Here in Southern California when somebody asks how long it will take them to drive from point A to Point B they will often be asked in return “at what time of the day?”
That is because the more likely you drive at a time a lot of people will be on the road, the longer the trip will take.
And if you answer your travel is on a Friday evening, you will be cautioned to try changing the trip to another time.
There is an inverse correlation to trying to make money at poker. Whenever there are more people playing poker, the easier and more likely a good player will make money.
Friday evening is one of the best times to play. The rest of the weekend comes in a close second.
Because my wife Caren works a traditional M-F work week I usually play poker Friday nights close to home. She spends Friday evening recovering from the work week with some personal “downtime”.
Then we spend Saturday & Sunday together.
Late Sunday afternoon, as she gets begins to get ready to settle down and prepare for her next work week, “Pokey the Dog” and I often take the RV and head out for a 3-4 day poker road trip.
Sunday night is usually profitable, but Monday and Tuesday afternoons and evening are tough.
The tables are filled with “regulars” and the quality of play is better then the weekends. I have put in 14 hours already this Monday and Tuesday and I am “even” for the two days of play.
Sunday night was Sycuan Casino. Monday was Viejas. Tuesday is Barona. Wednesday we head for Harrah’s in Valley Center, (Northern San Diego country)
At the most, we will be only 60 miles from home. These 3-4 day road trips give me the ability to focus and play longer periods of poker. My only breaks are to walk "Pokey the dog", study poker books, write and sleep. I feel so blessed to be able to maintain this kind of lifestyle.
Between the little bit of food comps the poker rooms’ award and a little supplemental food in the RV, we have no expenses for the trip except for gas.
Speaking of feeling blessed. I was reminded of how blessed I am to just to be able to go to a poker room and play without extraordinary effort.
In the tournament today I play with a gentleman who was blind. His wife looked at his cards and then whispered in his ear what he had and what came on the board. She told him what the bets were, and when it was his turn to act.
He had a really beautiful sweatshirt that had a picture on it of the “Fantastic Four Superhero’s” playing poker. I complimented him on it. He said he bought it at “Comic Con”. (Comic Con is an annual convention for comic book collectors).
He said he was a comic book collector and really enjoyed comic books. I didn’t quite know how to ask how he reads them? Or did she read them to him? So I left a number of unanswered questions in my mind about that one.
He was a good poker player, but I couldn’t imagine how much he missed in the game or in his comic books for that matter, because of his inability to see.
Then later that evening a young man played next to me in a cash game. He was very badly deformed, couldn’t move, with the exception of his right hand to control his power wheel chair. His mother sat next to him and held the cards so he could see them, and put in the chips for him when he prompted her.
So for the freedom I have to play poker. To be able to come and go when I want, to be able to see all the other players and the cards.
I am going to express more thanks for these things every time I am reminded of these two gentlemen.
And I resolve to give thanks for all the blessings I have that I often don’t think about, until I see someone without them.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Play good...lose less....
I once thought I could make money by playing poker really well. I have since changed my mind.
Don’t get me wrong I am still playing poker full-time and I am still winning most weeks.
Then what do I mean?
I am coming to believe that in small no-limit games, good play alone does not really give, you an edge to win.
However, playing well does reduce the amount you lose. Then you need less luck to end up with more chips then you risked.
The other night at Palomar illustrated that so well for me. I bought in to my usual 2/3 no-limit game for $300 twice that evening. Meaning I had a risk of $600.
The first three hours I only played five hands. I got my money in or lead the betting with the best hands in all five plays. On all five I got outdrawn and lost each of them.
I then played 2 more hands where I split the pot by playing AK very strongly from early position. I was called by an AK each time. We ended up splitting the pot for no net gain for either of us.
Then these two following hands came up.
I was on the small blind with a pair of Jacks with about $400 in front of me. Under the gun had “live straddled” meaning $6 was the call.
The next very short stack put all in his $15. The button called the $15. I decided to try to end it right here and raised it to $65 into a $39 pot.
Every one folded except the button who called. I knew him to be an aggressive, creative player.
The flop came 10h,6s,7c. I bet out $75 and the button raised me to $150. I thought a lot about this and really believed he was trying to take me off the hand. He had seen me play AK strong twice that evening from early position. I believed he suspected I had a big pair or AK. I figured him on a pair. I thought about it for a long time and convinced myself he was being tricky with a weak hand. I would not have thought this way about anyone else at the table except for him.
I pushed all-in for all my remaining money. He insta-called. I turned over my jacks and he turned over trip tens. The turn and the river were both hearts! My losing pair of jacks turned into a jack high flush. He was devastated.
I scooped an $800 pot that I had just played very badly!
After playing another hour or more and losing about $200 by betting with the best hands, and again getting outdrawn, each time, this hand came up.
I was on the button with Ace & Queen. Three people had limped in. I raised it to $25. Everyone folded, with the exception of the guy who had lost the $800 pot to me.
He called my $25.
The flop came A,K,10 He pushed in his last $50 and I decided to call with my AQ even though I strongly believed, he held AK (Which it turned out he did).
The turn was a 7 and the river was a Jack giving me a straight! He was very professional. He said “nice catch” then to dealer “seat open”. He shook my hand and left for the evening.
Shortly after that I cashed out a little over $850 resulting in a profit of about $350.
So the net result of that evening was, I played great poker, getting my money in with the best hands seven times and lost them all. I broke even twice with great hands and good play.
All my profit came from two hands where I won, only because I got very lucky with low probabilities holdings that somehow turned into winners at the river.
So what do you think? Am I right?
Playing well does not give you an edge to win. Play poker well and lose less. Then get lucky and you can make some real money at this game.
P.S. I may have to re-think my reason for why people play poker. Two earlier blogs indicated other reasons, then easy money & greedy thinking. My observation last night challenged my thinking.
I arrived right at 6 p.m. to enter a Sunday night tournament that if you placed in the top would win you an entry into a tournament into June.
The June tournament winner would be awarded a $10,000 entry into the World Series of Poker in Vegas in July along with expense money for the trip.
220 people were already signed up for the tournament. Fifty more of us were unable to get in who wanted to play it, but had arrived too late.
Casino and poker rooms use tournaments to lure players in with the hope that when they “bust out” of the tournament they will sit down and play at the cash games. Yet, three hours after the tournament began the room was having trouble keep eight cash games going.
That clearly indicated many people came for the tournament for the slim, unlikely possibility, they would place in the top twenty. Then win the June one. And somehow make it through 7,000 other players in Las Vegas, to be on TV for fame and fortune.
Hmm, maybe there are a lot more players who believe Poker is a way for easy money and are motivated by their greed then I thought. (I may have to revisit this thought a few more times.)
Don’t get me wrong I am still playing poker full-time and I am still winning most weeks.
Then what do I mean?
I am coming to believe that in small no-limit games, good play alone does not really give, you an edge to win.
However, playing well does reduce the amount you lose. Then you need less luck to end up with more chips then you risked.
The other night at Palomar illustrated that so well for me. I bought in to my usual 2/3 no-limit game for $300 twice that evening. Meaning I had a risk of $600.
The first three hours I only played five hands. I got my money in or lead the betting with the best hands in all five plays. On all five I got outdrawn and lost each of them.
I then played 2 more hands where I split the pot by playing AK very strongly from early position. I was called by an AK each time. We ended up splitting the pot for no net gain for either of us.
Then these two following hands came up.
I was on the small blind with a pair of Jacks with about $400 in front of me. Under the gun had “live straddled” meaning $6 was the call.
The next very short stack put all in his $15. The button called the $15. I decided to try to end it right here and raised it to $65 into a $39 pot.
Every one folded except the button who called. I knew him to be an aggressive, creative player.
The flop came 10h,6s,7c. I bet out $75 and the button raised me to $150. I thought a lot about this and really believed he was trying to take me off the hand. He had seen me play AK strong twice that evening from early position. I believed he suspected I had a big pair or AK. I figured him on a pair. I thought about it for a long time and convinced myself he was being tricky with a weak hand. I would not have thought this way about anyone else at the table except for him.
I pushed all-in for all my remaining money. He insta-called. I turned over my jacks and he turned over trip tens. The turn and the river were both hearts! My losing pair of jacks turned into a jack high flush. He was devastated.
I scooped an $800 pot that I had just played very badly!
After playing another hour or more and losing about $200 by betting with the best hands, and again getting outdrawn, each time, this hand came up.
I was on the button with Ace & Queen. Three people had limped in. I raised it to $25. Everyone folded, with the exception of the guy who had lost the $800 pot to me.
He called my $25.
The flop came A,K,10 He pushed in his last $50 and I decided to call with my AQ even though I strongly believed, he held AK (Which it turned out he did).
The turn was a 7 and the river was a Jack giving me a straight! He was very professional. He said “nice catch” then to dealer “seat open”. He shook my hand and left for the evening.
Shortly after that I cashed out a little over $850 resulting in a profit of about $350.
So the net result of that evening was, I played great poker, getting my money in with the best hands seven times and lost them all. I broke even twice with great hands and good play.
All my profit came from two hands where I won, only because I got very lucky with low probabilities holdings that somehow turned into winners at the river.
So what do you think? Am I right?
Playing well does not give you an edge to win. Play poker well and lose less. Then get lucky and you can make some real money at this game.
P.S. I may have to re-think my reason for why people play poker. Two earlier blogs indicated other reasons, then easy money & greedy thinking. My observation last night challenged my thinking.
I arrived right at 6 p.m. to enter a Sunday night tournament that if you placed in the top would win you an entry into a tournament into June.
The June tournament winner would be awarded a $10,000 entry into the World Series of Poker in Vegas in July along with expense money for the trip.
220 people were already signed up for the tournament. Fifty more of us were unable to get in who wanted to play it, but had arrived too late.
Casino and poker rooms use tournaments to lure players in with the hope that when they “bust out” of the tournament they will sit down and play at the cash games. Yet, three hours after the tournament began the room was having trouble keep eight cash games going.
That clearly indicated many people came for the tournament for the slim, unlikely possibility, they would place in the top twenty. Then win the June one. And somehow make it through 7,000 other players in Las Vegas, to be on TV for fame and fortune.
Hmm, maybe there are a lot more players who believe Poker is a way for easy money and are motivated by their greed then I thought. (I may have to revisit this thought a few more times.)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Why do people play poker part 2
This is part 2 of why I think people play poker. If you haven’t read part 1, you may want to go back to the last entry before you read this one.
After I posted part 1 of “why people play Poker”, I realized that my focus of poker player was very narrow. I was only focusing on the people, who play at public poker rooms for money. The home poker player may share similar traits to the public room player, but probably has a much higher need for community and social interaction then the public poker room player.
Therefore for both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Why people play poker” I am only going to be discussing the public poker room player, the ones I know best. My experience includes frequent play in San Diego, L.A. S.F. Las Vegas, Washington & Oregon, Vegas and a trip to the Midwest.
In part 1 I defined the traits of competition & “Role Playing” and their relationship of poker. The last two traits ego and mastery are slightly more obvious.
Poker historically has been a game of bravado, (especially when guns were on the table or pulled after a bad beat) and seats are primarily filled with “alpha males”.
Often many poker players seem fueled by a volatile mixture of testosterone, youthful egotism, and too much “red bull”.
By the way, the only poker room I have found that gives you free “Red Bull” is Sam’s Town in Vegas. I always have a couple of sugar free red bulls mixed with pineapple juice when I play there. The poker room manager of Sam’s told me a funny story about a guy they had to ban from the poker room. He would drink 16-18 “Red Bull’s a day. After about a dozen he would get very aggressive. He even got into fights with other players from too much “Red Bull”.
But, I am writing today about ego and mastery. With the notable exception of Phil Helmuth, ego seems to be something that better players, soon learn to diminish, because it often leads to poor play.
I love to play with a player who has a large ego. I especially love one who tells others how bad they play. If you listen carefully, while he thinks he is impressing people, he will tell you and anyone, who listens through his b.s. exactly how he plays and what he doesn't know about poker.
And I promise that anything you say at my table, will be used against you at some point or another.
Anger is another emotion that can cost you money at the table. It of course, can lead to bad play, but it has another less obvious purpose, that I have learned to take advantage of.
Let me illustrate it in two cases, where I won large pots. I would not have won them if a player, had not exhibited anger.
The first occurred very early in my “learning to play better poker” days. I was playing a 1/3 no limit game with a very friendly, slightly manic, very talkative player, who was leading the betting into me. I appeared to have a large pair, and he looked like he could be betting small trip’s or a flush draw.
On the river the third flush card appeared, and he went all-in with a sizable stack. I thought about it for a moment, asked for time, thought some more, stared at him for a moment, thinking “I need to fold this”. He abruptly said “will you either hurry up or call or fold, or do something.”
I almost folded in reaction to his challenge. Then I thought, “if he has the best hand, how come he is so irritated that I am taking my time?”
When I “believe” I am going to take a pot unchallenged or scoop a large one with the best possible hand, I feel pretty calm and patient. But he seems angry and irritated
That’s when I knew I had to call him. I turned over my one pair. He slammed down, his “busted flush”, stood up, and walked straight out of the poker room in an angry huff. I would have folded, had he not expressed anger, causing me to wonder why?
A similar thing happened last night here in San Diego. A young man who looked like he might be a body builder and I were head’s up. I had Qh, 9h, with a board of Qc, 9s, Kc, 7h & 10c.
When I flopped my two pair Queens & nines, I bet $50. Then I bet $100 on the turn. He called me both times, after initially checking it to me.
I suspected he might have flopped a straight! Now on the river, a very bad card for me came. It was the Ten of Clubs!
He now could have two larger pair, a straight, a flush or even a Royal Flush for that matter.
He went all in for $250. I was “cursing my bad luck” in my mind, but decided to analyze a little more, I was finding very little, I could beat on that board, after that river.
I took some more time, and stared at him. He locked eyes with me, and started “mad dogging” me. My first reaction was “don’t get this guy pissed, he could break me in half!
Then I thought, “Why does he want me to fear him or get uncomfortable?
So I will fold?”
If he has the best hand, he would want me to call.
After a moment, he breaks eye contact, looks away and kind of sheepishly grins. He turns on the charm by smiling. He then said in a friendly voice,“go ahead and call, maybe you have me beat”. Then he smiles some more.
In “Poker speak” that usually means “I want you to call, I have you beat”. But, wait, he could be acting and trying to deceive me. He might be thinking, that I know what that means, and so I will do the opposite and fold because he said it.
This didn’t seem as “congruent or primitive” as his “attempt to intimidate” me with his eyes. So if this is acting, then the other is more genuine, and he really doesn’t want me to call!
So, I called in an act of blind faith on my initial tell of his challenging eyes.
He said I have “a straight”!
My heart sunk, that was my greatest fear from the flop. As a novice player, I might have mucked, my two pair, after he said he had a straight, but I have seen guys angle this one, and I said “show me!”
I saw a guy lie once, and say he had a straight. Then when his opponent, holding two pair, mucked his cards, the first guy said oh, no, I made a mistake I only have one pair. (In that case he still got the pot, because the guy with the winning cards, had mucked his hand.)
To counter this, always turn you cards face up, whether you think you are beat or not. Never just take somebody’s word for what they had.
So I turned my two pair face up on the table.
He threw his cards face up on the table, revealing only a pair of tens. As the sizable pot was being pushed toward me, my opponent went to the ATM for more cash.
The “chip runner”, came up behind me and said do you know who that is?
I said I have no idea! It turns out, he is a well know football player for the San Diego Chargers, who just started playing poker a few weeks ago.
No wonder that “locking eyes” of challenge was so congruent for him! He has probably done that thousands of times on the football field.
I ended up taking down two more good sized pots from him before he left frustrated.
He will come back, he has fun playing poker, and he probably spends more on an expensive meal out with his teammates what he lost to me.
I wonder if the irony was lost on him, that I was wearing a Chargers t-shirt.?
In a future blog I will discuss the concept of Mastery as it applies to poker.
After I posted part 1 of “why people play Poker”, I realized that my focus of poker player was very narrow. I was only focusing on the people, who play at public poker rooms for money. The home poker player may share similar traits to the public room player, but probably has a much higher need for community and social interaction then the public poker room player.
Therefore for both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Why people play poker” I am only going to be discussing the public poker room player, the ones I know best. My experience includes frequent play in San Diego, L.A. S.F. Las Vegas, Washington & Oregon, Vegas and a trip to the Midwest.
In part 1 I defined the traits of competition & “Role Playing” and their relationship of poker. The last two traits ego and mastery are slightly more obvious.
Poker historically has been a game of bravado, (especially when guns were on the table or pulled after a bad beat) and seats are primarily filled with “alpha males”.
Often many poker players seem fueled by a volatile mixture of testosterone, youthful egotism, and too much “red bull”.
By the way, the only poker room I have found that gives you free “Red Bull” is Sam’s Town in Vegas. I always have a couple of sugar free red bulls mixed with pineapple juice when I play there. The poker room manager of Sam’s told me a funny story about a guy they had to ban from the poker room. He would drink 16-18 “Red Bull’s a day. After about a dozen he would get very aggressive. He even got into fights with other players from too much “Red Bull”.
But, I am writing today about ego and mastery. With the notable exception of Phil Helmuth, ego seems to be something that better players, soon learn to diminish, because it often leads to poor play.
I love to play with a player who has a large ego. I especially love one who tells others how bad they play. If you listen carefully, while he thinks he is impressing people, he will tell you and anyone, who listens through his b.s. exactly how he plays and what he doesn't know about poker.
And I promise that anything you say at my table, will be used against you at some point or another.
Anger is another emotion that can cost you money at the table. It of course, can lead to bad play, but it has another less obvious purpose, that I have learned to take advantage of.
Let me illustrate it in two cases, where I won large pots. I would not have won them if a player, had not exhibited anger.
The first occurred very early in my “learning to play better poker” days. I was playing a 1/3 no limit game with a very friendly, slightly manic, very talkative player, who was leading the betting into me. I appeared to have a large pair, and he looked like he could be betting small trip’s or a flush draw.
On the river the third flush card appeared, and he went all-in with a sizable stack. I thought about it for a moment, asked for time, thought some more, stared at him for a moment, thinking “I need to fold this”. He abruptly said “will you either hurry up or call or fold, or do something.”
I almost folded in reaction to his challenge. Then I thought, “if he has the best hand, how come he is so irritated that I am taking my time?”
When I “believe” I am going to take a pot unchallenged or scoop a large one with the best possible hand, I feel pretty calm and patient. But he seems angry and irritated
That’s when I knew I had to call him. I turned over my one pair. He slammed down, his “busted flush”, stood up, and walked straight out of the poker room in an angry huff. I would have folded, had he not expressed anger, causing me to wonder why?
A similar thing happened last night here in San Diego. A young man who looked like he might be a body builder and I were head’s up. I had Qh, 9h, with a board of Qc, 9s, Kc, 7h & 10c.
When I flopped my two pair Queens & nines, I bet $50. Then I bet $100 on the turn. He called me both times, after initially checking it to me.
I suspected he might have flopped a straight! Now on the river, a very bad card for me came. It was the Ten of Clubs!
He now could have two larger pair, a straight, a flush or even a Royal Flush for that matter.
He went all in for $250. I was “cursing my bad luck” in my mind, but decided to analyze a little more, I was finding very little, I could beat on that board, after that river.
