What Goes Up Can Also Go Back Down

After my successful cash game run at Hollywood Casino I was primed to reach for the next level and hit a five digit score. My fantasy was in full bloom thinking about what I would do with all my winnings. I played most of the whole Saturday but nothing was working and after losing $1K I decided I wasn't in the best mind set and departed before anymore damage could ensue. Nothing particularly wrong but mainly coming out on the wrong side of the coin flip. After a home game on Sunday evening I decided to leave the home game and make a beeline back to the casino since Monday was a Holiday. I would tweak my game and get back that $1K loss. I should have gone home. Everything went wrong and I probably should have taken notes to review my play. Another $2K down and it was looking like my "break-even" moniker was becoming a permanent fixture. My main culprit appeared that I was playing a bit too loose and needed to tighten up my play. My last PLO hand was fun. Flop is Q9x. I hold KTx and after a pot and repot I decide to gamble and go all in with about $500. Turns out my opponents have QQx and 99x. The turn is a beautiful Ace giving me the nut straight. The river is....wait for it.... a nine. Not nice for the guy who flopped top set.

During my omaha play at Hollywood Casino I've met several of the regulars. One guy is nicknamed Prince but his actual name is Jim Boyd. Looking at his Hendon Mob page, Prince has some decent results. He is a true grinder and has played with most of the old school guys. While living in WV he would travel to AC, Las Vegas and California to play poker for weeks at a time and then return home like a traveling salesman. Dana Smith wrote an article about Jim Boyd in Card Player magazine on September 28, 2001 called "Mr. Foxwoods, aka 'The Comeback Kid'" calling Jim a modern day road-warrior. Unfortunately you have to have a subscription to read the article.

Yesterday I returned back to Hollywood in an attempt to recoup some of my past losses. Trying a different tack I bought in for the minimum which is $300. The buy-in limits are $300-$1500. I actually lost to a 2 outer and 1 outer for two buy-in's. The other three buy-in's were lost due to coin flips or other boring reasons. After my initial $1,500 investment I was actually able to recoup my recent losses. It all came about due to one hand, my biggest cash game pot to date worth slightly less than $5K. I limped with 3456 and the flop is 256 giving me the nut straight and top two pair. The last part is especially important. Redraws are an important element of PLO. First shorter stacked opponent pots, next shorter stacked opponent repot's putting him all in. Huge stack simply smooth calls. I can't ask for a better flop so I go all in for about $1,700 and the big stack calls which puts three of us all in. Turn is a six, river is inconsequential. I think I may have lost my nut straight hand due to the board pairing not realizing that I actually have a boat. Both short stacks also had the nut straight (3,4) and the big stack had 7889. Scope. Sweet.

Early Exit from Hollywood Casino PLO Game

Got up early Saturday morning and headed back to Hollywood Casino in WV. When I got there the $5/$5 PLO game was running from Friday night. Apparently Friday night there were two PLO tables. I steadily built my $500 to $1K but then bled back down to $500 and lost a coin flip and was down to $35. I decided to play with what I had rather than reloading right away. My high point was taking the $35 to about $280 but eventually had to reload for another $500. My exit was nothing too exciting when I pushed on a flop of KQ4 with KQxx but my opponent held 44 and made quads. After taking all my chips he said he wanted to see my cards as I was flipping them toward the muck face down. The dealer retrieved the cards that hadn't hit the muck and turned them face up. He was authorized to see my cards but I didn't appreciate the move after being felted. My stop loss is $1,500 for the night but I felt my play and head weren't really in the game so I decided to come home early. So much for my goal to leave with a five figure payday. As I was leaving my friend who last weekend left after getting beat by a two outer was once again leaving after....you guessed it, getting beat by another two outer. I think I feel a nickname brewing.

Mr. Bubble Boy

After returning from our Christmas trip to Florida my wife decided that we should spend New Year's in Delaware Park Casino. So we took a trip East on the 31st of December and I played in the noon tournament. I saw some incredible hands which goes to show you how much variance tournaments can have. Two interesting hands. A young very aggressive player pushes on the button with 38o and gets called by the small blind who holds AA. Flop is 38x and the young kid doubles up. In a second hand A9 pushes on the small blind and the big blind calls with AK. Flop is Kxx. Turn is a nine, river is a nine. If I didn't see it with my own two eyes I would think it is rigged. I played about five hours and busted out as the bubble boy. I lost half of my stack when the button pushed and I held A4o and decided to make the call in the big blind. Unfortunately the button held AT. In the very next hand the button pushes and I have 1/3 of my stack already in the pot as the blinds/antes are so large and have QKs and make the call. Again, unfortunately the button has AK. On the 1st of January I played a free satellite tournament at 9am for entry into the $69 noon tournament. I won my seat and played in the noon tournament. Again I played for about five hours and bubbled again. What are the odds that I play two consecutive tournaments and bubble both?

