+194 @ The Commerce Casino

This was quite a night for a variety of reasons. It didn't start off well and I dropped $70 in the first half hour. They were solid hands and included A,K unsuited, A,9 suited, A,J suited, pocket 5s, and A,10 suited, but they just didn't hit. I finally got a pot after about an hour when my A,J came from behind (the flop was K,J,8) and I caught another J on the river. That was followed up with K,Q that caught a board of K,3,5,7,10. Those two hands brought me back to a nice stack of chips. Then things got interesting.

• 9,10 diamonds as big blind. A,Q,4 diamonds come on the flop. I wanted to play it fast as another diamond would not be pleasant so I bet the flop, and decided to bet the 4 on the turn as well. When the river was another Q, I checked then called. The guy only had an ace.
• Now for the hand that I'm still thinking about. One that ranks as my own World's Worst Lay Down.I had pocket 6s in middle position and lots of players in. The flop comes all diamonds: A,6,2. I bet and got many callers but no raisers. Good so far. There is a K on the turn and it is checked to me. I bet and again get many callers. The pot is pretty big by this point and I'm feeling good. The river is the K of diamonds. I bet it and many folds. The last guy left checks his cards and raises me. I know he has the queen of diamonds. So what do I do? I fold. I was so focused on the flush I didn't realize that I had a full house. To make matters worse, my cards are shown to the rest of the table. How utterly embarrassing. I was sitting next to Pam and she was nice enough to say that it happens to everyone. I thought about leaving the table, but I was still up so I decided to stick around. I'm glad that I did because after nearly an hour of very conservative play I hit a huge rush and made another $200 in the next 20 minutes
• Pocket 10s in late position. I raised pre-flop and got A,6,_. An early better,lots of callers and no raises made me decide to stay. 10 on the turn and I raised. A couple folks stayed till the blank river and I collected a nice pot.
• A,K of clubs in middle position. I raised and got two clubs on the flop. The third club came on the turn and I kept betting. The guy with the queen of clubs stuck with me to the end.
• The very next hand I had A,K of diamonds. With the nut flush draw and top pair on the flop I kept betting till the end. The flush never showed, but the kings with A kicker held up.
• Two hands later I had red pocket jacks on the button. I raised and got 7,9,10 diamonds. Despite the possible flush I decided to bet it all the way, what with the flush draw, straight draw, straight flush draw and top pair. Even another 9 on the river didn't slow me down. I didn't have to show.
• The final hand of note was A,J of clubs. K clubs, 10 clubs,_ came next. I had raised before the flop and it kept getting checked to me. I didn't have a pair like last time, but with 12 cards that could give me the nuts I kept betting and people kept calling. The river gave me another club and the nut flush. Super jackpot hour was just wrapping up so I called it a night.

-86 @ Hollywood Park

I had to pick a friend up from the airport so instead of driving home I went to Hollywood park for a few hours. I lost $86 in three hours of boring play. Decent cards but it was rare when they made a hand. My best pot was when my A,Q suited as big blind made the nut straight on the river. Instead of talking about the play I'll take this opportunity to talk about the poker room. I've played at Hollywood Park twice but won't ever play there again. It's dirty, the floormen and dealers aren't on the ball, the clientele is very noisy and crass...I could go on. The next time I want to play poker close to work I'll go to the Hustler Casino instead.

+94 @ The Commerce Casino

Good cards and a fun table made for a most enjoyable day.

