Live Poker
I have no idea when the last time I played casino poker was. It might have been with Dr. Ferrari at Snoqualmie Casino back in August last year. In fact, after a bit of searching, it was!
Matt wasn't the only Seattle blogger to spend time in a local casino this week, but I ventured up to Tulalip instead of Snoqualmie this time. My trip back in August was probably the worst luck/skill I've ever experienced playing casino poker. I would run 2nd nuts into nuts and flop nut flush draws in huge pots never to hit. I burnt through my buy-in in 45 minutes and quit. I think I won the blinds once with QQ and that was the only hand I won that session.
I've been hankering for some live poker for a while now, and decided that Saturday was the day to play because I had plans later in the evening, but nothing to do during the day. Tulalip is the closest casino to where I'm at now, and I've had pretty good experiences there in the past, so I checked out their website to see what tournaments and other goodies the casino offers. Turns out the bad beat jackpot for Hold'em cash tables is the biggest in state history at $250,000. In the past, I've seen it in the $10k-$20k range. Holy shit! Both cards have to play, and quads have to be beaten to win the big jackpot.
I arrived at the casino and put my name on the 4/8 limit list at noon, and we started a new table about an hour later. The table was abuzz with talk of the huge jackpot, and it definitely affected the table play. Any pocket pair and any suited connector I was playing, and I'm sure everyone else was, too. This led to me bleeding plenty of chips for the first hour. I hovered around my starting stack for the second hour, then bled some more chips at the beginning of my third hour. My stack dwindled from $200 to about $75 or so, before I went on a ridiculous heater.
A new dealer moved to our table at the 3.5 hour mark of my session. I was dealt two pocket pairs on my first two hands. I saw flops with both, the turn with one, but folded... only to hit on the river both times. I was dealt J8o a few hands later and folded preflop, which would have quaded up. I kept a fairly good poker face and didn't let anyone else know I missed out on $100-$200 in the past few hands, but I decided to start playing any two cards the dealer dealt me, and I won literally every hand but two for the rest of that dealer's down. I flopped three sets and got paid off every time. I turned and rivered straights and flushes like they were going out of style. I finished up for the session and took off.
The experience was awkward for me. I've obviously been at tables where individuals go on heaters and it just seems ridiculous. Theoretically and probability speaking, one hand does not affect the next, and I felt silly calling and betting with hands I normally wouldn't, just because my previous hands had been winners that I missed out on. It shouldn't happen that way, but my hot streak just kept on rolling, and I was finally the person at the table people were rolling their eyes at and I was nearly tilting the table over with my mound of chips.
The jackpot didn't hit. And over my four hours there were only maybe three boards where the bad beat jackpot was a possibility (where quads over quads were possible, or quads and straight flushes/royals).
Matt wasn't the only Seattle blogger to spend time in a local casino this week, but I ventured up to Tulalip instead of Snoqualmie this time. My trip back in August was probably the worst luck/skill I've ever experienced playing casino poker. I would run 2nd nuts into nuts and flop nut flush draws in huge pots never to hit. I burnt through my buy-in in 45 minutes and quit. I think I won the blinds once with QQ and that was the only hand I won that session.
I've been hankering for some live poker for a while now, and decided that Saturday was the day to play because I had plans later in the evening, but nothing to do during the day. Tulalip is the closest casino to where I'm at now, and I've had pretty good experiences there in the past, so I checked out their website to see what tournaments and other goodies the casino offers. Turns out the bad beat jackpot for Hold'em cash tables is the biggest in state history at $250,000. In the past, I've seen it in the $10k-$20k range. Holy shit! Both cards have to play, and quads have to be beaten to win the big jackpot.
I arrived at the casino and put my name on the 4/8 limit list at noon, and we started a new table about an hour later. The table was abuzz with talk of the huge jackpot, and it definitely affected the table play. Any pocket pair and any suited connector I was playing, and I'm sure everyone else was, too. This led to me bleeding plenty of chips for the first hour. I hovered around my starting stack for the second hour, then bled some more chips at the beginning of my third hour. My stack dwindled from $200 to about $75 or so, before I went on a ridiculous heater.
A new dealer moved to our table at the 3.5 hour mark of my session. I was dealt two pocket pairs on my first two hands. I saw flops with both, the turn with one, but folded... only to hit on the river both times. I was dealt J8o a few hands later and folded preflop, which would have quaded up. I kept a fairly good poker face and didn't let anyone else know I missed out on $100-$200 in the past few hands, but I decided to start playing any two cards the dealer dealt me, and I won literally every hand but two for the rest of that dealer's down. I flopped three sets and got paid off every time. I turned and rivered straights and flushes like they were going out of style. I finished up for the session and took off.
The experience was awkward for me. I've obviously been at tables where individuals go on heaters and it just seems ridiculous. Theoretically and probability speaking, one hand does not affect the next, and I felt silly calling and betting with hands I normally wouldn't, just because my previous hands had been winners that I missed out on. It shouldn't happen that way, but my hot streak just kept on rolling, and I was finally the person at the table people were rolling their eyes at and I was nearly tilting the table over with my mound of chips.
The jackpot didn't hit. And over my four hours there were only maybe three boards where the bad beat jackpot was a possibility (where quads over quads were possible, or quads and straight flushes/royals).
Labels: poker
posted by MHG at
5/25/2010 09:49:00 PM
2 Comments:
You beat MY live poker post by a little bit. I played today too, and I also think it was the first time since you and I played. I managed 5th place in a $120 tournament at Bay 101.
Nice streak.
-DrC
Just now getting around to my google reader - thanks for the link! Let's keep each other in mind next time the other goes for some live poker. I definitely prefer the Snoqualmie tournament structure but will head to Tulalip for cash (when I have the cash to blow).
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