Ok, I guess I lied

I have been playing some poker over this here little break of mine. I have been playing tonight on PitbullPoker.com. The site is annoying but I am able to play it at home better than Poker.com. For some reason my parent's internet connections hiccups a lot (that's the best word I can think of to describe it). Because of that Poker.com software seems to get d/c a lot and it's quite annoying. Since I'm playing with "free money" at Pitbull it's not as big of a deal. Although, it did suck when it made me muck cowboys pre-flop and I would have made $5-6 off the hand (2 small stacks all-in pre-flop). Other than that not much. Current Pitbull bankroll has been upped to $55 or so. Poker.com sits at about $120 after a $100 withdrawal the other day.

Other interesting gambling events today. I won $23 at my aunt/uncles this afternoon at our Thanksgiving get together. We played a game of complete chance and I won once. The game is called Left-Center-Right. Basically you play with 3 $1 bills (or $5 or $10 or $20....) and you roll dice. The dice have an R, L, C, and dot on them (I don't remember which have 2). Basically you roll the 3 dice and do what the dice says. You pass a dollar to the right, left, or center for R, L, and C. You do nothing if you get a dot. Eventually only one person has any money in front of them and they will it all. It's fun and easy and fairly cheap. Best of all, I happened to win the second time we played. Happy Thanksgiving.

The BPT and my first Casino visit

Alright, the first order of business is an update on the Blogger Poker Tour. As I mentioned yesterday (see this post) Skinski, of The House of Poker Blues, was hosting the 5th event of the BPT Season 2. Though I wasn't able to watch any of the event (I'll say why in a bit) and I wasn't able to play (I guess my blog isn't up to snuff or something, oh well), I can certainly report the results. They money was played out to the following people:

iyatoni          $125.00
skinski          $100.00
JayNYC           $75.00
freeroll26       $55.00
Enortone         $45.00
winaa2233        $30.00
cerberi          $25.00
astinaguy        $20.00
luckylulo        $15.00
ReplicantPoker   $10.00

With Skinski finishing second in his own event he picked up an amazing 636 points to catapult himself onto the top of the leaderboard with 1002. The leaderboard looks as follows after event #5:

Skinski's Blog                1002
Irongirl01                    719
Freerollcalendar Weblog       642
Peetscheet                    598
Perfectly Beastly             597
Poker Athletes Blog           556
Poker Pub                     550
Royal Poker                   522
astinaguys poker blog         518
Gamingology                   515
Alex                          500
ReplicantPoker blog           474
elc3105s blog                 430
I hate money                  415
11ave.blogspot.com            411
5TH Street Forum              403
riverdemon                    387
free poker                    363
PearlSnapMan Plays Poker      350
the life of a don             346
Counting My Outs              344
EgonOlsenPoker                343
From school boy to pro        340

The top 20 on the leaderboard are numbered above but I thought it pertinent to show those just outside the top 20. Since they are so close all they need is a good performance in the final event and they will be in the final event. Since I wasn't able to see the final table I cannot give specific hands but I imagine it was a nice final table. I would go down the leaderboard to check those blogs for details about the FT (I know I will be).

Yesterday I went to a casino for the first time. I went with my friend Dan after work for about 4 hours or so. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. First off, we headed right to the customer service desk to sign up for our players club cards (Resort Cards at Riverside). As incentive for joining the Resort Club we were credited with $10 credit for the slots. To release this credit we had to play $1 so we did. I had not really had intention of play much (if any) slots before we got there, but to play mostly for free was worth it. My goodness are slots boring. I don't know if it's just the fact that I had no idea what the machine in front of me was doing for the most part but sitting there pressing a button over and over again was not exactly fun. However, I only lost 65¢ of my own money and still have $7 or so of the free credit they gave me. Maybe I'll go try to will that car they had on display with that $7.