• J,Q suited in middle position. There was a raise before the flop and I called. I bet the 6,8,J and got raised. I just checked the 6 on the turn and mucked when it was bet. The fellow almost certainly had a large pocket pair and the only card that could save me was another J. Of course the river gave us the J. That's ok, I know that I did the right thing. The raiser had pocket aces.
• K,Q of clubs in early position and 10,_,_ with one club and two diamonds. When a K came on the turn I bet it, then folded when an A showed on the river and a checker became a better.
• We almost had a jackpot at the table, but we missed by a kicker. The board was A,A,4,Q,A and the two players had 9,9 and A,6. So close!
• A,J in late position. I raised it and got nothin' for my troubles.
• Jd,10s in middle position. The board turned out to be 7s,9s,As,K,Qs. So not only did I make my straight, I also made my flush. Both the Ks and the Js could have beaten me, but they didn't show. Send the money!
• Pocket 5 as BB. It was raised before the flop and was so happy that I called as I caught a beautiful flop: 5,4,4. I decided to slow play because there were so many people in and I checked. Thankfully, there was a bet and we all called. The play repeated itself with the A on the turn. I thought I could do it again when the river was a 6, but sadly it was checked all the way around. I probably should have bet the river instead of hoping for a check-raise opportunity. Oh well, it was still a nice pot. After consulting with Guy he informed me that the standard play is to check raise the turn and bet the river. It makes perfect sense in retrospect. Something to remember for next time.
• My A,Q and A,K both held up as top pair with good kickers, but I soon lost the bulk of that when I had Q,8 suited as big blind. I flopped a flush, bet it and got a few callers. No more of the suit showed up on the turn and river so I bet them both again. The turn was fine, not so the river. I got raised. I called and he showed A,4 of the suit. D'oh! Bad call on my part, especially as this fellow was on fire. He sat down with $49 and had made it into over $300 by this time.
• J,10 suited in late position. 10,9,10 on the flop. It was checked all the way around to me so I put in my $3. Everyone called thankfully. The J on the turn was a great sight and I didn't care too much about the K on the river. Everyone kept checking to me and I still had 4 callers at the end who were willing to give me their money.
• I raised my pocket jacks in middle position only to get a disappointing 8,8,_. If that wasn't bad enough, the turn was an A. I mucked and the on-fire guytook the pot. He confessed that the A didn't help him. I figured as much.
• 5,6 of clubs in middle position combined with a flop of 4c,2c,6 was pretty exciting. I called the A on the turn then bet the 6 on the river. The pot was mine.

+135 @ The Commerce Casino

There are two ways of looking at the day. The first is to focus on my performance which included misplaying an A,J in late position by not raising, losing a pot to a fellow who went all in and made his straight on the river (but my Aces up did win the side pot), and raising K,Q suited and having the flop miss me. My starting cards weren't great (in two hours of play I didn't have a single pocket pair) and none of the ones I played translated into very much. After reading this you may be wondering how I made $135. That gets into the other way of looking at the day. I made $172 by being at the table when there was a jackpot.

A jackpot (sometimes called a "bad-beat jackpot") is given out when a really good hand loses to a better hand. At the Commerce Club this translates to Aces full or better losing to four of a kind or better. Depending on the club or the particular kind of jackpot the losing hand might have to be Aces full of tens. The house pays for the jackpot by taking a fixed amount of money from every pot. At a $3-$6 table it is $1 per round. That's in addition to the $3 rake that the house keeps.

I don't remember what my cards were, but I was out of the hand before the flop. The dealer gasped when it came out A,A,A. There were a couple small bets and by the 5 on the turn there were only two guys left. They chatted a little bit about not betting (evidently you can say the wrong thing, like describing your exact cards, and the jackpot is nullified), and so they both checked the 6 on the river. One guy turns over a pair of 8s, the other turns over A,Q. I looked up at the board to see that the jackpot was $6000 for a $3-$6 table. The loser got 60% of that money ($3600), the winner of the hand got 20% ($1200) and the rest of the players at the table shared $1200. It was a full table so that worked out to $172 each.

The first thing that happens is floormen come over and verify that it is a complete deck and the cards are all in good condition. Once that is done, they take our drivers licenses and call the supervisor. He takes the two fellows into the back, makes them sign some forms and pays them off in chips. He then comes back with a form titled "20% Table Payout". After signing our names we get our money in chips and it's then time for the next hand.

