Loser at the Belle...winner at Harrahs

I have been busy the last couple of days at work at the day job as well as working on some new initiatives with the site. We finally got the correct software that was needed an we will begin working on the 2nd phase of the what we hope will fester into something tangible...more on that later. Don't want to tip anybody off so a competitor doesn't just "Pop out of nowhere" with the exact same model.

We are set to get 2 ...possibly 3 new poker bloggers in the coming weeks, and I know that one of them will be playing alot of the events in the upcoming Beau series during labor day. He has his blog kicked off and his play and insight will be valuable to all our readers. I know he has been on a heater lately online and in the B&M casinos.

I am arguing with my wife right now as it is pouring down raining outside and we just got back from the grocery store. Well, I get out first and run to open up the door to the house and get totally soaked. I leave the door open for her so she can now run in. I start taking off my wet clothes when my wife asks, "Hey...where are you" while she is putting on my Harrah's Poker Room Jacket with the hoodie on it. So you guys can see where we have a point of contention...Her logic is why in the world would I take off my wet clothes before I get the groceries out the car, and I am looking at her like WTF??? Why don't we just wait until it stops raining and then I'll go out get the groceries...Am I losing it?? Is that not the most logical scenario???

Oh well...on to poker. I went back to the Bell of Baton Rouge last week and swore I just walked into Shorty's on a Saturday night. Got seated at the table with Jimbo and Gary (The Belle Regular), and there the LAG players were out in force. I go thru one buy-in fairly quickly and get the last of buy-in #1 ($75.00) all in with Dana D dealing with A-Jo ...I get called by 2 people. One was the guy directly to my left named Ben. It was mentioned that he dumped $5000.00 in the ten and a quarter game (10-25nl) at Harrahs the week before. The other guy was in the 6 seat and he calls also. The action went down like this. I am on button and UTG raise to $15.00...call...call 6 seat pops it to $30.00 around to me. Yep...can;t see putting half of the rest of my stack in and getting away from this hand....Ya think? I ship...Ben calls hesitantly and seat 6 calls. So what do they have you ask? Well Ben has Q-10o and seat six has K-Jo... I am digging in my pockets as the flop totally reams me with a K-K-5 flop. So there is a discussion as to why they would call $75.00 with those hands. That is when Gary tells me about Ben playing in the 10-25 game and note to self...Stay out of his way...and 6 seat just shrugs and says, "I was ready to go anyway...I just called...I don't know why"...I am serious...that was his exact words. I would love to have a table full of those types. You know the ones, "Yea...I was ready to go to the house and I am $500.00 stuck in this game so I will just go ahead and stick my last $80.00 in a pot with K-Jo instead of putting in my pocket for my next session...and the sick part is I can't beat these guys in this situation. If someone sticks in their last stack of chips and says to the table, "I am ready to go home...I call". The dealer can go ahead and put the pot right in front of the guy because no matter how the cards fall...I will lose.

OK...Buy in #2. So we have determined who the 2 bullseye boys on the table are. Seat 6 who doesn't stay very long and mustache boy in seat 3 who I am going to call "Super Bill" because if Super Bill would have worn a mustache for his bachelor party, they would have been twins. So me and SB get in a couple of hands together while he twist the ends of his mustache in a "rico suave" kind of way, and he bets me out of a couple of hands where I probably had the best hand. I am being patient and trying to get him in the right hand. So I look down at A-Js this time and call SB's $15.00 pf raise as does the Newguy in the 1 seat that is in for only a hundo. Flop comes out Qs-10c-5d. SB makes a knuckle head move where he is completely confused as he tries to bet $75.00 but gets nailed for string betting and has to leave only $20.00 out there...I call as does Newguy. Turn is the Ac. Now...I missed my straight and now my backdoor flush draw is busted ...but I got top pair with a mid-strong kicker. SB, gets some stache wax off the handlebars and fires out $100.00. I can't see getting away from the hand and I have him dead on 1 pair. Newguy is already all in so I jam...SB calls and we have 2 pots. New guy turns over K-J for the nuts so far and SB turns over Q-4....River 4d and GeneD sits there stunned and what transpired. I went from a chance to chop both pots needing a K and completely dominating for the side pot ...to nothing at all...ziltcho.

So...were on the buy-in #3 and GeneD is trying to stay away from tilt but its lingering in his head. Should I just leave now...or fire the third bullet. Why not?. I am in a good game with some bad players and I am stuck 2 buy-ins. Lets get'er done. I am back on the table with my 3rd buy-in and playing snug...winning small pots here and there. Finally I look down at 8s8c in the hi-jack seat and everyone limps to SB who fires $50.00 in the pot. folded around to me and I go in the tank as I can't believe what I am about to do. I hate racing for all my chips...its just something I hate to do. I have him square on A-K/A-Q...or possible some lower pocket pair. Obviously, if I am wrong and he has a pp 9's or over I am dead. I jam all my chips in and get the anticipated "Call" from SB...he tables A-K. Board bricks and GeneD has a buy-in back.

They kept moving people to the main game and our must-move table broke when SB moved there. I hung out, bullshitted and drank a beer with Jimbo and watched SB lose the $600.00 in front of him...He puts out $700.00 more on the table and lost that in 4 hands on some of the dumbest plays I have ever seen.

Friday night I decide to head over 2 Harrah’s for some poker action and get there right at about 4:30pm. I get $200.00 and sit in a 1-2nl game and finally I get a run of good cards.I turned the nut straight on the 2nd hand, the nut flush on the 8th hand, get Kings 3 times, Aces once. I also had queens when I popped it to $20.00 pre-flop and see the guy in the ten seat kind of “Flinch” like I beat him to the punch. When it got around to him, he smooths trying to be coy…it was funny to watch. Flop comes out A-7-3. I knuckle and he fires out a pot sized bet of $50.00…I muck face up and the guy flashes his A-K and the girls next to me “Hmmms and Hawwws” like I made this great laydown…righhhht. So, at 6:30 my wife calls me with that voice like I am suppose to be somewhere …and I am not. You married guys know that voice... “Where are you?” she ask…I say, “Playing cards”…and the phone goes silent quickly. We made plans to go to her sisters house last Tuesday and it is now Friday night and I have not been reminded about it for 3 days…I forgot. I rack up and hit the door as fast as I could. Total cashout…$630.00. Not bad for being somewhere that I was not suppose to be.

Heading out to Boomtown tonight to play in the Wed weekly with Bill.

"Any man that's got the guts to sell his soul for love has got the power to change the world. You didn't do it for greed, you did it for the right reason. Maybe that puts God on your side. To them that makes you dangerous, makes you unpredictable. That's the best thing you can be right now" Sam Elliot as The Caretaker in "Ghostrider"