I took some more time, and stared at him. He locked eyes with me, and started “mad dogging” me. My first reaction was “don’t get this guy pissed, he could break me in half!
Then I thought, “Why does he want me to fear him or get uncomfortable?
So I will fold?”
If he has the best hand, he would want me to call.
After a moment, he breaks eye contact, looks away and kind of sheepishly grins. He turns on the charm by smiling. He then said in a friendly voice,“go ahead and call, maybe you have me beat”. Then he smiles some more.
In “Poker speak” that usually means “I want you to call, I have you beat”. But, wait, he could be acting and trying to deceive me. He might be thinking, that I know what that means, and so I will do the opposite and fold because he said it.
This didn’t seem as “congruent or primitive” as his “attempt to intimidate” me with his eyes. So if this is acting, then the other is more genuine, and he really doesn’t want me to call!
So, I called in an act of blind faith on my initial tell of his challenging eyes.
He said I have “a straight”!
My heart sunk, that was my greatest fear from the flop. As a novice player, I might have mucked, my two pair, after he said he had a straight, but I have seen guys angle this one, and I said “show me!”
I saw a guy lie once, and say he had a straight. Then when his opponent, holding two pair, mucked his cards, the first guy said oh, no, I made a mistake I only have one pair. (In that case he still got the pot, because the guy with the winning cards, had mucked his hand.)
To counter this, always turn you cards face up, whether you think you are beat or not. Never just take somebody’s word for what they had.
So I turned my two pair face up on the table.
He threw his cards face up on the table, revealing only a pair of tens. As the sizable pot was being pushed toward me, my opponent went to the ATM for more cash.
The “chip runner”, came up behind me and said do you know who that is?
I said I have no idea! It turns out, he is a well know football player for the San Diego Chargers, who just started playing poker a few weeks ago.
No wonder that “locking eyes” of challenge was so congruent for him! He has probably done that thousands of times on the football field.
I ended up taking down two more good sized pots from him before he left frustrated.
He will come back, he has fun playing poker, and he probably spends more on an expensive meal out with his teammates what he lost to me.
I wonder if the irony was lost on him, that I was wearing a Chargers t-shirt.?
In a future blog I will discuss the concept of Mastery as it applies to poker.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Why do people play poker?
I am in a rural area east of San Diego. I spent the night in the RV with “Pokey the Dog” in the Sycuan Indian Casino parking lot, after a late night of poker playing. Prior to the Indian Casino being built here about 20 years ago, there were probably less then 500 people a year who came to this area. Now, the Casino is just finishing a parking structure to add parking for an additional thousand cars that come to this area on a daily basis.
This past weekend my wife Caren, and I, stayed with some friends in L.A. with another couple. We have known each other for about 25 years. We all meet 3-4 times a year for a weekend with good friends and “spirited” debate. This weekend I was asked “what is the appeal of poker that is fueling millions of people to be actively engaged with poker or other forms of gambling”.
Terry, who is an ethics professor and administrator at a Christian College, believes the basis of it is greed. (“The something for nothing, quick buck for little work, directly opposed to a core value of this country, the strong puritan “work ethic”.)
But, I don’t think the answer is that clear or that simple. I can only authoritatively answer the question for me, from my perspective, but it does cause me to think.
I think greed has very little to do with the reasons I play poker. In fact, Terry admitted he is probably far more, greedy then I am when he obsesses about buying more real estate and making money in the stock market, then I ever have about anything.
When I walk past the hundreds of people playing a "negative expectation" game like slots or blackjack (which probability dictates the longer you play, the more probable it will be that you lose,) I do think greed must play a large percentage for many who mindlessly pull a slot handle or push a button hour after hour, hoping to hit the big one.
However at the poker table I believe that only about 20-40 percent of players are there because of the greed factor.
The other possibly more powerful forces that motivate poker players are ego, competition, role-playing & skill. Unlike every other casino game you are competing with another person. Their money is at risk so the probabilities are even. (There is no “casino edge” such as in negative expected outcome games.) In poker the casino takes a little something from every pot to pay for the dealer and the table “rent”. But, they have no interest in the outcome of the conflict, anymore then a stock broker does in what happens to your stock. They receive a commission “up front” whether you make money or lose money.
Therefore I would divide poker players into two groups that primarily believe the outcome will be based on luck or based on skill. Obviously, that is a very simple, but useful division.
I estimate there are about 20% on either end of the luck versus skill scale. The luck player can be observed by his lucky charms, (rabbit’s foot or budda card protectors, lucky shirts, lucky seats etc. etc.)
The skill player are not so easily observed, but they read poker books, analyzes hands, discusses play with others. They are committed to improving their game through knowledge and skill development.
Then there are the 60% who are more evenly luck/skill mixed players. On a skill based scale they tip one way or the other, but are more prone to poor play then the 20% skill based players. However, they are not that much better players, then the luck based believers.
So, even with a classification system like skill/luck the four most power motivators seem to be: Competition, Ego, Role-Playing & Mastery.
I have listed them in what I believe is most to least significant. These motivators are present in each classification of player. As you climb the ranks I believe professionals work to suppress Competition & Ego and increase role-playing and poker mastery skills.
It would probably be helpful to define what I mean by each of these motivators.
Competition is prized highly in our society and provides a personal sense of satisfaction. It seems to be what makes children try to run faster or climb higher in play. College students stay up all night playing marathon sessions of board games or computer games. Then as Adults they seem to divide into two groups: those who still get out and compete from Bowling to Golf and those who watch professional sports on T.V.
Poker provides a hybrid for both. Regardless of whether you are young, or old, or fit or fat you can compete on a level playing field at the poker table.
Role-playing begins as a child who plays “grown up”, and into the teenage years there is an attempt to mimic/role-play from superhero to latest pop icon.
Little children don’t know how to “lie, fool, cheat, or deceive” from "harmless lies" to avoid hurt feelings, to serious attempts to defraud another.
But, early in their lives, they are taught by adults “how to keep a secret”, how to say something is true even when really believed to be false. As many of us have no venue to be able to selectively choose whether to role-play or not. Many people would admit their live is often lived out as one role-play after another, they believe, forced on them by others, which they have little control over.
Poker provides an outlet for practicing role-playing, primitive, non-societal approved behaviors like deception, misdirection, and manipulation but clearly understood and agreed upon by all participants that this is permissible and valued behavior in this arena.
In my next blog, I will attempt to define and relate how ego and poker skill relate to this discussion.
This past weekend my wife Caren, and I, stayed with some friends in L.A. with another couple. We have known each other for about 25 years. We all meet 3-4 times a year for a weekend with good friends and “spirited” debate. This weekend I was asked “what is the appeal of poker that is fueling millions of people to be actively engaged with poker or other forms of gambling”.
Terry, who is an ethics professor and administrator at a Christian College, believes the basis of it is greed. (“The something for nothing, quick buck for little work, directly opposed to a core value of this country, the strong puritan “work ethic”.)
But, I don’t think the answer is that clear or that simple. I can only authoritatively answer the question for me, from my perspective, but it does cause me to think.
I think greed has very little to do with the reasons I play poker. In fact, Terry admitted he is probably far more, greedy then I am when he obsesses about buying more real estate and making money in the stock market, then I ever have about anything.
When I walk past the hundreds of people playing a "negative expectation" game like slots or blackjack (which probability dictates the longer you play, the more probable it will be that you lose,) I do think greed must play a large percentage for many who mindlessly pull a slot handle or push a button hour after hour, hoping to hit the big one.
However at the poker table I believe that only about 20-40 percent of players are there because of the greed factor.
The other possibly more powerful forces that motivate poker players are ego, competition, role-playing & skill. Unlike every other casino game you are competing with another person. Their money is at risk so the probabilities are even. (There is no “casino edge” such as in negative expected outcome games.) In poker the casino takes a little something from every pot to pay for the dealer and the table “rent”. But, they have no interest in the outcome of the conflict, anymore then a stock broker does in what happens to your stock. They receive a commission “up front” whether you make money or lose money.
Therefore I would divide poker players into two groups that primarily believe the outcome will be based on luck or based on skill. Obviously, that is a very simple, but useful division.
I estimate there are about 20% on either end of the luck versus skill scale. The luck player can be observed by his lucky charms, (rabbit’s foot or budda card protectors, lucky shirts, lucky seats etc. etc.)
The skill player are not so easily observed, but they read poker books, analyzes hands, discusses play with others. They are committed to improving their game through knowledge and skill development.
Then there are the 60% who are more evenly luck/skill mixed players. On a skill based scale they tip one way or the other, but are more prone to poor play then the 20% skill based players. However, they are not that much better players, then the luck based believers.
So, even with a classification system like skill/luck the four most power motivators seem to be: Competition, Ego, Role-Playing & Mastery.
I have listed them in what I believe is most to least significant. These motivators are present in each classification of player. As you climb the ranks I believe professionals work to suppress Competition & Ego and increase role-playing and poker mastery skills.
It would probably be helpful to define what I mean by each of these motivators.
Competition is prized highly in our society and provides a personal sense of satisfaction. It seems to be what makes children try to run faster or climb higher in play. College students stay up all night playing marathon sessions of board games or computer games. Then as Adults they seem to divide into two groups: those who still get out and compete from Bowling to Golf and those who watch professional sports on T.V.
Poker provides a hybrid for both. Regardless of whether you are young, or old, or fit or fat you can compete on a level playing field at the poker table.
Role-playing begins as a child who plays “grown up”, and into the teenage years there is an attempt to mimic/role-play from superhero to latest pop icon.
Little children don’t know how to “lie, fool, cheat, or deceive” from "harmless lies" to avoid hurt feelings, to serious attempts to defraud another.
But, early in their lives, they are taught by adults “how to keep a secret”, how to say something is true even when really believed to be false. As many of us have no venue to be able to selectively choose whether to role-play or not. Many people would admit their live is often lived out as one role-play after another, they believe, forced on them by others, which they have little control over.
Poker provides an outlet for practicing role-playing, primitive, non-societal approved behaviors like deception, misdirection, and manipulation but clearly understood and agreed upon by all participants that this is permissible and valued behavior in this arena.
In my next blog, I will attempt to define and relate how ego and poker skill relate to this discussion.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Now appearing in your local shopping mall...
(A weekday, about 2 p.m. your local shopping mall.)
That RV you see parked there isn’t your typical shopper. In fact beside a cup of coffee at Starbucks I will spend no money at all in this mall. I am here, because I read every poker book that is published. Note, I said I read, not buy. Part of my commitment to improving my knowledge and skill at the game also includes wisely managing my bankroll.
So, what does an aspiring poker professional do when he takes a break from playing poker on a poker road trip? Why he frequents a neighborhood Barnes & Noble bookstore to read in the store the latest published poker book of course! (B.T.W. my lunch in the RV today, was a fifty cents Wal-Mart frozen pot pie cooked in the RV microwave. It was washed down by a free bottle of water from the last casino I visited.)
I do have some standards, (low though, they may be,) so I refrain from bringing in a steaming cup of instant coffee made in the RV, into the bookstore. I reluctantly purchase an overpriced $1.75 cup of java, and assure myself that I am now a “paying customer”. I have earned the right to spend countless hours sitting and reading books that interest me.
I read incredibly fast, so in the last two hours I read the “The Gambling Nation” an amusing book by a “Sports Illustrator” staff writer who has lost most of his retirement money, but somehow not his wife and family, via his “gambling problem”. I don’t think, he thinks, he has a problem. That is my observation. He has a successful best seller to further convince him he doesn’t. It is well worth a read. My perception of his “problem” is only incidental to the subject material of the book.
One of the chapters talks about the Mormon Church’s recent revelation by their head Apostle about Poker. (Apparently over 40% of the population of Salt Lake City, makes the pilgrimage across the desert to Wendover, Nevada to the casinos.)
The modern day apostle head Mormon has a recent word, that he needed to speak out, that the “church” is against it! No surprise there, but the author makes a clever argument, for why most religious systems are against Gambling. It is because they are competitors of each other with interesting similarities. The faithful in both systems are filled with the hope-filled, faithful, who believe that playing by the rules, and trusting in “what you can’t see, or the “unseen to come”, will result in a big payoff in the end! And both count on the steady inflow of money from the faithful. I find that a very interesting analogy.
Yet, the reality of life was further revealed when a local Mormon pastor was asked if a member who confessed to his poker playing in his mandatory pre-marital counseling would be prohibited from an approved church wedding? He reluctantly answered probably not. I wonder if that means the groom would be “sealed for time & eternity as a poker player?
I am planning on going back in again and reading the “History of Gambling” a little later. I have heard it is a well written & researched treatise on gambling throughout human history.
Speaking of religious events.... Here is a blog I wrote at Christmas time and forgot to post....
My most wonderful time of the year, Vegas at Christmas time.
There is something so congruent about the way we celebrate our commercial veiw of Christmas and Las Vegas. Slots, and pots, with Christmas carols in the background just bring out this time of the year for me! The weather in Las Vegas is bright and sunny and the nights are clear and cold with shining stars. (Or is that just more neon lights in the distance?)
Pokey the dog, and I have driven up from San Diego to celebrate a week here before we provide support for Caren’s surgery. The surgery is scheduled for the 27th.
We left San Diego yesterday after that great San Diego Chargers victory over Denver where L.T. broke the all-time record for most goals scored in a season. He should break it, again and again, with the amount of time left in this season.
We stopped at Lake Elsinore Casino off Interstate 15.
I played a couple of hours of 6/12 limit. I had nachos for dinner at the table, and then drove the rest of the way to Vegas. We stopped for a couple of walks at rest stops on the way and then slept in the parking lot, of the casino, formerly known, as the South Coast Casino. We were nestled in between about 50-60 horse trailers as the Cowboys and Cowgirls spent their last night in town for the Rodeo.
I wish I had gotten here earlier. I heard there was a lot of good poker action served up with a lot of beer to a lot of cowboys. Some good players probably made a lot of money last week.
I went to the “house of the arches” for a “double cheese cow burger” and then played the noon Omaha tournament at the Orleans. I went out number 22, but I enjoyed it and made up my buy-in afterwards in a live No-limit game.
Dealers can be such jerks sometimes. I
have found more rude, lack of consideration, poker dealers in Vegas then I have found anywhere else I have played. I found another one here at the Orleans.
During the Tournament, I had been moved to a new table and was one off the button. I figured it was a good time to go to the bathroom, so I did thinking "I would miss just that hand."
I got back to my seat just in time to sit down, picked up my hand, which was AAK2 double-suited. (A very good starting hand in Omaha, in fact the best one I got in the whole tournament.) I stood up with my cards to see who else had come into the hand and announced "raise" while I was standing. The dealer saw me “standing” and yelled “that hand is dead” and grabbed it out of my hand and threw them into the muck.
I was shocked that he just grabbed that he had just grabbed them out of my hand. I said “what did you do that for?
He said the rules state "you have you be in your seat when it is your time to act or your hand is dead." I said I was in my seat. I picked up my cards and I stood up to get a better look.
He said "you weren’t in your seat, when I looked at you!"
Of course an Ace and a pair of 4s flopped which would have given me Aces full.
He left the next hand and it took me a couple of hands to get over how rude that was.
I hope I get in a live game with him later I think I might announce after winning a pot that my rules state that all my dealer tips are dead to rude dealers.
Then again, I probably won’t because I don’t want to be the kind of “jerk” that he chooses to be.
Merry Christmas and good cheer to all.....
That RV you see parked there isn’t your typical shopper. In fact beside a cup of coffee at Starbucks I will spend no money at all in this mall. I am here, because I read every poker book that is published. Note, I said I read, not buy. Part of my commitment to improving my knowledge and skill at the game also includes wisely managing my bankroll.
So, what does an aspiring poker professional do when he takes a break from playing poker on a poker road trip? Why he frequents a neighborhood Barnes & Noble bookstore to read in the store the latest published poker book of course! (B.T.W. my lunch in the RV today, was a fifty cents Wal-Mart frozen pot pie cooked in the RV microwave. It was washed down by a free bottle of water from the last casino I visited.)
I do have some standards, (low though, they may be,) so I refrain from bringing in a steaming cup of instant coffee made in the RV, into the bookstore. I reluctantly purchase an overpriced $1.75 cup of java, and assure myself that I am now a “paying customer”. I have earned the right to spend countless hours sitting and reading books that interest me.
I read incredibly fast, so in the last two hours I read the “The Gambling Nation” an amusing book by a “Sports Illustrator” staff writer who has lost most of his retirement money, but somehow not his wife and family, via his “gambling problem”. I don’t think, he thinks, he has a problem. That is my observation. He has a successful best seller to further convince him he doesn’t. It is well worth a read. My perception of his “problem” is only incidental to the subject material of the book.
One of the chapters talks about the Mormon Church’s recent revelation by their head Apostle about Poker. (Apparently over 40% of the population of Salt Lake City, makes the pilgrimage across the desert to Wendover, Nevada to the casinos.)
The modern day apostle head Mormon has a recent word, that he needed to speak out, that the “church” is against it! No surprise there, but the author makes a clever argument, for why most religious systems are against Gambling. It is because they are competitors of each other with interesting similarities. The faithful in both systems are filled with the hope-filled, faithful, who believe that playing by the rules, and trusting in “what you can’t see, or the “unseen to come”, will result in a big payoff in the end! And both count on the steady inflow of money from the faithful. I find that a very interesting analogy.
Yet, the reality of life was further revealed when a local Mormon pastor was asked if a member who confessed to his poker playing in his mandatory pre-marital counseling would be prohibited from an approved church wedding? He reluctantly answered probably not. I wonder if that means the groom would be “sealed for time & eternity as a poker player?
I am planning on going back in again and reading the “History of Gambling” a little later. I have heard it is a well written & researched treatise on gambling throughout human history.
Speaking of religious events.... Here is a blog I wrote at Christmas time and forgot to post....
My most wonderful time of the year, Vegas at Christmas time.
There is something so congruent about the way we celebrate our commercial veiw of Christmas and Las Vegas. Slots, and pots, with Christmas carols in the background just bring out this time of the year for me! The weather in Las Vegas is bright and sunny and the nights are clear and cold with shining stars. (Or is that just more neon lights in the distance?)
Pokey the dog, and I have driven up from San Diego to celebrate a week here before we provide support for Caren’s surgery. The surgery is scheduled for the 27th.
We left San Diego yesterday after that great San Diego Chargers victory over Denver where L.T. broke the all-time record for most goals scored in a season. He should break it, again and again, with the amount of time left in this season.
We stopped at Lake Elsinore Casino off Interstate 15.
I played a couple of hours of 6/12 limit. I had nachos for dinner at the table, and then drove the rest of the way to Vegas. We stopped for a couple of walks at rest stops on the way and then slept in the parking lot, of the casino, formerly known, as the South Coast Casino. We were nestled in between about 50-60 horse trailers as the Cowboys and Cowgirls spent their last night in town for the Rodeo.
I wish I had gotten here earlier. I heard there was a lot of good poker action served up with a lot of beer to a lot of cowboys. Some good players probably made a lot of money last week.
I went to the “house of the arches” for a “double cheese cow burger” and then played the noon Omaha tournament at the Orleans. I went out number 22, but I enjoyed it and made up my buy-in afterwards in a live No-limit game.
Dealers can be such jerks sometimes. I
have found more rude, lack of consideration, poker dealers in Vegas then I have found anywhere else I have played. I found another one here at the Orleans.
