Email grubby or grubette (unless you specify otherwise, emails may make it into future grub posts)
Look for grubette at...
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.
Thinking it would be easy to find a poker room showing the Oscars, I went to the one with the biggest screen -- Excalibur.
They had basketball on the big screen and one of the small TV screens. The other TV had the Oscars, but no audio and no captions. I asked if they could turn on the captions, but they said they weren't able to.
Off I went to Luxor, courtesy of the walkway. No Oscars there either... anywhere.
Continued my walkway journey and as I'm walking, I wonder if MGM-Mirage will build more walkways to connect the casinos once they take over the Mandalay casinos. Without these walkways, I wouldn't get any exercise.
I arrive at Mandalay Bay and nada.
And not only that, no one seemed to care! People were gambling, drinking, smoking. Didn't they know the Oscars were on? What is it with this one horse town and its sports sports sports? I want me some self-flagellating, ego-stroking, incestuous celebrity millionaire awards!
Vegas would have none of it, not even in the bars or House of Blues.
So I took the tram back to Excalibur and resigned to watch the Academy Awards on a small TV with no audio and no closed captioning. Just hope I could get a good seat.
I put my name down for 2/6 and NL and got called for 2/6. Sat in the 8seat, perfect view of the small TV. Someone in the 9seat coughed constantly and not wanting to get sick, I debated getting up, but I didn't want to lose my seat.
Chris Rock came out and his lips were moving.
An hour later of nonstop folding and not winning a single hand, the sick guy leaves, I post my blind (only one $2 blind in the 2/6), then I'm called for NL. I think about sticking around since I already paid my blind, but I think NL will be better and hope for a good Oscar-viewing seat there.
I'm in the 7seat -- still good, but depending on the height of the dealer, I have to bob and duck and weave to avoid the dealer's head. I felt like Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby.
I watch and am pleased with all the big awards (especially the back of Hillary Swank's dress and Charlie Kaufman -- did you see how happy Kate Winslet was for him, but where's his kiss, Katie?). I think about taking a lip-reading class.
I put a cutoff time on me. When Oscar goes, I go. But I was hitting nothing. The entire time the Oscars were on, I didn't win a hand. Not winning a hand means not getting a bad beat, either. Another thing I noticed -- rarely, rarely were people hitting flushes. Maybe they just weren't chasing them (doubtful), but big pairs and two pairs were enough to take it down. Contrast to online, where it's flush city.
Looking around the table, you had all the same types of people who I always play with. The young guy raising every hand. The old rock only playing big pairs (and he'd play them for a $50 raise because he didn't want to lose with them... he would always show and he seemed perfectly happy winning $3 blinds). The guy who'd never played before, went through his $100 buy-in and left. The complainer who called everyone amateurs because they wouldn't fold to his bluffs (yet he would check and give plenty of free cards for the "amateurs" to get there). The guy with a ton of chips in front of him that slowly bled away to 0. The guy who acted nice and friendly until he won three big pots in a row, then he became an aggressive maniac with his chips. A guy who played awful hands yet won with them.
One guy is going to be a dealer at MGM's new poker room, opening March 28. They had a rigorous training test particularly in Omaha hi-lo where they had to know exactly what was in the pot, and it seems it'll be a good room. They'll have 25 tables, each with buttons to call the cocktail waitress and machines to swipe player's cards. They'll spread from 2/4 on up, which will be a relief to get away from the 4/8 max limit in place at most Vegas casinos. I suspect, however, they'll cater to the majority and though they'll do higher limits on wait lists, most tables will be lower.
Also, as is typical with most poker dealers I've played, he wasn't very good.
No drunk guys, though.
Pretty typical for the Excalibur.
And I realize I'm just not that good a player. All I do is play my cards, check-raise here and there when I know I've got the nuts, semi-bluff seldomly because I rarely play the cards that would get me to semi-bluff, and I don't play the player. My defense is that you can't really do that in a game when people have only $100 to risk. That'll be the real test. Maybe at MGM.
Excalibur's NL is $100 min/max buy-in with a 1/2 structure, which is pretty awful and I avoid it unless I need to watch TV. I should've just gotten a hotel room.