Please note: I am not very good at blackjack. I sat with Dan at a blackjack table for a little bit. I figured I could at least hold my own (I know a little bit of blackjack strategy) but I was gravely mistaken. I lost $40 pretty quickly before I left the table. That is when we parted (Dan and I). I went to the poker room and he stayed on the floor. I was seated immediately at a $2/$5 table with $100 in red $5 chips. I got rags for a while and folded every hand until I got an Ace/10 offsuit. Now, I don't usually put too much stock in that hand but I hadn't seen anything playable until that. I shouldn't have played it (especially the way I did) because the BB saw a free flop and in the end came up with a full house. I was down to about $45 or so in chips and was played quite tight for some time. I picked up some blinds with an all-in and then eventually doubled up with pocket queens (who calls a $50 all-in with jack/3 of clubs. I worked my way up to about $210 before I had to leave. I was at the table for about 3 hours but I feel like I could have sat there for another 5. I learned that they have tournaments a few times a week so I might just have to play 1 or 2 of those. Overall, I had a blast. I feel much more comfortable in a live game than I did yesterday morning (I was quite nervous for a bit, which probably wasn't good) and I made a few bucks at the same time. I will certainly be heading back there again.


EDIT
Notes about the poker room:

• 14 tables
• Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Low
• tournaments Sun/Mon/Wed/Thurs
• not in a separate room (but in a nook as to reduce noise from the rest of the floor)
• there were about 6 or 7 full tables going on a Sat. afternoon
• some dealers better than others but none were incompetent (not major mistakes and all personable)
• rules loosely enforced (swearing, player mistakes, etc.) but dependent on the dealer
  

Going to Riverside

Today I will be trying my hand, for the first time, at poker in a casino. I will be going to Riverside Casino & Golf Resort. [Evil] Dan and I will be heading there after I get off of work today (1pm). I'm hoping to get a few hours of poker in. Although I have not been able to find any reviews of the poker room (or the casino in itself) it is a basically brand new casino. The resort opened September 1st of this year. They have 14 poker tables (so I've read) and I hope to have a seat at one of them for some time. I assume that Dan will be sitting at the blackjack tables so I may join him for a bit. I am not a particularly good blackjack player, but I enjoy it and will be more than willing to give it a shot. I'll post again later with the results.




Today is the 5th event in this season of the Blogger Poker Tour. Today's event is Shorthanded No-Limit Texas Hold'em. It is hosted by Skinski and The House of Poker Blues. Head over there for info and password (password is "bbking"). This is the current top 10 as it stands after 4 events.

Irongirl01	637
Poker Athletes Blog	506
Peetscheet	501
Poker Pub	452
Royal Poker	439
Gamingology	429
Freerollcalendar Weblog	416
Alex	410
11ave.blogspot.com	374
Skinski's Blog	366

With Skinski currently sitting at 10th overall, look for him to move up the leaderboard after this event. With his bonus for hosting, a good placement should help him move up the ranks. A final table could easily put him in the 3. Also, 11th - 14th places are tightly packed and most likely eagerly awaiting a chance at the top 10. With how close the points are between these players and Skinski in 10th, this event could be essential.

elc3105s blog	360
astinaguys poker blog	354
Counting My Outs	344
5TH Street Forum	340

Also, there are currently 2 people tied for 20th place with 265 points (EgonOlsen and BobbyOlsen). These 2, along some others that trail by only a few points, will need to place well to ensure their place in the top 20. With only 2 events left it is essential that they play well enough if they wish to compete in the grand final on Dec. 23rd.


My Exploits
Yesterday I was the runner up in one of the $10 NLHE tournaments. There were 59 competitors and a first place prize of $170. Overall my play was pretty solid. I made a few bad calls and got lucky, but I feel happy with how I played. HOWEVER.... the one hand that I am steamed about came during heads up play. I had my opponent covered in chips +8k or so and I picked up pocket queens (no doubt I was quite pleased). I raised (but not too much) and was called. Flop came ace, 8, 6 rainbow. I bet out. I wanted to check for an ace (fold to a re-raise here). I was simply called. Turn gives me a third queen. Planning to check-raise,I check to my opponent thinking he has an ace. He checks as well (which surprises me). When the river brings a 5, I think I'm golden. I bet out with my set and am immediately re-raised all in. I call without hesitation and am very dismayed when he flips over his 79 and shows a straight. I hadn't even considered the possibility that he was on a draw. I don't think I gave him odds to call on the flop. I know (now) that I should have bet out again on the turn, but remember I have him pegged for an ace. There wasn't too much left for me after that. He had my little stack of about 8k dwarfed by 40k plus. I doubled up a hand or two later but it was just not to be. Lost when my pocket sevens ran into a higher pair. Oh well, $118 for a second place is nice for my bankroll which currently sits at about $220.