During the Tournament, I had been moved to a new table and was one off the button. I figured it was a good time to go to the bathroom, so I did thinking "I would miss just that hand."
I got back to my seat just in time to sit down, picked up my hand, which was AAK2 double-suited. (A very good starting hand in Omaha, in fact the best one I got in the whole tournament.) I stood up with my cards to see who else had come into the hand and announced "raise" while I was standing. The dealer saw me “standing” and yelled “that hand is dead” and grabbed it out of my hand and threw them into the muck.
I was shocked that he just grabbed that he had just grabbed them out of my hand. I said “what did you do that for?
He said the rules state "you have you be in your seat when it is your time to act or your hand is dead." I said I was in my seat. I picked up my cards and I stood up to get a better look.
He said "you weren’t in your seat, when I looked at you!"
Of course an Ace and a pair of 4s flopped which would have given me Aces full.
He left the next hand and it took me a couple of hands to get over how rude that was.
I hope I get in a live game with him later I think I might announce after winning a pot that my rules state that all my dealer tips are dead to rude dealers.
Then again, I probably won’t because I don’t want to be the kind of “jerk” that he chooses to be.
Merry Christmas and good cheer to all.....
L.A or Compton.... what a choice....
After waking up in the RV next to an old warehouse, across the street from the Commerce Casino, at noon in warm, but smoggy L.A, I decide to drive toward the Crystal Park Casino in Compton.
If I was in New York, that would be the equivalent of driving from Hell’s Kitchen to Harlem. It is about the same distance and about the same kind of neighborhood conditions.
We lived in La Palma about 10 years ago not too far from here.. We lived in what was then “a white middle class suburbia”. (It is now off-white, approximately 70% Korean.)
La Palma is on the county line of Orange and L.A. Our backyard was Orange County. The other side of the fence was L.A. During the Rodney King Trial riots we could see the smoke from the fires to the west from our backyard.
I remember the first time I stopped at the Crystal Park Casino before it was cleaned up. This was before the era of cell phones. I located a payphone and called my wife and told her “Honey, I have some good news, some bad news, and some worst news. “I am winning at poker. However, I am in Compton, and this is a local call”!
The casino has been cleaned up a lot. It is much safer now. Over this weekend I am camping in the RV in the back parking lot. It is well lit, but sometimes filled with background noises of the light rail system next door and emergency sirens wailing intermittently off in the distance..
I met my son Jonathan here last night. He was up from San Diego visiting a friend of his in Santa Monica. We arranged to meet and play poker at the same table for a few hours before he drove home to San Diego late last night. It was good to see him. He played well. He received poor cards and only played one hand in 4 hours. I was proud of his play, as well as everything else about him. I taught him to play years ago. His friend Geoff is going to work for Yahoo next week. I am encouraging Jonathan to do the same. They pay well and are a great company from what I hear.
I played two tournaments today. I got knocked out early in the morning one and the second one this evening was very frustrating. It was an unlimited re-buy tournament for the first hour and a half. Meaning there was horrible play and multiple re-buys. I patiently stayed out of trouble, even throwing away a few playable hands to make it to the end of the re-buy period with most of my chips.
About an hour later I limp in with AK under the gun. Two others limp behind me. The blinds are 100-200 with 50 antes. A late position player raises it to 1500. I have him covered by about 800 and since I haven’t played a hand for 2 hours figure this is a good time to make a play. I push all-in with my AK thinking he will lay down almost everything but Aces or Kings. He calls with AK! We turn our cards over and it is 95% probability we will split the pot and get on with the next hand. The flop comes with two diamonds, the turn is a diamond, and the river is a diamond. He has the Ace Diamonds and I have 800 chips left.
The very next hand is my big blind. In goes 200 and 100 ante. Three people limp in. The flop comes J,10 3. I put the remainder of my chips in, while matching the 10 on the board. The cards are turned over. I am ahead with my pair of tens, until the river. A jack comes, pairing one of the remaining callers. I am out of the tournament.
I was very proud of my non-reaction. I warmly wished everyone good luck and went out to play a live game.
After an hour of live play in one of the tightest tables I have ever played I went out to the RV to walk “Pokey the Dog”.
I may go back in later and play a little after more people have left the tournament and there are some more games going.
I will spend the night here again on the outskirts of infamous & dangerous Compton.
Tomorrow I head for the world famous Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens. It is located in another lovely neighborhood in L.A. For you New Yorkers reading this, we are talking the Bronx here.
Goodnight from Compton.
If I was in New York, that would be the equivalent of driving from Hell’s Kitchen to Harlem. It is about the same distance and about the same kind of neighborhood conditions.
We lived in La Palma about 10 years ago not too far from here.. We lived in what was then “a white middle class suburbia”. (It is now off-white, approximately 70% Korean.)
La Palma is on the county line of Orange and L.A. Our backyard was Orange County. The other side of the fence was L.A. During the Rodney King Trial riots we could see the smoke from the fires to the west from our backyard.
I remember the first time I stopped at the Crystal Park Casino before it was cleaned up. This was before the era of cell phones. I located a payphone and called my wife and told her “Honey, I have some good news, some bad news, and some worst news. “I am winning at poker. However, I am in Compton, and this is a local call”!
The casino has been cleaned up a lot. It is much safer now. Over this weekend I am camping in the RV in the back parking lot. It is well lit, but sometimes filled with background noises of the light rail system next door and emergency sirens wailing intermittently off in the distance..
I met my son Jonathan here last night. He was up from San Diego visiting a friend of his in Santa Monica. We arranged to meet and play poker at the same table for a few hours before he drove home to San Diego late last night. It was good to see him. He played well. He received poor cards and only played one hand in 4 hours. I was proud of his play, as well as everything else about him. I taught him to play years ago. His friend Geoff is going to work for Yahoo next week. I am encouraging Jonathan to do the same. They pay well and are a great company from what I hear.
I played two tournaments today. I got knocked out early in the morning one and the second one this evening was very frustrating. It was an unlimited re-buy tournament for the first hour and a half. Meaning there was horrible play and multiple re-buys. I patiently stayed out of trouble, even throwing away a few playable hands to make it to the end of the re-buy period with most of my chips.
About an hour later I limp in with AK under the gun. Two others limp behind me. The blinds are 100-200 with 50 antes. A late position player raises it to 1500. I have him covered by about 800 and since I haven’t played a hand for 2 hours figure this is a good time to make a play. I push all-in with my AK thinking he will lay down almost everything but Aces or Kings. He calls with AK! We turn our cards over and it is 95% probability we will split the pot and get on with the next hand. The flop comes with two diamonds, the turn is a diamond, and the river is a diamond. He has the Ace Diamonds and I have 800 chips left.
The very next hand is my big blind. In goes 200 and 100 ante. Three people limp in. The flop comes J,10 3. I put the remainder of my chips in, while matching the 10 on the board. The cards are turned over. I am ahead with my pair of tens, until the river. A jack comes, pairing one of the remaining callers. I am out of the tournament.
I was very proud of my non-reaction. I warmly wished everyone good luck and went out to play a live game.
After an hour of live play in one of the tightest tables I have ever played I went out to the RV to walk “Pokey the Dog”.
I may go back in later and play a little after more people have left the tournament and there are some more games going.
I will spend the night here again on the outskirts of infamous & dangerous Compton.
Tomorrow I head for the world famous Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens. It is located in another lovely neighborhood in L.A. For you New Yorkers reading this, we are talking the Bronx here.
Goodnight from Compton.
Almost dead in L.A.
3:15 A.M. I am lost just south of downtown Los Angeles in an industrial area of abandoned cars and buildings with broken windows.
The few people I have seen on the street look like they should be featured in a movie titled “L.A. 2048 after the fallout effects!” I realize with fear in my heart, I am lost in an area that hasn’t seen an American-born “non-frequent-visitor” to the L.A. county jail, system in years. A horn blares behind me. I hadn’t even seen another car for blocks and I am startled. I quickly turn left to get out of his way only to realize too
late, I am now heading down a street that looks like it dead-ends into a recycling area. A kaleidoscope of late night horror movies and sensational news story’s of “people being in the wrong place at the wrong time” flash through my mind. There are gang themed graffiti everywhere with 12th street frequently repeated. Then I remember “12th” street is one of the worst gangs in the country! I am in an barrio that even Tony Soprano wouldn’t drive through during the day!
How did a old white guy from San Diego in a beautiful motor-home with twenty-five hundred dollars in cash in his pocket get himself into a situation like this?
It started about a week ago with a poker trip in the RV from my home in San Diego. One of the nice things about an RV is no need for reservations, filthy gas station bathrooms, or rude waitresses with over-priced food unfit for human consumption. I am totally self-contained. I eat when I want. Sleep where I want. Go any direction I choose when I arise in the morning. I am “Easy rider” 40 years later!
I have two weeks before any obligation, and a terrific wife who supports my obsession with becoming a poker professional. So “pokey the little dog” and I pack a bag of clothes for me, and food for him, and soon we are driving to our first casino.
Two days later, we are driving to our third casino just 50 miles down the road. We spent the first two days less then 20 miles from our home at a local casino in San Diego. I logged 20 hours of poker and camped out two nights in the R.V. (More accurately, I should say 2 days, because nights were mainly spent in the poker room.)
The original plan was to make it to Vegas and back to L.A. to meet my wife in two weeks at a friend’s home. Three of us long-term couple friends get together for fun every few months.
A week later finds me only 100 miles from home. After visiting 4 more casinos I have just barely made it over the county line. I am now at the Morongo Casino near Palm Springs for a Friday night tournament. It is a $150 buy-in tournament for about 190 players with first place paying $6,000. Five hours later I went out just 2 places from the money. I played well, but just didn’t get lucky at the end, when I badly needed to.
I have decided that I am not going to make it to Las Vegas on this trip. I talked to my son on the phone right before the tournament. He told me he is driving up to L.A. to visit a friend over the weekend. So we make plans to meet in L.A., Saturday night at the Crystal Casino poker room in Compton another “wonderful” area of L.A.
He was the main reason I decided to head for L.A. earlier then planned, but there is also another “poker-related” reason. I was up in the foothills of Highland, at San Manuel casino, camping in the RV parking lot. I was sitting outside next to my RV in a lawn-chair, shirtless in the warm afternoon sun, smoking a cigar, and looking like the poster-boy for “white trash”. I was actually listening to “The Circuit“.
“The Circuit” is an Internet podcast. I download it to my Ipod and listen to it while driving or at the poker tables. Christy Gates was talking about her recent successes and was describing how the best place in the world to play poker is L.A.. She explained why it is much better then Vegas for poker. Her reasoning seemed sound, and fit my experience.
L.A. has less pros playing. There is more money thrown around by newer recreational players. The action is good. There are a lot of loose players. So with gas being over three dollars a gallon, I decide seeing my son in L.A. and playing the Commerce, Bike, Hollywood Park and three or four other poker rooms can keep me busy for a week. I would rather “play the money” then spend it on gas driving to Vegas.
Whenever I go through L.A, I always try to do it in the middle of the night to avoid traffic. So Friday night at midnight finds me pulling out of the Morongo Casino parking lot, where I had planned to spend the night after the tournament. I point my RV east to drive the 81 miles to the Commerce Club. I need to stop to get groceries, so I locate a 24 hour Super Walmart and find myself in very large nearly empty store at a time, it is being stocked and frequented by only a few insomniacs.
You would know just from reading my grocery receipt, that this is a cheap guy and his dog camping a week in the RV.
Here are just few items and their prices.
A box of Crunch & Munch .88
12 Little Debbies cakes .97
Case of Diet Vanilla Pepsi $6.00
Dozen Eggs $1.50
Can of Spam $1.65
Instant Quick Grits .98
2 cans of Tuna .64 each
3 frozen burritos .33 each
4 frozen pot pies .50 each
And what I am most proud of, in the clearance bin I found:
4 large boxes of chocolate covered raisins was 1.94 now .33
Can of Chili was $1.25 now .35 in the dented can.
24oz can of Coors was 1.50 now .50
And thinking of my wife, two large canisters of Clorox handi-wipes $6 now $3
After putting away my groceries, I consider spending the rest of the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Instead, I decide to drive to the rest of the way to the Commerce Club. I want to avoid the hassle of dealing with the weekend traffic through Riverside and L.A on a Saturday.
I didn’t realize that 60 west doesn’t have a southbound ramp to Interstate 5, which is how I ended up just south of downtown in an alien, gang-infested barrio of L.A. in the middle of the night.
I don’t think I had ever seen the Vernon District of L.A. before! Well, maybe on an episode of “Cops, the L.A. edition”.
I crisscross the dry L.A. river bed 3 times, where some of the “Terminator” was filmed. I am desperately looking for a freeway. If I break down in this area, the morning sun will find an empty burned out shell of a camper. Pictures of “Pokey the dog” and my face will end up on milk cartons. Or we could be featured in an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries”.
Finally the name of a street I recognize appears in my headlights.
Twenty minutes later I am following a security van at the Commerce Casino. He is leading me to a parking lot next to an old warehouse across the street from the Commerce where I can park my RV for the night. Great, this area looks like the area I just got out of! After pulling the curtains shut and double checking all the locks. I step out and walk toward the poker room to play a little poker.
I fondly look back over my shoulder to get one more glance at my RV and “Pokey the dog” at the window. I wonder, after I cross this empty warehouse lot, and play a little poker if “Pokey and the RV” will still be there when the sun comes up?
After two hours of “wild poker”, also known as, “any two will do, this is no-fold-em hold-em”, where the pot was capped every other hand, I know I am right where I belong.
After dawn “Pokey the dog” RV are still there as I crawl into my bed to sleep the day after another typical day & night of playing poker on a road trip.
The few people I have seen on the street look like they should be featured in a movie titled “L.A. 2048 after the fallout effects!” I realize with fear in my heart, I am lost in an area that hasn’t seen an American-born “non-frequent-visitor” to the L.A. county jail, system in years. A horn blares behind me. I hadn’t even seen another car for blocks and I am startled. I quickly turn left to get out of his way only to realize too
late, I am now heading down a street that looks like it dead-ends into a recycling area. A kaleidoscope of late night horror movies and sensational news story’s of “people being in the wrong place at the wrong time” flash through my mind. There are gang themed graffiti everywhere with 12th street frequently repeated. Then I remember “12th” street is one of the worst gangs in the country! I am in an barrio that even Tony Soprano wouldn’t drive through during the day!
How did a old white guy from San Diego in a beautiful motor-home with twenty-five hundred dollars in cash in his pocket get himself into a situation like this?
It started about a week ago with a poker trip in the RV from my home in San Diego. One of the nice things about an RV is no need for reservations, filthy gas station bathrooms, or rude waitresses with over-priced food unfit for human consumption. I am totally self-contained. I eat when I want. Sleep where I want. Go any direction I choose when I arise in the morning. I am “Easy rider” 40 years later!
I have two weeks before any obligation, and a terrific wife who supports my obsession with becoming a poker professional. So “pokey the little dog” and I pack a bag of clothes for me, and food for him, and soon we are driving to our first casino.
Two days later, we are driving to our third casino just 50 miles down the road. We spent the first two days less then 20 miles from our home at a local casino in San Diego. I logged 20 hours of poker and camped out two nights in the R.V. (More accurately, I should say 2 days, because nights were mainly spent in the poker room.)
The original plan was to make it to Vegas and back to L.A. to meet my wife in two weeks at a friend’s home. Three of us long-term couple friends get together for fun every few months.
A week later finds me only 100 miles from home. After visiting 4 more casinos I have just barely made it over the county line. I am now at the Morongo Casino near Palm Springs for a Friday night tournament. It is a $150 buy-in tournament for about 190 players with first place paying $6,000. Five hours later I went out just 2 places from the money. I played well, but just didn’t get lucky at the end, when I badly needed to.
I have decided that I am not going to make it to Las Vegas on this trip. I talked to my son on the phone right before the tournament. He told me he is driving up to L.A. to visit a friend over the weekend. So we make plans to meet in L.A., Saturday night at the Crystal Casino poker room in Compton another “wonderful” area of L.A.
He was the main reason I decided to head for L.A. earlier then planned, but there is also another “poker-related” reason. I was up in the foothills of Highland, at San Manuel casino, camping in the RV parking lot. I was sitting outside next to my RV in a lawn-chair, shirtless in the warm afternoon sun, smoking a cigar, and looking like the poster-boy for “white trash”. I was actually listening to “The Circuit“.
“The Circuit” is an Internet podcast. I download it to my Ipod and listen to it while driving or at the poker tables. Christy Gates was talking about her recent successes and was describing how the best place in the world to play poker is L.A.. She explained why it is much better then Vegas for poker. Her reasoning seemed sound, and fit my experience.
L.A. has less pros playing. There is more money thrown around by newer recreational players. The action is good. There are a lot of loose players. So with gas being over three dollars a gallon, I decide seeing my son in L.A. and playing the Commerce, Bike, Hollywood Park and three or four other poker rooms can keep me busy for a week. I would rather “play the money” then spend it on gas driving to Vegas.
Whenever I go through L.A, I always try to do it in the middle of the night to avoid traffic. So Friday night at midnight finds me pulling out of the Morongo Casino parking lot, where I had planned to spend the night after the tournament. I point my RV east to drive the 81 miles to the Commerce Club. I need to stop to get groceries, so I locate a 24 hour Super Walmart and find myself in very large nearly empty store at a time, it is being stocked and frequented by only a few insomniacs.
You would know just from reading my grocery receipt, that this is a cheap guy and his dog camping a week in the RV.
Here are just few items and their prices.
A box of Crunch & Munch .88
12 Little Debbies cakes .97
Case of Diet Vanilla Pepsi $6.00
Dozen Eggs $1.50
Can of Spam $1.65
Instant Quick Grits .98
2 cans of Tuna .64 each
3 frozen burritos .33 each
4 frozen pot pies .50 each
And what I am most proud of, in the clearance bin I found:
4 large boxes of chocolate covered raisins was 1.94 now .33
Can of Chili was $1.25 now .35 in the dented can.
24oz can of Coors was 1.50 now .50
And thinking of my wife, two large canisters of Clorox handi-wipes $6 now $3
After putting away my groceries, I consider spending the rest of the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Instead, I decide to drive to the rest of the way to the Commerce Club. I want to avoid the hassle of dealing with the weekend traffic through Riverside and L.A on a Saturday.
I didn’t realize that 60 west doesn’t have a southbound ramp to Interstate 5, which is how I ended up just south of downtown in an alien, gang-infested barrio of L.A. in the middle of the night.
I don’t think I had ever seen the Vernon District of L.A. before! Well, maybe on an episode of “Cops, the L.A. edition”.
I crisscross the dry L.A. river bed 3 times, where some of the “Terminator” was filmed. I am desperately looking for a freeway. If I break down in this area, the morning sun will find an empty burned out shell of a camper. Pictures of “Pokey the dog” and my face will end up on milk cartons. Or we could be featured in an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries”.
Finally the name of a street I recognize appears in my headlights.
Twenty minutes later I am following a security van at the Commerce Casino. He is leading me to a parking lot next to an old warehouse across the street from the Commerce where I can park my RV for the night. Great, this area looks like the area I just got out of! After pulling the curtains shut and double checking all the locks. I step out and walk toward the poker room to play a little poker.
I fondly look back over my shoulder to get one more glance at my RV and “Pokey the dog” at the window. I wonder, after I cross this empty warehouse lot, and play a little poker if “Pokey and the RV” will still be there when the sun comes up?
