Biloxi...SO NICE!

I made it to Biloxi and played in one of the 7 pm tourneys and played in the JUICY 1-2 no limit games! My goodness, if you were not there you would not believe the action that was on the table. In the 1-2 games you had guys who would push just to push because it was not there limit, I had 5-10 players who bought in for $1000 at a time who lost over $3000, it was so nice!

Let me tell you about my 7 pm tourney experience, now I am more of a cash game player and I do well in tournaments not as well as my fellow bloggers but they know I have skills, they just need to be sharpened. Well I am sitting well with about 2500 on the second level of play where the blinds are now 25-50, I am two from under the gun and look down at A Q off, I fire a standard raise of 150, folds around to the small blind, a lovely gal who has not played a hand yet, other than her big blind. The flop is a rainbow with a Q, she checks I check, ( I put her on AK, AJ, medium pair at this point). The turn is a brick, she checks I bet 300 she calls,(oh yes, she's chasing!) the river is another brick, she checks again, I obligate and bet 1100 (please just call, if you just call...I WIN!), she calls, I table my A Q,(with a huge smile on my face) she shows pocket kings!(The smile disappears) This is how good I am, I bet for the best hand. These are the players that I run into, I never knew where she was, my read was way off and she gave me no reason to feel that I was in trouble. If she did this on purpose GREAT JOB, but I do not think that is what happened. I believe she was willing to check it all the way down, my only reason for that is because the river did not help anyone and with a hand like that a check raise would have been a bit more correct that a check call. I eventually got busted by a lunchbox. That simple hand told me that poker, especially No LImit hold'em will be here for some time, and the bad players will never dry up. I love Poker! More on my cash games later.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

World Poker Tour stops in Biloxi...

This thursday is the $300 buy in event and I expect that there will be over 250 people to play in this event, alas I will not be one of those people due to prior engagements. My fellow bloggers are on there way and should do well, in my opinion. We have talked off line about different situations and I believe that the mental prep is done, now they need to be physically ready.

I will be there this weekend playing in the side action. I believe that it will be juicy. There are those that travel to these events and sit at the ring games only, as vultures, waiting for those that just got busted out of the tournament of that day. Those folks that just got busted get into the cash games in hopes of recuping their loses, sometimes their frame of mind is not correct and they lose more than expected. I will be one of those vultures and I hope to come back this weekend with enough to play in several second chance tournaments and supers to get into the main event. Lets hope that the GCP crew can walk the walk, hell we sure can talk the talk!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Book Review

Greetings and salutations!

I am going to give my take on a book that I have finished reading, Master the Mental Game Your Worst Poker Enemy by Alan N. Schoonmaker.

Very nice, smooth, and enjoyable read. This book will help you look at yourself, at the game and at how the game effects your play before, during and after you play.

In part two: evaluating ourselves and the opposition, Dr. Schoonmaker gets into denial about ourselves and our opponents. This was very interesting as how we cope with mistakes. "They give all sorts of rationalizations to justify their foolishness: I feel lucky, I'm on a rush, I'm due(LOL!) I'm advertising, improving my table image, I'm so good, I can win anyway." You ever say any of this to yourself when you play badly. This is a very small part of the book. It talks about Understanding Unconscious and emotional forces and handling stress plus many other topics.

I truly enjoyed this book and feel that for those who are on a scary losing streak this would be a nice addition to your library. I am ranking this an 8 on a scale of 1-10.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

So many lessons...this one was learned!

Harrah's the closest, cosmetically nicest poker room in New Orleans. Still hate the lighting and the time rake and the sups and the dealers could use more work. Anyways let me get to it...2-5 No limit on table seven right by the rail. We are eight handed, I am in seat three, got me a couple of lunchboxes on the other side, tall fella that gets overly aggressive at the wrong times, in seat eight, a fedora wearing fella who has moved up from the 1-2 NL game in seat seven and a sprinkle of average to better than average all around.