+7 @ The Commerce Casino

• 6,7 suited in early position. The flop produces 6,7,4. The small blind bets, I raise, and it is turned into three bets. After much agonizing I decide to cap it even though there is a possible straight. It did slow the guy down some and he doesn't raise me when I bet the blank turn and blank river. He turns over a 6,4 and I take a nice pot.
• A,5 suited and one fellow goes all in for $5 before the flop. We all call. The flop gives two more of the suit and when I bet everyone folds. So now it is time to hang on and pray, but my nut flush appears on the turn and I beat his medium pair.
• Qh,4h as big blind. K,Q,6 on the flop with two diamonds. It came back as only one bet but I folded anyway. Imagine my annoyance to see Q fall on the turn and 4 fall on the river. A pair of kings took the pot
• A,10 unsuited in late position. 10,9,4. It is checked to me, I bet and get check-raised. I muck. Q, A comes next and the fellow who checked raised his 10,Q offsuit took the pot.
• A,6 suited. Two more of my suit come on the flop but the final card never shows and I muck on the river.
• K,J unsuited and the flop misses me completely.
• A,J of diamonds in early position and A,Q,5 on the flop. I bet it, but a K (and the third spade) falls on the turn and I bail when it is bet. What took the pot? A pair of 7s that bet it all the way.
• K,Q in late position. I raise the before the flop and get middle cards. K comes on the turn and it is raised. I muck and after the river the winner shows his suited big slick. He didn't raise the before the flop.
• If you're thinking that I'm playing a lot of cards with not much effect,you're right. However, all you need is one good hand and that came in the
  form of pocket J on the button. I raised and the small blind said "you sure?". I shrugged and he called. That comment factored into my decision process at the turn. The flop came J,10,_. I bet, and most of the table called. The turn was an A and the talker bet, I raised, he reraised, and I made it 4 bets. During this I figured that if he had a K,Q he wouldn't nearly have been so reluctant to call the raise before the flop, and I pegged him for a single A. But on the blank river I got cold feet and only called his bet instead of raising. Sure enough he only had an A. That pot left me up nearly $30, and I left after a couple more rounds that didn't produce anything.

+38 @ The Commerce Casino

As you might guess from my playing poker two days in a row, Jennifer is still out of town. I showed a little after 1:00 and took seat 4 at a new table. Loc - the player from yesterday - took seat five, but he left soon thereafter to play with a
friend at another table. In seat one was Pam, a lady I had played with a couple times before. Being a solid and tight player, she is a welcome change from the normal wild play. Seat nine was occupied by a very cantankerous old fellow. He was constantly shouting for a new player, he asked a floorman to get the supervisor because he wanted to file a complaint about another floorman, and he used any excuse to berate the dealer. He eventually left and the table was happier for it.

• Q,7 as big blind. It turned out to only be me and cantankerous seat nine and we both checked it all the way. I actually made a straight on the river, and took the big pot of $4.
• K,Q spades in early position. I raised and got Qh,spade,spade in return. After betting the entire way I slowed down and checked on the river, because not only did my top pair not improve, the dealer put two more hearts onto the table. Pam bet and I mucked myhand. She had the two hearts including the A.
• Pocket 8s as small blind and a flop of 5,7,A. I checked and then folded when it came back to me as two bets. Of course an 8 came on the turn, but to make it more interesting, an A fell on the river. Two of the folks who bet the flop had aces.
• And now for my bad play that was saved by a miracle card. I had A,Q in late position,raised and the flop came 5,A,K. It was bet, I raised and the fellow who started the betting just called. The turn was another K and he checked to me. I bet and he called again. Bad play on my part as he certainly had a K. But the river gave us another A, and I knew that I was in front. Again he checked, again I bet, again he called. What did he turn over? Pocket 5s. I didn't see that one coming. Why didn't he re-raise on the flop? Maybe because I had raised before the flop and he was worried about pocket A or K.
• I was down about $50 at this point, but two hands in a row changed everything. With pocket K in middle position, I raised before the flop and capped it when it came back around. The next three cards were K,7,7. I again raised the bet. The turn was a blank and I raised it again, but this woman re-raised. Of course I capped it. There were just two of us at that point, and she checked the blank river. I bet, she raised, I re-raised and she called. Throughout all this I have to admit that I was a bit concerned that she had pocket 7s, but in the end she just turned over a single 7. I don't know what she thought that I had. But if that weren't bad enough, it turned out to be the both of us again on the next hand. I had the nut flush on the turn and she kept betting into me! We made it three bets on the turn, and when I raised her on the river I actually looked at her and shook my head when she went to call. She didn't pay any attention and her king high flush didn't surprise anyone. She left the table for a bit after that, but came back continued her self described "crazy" play. These hands left me up nearly $60.
• The last hand I'll mention is when the whole table each put in $5 (an all-in situation) before the flop. I had A,6 suited and the flop came 2,3,2. We all checked, then checked both the turn of 2 and the river of 3.With my A I thought about betting on the turn, but if anyone had any pair my money would have been wasted. We all ended up playing the board resulting in a 9 way split!

