-67 @ Chez Johnson

Played at Guy's house with the usual crowd. I ended up the big loser, but a fun time was had by all.

-190 @ The Commerce Casino

I had small ups and downs most of the day and three hours into my session I was ahead $10. Then disaster struck: In an hour I was down $200.

The entire day I had trouble making my hands and the last hour was miserable. None of my pocket pairs ever translated into a pot (including the flopped set of queens and pocket kings that I mucked on the river because of an A and a flush possibility [my opponent had both!]) and many of my other hands failed too. I was playing high value hands but the missed cards (and some bad plays on my part) just kept eating away at my stack. I was involved with capping the pot pre-flop at least three times (pocket Q, pocket K, and A,K) so there was lots of money if something had hit.

The most annoying hand of the night is when I had pocket 8s and the flop comes A,A,2. The guy bets and with a jackpot possibility of course I have to call. The same thing happens with the 3 on the turn. The river was a blank so I was finally able to fold.

-28 @ The Commerce Casino

Kinda a slow night actually. I tried playing a wider range of cards and in general the turned out better then the "high value" cards. My Ax suited lost every time, but the 3,4 suited made a flush (and straight flush draw) on the flop and the 5,7 suited flopped a straight. The most exciting hand was pocket jacks in middle position. I raised and 4 of us ended up capping it. The flop came A,J,7 rainbow. A near perfect flop for me. No flush to worry about and the ace out there will get people excited. It is bet and I raised. Another heart on the turn and it is checked to me. I bet and get four callers. The river produces another heart. It is checked to me and I bet it. One player folds, one player raises, one player calls. Luckily I knew my player. He had tried to buy the pot several times and I was nearly positive that he was trying to do it again. I considered raising, but that third heard slowed me down just enough to call. The check-raiser tossed his cards without even turning them over. The other caller had flopped Aces and sevens and he was quite annoyed that I took the pot.

+13 @ Chez Johnson

Today we played HORSE. HORSE isn't a game but is a combination of games. H is for Hold'em, O is for Omaha, R is for Razz, S is for Stud and E is for Eight or better (Omaha).

Omaha is like Hold'em except everyone has four cards instead of two. You have to use exactly two cards from your hand in combination with three from the board to make your hand. None of us was clear on what a good starting Omaha hand is. One of my starting hands was Q,J,J,J which isn't as good of a hand as it appears. Because you have to use exactly two cards, the third J in my hand hurt since there was only one jack left that could appear on the board.

S is seven card stud (everyone gets 2 cards down, 4 cards up, then one card down), and Razz is seven card stud low ball. Eights or better is Omaha high-low split, and if the low hand is higher than an eight, there is no low and only a high.

I had never played Omaha before and I find myself very intrigued by the game. I could foresee myself playing it at the Commerce Club someday. I'm not fond of stud or Razz. Too many betting rounds, the hands take too long to develop, and there are too many cards to watch.