The Oscars ended, then Barbara Walters came on. Then I stayed for four more hours, recouping what I lost there and in the 2/6 game. So broke even, plus snagged a $4-off food comp (these are there at many poker rooms, but you have to ask).
Here's an interesting hand that came up, which goes to show you that you can play your cards face up and still have people who chase.
There's a raise, a call, and the flop is Q-Q-10.
The caller bets $10, the raiser raises to $55, which would put the caller all-in.
The caller counts out his chips and looks as if he called, so much so that the raiser flips over his cards.
The caller says, "I haven't called yet."
The raiser tries to hide the cards, but it's too late. Everyone sees them: Q-J.
Pretty easy fold now, I would think. It didn't seem to be an angle... particularly since he was still considering calling.
He says, "I figured you had the Queen anyway, I'm just counting my outs."
He has K-J. No flush possibility. He's going for an Ace or 9. Eight outs. Was it really worth it? It's all his own money in the pot, no one else was in.
And he sees the other guy has trips. That guy could still improve and fill up.
Still, he was here to gamble. He calls.
He loses and leaves.
Yep, another typical day at the Excalibur. Minus the fights.
— —
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Oscar poker
Boy, the grub clan definitely has the gambling gene and if I had to question where I got it, I had to look no further than this past weekend, which I was determined to make poker-free.
mamagrub and Rich came into town last Friday, arriving midnight at Sunset Station, right at the time I was checking in as well. They had stopped over at Primm on the way and won a bit, and once they set foot in Vegas it was all downhill.
Played lots of slots with mamagrub (they have a second Men in Black machine that's fun) and played Deuces Wild at the tables with Rich. Like 3-5-7, Let It Ride, and other table games, Deuces Wild will suck up your money. I did fairly well on it (quads and a full house) from pure luck and counting outs -- I'd toss the hand on the first three cards if I wasn't drawing to at least seven outs.
mamagrub hit over 60 free spins on the Don Ho machine. She kept getting the torches for 10 free spins. She won about $60 there, pretty decent on a penny slot.
I began feeling sick at Fatburger. I excused myself and went to my room early (4 a.m.), though I mostly camped out in the bathroom. I was shivering and turned the heat up to 80 degrees.
mamagrub and Rich continued to play and didn't get back until 6 a.m.!
On Saturday they went downtown and I stayed in the bathroom gobbling Immodium A-D like they were M&Ms. They didn't work.
Sunday we checked out Texas Station. I counted the number of times I went to the bathroom by the number of stalls in both bathrooms. And then I started over again.
I don't know what did me in, but I had two strawberry juliuses (tall glass, whipped cream, no ice) Friday night. I've had five in a night before and never felt this way, so it must've been some fluke that lasted through Monday.
It would come on fast, usually with no warning. And when it came, it burned. The feeling of a fart was not a fart at all. I couldn't be further than 20 feet from the restrooms without needing a change. I don't think the slot change people had that kind of change.
Up until we went to Texas, I was up a little. Whatever I lost in slots I won back in blackjack. That didn't work at Texas. In one double-deck shoe, the dealer hit blackjack or drew to 21 five times. Hard to win with that.
Before escaping, we had a little contest where we each put $20 into a slot machine. Whoever was ahead after 20 minutes would win $5 from the others. I won (I was up to $27) and fed the $10 back into the machine and dropped to zero. I rallied on a new seal machine that had these awfully cute seals waving at you and egging you on. Won $90 off that machine before cashing out.
We tried to go back but Fiesta was right across the street, and we just had to check that out. 'Twas on the way, don'tchaknow.
I said that I would gladly lose twice what I've lost so far, if I could just get rid of this stomach virus. Nice wish, because that's what happened. Only the virus didn't leave along with my cash.
Fiesta surprisingly has full-pay video poker, one of the last places to offer them. I was able to cash out $20 ahead there. That was the first place I went, and should've stayed.
Lost three buy-ins in blackjack. Which normally wouldn't be too bad, but had the worst dealer I've ever seen. She dealt slowly, couldn't add, and kept flipping cards. When I pushed, she took my chips. I told her and she replaced the chips (incorrectly) without calling over the pitboss. It incensed me enough to want to deal blackjack there.
