Thursday at Ameristar
So I got through my medical scare and was re-focused and pumped about our trip to KC to visit my wife's sister. Now my sister-in-law's husband and I clicked from day one. He's a sports nut, competitive, and loves to gamble. The ladies laugh at us and my wife constantly asks me when we are with them........."So, how much are you down now?" Of course whether I'm up or down at that point I always answer with my stock reponse of....."don't worry, I'm doing ok."
Once we planned the trip to KC my brother-in-law instantly started planning poker nights and a trip to Ameristar for some live poker. He had never played brick and mortar poker and was dying to give it a try. His only experience had been home game NL tourney's and home game dealer's choice games. Many times we have played heads up NO LIMIT way too late into the night with money and pride on the line. He had a couple buddies that were going to be meeting us and I was pumped to get back into a live game. I haven't played all that much live poker in a casino either........maybe a handful of times so I am not that much more experienced with the live play than him BUT the key is I have played a whole heck of a lot of online limit poker where he had never played limit hold em of any kind.
I was still weary from the flu as we landed late Wednesday night.....over an hour late due to weather but it could have been a lot worse. I had eaten a total of 2 pieces of toast and a small bowl of plain pasta in the last 72 hours so was feeling drained to say the least.......But at least I could feel that I was getting over it. We got to the house and got to sleep as we were heading to the casino first thing in the morning.
We got to the Ameristar around 9:30am and made our way slowly to the poker room. It was a little after 10 by the time we got there as my brother-in-law used to work there several years back and he was working on hooking us up with a couple buffets for later......didn't work but was worth the shot. Anyway, on the ride over we talked about how to play so he could be more comfortable playing. I explained to play tight, especially at first, but not to be afraid to be aggressive with a solid hand. They had one 3/6 table going and had a list going for a second that they were going to start. We put our names on the list and the supervisor said to get our chips and they were going to start sitting the next table.
When we returned with our chips there were 8 seated already with 2 spots left. My brother-in-law took Seat 2 and got seat 6. The button started two to my right so I was happy right off. I had forgotten that someone told me (sorry I can't remember to give credit....could have been Human Head) that it was a kill game which didn't bother me but confused the hell out of my brother-in-law at first. My brother-in-law won the first two hands that were dealt and that was probably the worst thing that could have happened to him. So we had a kill pot the third hand of the day......started out nicely.
Besides me and my brother-in-law the table was filled with old timers who seemed to be there daily. There were a couple that were less social with the group but they still called them by name so they must at least be regulars. The table was VERY PASSIVE. There were very few re-raises and only 2 check raises (both done by me and both followed by a huff and a look from the old timer who was the recipient......not that I cared). In the first hour there were 6 pocket Aces dealt, five of which were shown down and one I had and raised only to watch it fold around. The Aces got cracked 4 of the six times. Several times a couple of the old timers found themselves heads up against each other and checked it down openly.....asking the other if they wanted to check it down sometimes from pre-flop. They then later complained that their stack was getting depleted or complained that they had to re-buy.
The play was fairly uneventful for me personally. One hand I was dealt KK in the SB with 3 limpers........BB re-raised and it folded around back to me where I re-raised and he called. The flop came x K x and I check, he bets, and I call. The turn was a rag, I check, he bets, I check-raise (insert huff and dirty look), and he calls. The river was another rag, I bet, and he calls. I show trip K's and he turns over pocker rockets.
Once I established my tight image I began loosening up a little as my raises were getting a ton of respect and I stole some pots even when the flop totally missed me. About 2 hours in the table had lost 4 guys total and they were replaced by a variety of younger players.....one that announced when he sat down and screwed up his blind bet that it was his first time in an "organized game". This screwed up my image and I tightened back up but got cold decked for the next two hours dragged a mere pot or two in that time. I had been up about $150 and cashed out $53 up not including dealer tokes and drink tips.
My brother-in-law went bust in the first hour. I didn't even get the chance to tell him more specifically what I meant by playing tight......I obviously thought it was something different than what he did. He learned an expensive lesson and I felt bad about continuing to play while he was out but he insisted. Only one of his two buddies ever made it and he went bust on another table in the first hour on another table that was open. By the time we left they had around 6 tables full running.
