I finally got to play at home at Jokers Casino and I didn't last long tonight.
It is so cold here right now. I do not like the snow and the very cold weather. I finally had to pull my heavy jacket out today and start wearing it.
Tonight was fun. I really enjoy poker whether I win or loose. I feel like I learn something each time I play. Controlling emotions and making sure I am not giving away tells to other people. I had some good cards tonight but never got anything on the flop to continue the betting. I had a lot of KJ's, AK's, and just couldn't pull it off. The hand that really crippled my chip stack was a good hand for me. I had KJ and the flop came AAA. I felt I had the best hand with the K and at the least maybe a split pot. The one card that could hurt me was the A. On the turn came K. I now had the full house and still I felt the A was the card that could bring me down. The River was X and I put in a good size bet. I turned over my Full House and the other guy turned over the A. I was really crippled now and a few hands after that I went out holding K8 and went all-in and lost the hand. There were about 30 players tonight at $30 buyin and I was 23 tonight. Can't wait till next Wednesday night and I will try it again.
I am reading Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. I am enjoying the book. I like his thought process and the way the book is written. I will more than likely read it a couple of times to get the information to sink in. We will see how that goes.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Turkey Holiday
I was going to take my parents back over the mountain Saturday and decided against it and wait till Sunday and make an over and back trip. When I woke up Sunday morning it started to snow and the pass was not looking good for travel. I was trying to get my parents back home and go to work the next day. We started out from eastern washington at 0800 and we arrived at the destination at 1400. It was a long day. The worst of the travel was from richland to yakima and then it was a little bit better driving.
I started back at around 1530 and was called on my cell phone that the pass had been closed. That meant I would have to stay in Auburn again. After I got checked in and got my computer up and running I went and checked the pass conditions and found out they had opened again. The traffic was very slow but at least they were moving. Since I had already checked in I decided to just stay the night and start out in the morning.
This gave me a chance to go back out to The Muck and try my hand at blackjack again. When I got to the casino they already had a poker tournament running. I went out looking for a table to play some blackjack. I didn't do so well this time. I like to sit at seat 7 and I had to sit at seat 1. I was up about $20 and then people started leaving the table until I was the only one left. I played one on one for a few hands and my chips went to half my stack. That was enough. I then went to another table and the guys at that table wanted to go have dinner and that would have left me by myself again. I stopped playing and cashed in my chips. I stopped by the poker room and watched them and also watched some poker game at a table where you play against the dealer. That was interesting to watch but still prefer the good ole NLHE Poker. I do think I need to start learning the cash game and play that one and see how I do with it.
Driving back today was interesting. I had to stop for about 30 minutes on the pass so the crew could do Avalanche stuff. They let of a very load boom that shook the vehicle and the ground. Once they were done they let us go again and the worst part of this trip was the top of the pass to Easton. Slow and lots of traffic again. It is nice being home. This trip took 4 hours this time. The truck is dirty and I will need to wash it today. Get ready to go back to work tomorrow.
I started back at around 1530 and was called on my cell phone that the pass had been closed. That meant I would have to stay in Auburn again. After I got checked in and got my computer up and running I went and checked the pass conditions and found out they had opened again. The traffic was very slow but at least they were moving. Since I had already checked in I decided to just stay the night and start out in the morning.
This gave me a chance to go back out to The Muck and try my hand at blackjack again. When I got to the casino they already had a poker tournament running. I went out looking for a table to play some blackjack. I didn't do so well this time. I like to sit at seat 7 and I had to sit at seat 1. I was up about $20 and then people started leaving the table until I was the only one left. I played one on one for a few hands and my chips went to half my stack. That was enough. I then went to another table and the guys at that table wanted to go have dinner and that would have left me by myself again. I stopped playing and cashed in my chips. I stopped by the poker room and watched them and also watched some poker game at a table where you play against the dealer. That was interesting to watch but still prefer the good ole NLHE Poker. I do think I need to start learning the cash game and play that one and see how I do with it.
Driving back today was interesting. I had to stop for about 30 minutes on the pass so the crew could do Avalanche stuff. They let of a very load boom that shook the vehicle and the ground. Once they were done they let us go again and the worst part of this trip was the top of the pass to Easton. Slow and lots of traffic again. It is nice being home. This trip took 4 hours this time. The truck is dirty and I will need to wash it today. Get ready to go back to work tomorrow.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Blackjack
I made a trip over to the west side of the mountains to pick up my parents and decided to arrive the day before I needed to be there and I would spend some time at the Muck. My intent basically was not to play poker but to play some blackjack. I used to play blackjack only and now I haven't played it for awhile. The casino here in town used to have tables for blackjack and now they offer other games and I can't find a table for plain blackjack.
The trip over the mountain was very entertaining. It was snowing up on the pass with rain on the west side. Now I remember why I don't live over there. I would get so depressed having to live in that stuff. I ate at a BBQ place called Longhorns in Auburn and the food was good. I really like the honey butter. I really ate too much.
When I arrived at the casino the first order of business was to find a parking spot so I could remember where it was when I got done. I found one that was close to the South entrance to the smaller casino. It has been awhile since I played at the Muck, but since I have been reading a blog by Seattle John I figured why not. They have added to the place. I walked into the smaller one and couldn't figure out where to go to go to the main casino. Of course being male I am not going to ask anyone for directions. I ended up walking back out of the south entrance and walking around the building and going into the main entrance to the bigger casino. I did find out that if I would have walked through the back doors of the smaller casino I would have found the main one. Walking in the rain was just flat out fun anyway. I walked around the casino looking for the poker room and just looking at the inside of the building to see what was offered. I wanted to see what if any type of blackjack tables were being played as well. I did sit down at a video poker machine and basically threw away $20. I am not a fan of the machines. I just wanted to get into the mood of gambling before I went to the tables.
