+39 @ Casino Arizona

After another long and mostly non-productive day of meetings, we got back to the hotel just before 7:00. I checked in back home, checked the state of the bank and then decided to spend a bit more time at Casino Arizona. I showed up at 7:20 and sat down at a good table. The only annoyance was the fellow to my left who would shout check and blab on about his adventures at other tables. "When I was playing $10-$20 the other night" would start many of his tales. He also was raising before the flop more often then not and I have a very hard time believing his cards were consistently that good.

The third hand of the night brought me A of clubs and K of diamonds. I raised before the flop and got two diamonds including the Ace. I bet the flop, bet the diamond on the turn, and the diamond on the river. Nothing like runner runner to make the nut flush and take a nice pot.

I hadn't had pocket Kings in at least 10 hours of play and was very happy to see the cowboys as small blind. I raised and then a pretty bad flop came out: 6,6,3 with two hearts and of course the King of hearts wasn't one of the cards in my pocket. With the possible trips, quads, and flush and straight draws staring me in the face I have to admit that I was annoyed. However, the smart move was a play it. A fellow who had a 6 would almost certainly let me know, and I had to make it expensive for
the draws to stick around. I didn't think that I could count on a check raise, so I bet and got half the table to call. The turn was a small heart. Crap. What should I do now? I still had a strong hand, but the board was very scary. I decided it was time to be firm so I bet it and everyone folded. I won the pot, but I'll welcome any comment as to how the reader would have played this.

Soon thereafter I misplayed a hand by not being aggressive enough. I still won the pot, but it could have gone badly very quickly. Pocket jacks in middle position and I just called and was happy that it was nearly a family pot. The flop brought J,2,6 with two hearts. I just called the BB, and I think that I should have raised. I needed to make a potential flush pay dearly for trying to get his draw. The turn was another heart, and it was checked to me. Just like with the kings I now found myself in a difficult position. It someone had already made their flush I was in trouble (even though one of my jacks was a heart), and if the A,K or Q or hearts was still live this pot could slip away with a final heart on the river. Once again I decided to be firm by betting and see what happened. No callers. Woo hoo!

I called with pocket 9s in early position and the flop came A,A,6. I checked and it was two bets when it came back around. I had a player with only a 6 beat, but I was sure that an A was lurking out there so I folded. Another A came on the turn and three players paid 12 dollars. A 2 was the final card and again three people were in the pot. None of these fellows had an Ace, and the winning hand was a fellow who started the betting and his pocket 8s. That chapped my hide, but I believe that I did the right thing in folding my 9s.

At this point I was up nearly $50 and I decided to pull a hit and run when it came time to put in as the big blind. However, before the button came around I got two decent hands (but missed the flop) and bled away a few bucks. I then cashed in and went home a winner (for this night anyway.)

-96 @ Casino Arizona

I can already hear your question: "Arizona? What's Jason doing playing poker in Arizona?" I was in Scottsdale for a workshop and before I went I asked the Internet about poker rooms. Unlike Austin where there was nothing to be found, I was happy to find that Casino Arizona was only a few miles from the hotel and could satisfy my needs. The room was nice, the chairs were comfortable and there was lots of space between the tables. In addition, the tables had automatic shufflers and another little device that I hadn't seen before; a small panel with buttons for chips, floorperson, service, and seat open. No shouting "service" or "floorman" at this place, just push a button and the appropriate person magically appears. The crowd was almost entirely Caucasian, as were the dealers. They do have a jackpot there and the small blind went right into the hopper, but the rake was 2 to 4 chips depending on the size of the pot. An interesting thing at Casino Arizona is that you don't have to post; you can come in at any time. This was the first time that I had played in a kill game and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I was never the "killer" but there was a kill pot three times in a row when I was the big blind. Darn it! There went three hands where I'd probably get to see a flop.

Overall the cards were not too bad. Occasionally decent starting cards and they sometimes hit but I was not able to translate that into good pots so the night ended up being slow stack attrition.

• K,J late and it was two bets to me. I called and a king appeared on the flop. It was bet and a few of us called. The turn was blank and a fellow went all in with $4 on the turn. Everyone else folded but I called. The river was a blank and the all in fellow showed A,K.
• I had 3,4 suited in late position twice in a row. The first flop brought me a pair of 3s and I folded when it was bet. The second flop brought rainbow rags but that was exactly what I needed and I now had two pair and another of my suit. The flush never appeared and the rest of the cards weren't very interesting, so I kept on betting all the way to the end. I lost to a higher two pair: 4s and 8s.
• Pocket 9s early and a flop of 9,Q,6. I thought about trying to check raise, but there were only a couple people in the pot so I just bet it. Another Q showed up on the turn, and I backed off and checked. There was a bet and two callers (including me.) Another 6 on the river, and the betting repeated itself. One fellow showed a single 6, the other player mucked his hand, and I took the pot with my 9s.
• Q,2 suited on the button. The flop graced me with two more of my suit
  (including the ace), and the river brought the final one. I was calling until the river, but on the river my opponent checked to me and I bet it. He reluctantly called, and started complaining about his set getting beaten on the river.

