Ok, time for an off-topic trip report to provide a little balance to my recent posts. Sunday night, my wife and I joined another couple in their box at the Hollywood Bowl for Movie Night in which the Hollywood Bowl orchestra plays music from movies to clips from the movies themselves. It’s an annual performance held at the end of the summer season, and this year the Bowl chose Paramount Pictures as the studio from which they’d select movies.

The evening was hosted by Leonard Nimoy (aka Mr. Spock, now 77 years old and still energetic) and featured Paramount classics like..

The Godfather
Star Trek
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Mission Impossible
Love Story
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Grease
Titanic

At one point, my friend’s wife confided that she had never seen the Godfather (either I or II)—uh, wow, since my friend is Sicilian by heritage and quotes it daily. A few clips later my wife confessed that she’s never seen any of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies. WTF? You're not familiar with Indiana Jones? How did this get past the due diligence team? A few clips later, a clip from Grease came on and the orchestra broke into Summer Nights. Both our wives immediately reacted and said they’d seen the movie “maybe twenty times”. Ok, this is ridiculous.

I’m pretty sure I don’t know a guy who’s NOT seen all the Godfather films and Raiders at least once. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be shocked if a friend of mine said he’d passed on the opportunity to see John Travolta singing and dancing as a 1950s high-schooler. I don’t profess to understand my wife or women generally, but in the future, if someone asks me to explain the differences, I think this is an excellent reference point. “It’s like this. Guys like the Godfather. Women like Grease. Just do the best you can with that.”

One thing we all did agree on is that Audrey Hepburn was awesome in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The movie came out in 1961, so it predates even me, and I saw it for the first time just a few years ago. If you haven’t ever seen an Audrey Hepburn movie, you owe it to yourself and your wife or girlfriend to fire up the DVD. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it—Hepburn as an escort/socialite, George Peppard as a struggling writer (pre-A Team), Buddy Ebsen (after he was the Tin Man but before he was Jed Clampett) and Mickey Rooney as a Japanese neighbor. Sounds wacky, but it’s charming stuff.

If you’re ever in Los Angeles for Labor Day weekend, make an effort to get up to the Bowl for Movie Night. The Bowl is an outdoor amphitheatre and there’s not a bad seat in the place. Score some tickets, bring some food and a bottle of good wine and watch some great clips to superb scores in a very cool setting. I recommend it!

Last Thurs night around 9p, I headed down to the Commerce Casino to update my LA card room comparison chart and check out the low stakes NL games there. Some of you might not be familiar with the World’s Largest Poker Casino (ok, world’s largest LIVE poker casino) so here’s a quick tour.

The Commerce Casino/Crowne Plaza hotel complex is located directly off the 5 Freeway about 7-8 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The 5 Freeway is a major LA thoroughfare and traffic can be brutal midday, but at 9 pm, it’s a breeze. You can’t miss the casino from the highway—both the casino and the attached hotel are well-lit with excellent signage.



In the satellite image below, you can see the Commerce’s proximity to the freeway and massive parking lot. The hotel part of the complex is the curved building on the left of the property; the main casino comprises the rectangular portion. If you look carefully in the upper right of the parking lot, you can see a N/S tennis court that was built well before the hotel was built. Senior management at the Commerce took their tennis seriously in their younger years!




"Past the chariot..."

As you can see, there’s plenty of free parking on the property, but since I’m lazy I opted to valet (about $2 not including tip). As you enter from the valet, you’re confronted with two oversized statues. I never really understood the Roman/Egyptian theme, but they look great and definitely give the sense of Las Vegas grandeur.




The high stakes room

Directly behind the statues is the high stakes room where all the big games ($10/20+ NL, $20/40 limit, etc.) run. There’s a large multi-screen monitor in a corner of the room, but for now, all the waitlists are managed by hand. I think Commerce is probably moving toward an automated system at some point. The low stakes NL waiting list is automated and there are a number of new flat screen monitors located strategically throughout the other areas of the casino. But for now, it’s white boards and markers in the high stakes and main room.




The main room

Continuing the tour, from the high stakes room, you go through a California games room (blackjack variants, pai gow, etc.) to the main room of the casino where all the middle stakes games are spread. It’s a huge open room with several food court type restaurants around the perimeter. Like the high stakes room, waitlists are kept by hand but there’s a sign up board at all four sides of the room (yes, it’s that big) and there’s floor staff manning the boards and directing players to seats. As a result, there’s rarely a problem finding or getting into the game you’re looking for.






I did a quick walk around to see what kind of action was running. Check this out for a Thursday night…

7 tables of 1/2 $40
7 tables of 2/3 $100
9 tables of 3/5 $200
8 tables of 5/10 $400
6 tables of $10/20 $600-no max
3 tables of $20/40 $2000-no max
1 table of $100/200 $30k-no max (note: Commerce usually has $50/$100 NL with a $5k minimum)

That’s over 40 tables of NL! By comparison, the Bellagio has 40 tables IN TOTAL. Of course, the Commerce spreads all sorts of other games—limit, stud, a MONSTER mixed game ($300/$600 usually and sometimes $400/$800) and a few Omaha games. There are over 240 tables in the casino and I’m guessing about 160 or so are dedicated to poker. They also run daily tournaments and recently began running $40 sit n gos using Lightning Poker electronic tables. More on those later.


”Excuse me, which way to the mini-ballers?”

Checking my bankroll, I realized I was a little light for the $100/$200 NL and made a mental note to put 60-100 dimes in my backpack for my next trip. I’m rolled for $5/10 but, in a rare show of discipline, resisted the urge to grab four stacks of $5 chips and find a seat. Instead, I stuck to the task at hand, namely checking out the low stakes NL action.

Commerce spreads its low stakes NL in its tournament room, located on the 2nd floor in the tournament & banquet area. The room is directly above the high stakes area and is accessible by a wide staircase, which spirals above the aforementioned statues. I’m pretty sure this staircase is the steepest staircase on Earth not associated with a Mayan ruin or pharaoh’s tomb. There’s probably room here to continue the metaphor with some reference to bloody sacrifice, but I’m not a virgin and don’t even know one, so let’s leave it that it’s a climb to get to the room.

I think the 2nd floor location cuts down on the number of low stakes NL and limit tables Commerce spreads. Both Hawaiian Gardens and Ocean’s 11 had more small NL games running, but they were right off the main floor in both casinos and tough to miss. Then again, those guys didn’t have nearly as many of the larger games that Commerce has. Whatever...this place is huge and there's plenty of action for anyone.

The room itself is what you’d expect of a hotel ballroom, high ceilings and chandeliers, with the inclusion of 30 or so tables and a snack bar. To the far right of the room is the cashier and brush area, and there are two Lightning electronic poker tables against the far wall. In the low stakes NL room (seen below courtesy of my lousy cell phone camera), waitlists are kept via an electronic system. There are several other monitors not in use; presumably, these are used for tournaments. The staff does a nice job keeping the lists moving, although I did have to wait about 20 minutes (4th on the list) to get seated in $40 NL.




”I had pot odds!

As with other rooms in the area, small stakes NL at the Commerce tends to be more social than competitive. That’s not to say the players don’t take it seriously—they do. It’s just that the tension, personality clashes and other drama you sometimes experience at higher limits is pretty much non-existent at these levels. Players tend to shrug off bad beats and etiquette faux pas and move on without lingering resentment.

Despite the good intentions of some players, the play tends to range from awkward to poor. Most players have an understanding of what beats what but the insight typically stops there. Of course, players make vocal references to position, draws and odds but more often than not that thinking, as expressed, is WAY off base. That’s not to say that the players aren’t experienced—it’s obvious that many play A LOT. But the references to odds and, specifically pot odds, are often well off the mark and the resulting decisions and stacks reflect it. In short, for a player with solid fundamentals, there’s plenty of equity sloshing around in these games.

It’s interesting how quickly you can assess the table just by listening and watching. Players at this level have no qualms about thinking out loud and recapping their thought process or what they folded after the hand is completed. Of course, in a game of limited information, it’s always best to keep your thinking to yourself for at least two reasons. First, you should avoid giving anyone any edge on how you might play, and second, as Lincoln once said “Better to keep you mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” In any event, just by watching a few hands and listening to the color commentary, you can get a quick sense of who’s got an idea of what they’re doing.

"Pot odds" is the default rationale for any action in these games whether it’s calling pre-flop or on the flop. Surprisingly, everyone seems to nod in agreement when it happens. I’m not a tank tapper, but I’ll be honest, I’ll throw an “O rly?’ glance around when someone attempts to validate a bonehead play with “I had pot odds!” I honestly think that the typical low stakes NL player really has no idea what his/her odds are in various situations.


My table

My table was pretty standard for So Cal baby NL—mostly younger guys (mid-20s), one or two guys in their 30s and a couple of Asian women…and me, a grey-haired exec—clean shaven, no tats, no surfer brand t-shirt—standing out like Angelina Jolie at a refugee camp.