Fiesta had two 2/4 poker tables, one of which was in use. Both tables are on the casino floor among the blackjack and craps tables.
Rich and I then played craps. I was up $100 at one point then lost that and the rest on three shooters in a row who sevened out right after the point (I usually cover all the numbers)... including me. When I first had the dice I rolled for three points, then the dice went cold.
We vowed never to return to either place. Though I would go back to Texas -- their poker room looked decent enough, and is nonsmoking.
When we returned to Sunset, no one felt like playing any more and we crashed. On Sunday when I was finally feeling better, they decided to leave a day early rather than stay and lose more money. They ended up stopping and staying the night in Primm on the way back.
Not a successful visit for the grub clan, though while they can recoup, I'm stuck here losing more.
Noticing that I was only 1000 points away from being Platinum, I played enough at Green Valley Ranch to bump me to that level (60,000 points). Now I "only" need 190,000 more points to get to the President level, which I won't be doing anytime soon nor do I have a desire to. The only reason to get to Platinum was to see what offers they'll send me, and I'll stay at that level through February 2006.
This past week has been a wild seesaw -- I won back all that I'd lost when they were in town, then I gave that back and more. Much more.
I've said it before a countless number of times, but my -EV gambling days are nearing a close. Heck with the "nearing" -- it's at a close. No more.
I'm signed up for another Luxor slot tournament next weekend, and instead of playing anything to keep up my rating, I'll just play poker and cash out my comp points. I won't expect to be invited back to the next tournament.
Which means I'd better win something in the tournament.
§
I've been so scattered this week that I keep missing tourneys that I've paid for or qualified for. The three-hour time difference seems to mess me up and I can't get myself home in time. Four times I've registered for tourneys that completely slipped my mind. One, the $25K guaranteed at Empire, I returned home 90 minutes after it started to find myself with 50 chips. The others I missed completely.
My car is back in the shop after being worked on to the tune of $2200 three weeks ago. The ABS light as well as it increasingly having a noisy time starting was cause to bring it in. I hoped it was the starter (which they replaced before) so it could be under warranty, but after replacing it three times they discovered it was the ignition. That tacked on another $700, which I had to pay in advance (one thing about Las Vegas is there's not a lot of trust -- banks take 11 days to clear a check, though they put the first $100 through). The ABS turned out to be something with the pump, which would've been $1800 plus labor but I opted out, thinking manual brakes and putting up with the irritating ABS light were worth saving two grand.
They did give me a slight deal by knocking off the tax. I've found you can negotiate at some places when you pay cash.
Had I known all this work would be involved, I would've run the car off one of the casino construction ditches and looked into a used car. I would've done that before the cross-country trip. There's just no sense in continuing to spend this much on something 12 years old that I just know will break down with something truly major (knock on transmission).
For now I'll go back to my previous hope that these repairs will last at least another two years and not three more weeks. Because heck, at this rate it would've been cheaper to rent a car.
§
Opie & Anthony broadcasted their XM radio show from Commerce on Wednesday. Anthony played in the WPT event (Annie Duke was at his table), and they set up shop and interviewed various celebrities of the poker and Hollywood variety.
Ed Asner had just left his interview after saying "fuck you" to Opie (you can curse on satellite), and Daniel Negreanu was up next after getting knocked out of the tourney.
It was a good, entertaining interview. Negreanu laughed a lot and he came off well, despite no one knowing who he was and his ego offering up exactly who he was. But I think the turn came once he mentioned breaking up with his fiancee three days before. Joe ("Fear Factor") Rogan hopped on this and gave a don't-you-hate scenario involving his ex, which Negreanu took in stride.
The interview was over shortly after that, and later that day he blogged about how he really felt.
Can't say that I blame him, but I'm immune to most of what O&A say (or Joe Rogan for that matter). They're certainly an acquired taste and takes awhile to get used to their "cringe radio" humor. If Anthony were there, it would've gone differently, as Anthony greatly respects Negreanu.