-120 @ The Commerce Casino

At Tri and Victoria's baby shower at her brother Chris' place, Chris and I started talking about poker and how it would be nice to meet up at Commerce. Last Thursday he sent an email saying he would be there on Friday and I (after initially declining but then thinking about it all day) called him back and told him I would be there. Chris plays $6-$12 or $9-$18, but was kind enough to come by the unwashed masses tables and say hello. I had been playing for about an hour at that point without much luck. The main problem was combating boredom and I wasn't always successful.

• My first hand I was the big blind with red QQ. The flop of 10,6 of spades and 2 of diamonds wasn't very good for me, and the 2 of spades on the turn was even worse. I checked but it was two bets to me by the time it came back around so I folded, only to get annoyed with a Q showed up on the river. Of course the flush took the pot. Earlier in the week I mentioned to Guy that I don't get miracle cards because I don't set myself up for needing the miracle cards, but when I do see the miracle card happen it can shake a fellow.
• My other pocket pairs were 3s, 9s, and 7s, but only the 7s started to lead to something interesting. The flop gave me the gut shot draw possibility, but the turn missed me and put 3 diamonds on the board. The betting was too rich and I bailed out.
• 2,3,6 as a flop isn't very interesting unless you are playing 4,6 suited as I was. The turn was a 5 and I raised it only to have it re-raised. There were just two of us at this time and it was clear he also had a 4, but my hope was that he didn't have a 7 as well. He didn't and we split the pot.
• J,2 suited. After reading about my adventures last week, Chris suggested that I need to be playing tighter and he mentioned the J,2 suited as an example. I think that he missed that I had posted so was already in the hand. I agreed that it wasn't a good hand and I do, in fact, need to be playing tighter. But when the same hand came to me on the button, I thought "why the hell not?" and decided to play. The A and Q of my suit showed up on the flop, and I made the flush on the turn to take a nice pot. Later on in the evening I folded it my J,2 unsuited in middle position only to watch a J on the flop, a 2 on the turn, and a J on the river. This might be one of those hands that I'll decide (for no rational reason whatsoever) to always play.

That's about it all the interesting hands for the night; I again had trouble getting a hit from the board. Even though it was a significant loss for me, it wasn't very demoralizing and I left thinking about when I was going to play again. I'm also considered bringing my iPod along next time. Not only would it help me from getting bored waiting for the next hand, but it would also keep me from hearing the constant snorting from the guy on my left, and the constant humming from the guy on my right.

+37 @ The Commerce Casino

After spending a part of the day working at home I thought that a perfect break would be to spend some time playing poker. I hoped that my karma from the morning would stick with me: As I was leaving the dry cleaners a lady asked me for a ride down to the Metro station. Of course I obliged and she thanked me profusely. Then again, I helped a blind man out on
Tuesday and that session was a fiasco. That wasn't the case today though. It was a live table but not too crazy and the people were a mildly sociable lot. Maybe I should have stayed longer, but I was feeling a little tired and wanted to get back home.

Unlike my recent sessions, I had lots of playable hands today and the session was quite enjoyable.

