The River(s)
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, right? I mean the place is called Rivers... Well, the last 2 weeks I've tried my luck at what I'm calling "The Cheap Bastard Tournaments" held on Sundays at Rivers Casino. Sunday at 2pm and 7:15 pm Rivers hosts a 30+5+5(+5 dealer add-on) tournament, so overall it's $45. The tournament is actually a really good deal for your money. It appears to be the same blind structure, time and blind-wise as the more expensive Mon-Wed $80 game and/or the $120 game Thurs. and Friday. I've only gotten as far as level 5 or 6, though. You start with 8000 in chips, +2k for $5 dealer add-on, so 10K in chips. Blinds are 20 minute levels and increase like so: 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 100-200 w25ante, 200-400 w50ante, 300-600 w75ante, 400-800 w100ante and I think it goes to 600-1200, 800-1600 and then not sure after that as I haven't made it that far yet...(I have made it further in the $80 game but I don't remember the blinds after this point...) I'm not sure if this tournament will continue after January, however, if turnout is any indication I'm thinking it will...84 players for the 2pm yesterday, 74 for the 2pm Sunday prior. In my past trips I've seen the $80 game get as much as 50 but it appears to usually stick around the 35-40 mark. I guess the money the tournaments bring in is the same, 84 at $40 or 40 at $80, however, only the casino would be able to more accurately judge the amount of money the increase of 40 people would bring in, I can't imagine everyone in those games is like me and won't play anything else if I don't win anything(this was really hard to do, though...)
I'm noticing a trend with my last couple of poker trips, though. I've had a few too many bluff-catching river calls turn out to be 2nd best hands(last week I had 3). Yesterday I had the unfortunate luck of being constantly rivered(4 times that I can remember) I also had a really nice start turn bad, too. I sat down at table 2, seat 5 about 8 minutes into level 1: parking and then there was a line of late registrants like me...(parking isn't that bad, but I've most recently just zoomed up to floor 8 to find a nice easy spot) My first hand I look down at KdQc, I'm in mid position and a limper to my right, so I raised it up to 175, someone made a comment that I missed so I asked what the standard raise at the table had been so far, older guy to my left said 175 is a good one so I figure it must have been light to that point. 4 callers later and the flop was K-K-9. 3 players checked to me and I had the guy with the most chips up to this point behind me in seat 9. This fact made me think he was pretty loose and/or aggressive, but he didn't yet know what to make of me so I thought a nice c-bet was needed for this pot, especially since I didn't want to give any gutters a free card here and any K or 9 is definately calling, I figured my opponents should have hands like QJ,J-10,8-9,K-J,K-10 and possibly any pocket pair might be able to call a bet so I put out about 350 and took it down, unfortunately. I showed my K to set precidence... Very next hand I look down KhKc and raise it up, this time to 150.(No tell here...but maybe they don't yet know that...), there just weren't any limpers in at the time, so I was only opening to the blinds and figured 3x was a good bet in that spot. I got 2 callers and the flop was 6h-9h-7s I put out another bet, 350, just as before and 9 seat, just as I suspected about his aggression, raised me to 1200. I acted a bit and I probably should've raised and probably taken it down but I felt like I was way ahead here so I called. I wasn't really scared of hearts and when the 7h hit I was still feeling like I was good, so I checked to him figuring him for a bet. He obliged with a bet of 2000 and I felt like maybe shoving at this point, but it's one of those spots you only get called if you're beat, maybe he can fold a 7 but I just didn't put him on that, I was more putting him on a decent Ace(A-9?) or 2 paints he was bluffing me with. The river was a Jh, strange as it is, I'm now only sitting on a bluff-catcher if he bets again on the river, which I'm guessing he'd only do with nothing hoping I fold or an Ah, hoping I call. He bets out 2k again and I don't really like it, but I'm not sure I can fold even though he's most likely NOT bluffing, right...? I called and he flipped over Ah-10c, which is pretty gross/awesome that I got him to put that many chips in not very good(it happens 2 more times later against this guy) I showed my hand not really to get sympathy, though that happened, but to strengthen that I'm a rock of a player because I'm going to have to semi bluff a few times after losing half my stack already to chip back up...next hand I had pocket 7s, raised, 2 callers, no surprise seat 9 was in, flop was K-Q-10, seat 3 checked, I checked and 9 bet out and I didn't feel like putting in the rest of my stack by the end of this hand just yet so I folded... I sat around 4-5K for a while, gaining a little here to negate the 2 other rivered hands. I raised at 100-200 to 500 in early position with 8-9offsuit. 