I have built my stack, from $300 to about $850, it is late, about 4 am. I am in the big blind, two limpers to the tall fella in seat 8 who makes it $50 to go, the small blind, who has been getting pummelled for about $1200, by the big fella makes an insta-call...I look down at two black aces...I think, I am going to take this down NOW! I make it $250, the big fella insta calls and small blind says this..."Did he call down there? Yes. Good, I call."

The flop is Jc2c9d, sb checks, I bet three hundred, big fella calls, sb pushes all in for another $50 on top...I of course call the extra $50 as does the lunchbox. At this point sb is yelling for a club! Turn card is the 3c, he jumps up and screams, showing the Ac4c (YES, because he had a thing for the big fella)...I say to the dealer..."I'm all in!" I have two hundred stacked one on top of each other like a tower, the fifty I push across the line to signify a bet. The LB goes what, due to the screaming, the dealer says to him three times he is all in for $250 do you call? He nods his head yes and flips over his black queens, sb has forgotten that I have the ace of clubs, but he is so ecstatic. The river is the 2d. Well at least I only lose $350 here...I can get it back.

The LB pushes in $50 and sits there, the dealer explains that I was all in for $250, he goes all that is across the line is $50...basically the big fella is kicked out, did not even pay the $50 because in all the confusion he tried to say that he did not hear my all in...my question was why did you turn your cards up? He said he did not see anymore money in front of me. LOL!

So, even though verbal is binding at most places, and it is a rule at Harrahs, it does not matter, they could not force the guy to cover my bet, he was 86 and has not been back since.

Lesson...make sure the dealer gets the pot right at all times even after verbally saying all in, make sure your money is in the pot and the lunchbox that called has the matching quantity in there so there is no doubt. I have heard that this has happened before, but did not think it would happen to me...well it did.

Oh, Harrah's...alrighty.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello.

Same old Harrahs

Good day. I took a trip to Harrah's poker room this past Monday after a two month break. I hoped to find new...something...alas I did not. The same bad players, dealers and supervisors were there. The best thing this place has to offer is the decor, the lighting sucks, many of the dealers are below average and if they are reading this they know who I am talking about, and some of the supervisors just do not get it. I believe you will get the floor called to a table at least 10 times a down, or every thirty minutes and if you follow where certain dealers go, you will see a pattern as to where the floor goes. It is very funny.

My return was not appreciated. They took my money and smiled! Nah, i played bad and deserved it. If I had ever felt like a lunchbox, this day was it.

On one particular hand I had A7 diamonds in the hi-jack seat, one before the cut-off. This is a 1-2 game two new players joined from a broken game, one young man had $500 and another about $300. Four limpers into me, I make it $15 to go, two early limpers call, I have the button now. The flop is 10, 8, 2 one diamond. Checks around I bet out $35, young guy calls, turn is a J diamonds, check to me I bet $45, he raises to $90, now I only have $70 left. I have picked up a flush draw an inside straight draw and maybe my ace is good. I think he may have a 10, or he has hit the straight with Q9, maybe 97, or he has J10 and is very confident that I am on air. What should I do? I believe I either push or fold, you should not just call here, I mean if I call I only have $25 left right? I called...the river 3 clubs, I check he bets, I fold, could he have been on a KQ bluff? Do not know because I should have put the rest of it in there on the turn and I would not be speculating right now! That readers is what I mean by being a LUNCHBOX! I was so embarrassed that I got up and left.

The action in the 1-2 game is great, they really like to watch the WPT on wednesdays, there were so many references to the program. They spread a 2-5 no limit but there was only one table. There are many 3-6 limit games there and the 4-8 half hold-em and half omaha had a must move table. There you have it my return and a highlight of the room. Another added bonus is that at times you will see movie stars and athletes in there.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello. Be nice to the lunchbox...he/she will pay you off!

Harrah's New Orleans to start up their Wednesday tournaments

Here they come again, the 11 am tournaments this time they are freezeouts(no re-buys, no add ons) with $10 for the dealers for extra chips. I believe the buy in is $110, they plan to run these tournaments until November when they are going to have another WSOP circuit event( I do not know if it will actually be a circuit event, but they will have a $5000 or $10,000 main event).
The wednesday tourneys will start their blinds at $25-$25 with 20 minute levels. You will start with $3500 plus $1500 if you add $10. Does not sound bad. I am sure they will have some of the levels cut out, deeper into the tournament. This information was passed on to me so the exact chip counts and buy ins may vary, but the wednesday tournament is a certainty.


