Back to the Belle

I went check out the Belle of Baton Rouge last night as I stayed in town after working in our office there. It was definitely different from the old room on the 3rd floor, I say room, this wasn't even a room. It is just 4 tables placed on the 2nd floor out in the open with a podium. The room has shrunk from 8 table to 4. Good thing is that I got to see all the same smiling faces that made up the room before the initial closure. The dealers were the same old team also. It was good to see Hunter and Dana again. In case any of you didn't know Dana is the one that made it to the final table at the WSOP circuit event in New Orleans 2 years ago. This is the one where Feldman won. Dana (the horse) and he was in with 2 other guys, and they chopped something like 80 grand. The parking situation seemed to suck also as I noticed that I had to go all the way to the 3rd floor in order to find a spot. Then I noticed that they are stopping people from parking in the big space where they let the highrollers park, and you can't drive around to the other side of the levee and park under the walkways. I used to love that spot when I had my 4 wheel drive.

I got there at about 5:30, and it was "hot as hawbaker" out yesterday. I had to practically ring out the sweat from my shirt. It was a long haul in the sun at...like...105 degrees. Anyways, once I dried the shirt and turned a corner and "Bam"...I am in the poker area...its not a room.

They had 3 tables going with a 1-2nl and a couple of 4-8 limit hold-ems. I took a seat at the 4-8 game to wait for the 1-2 to open and hope that they might open another table. The game was pretty crazy for a 4-8 game. There was usually a raise pre-flop with 5-6 people seeing the flops. Some of the pots got huge. Below is an example of what a typical hand was.

I am on the button with 10c-10h and there is a raise before me to $8. I make it $4 more to go and we get 7 callers. Flop comes Qh-10s-7c. 5 of us cap it here. turn comes the 9h. 3 of us call a raise. River brings the 8c. The lady bets, and I call after the other person folds...we show down and she tables Jh-2c to win a huge pot. I was involved in numerous hands just like this that were $200+. I bought in to the game for $100, and cashed out with $386.00 for a smooth $286.00 profit. I flopped a full house once, and the nut flush twice.

Another one here were I made a terrible lay-down. The guy to my right was an Asian player that mumbles all the time. You can't understand a word he says and he was showing me his cards on every other hand. Ive got Kh5h and the we cap the raise 8 ways pre-flop. $100+ pre-flop in the pot. Flop comes all bricks with 2 paint cards, a Jack and Queen, and a deuce, we check all the way around. Turn comes the 5d, again, we check all around. In the meantime, again, I see mumbles hand and he has 5s8d. River comes the 7s. No flush or straights. Guy at the other end of the tables bets $8.00...mumbles reluctantly calls...I fold like and idiot because I think the guy has to have a higher pair, and the guy betting has Ac4d for Ace high. knuclehead mumbles drags the pot with his pair of fives with an 8 kicker and continues to ramble about something nobody can understand...I was pissed. What an idiot I was.

"If you want to see this last card your gonna stop speaking Sputnik" Ed Norton's character Worm in "Rounders"