I found one blackjack table at the $5 limit and decided to sit down. I sat in the #7 chair. That one is the one I like to sit at because it gives me a chance to see all the cards that come out before mine. That can be good and bad depending on the players before you. How are they playing and are they using cards that you could have used. I play a game that is pretty much straight forward and try to always stay in the game and not get busted. I started with $80 and I dropped down to about $30 and built it back up to $80 about 3 times while sitting there. I never went over the amount I started with. I sat at that table for 4 hours playing blackjack and met some nice people. I really never got any cards during the evening that I could string together some wins and pull out and add to my chips. The guy in seat 5 was doing very well and was splitting cards and playing the Lucky Lady 20 at the same time. He was getting 20 quite a bit. My cards were like 13,14, 15, 16 alot. I had to struggle and gamble quite a bit that the dealer would bust. Well, at the end of it all I finally decided I had enough when I took my chips up to $85 and figured it was time to go home.
It really ended up being a good night and I did have fun. I will do it again. I still prefer poker but going back and playing some blackjack was fun. They did have a poker tournament going but I was late getting into that and I am not a cash player. I should learn that style of play sometime to broaden my poker game a little bit. I know it is different. I have books available and need to read up on the way to play it.
I am back on the east side and the sunshine is nice to see. We have the wind to contend with today.
The trip over the mountain was very entertaining. It was snowing up on the pass with rain on the west side. Now I remember why I don't live over there. I would get so depressed having to live in that stuff. I ate at a BBQ place called Longhorns in Auburn and the food was good. I really like the honey butter. I really ate too much.
When I arrived at the casino the first order of business was to find a parking spot so I could remember where it was when I got done. I found one that was close to the South entrance to the smaller casino. It has been awhile since I played at the Muck, but since I have been reading a blog by Seattle John I figured why not. They have added to the place. I walked into the smaller one and couldn't figure out where to go to go to the main casino. Of course being male I am not going to ask anyone for directions. I ended up walking back out of the south entrance and walking around the building and going into the main entrance to the bigger casino. I did find out that if I would have walked through the back doors of the smaller casino I would have found the main one. Walking in the rain was just flat out fun anyway. I walked around the casino looking for the poker room and just looking at the inside of the building to see what was offered. I wanted to see what if any type of blackjack tables were being played as well. I did sit down at a video poker machine and basically threw away $20. I am not a fan of the machines. I just wanted to get into the mood of gambling before I went to the tables.
I found one blackjack table at the $5 limit and decided to sit down. I sat in the #7 chair. That one is the one I like to sit at because it gives me a chance to see all the cards that come out before mine. That can be good and bad depending on the players before you. How are they playing and are they using cards that you could have used. I play a game that is pretty much straight forward and try to always stay in the game and not get busted. I started with $80 and I dropped down to about $30 and built it back up to $80 about 3 times while sitting there. I never went over the amount I started with. I sat at that table for 4 hours playing blackjack and met some nice people. I really never got any cards during the evening that I could string together some wins and pull out and add to my chips. The guy in seat 5 was doing very well and was splitting cards and playing the Lucky Lady 20 at the same time. He was getting 20 quite a bit. My cards were like 13,14, 15, 16 alot. I had to struggle and gamble quite a bit that the dealer would bust. Well, at the end of it all I finally decided I had enough when I took my chips up to $85 and figured it was time to go home.
It really ended up being a good night and I did have fun. I will do it again. I still prefer poker but going back and playing some blackjack was fun. They did have a poker tournament going but I was late getting into that and I am not a cash player. I should learn that style of play sometime to broaden my poker game a little bit. I know it is different. I have books available and need to read up on the way to play it.
I am back on the east side and the sunshine is nice to see. We have the wind to contend with today.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Poker
I played poker at the casino this evening for a $30 buyin. Tonight I wanted to stay away from the all-ins and play smart. There were 30 players tonight. I started out in the number 9 seat next to the dealer until a tenth person showed up after about 3 hands were already played. I played very tight, during the first part of the tournament I would play strong hands and won some pots. I was building my chip count. At one point I played 10Q and ended up with a straight which knocked out 2 players. Not too long after that we went on a 5 minute break. When we started up again we were down to 2 tables. The cards I was receiving were mediocre hands. I would have an AKQ and a very weak kicker. Or an individual would go all in or raise the pot and I would have to fold. I was getting blinded out and not winning any hands and I finally had a $500 chip left. The small blind was $500 and I played my last chip. I had a 107 off suit. Four individuals went in on this pot. The flop came x10x, the turn was an x and the river was a 7. I made two pair and earned $2000. At that point the other table lost a player and asked for the player behind the dealer button. That happened to be me. On the second hand at the new table I have QQ and I went all-in. Three other players called. The hand came xKx, turnX, River X. I turned over my pocket Q's and the person on the button turned over Pocket K's for a set. I went out in 14th place.
How would I have played this tournament any differently? I need to learn how to pick up pots early and build chips during the early rounds. I played good hands when they were dealt and stayed away from big pots that would drain my chip stack if I would have lost the hand. The only hand I raised was the straight draw, all other hands I would call with the best hand.
How would I have played this tournament any differently? I need to learn how to pick up pots early and build chips during the early rounds. I played good hands when they were dealt and stayed away from big pots that would drain my chip stack if I would have lost the hand. The only hand I raised was the straight draw, all other hands I would call with the best hand.
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