Yesterday I played my first cash game for 2012 at Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, WV. I guess it is now my home casino given how much time I have been spending there. Since it is a new year and my cash game results were fairly poor during the end of 2011 I decided that I should try to instill some discipline into my bankroll management. I would play $1/$2 NL with $200 until I build it up to $500. Only then would I go to $2/$5. Then I wouldn't move up to $5/$10 until I could start with $1K. If I lose my buy-in at $2/$5 or $5/$10 then I have to restart at $1/$2. Good plan but like all good plans they don't survive first contact with the enemy. And my enemy was when I walked in to the poker room and noticed that there was open seating for $5/$5 PLO. Only once before did I see a PLO game still running in the morning and then it broke up by 11am or so. I found out this game was running since Friday night. Not only that but there were actually two PLO games Friday night. It appears that omaha is starting to gain in popularity. It is like the crack cocaine of poker. Or like my poker friend (KJ, a poker regular at Hollywood and Asian) would say, Yum, Yum. He is an interesting guy. Very nice and smart and he has a lot of gamble. He works a regular 9-5 job at AT&T but everytime I am at Hollywood, he is there. I am starting to get to know most of the regulars at Hollywood and both the chip runners and dealers are getting to know me.

There is a poker regular with the nickname "Shingles" who appears to be a professional poker player. He tracks his results and is always at Hollywood playing either $5/$10 NL or $5/$5 PLO. Apparently he has a rough week and is down $20K. Some big swings. Him and KJ are good friends and Shingles loaned KJ some buy-ins for the PLO game. Each buy-in is $1,500. There was a dispute as to how many buy-ins were given. KJ believed it was two and Shingles thought it was three. Thus the importance to track or document such transactions. One guy told me he always sends a text message to track any transactions. There was also a $7K pot which put Shingles on tilt when he asked another player how much he had behind and the opponent said about $1K when it actually was about $3K. Because of the math, Shingles automatically called the all-in but later realized that the amount was much higher. Another reminder how important it is to get a real count before making major all in decisions at a poker table.

I had a good evening and played through the morning which is something I haven't done for quite some time. Rather than starting with the max buy-in of $1,500 I buy in short for only $500. I ran the $500 up to $2500 but then lost it all and returned back to my original $500. But when I left I worked it back up to a profit of about $4K. Interesting when you cash out at the cage they ask for your driver's license or casino card. One player at the table ran his initial buy-in of $1,500 up to $17K. He told me he only cashed out $9K. He had a run that was simply incredible. I've never seen someone flop the nuts so many times with sub-optimal omaha starting hands. In one hand an opponent of his, an older gentleman that apparently grinded his $1500 buy-in to about $5K all night and morning, pushed on the turn with the nut straight. The big winner decided to make the incredible call with the bottom end of the straight and a nut flush draw. Blink, flush on the river. Must be nice to run that good. To demonstrate how tight I was playing, I had the bottom end of the straight and the King high flush draw on the turn when one person bet $600 and the other opponent called $600. I put the first better on the nut straight and the second caller on the nut flush draw. The river goes check, check and the original better only had two pair and the second opponent folded. That shows the power of aggression. I do remember one fun hand where I held KKxx and the flop was AKx. We get it all in on the flop and my opponent held AKxx. Blink, ace on the turn. Darn two-outers.

My recent outing at Hollywood just reinforces that tight is right, patience is rewarded and you can make money at this game with time and commitment, oh, and a little luck.

Merry Christmas from The Poker Room Orange Park

During Christmas I went down to Jacksonville Florida to visit relatives for Christmas. Fortunately for me there are poker rooms in Jacksonville. I drove by two poker rooms both called The Poker Room but decided to go to the larger of the two, the one located in Orange Park. Surprisingly enough, that is what it was, a poker room. No noisy slot machines or distracting table games. There was one other gambling venue, dog racing. For some reason I would always substitute horse for dog as I just wasn't used to seeing dogs racing. Interesting set-up.

It appears that there are plenty of regulars playing in the room in the $2/$5 and $5/$10 games. From what I overheard it was surprising to get three $5/$10 tables open at the same time. I liked how they had chip runners with chips in hand that quickly provided chips or helped you to color-up your chips. I found out that all drinks had a price when I ordered a grapefruit juice and was charged $2. I played two different sessions. I did well during the $2/$2 NL and $2/$5 NL cash games but got destroyed during the $5/$10 NL games. I made some adjustments when I returned for my second session but only recovered about half of what I lost before having to leave. Some examples included having AQ on a AAx board and my opponent rivered a straight flush with 25s; nut flush draw on the flop and checked to me in last position and I took the bait with a large bet and was then reraised by an opponent who flopped top set, became priced in but couldn't hit my flush; and my final hand where I was felted with a king high flush versus an ace high flush.

I also played a $50 tournament which was $35 + fees starting chips $4K with 20 minute levels. I busted when I pushed on the turn with two pair, got called by someone with one pair and then got counterfeited on the river.

I still enjoyed myself and felt that the poker scene in Jacksonville, FL reminded me a bit of the poker scene in Charles Town, WV where they are still in the growing stages but have the basics down. Not a successful venture for me but still enjoyable.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a healthy and prosperous New Year.