To my immediate left was a former dealer turned tattoo technician, a skill he proudly noted he learned in prison using a tattoo gun made from a Walkman, guitar string and pencil. He was a nice enough guy, but you have to wonder about someone who discusses his prison stint with a total stranger within 15 minutes or so of introduction. In the off chance I ever end up in prison and get out, I can pretty much guarantee that I’m going out of my way to keep the topic OUT of random conversations. My tablemates will just have to speculate on how I learned to make moonshine and tie a nifty corn row, thank you very much.

In any event, I’m in seat 1, he’s on my left and very active, calling pretty much any raise and limping into any pot. To his left, is a disinterested Asian kid wearing headphones and reading a magazine. To his left is a guy who looked like Ferris Bueller after a few more days off. Seat 5 was an older Asian man. To his left, an older Asian woman, no relation. Seat 7 was younger guy with tats and sideways baseball hat who stood up every time and was visibly excited each time he made a monster hand.

Landlord79 wrote some thoughts on his favorite live tells here...Landlord79's forum post. Here’s mine. When your opponent stands up, insta-calls flop and turn bets each time (as in the instant his opponent said “I bet…” he shouts “Call!” whether it’s his turn to act or not), shoves the river and then shows down monsters each time—two flopped sets and a flopped straight…that’s a good tell to note.

Like all of Commerce's tables, the tables in the low stakes room all have auto-shufflers which keeps play moving. On the other hand, the game is social so there’s more chit-chat, commentary, cell phone play, etc. than in the higher stakes games. To their credit, the dealers and chip runners keep the games moving; I counted 29 hands in the first hour and 31 in the second and, over the two hour period, only saw two hands surrendered without a flop. That’s pretty much standard for what I’ve seen elsewhere in similar games (Hollywood Park: 33 hands/hr; Ocean’s 34; HG 32; etc.). I also noticed that almost all the hands make it to the river. Unlike that larger games where a stiff turn bet will often end the hand, hands here go the whole way. Figure 2-3 hands an hour to NOT make it to the river.


Finally, some hands

I only stayed for a couple of hours but here are some hands that are indicative of the quality of play. I tend to play a TAG style which is markedly different than the prevailing table style—I’d routinely be one of the only players not in the hand. These guys, though, don’t drive all the way from Pomona to FOLD, so you see some real gems.


Hand 1

Older Asian woman in EP raises to $15 pre-flop. Note: the blinds in this game are $1/$2. Tattoo guy next to me, the small blind, states “You’re not going to steal my button.” and calls. She’s at least five seats from him and stealing here never, but he’s defending.

Flop…225 rainbow. Check. Check.
8 on turn. Asian woman checks but pulls a stack of chips from her rack. Tat Guy bets $15 and Asian woman calls instantly.
T on the river. Check. Check.
TG's T8o > Asian woman’s AQs.

Ok, let’s recap…7.5x raise pre-flop. No continuation bet by Asian woman but she’s insta-calling a half pot bet on the turn with A high. And then TG checks his two pair when checked to. Nifty stuff.


Hand 2

Multi-way limped pot. 99x4 flop.

Checked around.
J on the turn. Tat Guy (again the small blind) min bets. Formerly disinterested Asian kid in headphones (the big blind) is suddenly interested and calls. Everybody else folds.

J on river. Min bet. Call.
97o = 92o. Split pot.


Hand 3, in which Edmond dips into the Luckbox

Limped to me on the button with AJ. I raise to $8 and everyone folds around to Asian woman, who calls. The pot ≈ $20.

Flop is Qxx with one heart. AW checks to me and I bet $15 with my A high backdoor straight and backdoor flush draw. She labors, commenting “You so tight! I know you have big pair!” Well, yes, ma’am…thank you…please fold, though. No such luck. She calls.

6 on the turn. She checks to me again. I figure she didn’t like her hand much on the flop so I move in for my last $20 with 9 good outs, maybe more. No laboring now, she insta-calls. WTF, you turn a set, lady?

I’m resigned to calling for the chip runner when the lovely 2 spins off giving me the nut flush. Asian woman triumphantly tables QTo and says “I have queen! If you have three queens you win!” I have no idea what she’s talking about, but show my flush and stack my chips.

At this point, the conversation somehow segues to Tat Guy commenting that 69o is his favorite hand, and when the other woman at the table gives him a disgusted look like he’s a prepubescent teen, he insists that his birthday was June 9th. She’s skeptical and because I’m one to stir things up a bit, I suggest he could confirm it with his driver’s license. "Uh, I don't have one." No, of course you don’t.


Hand 4

As I mentioned in my Ocean’s 11 and Hawaiian Gardens reviews of low stakes games, when players get short, the games play similar to the early stage of a re-buy tournament. For example, a few hands later, AW raised in early position to $10 or so. Short stack in the blind shoves for $20 and change. Folded back to AW, she calls without hesitation. Shover shows A4o; AW shows QJo. A high, all goot.


Hand 5

A few hands later Tat Guy pushes a T high flop for $200 (into a $30 pot) with two players still to act. One caller but Tat Boy’s QT held.


Hand 6, the hand of the night

Ferris limps UTG. Asian man to his left raises to $10. One caller to Tat Guy in the small blind, who again announces “You’re not stealing my blind.” and re-raises to $20. Ferris now re-raises $40, leaving $10 behind. Asian man concludes “I have pot odds.” and calls. Folded back to Tat Guy who now shoves putting Ferris in for his last tenner. Ferris instantly calls, of course, and turns over AA.

There is perhaps no more transparent play in poker than the EP limp and subsequent re-raise. That is, at all levels, almost always AA, KK or AK…with AA, by far, the most prevalent. Yet by for some reason, both Asian guy and Tat Boy concluded that they needed to play in the face of that action.

AA > Tat Guy’s 99 > Asian Guy’s K9s for $250 or so.

AG mucked his K9s and had no obligation to show, but without prompting by any player, the dealer retrieved the cards and opened them for the table, a pretty gross mistake. The Asian guy complained a little but no one else at the table seemed at all fazed by it. In a higher stakes game, guys would’ve been calling for the floor and howling like someone killed their dog.

At this point, Asian Guy stated that “I can’t win at these levels.” and vacated his seat. He’s played about 5-6 hands in similar fashion and reloaded twice. What’s amazing is that no one said anything about his K9s play and when a new player went to take the seat, two players warned him (seriously) that that was the “bad beat” seat.


Hand 7, in which Edmond again dips into the Luckbox

Limped to me, I have T9 on DB and call.

KJ7 flop. $4 bet by some EP player. One other caller to me; I call with my double gutter.

8x on turn. EP better checks and other player bets $4 again. $20 pot at this point with all indications suggesting that my opponents are chasing flushes. I raise another $20 and get one caller.

2 on river and min-better pushes for his last $12. Gross. I’m convinced he hit his flush given his play to the river but call the $12 in what had turned into a $60 pot.

Instead, he shows AJ and looks startled that he didn't scoop the pot. 2PTK no good on that board, sir.

Despite the play, it’s common to see guys sitting relatively deep in a short period of time. I had $100 or so. Tat Guy, despite every effort to stack off with marginal hands, had $160 to my left. Ferris had $240 or so and at least two others were sitting 2x buy-ins.


Hand 8

There is a pre-flop raise to $10 or so with two callers.

786 rainbow flop and three players, including a new older guy sitting in the “bad beat” seat, get all-in for a $300 pot. Q turn, J river. Let’s see the hands, fellas.

TT > 55 > K9 with the old guy showing the K9.

As he packs up to leave, a couple of people at the table again comment on the “bad beat” seat and how “old guys always get it in with draws.” Ouch.


Lightning Poker tables

Toward the end of my session, the floor initiated a new sit-n-go on one of the two Lightning Poker tables Commerce recently installed. These are 10-seat electronic tables which can be use for cash games or single table tournaments. At present, Commerce runs $40 sit n gos ($34 for the prize poll and $6 for the house) and starts the tournament whenever 10 people sign up. Note: on the board, it’s referenced as a $40 mixed game. You can see one in action below.




Players seemed to like the tables, commenting that the play was “fast” and “sit n gos are fun”. Players start with 500 chips and 10/20 initial blinds and level times increase every 10 minutes. Top spots pay in the tournament 60%/40% and the tournaments run about 40-45 minutes. Basically, you’re playing to heads up, chopping for 80% and playing for the balance.

I didn’t play it, but I’m guessing that a player with a good understanding of sit n go fundamentals could beat the game fairly regularly. Imagine Party $5 + $1 sit n gos paying to two spots with worse players.

You can read the Commerce’s press release or some more info on the tables here.

Commerce press release on Lightning Poker tables


Beating the game

Despite the rake ($3 + 50c jackpot fee), I believe the low stakes NL is a beatable game for a fundamentally sound player. Any time guys are putting capital at risk without thinking and, when they do think, do so OUT LOUD despite a known premium on information, it’s a beatable game. I finished the night up $40 ($20/hour or 20BB over 65 hands or so) without ever being really challenged.

