I went to Trump again Friday night......it was last minute so apologies to the area blogger who I didn't get a chance to holler at beforehand to let know I was heading that way. I had thought about it all week but didn't know for sure I was going until that day.
This time I went with my father. It was his first time making the run that I am growing to love. It is such a nice change of pace from the online grind......and I just LOVE live poker. It was his first time simply because I don't usually start heading that way until after getting the kids to bed around 8pm so by the time we get there, put in some table time, and get home the sun is usually on it's way up or getting ready too anyway. My brother couldn't make it this trip and was not all that happy about it.
We got to the poker room a little after 9:30pm and even though I had called ahead to get us on the waiting list (albeit a little later than I should have) we were both a good ways down still. I was on the 6/12 list and it was considerably shorter than the 3/6 list my Dad resided on but both were lengthy.......and the room was jumping! Much busier than I previously remembered. The next dealer shift came on at 10pm and they needed them there then so they could get the last couple of tables still open up and running. They actually had supervisors start dealing the games on an open table or two around quarter to ten to get them going. I put myself on the 200 max NL list when we got there as that list was CRAZY long and I figured I'd play 6/12 for awhile and see how my table was and decide when my name was called if I wanted to move or not. I had been watching the NL tables in my previous trips and there was definitely some money to be made there with people way too willing to put their stacks at risk.
I was seated at a 6/12 table around 10pm which was earlier than I expected. I was in the 2 seat and my end of the table was filled with solid players who were chatty and friendly. The problem was the other end of the table was the other end of the table was filled with mostly solid players as well.....except one lady. She played EVERY SINGLE pot to at least see the flop. The gentleman next to me said she had been every since she sat down. He said she had been catching flops and taking down some pots too which surprised me because she didn't have that much in front of her. I found out why a few minutes later.......the lady ended up all in and busted out. She asked the dealer to lock up her seat and stated she was going to get more money. After she left the man seated two to her right told the dealer she had been taking money off of the table and giving it to her husband as he kept coming around talking to her. A couple of the guys on my side got aggravated and asked why he didn't say something before when he saw her do it as it was their money they wanted the chance to get back. Around 10 minutes later she wasn't back yet and they opened her seat up and it filled with yet another solid player. Around 20 minutes after that the lady showed back up and was pissed that her seat was gone. She called the floor over and wanted to know why her seat wasn't still locked up. Apparently she had gone and gotten something to eat thinking her seat would be locked up for 45 minutes. The floor explained to her that the seat can only be held 10 minutes with no chips left and she wasn't happy. The good news was about ten minutes later the 1 seat opened directly to my right and she got it. She sat down with a full rack of whites ($1) for the 6/12 game....I chuckled but the guy who had seen her rat-holing chips and not said anything voiced his displeasure loudly. This sent her into a tirade in which the F-Bomb was dropped several times and and I do now know her bedroom is painted pink. After she lost that rack she re-bought in $100 from the dealer asking for $60 white and the rest red looking directly at the gentlemen who voiced the displeasure.
Unfortunately I only got my hands on a couple of those chips. Early on I was dealt pocket 3's in MP and limped with 4 limpers. The flop came J 6 3 rainbow and it was checked to me where I bet and the man to my left raised.....I should have re-raised here but I simply called even though everyone else had folded and I planned on check raising the turn. The turn was an 8 and I bet even though I had planned the check raise. He called and the river was the final 3 giving me my second ever live quads. I bet and he called with me taking down a decent pot that could or should have been bigger.
I hadn't heard my name called for the 200 max NL game and checked the board to see where I was and I was right.....I simply hadn't heard it. I put my name BACK on the list and told them my table this time. Luckily it wasn't that long of a wait and my name was called. The 6/12 game wasn't looking overly promising so I took the seat. I left the 6/12 game up around $30 or $40......put all but $200 of it in my pocket and took my seat in the NL game.
I have to admit I was a little nervous as I am not a NL ring game specialist. I am very comfortable with my tournament game and have gotten to the point where the chips are only chips in tournament play so I'm not afraid to risk them. I am a solid aggressive limit player and was afraid that it wouldn't transfer to the NL game and if it did transfer I was afraid it would cost me my whole stack.
So I sat down in the feeder game which was a must move table where hopefully I could accumulate a few chips before getting moved to a table where some of the stacks could be huge. It was 11:45pm and I planned on doing some nut peddling and seeing how things went. Everyone's stacks were fairly equal at $200 as there were a bunch of 200 max tables running so it wasn't taking long to pull from our table. Everyone was fairly tight and seemed to be waiting for solid hands....no maniacs. I won a few small hands and was up almost $100 when it came my turn to move.
On my walk over to the new table the thought crossed my mind to pull the $140 in chips from my pocket to add to my stack........but I thought that to be unethical (though I wonder how often it happens) and didn't do it. I was seated in the 5 seat immediately to the right of a monster stack which I wasn't thrilled with at first but soon thought it might be good as it will get me to really think before entering a pot about whether I should or not and how to enter it (limp, raise, re-raise). The good news was he was the only real big stack at the table. A couple of guys had around $400 or $500 and everyone else was at or below me in chips with a couple of them having been at my same feeder table.
My first hand I had pocket nine's and called a $15 bet by the big stack to my left with everyone else folded. The flop came Jack high rainbow and I checked to him.....he bet $15 and I called. The turn was a blank and I checked......he bet $30 and I called. I had the feeling he didn't have a Jack and thought his betting was funny. The river was a blank and I checked.......he bet only $30 again and I called. He showed Ace little suited and I took down the pot. It was a nice feeling and a larger bet would have gotten me out of there.
I did a lot of folding or raising with only a handful of limps even though the rest of the table liked to limp. I was dealt A 8 suited and limped from middle position with a couple having already limped. The flop came with two of my suit along with the King of my suit. In limit I play this fast and hard like I have the flush already and wasn't exactly sure how to best proceed. It was checked to me and I bet $25 which was roughly the size of the pot. I was called in two spots and the turn gave me the nut flush. I was first to act and checked. The player immediately to my right bet $75 which only left him around $35 and I called hoping to bring along the other guy but he folded. Looking back I think it was still the right thing to do as the most I could still get out of the bettor was $35 more so I wanted the other guy to overcall which he didn't. A fourth diamond came on the river and I bet $50 which would have put him all-in. He mucked face up and had turned the second nut flush with Q 10......mumbled something about the stupid river. I simply mucked and raked the pot. I couldn't believe he didn't call his last chips off with the second nut flush especially since he put them all in blind on the next hand. Looking back I should have just showed him the 8 to have him guessing if he mucked the winning hand. It was a nice size pot and I was glad to have won it.
Another time I was dealt A Q suited in the small blind, I just called, and the flop was Queen high with no straight or flush draws. I checked and called a $30 bet along with one other player. The turn was an Ace and "cha-ching" went off in my head. I checked again and he bet $75, I called, and we lost the third player. The river was a blank and I led out with a $100 bet (should I have checked here and went for a check raise?...what if he didn't bet?). The other guy sat back in his chair and said out loud, "$100?". I stared at my bet and didn't move....statuesque. He thought and thought.....a guy at the other end called a clock on him. He finally called and I took down a big pot. It was sweet.
When it was all said and done....the monster stack immediately to my left had lost more than half of it on some crazy plays......and when the table broke up around 3 am I was up $476 and happy to be heading home. My dad more than doubled his buy-in at 3/6 so he was happy as well.
Can't wait to make another run to Trump in the not too distant future.
Til then....
Baz Out.