After two hours of “wild poker”, also known as, “any two will do, this is no-fold-em hold-em”, where the pot was capped every other hand, I know I am right where I belong.
After dawn “Pokey the dog” RV are still there as I crawl into my bed to sleep the day after another typical day & night of playing poker on a road trip.
I'm sitting on top of the world....
Well at least I am sitting on top of L.A.
I am overlooking the San Bernardino Valley from about 1500 feet in elevation. The San Manuel Casino have their RV parking in the Employees lot about 800 feet almost straight up from the casino. The entrance is so steep I drive it in 1st gear. However, the result is so worth it! I park alongside of a fence with a southern view and I can see at least 20 miles in every direction except north. To the north behind me the mountains rise majestically to over 5,000 feet. I spent the night here after a less then stellar night in the Poker room.
I was card dead. I lost my limit for the day in a few hours. Most frustrating of all, I was one of the better players at a table of guys trying to “give their money away”. The guy to my left lost 3 racks of $5 chips ($1500) in the first ½ hour of my joining the table. Two others went to their pockets for more money multiple times. My theme song of “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been a very different outcome” kept playing in my head, but alas it was not to be. A couple bad beats, two failed bluffs, and an “outdraw” later I was headed back up to the RV.
The one thing I have done well is to “take a break” when I start “running bad”. I really get it that Poker is one lifetime, continuous poker game that I play in, with “breaks” away from the table. I can’t win the game in a day, but I could lose it, if my “bankroll” ends up going all in, because I have to “get back” what I lost today! That kind of “slippery slope” is the most dangerous place to go in poker or any other game of skill and chance.
It has been almost three months since I have written in this blog. Shortly after my last entry, I passed the two year mark in my attempt to be a professional. It has not been a glamorous, highly successful two years, but I have learned a lot, enjoyed the freedom, and followed my dream beyond my comfort zone. That is a major accomplishment for me and beyond where many others dare to let themselves go.
8 hours later,
I played 2/5 NL and won back what I lost yesterday. I was ahead a bit, but had a dip for the last two hours I played. In hindsight I could have left 2 hours earlier when I started feeling a little tired. But, it was “double jackpot time” and I just resolved to play really tight. I did, and got outdrawn three times. As Phil says, “he would win every hand if there wasn’t luck involved”. Of course then he would be the only one that played this game. (grin)
I keep thinking and playing and visiting different casinos to try to discover what it is that top professionals know/see/do different then the rest of us but I cannot figure it out. I am a slightly better then break even player. About a year ago I was a break-even player and the year before I was a losing player so I must be moving in the right direction. When you play poker the odds against walking away from the table with money is 9-1 against you. The dealer/casino always wins 4 or 5 dollars from every pot. Then there are 8 other players you have to beat. It is a tough business. But, somebody has to be that one that wins, so I continue to study, play, practice, apply what I learn and experience. A few of the more important principals that are the mainstay of my game are.
1. Play at the level my bankroll supports. (Never risk more then 5% of my bankroll a day. I have a stop loss limit for the day. I quit for the day if I reach it.)
2. Stay off tilt. (Take a break & walk around every hour or so. Stay focused on the present. Remind yourself bad beats are part of the game. Try to recognize your mistakes but forgive yourself quickly when you make one.)
3. Pay attention. (Even when you are not in a pot watch every hand, and every player in the hand, and learn as much as you can about them. Work on your reading ability by guessing what hands are being played.)
Last night, before I went to sleep in the RV the rain came in with some strong winds. The RV was rocking back and forth came in from three different directions on this bluff in the foothills of the San Berndandino Mountains. I decided this would be a good night to watch MacBeth with Orson Wells & Roddy McDowell in Black & White on the VCR. Now there was a guy who didn’t seem to enjoy his life. After about an hour of feeling doom & gloom and not understanding half the dialogue, nor the story, I decided to shut it off and go to sleep. I resolved to read the cliff notes on MacBeth next time I am in a bookstore because I couldn’t “get it”. I was afraid to look out the window for fear of seeing three witches on the outcropping above me chanting “double bubble, toil & trouble” (all four terms well understood by poker players)
The wind was still blowing when I awoke and looked out the window in the morning. What an awesome sight. The smog was all blown away and I could see for 30-40 miles. I could see the mountains behind Palm Springs to the east, to the ones beyond Moreno Valley to the South and beyond Covina to the west. At least 3-4 million people live in the area I could see while I am sitting here on a lawn chair outside the RV typing writing these thoughts on my lap top. The sun is in the final stages of setting over the mountains above San Dimas to the west and I feel contentment and gratefulness I can do this.
Today was not such a great day at the table. I lost three big hands to a “luckbox” who made three very bad calls against me and “lucked out” on the river each time. She was in seat three and was a very aggressive player who played almost every hand. One of the dealers’ had already commented to her “she was a very lucky player”. She went up and down from 100-600 five times in the time I was at the table.
I was focused, playing only good cards and making good reads. On the first “bad beat” disaster Seat 4 went all in for $100 on a turn card, where I had made a queen high straight. I was in seat 8 and went all with $250 in to try to keep “luckbox” out. She still called! The board was 10, 8, J of hearts & 6 of spades and she had K of hearts & 7 of clubs! The Ace of hearts was the river and I lost my stack for the first time to her. Another occurred about an hour later. I won’t bore you with those details. Only that I was betting with two pair and and she was calling with one middle pair and caught a third one on the river.
For the next two hours I worked on keeping her out of my pots by over grossly over betting the flop when it was favorable for me. She would always bet out in early position 15-20 every time she was in a hand. Then she would take forever to lay down her hand, (she hated to lay down her cards)often calling with the worst hand that would win 2/3 of the time. I was down to my last $150 and she raised $10 from under the gun. Three people followed suit. I had pocket 5’s on the dealer button so I raised $75 (1/2 of my chips) expecting to end it right there. Before the big blind can act, she says “I am going to put you all in”. (I object & the dealer tells her to wait her turn to act. That encourages the big blind to put in his last $125 knowing he is getting better pot odds with three players. She goes all in, and I put in the last of my chips. My hand is good against one player, probably not two. The flop comes 5,6,2 , giving me trip 5’s. The turn is a queen and the river a 9 giving her 7,8 a straight to the 9. I walked away muttering to myself “that is some luck” and resolved to come back tonight after dinner & a nap because I should be able to make some money in a place where there are “regulars” who play this badly.
I am overlooking the San Bernardino Valley from about 1500 feet in elevation. The San Manuel Casino have their RV parking in the Employees lot about 800 feet almost straight up from the casino. The entrance is so steep I drive it in 1st gear. However, the result is so worth it! I park alongside of a fence with a southern view and I can see at least 20 miles in every direction except north. To the north behind me the mountains rise majestically to over 5,000 feet. I spent the night here after a less then stellar night in the Poker room.
I was card dead. I lost my limit for the day in a few hours. Most frustrating of all, I was one of the better players at a table of guys trying to “give their money away”. The guy to my left lost 3 racks of $5 chips ($1500) in the first ½ hour of my joining the table. Two others went to their pockets for more money multiple times. My theme song of “could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been a very different outcome” kept playing in my head, but alas it was not to be. A couple bad beats, two failed bluffs, and an “outdraw” later I was headed back up to the RV.
The one thing I have done well is to “take a break” when I start “running bad”. I really get it that Poker is one lifetime, continuous poker game that I play in, with “breaks” away from the table. I can’t win the game in a day, but I could lose it, if my “bankroll” ends up going all in, because I have to “get back” what I lost today! That kind of “slippery slope” is the most dangerous place to go in poker or any other game of skill and chance.
It has been almost three months since I have written in this blog. Shortly after my last entry, I passed the two year mark in my attempt to be a professional. It has not been a glamorous, highly successful two years, but I have learned a lot, enjoyed the freedom, and followed my dream beyond my comfort zone. That is a major accomplishment for me and beyond where many others dare to let themselves go.
8 hours later,
I played 2/5 NL and won back what I lost yesterday. I was ahead a bit, but had a dip for the last two hours I played. In hindsight I could have left 2 hours earlier when I started feeling a little tired. But, it was “double jackpot time” and I just resolved to play really tight. I did, and got outdrawn three times. As Phil says, “he would win every hand if there wasn’t luck involved”. Of course then he would be the only one that played this game. (grin)
I keep thinking and playing and visiting different casinos to try to discover what it is that top professionals know/see/do different then the rest of us but I cannot figure it out. I am a slightly better then break even player. About a year ago I was a break-even player and the year before I was a losing player so I must be moving in the right direction. When you play poker the odds against walking away from the table with money is 9-1 against you. The dealer/casino always wins 4 or 5 dollars from every pot. Then there are 8 other players you have to beat. It is a tough business. But, somebody has to be that one that wins, so I continue to study, play, practice, apply what I learn and experience. A few of the more important principals that are the mainstay of my game are.
1. Play at the level my bankroll supports. (Never risk more then 5% of my bankroll a day. I have a stop loss limit for the day. I quit for the day if I reach it.)
2. Stay off tilt. (Take a break & walk around every hour or so. Stay focused on the present. Remind yourself bad beats are part of the game. Try to recognize your mistakes but forgive yourself quickly when you make one.)
3. Pay attention. (Even when you are not in a pot watch every hand, and every player in the hand, and learn as much as you can about them. Work on your reading ability by guessing what hands are being played.)
Last night, before I went to sleep in the RV the rain came in with some strong winds. The RV was rocking back and forth came in from three different directions on this bluff in the foothills of the San Berndandino Mountains. I decided this would be a good night to watch MacBeth with Orson Wells & Roddy McDowell in Black & White on the VCR. Now there was a guy who didn’t seem to enjoy his life. After about an hour of feeling doom & gloom and not understanding half the dialogue, nor the story, I decided to shut it off and go to sleep. I resolved to read the cliff notes on MacBeth next time I am in a bookstore because I couldn’t “get it”. I was afraid to look out the window for fear of seeing three witches on the outcropping above me chanting “double bubble, toil & trouble” (all four terms well understood by poker players)
The wind was still blowing when I awoke and looked out the window in the morning. What an awesome sight. The smog was all blown away and I could see for 30-40 miles. I could see the mountains behind Palm Springs to the east, to the ones beyond Moreno Valley to the South and beyond Covina to the west. At least 3-4 million people live in the area I could see while I am sitting here on a lawn chair outside the RV typing writing these thoughts on my lap top. The sun is in the final stages of setting over the mountains above San Dimas to the west and I feel contentment and gratefulness I can do this.
Today was not such a great day at the table. I lost three big hands to a “luckbox” who made three very bad calls against me and “lucked out” on the river each time. She was in seat three and was a very aggressive player who played almost every hand. One of the dealers’ had already commented to her “she was a very lucky player”. She went up and down from 100-600 five times in the time I was at the table.
I was focused, playing only good cards and making good reads. On the first “bad beat” disaster Seat 4 went all in for $100 on a turn card, where I had made a queen high straight. I was in seat 8 and went all with $250 in to try to keep “luckbox” out. She still called! The board was 10, 8, J of hearts & 6 of spades and she had K of hearts & 7 of clubs! The Ace of hearts was the river and I lost my stack for the first time to her. Another occurred about an hour later. I won’t bore you with those details. Only that I was betting with two pair and and she was calling with one middle pair and caught a third one on the river.
For the next two hours I worked on keeping her out of my pots by over grossly over betting the flop when it was favorable for me. She would always bet out in early position 15-20 every time she was in a hand. Then she would take forever to lay down her hand, (she hated to lay down her cards)often calling with the worst hand that would win 2/3 of the time. I was down to my last $150 and she raised $10 from under the gun. Three people followed suit. I had pocket 5’s on the dealer button so I raised $75 (1/2 of my chips) expecting to end it right there. Before the big blind can act, she says “I am going to put you all in”. (I object & the dealer tells her to wait her turn to act. That encourages the big blind to put in his last $125 knowing he is getting better pot odds with three players. She goes all in, and I put in the last of my chips. My hand is good against one player, probably not two. The flop comes 5,6,2 , giving me trip 5’s. The turn is a queen and the river a 9 giving her 7,8 a straight to the 9. I walked away muttering to myself “that is some luck” and resolved to come back tonight after dinner & a nap because I should be able to make some money in a place where there are “regulars” who play this badly.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
One minute to quitting time....
What a job, the life of a professional poker player! You can perform your job brilliantly, for 40 hours and then in 1 minute of less then pristine concentration you can lose what you have earned in the last 40 hours.
In what other job could it be a Friday at 4:55 p.m. and you stare at the clock, thinking about the weekend, and “bang” you are docked for 1 week of pay. That happens every week in the life of a poker player.
I left Sunday about 4 p.m. and here it is Wednesday afternoon. I have put in close to 40 hours at the tables and I have made no money to show for it. What a career choice!
Why do I love this game? Why do I want to play it full-time for the rest of my life? Those are two great questions. I don’t have a fully satisfactory answer for them. I know I have never found something so challenging to be really good at. I love the freedom of this career. As it has been said, “Hold-em, takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master.” And beside where else can you get up at noon, play with the dog, read a book, make your wife an early dinner and then go play cards till 3 in the morning?
I continue to play at tables where I am only investing about 5% of my bankroll. I might be able to move up faster if I risked more. But, I want to be in this for the long term and not go broke like I hear many others have.
I wish I could say my stake was quickly and steadily climbing up. It is not. I am slowly climbing and at times drudging along on level ground. I don’t seem to go into deep valleys anymore, even when I have a very bad run of cards. I have had bad run of cards in the last few days, but I have been able to keep my losses at $100 over 40 hours of play. I think that averages out to a loss ratio of 25 cents an hour. (grin)
I was down about 4-5 times that amount during this trip, but I did have my only big hand, I can remember in three days, KK beat AA for a pot of $300, so I guess that was a pretty lucky hand.
I must be getting a little desperate to make it as a professional player. I have been moving to 3 three casinos over this 4 day trip in San Diego county to play at each, during their double jackpot times. If I hit a respectable jackpot again, I could move up a level and play a little higher.
Jackpots! That is what got me playing full-time in the first place. Two years ago I hit three different bad beat jackpots playing poker in a 9 month span. Each time I wasn’t thinking about the jackpot when it hit. That gave me the 10K bankroll I am still playing on.
A bad beat jackpot is where you have Aces full of Jacks or better beaten by 4 of a kind of better. My first time was in Sycuan when I held pocket Jacks and the board came AA10. A young man bet and I called. The turn was another Ace and the river was a 6. He had AK. So his 4 aces beat my Aces full of Jacks and I won $8900 as the bad beat. He won half of that and the rest of the table each split $4000.
That jackpot was at $18k total that day. Today the jackpots I am playing range from $25-75K, meaning, that if I hit one today I could get 10-30K. That could certainly help my bankroll. But, it has to be a rare combination of cards to make that happen. So I play on, hoping to make a little money and to get lucky. You can’t make yourself get lucky, but you can help put yourself in the right place, in case you do. That is why I am playing during “double jackpot” times at these three casinos.
I will let you know if I get “lucky”.
Well, the sun has set. It is time to go to work.
In what other job could it be a Friday at 4:55 p.m. and you stare at the clock, thinking about the weekend, and “bang” you are docked for 1 week of pay. That happens every week in the life of a poker player.
I left Sunday about 4 p.m. and here it is Wednesday afternoon. I have put in close to 40 hours at the tables and I have made no money to show for it. What a career choice!
Why do I love this game? Why do I want to play it full-time for the rest of my life? Those are two great questions. I don’t have a fully satisfactory answer for them. I know I have never found something so challenging to be really good at. I love the freedom of this career. As it has been said, “Hold-em, takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master.” And beside where else can you get up at noon, play with the dog, read a book, make your wife an early dinner and then go play cards till 3 in the morning?
I continue to play at tables where I am only investing about 5% of my bankroll. I might be able to move up faster if I risked more. But, I want to be in this for the long term and not go broke like I hear many others have.
I wish I could say my stake was quickly and steadily climbing up. It is not. I am slowly climbing and at times drudging along on level ground. I don’t seem to go into deep valleys anymore, even when I have a very bad run of cards. I have had bad run of cards in the last few days, but I have been able to keep my losses at $100 over 40 hours of play. I think that averages out to a loss ratio of 25 cents an hour. (grin)
I was down about 4-5 times that amount during this trip, but I did have my only big hand, I can remember in three days, KK beat AA for a pot of $300, so I guess that was a pretty lucky hand.
I must be getting a little desperate to make it as a professional player. I have been moving to 3 three casinos over this 4 day trip in San Diego county to play at each, during their double jackpot times. If I hit a respectable jackpot again, I could move up a level and play a little higher.
Jackpots! That is what got me playing full-time in the first place. Two years ago I hit three different bad beat jackpots playing poker in a 9 month span. Each time I wasn’t thinking about the jackpot when it hit. That gave me the 10K bankroll I am still playing on.
A bad beat jackpot is where you have Aces full of Jacks or better beaten by 4 of a kind of better. My first time was in Sycuan when I held pocket Jacks and the board came AA10. A young man bet and I called. The turn was another Ace and the river was a 6. He had AK. So his 4 aces beat my Aces full of Jacks and I won $8900 as the bad beat. He won half of that and the rest of the table each split $4000.
That jackpot was at $18k total that day. Today the jackpots I am playing range from $25-75K, meaning, that if I hit one today I could get 10-30K. That could certainly help my bankroll. But, it has to be a rare combination of cards to make that happen. So I play on, hoping to make a little money and to get lucky. You can’t make yourself get lucky, but you can help put yourself in the right place, in case you do. That is why I am playing during “double jackpot” times at these three casinos.
I will let you know if I get “lucky”.
Well, the sun has set. It is time to go to work.
Poker and RV's
Most RV owners do not get their money’s worth on their RV. A fairly decent one will cost you from 30K-300K. Some people even spend up to a million for the very top of the line. RV’s depreciate thousands when you drive them off the showroom floor and they steadily depreciate over time at a rapid pace. Most owners use them 1-2 weeks a year and even then some of them take them on long trips but stay at nights in hotels or spend 30-60 dollars a night to stay at an RV park which is usually only a step above a parking lot with hookups.
Not me. The first year we got ours we drove 17,000 miles around the country. And we spent less then $250 on RV parks. We stayed in remote areas, truck stops, 24 hour grocery store lots and of course, scores of Wal-Marts. Since that time I average 7-10 days a month sleeping in it at Casinos. And we have since been halfway around the country again. It has been a picnic vehicle, a large group sightseeing vehicle and even an outdoor wedding changing room.
But, most of the time it allows me to go to a Casino or card room and play a few hours, and take a break whenever I want. I can play late into the evening and still play a morning tournament after a good nights sleep.
About 7 months out of the year I can take it to Vegas and enjoy having an extra thousand to use as my poker bankroll for the week. I almost always bring home more then I went with when I take the RV. I pay my gas and buy my groceries out of my bankroll and play no “house-edge” games.
I am so surprised that more people don’t use their RV’s that way. I see it as a multi-way to save money. I don’t pay for lodging, and my food is a fraction of what it costs to eat out. It costs me interest but all that is an income tax deduction because it qualifies as a “second home”. (It qualifies as a “first one” when we are living in it full-time).