+67 @ The Commerce Casino

This was my longest single sessions and was also my favorite session ever. Good cards, a fun table and I left a winner. Can't get better than that. The players included a total maniac who kept on annoyingly raising my big-blind and could be counted on to play his middle pair to the end even though there was a possible flush and straight showing besides the overcards (of course he left down - by at least $500), Jeff from Arizona who bought the table a box of Krispy Kreme donuts after a long string of monster hands, and Loc the physical therapist from Pasadena who was at the table the entire time I was there. Same with the maniac who only took a quick break for dinner. We were happy to hold his seat for him. I arranged to meet Leda Knee-Guine there and she turned her first time at the Commerce Club into a winning session. She'll be back!

• I raised my KK in late position and saw 6,4,2 on the flop. Everyone kept checking to me and while the 10 on the turn didn't help anyone, the 5 on the river did. A checker became a better, and even though I knew he had the three I put in my $6 to see it. The pot was too big not too. He actually had a pair of threes.
• A,J capped before the flop with 5 players. A,_,9 came out and I bet it. The turn gave us a 9, but I bet it again and hoped that there wouldn't be a raise. The river was another blank, and I split the pot with another A,J. At this point I was up $8 and that was a great feeling. All too often lately I've been spending my entire session trying to crawl back to even. It was nice to be up for a change, no matter by how little.
• 7,8 suited as small blind. 7,8,3 rainbow came out and I bet it and got raised. I still thought I was in front, so I re-raised. He called. The turn was a 9 and I kept betting, but never again got raised. My opponent showed 5,6.
• K,K in middle position and we capped it before the flop, but when there was lots of action on the A,7,2 flop I got out.
• 9,2 as big blind and the flop came 9,9,3. I didn't want it to seem obvious that I had a nine so I checked the flop but no one bet. When the 2 came out on the turn I bet it and everyone folded. Maybe I should have played this differently. Any comments from the readers on what they would have done to build the pot?
• K,3 suited in middle position. J,10,9 came out next, and the turn was a Q. I bet it and got raised. The player who raised me was solid, and I was sure he add big slick. I folded but think that was a bad play. Of course the river was an A. The fellow who raised me didn't show.
• All this had left me down nearly $80 dollars in a couple hours. I had brought out another $100 and put in on the table, but three hands in a row changed everything. A,K with a flop of A,K,_, was first, a flopped set of jacks was next, and A,A with a flop of Q,3,3 was the final hand. Any of these could have gone south in an instant, but they all held up. Now that was a great feeling, especially as it put me back into the black by over $30.
• Later on in the night I had another A,A and the board of J,Q,10,8,4 showed three to a flush, but the aces held up. My final hand of note was A,Q with a board of A,_,_,Q,_. Again, the cards held up.