They unleashed the beast! |
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Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:49 pm GMT by supafrey
Hiya. Well, at around 6:30pm or so on Sunday night, my brother calls letting me know he's going to Niagara. He knew I'd never been and offers to swing by and pick me up. I figure i don't really have too much school work what with exams coming up, so I happily agree, and he shows up a couple hours late and our trip commenced...
We shoot the shit for a bit in the car.. I gave him some tips and pointers, even though he's been to the casino far more times than I have (which, incidentally, was obviously 0). He's still sorta tight-noob with his poker and the talk let me settle my nerves a bit, regardless.
We get to the casino, and since I had only been to an impromptu one at Toronto's CNE, this was my first real image. The bright lights and ringing bells were cool, as were the hopeless degenerates slot-junkieing. I get in line for chips at the cash, and with a stack of 5's in tow I head for the 1/2 nl table.
So I sit down with my $99 (one for the cash lady... thanks for the tipping.. err.. the tipping tips, guys) and have a brief look at my table. Mostly young guys, an old hag and a drunk 30 something. A couple old asian guys and a 60 year old white haired rock. Pretty much a stereotype if I ever did see one.
A few hands of note!
I have AJ in the BB no more than half a dozen hands in, and there's just one limper in late position. The sb completes and I decide to raise out to steal the blinds (and win my first pot) to $12. The limper folds and it's me and the SB heads up.
Flop comes Kxx and I silently curse in my head. He checks, and I bet out $15. He calls. (Doh). Turn comes a rag and we both check. River a rag, and he checks it to me.... Now remember, I'm new at the table... Online I don't usually like the river steal any more, but I figure there's a chance I may even be winning and I'd rather not show down my hand just yet. I bet out $30, but he instant calls and shows KJs. (DOH!).
So I'm down to about 40 bucks, so I pull a $50 out of my wallet and put it under my chips.
A couple small pots go my way, and I settle down a bit. I'm cruising at about $160 bucks when I see KK on the button. Everyone folds around to Mr. Big stack young gun, who seems to be pretty tight so far, but he has a stack of about $420 or so at this point. He bets out to $10 and one person calls. I decide to reraise to $25, and only biggie calls.
Flop comes T74. He checks, I bet out $30 and stare into his soul as he contemplates the move. After about a minute he reraises to $70 and I ponder. Now, I don't usually play "live" but I was somewhat certain that I was beat here. I thought TT, but figured that $40 bucks into a rag flop is nowhere near enough to make me fold. I call. Turn brings a rag, he bets out 30 and I call. River another rag, and I call all-in. I mumble something about "thinking I may have been beat atleast as early as the flop" and he shows AA to scoop the pot. DOH.
So I'm $150 in the hole at this point but still in a good mood. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be, even after getting stacked, so I order a beer and settle in to play for the night.
Refreshed and restacked, I find 55 in BB. After a couple limpers I check to see the flop. Flop comes 834, with two diamonds. I'm curious about my position, so I check. There's maybe 10 bucks in the pot, and a shortie with $55 puts out a 5 buck feeler. Everyone folds except for myself, who calls.
The turn brings an ace, showing a board of 834A, two diamonds. I'm not exactly sure what my position is at this point, still, so I check to him. He bets $10 and I pause for a second. He's got $40 left and I don't possibly see how I could be losing to him for some reason. I decide to reraise to $40 dollars, figuring he has the flush draw and would fold. He doesn't (DOH?). The turn brings a T and I ponder whether to grab his last $9 bucks or so. I decide against it and check, and he checks behind me. He shows K2 of diamonds for the flush draw and the gutshot draw that needed my 5s. He says nice hand and gives me a funny look, as do a few others at the table. I could tell a couple of the regulars were trying to figure out whether I knew what I was doing there, so, again, I mumble something about "thinking I could bluff him out". This seems to satisfy a couple of them, and they write me off as a newb.
Play continues and I'm slowly gathering up small pots. More importantly though, I made two obvious reads on people. One, with this super young looking guy across the table, basically summed him up as completely scared money. He lost a pot to some guy and instantly turned red, anxious about losing the cash. A buddy of his walked by the table and they chatted about being down on the day, and I knew that this guy was in over his head.
The second read was against a young asian guy who I could tell was playing as strictly by the book as possible.. TAG styles, continuation bets, fold if scary action. Both of these guys would be easy money, I figured.
Either way, to sum up the story with these guys.. I check raised them like nobody's business. Against blondie I called his preflop raise with mediocre cards, and when the flop came A36 and he bet out hard, I check raised him about 3-4 times his bet. He folded to this move two times for nice pots, and each time I said something stupid about being in the BB or catching a lucky flop. (Obviously not showing my cards).
Asian guy was a little more interesting. I decide to raise to $10 preflop with K7s to pick up the blinds and loosen up the table a bit, when this kid (who had just took the spot of another asian guy to my direct left) raises to $25. Everyone folds, and I don't see anyway I can't call without losing some face.