I seem to average a little more poker profit on these more intensive poker trips, then day trips to a casino because I take more frequent breaks. And it is easy to walk away from the table and come back later when it is a 5 minute walk rather then an hour drive. When there is heavy traffic we pull over and read, nap, or eat until traffic is better and we never need reservations or follow a schedule to have to be somewhere by a certain time.
My RV is a 1999 26ft Lazy Daze Coach built on a Ford V10 engine and ¾ ton van chassis. If I wasn’t married I would live in it full-time, but my wife is not yet ready for that kind of adventure just yet. However, she is feels comforted like I am by owning an RV in case of a disaster, disability or complete financial meltdown we could live in it if we had to, and still be happy as a couple. I am not sure that many other couple we know could.
I will probably keep it another 3 years unless her company closes in this next year. There are some “rumors” that it could.
She would be very open to buying something bigger, if we decided to go live in it again on a permanent basis. I think something about 32 foot with a slide out might be on the distant horizon for us.
The RV mindset is very different when it comes to taking trips. It is less stressful a drive because I am sitting in a comfortable chair up high with many creature comforts within reach. You can’t accelerate, slow or corner fast so I tend to drive less aggressively and allow a lot more room between me and other traffic.
For most people the vacation starts when you get to your destination. For a true RV’r the trip begins when you climb on board in your own RV.
Not me. The first year we got ours we drove 17,000 miles around the country. And we spent less then $250 on RV parks. We stayed in remote areas, truck stops, 24 hour grocery store lots and of course, scores of Wal-Marts. Since that time I average 7-10 days a month sleeping in it at Casinos. And we have since been halfway around the country again. It has been a picnic vehicle, a large group sightseeing vehicle and even an outdoor wedding changing room.
But, most of the time it allows me to go to a Casino or card room and play a few hours, and take a break whenever I want. I can play late into the evening and still play a morning tournament after a good nights sleep.
About 7 months out of the year I can take it to Vegas and enjoy having an extra thousand to use as my poker bankroll for the week. I almost always bring home more then I went with when I take the RV. I pay my gas and buy my groceries out of my bankroll and play no “house-edge” games.
I am so surprised that more people don’t use their RV’s that way. I see it as a multi-way to save money. I don’t pay for lodging, and my food is a fraction of what it costs to eat out. It costs me interest but all that is an income tax deduction because it qualifies as a “second home”. (It qualifies as a “first one” when we are living in it full-time).
I seem to average a little more poker profit on these more intensive poker trips, then day trips to a casino because I take more frequent breaks. And it is easy to walk away from the table and come back later when it is a 5 minute walk rather then an hour drive. When there is heavy traffic we pull over and read, nap, or eat until traffic is better and we never need reservations or follow a schedule to have to be somewhere by a certain time.
My RV is a 1999 26ft Lazy Daze Coach built on a Ford V10 engine and ¾ ton van chassis. If I wasn’t married I would live in it full-time, but my wife is not yet ready for that kind of adventure just yet. However, she is feels comforted like I am by owning an RV in case of a disaster, disability or complete financial meltdown we could live in it if we had to, and still be happy as a couple. I am not sure that many other couple we know could.
I will probably keep it another 3 years unless her company closes in this next year. There are some “rumors” that it could.
She would be very open to buying something bigger, if we decided to go live in it again on a permanent basis. I think something about 32 foot with a slide out might be on the distant horizon for us.
The RV mindset is very different when it comes to taking trips. It is less stressful a drive because I am sitting in a comfortable chair up high with many creature comforts within reach. You can’t accelerate, slow or corner fast so I tend to drive less aggressively and allow a lot more room between me and other traffic.
For most people the vacation starts when you get to your destination. For a true RV’r the trip begins when you climb on board in your own RV.
Know when to hold-em...
12:30 A.M. in the RV at the Barona Casino in San Diego where Kenny Rodgers is the official mascot. He is the mascot, because of his crooning of the lyrics “you got to know when to hold-em, and know when to fold them. In my mind the lyrics “you got to know when to call them and know when to muck them is crooning in my head.
Tonight I “out thought” myself, to my demise.
Mike Caro, the “mad genius of poker” has a term called F.P.S. He says, when players start improving and learning “moves”, they sometimes use Fancy Plays, when simple poker moves would be so much better. Their fancy play syndrome ends up costing them money at the poker table.
Tonight I discovered F.T.S. Fancy thought syndrome. I out thought myself twice, costing me over $250.
The table was filled with good players. Two seats to my right was a player I identified as well above average in his play. He always seemed to have a great hand when he called, bet or raised the pot. He played solid and folded often when he didn’t have the best hand.
I was in the big blind with pocket jacks. When it came to me I bet out $20 after 2 players limped in.
I had stolen a number of blinds, and plays from the big blind, the small blind, and the button because the table was tight and passive. Everyone folded to me, but “above average”.
The flop came 5,10,8 with one heart. He checks. I bet out $25. He calls.
The turn comes 7h, he checks and I bet $40. He calls. He is not a calling station, what is going on here?
The river is a Jack of hearts and now HE LEADS OUT with a $60 bet.
There are three hearts out there and four cards to a straight showing on the board, and I am now holding triple jacks.
I have a history with him where he bet out a hundred on the river just like this, when he caught a flush. I am convinced that he made his straight or flush. I am thinking, he called with two hearts, either, 10,9 or A10. We engage in some table talk. He says I let him “catch up.”
I have a fairly good read on him. He is confident and believes he has the best hand. At the flop I had asked him, when he called, if he caught his pocket Aces again? He had AA three times already tonight and slow played them to the river beating me each time adamantly insisting, when players commented about his slow-playing Aces, “ in this game if you don’t slow play Aces you will only make $4. I had pocket Aces once tonight and won a $200 pot with I played them aggressively, when he was away from the table, but I “held my tongue.”
After my flop question he said no aces. I believed him and thought maybe he has Kings, which he may have slow played like his aces.
After his bet on the river, I said you have Queens? He said nope and again I believed him.
I respected him and had laid down AQ and AJ twice against him tonight and both times he had AA or AK.
I have been reading articles recently about great lay downs by Phil Ivey. This was a chance for me to practice a “great laydown.”
I turned my two jacks over to show him, thinking this will give me some future bluffing ability. I then mucked them feeling pretty good, about my ability to lay down three jacks, when a very good player is “communicating with his betting, he has the best hand”.
He turned over 7,10 off-suit for two pair and he expressed genuine shock at my mucking of three of a kind.
He said he just “felt like gambling that hand” and he said he “believed I had Kings or Aces” and was convinced his two pair were the best hand over my one big pair.
My read was accurate of his belief, I trusted his ability to play, but as I told him later my read of him was accurate, however, he didn’t know what he was talking about when he said he caught up.
So I “accurately read” him, and his “wrong belief” and lost the hand when I normally would have called $60 on a $160 pot. This is when I really wish I had a mentor so I could discuss the hand with them. I am open to any feedback on this one.
The player next to me said to me “you thought too much in that hand”.
I think he was right. I did. And I lost $200 because of fancy thought syndrome.
Sometimes I guess you just need to gamble like he did, and the player to my left did on my final hand of the night.
I was the dealer button with a 5-10 suited in the hole. Three people limped in and I joined them for a $3 call.
The flop came 10,7, 5 rainbow. I had flopped two pair!
I tossed out $10 hoping I would get a call or two. The big blind to my left, a Korean woman dealer who was not a very strong player raises it to $55. I wonder if she has 10-7? Then I realize it is much more likely she has a 10 with a great kicker like an ace.
It folds to me and I push all in my last $110. She thinks about it for a long time while I am torn inside hoping she will call but afraid I will get “sucked out on”.
I had just won a pot from her where I had a slightly bigger kicker and she appeared to be “steaming” from that when she said to me “you lucky”, in a not-so-friendly tone. I am just staring at the pot thinking… call me, no, don’t call me, sure call me…. Etc.
Finally she calls my bet and the turn is an Ace. Her body visibly relaxes, and I tighten up my jaw, and mutter “damn”. The river is a brick and she turns over her Ace-Ten off-suit, just like I suspected.
Lousy call on her part, but great catch, but hey, that is why this game flourishes. It is your money that buys the chips, and you get to play them anyway you want to.
Tonight I “out thought” myself, to my demise.
Mike Caro, the “mad genius of poker” has a term called F.P.S. He says, when players start improving and learning “moves”, they sometimes use Fancy Plays, when simple poker moves would be so much better. Their fancy play syndrome ends up costing them money at the poker table.
Tonight I discovered F.T.S. Fancy thought syndrome. I out thought myself twice, costing me over $250.
The table was filled with good players. Two seats to my right was a player I identified as well above average in his play. He always seemed to have a great hand when he called, bet or raised the pot. He played solid and folded often when he didn’t have the best hand.
I was in the big blind with pocket jacks. When it came to me I bet out $20 after 2 players limped in.
I had stolen a number of blinds, and plays from the big blind, the small blind, and the button because the table was tight and passive. Everyone folded to me, but “above average”.
The flop came 5,10,8 with one heart. He checks. I bet out $25. He calls.
The turn comes 7h, he checks and I bet $40. He calls. He is not a calling station, what is going on here?
The river is a Jack of hearts and now HE LEADS OUT with a $60 bet.
There are three hearts out there and four cards to a straight showing on the board, and I am now holding triple jacks.
I have a history with him where he bet out a hundred on the river just like this, when he caught a flush. I am convinced that he made his straight or flush. I am thinking, he called with two hearts, either, 10,9 or A10. We engage in some table talk. He says I let him “catch up.”
I have a fairly good read on him. He is confident and believes he has the best hand. At the flop I had asked him, when he called, if he caught his pocket Aces again? He had AA three times already tonight and slow played them to the river beating me each time adamantly insisting, when players commented about his slow-playing Aces, “ in this game if you don’t slow play Aces you will only make $4. I had pocket Aces once tonight and won a $200 pot with I played them aggressively, when he was away from the table, but I “held my tongue.”
After my flop question he said no aces. I believed him and thought maybe he has Kings, which he may have slow played like his aces.
After his bet on the river, I said you have Queens? He said nope and again I believed him.
I respected him and had laid down AQ and AJ twice against him tonight and both times he had AA or AK.
I have been reading articles recently about great lay downs by Phil Ivey. This was a chance for me to practice a “great laydown.”
I turned my two jacks over to show him, thinking this will give me some future bluffing ability. I then mucked them feeling pretty good, about my ability to lay down three jacks, when a very good player is “communicating with his betting, he has the best hand”.
He turned over 7,10 off-suit for two pair and he expressed genuine shock at my mucking of three of a kind.
He said he just “felt like gambling that hand” and he said he “believed I had Kings or Aces” and was convinced his two pair were the best hand over my one big pair.
My read was accurate of his belief, I trusted his ability to play, but as I told him later my read of him was accurate, however, he didn’t know what he was talking about when he said he caught up.
So I “accurately read” him, and his “wrong belief” and lost the hand when I normally would have called $60 on a $160 pot. This is when I really wish I had a mentor so I could discuss the hand with them. I am open to any feedback on this one.
The player next to me said to me “you thought too much in that hand”.
I think he was right. I did. And I lost $200 because of fancy thought syndrome.
Sometimes I guess you just need to gamble like he did, and the player to my left did on my final hand of the night.
I was the dealer button with a 5-10 suited in the hole. Three people limped in and I joined them for a $3 call.
The flop came 10,7, 5 rainbow. I had flopped two pair!
I tossed out $10 hoping I would get a call or two. The big blind to my left, a Korean woman dealer who was not a very strong player raises it to $55. I wonder if she has 10-7? Then I realize it is much more likely she has a 10 with a great kicker like an ace.
It folds to me and I push all in my last $110. She thinks about it for a long time while I am torn inside hoping she will call but afraid I will get “sucked out on”.
I had just won a pot from her where I had a slightly bigger kicker and she appeared to be “steaming” from that when she said to me “you lucky”, in a not-so-friendly tone. I am just staring at the pot thinking… call me, no, don’t call me, sure call me…. Etc.
Finally she calls my bet and the turn is an Ace. Her body visibly relaxes, and I tighten up my jaw, and mutter “damn”. The river is a brick and she turns over her Ace-Ten off-suit, just like I suspected.
Lousy call on her part, but great catch, but hey, that is why this game flourishes. It is your money that buys the chips, and you get to play them anyway you want to.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The "King of Poker"
I met and played the self proclaimed “King of Poker” two nights ago.
You haven’t met the “King of Poker”? Then you probably haven’t played much at the Palomar Club on El Cajon Blvd in San Diego lately. The Palomar neighborhood is not known, as one of the nicer area of San Diego.
But the crime rate around the club is decreasing. There hasn’t been a player “pistol whipped” for at least three months. I have only been solicited once on my way out in the past six months and the bar that was right next door has been sold and become part of the remodel/expansion of the club.
It has been well over a year since the daily pattern of two players leaving the table at the same time and stepping next door for a couple of drinks and returning to “cap” every pot pre-flop. Ah, the good old days.
There is a daily, colorful cast of characters, speaking at least 11 native languages at the 6 poker tables. This audible smorgasbord is mixed with shouts, curses and loud bangs coming from the pai-gow table, as the players try to wake up the pai-gow gods, by banging the metal dice container furiously on the table, shouting in languages only previously heard on the National Geographic Channel.
In walks a Iraqi who owns his own cab, and writes his initials on the board: K.O.P. Everybody who has played with him before knows what they mean. “The “King of Poker” is in the house.
He takes the available seat two to my left at a 1/3 No-limit game and begins to give a non-stop, manic, monologue to the player to my left pointing to his initials, still up on the board, and declaring himself the "King of Poker." He speaks like a machine gun fires bullets, in quick bursts, and gets more and more heated up, the more he speaks.
He folds his first hand after waving it a few inches under the nose of another player declaring “you see, you see, I throw this because I am a very good player and that is why I always win. This is my second job… you see, you see, I make $2,000 last month” as he proceeds to take a small wad of $20’s out of his pocket and begins to wave it around toward all the players loudly proclaiming “I will have all of your money by 2 A.M”. (Closing time is 2 A.M.)
He throws almost every hand away, after trying to show it the dealer or to a player next to him, while he continues a non-stop monologue that reveals he could benefit from medication.
He finally wins his first hand with pocket Aces. It is a very small pot, because it has become obvious by now to almost everybody at the table that he plays only premium hands. So he gets no action, when he comes into a pot, which is at the rate of about once an hour. But, he runs a non-stop commentary on every hand played by anyone. He also reminds us that he is a “patient man who thinks, thinks, thinks, as he taps his temple, and that he knows what you have almost before you do, because he can “read the cards””.
He says he is not like us other players… “he reads poker books, he thinks about poker all the time, and when he loses a hand, he goes home and takes out a deck of cards and plays it over and over again and comes back and wins that hand next time.”
He goes on to tell us he takes $20 and gives it to his one child, then another, then another, then another,….. I lost track after he named his fifth child and often stopped listening as soon as he began talking. I knew I was going to win a large pot off of him or “bust him” because I was catching and playing a lot of suited connectors and he only played the top 8 premium hands like the book he read told him to. I hope nobody ever tells him that strategy was written for limit.
The table would have a few minutes of wonderful silence, when he would run outside for a cigarette, about every 10th hand and miss a hand or two.
The Palomar club has an entire glass front opening up on the sidewalk. Players who smoke, would often run out between hands to puff on the cigarettes they had left burning out there.
When the King of Poker would win a hand he would slap the cards face up and fire out… “you see, you see, you see, I knew I would win”.
Finally after four hours, I got into a hand with him. He raised and I re-raised with 10s,Js. He called. The flop came (Qh, Ks, As) for a nut straight for me, with a royal flush draw.
I checked and he made a big bet. I glanced at him two or three times, each time he told me “throw it away, throw it away, I will show you, I will show you.”
I knew he didn’t have a clue so I just called. The turn came a 7. He bet enough to put me all in “save your money, save your money, I don’t need all your money he declared.
I called and quietly turned over my hand, while he slammed down pocket aces and said “you see, you see, I win I have three aces. He quieted for a moment while the realization of my straight came over him, and then the river produced a 5. He quickly walked out and began puffing very fast on his cigarette.
He came back a few minutes later and said “he had the better hand, he should have won that hand and I was lucky, but he was a better player. I said yes “you are the king” and agreed that I got lucky. (What I meant was I was lucky, I was playing with someone who didn’t know how much they didn’t know, and that they were willing to share that information with everybody at the table.)
The final hand that knocked out the King of Poker wasn’t by me, but by a player who had 10 times the maximum buy-in in front of him. By the stacks of chips in front of him, it was obvious he was a good player, or had a very great run of cards. I did watch him wield his “large stack” very well a number of times making it too expensive for some to call him, as he threw in enough chips, to make the odds unfavorable.
The King of Poker came in for a big raise on the dealer button. Everybody folded to him except the big stack who called. The flop was A,K,8 with 2 diamonds. The big stack checked and the King declared. “no, no, no, check,” he then bet ¼ the pot. I knew, and I am sure the big stack knew, the “King of Poker” had either three Aces, three kings or AK paired.
The big stack called the small bet. He then checked the turn, which was another blank, and the “K.O.P” bet out the same small amount. (I am sure he thought he was being clever to keep the other player in the pot. Not even knowing he was giving away pot odds to make the call almost mandatory)
As the river is being “peeled off the deck”, the big stack says "make it a diamond", and sure enough it is a 2 of diamonds. The big stack moves in a large enough stack to cover the remaining chips the King has. The King instantly, yells out, "all-in" and without a second hesitation shoves his remaining chips in and slaps down pocket Aces for trip aces. The big stack shows his two little diamonds for a flush. The king is grinning like a fool, and bobbing his head up and down saying you see, you see… three aces, as he is waiting for the dealer to push the pot to him.
As the dealer picks up the two diamonds and puts them in front of the King of Poker, the dealer states “he has a flush”. You can see the amazement and disbelief come into focus on the features of the King, and he jumps up, and storms out of the room without a sound.
He puffs, and puffs, while pacing in front of the casino. Then he comes back in walking fast, past the table toward the bathroom. I couldn’t help myself, I said “I think the King is going to sit on his throne for awhile.”
He comes out a few minutes later and a player asks him if he wants us to save his seat for him?
He waves him off with a flapping of his hand and without a sound, in a cloud of nervous energy races out of the room.
The King is dead… long live the King.
You haven’t met the “King of Poker”? Then you probably haven’t played much at the Palomar Club on El Cajon Blvd in San Diego lately. The Palomar neighborhood is not known, as one of the nicer area of San Diego.
But the crime rate around the club is decreasing. There hasn’t been a player “pistol whipped” for at least three months. I have only been solicited once on my way out in the past six months and the bar that was right next door has been sold and become part of the remodel/expansion of the club.
It has been well over a year since the daily pattern of two players leaving the table at the same time and stepping next door for a couple of drinks and returning to “cap” every pot pre-flop. Ah, the good old days.
There is a daily, colorful cast of characters, speaking at least 11 native languages at the 6 poker tables. This audible smorgasbord is mixed with shouts, curses and loud bangs coming from the pai-gow table, as the players try to wake up the pai-gow gods, by banging the metal dice container furiously on the table, shouting in languages only previously heard on the National Geographic Channel.
In walks a Iraqi who owns his own cab, and writes his initials on the board: K.O.P. Everybody who has played with him before knows what they mean. “The “King of Poker” is in the house.
