+28 @ The Commerce Casino

A,10 and A,10,Q on the flop. Many callers so I smooth called. Blank turn and I raised, only to get re-raised! Waaaa? There were no raises pre-flop, but maybe someone did have AA or QQ. I called the turn, then checked and called the river. He had K,J and flopped the nut straight. What a way to start...

J,10 and 9,J,9,8,6 means that I went far too long calling only to loose to the 9, but then I turned it around when my A,6 hit A,A,9 on the flop. The turn was a blank but the river was a 9 that also made someone a flush. He bet into me and I raised. He called and was annoyed but not terribly surprised when I turned over the A. There was a general slide for a bit so I just hunkered down and tried to play even tighter.

88 with Q,8,2 rainbow. I was in middle position and the button had raised pre-flop. I checked then called when the button bet. A blank on the turn and I was set to check raise, but he also checked. Damn him and his free card play! I bet the A on the river (no flush) and took a nice pot. I was down about $15 dollars when Guy called. He and Soogie were coming back from visiting her parents in Koreatown so we decided to meet up for dinner. We ate at the Eden Restaurant in the casino. It is actually surprisingly good and inexpensive. They left at 8:00 so I decided to play for a couple more hours. The casino was in full swing and I wound up at a small table in the California Game section.

As BB I hit a set of 8s on the flop and bet it the entire way. There were enough callers to push me slightly ahead for the night. I wanted to keep it that way. A,9 suited with 10,7.6 on the flop. I bet the A on the turn then the 9 on the river, praying that the two remaining players didn't have an 8. Neither did.

A,3 suited and I flopped the nut flush. The button bet and we all called. Blank turn and the button bet. I raised and got a couple callers. I bet the river and everyone folded. Up $80 just 20 minutes into the session.

A,J suited in late position with A,9,8. I bet the flop, bet the J on the turn then bet the 9 on the river. Good pot. By this time I had loosened up some for no real reason other than wanting to play. I was slidding some but having a good time. I then hit two really exciting hands just five minutes apart:

Pocket 10 with A,A,6 on the river. I'm behind, but that's a potential jackpot so I figured I would go all the way to the end, even though I only had 1-(1-1/47)(1-1/46) ~ 4% chance of hitting it (this calculation assumes that the guy who bet the flop had an A). Still, that's a 9 dollar investment (assuming no raises) with a 4% chance of getting ~$3000. That's totally worth it. 6 on the turn and I called. 8 on the river and I folded. The guy betting had A,Q. One more A on the board and we would have hit the jackpot with me being the loser! I showed the 10s as I threw them away.

The other good hand of the night was 4,5 of spades with 6,7 spades on the flop. Lots and lots of outs. I missed the flush on the turn, but the 2 of spades on the river made it for me. There were only two others at this point so even though my flush wasn't terribly strong I bet it. The mucked but I did show my almost straight flush.