• I posted after the button and started with J,2 of hearts. The flop came Q,J,2 (with two diamonds) and I raised. By the time it came back to me it was three bets so I capped it. The turn was a blank, so I raised it to the fellow who had gone all in and got one caller. Another blank on the river and another all in caller player bet into me. Neither was happy to see my two pair.
• A,J suited early position. Hoping for a raise after me I just bet, but no such luck. A straight flush potential arrived with the 6,7,9 flop. I checked but there was only one bet so I paid for another card and mucked my hand when the blank turn was bet behind me. The flush took the pot.
• A,7 suited as big blind. I raised and got 7,9,Q for my troubles. The turn was a 3 as was the river. We all checked the turn, and a fellow bet the river. I didn't think he had the three, but I called to discover that he did have a 9. Bad call on my part. D'oh!
• Pocket 5s and a flop of 8,9,3. The turn was a 7 but I decided not to stick around and pray for a six.
• Suited big slick in early position. The table went with my raise and A,Q,3 (two hearts) came next. I bet the flop, the blank turn, and again when the river brought another A. That pot left me up over 80 dollars in just under 20 minutes at the table.
• A,10 late. Another two pair on the flop and I tried to play it hard, but the straight and flush possibilities showed up on the river and people were betting like they had one of them. As much as it hurt I mucked my hand.
• K,Q suited with and the river came 9,A,A. It was checked around, but I bet the turn when it gave us a K, and I (stupidly) bet the 9 on the river. My opponent didn't have the 9, but she did have the A. For those counting, that makes 6 hands I played in a under half an hour.
• The next hour was kinda dull until an embarrassing moment on my part and horrible play on someone else's part. With K,J in late position I folded when it came to me as three bets. I have no idea why I did this, and I started kicking myself when the board was A,Q,10,J,2. A fellow on the other side of the table kept betting into the fellow next to me who kept raising it. The guy next to me had a K, and the person who started the betting showed a 7,4 suited. What? There was never a time where he even had a flush draw. I guess he thought you could bluff at the Commerce Casino. This same fellow kept betting his pocket aces hard when the board had 3,3,4,4 and someone behind him kept raising. It was clear he was new to the game, and he should have been playing online or at $1-$2.
• The last hand I'll mention is when I raised my A,10 suited as big blind and it got capped with 4 players. The flop of rags gave me another of
  my suit, and I bet. No one else was very excited about it either. The turn was a blank, but I bet and got a couple callers. The river was was a 10 so I figured I would bet again. One player called and he was pissed that I beat his pocket sevens. He started berating me for playing crap as I raked in the pot and I just kept stacking. Yeah, it may not have been the best play on my part, but neither was making it three bets with pocket sevens. The fellow next to me said that he would have beaten me so I told him that it was important to know your players and he should remember that I play crap the next time he was in a pot with me. The fellow with the 7s declared that he wanted to have some fun when he played not worry about strategy, and he promptly left the table.

-145 @ The Commerce Caisno

Guy has always maintained that spending time at the Commerce Casino is like playing with carnies, but tonight it came true. I was at a table with a fat man (two actually), a dwarf, a bearded lady and a pinhead. Truth be told, he wasn't a pinhead in the strictest definition, but he was brain damaged. The dwarf insisted that it was acting, but I'm not so sure; string raises, calling "time" every time it got to him, mis-betting, etc. The Russian guys (solid players) at the table started hassling him and that was pretty funny: "Everyone checked and now you want to bet? Just check!" Of course he won some miracle hands. The very entertaining table helped make me feel better about losing money, but I would rather have had a winning night.

• With K,Q in early position I called and the flop came 2,8,K. I bet it and the turn was another 8. After a little consideration, I again bet and the rest of the table folded.
• 7,8 suited in middle position. The flop was A,A,7 and when I bet most of the table called. The turn was a blank and I kept betting, and when I bet on the blank river everyone folded.
• 10,7 suited in late position. The flop came 5,4,7. Bets all-round except for a fellow behind me who raised. He got a fair number of callers, but I mucked my hand. The turn was a 9 and the river was a Q. The pot was taken by the raiser who showed a 7,8. Crap.
• 8,9 suited in middle position. The flop gave another of my suit, but also gave a straight draw (but not for me.) The turn gave me a straight and flush draw, but possibly completed the straight for someone else. It was checked to me and I bet the turn in anticipation of the river. To my surprise not only were there no raises but everyone folded, one guy muttering "so you made your straight huh?" as he did so.
• Pocket 2s and the flop was 7,A,A. I bet it and half the table called. Another A on the turn was pretty exciting and I again bet and got two callers. The final card of an 8 didn't excite anyone, so I bet again and got a caller. He turned over 7,10 and took the pot. If only he had had a pocket pair...jackpot!

Guy has informed me that this wouldn't have been a jackpot hand, despite the mummerings of the floorman who was hovering nearby and watching at that point. At the Commerce Casino you need Aces full beaten by 4 of a kind or better.

-138 @ The Commerce Casino

It's like I hadn't left from the 31st. I get a playable hand, and it becomes the nut flush on the flop. The fellow who (unbeknownst to me then) had two pairs at that point raised me to make it three bets! Three bets, with a flush staring him in the face. The board paired on the turn, and he makes it three bets again, while the fellow who started the raising capped it. Only two bets on the river since we were all scared, but the fellow with the two pairs had gotten his miracle queen on the turn to give him queens full of tens. The fellow who started the betting had the non-nut flush.

Four days ago my take was over $5 an hour since July, and now it's just barely over $1.