Spent most of last week in Toronto and Buffalo -- more on that later -- but wanted to share about a wild thing that happened to me playing poker. Meier and I were at Seneca Niagra Casino, on the US side of the Falls, playing 1-2 NL. After being down quickly, then building back my stack to be ahead, I'd been whittled down to about $65. Meier and I had already decided this was going to be our last orbit and we'd pick up and check out the other casinos. Warning: lots of poker content follows.
I'm under the gun (first after the blinds), so this is my "last" hand. I raise to $10 with TT and get three callers. The flop is 5-4-2 (or similar), I bet $30 and get one caller who we'll call Loose Gambler (LG) because he's a gambler as we'll see. The turn is a jack and I push my last $25 in and LG folds. I'm up to $125 now and it's time to go. However Meier suggests we play one more orbit and I say OK.
BB: UTG+1 raises to 5, not a play I'd seen him make before, and a strange range because anyone who would call 2 will call 5. Action comes to be and I re-raise to 20 with JJ. Honestly I had checked out and hadn't realized that three people had called and thus my raise was too small. Three people called the $20 making an $80 pot. Flop 9-9-7, I bet $45, LG shoves for $25 more. I think a bit and call and he shows K7 for a worse too pair and says "I hoped I could push you off AK". My jacks hold and in two hands, I'm up to $255. LG rebuys for $60.
SB: Meier raises to $8 UTG+1, there's a re-raise all-in for $20, I fold T8o, Meier calls. Flop J-7-x, turn 9. river blank and Meier shows T8s to snap QQ. (I think this was my SB hand.)
Button: I limp KJo behind several limpers. Flop K-J-T. SB leads for $6, three callers, I elect to just call; I'm probably best but it's possible there's a straight out there. I'll see the turn and re-evaluate. Turn K. SB says "I don't like the king" and checks. Everyone checks to me and I check, hoping to peal off an A or Q and have a straight pay me off. River 4. LG bets $10, I raise to $30, LG folds J4 face up. I show a jack. ($300)
CO: With about four limpers, I raise to $15 with KQ, LG re-raises blind to $36. Loose donkey in EP calls the $36. I re-raise to $100 to isolate. EP thinks for a while and calls his last $64 (Oops). Board runs out Q-4-x-J-x and EP shows K4s (yes, really he put his whole stack in with that). Blind LG flipped over his cards and had paired the board too. MHIG. Meier criticized my play but I didn't think the limp $2, call $36 was a trap with AA/KK from this guy and wanted to get my money in good. ($440)
HJ: With a few limpers, I limp TT (I know a raise will get called 4 ways). Meier raises to $12 and given his style his range is wide, he gets 4 callers and I bump it to $90. If he has AA-QQ, so be it. He folds and everyone folds being him. I show TT. ($490)
MP: I open raise to $12 with KQ, Meier calls on the button and we're heads up. Flop A-Q-Q. I figure Meier will bet the ace whether he has it or not, so I check but he checks behind. Turn is a blank. I bet $15, he calls. River K, I bet $25, he thinks for a long time and calls with an ace. ($540)
I may have the previous two hands reversed. Or it's possible I folded from HJ and these are both MP hands.
MP: I limp 77 after several limpers. Flop Jd-7c-4d; bingo, I hit my set. It checks to me and I check. The player to my left bets $6, a few people call, and I call planning to make a move on the turn. Turn is a diamond, everyone checks to me, I check, the flop bettor checks. River is a 4th diamond everyone checks. I turn over my hand, declare a set of 7s then realize I have 7d for a diamond flush; either is good. I played this hand terribly but still won $40. ($580)
UTG+1: I fold
UTG: I limp 5s4s. Several limpers behind me.Flop 4-4-3. Blinds check, and I bet $8. Slow playing is just a bad idea plus there are draws on the board. UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 thinks a long time and folds (77), BB calls. Turn 5, BB checks, I bet $20, UTG+1 calls, BB shoves for $15 more and we both call. As the river is coming out, UTG+1 says "who gets to check first?". River is a blank (high card I think). I bet $65 and UTG+1 folds. BB shows 43 for the flopped boat. Wow, not only did I flop trips but then I hit the three-outer I needed to win the hand. ($675)
Overall in one orbit plus a hand I won 8 of 10 or 11 hands, folded the others pre-flop and went from $65 to $675. I'll probably never have a run like that again.
Sunday, September 26
Tuesday, September 14
Trip to Chicago (Vacation)
We spent most of this past week in Chicago. We went for Monica's niece's first birthday party. Her actual birthday was two weeks before, but they scheduled the party around when we could be in town. How nice.
Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation. The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall". But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip. With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule. In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.
Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out. Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience. Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark. The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating. We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field. They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not. Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning. It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill. I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again. But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.
We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic. Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation. Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.
Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana. Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted. Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay. Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile. We saw social networking at its best. After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch. We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work. Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.
Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.
Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.
Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation. The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall". But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip. With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule. In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.
Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out. Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience. Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark. The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating. We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field. They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not. Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning. It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill. I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again. But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.
We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic. Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation. Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.
Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana. Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted. Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay. Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile. We saw social networking at its best. After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch. We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work. Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.
Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.
Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.
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