He takes the available seat two to my left at a 1/3 No-limit game and begins to give a non-stop, manic, monologue to the player to my left pointing to his initials, still up on the board, and declaring himself the "King of Poker." He speaks like a machine gun fires bullets, in quick bursts, and gets more and more heated up, the more he speaks.
He folds his first hand after waving it a few inches under the nose of another player declaring “you see, you see, I throw this because I am a very good player and that is why I always win. This is my second job… you see, you see, I make $2,000 last month” as he proceeds to take a small wad of $20’s out of his pocket and begins to wave it around toward all the players loudly proclaiming “I will have all of your money by 2 A.M”. (Closing time is 2 A.M.)
He throws almost every hand away, after trying to show it the dealer or to a player next to him, while he continues a non-stop monologue that reveals he could benefit from medication.
He finally wins his first hand with pocket Aces. It is a very small pot, because it has become obvious by now to almost everybody at the table that he plays only premium hands. So he gets no action, when he comes into a pot, which is at the rate of about once an hour. But, he runs a non-stop commentary on every hand played by anyone. He also reminds us that he is a “patient man who thinks, thinks, thinks, as he taps his temple, and that he knows what you have almost before you do, because he can “read the cards””.
He says he is not like us other players… “he reads poker books, he thinks about poker all the time, and when he loses a hand, he goes home and takes out a deck of cards and plays it over and over again and comes back and wins that hand next time.”
He goes on to tell us he takes $20 and gives it to his one child, then another, then another, then another,….. I lost track after he named his fifth child and often stopped listening as soon as he began talking. I knew I was going to win a large pot off of him or “bust him” because I was catching and playing a lot of suited connectors and he only played the top 8 premium hands like the book he read told him to. I hope nobody ever tells him that strategy was written for limit.
The table would have a few minutes of wonderful silence, when he would run outside for a cigarette, about every 10th hand and miss a hand or two.
The Palomar club has an entire glass front opening up on the sidewalk. Players who smoke, would often run out between hands to puff on the cigarettes they had left burning out there.
When the King of Poker would win a hand he would slap the cards face up and fire out… “you see, you see, you see, I knew I would win”.
Finally after four hours, I got into a hand with him. He raised and I re-raised with 10s,Js. He called. The flop came (Qh, Ks, As) for a nut straight for me, with a royal flush draw.
I checked and he made a big bet. I glanced at him two or three times, each time he told me “throw it away, throw it away, I will show you, I will show you.”
I knew he didn’t have a clue so I just called. The turn came a 7. He bet enough to put me all in “save your money, save your money, I don’t need all your money he declared.
I called and quietly turned over my hand, while he slammed down pocket aces and said “you see, you see, I win I have three aces. He quieted for a moment while the realization of my straight came over him, and then the river produced a 5. He quickly walked out and began puffing very fast on his cigarette.
He came back a few minutes later and said “he had the better hand, he should have won that hand and I was lucky, but he was a better player. I said yes “you are the king” and agreed that I got lucky. (What I meant was I was lucky, I was playing with someone who didn’t know how much they didn’t know, and that they were willing to share that information with everybody at the table.)
The final hand that knocked out the King of Poker wasn’t by me, but by a player who had 10 times the maximum buy-in in front of him. By the stacks of chips in front of him, it was obvious he was a good player, or had a very great run of cards. I did watch him wield his “large stack” very well a number of times making it too expensive for some to call him, as he threw in enough chips, to make the odds unfavorable.
The King of Poker came in for a big raise on the dealer button. Everybody folded to him except the big stack who called. The flop was A,K,8 with 2 diamonds. The big stack checked and the King declared. “no, no, no, check,” he then bet ¼ the pot. I knew, and I am sure the big stack knew, the “King of Poker” had either three Aces, three kings or AK paired.
The big stack called the small bet. He then checked the turn, which was another blank, and the “K.O.P” bet out the same small amount. (I am sure he thought he was being clever to keep the other player in the pot. Not even knowing he was giving away pot odds to make the call almost mandatory)
As the river is being “peeled off the deck”, the big stack says "make it a diamond", and sure enough it is a 2 of diamonds. The big stack moves in a large enough stack to cover the remaining chips the King has. The King instantly, yells out, "all-in" and without a second hesitation shoves his remaining chips in and slaps down pocket Aces for trip aces. The big stack shows his two little diamonds for a flush. The king is grinning like a fool, and bobbing his head up and down saying you see, you see… three aces, as he is waiting for the dealer to push the pot to him.
As the dealer picks up the two diamonds and puts them in front of the King of Poker, the dealer states “he has a flush”. You can see the amazement and disbelief come into focus on the features of the King, and he jumps up, and storms out of the room without a sound.
He puffs, and puffs, while pacing in front of the casino. Then he comes back in walking fast, past the table toward the bathroom. I couldn’t help myself, I said “I think the King is going to sit on his throne for awhile.”
He comes out a few minutes later and a player asks him if he wants us to save his seat for him?
He waves him off with a flapping of his hand and without a sound, in a cloud of nervous energy races out of the room.
The King is dead… long live the King.
Monday, November 13, 2006
A turkey in the oven.....
Wow, it has been a week since I last posted. I thought it had been about three days.
I have been playing and winning since the last post so I am pretty upbeat. I am planning on playing again tonight I just haven’t decided where.
I always have about 7 choices, within roughly, the same driving distance. For me personally, I am not affected greatly by the Unlawful Internet act, but I am sure that there are many, many, others who have been greatly impacted by it.
I did leave Party Poker, (who would want to be a part of a party, where there are no Americans allowed there anyway?) I figured out how to get some money to Full-Tilt and have been playing there just a little, in the spirit of defiance, to this “dirty” piece of politics. I would rather play live, then on the Internet, but I am frustrated and angry about this right being abused in the name of morality by an unethical political act.
I took the RV over the weekend, and went to Sycuan for two days and a night. I really thought I would be in Vegas a lot this month, but Caren wanted Pokey and me, around while she goes through some real challenges at work.
Our relationship works for us, because we both, are committed to telling the other what we need from them, when we do. Of course, being committed to hearing, responding or negotiating, in response to what we hear, from the other, is equally important.
Tomorrow, she has scheduled some dental surgery, so I will be the designated driver, while she drugs up, before, during, and after to deal with the anxiety, pain, and effects of the dental work.
So, there will be no live poker for me tomorrow. That’s one reason why I am going to play again tonight. Maybe, I will play a few small tournaments on Full-Tilt tomorrow night while I am home taking care of her.
I am planning on putting a Turkey, in the oven, when we leave, for the dentist, and the house should be nice and warm and smell good when we get home.
By the way I played with the self-proclaimed “King of Poker” last night. I will tell you all about it in the next entry.
I have been playing and winning since the last post so I am pretty upbeat. I am planning on playing again tonight I just haven’t decided where.
I always have about 7 choices, within roughly, the same driving distance. For me personally, I am not affected greatly by the Unlawful Internet act, but I am sure that there are many, many, others who have been greatly impacted by it.
I did leave Party Poker, (who would want to be a part of a party, where there are no Americans allowed there anyway?) I figured out how to get some money to Full-Tilt and have been playing there just a little, in the spirit of defiance, to this “dirty” piece of politics. I would rather play live, then on the Internet, but I am frustrated and angry about this right being abused in the name of morality by an unethical political act.
I took the RV over the weekend, and went to Sycuan for two days and a night. I really thought I would be in Vegas a lot this month, but Caren wanted Pokey and me, around while she goes through some real challenges at work.
Our relationship works for us, because we both, are committed to telling the other what we need from them, when we do. Of course, being committed to hearing, responding or negotiating, in response to what we hear, from the other, is equally important.
Tomorrow, she has scheduled some dental surgery, so I will be the designated driver, while she drugs up, before, during, and after to deal with the anxiety, pain, and effects of the dental work.
So, there will be no live poker for me tomorrow. That’s one reason why I am going to play again tonight. Maybe, I will play a few small tournaments on Full-Tilt tomorrow night while I am home taking care of her.
I am planning on putting a Turkey, in the oven, when we leave, for the dentist, and the house should be nice and warm and smell good when we get home.
By the way I played with the self-proclaimed “King of Poker” last night. I will tell you all about it in the next entry.
Monday, November 06, 2006
A poker lesson....
I had an expensive poker lesson tonight. I also learned something about myself and poker again.
Tonight, at Palomar I bought in for $200 and then lost it at the 1/3 No-Limit table playing a little loose. Then I bought in another $150 and later moved over to the 5/10 because I didn’t like this ½ table, when I had about $75 left.
I had tightened up considerably, and had played about 4 hours, before I moved to the 5/10 game. I added another $125 to make the minimum buy-in at the 5/10 No-Limit table.
I was a very short stack there. The stacks ranged from $500-2000. I played a very strong short stack game, and over the next three hours built my stack up to $450. I was about even and was thinking about leaving for the day.
The table was fairly aggressive and I was playing only premium hands when I received pocket jacks in middle position. I just limped in with them. Five others limped in behind me, which was unusual. I was planning on throwing them if they didn’t improve or if a larger card flopped.
The big blind raised it to $100, when it got back to him. When he set in a $100 stack, there was $60 in the pot.
He had $2000 in front of him. He was a smart player, so I respected his move and then began thinking about whether to call him or not. The bet was 4x the blind plus a bet for every player who limped in. It was a good smart bet.
I decided to call the $100 expecting a few value bets behind me, but they all folded like falling dominoes. This changed my odds considerably, but he was very deep stacked, so there were implied odds, I reasoned.
Does he have a larger pair? I called time to think it through. There were at least 6 hands I could beat that he might have bet. In that position he had lots of incentive to raise the pot as last to act, pre-flop with any pair, or AK, AQ, AJ, or A10. There were six limpers who were not willing risk more then a minimum bet to call. There were three hands that had me beat: Aces, Kings or Queens.
The flop came 2, 7, 5 all different suits. I didn’t believe that helped him at all.
The problem was now it became harder for me to get away from the Jacks. I had an over pair to the board. Now I really went into the tank, because he did a continuation bet of $200 which was 70% of my remaining money.
Why didn’t he just force me all-in? Maybe, he doesn’t want me to call?
One hundred would be too cheap, all-in would obviously pot commit me. Was he trying to give me a way out so I wouldn’t call? I thought about what I would do if I was him, and what I would do it with.
If I had AK, I would bet that amount to take a stab at the pot. I called time again, and was told I had 30 seconds to make a decision.
I wrongly decided to call to see another card, knowing this meant I would end up all-in. I called.
The turn card was a 6. No help for either of us. He pushes in a $100 and I push in my last stack and he turns over 2 Aces.
On the river a face card is turned over, but it is the wrong one. It was a queen, not a jack. I congratulated him on playing a good hand as I got up to leave.
I had reached my loss-limit for the day and I was done playing.
As I reflected back over this hand I can see where I made a number of mistakes. When I limped with the Jacks, my plan was to toss them if it was raised and re-raised or if they didn’t improve on the flop.
When nobody else called but me I even jokingly said “Thanks guys, for leaving me alone with him”. The last folder said if only one more had called he would have stayed in. I thought ok, there is a possible two big cards.
When he bet $200 that made the pot $460 and I was going to have to risk $200 more, so I had about 2.6 to 1 to call this.
I don’t know odds well enough to know whether by pot odds alone my call was a poor one or not. I reasoned that there were 6 hands most probable hands I could beat and 3 I couldn’t so there is that 2-1 again, plus if I win I triple up my remaining money.
Here is where I realized I have a slight weakness that could trip me up. I thought about folding by throwing my jacks face down to reveal what a great lay down. Why would I want to throw them face up? For the admiration of the other players I realized. Then I thought, if I think this through and really have the best hand thnt it shows what a good player I am.
Neither of those thoughts were relevant at the time. In fact they were weak, non-professional, donkey type thoughts.
They took away time from what I should have been focused on and revealed to me it is still important to be thought of as a “smart player”. That need to be thought of as a “smart player” is a weakness that can be exploited. In this case it wasn’t, but it muddied up my thinking a little when it needed to be really sharp.
I could have asked him a question or talked to him to get a read. I have done that in the past and it has really helped me get a read. But, I didn’t this time while I was focused on whether I was a “smart player” or not. I tried for a visual read, but he was frozen and staring at the cards.
I “decided” he had AK when I had no real evidence to support that and partly drew that conclusion from what I might have done with that hand. Unfounded reasoning, and an emotional decision to go home a winner was driving me. I did not want to have to work really hard for a few more hours to build back up to the “just even” point. That lousy thinking also helped push me over the edge to call.
The smarter move would have been to raise his $100 bet to $200 if I wanted to play and if he re-raised fold em. If he just called, then I would know, he had a strong hand and without a third jack I could have folded on the flop. In that scenario I would have lost only $200 on the hand instead of $400.
I would really appreciate some comments on this hand.
Was I just a donk? Do you think some of my reasoning was sound? Or am I in self-delusion and should have just folded, which was my first instinct?
Tonight, at Palomar I bought in for $200 and then lost it at the 1/3 No-Limit table playing a little loose. Then I bought in another $150 and later moved over to the 5/10 because I didn’t like this ½ table, when I had about $75 left.
I had tightened up considerably, and had played about 4 hours, before I moved to the 5/10 game. I added another $125 to make the minimum buy-in at the 5/10 No-Limit table.
I was a very short stack there. The stacks ranged from $500-2000. I played a very strong short stack game, and over the next three hours built my stack up to $450. I was about even and was thinking about leaving for the day.
The table was fairly aggressive and I was playing only premium hands when I received pocket jacks in middle position. I just limped in with them. Five others limped in behind me, which was unusual. I was planning on throwing them if they didn’t improve or if a larger card flopped.
The big blind raised it to $100, when it got back to him. When he set in a $100 stack, there was $60 in the pot.
He had $2000 in front of him. He was a smart player, so I respected his move and then began thinking about whether to call him or not. The bet was 4x the blind plus a bet for every player who limped in. It was a good smart bet.
I decided to call the $100 expecting a few value bets behind me, but they all folded like falling dominoes. This changed my odds considerably, but he was very deep stacked, so there were implied odds, I reasoned.
Does he have a larger pair? I called time to think it through. There were at least 6 hands I could beat that he might have bet. In that position he had lots of incentive to raise the pot as last to act, pre-flop with any pair, or AK, AQ, AJ, or A10. There were six limpers who were not willing risk more then a minimum bet to call. There were three hands that had me beat: Aces, Kings or Queens.
The flop came 2, 7, 5 all different suits. I didn’t believe that helped him at all.
The problem was now it became harder for me to get away from the Jacks. I had an over pair to the board. Now I really went into the tank, because he did a continuation bet of $200 which was 70% of my remaining money.
Why didn’t he just force me all-in? Maybe, he doesn’t want me to call?
One hundred would be too cheap, all-in would obviously pot commit me. Was he trying to give me a way out so I wouldn’t call? I thought about what I would do if I was him, and what I would do it with.
If I had AK, I would bet that amount to take a stab at the pot. I called time again, and was told I had 30 seconds to make a decision.
I wrongly decided to call to see another card, knowing this meant I would end up all-in. I called.
The turn card was a 6. No help for either of us. He pushes in a $100 and I push in my last stack and he turns over 2 Aces.
On the river a face card is turned over, but it is the wrong one. It was a queen, not a jack. I congratulated him on playing a good hand as I got up to leave.
I had reached my loss-limit for the day and I was done playing.
As I reflected back over this hand I can see where I made a number of mistakes. When I limped with the Jacks, my plan was to toss them if it was raised and re-raised or if they didn’t improve on the flop.
When nobody else called but me I even jokingly said “Thanks guys, for leaving me alone with him”. The last folder said if only one more had called he would have stayed in. I thought ok, there is a possible two big cards.
When he bet $200 that made the pot $460 and I was going to have to risk $200 more, so I had about 2.6 to 1 to call this.
I don’t know odds well enough to know whether by pot odds alone my call was a poor one or not. I reasoned that there were 6 hands most probable hands I could beat and 3 I couldn’t so there is that 2-1 again, plus if I win I triple up my remaining money.
Here is where I realized I have a slight weakness that could trip me up. I thought about folding by throwing my jacks face down to reveal what a great lay down. Why would I want to throw them face up? For the admiration of the other players I realized. Then I thought, if I think this through and really have the best hand thnt it shows what a good player I am.
Neither of those thoughts were relevant at the time. In fact they were weak, non-professional, donkey type thoughts.
They took away time from what I should have been focused on and revealed to me it is still important to be thought of as a “smart player”. That need to be thought of as a “smart player” is a weakness that can be exploited. In this case it wasn’t, but it muddied up my thinking a little when it needed to be really sharp.
I could have asked him a question or talked to him to get a read. I have done that in the past and it has really helped me get a read. But, I didn’t this time while I was focused on whether I was a “smart player” or not. I tried for a visual read, but he was frozen and staring at the cards.
I “decided” he had AK when I had no real evidence to support that and partly drew that conclusion from what I might have done with that hand. Unfounded reasoning, and an emotional decision to go home a winner was driving me. I did not want to have to work really hard for a few more hours to build back up to the “just even” point. That lousy thinking also helped push me over the edge to call.
The smarter move would have been to raise his $100 bet to $200 if I wanted to play and if he re-raised fold em. If he just called, then I would know, he had a strong hand and without a third jack I could have folded on the flop. In that scenario I would have lost only $200 on the hand instead of $400.
I would really appreciate some comments on this hand.
Was I just a donk? Do you think some of my reasoning was sound? Or am I in self-delusion and should have just folded, which was my first instinct?
Politicians and Terrorists..oh my....
Tomorrow is voting day. I am so disgusted with our political system I am planning on voting against every incumbent (a.k.a. incompetent) and voting against any and all propositions. If enough people would do that, eventually the political professionals would get the message, that we have had enough of politics as usual, and they would make some serious changes.
I think we are heading for social upheaval in this country. The middle class is getting squeezed and when many of them start losing more of the comforts they have had, look out for a backlash!
It is a great country but our way of life is being eroded by some not so great men and women. Politicians and terrorists seem to have the same goal. Protect their own little sectarian ideals by attacking and eroding freedom.
Please vote your conscience. Mine says vote to tell the incumbents you can’t vote for them until they start doing a better job for us.
But, this is a poker blog, a subject far more pleasant then politics.
It was a great night for me at Sycuan last night. I drove there about 2 p.m. thinking I would play a couple of hours before the 4 p.m. Tournament. When I arrived, I found out the 4 p.m. tournament had been moved back to 6 p.m. So, I ended up playing 4 hours of 2/4 No-Limit. I did very well, there, and then had an amazing run in the tournament. I made every hand I played until the final 4 tables then I lost every hand I played and was out. Talk about a couple of quick swings, up and then out. My play didn’t change, in fact, I didn’t have the time to make changes, but, the cards sure did.
The good news is I got back into that 2/4 game when a seat opened. I did even better then I did earlier in the day. I played three small pairs under the gun for a small raise, intending to toss them or win a big pot if a third one flopped. Each time I flopped a set.
It is hard enough to put someone on a small set, but impossible when they raise with the under the gun. Most players believe you must have big cards to raise.
The stacks were fairly deep for 2/4 so I made some nice pots each time by betting them out and being re-raised and then check-calling. It seems like a nice move, though I haven’t read it anywhere yet. I just discovered it in wanting a chance to play small pairs in early position.