The real challenge, of course, is to maintain discipline and play the opposite style of the table. In general, these games range from very loose passive to moderately loose aggressive without any moderation for hand value. I believe a player that adopts a tight, aggressive style—raising premium hands in position and betting those hands HARD can be a winner in the game.

Of course, it’s very seductive when 6-7 people limp or limp/min-raise/call to get sucked into limping with your 97o. The problem is, of course, that you rarely hit the flop hard enough to have real confidence from the flop and you can end up chasing draws and burning up chips.


Back again for more

On Saturday night, I headed back down to the casino with a friend to get a quick look at the $2/3 100 max buy-in game. This game is spread in the main room and, on Sat night, there were about 10 tables running. I was seated within 15 minutes.

Hands per hour tend to be a little higher in this game as players have a better handle on the game and fewer hands make it to the river. Figure about 35+ hands/hour with maybe 3-4 not seeing a flop and 5 or so not making it to the river.

The players at my table for this bigger game were somewhat more knowledgeable with 1-2 solid players, 3-4 ok players and the balance sort of mediocre. I was the swing man of the group, alternating between solid and mediocre throughout the session.

I finished the two hour session even despite stacking off early with AK on an A high flop versus a turned set of jacks by a short stack and then 4-betting AK into a pair of kings (oops!). I recovered nicely in the second hour getting paid on the last two hands before our table broke with AA v 66 on a low flop and then a set of 6s v TP2K.

There was definitely better play at this table—no ridiculous overbets (other than my 4-bet referenced above), players betting their good hands, more thoughtful reads of the flop. But there was still flashes of dead money including the following:

3-bet all-in and call for $60+ on AQx flop. Players showed 77 and KQo. What?

4-bet all-in and call by the nut flush for $60+ into a $150 pot on a 22588 board. Winner showed an 8, obv.

River re-raise all-in with K9s on AT936 board with three clubs. Winner called $100 with A3o without the slightest hesitation.


”Ok, who ordered the banana splits?”

Tom Wolfe, the author, once described a dinner with Hunter S. Thompson in which the gonzo journalist pulled a marine air horn from a bag and set it off stunning a crowded restaurant. Wolfe recounted another dinner where Thompson ordered two banana splits and two banana daiquiris for his entree. After polishing them off, Thompson called for the waitress and looped his finger in the air. “Do it again.” He downed another round to the disbelief of Wolfe’s wife-to-be and ended the evening, as he did many others, ejected from the premises in a drunken stupor.

When you were at dinner with the doctor, it was an event and, there was really no explanation other than “Well, what do you expect? It's Hunter.” So it is with low stakes NL in Southern California. You’ll repeatedly see behavior and plays that are at best, unusual and, at worst, worthy of open criticism and calls for the floor at higher stakes. But in low stakes NL, even the most egregious poker or social gaffe merits at best a resigned shrug and call for more chips. If you can handle the odd and often deviant behavior, there’s always entertainment and value!


Afterword

1) For those of you who are curious, apparently all you need to rig a homemade tattoo gun is a pencil, a guitar string and old Walkman. I was skeptical of Tat Guy's claim, but a quick search of YouTube shows that he wasn’t kidding. The assembler uses an electric toothbrush in the following video but you get the idea.

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/faHab5KFCXg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/faHab5KFCXg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

2) Tom Wolfe’s excellent piece on Hunter S. Thompson can be found here.

Tilt or just bad play?

I’m not sure how many readers follow macroeconomic events, but the recent market developments are worth observing, even if you’re not invested. A number of market participants—hedge funds, complacent investors, CNBC, et al.—would argue that the stock market’s on tilt, and all that’s necessary to settle the market back into its A game is a rate cute and calm nerves. I’d argue that the market’s recent swings are more the result of poor discipline by investors and consumers—overvaluing marginal hands out of position—and that the bankroll impact of that lack of discipline is just starting.

Earlier this year, the credit markets began to unravel (that is, borrowers had trouble funding loans) when several sub-prime lenders (lenders to homeowners with less than stellar credit) began to wobble and, in some cases, liquidate. Then in July, a couple of large hedge funds (investment funds for institutions and wealthy individuals) showed heavy losses from these investments causing many to reassess their investment criteria.

Within a matter of days, a few large bond financings (deals to finance corporate buyouts) stalled in the market, causing investors to then rethink other bonds they held in their portfolios. Investors began pulling money out of funds and many banks began liquidating large portfolios of loans. The end result has been a rapid deterioration of companies’ and individuals’ ability to borrow as easily as they could even 2-3 months ago.

”Just open-shove! It’s a re-buy!”

In the old days, when you wanted to buy a house, you had to pony up a 20-30% down payment and, if your credit was good, you would then borrow the balance in a 15 or 30-year mortgage. When the housing market took off over the last few years, competition for new loans was so fierce lenders began offering “creative” mortgages—interest-only loans, adjustable rate loans, no income verification loans, etc. In addition, they offered many loans to borrowers who were poor credit risks (aka sub-prime borrowers). The end result was that home ownership, a tenet of the American dream, was available to pretty much anyone who breathed.

When anyone could qualify for a loan, predictably many did. Home prices appreciated monthly, and the pressure to get in the game was great—“It’s the best investment you can make!” “God’s not making any more of it!” “You’re throwing away money by renting!” While there’s an element of truth to those arguments, there’s another truism. When capital can move freely and stupidly, it will. And when it’s an emotional investment (as most housing is), look out. Americans bought homes in record numbers, flipped them, bought second homes, re-financed money out. It was a wonderful cash machine. Now, though, that game’s over.

”Next hand, blinds and antes are up!”

If you’re a marginal homeowner with a creative loan, and you were looking to refinance or flip when the “creative” part ran out, you’re now officially out of luck. Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage broker, is reeling under rumors of liquidity problems and possible bankruptcy. They’ve announced that henceforth they’ll only issue “conforming” loans, i.e. the good, old-fashioned boring ones. The problem is, that some 30-40% of mortgages in speculative markets (Las Vegas, Florida, California, etc.) were “creative.” There are over $800 BILLION of reset mortgages coming due next year. Imagine if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, interest only, at 2-3%, not an uncommon situation. Now when your mortgage resets, your rate will approach 7% increasing your monthly payment dramatically. That’s not a problem, though because you can flip your house if you get tight for cash. Well, at least you USED to be able to.

I’m convinced that over the next few years, the real estate market (including markets like California, Manhattan, etc.) is going to shake out hard. It won’t happen overnight since home sales are illiquid generally and even more so now with limited credit availability. However, people who over-reached and over-levered will eventually lose money and, in some cases, their homes. Of course, many will howl that they were, in fact, victims of greedy mortgage sellers, but the reality is they got ahead of themselves in a levered asset. It’s a hard lesson to learn.

This housing market, like the internet bubble and other brilliant ideas, will run through its five phases, namely

Enthusiasm.
Disillusionment.
Panic.
Punishment of the innocent.
Praise & honor for non-participants.

We’re about halfway through stage 2, and nowhere near the bottom.

"Floor!"

In recent weeks, the Fed and other central banks have been providing massive amounts (billions) of liquidity into the monetary system to ease the crisis. Late last week, the Asian markets got pummeled and the only thing preventing the same thing in the U.S. was the Fed’s surprise decision to drop the discount rate (rate at which it loans money to banks) by ½%. The Fed had declined to reduce the more influential Fed funds rate (the rate banks charge each other) because it’s fearful of inflation pressure. But then when the Asian markets were down 5%, they stepped in with a little boost. That cut and the market’s reaction was the equivalent of telling you “She’s a big girl, but she’s got a great personality.” Do yourself a favor and ask for a recent photo.

Short-stacked?

Remember, the American consumer’s already under a tremendous amount of pressure. Government figures suggest that core inflation is under control, but “core” inflation excludes several important items, housing, energy costs and food costs, that have been increasing dramatically. I don’t know about you, but rent, gas and food comprise a big chunk of my budget. It’s an even bigger chunk of the average American family making $60,000 or so a year with kids and a couple of SUVs in the driveway.

In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics would have you believe that employment is going along at a good clip. Indeed, lots of small businesses have been hiring. But huge layoffs are announced daily in larger corporations (expect more in financial services) and the government figures include estimates for construction and housing employment that are based on recent years data. I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been a new construction or housing job created in MONTHS regardless of what the BLS forecasting model says.

In short, the American consumer is already under a tremendous amount of pressure even before this credit crunch. Just ask Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, which accounts for some 9% of all retail purchases—it’s a good proxy for the consumer, at large. They recently missed their revenue and profit forecasts and cut their expectation for the year.

Does this mean the market’s going to crash? I don’t think so. Markets are now global and European and Asian lenders are not as exposed to problem housing loans as US lenders. In addition, countries who’ve been the beneficiaries of our consumptive ways over the last couple of years (China, Japan, oil producers, etc.) have big surpluses that they can move into markets when financial assets get cheaper. Here at home, there are plenty of institutions out there with plenty of cash to invest (Berkshire Hathaway, for example) and a number of corporations are sitting on wads of cash with which they could repurchase their stock. In short, it could get ugly, but, I believe, the markets and US economy will sort itself out.