For more information call harrahs casino-new orleans.

If you do make it out there have fun and may the cards be with you!

Alright, stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

My trip to the Isle of Capri...Biloxi

This past Saturday night I made a trip out to the Isle. The poker room is on the second floor in a secluded area with nine tables. They run daily tournaments and the room is very nice, several flat screens spread out around the room and the dealers and floor staff are knowledgable and very respectful.



My first hour and a half was in a 4-8 hold'em limit game, I gave away $100 trying to get back on the bicycle. In my last hour of play I got my hundred back plus another hundred...awesome limit session! All those lunchboxes that kept chasing runner runner, hit me several times in the first thirty minutes...seriously, I had a lady chase diamond, diamond with her Kd5d, did not flop a pair, but did flop a left field diamond draw and a right field straight draw. Another gentleman chased with Ac10d and made a straight. These are a couple of the many examples of my first thirty minutes...I locked the doors and I got it all back from those chasers, that was awesome!



It is now about Two am and I am in the 1-2 NL game, their biggest game, the buy in is $60-$300 or half the biggest stack. They rake the pot, 10% up to $4, and they rake one dollar for the bad beat jack pot, which is Aces full of queens beat, but you must have an ace in your hand...like AAQK2, one player must have AQ the other AK. AAA102..one player has AK, the other player has pocket queens this is not bad beat jackpot eligible.



Okay, onto the game...there were a mix of players and only three lunchboxes. The rest of the table was filled with tight passive players. The only time they would push is with the nuts. Not a completely easy game but beatable. My no limit session was a bust...I served as the fourth lunchbox...in my opinion. I made moves from position after raising with several limpers only to get check raised causing me to fold. Not once did they make a move at me except once, and we had the same hand, he just had position. My mistake was I only had twenty dollars left and should have put it in on the turn but did not and folded on the river! LUNCHBOX!!! The cooler was on, two hours later, when I limped under the gun with 2c2s, the big blind, who had sat down three hands ago, raised to $10, there were four limpers behind, I called and so did two of the four limpers...the last two, who should have called, had position, tight passive! The flop was Qc7s4d, bb checks we all check around, the turn is a 2d, bb checks, I bet $40 just in case someone picked up a diamond draw, they are getting odds of two to one to call but they are about 3-4 to one to hit on the river. Well I get called by the bb. I only have $125 left. The river is an Ac...bb bets out $85...I am utterly confused and I sit there and think about it for awhile. "Did he hit the whee!?, maybe he slow played AQ?." I thought maybe a set but why wait, when I bet $40 and the other two folded to him, why not raise to get me off the flush draw or the goofy straight draw? Nah, not a set could not be. I call...he has pocket sevens! Cooler, just the way he played it. I proceeded to lose another hundred plus and the game broke at about 8 am.



This session was a mind bender. I kept asking myself "WHAT THE ...!?!" and I believe I may have played a little faster than I needed to do, soft tilt.



Four things that I need to watch out for and maybe these will help you...



1) Do not bluff bad. The lunchboxes that call with A2 will not fold when that Ace hits and you make a continuation bet representing a bigger Ace.

2) Check yourself! Do not become a pattern that even the lunchboxes can pick up! Raising from the cut-off seat or the hi-jack seat(one before the cut-off). With multiple players making a continuation bet into a scary flop, they will pick it up eventually.

3) When you do not have it yet, play the pot small. For example, I made a raise under the gun with 10c10d, I got three callers. The flop is KdJd7c, checked around, the turn is an 6d, I bet hoping to represent the flush and if I get called I have the flush to hit or maybe the last tow tens are good, I get two callers...heck I am out of position, someone could have the nut flush already, they got a freaking free card! Don't bet the draw as a semi-bluff when you are out of position, in position maybe, but that depends.

4) Take a walk when you feel tilted.


Until next time...stay nice as rice and mello as jello!