Dec 22nd Horseshoe BC Trip Report

Harrah's Horseshoe Bossier City (Shreveport)

by Landlord79 on 12/27/07

Dec 22nd Trip to the Horseshoe-Bossier City

I took a day off from work Friday to extend my holiday weekend and to give me some time to play cards and finish up my Christmas shopping. Well, finish up really isn’t the correct word there; I had to do my Christmas shopping. After doing my shopping and errands, BJJIII and I hit the road around 11:30 headed to our favorite card room, the Horseshoe-Bossier City! The Shoe was busy and almost full, but they quickly had us seated at the same table. Within an hour we’re splitting a huge club sandwich, compliments of the $1/hr comp rate that we’ve accumulated that the Shoe offers its poker players.

Sputtering Start…

I’ve been on a bit of a downswing lately, so I really didn’t expect to come out smoking like I did on my last trip. In fact, I started the day off by flopping on my face multiple times. I check-raised a flush draw vs. some lady who was running uber hot. She, of course, called, then proceeded to win the hand as my draw didn’t get there. I guess that I thought that she might be capable of a fold. What was I thinking? I had top pair turn into trips on the turn, which got scorched by some-young guys full house. This is not the way that I like to start sessions!

Table Change Please!!

At BJJIII and my table were a couple of decent players, a grouchy old rock and an old lady who couldn’t fold due to the fact that everything was going her way. She was $1,200+ deep at a $1/3 game and had obvious flaws in her strategy that we were looking to exploit. When she announced that it was time for her to head home, we begged her to stay since her leaving would cripple the table and probably leave it on a course to be broken up. We kept her around for 30 minutes despite her saying that each hand was her last hand, but I think she came out to the positive in this time period, so it might have been better if we would have just let her leave. A call to her husband 1 hour away sealed the deal and she stacked up 2 racks of red birds and headed out the door.

BJJII got hit in the face w/ the deck when his 10-7o flopped the nut str8 and he doubled through an old man w/ the idiot end of it. He had a day that we all dream of card wise. A really good reg sat down in the 2 seat to BJ’s left and the game seemed to get much tougher. I was down about a buyin at this point and felt it was time to make a move to a softer seat. When I talked to Joe (the night floor manager) he pointed me to the back of the room where the table seemed loose and jolly! Ahhhh! That’s more like it, limp, limp, call my raise, fold to my Cbet. That’s right!

A snake in the weeds

When I sat down in the 8 seat, I noticed a tough spot in the line up that I hadn’t noticed on my first glance through. Two seats to my right sat a man who goes by the nickname of Ace. Well, he used to, but he goes by a different name now since ever dealer in the room used to announce his presence when he walked through. He’ll always be Ace to me and he is a pleasure to talk to for the long hours of a live poker session. He’s the man who set over set me in my last session at the HSBC, which is linked at the top of the page.

Don’t call it a comeback!

Soon enough I started making my money back. I’ve gotten really good at recognizing orphan pots and I’m able to pick them up like they were quarters on the sidewalk. My top pair hands were good for a few wins then I got dealt the mother of all starting hands, Pocket Aces!

Dealt to Hero: A

3 folds
Hero ($400+) raises to $12
CO folds
Button calls $12
SB ($222) calls $11
BB folds

Flop - J

Pot - $39
SB cks, Hero bets $30, Button folds, SB calls $30

Turn - 6

Pot - $99
SB cks, Hero bets $100, SB calls

River - 10

Pot - $299
SB cks, Hero bets $80, SB calls $80 and is All In

Villain shows Q-Jo for One Pair- Jacks
Hero shows A-A for One Pair- Aces

The SB was an older man and had seemed very straight-forward since I had been watching him. He said that he played online at UB. He seemed uncomfortable throughout the hand and mostly squirmed in his chair. I thought that he was on a draw and was floored when he called the $100 turn bet. He looked very resigned when I put him in on the river, in fact, he held his chips out after he checked in a manner that hinted at surrender. As if he had no choice but to put them in. Thanks for the crying call. He reloaded instantly for a full buy-in and a short while later I’d tie into him again.

I had moved to the 3 seat across the table to get a better view of the whole table. (I always try to stay in the 2,3,7 or 8 seats because they offer the best view of my opponents.)

Playing small flushes

I played 5

and made a small flush, only to lose to the 6

for a bigger flush. This didn’t really bother me that bad since it wasn’t that big of a pot. The table was loose passive and I felt that I had solid reads on everyone. I don’t limp much at all out of position in these games, but for some reason I caught a wild hair and decided to play a very unorthodox hand.

Dealt to Hero – 6

Hero ($500) calls $3
1 fold
MP1 calls $3
MP2 ($300) (SB from hand above) calls $3
3 folds
SB calls $2
BB checks

Flop – A

Pot - $18
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $15, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $15, SB folds, BB folds

Turn – K

Pot - $48
Hero bets $25, MP2 calls $25

River – Q

Pot - $98
Hero checks, MP2 bets $75, Hero….

This put me into a tight-spot. The old man played his hand like he had a draw and any FD almost had to be bigger than mine. I planned to check-call the river to snap off a bluff, but this was a rather large bet for a straight-forward player when a FD gets there on the river. That 5

hand kept running through my mind and I kept asking myself if flush over flush could happen again in such a short period of time. I studied the old man and found that he was quite rigid and was pushed back into his chair. Not in a super confident “I have you kind of way,” but in a “I hope that snake doesn’t bite me” kind of way. I counted his breathing to see if he was excited or scared, but I didn’t get much from that. Finally, based on the fact that I did have a flush and that the villain was quite rigid, I dumped $75 into the pot prepared to be behind. He tapped the table and said “Good call.” I showed him my flush and he mucked his hand. Later, he admitted that he had TP.

BJJIII had gotten up from his table to come over for a visit and watched the hand progress. He said that he would have snap called the river, I don’t think the hand was that simple. My estimate of the villain being a straight-forward player, coupled w/ how he played the hand made it a much harder call, IMO. Also, losing to a flush over flush just before this didn’t make things any easier.

One More Round

An hour or two later, I’m still hovering at about even (+/-$30) when BJJIII comes over to tell me that he’s ready to go and that we’ll play one more round. Some new guy had joined my table, he looked a little buzzed and wore his feelings on his sleeve. I think he was the type that liked to play blackjack and thought that he’d give poker a try. Earlier, I stated that I’ve gotten good at picking up orphaned pots. This isn’t really anything that I can put my finger on most of the time, it’s kind of a gut feeling based on the flop texture and the reactions of the other players. It also helps when you’re checked to in position. Two such hands came up as we were preparing to leave. One I took down uncontested and the other I got called by the man mentioned above. He seemed so uncomfortable and couldn’t remember his cards for anything. I guess that he may have been trying to reassure himself that his middle pair was good. Based on this read, I fired 3 streets into the guy w/ bottom pair before I convinced him to fold w/ my river bet. The very next hand I picked up K

and raised it preflop and, of course, the new guy calls. I flopped a king and bet the flop and turn before he finally gave up again. Next thing that I knew, BJJIII handed me 2 empty racks and I headed for the cage. I cashed out a $120 winner that I scraped together on my “One Last Round.”

I love live poker!!!

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