But Edmond, I play POKER not the MARKET

Yeah, but what’s this mean for poker players? Americans love to gamble; they spend more in casinos that on movie tickets, recorded music, theme parks, spectator sports and video games…COMBINED. That said, I think it’s naïve to think that any significant impact to the American consumer won’t show up in numbers of tournament entries from casual players. In almost every tournament I’ve played over the last year, there’s at least a couple of “developers” at the table. Many pro poker players I know tend to keep themselves either in cash or bust, so exposure to a portfolio of real estate or levered assets isn’t a risk for most. A soft housing market or overall economy, though, will mean the steady flow of shot-taking recreational players might suffer a bit over the next few years.

Imagine, if you can, heading out to Vegas for the WSOP main event with some of your own dough and some from a friend and backer. The field is huge and soft and it looks like everyone’s got dough. You’ve had a little success in your home game and you’re ready to make your name. You start off great—a couple of nice hands hold and then a marginal hand nets you a huge pot. You’re checking in with your wife and backer daily—everything’s great, you’ll money, for sure. You can’t help but think about what you’re going to do with your score and over the next few days run up a nice little Rio bill. And then BAM! Out of nowhere, you get worked for your stack, overplaying AJo or some piece of trash within sight of the money. The blinds burn off the rest of your stack and just like that you’re gone, out of the tournament with nothing but an unused food voucher. You head back to Tennessee or wherever with 6 days of room service bills, a hangover and a suitcase full of clothes that smell like smoke to show for the effort. That’s how the American consumer/homeowner feels right now.

In time, the market will get over this crunch, like we all got through those bubble bust-outs, but for now there’ll be plenty of players swearing off the game and walking around muttering “Never again.”

Still digging,

Edmond

After my visit to Ocean's 11 Casino, I headed back north toward LA and worked my way over to Hawaiian Gardens Casino for a brief look at their set-up. HG is located about 35 miles southeast of Santa Monica, about a mile off the 605 freeway in the city of, well, Hawaiian Gardens. The casino (actually, two Sprung structures www.sprung.com*) is spartan by LA cardroom standards. In its current state, there are two main structures, one for California games (blackjack variants, pai gow, etc.), one for poker action and a smaller structure sandwiched between. You can get an idea of the setup from a satellite image of the facility below...




Overview

The casino has about 190 tables in total, of which approximately 140 are oriented to poker games. The two main rooms are wide open rooms (from above, pai gow, blackjack, etc. in the tent on the left and poker in the one on the right) filled with tables with admin areas (brush, cage, etc.) along the perimeter. Imagine an airplane hanger with a Hawaiian theme that happens to have 140 poker tables and you get a sense of the poker room. Although Spartan and very active, HG is surprisingly comfortable with well-maintained equipment, flat screens everywhere and first-rate customer service.

The main poker room is partitioned into the general area and a VIP or higher stakes area with 15/30 limit and above and $300 NL and above. Note to the hungry: food is free in the VIP section. The smaller stakes limit, $100 NL, Omaha and stud action fill the remainder of the room and are scattered liberally around. You can check it out in a lousy camera phone photo below.

The main room




The smaller, middle "tent" used to house the Lahiana restaurant (among other things) but to accommodate HG’s growth over the last few years, management opted to replace the restaurant tables with baby NL games. HG was the originator in So Cal of the fixed buy-in NL game and, as with Ocean’s, they’ve seen tremendous demand for them. You can imagine the management meeting. “Well, the restaurant tables are busy twice a day with an average ticket of $8. If we took them out, we’d have room for about 30 NL tables generating about $100+ per hour an average of 18 hours per day.” It was probably an easy decision.


Low Stakes NL…Hawaiian G-style

As I mentioned above, the small stakes NL games are held in the room which used to house the Lahaina restaurant. There were roughly 30 tables in the room of which 16 were in operation on Thu night at around 8p. The majority, 11-12 were 1/1 blinds, $20 min-max buy-in tables; another 6 or so were 1/2 blinds, $40 min-max tables.

I wanted to try these tables, checked with the brush person and was immediately seated at a $20 table. The clientele at these tables seemed to be mostly social players with fewer of the older limit players I’d see at Ocean’s. The demographics pretty much mirrored the surrounding area—Hawaiian Gardens is an Asian community; Oceanside comprises more of an older, retiree market. Of course, given the So Cal locations, both have a strong complement of Hispanic patrons.

In the baby NL room, the tables themselves are quite close together and have an unusual nylon “felt”. I’m not a big fan of the faux felt—it makes me feel like there should be drains in the floor so they can just hose the whole room down at the end of the night. It wasn’t grungy by any sense, but it was definitely barebones and set up to accommodate lots of turnover with several staff persons focused on filling open seat and chip runners with $20 stacks of chips to facilitate the frequent reloads.

Although it’s a $20 min-max buy-in, it’s not uncommon to see players sitting relatively deep with 5-6 buy-ins. And as you might expect, you can see some very interesting hands at these levels with varying stacks and skills. Within moments of my arrival at the table, there were 5 limpers (including the two big stacks at the table, both sitting with $1000+) to me with some junk hand in the BB. The flop came 5T5 rainbow, and I folded to the small blind’s $6 lead. Both of the large stacks called. The turn was a blank completely the rainbow. The small blind again bet out, this time for $12. Call. Call. “Ok, someone’s lying.” I thought. The river bricked and the small blind shoved. When the first big stack called, the small blind announced, “Well, I think I’m beat. You must have a five.” I thought, “You led all three streets, OOP, on a non-draw board without a five? Bless your heart.” Oddly enough, the other big stack insta-called as well. Both big stacks showed T5o for flopped boats. The small blind tabled QTo and was promptly reloaded by one of the roving chip runners.

I ordered a Jack Daniels on the rocks to keep my head from exploding and settled in for some more of this dark comedy. Within another orbit or so, there were 5 limpers to me in the BB with 89. The flop was 8J6 rainbow, checked around. The small blind led out at the 8 turn and, with trips, I shoved for my all $18 or so of my stack. It folded back to the small blind, he called and showed J2c. Top pair, no kicker—I’ll take it.

A few hands later there was a min-raise with two callers to me in LP with TT. I raised to $10 and got one caller. Checked to me, I shoved the J high flop and the caller abandoned his hand.


Maelstrom!

One of the problems with multi-way pots with lots of limp calling is that you sometimes get sucked into being a calling station. A few hands later I played one of those hands and I still feel the shame of it. An UTG min-raiser made it $2 (Is there a book or something that advocates min-raising? If not, why on Earth do guys do so much of it live?) and there were four calls behind to me on the button with 33. In a limped pot, I sometimes re-pop this and take down a nice pot with a continuation bet, but that min-raise UTG had me beat and I knew it. I called for set value, and when the flop fell 245 rainbow, I started to hear a vague sucking noise.



The original raiser then bet $3 into the $12+ pot, leaving himself $8 behind. Everyone called to me and I considered shoving but thought all I’d accomplish was getting heads up with a short stack (the original raiser) who had me beat. I called the $3. The turn brought an eight (no flush draw) at which point the UTG raiser shoved and the vague sucking sound turned into a full on ship rattling maelstrom. Call, call, call, call. $8 to me into a $50+ pot in with two of the callers and myself sitting with chips behind. It occurred to me that a made straight (67) was a definite possibility and at a higher level I’d likely fold. But here, in the low stakes NL abyss, ANY HOLDINGS are possible and the thought of an A rolling off and a horribly played ATo taking this pot forced me to call the 8 bucks.

As it was, a second eight rolled off on the river and the hellish whirlpool stopped. Check check check check check. TT > 45 > A4 > 33 > 23 for a $60 pot at $20 min-max NL. God help us.

A few hands later I saw another fine play by one of the large stacks at the table. Six limpers to the BB (the big stack at the table with $120ish) who made it $10 to go. There was a call behind here, and then a shove for another $15 (?). What is the call then shove in MP—88…AQ? In any event, the table folded back to the BB. She called and big stack behind her called for a $75+ pot. Flop came 549. The original raise then bet $10 into the $75 pot, but the other stack was obviously not going anywhere with that bet. Call. Checked it down from there. AKo < A2 < 77.


Bigger and better things

At this point, I’d seen enough carnage, racked up (ok, so I picked up my $18 in chips) and went out to put my name on the list for the $500 NL game, played here with 5/10 blinds. Within a few minutes I was seated at what looked to be a pretty good table, lots of limp/calling, a strip-club obsessed “money manager” (henceforth, “Suit”) sitting with about a grand and just enough table passivity to be interesting.

Within minutes of sitting, I witnessed the following hand. Suit min-raises UTG to $20. Middle position player sitting $500 deep raises to $75. DB calls in position, and Suit folds. Flop 992. MP raiser fires $125 bet. DB calls. Turn is a blank. Check. Guy behind pushed for $240. Original raiser labors and calls with 88. 88 < TT. Suit shakes his head and shouts “I had A9!”.

