+1 @ The Commerce Casino

I was up over $100 at one point early in the night after a couple big hands, but I couldn't hold onto it and just slowly drifted down. That's ok, I left a winner and that's always a good feeling, especially as I was playing with Guy and we were able to chat.

Small blind A,Q. It came to me as three bets. I called. Q,J,9 rainbow on the flop. I bet and it came back to me as a capped pot. I called. A on the turn. Crap. Even though it made my two pair, I'm feeling less and less confident about this pot. I checked then called. 10 on the turn. No flush, but with four players left there has to be a K out there somewhere. The pot was really big so I stuck around. We all showed and the other hands were a suited middle A, a 9, 10 and a A,10. Send the money! The very next hand I had A,Q suited. A on the flop and he checked then called the entire way. Another pot for me. Up $110 in 30 minutes.

Pocket K on the button. J,9,7. I raised pre-flop and bet the flop. Two callers. A on the turn. Checked to me, so I came out swinging. They folded.

Things really slowed down at that point. Example hands included A,10 with a flop of 5,8,7 or A,J diamonds with a board of 6,7,3,8,9 and only one diamond. Up $40 in about two hours. A,Q clubs with a flop of A,Q,J all diamonds. I was late position and only had one caller on the flop. Turn was 8, river was J. Neither was another diamond and I bet them both. Didn't have to show.

The final hand of note was JJ with a board of 3,4,3,4,5. With a possible flush of course. What am I supposed to do with that?

+256 @ The Commerce Casino

After a busy morning of chores and errands, I was sitting down to play at about 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon. My third hand gave me A,K suited. A,K,9 on the flop with two hearts. I called the raised flop then raised the blank turn. I was a little worried about the flush until the A came on the river. It also possibly gave someone a flush but that's now ok with me. I had one caller who had, in fact, made the flush. Up $90 in just 15 minutes.

Red pocket 6 in early position. I called, then called again when it came back to me as three bets. Of course I was fully prepared for it to be capped. It was. 6,A,9 with two spades. I bet then called the raise. I checked and called the turn (missed a bet there; there was a lot of commotion at my end of the table and I got distracted. Bad play on my part). Just like the last nice hand, the river paired the board and made a possible spade flush. There were still a couple people behind me so I tried being greedy. It worked as I was able to get a couple people to come along with my check raise. Up $160 in about 90 minutes. When the floorman (floorwoman but no one ever calls them that) Gigi walked by she asked how I was doing, then encouraged me to play tight and cash out soon so I can ensure I went home a winner. I told her that I would make sure that happened.

Pocket Q with a board of J,5,2,A,2. Nasty, but I came out it with the pot. Up $220 in an hour. My next set of pocket Q didn't turn out so well though. The board was 7,8,10,8,10. When the second 8 hit I knew that I was toast but I still (stupidly) went all the way. I have a hard time getting away from those big pocket pairs. However, the memory of the Queens did sink in. A few hands later I had black pocket A and the board gave me a inside straight draw on the turn but someone else probably already had the K with how they were all betting. I bailed and was right.

A,5 in late position with a board of A,Q,7,J,A. I was concered about my prospects until the second A hit. Another guy was betting and I figured him for a middle A. I was wrong; he had pocket 7. D'oh.

Later on I had J,K suited in early position. I called then called again when it came back as two bets. The flop was 3,10,10, none of them my suit darn it. Two guys on the other end of the table loved it and they were having a field day while the rest of us bailed out. 6 on the turn. More betting. One of hte guys was asking "why are you raising me? I got you beat" The other guy said he didn't think so. The river was another 3. A quick check then call and the two guys turned over pocket 10 and pocket 3 respectively. Jackpot! The whole table stood and cheered. The winner got $1000, the loser got $3000, and the rest of us at the tale split $1000. That's $143 dollars for just sitting around. Gotta love it.

-5 @ The Commerce Casino

I showed up at the Commerce Casino at about 5:30 and played for about 4 hours. I had a slow first hour and was down about $80 but had three nice hands in a row right when Guy showed up. I wasn't fond of my table (lots of bad attitudes) so I talked to George the floorman and was able to move to Guy's table just a few minutes later. I was in seat 9 while Guy was in seat 8. It was nice to be able to chat.

The table was a good one but I didn't get much traction. Just small swings in the pot. I didn't have many pairs, but instead had a lot of suited connectors. The were all pretty much unmemorable except for my 6,7 clubs in the big blind. Everyone else had folded except Guy as the small blind. He asked if I wanted to chop. I told him I would but I liked my hand. He said let's play and raised! I called. The flop came K,6,7 rainbow! He bet, I raised. He checked the turn then called the blank turn. He check raised me on the river! Did he go runner runner to make his flush or get a set? I didn't think so and put him on Kings. He had that, but he also did go runner runner to make his flush. How annoying.

The biggest hand of the night for me was one I shouldn't have been in. In mid-late position with Q,5 suited it came to me as a raised pot. I called but the guys behind me capped it. Damn. Many players called the capped pot so I decided to join the fun. The flop came Q,5 blank. Wow. I might be able to win this after all. I called the raised flop, then raised the blank turn. It was checked to me on the river, with the board showing three to a flush. I bet and didn't have to show. It was a $120 pot.

-320 @ The Commerce Casino

It actually isn't as bad as it seems since the loss was over three sessions and about 15 hours of play. The first session was a 50 loss, the next session was a 120 loss, and the final session was a 150 loss. My notes aren't that complete since during two of the sessions I was playing with Guy and we spent a great deal of the time talking. Still, I did capture some of the interesting hands. Wait a second...the two big losses are when I was playing with Guy. I don't think that we were in more than a handfull of pots together past the turn, but still...maybe he's bad luck.

Pocket red aces. I raised pre-flop in late position, and got "rewarded" with three hearts on the flop. Still, I bet the flop and got callers. Bet the black turn and got raised. Two of us called. The river was a another heart! I raised it and the guy angrily called. That was a good pot.

7,9 clubs in middle position. I called and the flop came K,5,2 with two clubs. Time to go all the way to the river. The turn was a blank so I checked then called the small blind. The river was a 2 of clubs. I made my flush but maybe the guy had a full house...I went for it and raised when it got to me, only to get re-raised. Damn, he had a boat or the nut flush after all. I paid him off but was wrong about his hand. He had four of a kind twos!

A,10 in late position. Raised pre-flop and on the flop of A,3,9 rainbow. 6,2 on the turn and river respectively. I bet all the way and the last caller reluctantly called...with her A,Q! D'ohh!

J,10 twice in a row. The first time I made a straight on the turn, but there was also a flush possibility. I called the entire way and split the pot with another J,10. The second time I had a suited J,10 and the flop comes 10,Q,8 rainbow. Middle pair with decent kicker, but my only real out is the 10 or the 9 since a J gives a bigger straight. I called, but the turn gave a Q. Time to give up since people were going two and three bets. I would have been in fourth place as the other fellows turned over 10,10, A,A and J,9.

On the last night I was playing for a long time and just couldn't hit. When I finally got pocket 6 in late position I was happy, then ecstatic when the flop came 6,9,J. It was bet and I raised. Got two callers. Blank turn. It was bet and I raised...and got re-raised. Hmm...The river was another J. It was bet, I raised and got re-raised again! What did the guy have? I paid to see. He had pocket 9. Ouch. Guy said he would have lost a lot more money than I did on that one.