Tropicana Trip Report
Wow! What the hell did they do to that place? There's a new section called "The Quarter..." Stores, restaurants, clubs--they've made that a first class hotel/casino! It's almost overwhelming how damn nice (and crowded) it was. Many props. All they need to do is drop the rebuy/addon on their tournaments, and I'll play there exclusively!
Anyway, got there at about 9:15 to find a good sized list for all the holdem games except for the 8/16. I put my name on the list for 2/4, 3/6, and 4/8, figuring I'd take the first available, since we had tickets to the 11:15 Comedy Stop show. A quick stop to the cashier, a quick wave goodbye to Mrs. PokerShark and her friend Gina, and *poof* I get called for 2/4. Great. While I'm waiting, I meet a guy, late-50's, early-60's, who is giving the floor manager a bunch of lip, saying, "I bet if I walk this floor, I'll find my own damn seat before you do..." Just a real asshole.
So, I get to my table just in time to post the BB, and I realize within the first orbit a couple things:
1) This table is WAY passive.
2) TPTK--it's goot here.
3) Even though the table is passive, it's just filled with calling stations.
First orbit is uneventful--took down a pot with KTs, flopped tens on the flop, river paired the 5, I cautiously played it and won with tens up. Second orbit, a player gets up to leave and who takes his spot? The asshole! I don't say anything, I just watch. This guy is probably a fit for the maniac description. Raises with junk, calls it all to the river, tosses it if it's unplayable. I look down and see Paris and Nicky. "Raise 'em up..." I say, get 5 callers. Table image, FYI, is tight. Squeaky, squeaky tight. Flop is rags with 2 spades. EP player bets, I raise, down to 3 callers. Turn card is a brick. Rinse-repeat, EP player bets, I raise. Now we're heads up. River brings the 3rd spade. He bets, I raise. He re-raises and I know I'm screwed, but I have to call with these odds. He turns over JTs for the jack-high flush to crack my QQ. Oh well. I learned on that hand though.
A few hands later UTG I look down to see AK. Slick! My bud! I raise to $4, Get 4 callers. Flop is K-T-rag. I bet, get raised by the aforementioned asshole? I call. Turn card is a 5. I bet, he calls. I'm wondering now... He's raised before, and folded on the next street (hoping for a free card and not getting it). RIver is a blank. I bet, he calls. I turn over TPTK, call out "Kings..." He turns over T5o for tens up. Ok. I'm good. Then, this asshole starts to mock me at the table! "Aww, good tight player loses with Big Slick...Go read a few more books..." I'm shocked. Even assuming that this guy was an asshole from my first impression, he's being a real dick over a $30-something pot. Half the table wants his head already, and this doesn't win him any friends. I would just have assumed that an older "gentleman" wouldn't be such a boorish asshole. I assumed wrong.
I take a small pot here, lose one there until I get A2s on the button. I limp, and see two beautiful spades on the flop (Qs-9h-4s, IIRC). With 6 callers, it comes to me having been raised by a LP player. I call, and 5 players see the turn, including "asshole man." The turn card is the even more beautiful Js. It is checked to me, where I bet $4. It is then folded around to asshole man UTG + 1 who raises. I re-raise him, and he caps. I call, river is a 6. He bets, I raise, he calls, jumps out of his seat and says, "Straight to the king!" I look at him, seated calmly as ever, and say, "Nice hand sir. It's just a shame I turned the nut flush." The table exploded, craps-table style, in cheers. He throws his cards at the dealer, grabs his chips and attempts to jump on a 4/8 table, crying and bitching about how "kids ruin poker," and "raises get no respect here." I almost fell off my chair when the floor director told him to return to his original table, just as his reserved button hit the dealer's tray and they called the next 2/4 player on the list. Nice big pot. Left me up for the night $16 (4BB) in a little more than an hour. I finished the orbit, left and met the girls at the Comedy Stop. Good comedy, good poker, and damn, where did the time go? By the time I look, it's 2 AM, and we're on the expressway headed home. Easter (and the other holidays) bring family visits, and today will be a long day. We're visiting my parents in Philadelphia, then eating with Mrs. PokerShark's parents in Cherry Hill, NJ, then enjoying our Easter night at home in the magnificent quiet.