A few hands later there are six limpers to me (and yes, I’m still at the 5/10 table) on the DB with AQo. I bump it to $50 and get two callers. Checked to me, I bet $100 at the A high flop. One player folds, the other one shoves for another $50 or so. Turn, river…blank, blank. AQo > POS.

I didn’t have too many more hands to report. Called in position with JTs, multi-way pot. Whiffed the flop. Folded to action in front of me. Later, I'm in middle position with AA and raised two limpers to $40. Everyone folded. Whatever.

The laugh-out-loud hand of the session was the following. Limped all around, six players (including me in the BB with 86) to the flop. KK5. Checked all the way around. Turn is a K. I check. Suit (to my left in the BB) pushed $20 into the $60 pot. Called all around except for me. River is the case K, at which point, three players jump up out of their chairs. Only two players show—JJ and QJ. Q takes the pot and the JJ player throws his hand to the felt shouting “JJ never wins for me!” Gee, I can’t imagine why.

The action was good enough that I came back down on Saturday night to check it out again. I poked my head in the low stakes NL room and it was PACKED. All 30 or so tables and some overflow tables running. The atmosphere was again pretty raucous—it’s more like a party than a poker room. I spent a little time watching and it’s obviously more of a social event than hard-core playing. I guess it has to be. At the $20 min-max tables, there’s only $180 on the table to start with and HG is pulling maybe $75/hour out of that economy.

In any event, I sat in a $300 NL table (3/5 blinds) that was much tighter than the one I’d played the Thursday before. Players were much more cautious—still limping, but fewer to the flop. I promptly blew off a buy-in in the following hand.

I’m in middle position with AJ. UTG limps to me, I bump it to $20. DB and UTG both called. I totally whiff the flop T76 but when UTG checked to me, I fired $35 at the pot. DB called and UTG folded. Turn was another T and I checked. DB checked behind. River was A which I checked hoping to get him to stab at it. He did that and then some, shoving for $200 and standing up. WTF? My immediate thought was that I didn’t have much in the pot so I should abandon the hand, but I couldn’t make sense of the bet. A big pocket pair re-raises PF or on the flop. A set, straight or T bets < pot here usually. He didn’t look particularly comfortable, showed way too much strength and over bet shoved the pot at the river. Sure looked like a busted flush draw to me. I called and it wasn’t, of course. He showed AQo but whatever. More than 50% of the time, that’s a busted draw. I’m more ticked off that I didn’t fire a second bullet at the turn.

In retrospect, that hand opened the table up considerably. The guy I doubled up promptly (next hand, in fact) donked off 80% of his stack to another player’s AA. As for me, I ended up getting action on AA, QQ (2x) and took down a nice pot with a straight flush draw shove into a multi-way pot. I’m pretty sure the table labeled me as a loose player, but I really only played quality hands (and not many hands overall) all night. I ended the session off a $100 and happy with my play.

A note on the service. The dealers and floor staff were, as at Ocean’s, noticeably friendlier than those at the Bike or Commerce. None of the thinly veiled contempt for players that you’ll often experience from dealers in the bigger LA rooms. Considering HG’s size and activity level, that’s impressive. As for table service, the $300+ NL games are played in the VIP section. Food’s free and quite good. I didn’t ordered food but several players had hamburgers and fruit plates that looked very good. As with all LA rooms, drinks are not free, but the cocktail service was responsive.

Overall, I think Hawaiian Gardens Casino is a nice alternative to the Commerce or the Bike. There’s bigger action at both those rooms, but plenty of action for mid-stakes players at HG. There’s plenty of parking, easy access from the 605 freeway, minimal wait times, decent food for $300+ players and guys that are willing to call off $200 with a pair of aces, jack kicker. What more could you want?

Still digging,

Edmond


Footnote

*Sprung structures are typically used for semi-permanent facilities that needed quick construction—military installations and Indian gaming facilities, for example. Hawaiian Gardens was one of the last (if not the last) California card room to be licensed prior to the moratorium on card room licenses and started up with five poker tables set up in trailers in December of 1997. It used the sprung structures thereafter add capacity cheaply and quickly. For a thorough account of the history and breadth of gaming in California, see Gambling in the Golden State – 1998 Forward by Charlene Wear Simmons, Ph. D, May 2006.

Gambling in the Golden State 1998 Forward - pages 1-92
Gambling in the Golden State 1998 Forward - pages 93-176

Recently, I’ve been compiling a comparison chart of LA card rooms for my own reference and as a simple way to respond to the frequent "I'm going to LA. Where should I play?" post that surfaces every couple of days in popular poker forums. You can see the most recent version of that chart here…

LA Card room comparisons

As much time as I’ve spent in local card rooms, I've never played the low stakes NL games and I was curious about reports that they've replaced the smaller limit games in many places. Last week, I took a mid-week trip down to Ocean's 11 and Hawaiian Gardens to update my info on those rooms and see how they’re spreading baby NL.

Ocean's 11

My first stop was Ocean's 11 Casino, a 45-table room in Oceanside, CA, 95 miles south of Santa Monica and 40 miles north of San Diego. The card room is located directly off the 5 freeway; it's visible from the highway and easy to access. That said, I drove right by it like a bonehead and had to circle back.

As you enter the casino, there's a small bar/restaurant (9 tables, 3 flat screen TVs) to the left and, to the right, the blackjack and pai gow room. In addition to poker, California card rooms are allowed to play a variety of games that aren't played against the house; of those, pai gow poker and tiles, variants of blackjack, three card poker and Caribbean stud are the most popular. These games aren’t my gig, but they do get a ton of play throughout the state.

A ramp leads from the front entrance down into the main poker room in which most of the larger buy-in poker games are spread. To the right, there's a separate room for the small stakes NL games and tournament. I managed to take a couple of photos of the rooms which you can see below.

Down the ramp into the main room




The main poker room




In the main room, Ocean’s spreads $3/6 limit hold’em and up and $2/3 NL and up; check the chart above for larger stakes games and the min-max buy-ins. There’s a sign-up area to the back left of the room and a cage to the back right. The sign-up list is automated and projected on the left hand wall—it’s easy to see from all points of the room. Players can call ahead to get on the list for $8/16 and up limit and $5/5 and up NL.


Wait list




Cage area (right hand side)




I usually travel solo to card rooms—I like to keep my vices to myself—but today I had a friend/older card room owner with me. He wanted to check out the action in the $6/12 game, but I was here to collect info on low stakes NL. So I left him with a gin martini (3:30p on a Thursday; I love the old guys!) and headed into the low stakes abyss.


Low stakes NL aka Baby NL

The low stakes room (also known as the tournament room) at Ocean’s has about 18 of the card room's forty-five total tables. On this particular day (Thu, 3:30p), nine of those tables were operating (six $1/2 NL and three $2/2 NL tables). The room has its own brush area with sign-up lists projected on the wall from any seat in the room.


Low stakes/Tournament room




Brush area




Wait list




Ocean’s spreads two types of low stake NL games, a 1/1 blind, 20/40 min-max buy-in game and a 2/2 blind, 40/100 min-max game. Both have effectively replaced the 1/2 and 2/4 limit games that used to be common in small rooms like this one. Of course, Ocean’s still maintains an interest list for $2/4 limit, but while I was there, no one summoned the courage to get out it. Note: on the following Saturday night, there was one 2/4 limit game going, with another 4-5 names of interest.

After a few minutes on each list, they called my name for a new 1/1 NL game. Ready to be a factor, I sat down deep with a full $40 and settled in for a few orbits. The players are an interesting mix of former limit players—older players who tend to call too much pre-flop, bet in methodical patterns and make minimum raises and younger, TV-bred players, with oversized raises and aggressive betting patterns.

Humorous note: there was a guy sitting to my right in his Fed Ex uniform at 4p. “I’m just playing a couple of hands and then I have to get back.” He was still sitting there an hour later.

As you might expect from the stakes and the players, the game alternates in style between something resembling multi-way limit play and 3-bet action you’d see in the early stages of a re-buy tournament. It is not uncommon to have a couple of “limp limp limp raise call call call flop check check check check turn check check check bet” hands and then a couple of “raise 3-bet stare down call flop shove stare-down call” by 20-somethings in hoodies, iPods and sunglasses.

Sunglasses are an odd accessory in this game. First of all, the stakes are low enough where no one really gives of confidence tells. Second, I’m not sure these lower stakes players have any good sense of how to read another player’s confidence anyway. It’s far more common to see a player overplay a marginal hand like ATo or QJs than exhibit some telling facial tick and I’d encourage beginning players to focus on bringing discipline not Oakleys to the table.

Overall, it seemed to be much more social than some of the larger stakes NL of southern California and a game in which beginning players could be very comfortable working on their table skills and demeanor. At each table I played, several players knew each other, and while not soft-playing, treated confrontations casually. In addition, while Ocean’s takes a healthy rake from each pot ($4 total from a 1/1 game and $5 total from the 2/2 game), no one seemed to mind. Ocean’s only takes its vig when the pot exceeds $7 and reduces the rake short-handed, but most pots easily exceeded the minimum. Overall, it’s a social game, first and foremost, and despite the rake, one in which someone playing ABC aggressive poker could beat for a modest gain.