I will definitely look forward to my next visit to KC and another day or two in the Ameristar poker room.
Baz Out
Once we planned the trip to KC my brother-in-law instantly started planning poker nights and a trip to Ameristar for some live poker. He had never played brick and mortar poker and was dying to give it a try. His only experience had been home game NL tourney's and home game dealer's choice games. Many times we have played heads up NO LIMIT way too late into the night with money and pride on the line. He had a couple buddies that were going to be meeting us and I was pumped to get back into a live game. I haven't played all that much live poker in a casino either........maybe a handful of times so I am not that much more experienced with the live play than him BUT the key is I have played a whole heck of a lot of online limit poker where he had never played limit hold em of any kind.
I was still weary from the flu as we landed late Wednesday night.....over an hour late due to weather but it could have been a lot worse. I had eaten a total of 2 pieces of toast and a small bowl of plain pasta in the last 72 hours so was feeling drained to say the least.......But at least I could feel that I was getting over it. We got to the house and got to sleep as we were heading to the casino first thing in the morning.
We got to the Ameristar around 9:30am and made our way slowly to the poker room. It was a little after 10 by the time we got there as my brother-in-law used to work there several years back and he was working on hooking us up with a couple buffets for later......didn't work but was worth the shot. Anyway, on the ride over we talked about how to play so he could be more comfortable playing. I explained to play tight, especially at first, but not to be afraid to be aggressive with a solid hand. They had one 3/6 table going and had a list going for a second that they were going to start. We put our names on the list and the supervisor said to get our chips and they were going to start sitting the next table.
When we returned with our chips there were 8 seated already with 2 spots left. My brother-in-law took Seat 2 and got seat 6. The button started two to my right so I was happy right off. I had forgotten that someone told me (sorry I can't remember to give credit....could have been Human Head) that it was a kill game which didn't bother me but confused the hell out of my brother-in-law at first. My brother-in-law won the first two hands that were dealt and that was probably the worst thing that could have happened to him. So we had a kill pot the third hand of the day......started out nicely.
Besides me and my brother-in-law the table was filled with old timers who seemed to be there daily. There were a couple that were less social with the group but they still called them by name so they must at least be regulars. The table was VERY PASSIVE. There were very few re-raises and only 2 check raises (both done by me and both followed by a huff and a look from the old timer who was the recipient......not that I cared). In the first hour there were 6 pocket Aces dealt, five of which were shown down and one I had and raised only to watch it fold around. The Aces got cracked 4 of the six times. Several times a couple of the old timers found themselves heads up against each other and checked it down openly.....asking the other if they wanted to check it down sometimes from pre-flop. They then later complained that their stack was getting depleted or complained that they had to re-buy.
The play was fairly uneventful for me personally. One hand I was dealt KK in the SB with 3 limpers........BB re-raised and it folded around back to me where I re-raised and he called. The flop came x K x and I check, he bets, and I call. The turn was a rag, I check, he bets, I check-raise (insert huff and dirty look), and he calls. The river was another rag, I bet, and he calls. I show trip K's and he turns over pocker rockets.
Once I established my tight image I began loosening up a little as my raises were getting a ton of respect and I stole some pots even when the flop totally missed me. About 2 hours in the table had lost 4 guys total and they were replaced by a variety of younger players.....one that announced when he sat down and screwed up his blind bet that it was his first time in an "organized game". This screwed up my image and I tightened back up but got cold decked for the next two hours dragged a mere pot or two in that time. I had been up about $150 and cashed out $53 up not including dealer tokes and drink tips.
My brother-in-law went bust in the first hour. I didn't even get the chance to tell him more specifically what I meant by playing tight......I obviously thought it was something different than what he did. He learned an expensive lesson and I felt bad about continuing to play while he was out but he insisted. Only one of his two buddies ever made it and he went bust on another table in the first hour on another table that was open. By the time we left they had around 6 tables full running.
I will definitely look forward to my next visit to KC and another day or two in the Ameristar poker room.
Baz Out
posted by Bazkar at 4:07 PM
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