Happy Easter, folks!
Anyway, got there at about 9:15 to find a good sized list for all the holdem games except for the 8/16. I put my name on the list for 2/4, 3/6, and 4/8, figuring I'd take the first available, since we had tickets to the 11:15 Comedy Stop show. A quick stop to the cashier, a quick wave goodbye to Mrs. PokerShark and her friend Gina, and *poof* I get called for 2/4. Great. While I'm waiting, I meet a guy, late-50's, early-60's, who is giving the floor manager a bunch of lip, saying, "I bet if I walk this floor, I'll find my own damn seat before you do..." Just a real asshole.
So, I get to my table just in time to post the BB, and I realize within the first orbit a couple things:
1) This table is WAY passive.
2) TPTK--it's goot here.
3) Even though the table is passive, it's just filled with calling stations.
First orbit is uneventful--took down a pot with KTs, flopped tens on the flop, river paired the 5, I cautiously played it and won with tens up. Second orbit, a player gets up to leave and who takes his spot? The asshole! I don't say anything, I just watch. This guy is probably a fit for the maniac description. Raises with junk, calls it all to the river, tosses it if it's unplayable. I look down and see Paris and Nicky. "Raise 'em up..." I say, get 5 callers. Table image, FYI, is tight. Squeaky, squeaky tight. Flop is rags with 2 spades. EP player bets, I raise, down to 3 callers. Turn card is a brick. Rinse-repeat, EP player bets, I raise. Now we're heads up. River brings the 3rd spade. He bets, I raise. He re-raises and I know I'm screwed, but I have to call with these odds. He turns over JTs for the jack-high flush to crack my QQ. Oh well. I learned on that hand though.
A few hands later UTG I look down to see AK. Slick! My bud! I raise to $4, Get 4 callers. Flop is K-T-rag. I bet, get raised by the aforementioned asshole? I call. Turn card is a 5. I bet, he calls. I'm wondering now... He's raised before, and folded on the next street (hoping for a free card and not getting it). RIver is a blank. I bet, he calls. I turn over TPTK, call out "Kings..." He turns over T5o for tens up. Ok. I'm good. Then, this asshole starts to mock me at the table! "Aww, good tight player loses with Big Slick...Go read a few more books..." I'm shocked. Even assuming that this guy was an asshole from my first impression, he's being a real dick over a $30-something pot. Half the table wants his head already, and this doesn't win him any friends. I would just have assumed that an older "gentleman" wouldn't be such a boorish asshole. I assumed wrong.
I take a small pot here, lose one there until I get A2s on the button. I limp, and see two beautiful spades on the flop (Qs-9h-4s, IIRC). With 6 callers, it comes to me having been raised by a LP player. I call, and 5 players see the turn, including "asshole man." The turn card is the even more beautiful Js. It is checked to me, where I bet $4. It is then folded around to asshole man UTG + 1 who raises. I re-raise him, and he caps. I call, river is a 6. He bets, I raise, he calls, jumps out of his seat and says, "Straight to the king!" I look at him, seated calmly as ever, and say, "Nice hand sir. It's just a shame I turned the nut flush." The table exploded, craps-table style, in cheers. He throws his cards at the dealer, grabs his chips and attempts to jump on a 4/8 table, crying and bitching about how "kids ruin poker," and "raises get no respect here." I almost fell off my chair when the floor director told him to return to his original table, just as his reserved button hit the dealer's tray and they called the next 2/4 player on the list. Nice big pot. Left me up for the night $16 (4BB) in a little more than an hour. I finished the orbit, left and met the girls at the Comedy Stop. Good comedy, good poker, and damn, where did the time go? By the time I look, it's 2 AM, and we're on the expressway headed home. Easter (and the other holidays) bring family visits, and today will be a long day. We're visiting my parents in Philadelphia, then eating with Mrs. PokerShark's parents in Cherry Hill, NJ, then enjoying our Easter night at home in the magnificent quiet.
Happy Easter, folks!
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