A few hands

I didn’t play many hands, but as in ANY live game, there were some notable hands every few moments. Here are a few that stood out. After a few multi-way limped pots, one of the younger players raised UTG to 8. In the live version of the betting tells (discussed by Adanthar here Hand reading 101: Betting and timing tells online), this is usually something like JJ-AA. It folded around to a late position short stack, who pushed. UTG over-bet KK > short stack A5o push. A few hands later, one of the young players raised a multi-way limped pot from the blinds. He bet all three streets with three to a flush, a J and an A on board and was called down by player with pocket 4s. “You’re going to run over the table.” the pocket 4s holder announced. Awesome stuff.

Like I said, I didn’t play many hands in the session; I was really just trying to make some mental notes. That said, I did manage to find a couple of hands. Once, I had AKo in the blind and 4-5 players limped to me 4-5. I bumped it to 5 and four players stayed to see the KxT two diamond flop. I led out for $15 intending to shove/call any re-raise. As it was, only one caller stayed to see the turn, a 9. I thought about the possible straight but didn’t want to allow another free card, so I counted out my remaining stack, $20 and shoved it in. Other player promptly folded. A few hands later, I picked up QQ UTG and raised to $4 with two callers from the blinds. They both checked the ragged flop and folded to my $10 continuation.

In another hand, it was limped around to me with AQo on the cut-off. I raised to $5 and SIX callers opted to see the flop for a $35 pot. Remember, players only sit down with $20-$40 in this game, so this is a nice pot relative to what’s on the table. One of the blinds led out with a $4 bet at the A9x flop. Uh, what? It folded to me and I moved a stack of twenty $1 chips out. Back to him, he showed A3o and folded.

After about an hour of stack erosion (bleeding off a few chips set-mining, whiffing a flop with AKo multi-way, etc.), I decided to head back toward Los Angeles. I racked up my $70 or so and headed over to the main room to pull my friend away from the table. He was halfway through a rack of chips and his third Sapphire martini and grudgingly gave up his seat in “the juiciest game he’s seen in a while."

Conclusions

Some general thoughts on the small NL games. Some players seem to know what they’re doing but overall, the play is comparable to a 10c/25c or below game online with players routinely overvaluing hands like QJs, ATo, AJ, etc. I saw a couple of guys move in on EP raises for roughly 20 BBs with those hands. Call me a nit, but I don’t like to play those hands to an EP raise, even in this game. But many players, in fact, do and do so way too aggressively. It’s a game where a novice playing fundamental poker could likely stay ahead of the field, even with the beefy rake.

As for the service at Ocean’s, the floor staff and dealers were very friendly and efficient. There was none of the sour “I hate my job and these degenerates” attitude that you often encounter in So Cal rooms. Cocktail service was very prompt and the food deserves special mention. My experience with tableside food service at other local rooms ranges from mediocre (Hustler) to very nice (the Bike) with the Commerce somewhere in between. Ocean’s food service was well-beyond my expectations for even a much larger room. The turkey club was first-rate, with quality and presentation comparable to a lunch entrée at a nice restaurant. Another player ordered a fruit plate and another, a hamburger. All looked appetizing and were exceptionally cheap. Honestly, I’d look forward to eating there, something I wouldn’t say about any other room in the LA area.

In sum, I’d give Ocean's 11 Casino high marks as card room; if you’re in the San Diego/South Orange County area, you should check it out. If it were closer to my home, I’d make it my regular haunt. As for the low stakes NL, I think it’s a beatable game. There’s a heavy rake relative to pot size, but the play is uniformly weak and predictable. Solid, aggressive poker would easily prevail over the majority of opponents.

Still digging,

Edmond

Next up: LA Card rooms: Hawaiian Gardens

I must be clairvoyant. When the turn was a 3, I knew the 9 was coming...

Seat 1: IHeartTeaching (1,920)
Seat 2: CountMC (1,080)

CountMC posts the small blind of 15
IHeartTeaching posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CountMC T J
CountMC raises to 90
IHeartTeaching raises to 270
CountMC calls 180

*** FLOP *** 3 8 4
IHeartTeaching bets 1,650, and is all in
CountMC calls 810, and is all in
IHeartTeaching shows 9 9
CountMC shows T J
Uncalled bet of 840 returned to IHeartTeaching

*** TURN *** 3 8 4 3
*** RIVER *** 3 8 4 3 9

IHeartTeaching shows a full house, Nines full of Threes
CountMC shows a flush, Jack high
IHeartTeaching wins the pot (2,160) with a full house, Nines full of Threes

CountMC stands up
IHeartTeaching stands up

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,160 | Rake 0
Board: 3 8 4 3 9
Seat 1: IHeartTeaching (big blind) showed 9 9 and won (2,160) with a full house, Nines full of Threes
Seat 2: CountMC (small blind) showed T J and lost with a flush, Jack high


Edmond

Mr. Calvin Ayre, Bon Vivant
Bodog Poker
Costa Rica

Dear Mr. Ayre,

Just a quick note to thank you and your fine staff for the following...



Had you not delivered the river deuce, this hand would've gone the way of my other misplayed hands--a moment of embarrassment when the cards were shown and then buried forever in a hand history file. Instead, you've given me the opportunity to reflect on how poorly I played it and, importantly, the opportunity for others to mock me into perhaps thinking before acting. Like most of my college relationships, my actions seemed right at the time but, when exposed to sober reflection and honest critique by others, shameful and worthy of change.

Thanks again for the second chance.

Your friend,

Edmond

P.S. Following this hand with JJ v QQ on a ragged board was a nice touch. ED

Apparently, Full Tilt didn’t take kindly to my last post in which I referenced a heifer in a Full Tilt hat. I was mindlessly multi-tabling low stakes NL this morning while watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal mix it up in the finest Wimbledon men’s final in a number of years. The cooler team must’ve had the morning off, and I managed to grind out a buy-in or so when Tilt punished me with this little gem.

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 6 Players - (LegoPoker HH Converter)

SB: $127.65
Hero (BB): $44.60
UTG: $95.50
MP: $32.20
CO: $115.85
BTN: $195.40

Preflop: Hero is dealt 9 9 (6 Players)
UTG raises to $3.50, 4 folds, Hero calls $2.50

Flop: ($7.50) 6 3 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $6.00, Hero raises to $15.00, UTG raises to $52.50, Hero calls all-in for $26.10
Uncalled bet of $11.40 returned to UTG

Turn: ($89.70) T (2 Players - 1 All-In)

River: ($89.70) 7 (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $89.70 ($3 Rake)

UTG had 8 8 (a straight, Ten high) and WON (+$42.10)
Hero had 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines) and LOST (-$44.60)

Fortunately, I’d just burned off a good chunk of my stack on the previous hand when AA < 88 so the wound wasn’t as deep as it could’ve been. Still, crack my AA with 88…whatever. But it is too much to ask that my top set actually holds to an under pair? Seriously, there’s some sickos behind the curtain at that site.

Edmond

It’s been over a week and I still can’t shake the image. Her bovine body…bloated face…open mouth…chewing…and chewing…

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It was horrible. But first, the…


Home game

I was running a little late for my WSOP Vegas trip number 2, jamming for a Saturday morning flight out of LAX into Las Vegas to meet lakong and Shaniac for breakfast and maybe hunt down nath and Adanthar before Event #38.

I'd overslept after dealing a home tournament the Friday night before. It’s a real berry patch but becoming a bit of a pain. I deal one table and supervise another, the food's terrible, the smoking's a drag and it's an hour in traffic to get there. AND the host always forgets to restock Jack Daniels. I keep telling myself "Never again", but it’s at the home of a good friend and it's so SOFT…

This particular Friday night we had 18 players for a $100 buy-in freeze-out. The skill mix of players ranges from bad to horrible with two of my favorite indicators of EV- decision-making—smoking and tattoos—prominent. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lower back tat (on a girl) as much as the next guy, but Chinese characters or tribal images on a Hispanic or white guy? If he’s not in prison, I think even Mike Tyson’s gonna check the mirror when he’s mid-50s or so and regret the face tattoo. And smoking's been a known carcinogen for what, 40 years now?

Even without body art and controlled substances, the play’s laughable. Guys are super loose early and then, with the bubble in sight, they seize up like an engine without oil. Here's a sampling of the bumbling…

Hand 1. Early in the tournament, I picked up KK in the BB. With one limper to me, I raised 4x the blinds. In this game, there are three types of raises—min raises, 10+x raises and me raising 3-4x depending on position. The flop was Q high rags and I made a half pot bet. “I know you have a good hand.” he winced and called. Turn was an A, not so good in this game. I bet half the pot again. Call. Ugh. River's a blank. I checked, basically insisting that he take the pot from me with any decent bet, but he whiffed the cue and checked behind. KK > TT. Nice.

