-173 @ The Commerce Casino

It seems like the Gods have punished me for the hubris in my last sentence. Things did not go my way, but in all honesty I can't think of a single instance that I did something wrong. I know there were some, but nothing major stands out. It was just a case of doing the right thing and the wrong cards come: Suited big slick of clubs and 4 of us capped it before the flop. What do I get in return? 6,9,8 diamonds then lots of action. In another instance I had a pair of jacks and the flop comes A,K,_ and people go crazy. But the cards were even worse than that: I wasn't even winning the hands that I didn't play. For instance, if I had stayed in I would have made trips but the pot was taken by a straight, etc. It just goes to show how (at my level of playing anyway) chance can really muck things up.

+42 @ The Commerce Casino

You read that right, I've gone to the Commerce Casino three days in a row. Isn't vacation wonderful?

The night included a few small pots and while I was raking in $10 after one of them, I have to admit that I was a little jealous of some of the other huge pots that players at my table were winning. But of course the players winning these were also the ones with the huge swings in their stacks. Truth be told, my performance is something to be very happy about; I've been playing a fair amount and been coming home up. Can't complain about that.

+43 @ The Commerce Casino

The first hour of play was fantastic. Suited big slick that made the nut flush, a top pair of jacks with an ace kicker which beat out the king kicker, and a flopped set of nines left me nearly $70 up. I considered a hit & run but decided to stick around. Thus began the slide. I only saw one non big blind flop over the next hour. Hour three gave me more playable hands but not much hit. In the final hour it turned around and I was able to claw my way back up but not from any significant hands. The most exciting is when my K,Q suited saw a flop of A,A,_. A third Ace on the turn caused everyone to start saying "Jackpot", but my opponent didn't have a pocket pair and he tossed his hand when I bet the river after it gave us a K.

+6 @ The Commerce Casino

I had never played at the Commerce Club on a Sunday before and wasn't quite sure what it would be like. I showed up at 1:00 and was happy to see the after church crowd had arrived and the place was in full swing. Even though I left up, I'm not terribly pleased with my performance. In particular I need to keep working on

Understanding what hands (and in what position) I should be slow playing. With pocket 10s in late position I raised before the flop and half the table called. The flop came 10,3,3 and there were two checks and a bet. At that point I raised and everyone folded, including the original better. What the hell was I thinking by raising? While it is true that I didn't have the nuts and could have been beaten, the odds were strongly in my favor.

Controlling the reverse tilt by not playing questionable hands after I've won a pot. Soon after I won the aforementioned pot I played some incredibly marginal hand. I don't remember what it was, but in my brain I was thinking that the cards looked good when in fact they should have been mucked.

Knowing your players. I had an opened ended straight draw on the flop and by the river there were just two of us left. My opponent had been very timid the entire day and when I didn't make my straight by the river I (being the first to act) just checked. I should have bet it as I believe the odds were good that she would have folded. As it was she took the pot with a kicker.

I was happy with some of my play however.

1. Betting my hand on the river. Pocket sixes in late position with a flop of 6
   ,K,K. It got a bit scary when another King showed up on the river, but I kept betting and the case king wasn't anywhere to be seen.
   
2. Using position. 7,9 spades on the button with a fair number of callers. The flop of J,J,7 was checked to me and everyone folded when I bet.
   
3. Laying it down. I had pocket Kings that I mucked on the river when I was reraised by the guy who clearly made his straight. I'm annoyed that he stayed around despite my earlier raising, but at least I saved that final six bucks.
   

+69 @ The Mirage

The amount of fun activities made this a totally fantastic trip. I had three poker sessions (which I'll mention in a bit), but other events included seeing the Chatsworth exhibit at the Bellagio and a fantastic dinner at Picasso. We also had a horrible cheese burger in the Aladdin. However, the highlight of the trip occurred on Friday morning when we took our rental car eight miles north on I15 so I could use my graduation present, a Formula Race Car experience from the Derek Daly Academy. The other student and I followed the instructor's BMW Z3 around the track and it was a tremendous amount of fun. What made it even more enjoyable for Jennifer and me is that he took her along as a passenger.

Now onto some poker hands. I wound up playing with a fair number of locals and overall was pleased by my performance. I did have some great cards though, with pocket aces four times during this trip. Three of them came from John "the reader" (Guy, Karen, and Jeff: you know the guy I am talking about, right?) who dealt me some fantastic hands on both Thursday and Friday. I tipped him extra well. The more memorable hands include

AA as big blind in my first hand at the table. I raised, was reraised, and I made it $12. Surprisingly 4 people stayed for the flop. A straight flush draw showed up but I kept on betting and took the pot in a showdown.

AA with a flop of Q,7,3 rainbow. The turn was another blank but the river gave me a third A. Send the money!

2,5 as big blind and the flop gave me the straight draw. I made it with an A on the river.

AA which made a set on the flop. I smooth called and wound up with a good pot after betting the turn and river.

AA which made a set on the flop (again). I was in early positionand checked but it got checked all the way around. The turn gave me another A and this time I bet. Three people stayed in till the end and I proudly showed my best hand ever.

I played for a bit on Saturday morning and while I won a few hands, my memory is of the two good pots I lost, both by one card, both to the same cards, and both to the same friendly old local who sat down on my left toward the end of the session. My first hand was J,6 of clubs as small blind. Lots of people were in so I decided to play it and the flop gave me two more clubs including the A. I bet it and the turn gave the K of clubs. I bet again but the fellow to my left stayed in. The river gave another club (damn it), but I couldn't leave now. I bet, he called (why didn't he raise?) and showed the A of hearts and Q of clubs. In the other hand I had K,Q in middle position and the flop gave us Q and two blanks. I was the first to bet and a couple folks stayed in. The rest of the board came up rags so I kept betting, and once again lost to the local when he showed A,Q. Ouch!

+65 @ Chez Johnson

The usual crowd of suspects showed up at Guys, including Karen Shifflett and her husband Jeff Collins. If you recall from previous entries, Karen worked us all over last time, but it wasn't her night tonight. As you can see from the official ratings, I came out ahead. Guy has a good summary of the more interesting hands