2 callers, seat 2 and seat 9 included. Flop was A-A-7 and I didn't want to bet into an Ace so I checked, both checked, turn is an 8 so I put out another 500, seat 9 raised me and seat 2 folded. I felt like he couldn't find it in himself to check an Ace so I figured I was probably good at this point, so I called. River was a K and we both checked. I flipped over my 8-9 and he flipped over K-10 for a rivered K...jeeze..., I was actually able to get back up to near 10K when another rivered hand I can't remember knocked me down to about 6k...A few hands later I raised to 500 again with A-9suited and about 6000 in chips, mid-position, 2 callers seat 9 and seat 4 to my right. I couldn't tell you what seat 4 looked like until this hand even though he'd been sitting next to me the whole game... Flop was A-7-4 rainbow, seat 4 checked, I checked hoping to induce seat 9 to bet out, though he checked. Turn was a 2d putting a diamond flush draw out there, but not much else, seat 4 checked and I figured 9 couldn't resist to bet so I checked and he checked, oh well... River was a 5s, the board was now double suited and a club, so no flush draws got there and I figured I'm probably good for at least a look-up call so after seat 4 checked I bet out 1000, seat 9 folded, seat 4 put in 3000, almost enough to put me all-in. I almost put it all in, too, but this guy was not bluffing, sometimes I get myself into trouble feigning weakness and then figuring a river bet to be lighter than it is, but not this guy...I asked him if he had A-2 and after a few seconds he said "Nope, I'll even show you" He was a little too confident to be bluffing, too so after I tanked a little longer I folded and he said he had pocket 5s and....come to think of it, I don't tremember him showing...but he probably wasn't lying...maybe I should've check-called there instead of betting, I'm probably begging to be raised there, I don't know...now I actually got myself into some horrible territory, blinds just went up to 200-400 and I have about 4500 left. Probably less than 5-6 hands later I shoved with A-5suited. If you looked around at the table, there were too many players with large stacks that I thought having 3K-ish stack was going to be called possibly by more than 1 player, so I thought my fold equity with A-5suited was better with 4500chips than having a slightly better hand and chips in the neighborhood of 3K, anyway, that's my explanation...folds around to a guy with about 2600 in chips(he was tight and got rivered by seat 9 badly) who shoves, too, all else folds and he flips over A-J, I never improve and I'm gutted to 1900...next hand I look down at Ks...great, I wish I just waited one more hand instead of shoving the A-5, right? Oh well, I actually almost tripled up when I got one caller and held up(first time Ks held up at this table, 3 other times they lost, including my 2nd hand) Some hands later I looked down at pocket 9s, 200-400 blinds so I shove my now 4800, get no callers and I'm sitting on just over 6K now. 200-400 and blinds are just about to go up I look down at pocket 7s. My stack was just the right amount where I wasn't sure if I should shove or just raise...I decided that latter to 1000 and seat 4 calls me. The flop was 8-6-4 all spades. I didn't have a spade, but I bet out 1000, seat 9 calls me and seat 4 raises all-in(it was about 15k, an overbet to say the least...)he had to have nailed that board somehow, small spades or an overpair(9's with no spade?) I folded and seat 9 thought for actually quite a while and then folded. seat 4 said he had a set of 8s and I figured I dodged a bullet there by not shoving(though he'd still have to call a preflop shove he probably would've ended up calling) Now with blinds up to 300-600 I only had about 4800 in chips left so after seat 9 raised my BB and everyone else folded I shoved my A-10off and he called with A-K and I never got any help and he finally finished the job that probably should've been taken care of much earlier and put me out of my misery... I lasted longer than Terri did, though! she was knocked out a few minutes earlier when Qs ran into 5s,8s and J-10, all of which went all in and the flop was Q-8-9, if it weren't Terri I might not believe it... Terri: out 58th, Fred out 56th.
Jon was coming in to play the 7pm game but Brie likes to have her daddy home to tuck her in at night so after some deliberation(1 whole hour of waiting and a free Coke from Terri for me to finally decide to leave...) I skipped out. Jon was supposed to give me text updates after 7, but I haven't heard from him, makes me think he didn't do very well cause I know if he got even to the halfway point he'd have let me know to rub it in...
A hand from last Sunday.....
A question I have based on a hand from last Sunday: I was utg at late 200-400 and probably viewed as loose-aggressive. I raised to 1000 with Ad-8d and 14K. guy in BB to my direct right only calls, but he appears stronger than just a call(not sure how else to explain that...body language/demeaner) flop is K-8-5 and he checks, I bet out 1000 and he thinks for a moment and calls. Now I'm putting him on some weak pair that he didn't want to give me credit for the K so I figure he'll probably check fold a turn so I might check and call-or bet the river. turn is a Jc, putting 2 clubs out there and he surprised me a little with a bet of 1500, I thought for a while and felt like he was pretty capped at something less than a monster and he looked extremely weaker than his preflop call so I called with a plan of "value" betting the river and I was thinking if he bet out I was actually planning on possibly shoving the river as a semibluff. River is a 2 and he bets out 2500. He had about 8K behind and I had about 9K behind and since it just felt like a big bluff as I figured he'd check something with showdown value and bet if he couldn't win so I called and he didn't even want to show his hand, so I waited, he actually giggled like I just caught him in a real cookie jar and then sheepishly flipped over pocket Queens... This was the 3rd hand of this type I had called with what I thought was a bluff-catcher but it be the 2nd best hand and I haven't yet decided if it's me playing a hand badly(I should raise the river or somewhere...?) or if sometimes that happens with bluff-catching... What's your opinion?
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