Hand 2. With the blinds at 100/200, a 15x stack in no danger of blinding out pushed and was insta-called by a somewhat larger stack. The original raiser showed 32o (light for even this game) and the caller, a more reasonable KK. 2 on the flop, 2 on the turn…32o > KK and is promptly renamed The Conrad, after its talented proponent.

Hand 3. Down to 14 players with the blinds at 100/200, there was an UTG raise to me with KK—I re-raised. Behind me in rapid succession…all-in…all-in…original raiser all-in. I had everyone covered and called with confidence. KK v AQ v 88 v AK and, frankly, I was surprised at the quality of the hands—there’s usually a misplaced AJo or QJs in this mix. I feared the worst, but K on the flop and I knocked three guys out at once. Note to self: tip the dealer.

A few hands later, we consolidated to one table and I was feeling good with the #2 stack. #1 stack was a calling station and I could pretty much walk into the money from here. Until, of course…

Hand 4. Blinds were 200/400, two limpers to me with TT with a stack of 7500 or so. I made it 2000 straight hoping to narrow it down. Big stack called. Flop came Kx9. Checked to me, I bet out 2000. Big stack called. Turn was a T, at the site of which, he…pushed? I dismissed the possible straight and called only to be shown QJo for the nifty “out-of-position limp/call pre-flop, call flop bet with gutter and turn a straight” push. The river bricked and I was out two spots from the money. I briefly considered beating him to death with a pizza box but decided that I couldn’t conceivably post bail in time for my morning flight and instead opted to take a little break to regroup.

The great thing about dealing this game is that when I take a beat like that, I get to stick around and see my chips squandered away. I’ve never been divorced but it strikes me kind of like making alimony payments. You know you’re paying some personal trainer somewhere, and for what? Her butt’s never fitting into a size 4 (and certainly not for your benefit) and there’s no fixing stupid. True to form, chip leader started spewing—limp calling any two—and blew off half his stack limp calling Q3o all-in pre-flop v KK. He finished third, I think. The rest of the evening was more of the same spewage with a God-sent chop around midnight. Never again…


Event #38 No Limit Hold’em $1500 buy-in

As it turns out, I made the flight easily and got into Vegas around 9:30. I grabbed a Town Car over to lakong’s hotel and we head over to the Rio to meet Shaniac for breakfast. When we got there, the line at the Sao Paolo Café was a good 30+ minutes, not good. Fortunately, lakong channeled his inner New Yorker and annoyed them into giving us Platinum player card treatment. Shaniac, kong and I caught up a little over egg white omelettes and then made our way over to Amazon room.

Event #38 was a $1500 NL event with another nice Saturday turn-out—2,778 entries for a prize pool of $3.8 million total prize pool, $673,628 to the winner. I was hoping to hook up with Adanthar and nath but both ran late and were in the alternate line when the tournament started.

Two hands in, at 25/50, it was folded to me holding 98 in MP. I raised to 150 and the BB (some dude from NYC) called. Q22 flop and he led out for 150. WTF…do I look that much like a weak tight chooch? I’m re-raising that bullshit BB lead out 100% of the time. 99% of the time, he’s not sporting a set and certainly not here. I made it 450 and he collapsed like McCain’s fledging presidential bid.

A quick look around the table.

#10 seat was Isaac Haxton, runner up at the 2007 PCA.



#9 seat was…uh…I can’t remember.

#8 seat was the New Yorker from hand above.

#7 seat was a Swedish guy. He and Isaac seemed to know each other and chattered non-stop about online high stakes cash game hands, every one of which was “SO sick.”

#6 seat was a Jabba the Hut look-alike sporting garish neck chains and a Commerce Casino hat. And not just any CC hat—the cheesy one with the gold lame lettering. Two or three hands into the tournament, he set up a portable fan in a room that was running about 50 degrees Farenheit. Nice, Jabba is a sweater.

#5 was a likable kid who’s laughing off that he’s sharing the dealer box with Jabba the Sweaty Hut.

#4 seat was a big guy in sunglasses who looked like he could play.

#3 seat was a recently engaged weak tightie from NC.

#2 seat was me.

#1 seat to my right was a 40-ish guy dress in all black. Black suit, black silk shirt. Dude, this is $1500 event on a Saturday afternoon. Hold the suave.

Some hands…

At 25/50, I’m on the dealer button with 99. The cutoff (Man in Black) limped and I raised to 200. Flop was 866. MIB checked to me, and I bet 350. Limp/caller check-raised to $650 but didn’t look happy about it so I tossed in three one hundred chips. Turn was a Q. Checked to me. I checked behind planning to call a reasonable non-A river bet. River was a deuce and he again checked to me. I figure I’m good here for sure and bet 700. He called and showed 99 for a split pot. Ok, that was too much thinking for a chop.

At 50/100, Jabba raised to 300 from the dealer button. The Swedish kid, in the small blind with 1350 chips, re-raised to 800, and Jabba put him in. Jabba showed AQs; Swedish kid showed A3o. A3o < AQs and Isaac needed someone new to talk to.

Soon after, either losing his will to live or anxious to continue the conversation at the rail, Isaac shoved on a MP raiser for about 1500. The original raiser called instantly with AA; Isaac showed 88. Funny, he never broke stride from the story he was telling to the guy next to him. Flop was A99 and Isaac was out.

At the same 50/100 level, Man in Black again limped from the dealer button. With a K66 flop, an UTG limper bet 200 into the 400-ish pot. MIB starts counting out chips, shaking like John Daly with a Diet Coke, and called. I’m not sure why EP continued to bet with the I HAVE A SIX sign flashing, but he did. More shaking by MIB…call. Finally, EP shut down at the river but still called a half pot river bet. MIB proudly showed J6. Gee, no kidding. I guess the black suit does have the added advantage that if he wet his pants it wouldn’t show.

A few hands later, Jabba raised to 350 from the CO and the big blind re-raised to 1300. Jabba called and the flop fell QTx. Check. Check. Turn was a blank. Check. Check. River was a K. Check. Check. Jabba’s AK > JJ. I was embarrassed for them both.

I made the first break with 2850 in chips, but after a few orbits of 95o-ish hands and a nice “raise, whiff, continue, fold to raise” effort by me our table broke and I was moved to a new table with 2000-ish. As soon as I sat down—middle position or so—a guy directly to my right pushed. I haven’t even stored my backpack under the seat, but pick up KK and called. Oddly enough, KK > A8o and I doubled up to 4600-ish.

A few hands later, I had Q8o in BB. SB, the same guy who pushed on me with A8o, completed. Flop came Q9x and he led out with 200 bet into a 600 pot. “What is that?” I thought and banged it up to 700. I figured he’d insta-fold his 9, but he shoved—not exactly what I was hoping for. I thought for a second, ruled out a set, concluded that looked like JT or a crappy Q and called. Sure enough, he showed Q4o. Nice…I’m 2:1 to double up. Runner runner, paired board. As the dealer was splitting the chips, Q4o donk brayed, “I didn’t know you had a monster. Sorry.” Ugh.

A few hands later, the same guy limped and I raised to 800 with 99. Flop came AJT with two spades and he insta-shoved. I can’t even imagine what hand he was playing there, but I’m guessing my nines were behind.

An orbit or so later, I doubled up with AT when a big stack called my pre-flop raise and T high flop shove with 88. The table broke shortly thereafter and I headed to table 31 with 8000 chips when I saw it…


The Beast

We were still at 100/200/25 and I was feeling good about my stack, call it 8400 chips, when a water buffalo in a Full Tilt fisherman’s hat limped from EP. Her size alone would give most guys pause but she compounded her presence by chewing gum/reeds/whatever with her mouth agape. I was nauseated, of course, but composed myself and raised to 700 with A7. The table collapsed back to the beast, who stopped chewing long enough to count out a call. The flop was 764 and she tapped a hoof on the table, still chewing. I tried my best to block the image and bet out for 2000. Back to her, she gave me a look like I’d made a move toward her feedbag and shoved. I asked for a count but concluded she pretty much had me covered.

I’d like to say I thought out the full range of hands this masticator could have, but to be honest, I just wanted the wretched site out of my mind. I rationalized that given my stack and hers and the action, top top was no good and mucked the hand. Adanther, nath et al. later ridiculed the decision, but at the time I felt like Roy Munson confronted by his landlady in Kingpin. I just wanted it over.

A few hands later, still nauseous, I dodged a bullet when I folded 77 to an UTG raise and MP shove. An orbit or so later with the blinds at 150/300/25, I raised to 900 with AKo UTG. An old timer called 600 from BB. I whiffed the flop but re-raised to 1800 when he led out with 400 into the 2000+ pot. Did I mention that that’s a real hand like, never? Due respect to Super System, of course.

Fast forward to 200/400/50. I’m UTG + 3 with 6600 chips. I raised to 1200 with 66. Uber-tight guy behind me shoved and it’s back to me, another 5000 to call. Hmmm…have you even played a hand in over an hour, sir? Uh, no thanks.