Flop comes 764, two clubs. I look at him and know I'm set. I check the flop, and he bets out $30 bucks, which I C/R to $70. Almost instantly he folds, I say something about a pair of 8s and he smiles and says nice bet.
Decent pot for an easy play.
Moving on...
COLLLLLLLUSION. First off, I know it happens at these tables. With 1 pit boss for 2-3 tables, it's ridiculously easy, and I can tell a couple people are obvious friends. They're giving small nods about whether to play pots, etc. Nothing huge, and nothing serious in the least, no more than I'd see in a home game, so I wasn't really worried.
BUT...
I get jacks in early position and raise to $15 after a limper. The mid aged, polite and friendly (even though he could barely speak english) Asian man to my left calls. Immediately, I crack jokes about how cruel he is to the young white guy, trying to catch a read on whether he's just picking on me (who had loosened up to regular Supa proportions at this point). He bashfully smiles and says that he has to, and I can tell he has atleast decent cards, but nothing huge. Action comes around to a silver-haired rock who immediately goes all in for $60 total, and everyone folds to me.
PROBLEM...
As everyone was counting the chips of the geezer, the asian guy turns to me and smiles apologetically. He says "See, I not just pick on you. If you call I have to fold anyways, because I'm losing to the other guy no problem." AND THEN HE FLASHES ME HIS HOLE CARDS.
Now the thing is, he shows me just one, but it's the Ace of clubs, and the ACTION IS ON ME. I immediately turn a nice shade of red, mainly because of how nervous I am that someone would mistakingly think I asked for his help. I look at the pit boss and the other players, but nobody saw the quick flash. I sigh in relief and say "i have to call" and shove in my chips. Asian guy folds, and rock shows AKo which doesn't improve.
Long story short, I run my stack up to about $700 dollars. When the other young'n leaves I'm the big stack on the table by about $500, which is a nice enough position to be in. I bully and stuff, and solidify my place as the young'n reckless that nobody seems to want to see a showdown with..
I decide that my orbit would be my last, and see 24s in LP. I limp for fun, as does everyone else, and it's a family pot. Flop comes KQJ, two of my suit (clubs). UTG min-raises the flop, and a whole bunch of callers come along. The guy right before me raises to $10, and I reraise to $25. Two others call, as does the initial raiser.
Turn brings the Ace (doh?) and I still don't have my flush. It gets checked around to last position, who goes all in for his remaining $9. Obviously the three of us call, and I figure everyone is simply scared of the straight.
River is a low Club (BINGO!).
Old asian man in EP ponders for a couple minutes and checks, as does the $10 guy. I think for a moment (literally) and decide that the best course of action would be a small value bet. I bet out $20 with a smile. Old asian guy (who had one eye, incidentally) decides to go into thinktank mode. 2-3 minutes later he cryingly calls, and the other guy sighs and folds.
Get this...
I toss my 24s on the table and a couple laughs/sighs go around the table from those not in the hand.
Then, shortstack flips over his cards, which were 8Ts of CLUBS AS WELL.
I curse, knowing I don't win the main...
But then the old asian guy flips over J3s of CLUBS.
The table oooohs and aaaahhs and I take my lumps like a man.
Anyways, I steal a couple more hands, then rack up my chips and say goodnight to everyone. Everyone's in a good mood and likes me (I was as polite and friendly as anyone could every hope for) and I get a couple compliments on my play.
All in all, I end up +430 on the night, despite my initial stackage, and have a couple memories on my first trip out. A good lesson, and I'll prolly be back sooner than later. I could make a lot more money online than I ever could in person, but the games seem soft enough to enjoy and relax.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the rant.
Later days!
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Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:09 pm GMT by Soup_dog
Good job & a great read!
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:37 pm GMT by wEbMaStEr
That was fun Supa, having played with you i can understand their "does he know what he's doing or is he just dumb-lucky" take on you.
Great read, bring back more stories like this please.
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:14 pm GMT by Gunslinger
Excellent post! Glad to hear you did so well, can't wait for more stories like this one.
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:52 pm GMT by mackkie
| Gunslinger wrote: | | Excellent post! Glad to hear you did so well, can't wait for more stories like this one. |
Great read and nice job, it must have rattled you a little bit losing all that $ in the beginning, but it seemed like you played well. 
if all goes well ill come back with a story like this after tomorrow night from foxwoods! 8)
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:39 pm GMT by supafrey
| Quote: | | "does he know what he's doing or is he just dumb-lucky" |
#2.
wait... Probably both, actually.
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:54 pm GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
Glad you had fun supa... casinos are fun, no?
Personally, I love when stupid people collude, because often, they just end up giving away even more information at the table. I couldn't read this one guy for shit, but I could sure as hell read the face of his friend sitting next to him who had access to the guy's hole cards. 
Posted Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:35 pm GMT by supafrey
It was fun enough but I got bored after about 3 hours or so. And especially when the table gets shorthanded. Having a big stack is fun regardless, though, and if hadn't been there for the precious 12. - 4 a.m. slot i prolly could last a lot longer =P
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