophy and “ways of looking” at online play.
After showering in the RV, we went back downtown to explore the greenbelt of Boise. There is a strip of green, parks, and paths that follow the river about 25 miles. It was unique to be downtown in a metro area of a half-million people and to see a guy fly-fishing in the river within a few blocks of the city center. Apparently, in the summer we would have seen people floating on inner tubes!
We viewed an interesting Ann Frank memorial, and walked over the bridge behind it.
We walked through a beautiful park and pokey the dog enjoyed running back and forth with a game we play with him. The game consists of Caren and I getting about 50 yards from each other. One of us calls to him, and he runs at full speed to that person. After running to and circling the one who called he waits for a moment for the other to call him. Then he runs at full speed back to circle the other. This can go on 12-15 times until he is exhausted and plops down on the grass.
The evening found us driving to the Oregon border to spend the night at the Ontario, Oregon Super Wal-Mart parking lot in our RV. Tomorrow, we drive across the middle of Oregon and are planning on spending the night in Bend, Oregon.
More road trip
We awoke in the RV in West Yellowstone, Montana and it was cold!!! (26 degrees above Zero to be exact.) We stayed under the covers until the Sun came out and began to warm the RV a little. I got up and walked to the campground showers and ran it as hot as I could stand it. Finally, I felt warm and I raced back to the RV before I froze up. (grin)
We stayed in the RV park utilizing the Wireless Internet Connectivity until about noon. I read a lot of poker blogs. I played Party Poker with a net loss of about $11 in N/L
Finally, we started west on US 20 enjoying the “Yellowstone Park type scenery all the way down to Idaho Falls.
We were under impressed with Idaho Falls. We thought about eating out there after a couple of days in the woods. However, the town looked poor and dirty. We filled up on gas and drove west out of town. A few miles down the road we stopped and ate lunch in the RV.
Our destination for the day is Mountain Home, Idaho about 40 miles east of Boise. We have driven over 1500 miles so far on US 20 through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Idaho and we have not yet been on an Interstate. I love to travel this way. The experience of driving through towns and country side is so much more enjoyable then having 18 wheelers roar by at 75 miles an hour with sleep deprived drivers.
Tomorrow, we will be the only day we have to drive 40 miles on the Interstate between Mountain Home and Boise because there is no other real choice.
Here are three interesting road trip observations we made today. When we drove through Rigby we saw a sign that stated Television was created here. I want to research that the next time I get Internet connectivity. We also passed by the “Craters of the Moon” National Reserve. The “Craters of the Moon” is the most unusual landscape I have ever seen. It resembles a freshly plowed field of black volcanic rock. It is very stark, very dark, and very different from the rest of Idaho.
The third interesting and slightly disgusting roadside attraction was when I stopped for a cup of coffee at the Corral Café in Fairfield which boasts it is the “original home of the road kill Patty Melt.” I only had the coffee.
While driving between Fairfield and Mountain Home I listened to three poker podcasts I had downloaded last night onto my ipod from pocketfives.com. They were very enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to find a poker room in Boise. Otherwise, the next night I am planning on playing in Bend, Oregon where I know there is a poker room.
We stayed in the RV park utilizing the Wireless Internet Connectivity until about noon. I read a lot of poker blogs. I played Party Poker with a net loss of about $11 in N/L
Finally, we started west on US 20 enjoying the “Yellowstone Park type scenery all the way down to Idaho Falls.
We were under impressed with Idaho Falls. We thought about eating out there after a couple of days in the woods. However, the town looked poor and dirty. We filled up on gas and drove west out of town. A few miles down the road we stopped and ate lunch in the RV.
Our destination for the day is Mountain Home, Idaho about 40 miles east of Boise. We have driven over 1500 miles so far on US 20 through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Idaho and we have not yet been on an Interstate. I love to travel this way. The experience of driving through towns and country side is so much more enjoyable then having 18 wheelers roar by at 75 miles an hour with sleep deprived drivers.
Tomorrow, we will be the only day we have to drive 40 miles on the Interstate between Mountain Home and Boise because there is no other real choice.