At this point, a big stack joined the table in the #10 seat just in time to post. UTG (number #1 seat) open-raised to 1600. Table folded around and the big stack called. Flop brought all low diamonds. BB checked and UTG shoved for well over 10,000 chips. BB stood up, clearly agitated, re-checked his hand and the board. “I guess I have to call.” he said and turned over J8 for the flopped the flush. “Yes,” I’m thinking. “Yes, you do. No way a big diamond flush pushes there.” Sure enough, UTG showed QQ, no diamonds. One minute, he was the #2 stack at the table. Next minute, he was headed to the rail as a 45:1 dog from the flop. Nice work.

An orbit or so later, I was short with 4000 and it’s folded to me with ATo on DB. I shove con gusto and a medium stack called and showed Ac7x. T on the flop (nice!), two clubs. Runner runner clubs and I’m flushed from the tournament. Lovely.


Nath confronts a crustacean

After I busted, I met up with Adanthar and nath, both of whom had beaten me to the rail. We headed over to Buzio’s, the Rio's fish restaurant, picking up mlagoo, SuperfluousMan, et al. along the way. It was about 6:30p, well before the dinner rush, so I thought we’d be eating by 6:45p easy. Nope. Since we were obvious degenerates, the hostesses brushed off our request for a table for "6 or so, maybe more…" with open disdain. As we reviewed our options, I stepped back to the podium, gave one of the hostesses a hundie and asked her to keep us in mind if another party didn't show. Most staffers in Las Vegas respect a nice note signed by the Secretary of the Treasury and these harlots were no exception. They found us a spot in less than a minute.

Dinner was somewhat uneventful other than being howled at for my fold to the Full Tilt heifer (“You had top top!” “It’s live! People suck live!”) and watching nath try to figure out how to eat a lobster. None of us had eaten all day so we pretty much tore up the bread basket like we’d just been released from prison. Drinks, appetizers followed by more reflection on the unseemly play we’d all witnessed earlier.

There was an awkward moment when the waitress brought nath’s entrée, a lobster roughly the size of a small dog. I grew up in Maine and have probably eaten more lobster than hotdogs. Nath, though, looked at his entrée with the look of a man who’s seen a duck speak. Taking the initiative, I cracked the bastard open (the lobster, not nath) and set him upon it. Dude, by the way, that green stuff isn’t wasabi.

After dinner, there was some talk of credit card roulette but this was the day BEFORE mlagoo’s Sunday Millions score, so I waved everyone off and settled up. Part of the group wanted to go play craps, but kong and I wanted to torture ourselves in a couple more satellites. Before we split, kong flagged down a casino patron to take this photo. Although it looks like a Civil War era lithograph, it was, in fact, taken in June of this year.



Left to right…EdmondDantes, Adanthar, mlagoo, SuperfluousMan, nath, [player to be name later] and lakong


Back to the grind

Lakong and I headed back to the Amazon room to play a couple of single table satellites. Once again, the $525s were seating quickly. In the first one, I was in the #10 seat, with Tony Ma was two to my right. Kong sat across the table in the #6 seat.

On the first hand, I busted the #9 seat…by mistake. I was UTG with AKo and tossed out a 100 chip intending to raise. Oops. Three callers including the BB. The BB led out for 100 on the K high flop and I raised to 350. Back to him, he shoved. Eww. I thought for a second, figured that was too strong to be a set or two pair and called. He showed KQo, didn’t improve and I doubled up.

Play was, once again, stupid soft. I twice saw flopped nut flushes check/checked to river. Ma busted out with 6A446 board after another gripping flop check/check turn check/check sequence when he made an inspired re-raise all-in on the river…with air…and was called by guy with a crappy A. It was like watching the opening sequence of the old Wide World of Sports in which Vinko Bogataj crashes spectacularly without even clearing the ramp.

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As it turns out, Ma at least made good use of his time. On the other hand, I managed to waste a little under two hours by working down my nice stack until three-handed when I pushed from DB with A2o and was promptly called by BB with A6o. 2 on the flop (the thrill of victory!), 6 on the turn (the agony of defeat!) and I was out. Ship the stretcher.

Disgusted by that showing, I did what any proven degenerate would do—I signed up for another. This one had the same woman who cracked my A2o with A6o and a friend of hers seated at the table. I was once again in the #10 seat and directly to my right was a short guy (maybe 5’ tall) wearing a top hat, sitting on two stacked seat cushions. He looked a bit like the town gadfly in High Plains Drifter* or Dr. Miguelito Loveless, the psychotic midget in the old Wild Wild West TV series.



The first level was uneventful other than me raising UTG with AKo (indeed, raising this time), continuing and being blown off the hand by re-raise shove. That and a guy who said this was his first live tournament, flopping quads with pocket aces and flopping a boat with pocket queens AND stacking another player both times. Oh, and another girl drawing AA twice and doubling up both times. Other than those hands, the first level was pretty standard.

It got a little interesting with the blinds at 25/50, when Dr. Loveless limp/called a raise to 200 by a woman in the #4 seat. The flop brought all low cards and he quickly shoved for 1700. The woman looked for a second and called, tabling AA. He showed…KTo? After he slunk from the table in shame, the other woman in the #5 seat commented, "He only did that because you were a woman.” No, hon, he only did that because he was a moron.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, these 525s are stupid soft. If you wait for a spot, you can easily get it in as a 3 or 4 to 1 favorite. I folded to the third level (50/100), when an EP raiser made it 325 to go on my blind. I looked down at KK…ok…here’s my spot. I paused for effect and then pushed for 1800 hoping to look weak. As it was, no Hollywooding was necessary, the EP raiser called instantly with QQ. Excellent. First card off on the flop was a Q, however, and I was out. Not so excellent.

I’d had enough carnage for one day and headed back to lakong’s room to crash on the couch. The couch folded out into a bed—a mattress bowl, more accurately. It wouldn’t have been bad, but the A/C was blowing directly on me all night. I spent the better part of the night shivering, with outside temperatures around 90 degrees or so.

The next morning we headed over to Starbucks to find a decent internet connection and ended up camping out there until noon or so when the infinite loop of the new Paul McCartney album got to be unbearable. Kong decided to play the mixed NL/limit event at 5p so we grabbed a bite at the Palms before I headed off to the airport and back to LA.

Overall, I guess I’d say I was happy with my play but disgusted with the results, an increasingly common WSOP result for me. I’m still haunted by my confrontation with the water buffalo, but watching the ongoing comedy of live play, meeting mlagoo before he got all huge with his Sunday Millions win and witnessing a one on one between nath and a lobster made the trip worth it. I guess.

Still looking to get even,

Edmond


*That character, Mordecai, was played by Billy Curtis, a veteran actor in Hollywood whose role credits ranged from playing an original munchkin in the Wizard of Oz (and, according to legend, hit on Dorothy constantly) to Mayor McCheese from the inception of the character by McDonalds until his death. McDonalds retired the character after his passing in the late 1980s.

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For folks new to blogging, I thought I’d offer up some suggestions to make your blogging easier and more interesting for readers.

Note Taking

First, if you’re going to blog about tournaments, rooms or trip reports, get yourself a voice recorder. Hands or details that seem interesting at the time are often difficult to remember the following day when you’re sleep deprived or hung over. You can get a digital voice recorder (<$100 for a nice one, Olympus or Sony, at any Staples or Best Buy), use the rudimentary voice recorder in your cell-phone or buy an adapter for most iPods. The idea isn’t to become some full-on reporter for the Times but to use the recorder to make notes on details (hands, stack sizes, room features, etc.) that you might not remember when you’re ready to write.

In the absence of a voice recorder, take notes when you can. Writing down stuff that strikes you as interesting detail—number of tables, an unusual hand, characteristics of your opponents, whatever—will make it MUCH easier to write when you’re in front of the computer. You don’t have to take formal notes in a notebook; just jot a few notes on a cocktail napkin or structure sheet. How many tables were left, stack sizes, what guys were wearing, how you were feeling, etc. Anything that will help kick-start your writing when you’re off the felt.

Pictures and Links

Whenever possible, add pictures or links to your blog. Pictures add detail that’s not always easy to convey with words and links to other articles, sites, room listings, etc. give your reader additional info without cluttering your post. At TwoRags, we’ve got very easy image and linking tools for bloggers. If you haven’t already tried them, you should. They’ll really make your blog come to life.

A note on pictures. As with many forums and blogs, you’ll need to host your image somewhere and reference the url in your image link. If you post me at edmond@tworags.com, I’ll put your image(s) on our server, size it appropriately and post you a url link that you can easily use in your blog.

Organization

Finally, organize your blog post into bite size chunks. Whenever I’m running long, I try to break the blog into sections with a heading and some sort of structure so the reader doesn’t feel overwhelmed. If you’re writing short, punchy pieces, it’s not as critical to break your work into sections, but if you’re writing more than 5-6 paragraphs, do the reader a favor and break your work up into discreet units. It’ll be easier for you to edit and him to read.

You can see all of these concepts in use in a blog post I made a few days ago here WSOP Event #15: A rookie goes deep...

Still digging,

Edmond