I left at 11 p.m. when I found myself chasing an open-ended straight against a “rock” on the table. It would have been a nice pot had I caught it but I didn’t. I have also discovered about myself after 8 hours of play I tend to lose more then I win. Unless it is a very “juicy game” I usually stop after 8-9 hours of play even when I am winning big. I do have a stop-loss limit that is around $500 if I get down that much regardless of how long I have played. If I get there I stop for the day. There have been some days I have played less then 2 hours when I set out to play longer.
Well, it is time to set out to play the Palomar Club. Let's hope I end up playing longer then two hours.
I think we are heading for social upheaval in this country. The middle class is getting squeezed and when many of them start losing more of the comforts they have had, look out for a backlash!
It is a great country but our way of life is being eroded by some not so great men and women. Politicians and terrorists seem to have the same goal. Protect their own little sectarian ideals by attacking and eroding freedom.
Please vote your conscience. Mine says vote to tell the incumbents you can’t vote for them until they start doing a better job for us.
But, this is a poker blog, a subject far more pleasant then politics.
It was a great night for me at Sycuan last night. I drove there about 2 p.m. thinking I would play a couple of hours before the 4 p.m. Tournament. When I arrived, I found out the 4 p.m. tournament had been moved back to 6 p.m. So, I ended up playing 4 hours of 2/4 No-Limit. I did very well, there, and then had an amazing run in the tournament. I made every hand I played until the final 4 tables then I lost every hand I played and was out. Talk about a couple of quick swings, up and then out. My play didn’t change, in fact, I didn’t have the time to make changes, but, the cards sure did.
The good news is I got back into that 2/4 game when a seat opened. I did even better then I did earlier in the day. I played three small pairs under the gun for a small raise, intending to toss them or win a big pot if a third one flopped. Each time I flopped a set.
It is hard enough to put someone on a small set, but impossible when they raise with the under the gun. Most players believe you must have big cards to raise.
The stacks were fairly deep for 2/4 so I made some nice pots each time by betting them out and being re-raised and then check-calling. It seems like a nice move, though I haven’t read it anywhere yet. I just discovered it in wanting a chance to play small pairs in early position.
I left at 11 p.m. when I found myself chasing an open-ended straight against a “rock” on the table. It would have been a nice pot had I caught it but I didn’t. I have also discovered about myself after 8 hours of play I tend to lose more then I win. Unless it is a very “juicy game” I usually stop after 8-9 hours of play even when I am winning big. I do have a stop-loss limit that is around $500 if I get down that much regardless of how long I have played. If I get there I stop for the day. There have been some days I have played less then 2 hours when I set out to play longer.
Well, it is time to set out to play the Palomar Club. Let's hope I end up playing longer then two hours.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
I'm the lucky one.
I spent a week in Fresno and lost a grand. I could think of a lot of other places I would have rather lost money in, but my daughter Carrie and her husband live there so there you have it. I got lucked out, sucked out, out played, and drawn out on. Not once, but many times. After a week of that I was ready to say goodbye to my daughter and her husband and head for Vegas for a change of scenery and luck. On the way to Bakersfield, Caren called and requested I come home for awhile. She was missing Pokey and me and needed some family time.
I am the lucky one! Even though, I miss many of my draws. Even though, I get “sucked out” on the river more then I think I should. Even though, I haven’t yet doubled my initial poker bankroll yet. I am the lucky one because I have my wife of 35 years who supports my dream to make it as a poker pro. That is a rare combination. She doesn’t play poker, doesn’t quite understand it’s challenges, except through my explanations, but she loves me and supports my quest. That is better then a royal flush in a casino that pays a “monte carlo”.
I haven’t yet ended my road trip, but I have been home now two weeks at her request. We are dealing with an insurance claim on our garage that flooded by the upstairs condo owner. I am dealing with that, but mainly, Pokey and I were missed by her. I am not sure who was missed more, me or the dog Pokey, but being a wise husband I don’t inquire any further. (grin)
I have seemed to have broken that bad streak that began when I got to Casino 101 and followed me all the way down the state.
I haven’t made much in this last two weeks but I haven’t lost any and that is sometime a very good thing.
I having been playing mainly at the Palomar Club. There have been some really positive changes there over the time I have been there since 2003. You could say it has mirrored the poker boom. In 2003, and for many years before that, it had just one 3/6 game with just a few regulars and a pai-gow table. Less then once a week it might get an Omaha game going for a few hours.
It was a dirty little place with nothing newer in it then vintage 1960’s including the TV. There was a little dive of a bar next door that occasionally one or two of the regulars walked over to and then came back and played looser for awhile.
Then the Palomar bought the building, and cleaned out the bar and sold off the liquor license. They removed the wall between the old bar and the old room, and totally remodeled with plasma screen TV’s, new tables, chairs, fresh paint and new carpet.
What a difference!
Now everyday there are two 3/6 limit games, and 4 N/L games going with spreads from 1/2 – 10/10 with as much a 20-50K on the big game.
Now instead of one short-handed table there is about an hour wait list for any game.
I love it!
Even though the Village Club is 4 miles from my home, I drive the 20 miles here because of the difference in the environment. I hope the Village Club gets the message, however, they are still usually full, no more room for parking, and they haven’t spent spend a dime on the facilities since Nixon’s first term. I wouldn’t bet on change there anytime soon.
Today, I am skipping both of them and driving to Sycuan to play the afternoon tournament and maybe hit the jackpot again. That is what gave me my poker bankroll in the first place. That was almost two years ago and it is still about the same size. I would like to see it double so I could play the 5/10 game a little more. It is still a little too small to survive the 5/10 NL variance. I have done ok in it, but I am always the short stack and have a couple of moves that I cannot use because I can only play tight as a short stack unless I want to try a Gus Hansen and go home in the first hour if it doesn’t work.
I hope to be over in Vegas for a week before Thanksgiving day. I seems to write a lot more when I am on the road in the RV.
Longing to get “back on the road again”, but loving being with my wife at home.
I am the lucky one! Even though, I miss many of my draws. Even though, I get “sucked out” on the river more then I think I should. Even though, I haven’t yet doubled my initial poker bankroll yet. I am the lucky one because I have my wife of 35 years who supports my dream to make it as a poker pro. That is a rare combination. She doesn’t play poker, doesn’t quite understand it’s challenges, except through my explanations, but she loves me and supports my quest. That is better then a royal flush in a casino that pays a “monte carlo”.
I haven’t yet ended my road trip, but I have been home now two weeks at her request. We are dealing with an insurance claim on our garage that flooded by the upstairs condo owner. I am dealing with that, but mainly, Pokey and I were missed by her. I am not sure who was missed more, me or the dog Pokey, but being a wise husband I don’t inquire any further. (grin)
I have seemed to have broken that bad streak that began when I got to Casino 101 and followed me all the way down the state.
I haven’t made much in this last two weeks but I haven’t lost any and that is sometime a very good thing.
I having been playing mainly at the Palomar Club. There have been some really positive changes there over the time I have been there since 2003. You could say it has mirrored the poker boom. In 2003, and for many years before that, it had just one 3/6 game with just a few regulars and a pai-gow table. Less then once a week it might get an Omaha game going for a few hours.
It was a dirty little place with nothing newer in it then vintage 1960’s including the TV. There was a little dive of a bar next door that occasionally one or two of the regulars walked over to and then came back and played looser for awhile.
Then the Palomar bought the building, and cleaned out the bar and sold off the liquor license. They removed the wall between the old bar and the old room, and totally remodeled with plasma screen TV’s, new tables, chairs, fresh paint and new carpet.
What a difference!
Now everyday there are two 3/6 limit games, and 4 N/L games going with spreads from 1/2 – 10/10 with as much a 20-50K on the big game.
Now instead of one short-handed table there is about an hour wait list for any game.
I love it!
Even though the Village Club is 4 miles from my home, I drive the 20 miles here because of the difference in the environment. I hope the Village Club gets the message, however, they are still usually full, no more room for parking, and they haven’t spent spend a dime on the facilities since Nixon’s first term. I wouldn’t bet on change there anytime soon.
Today, I am skipping both of them and driving to Sycuan to play the afternoon tournament and maybe hit the jackpot again. That is what gave me my poker bankroll in the first place. That was almost two years ago and it is still about the same size. I would like to see it double so I could play the 5/10 game a little more. It is still a little too small to survive the 5/10 NL variance. I have done ok in it, but I am always the short stack and have a couple of moves that I cannot use because I can only play tight as a short stack unless I want to try a Gus Hansen and go home in the first hour if it doesn’t work.
I hope to be over in Vegas for a week before Thanksgiving day. I seems to write a lot more when I am on the road in the RV.
Longing to get “back on the road again”, but loving being with my wife at home.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Dealing with a poker jerk
Well, my plan to make money playing poker while here in Fresno didn’t work. It seems I couldn’t lose money in Washington and I can’t win money in California. I know it has nothing to do with any state, except the state of variance. Which, I am now in, and I hope to get to the other state of variance.
I drove out to the Palace in Lemoore, California and played 1/3 no-limit. There were some good players there, and I had good second best hands. Which means it was an expensive poker session.
I made it to 13th in the tournament and my Pocket Aces went up against pocket 10s and a ten came on the river. That one “hit me in the gut”, I really was playing well, with sharp focus and thought I was going all the way.
I don’t know if that one put me on a “slow burn tilt” or not. I walked for about 15 minutes in the parking lot to get back in a “winning poker” state of mind. Then, I went back in and got outplayed in one hand. Then I participated in a “donkey play” where I caught my gut shot straight, not even thinking about the flush draw on the board. I also somehow didn’t even notice, that I was up against “Rocky the Rock”. My straight card completed his flush, and I was down and out all the cash I had brought.
The next night in Club One in Fresno with a wild loose table I tripled up by buy-in and lost two river suck outs. I pushed in my last $80 on an open ended straight and was called by a bottom pair. No straight came, pair won. A few minutes later, I was driving home through the valley of discouragement.
I thought I had come further in my development as a player to let three in a row losing sessions get me down, but I “fell off the wagon” and let myself wallow in the mud of despair for awhile.
Yesterday, I drove out through the country and played at Chuchchasi Casino up by Yosemite. I call it “Chucky-cheese” casino. They only had 2/4 limit, so I played a couple of hours, had fun, remembered how to enjoy poker and then left for Table Mountain Casino. I heard they had more tables, bigger jackpots, and no-limit.
The first two items were true, but the no-limit is only on weekends. I played 3/6 limit and went up and down for the evening hoping to receive the high hand for the hour. It was a special promotion night, and the high hand every hour received $300. No high hands, for me, but I left up $16. That windfall, and the eight dollars, I won at Chuck-Cheese Casino brought my winnings, equal to the cost of the gas I spent to get here. Oh, it also paid for a dinner of onion rings and coffee, so I guess I am a winner after all.
I did have my revenge on the poker room jerk. You know the type. He locks up a seat with a chip. Then comes back about 10 minutes later and sits down and waits for the blinds to pass. He plays one round without having to post, then gets up and walks away from the table for 3 rounds. Just when they are going to pick up his chips, he comes back, posts and plays one round. Then he is gone for 3 rounds.
For those of you that don’t know poker very well, in a limit game, when a seat is empty it hurts all the rest of the players. The blinds do not decrease, and there is less potential money in the pot. I complained to the dealer about this rude, disrespectful behavior to me and all the other players at the table.
The dealer just shook his head and said “He couldn’t agree with me more, but the old, grumpy, player was a regular and nothing would be done about it.
I told him I understood, but please call the floor man because I wanted to register a complaint about the player, and if enough players did it, maybe something would be done. I also said, from the looks of that player, I would guess he is not a big tipper either.
The dealer almost choked back his laughter, but it got out.
The floor man was on break, but he promised as soon as he got back he would send him over. The other players started agreeing with me and I suggested every time he did that everybody needs to complain and eventually something would be done.
When he came back and sat down, I turned to him and asked “Will you be staying awhile this time?” He muttered, “you never know”. I stared at him for a few minutes knowing most bullies are cowards and he quickly broke eye contact.
The dealer had moved on to another table, but I saw him talking to the floor man, who had returned from dinner, and he sent him over as promised. He approached me and said “You wanted to see me?”
I said “Yes, I have a complaint against this player, indicating the player on my left. In the last hour he has played one free round, paid for one round, and missed 5 buttons. That is both rude and disrespectful to the table. I request you ask him not to abuse the privilege of taking a break or give me a table change. He quickly said “I will get you a table change, right away sir.” The jerk started arguing I was only gone 20 minutes, the player to his left, told him he was gone almost 45 minutes. The jerk was starting to squirm a little. I guess he was used to nobody talking to him about his behavior.
The floor man came back instantly, and said I have your new seat. “I said good luck to the rest of you.”
I glanced back a few hands later and noticed he had done it again. His chips were there and there was already one missed blind indicator at his place.
Later, I talked to the floor man about it, and he said to me, “Me and every dealer here agrees with you and hates that he does that, but there is no rule against him doing it I said I understood, the situation, he was in, but there is the “purpose for the rule” and the “law of the rule”. When the purpose is being abused, and it is hurting other players, you need to either get a rule in place to handle it or use your authority to pick him up, and put somebody else in his seat etc. He sadly, shook his head, and whined “you are right…but, there is nothing I can do……” I thanked him for his time, and said good luck, and decided to head home and enjoy being with my daughter and son-in-law before I needed to leave tomorrow. I felt sorry for the other players, who had to deal with this kind of attitude night after night and that nothing would be done about it. I just hoped others would speak out until this one injustice would cease.
If enough of us speak to the person in charge, and speak to the offender directly, we can get this stopped, rather then be victimized by a few rude jerks that continue to disrespect others at the table in this way.
Selective, assertive, action is better poker then “crying stations”. Speak out for your rights fellow players!
I drove out to the Palace in Lemoore, California and played 1/3 no-limit. There were some good players there, and I had good second best hands. Which means it was an expensive poker session.
I made it to 13th in the tournament and my Pocket Aces went up against pocket 10s and a ten came on the river. That one “hit me in the gut”, I really was playing well, with sharp focus and thought I was going all the way.
I don’t know if that one put me on a “slow burn tilt” or not. I walked for about 15 minutes in the parking lot to get back in a “winning poker” state of mind. Then, I went back in and got outplayed in one hand. Then I participated in a “donkey play” where I caught my gut shot straight, not even thinking about the flush draw on the board. I also somehow didn’t even notice, that I was up against “Rocky the Rock”. My straight card completed his flush, and I was down and out all the cash I had brought.
The next night in Club One in Fresno with a wild loose table I tripled up by buy-in and lost two river suck outs. I pushed in my last $80 on an open ended straight and was called by a bottom pair. No straight came, pair won. A few minutes later, I was driving home through the valley of discouragement.
I thought I had come further in my development as a player to let three in a row losing sessions get me down, but I “fell off the wagon” and let myself wallow in the mud of despair for awhile.
Yesterday, I drove out through the country and played at Chuchchasi Casino up by Yosemite. I call it “Chucky-cheese” casino. They only had 2/4 limit, so I played a couple of hours, had fun, remembered how to enjoy poker and then left for Table Mountain Casino. I heard they had more tables, bigger jackpots, and no-limit.
The first two items were true, but the no-limit is only on weekends. I played 3/6 limit and went up and down for the evening hoping to receive the high hand for the hour. It was a special promotion night, and the high hand every hour received $300. No high hands, for me, but I left up $16. That windfall, and the eight dollars, I won at Chuck-Cheese Casino brought my winnings, equal to the cost of the gas I spent to get here. Oh, it also paid for a dinner of onion rings and coffee, so I guess I am a winner after all.
I did have my revenge on the poker room jerk. You know the type. He locks up a seat with a chip. Then comes back about 10 minutes later and sits down and waits for the blinds to pass. He plays one round without having to post, then gets up and walks away from the table for 3 rounds. Just when they are going to pick up his chips, he comes back, posts and plays one round. Then he is gone for 3 rounds.
For those of you that don’t know poker very well, in a limit game, when a seat is empty it hurts all the rest of the players. The blinds do not decrease, and there is less potential money in the pot. I complained to the dealer about this rude, disrespectful behavior to me and all the other players at the table.
The dealer just shook his head and said “He couldn’t agree with me more, but the old, grumpy, player was a regular and nothing would be done about it.
I told him I understood, but please call the floor man because I wanted to register a complaint about the player, and if enough players did it, maybe something would be done. I also said, from the looks of that player, I would guess he is not a big tipper either.
The dealer almost choked back his laughter, but it got out.
The floor man was on break, but he promised as soon as he got back he would send him over. The other players started agreeing with me and I suggested every time he did that everybody needs to complain and eventually something would be done.
When he came back and sat down, I turned to him and asked “Will you be staying awhile this time?” He muttered, “you never know”. I stared at him for a few minutes knowing most bullies are cowards and he quickly broke eye contact.
The dealer had moved on to another table, but I saw him talking to the floor man, who had returned from dinner, and he sent him over as promised. He approached me and said “You wanted to see me?”
I said “Yes, I have a complaint against this player, indicating the player on my left. In the last hour he has played one free round, paid for one round, and missed 5 buttons. That is both rude and disrespectful to the table. I request you ask him not to abuse the privilege of taking a break or give me a table change. He quickly said “I will get you a table change, right away sir.” The jerk started arguing I was only gone 20 minutes, the player to his left, told him he was gone almost 45 minutes. The jerk was starting to squirm a little. I guess he was used to nobody talking to him about his behavior.
The floor man came back instantly, and said I have your new seat. “I said good luck to the rest of you.”
I glanced back a few hands later and noticed he had done it again. His chips were there and there was already one missed blind indicator at his place.
Later, I talked to the floor man about it, and he said to me, “Me and every dealer here agrees with you and hates that he does that, but there is no rule against him doing it I said I understood, the situation, he was in, but there is the “purpose for the rule” and the “law of the rule”. When the purpose is being abused, and it is hurting other players, you need to either get a rule in place to handle it or use your authority to pick him up, and put somebody else in his seat etc. He sadly, shook his head, and whined “you are right…but, there is nothing I can do……” I thanked him for his time, and said good luck, and decided to head home and enjoy being with my daughter and son-in-law before I needed to leave tomorrow. I felt sorry for the other players, who had to deal with this kind of attitude night after night and that nothing would be done about it. I just hoped others would speak out until this one injustice would cease.
If enough of us speak to the person in charge, and speak to the offender directly, we can get this stopped, rather then be victimized by a few rude jerks that continue to disrespect others at the table in this way.
Selective, assertive, action is better poker then “crying stations”. Speak out for your rights fellow players!
Fresno
This was such a busy weekend I had no time to blog.
Last Thursday, my plan was to leave Stockton and stop in Modesto or Merced and play for the day. Then I planned to arrive late in the evening at my daughter’s home in Fresno. As I started driving I realized I was excited to see her and I “passed” on poker in Modesto & Merced. I arrived late in the afternoon and my daughter Carrie, her husband David and I went out for a Mexican Dinner It was sure good to see them both..
The next day I rented a car in Fresno, had lunch with Dave and then when Carrie got off work, her and I headed for San Diego in our Gray, Ford Taurus rental with Pokey the dog and his friend Gracey, the wiener dog. They were both in kennels in the back seat, facing each other for entertainment. Eight hours later we all arrived at my home in San Diego. (Imperial Beach Area) Traffic was horrid as soon as we got to L.A. It took an hour just from Burbank to Buena Park.