Here are three interesting road trip observations we made today. When we drove through Rigby we saw a sign that stated Television was created here. I want to research that the next time I get Internet connectivity. We also passed by the “Craters of the Moon” National Reserve. The “Craters of the Moon” is the most unusual landscape I have ever seen. It resembles a freshly plowed field of black volcanic rock. It is very stark, very dark, and very different from the rest of Idaho.
The third interesting and slightly disgusting roadside attraction was when I stopped for a cup of coffee at the Corral Café in Fairfield which boasts it is the “original home of the road kill Patty Melt.” I only had the coffee.
While driving between Fairfield and Mountain Home I listened to three poker podcasts I had downloaded last night onto my ipod from pocketfives.com. They were very enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to find a poker room in Boise. Otherwise, the next night I am planning on playing in Bend, Oregon where I know there is a poker room.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The first day of fall snowstorm
We drove to Yellowstone via US 26 through the The Grand Tetons National Park. The drive was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Yellowstone Park itself.
Today is the first day of fall and we drove into a snow storm entering Yellowstone Park.
We almost stopped for the night in the park, but I was concerned we might get snowed in and have to go back the same way we had come.
So we pushed on through Yellowstone. We did stop to see a herd of Elk, and we walked to Old Faithful. It was so cold, we didn’t want to wait for it to go off in 12 minutes. Pokey was so cold, I put him under my jacket and he didn’t even protest. He was so glad for the body heat. He had never seen snow, and he had never seen the window wipers on. They scared him and he moved to the back of the RV. He usually sits on the passenger seat when it is just him and me. When Caren is with us he usually sits on her lap. No amount of coaxing would get him to the front of the RV with those wipers on.
We pulled off road into a parking lot area when we saw a herd of Buffalo. They were within 20 feet of the RV. Pokey was going “nuts” barking & snarling at them. They started snorting in return. I backed up the RV because I didn’t know how it would handle the charge of a 2,000 pound buffalo. But I didn’t want to find out.
We never did see a bear. That was the one animal Caren really wanted to see. We did pull over when we saw evidence of a large animal moving through the brush right on the side of the road. We never saw it, but from the snorting and crashing sound it made, we think it was a large Moose.
We stopped at the edge of west end of the park and considered staying in a campground. But, it was only 14 more miles out of the park, and I wanted to have hookups for the night.
We found an RV park in West Yellowstone, Montana and plugged in. They do have wireless Internet so I am catching up on some blog reading. And I am planning on playing a little Party Poker later tonight.
It is bone-chilling cold here. It is 32 right now and going down to 28 degrees tonight. We are expecting 2-4 inches of snow by the time we wake up. I expect the furnace will be running most of tonight
Today is the first day of fall and we drove into a snow storm entering Yellowstone Park.
We almost stopped for the night in the park, but I was concerned we might get snowed in and have to go back the same way we had come.
So we pushed on through Yellowstone. We did stop to see a herd of Elk, and we walked to Old Faithful. It was so cold, we didn’t want to wait for it to go off in 12 minutes. Pokey was so cold, I put him under my jacket and he didn’t even protest. He was so glad for the body heat. He had never seen snow, and he had never seen the window wipers on. They scared him and he moved to the back of the RV. He usually sits on the passenger seat when it is just him and me. When Caren is with us he usually sits on her lap. No amount of coaxing would get him to the front of the RV with those wipers on.
We pulled off road into a parking lot area when we saw a herd of Buffalo. They were within 20 feet of the RV. Pokey was going “nuts” barking & snarling at them. They started snorting in return. I backed up the RV because I didn’t know how it would handle the charge of a 2,000 pound buffalo. But I didn’t want to find out.
We never did see a bear. That was the one animal Caren really wanted to see. We did pull over when we saw evidence of a large animal moving through the brush right on the side of the road. We never saw it, but from the snorting and crashing sound it made, we think it was a large Moose.
We stopped at the edge of west end of the park and considered staying in a campground. But, it was only 14 more miles out of the park, and I wanted to have hookups for the night.
We found an RV park in West Yellowstone, Montana and plugged in. They do have wireless Internet so I am catching up on some blog reading. And I am planning on playing a little Party Poker later tonight.
It is bone-chilling cold here. It is 32 right now and going down to 28 degrees tonight. We are expecting 2-4 inches of snow by the time we wake up. I expect the furnace will be running most of tonight
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