It was sure good to be with Caren for the weekend. It didn’t seem like very much time at all before we had to leave again on Monday afternoon to get Carrie back to Fresno for her work on Tuesday.
We did manage to get in two different tournaments at two casinos in San Diego over the weekend. Saturday night we played at Viejas in a $70 tournament with about 125 players. I made a couple of poor moves near the end to force myself out when I didn’t need to.
The first one was understandable the second not so much. I was at the third table as the chip leader of the tournament. When the short stack of the table was the big blind I picked up pocket tens in middle position. So I shoved all in to isolate him. I did, and he showed down Ace-Queen. He picked up a Queen on the turn and I didn’t improve. I lost 40% of my stack on that hand. Then a little later we consolidated down to two tables.
When there were 15 people left I figured I better make a play so I raised 3x the blind with 5,6, suited. The big blind called me, and the flop was a K,6,J. He checked and I put in half my stack to his re-raise, which would have put me all-in. I backed down and folded. I went out two hands later with an AK that didn’t improve and lost to a pair.
This was a case where I could have “coasted” to the final table, but I wanted to win, and I know you have to get aggressive and sometimes lucky at that stage of the tournament. I am second guessing myself with that approach so close to the final table. This was a tournament where the blinds doubled every fifteen minutes, and I wonder if it isn’t better to just squeak to the final table and then do the “all-in with any A or K” and see if you get lucky. I will need to give this a lot more thought.
The best part of Saturday night was when our Son Jonathan came to play with Carrie and me in the tournament. We all had dinner with Caren before the tournament at the Casino. It was so nice to have our whole family together. Caren got a little lucky on the penny slots and gave them each $20 and covered ½ my tournament entry. Overall, it was an enjoyable, memorable night together.
Sunday found out sorting and cleaning out our belongings from a water leak into our garage. It ruined some of our stored items and destroyed the ceiling and wall with mold damage while we have been gone. This is an interesting story I will tell later of dueling insurance companies and real estate developers I will tell at a later time.
After running a few more errands with Caren, it was time for Carrie and I to head for my “home casino” Sycuan. I bought in for both Carrie and I into the evening tournament and she went out in the first ½ hour playing a little too loose. I held on until the field of 250 was narrowed to about 60 and was card dead most of the tournament. I did get a lucky break where I was 4X the blinds and I went all-in with an Ace-Seven. Called by a Ace-Queen and a KJ I was looking like I would be walking this hand. The flop came 7,10,4 and I was actually ahead! The turn card was a Queen as I stood to go the river produced another 7 giving me 777. I played another 45 minutes until I went all-in on an AK that ran into AA and I was out.
I got on a cash table a few minutes later and went up and down with my $100 buy-in and then another $50 went on to the table. I played ok, but I ran into AA with AK again and lost my $100. I built back up to $150 when I ended up with AK on the Big Blind.
I played a little ½ NL and ended up losing my buy-in on another bad beat. Carrie and I decided we both had enough and headed back home for the night.
Monday, Caren went in to work early and then met us for lunch in Mission Valley at Carrie and her favorite eatery: Pat & Oscars. We chose Pat’s & Oscar’s for two reasons. The first was they love their salads. The second is we could sit outside and the dogs could join us.
After lunch we said good bye and Carrie, the dogs, and I headed up Interstate 15 toward L.A. I was dreading driving through L.A. in the middle of the day. So, we thought we could miss the most of it by going up Interstate 15 and then cutting across 210 through Pasadena. Carrie used to live in that area, and the closer we got to 210 we realized we were going to have a lot of traffic in Pasadena at the time we were to arrive there.
I decided to go the back way, by continuing up 15 to US395 and going across Hwy 58 to Bakersfield and then north to Fresno. Eight hours later we arrived at Carrie’s home after having to deal with some Highway construction and frequent stops to walk the dogs.
Now I needed to “gear up” to make some money playing poker, while I am here in Fresno.
Last Thursday, my plan was to leave Stockton and stop in Modesto or Merced and play for the day. Then I planned to arrive late in the evening at my daughter’s home in Fresno. As I started driving I realized I was excited to see her and I “passed” on poker in Modesto & Merced. I arrived late in the afternoon and my daughter Carrie, her husband David and I went out for a Mexican Dinner It was sure good to see them both..
The next day I rented a car in Fresno, had lunch with Dave and then when Carrie got off work, her and I headed for San Diego in our Gray, Ford Taurus rental with Pokey the dog and his friend Gracey, the wiener dog. They were both in kennels in the back seat, facing each other for entertainment. Eight hours later we all arrived at my home in San Diego. (Imperial Beach Area) Traffic was horrid as soon as we got to L.A. It took an hour just from Burbank to Buena Park.
It was sure good to be with Caren for the weekend. It didn’t seem like very much time at all before we had to leave again on Monday afternoon to get Carrie back to Fresno for her work on Tuesday.
We did manage to get in two different tournaments at two casinos in San Diego over the weekend. Saturday night we played at Viejas in a $70 tournament with about 125 players. I made a couple of poor moves near the end to force myself out when I didn’t need to.
The first one was understandable the second not so much. I was at the third table as the chip leader of the tournament. When the short stack of the table was the big blind I picked up pocket tens in middle position. So I shoved all in to isolate him. I did, and he showed down Ace-Queen. He picked up a Queen on the turn and I didn’t improve. I lost 40% of my stack on that hand. Then a little later we consolidated down to two tables.
When there were 15 people left I figured I better make a play so I raised 3x the blind with 5,6, suited. The big blind called me, and the flop was a K,6,J. He checked and I put in half my stack to his re-raise, which would have put me all-in. I backed down and folded. I went out two hands later with an AK that didn’t improve and lost to a pair.
This was a case where I could have “coasted” to the final table, but I wanted to win, and I know you have to get aggressive and sometimes lucky at that stage of the tournament. I am second guessing myself with that approach so close to the final table. This was a tournament where the blinds doubled every fifteen minutes, and I wonder if it isn’t better to just squeak to the final table and then do the “all-in with any A or K” and see if you get lucky. I will need to give this a lot more thought.
The best part of Saturday night was when our Son Jonathan came to play with Carrie and me in the tournament. We all had dinner with Caren before the tournament at the Casino. It was so nice to have our whole family together. Caren got a little lucky on the penny slots and gave them each $20 and covered ½ my tournament entry. Overall, it was an enjoyable, memorable night together.
Sunday found out sorting and cleaning out our belongings from a water leak into our garage. It ruined some of our stored items and destroyed the ceiling and wall with mold damage while we have been gone. This is an interesting story I will tell later of dueling insurance companies and real estate developers I will tell at a later time.
After running a few more errands with Caren, it was time for Carrie and I to head for my “home casino” Sycuan. I bought in for both Carrie and I into the evening tournament and she went out in the first ½ hour playing a little too loose. I held on until the field of 250 was narrowed to about 60 and was card dead most of the tournament. I did get a lucky break where I was 4X the blinds and I went all-in with an Ace-Seven. Called by a Ace-Queen and a KJ I was looking like I would be walking this hand. The flop came 7,10,4 and I was actually ahead! The turn card was a Queen as I stood to go the river produced another 7 giving me 777. I played another 45 minutes until I went all-in on an AK that ran into AA and I was out.
I got on a cash table a few minutes later and went up and down with my $100 buy-in and then another $50 went on to the table. I played ok, but I ran into AA with AK again and lost my $100. I built back up to $150 when I ended up with AK on the Big Blind.
I played a little ½ NL and ended up losing my buy-in on another bad beat. Carrie and I decided we both had enough and headed back home for the night.
Monday, Caren went in to work early and then met us for lunch in Mission Valley at Carrie and her favorite eatery: Pat & Oscars. We chose Pat’s & Oscar’s for two reasons. The first was they love their salads. The second is we could sit outside and the dogs could join us.
After lunch we said good bye and Carrie, the dogs, and I headed up Interstate 15 toward L.A. I was dreading driving through L.A. in the middle of the day. So, we thought we could miss the most of it by going up Interstate 15 and then cutting across 210 through Pasadena. Carrie used to live in that area, and the closer we got to 210 we realized we were going to have a lot of traffic in Pasadena at the time we were to arrive there.
I decided to go the back way, by continuing up 15 to US395 and going across Hwy 58 to Bakersfield and then north to Fresno. Eight hours later we arrived at Carrie’s home after having to deal with some Highway construction and frequent stops to walk the dogs.
Now I needed to “gear up” to make some money playing poker, while I am here in Fresno.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
A losing day in Central California
I did a bit of driving yesterday. My original plan was to just drive 150 miles to a casino south of Eureka. I arrived there at 2:30 in the afternoon. After parking and entering the poker room, I discovered there is no poker on Tuesday night in this Casino. So I began to drive south on the Avenue of the Giants through the Redwoods of Humboldt and Mendocino counties.
It took a little over 2 hours to go 40 miles because I was averaging 20 miles an hour in order to enjoy driving this scenic alternative to US 101. By the time I got to Willits, home of Black Bart Casino, I had driven 300 miles.
Then I discovered Black Bart’s didn’t have poker either.
Another 20 miles put me in Ukiah. We lived here in 1980-1983. We had some significant memories of our time then. We owned our first home, our son was born there, our daughter went to pre-school, and so on. After driving past the Church, where I was a pastor and then the area we used to live in, I thought “how did we ever live in such a small quiet place like this”?
I tried to locate a poker game in town. I saw a billboard for Robinson Rancheria Casino that offered poker but it was about 22 miles east of the direction I wanted to go. I pulled into a Wal-Mart to cook some dinner and do some thinking.
I called a little casino in Hopland, which is about 20 miles ahead. Even though it was more driving today, it was in the direction I was going. They did have a game, and I knew they had a parking lot where I could spend the night.
It was a very bizarre Poker game. It was 3-6 limit hold-em with 7 people. Everyone except me, played every hand, and bet almost every opportunity.(No raises, no folding, just bets and calls) At least 4 people saw the river every hand.
Five of them appeared to be migrant workers, three spoke only Spanish, two helped interpret for the other three. Four of them weren’t sure what hand beat what, and the dealer would have to help them at showdown. In most cases they didn’t know, if they had won or not when every body showed cards. But, they all had fun.
The game broke in about 2 hours because 4 of them lost all their money. But, they seemed to have a lot of fun at it, even when they lost.
I didn’t catch many cards but I still left up $40 for the couple of hours I was in the game.
The next morning I filled up with gas in Santa Rosa and toured Petaluma. We lived there in 1989.
I looked at our old property and met the current caretaker. She game me a tour and it hasn’t changed much except for the 20 years of tree growth. In 1989 I went through a deep period of depression and one of the things that helped me was planting trees.
So consequently I planted 18 redwood trees, 4 fruit trees, a weeping willow and an assortment of others. As you might imagine, these trees dominate the area around the modular home where we used to live. But, they do look beautiful.
I stopped in at Sonoma Joes Poker room in Petaluma. It is now called Casino 101. They had 6 poker tables and I was able to get into a No-Limit game after playing an hour of 4/8. I was outdrawn three times, and failed to catch a straight and a flush. I was chasing too much. I was down about $500 when I caught two big pair and they held up. I left about 6 p.m. only down about $150
I wish that was where it ended for the day.
But, no…. I wanted to get to the eastside of the Bay Area so I wouldn’t have traffic for tomorrow. I made my way across the top the San Francisco Bay, and crossed the Benicia Bridge into the East Bay area of Pacheco.
I located the Grand Casino in Pacheco and played 6/12 limit while I waited for a seat No-Limit Seat. I lost $300 there and finally my seat opened up in No-limit. I went up and down from 200 to 100 with my initial buy-in. Then four of us called a $25 bet. The button pushed all-in for $125. I had KJ Diamonds and would have thrown it away with one caller. I knew from the stack sizes if I called 2-4 others would also, go all-in giving great implied odds to a hand that would play well multi-way.
I called, and sure enough 4 others called resulting in a pot of about $600. When all the hands were exposed I liked mine the best. The first who pushed all in had A8 off suit. Another had A7, and another had K9 and then a 78off suit. Mine was the most potential outs. The A7 was hearts and he caught three hearts for a flush to win it all.
I was down and out. I had reached the maximum I allow myself to lose in one day, so I gave up my seat and left.
I drove across the California Delta Area in the dark which was an eerie experience.
There was no moon and I could just barely make out the murky water as I drove across the tops of levees and crossed drawbridges, many of which were a single lane for both directions. I was praying I wouldn’t meet a truck or another RV on one of these and my prayers were answered. I thought if I drive off what of these poorly lit, winding levees I will become a permanent part of the California Delta Waterway system and never be seen again.
In Stockton, I missed the turnoff for the Super Wal-Mart, and ended up driving 8 miles in the wrong direction before I discovered my error.
Oh well, tomorrow is a new day. I am looking forward to it.
P.S. Just when I thought I could not get any more unlucky today I awake at 2 A.M. to Pokey barking at someone who is approaching the van and trying to look into the driver’s side window.
Then I notice a yellow flashing light and realize it must be the Wal-Mart security person.
Now, there is a knock on the side door, as Pokey is growling and barking like a mad dog, as I try to locate my clothes and dress quickly in the dark.
I open the door and the security guard is telling me how sorry he is, but he has no choice.
He further tells me he doesn’t agree with the decision, but the manager called him and wants no one sleeping in the parking lot in their RV’s.
There are not a lot of us, only one other Class C and a Class A 35 footer. I guess Stockton is not most people’s vacation destination of choice.
I follow the Class C out of the parking lot. He drives across the street to the Home Depot lot and resumes his sleep.
I decide to go a few blocks further and find a side street with a number of truckers sleeping. I join them for the rest of the night and go back to sleep remembering the only other time we were run off from a Wal-Mart. It was in 2002, in Homestead, Florida at the entrance to the Florida Keys, and several police cars showed up like it was a major drug bust.
In this terrorist age, with repeat offender criminals, let out of prison daily, and serious crime at and all time high, you can sleep well, knowing there are a few brave souls on the frontlines, protecting this country in the middle of the night, by keeping seniors and retirees from invading your local Wal-Mart.
It took a little over 2 hours to go 40 miles because I was averaging 20 miles an hour in order to enjoy driving this scenic alternative to US 101. By the time I got to Willits, home of Black Bart Casino, I had driven 300 miles.
Then I discovered Black Bart’s didn’t have poker either.
Another 20 miles put me in Ukiah. We lived here in 1980-1983. We had some significant memories of our time then. We owned our first home, our son was born there, our daughter went to pre-school, and so on. After driving past the Church, where I was a pastor and then the area we used to live in, I thought “how did we ever live in such a small quiet place like this”?
I tried to locate a poker game in town. I saw a billboard for Robinson Rancheria Casino that offered poker but it was about 22 miles east of the direction I wanted to go. I pulled into a Wal-Mart to cook some dinner and do some thinking.
I called a little casino in Hopland, which is about 20 miles ahead. Even though it was more driving today, it was in the direction I was going. They did have a game, and I knew they had a parking lot where I could spend the night.
It was a very bizarre Poker game. It was 3-6 limit hold-em with 7 people. Everyone except me, played every hand, and bet almost every opportunity.(No raises, no folding, just bets and calls) At least 4 people saw the river every hand.
Five of them appeared to be migrant workers, three spoke only Spanish, two helped interpret for the other three. Four of them weren’t sure what hand beat what, and the dealer would have to help them at showdown. In most cases they didn’t know, if they had won or not when every body showed cards. But, they all had fun.
The game broke in about 2 hours because 4 of them lost all their money. But, they seemed to have a lot of fun at it, even when they lost.
I didn’t catch many cards but I still left up $40 for the couple of hours I was in the game.
The next morning I filled up with gas in Santa Rosa and toured Petaluma. We lived there in 1989.
I looked at our old property and met the current caretaker. She game me a tour and it hasn’t changed much except for the 20 years of tree growth. In 1989 I went through a deep period of depression and one of the things that helped me was planting trees.
So consequently I planted 18 redwood trees, 4 fruit trees, a weeping willow and an assortment of others. As you might imagine, these trees dominate the area around the modular home where we used to live. But, they do look beautiful.
I stopped in at Sonoma Joes Poker room in Petaluma. It is now called Casino 101. They had 6 poker tables and I was able to get into a No-Limit game after playing an hour of 4/8. I was outdrawn three times, and failed to catch a straight and a flush. I was chasing too much. I was down about $500 when I caught two big pair and they held up. I left about 6 p.m. only down about $150
I wish that was where it ended for the day.
But, no…. I wanted to get to the eastside of the Bay Area so I wouldn’t have traffic for tomorrow. I made my way across the top the San Francisco Bay, and crossed the Benicia Bridge into the East Bay area of Pacheco.
I located the Grand Casino in Pacheco and played 6/12 limit while I waited for a seat No-Limit Seat. I lost $300 there and finally my seat opened up in No-limit. I went up and down from 200 to 100 with my initial buy-in. Then four of us called a $25 bet. The button pushed all-in for $125. I had KJ Diamonds and would have thrown it away with one caller. I knew from the stack sizes if I called 2-4 others would also, go all-in giving great implied odds to a hand that would play well multi-way.
I called, and sure enough 4 others called resulting in a pot of about $600. When all the hands were exposed I liked mine the best. The first who pushed all in had A8 off suit. Another had A7, and another had K9 and then a 78off suit. Mine was the most potential outs. The A7 was hearts and he caught three hearts for a flush to win it all.
I was down and out. I had reached the maximum I allow myself to lose in one day, so I gave up my seat and left.
I drove across the California Delta Area in the dark which was an eerie experience.
There was no moon and I could just barely make out the murky water as I drove across the tops of levees and crossed drawbridges, many of which were a single lane for both directions. I was praying I wouldn’t meet a truck or another RV on one of these and my prayers were answered. I thought if I drive off what of these poorly lit, winding levees I will become a permanent part of the California Delta Waterway system and never be seen again.
In Stockton, I missed the turnoff for the Super Wal-Mart, and ended up driving 8 miles in the wrong direction before I discovered my error.
Oh well, tomorrow is a new day. I am looking forward to it.
P.S. Just when I thought I could not get any more unlucky today I awake at 2 A.M. to Pokey barking at someone who is approaching the van and trying to look into the driver’s side window.
Then I notice a yellow flashing light and realize it must be the Wal-Mart security person.
Now, there is a knock on the side door, as Pokey is growling and barking like a mad dog, as I try to locate my clothes and dress quickly in the dark.
I open the door and the security guard is telling me how sorry he is, but he has no choice.
He further tells me he doesn’t agree with the decision, but the manager called him and wants no one sleeping in the parking lot in their RV’s.
There are not a lot of us, only one other Class C and a Class A 35 footer. I guess Stockton is not most people’s vacation destination of choice.
I follow the Class C out of the parking lot. He drives across the street to the Home Depot lot and resumes his sleep.
I decide to go a few blocks further and find a side street with a number of truckers sleeping. I join them for the rest of the night and go back to sleep remembering the only other time we were run off from a Wal-Mart. It was in 2002, in Homestead, Florida at the entrance to the Florida Keys, and several police cars showed up like it was a major drug bust.
In this terrorist age, with repeat offender criminals, let out of prison daily, and serious crime at and all time high, you can sleep well, knowing there are a few brave souls on the frontlines, protecting this country in the middle of the night, by keeping seniors and retirees from invading your local Wal-Mart.
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