An O&A fan board seemed split down the middle whether Negreanu was in the right or wrong for not speaking his mind while it was happening if he felt that uncomfortable. I disagree, though -- I think him rolling with the punches was the best way to handle it. Further down the thread, Negreanu hopped onboard and posted his own thoughts about the matter.
A class act all around, and he'll do the Wynn poker room proud (200 days of the year he'll be there, apparently).
§
I've finally seen all the best-picture nominees and think Million Dollar Baby will sweep and get all the top awards. And I think it deserves to.
I enjoyed Sideways, but it's overhyped. Somehow Alexander Payne has become a media darling, and I would bet his next film also gets a couple nominations.
And Jamie Foxx will win best actor.
And there you have my Oscar picks.
Now to find a place to watch it tomorrow night.
— —
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Farting bonuses
I'm back home and am out the door to a radio promotion at Panda Express (free stuff) but I just wanted to say -- it's oh so nice to be able to fart again. It's also nice to have a sunny day for a change. More on that tomorrow, assuming you really want to know.
For now... bonuses!
Intertops has some terrific offers coming up within the next few days.
First is a 25 percent reload bonus, up to $100 (deposit $400, get $100), using code FEB25. Only 5x (500) raked hands to clear within 30 days after your deposit. Expires Feb. 28.
In addition to all their daily freerolls and added-money tourneys, at least once a month Intertops offers a big freeroll.
This month, they're offering four:
Feb. 25 at 9p EST -- $10,000 WSOP NL (2005 raked hands to qualify... I'm tryin', I'm tryin'!)
Feb. 26 at 9p EST -- $10,000 freeroll NL (open to all)
Feb. 27 at 9p EST -- $10,000 BetOnPoker freeroll NL (open to all... plus they give you $5 to place bets on players, including yourself)
Feb. 28 at 9p EST -- $10,000 affiliate freeroll NL (open to affiliates only, but it's easy to become one just for the tournament... and currently there are only 60 people entered)
Intertops is a skin of Party, so except for the tournaments and bad beat jackpot, both share the same players and tables.
If you haven't already signed up to Intertops, you can through this link to get a 20 percent signup bonus, up to $100 (deposit $500 and get $100) using code HAPPY2005, with 5x (500) raked hands to clear within 30 days after your deposit. You can then do the reload bonus.
Party no longer lets their players sign up to their skins, but you can get around this by signing up on another computer, then you're fine to play on your regular machine.
Speaking of Party, they have a reload bonus of 20 percent up to $200 (deposit $1000, get $200) using code BONUSFEB. It's valid Friday through March 2 and requires 7x (1400) raked hands to clear within 7 days after your deposit.
And once Party's offer ends, you knowEmpire will be out with another bonus of their own, probably early March at $200.
A couple other lesser sites (personal preference because play is tighter than Party & skins and I don't enjoy the software as much) that also have reload bonuses this month...
Pokerroom -- 30 percent up to $300 (deposit $1000, get $300) using code MONACO. 7x (2100) raked hands to clear within 60 days after deposit. You can also play off the bonus in their casino section, and they've recently redesigned their blackjack game. Word to the wise, though -- I played this new version of blackjack when it was in beta and ran $1000 up to $10,000... in play money. Think I could do that with real money? Not likely.
Absolute -- today only, 25 percent up to $250 (deposit $1000, get $250) using code NET125. 10x (2500) raked hands to clear after 30 days. At one point I had stacked over $5,000 in bonuses at Absolute, but then I stopped playing and it all expired.
Thank goodness they've spaced these things out, as I clear one and immediately hop to the next. Along with the MultiPoker $100 reload and Empire's $150 reload earlier this month, that makes $1100 in bonuses just for February. Takes some of the sting out of bad beats, that's for sure.
— —
Friday, February 18, 2005
Along came a spider
Next month, Dell releases their new 24" flat panel LCD monitor with a native resolution of 1920x1200.
Which means their 20.1" will be going down, as it already has, hovering around the $500 mark.
I gave mine up before the move (I regret that; I had enough room in the car that I could've taken it with me), and that was one of my first purchases after I set up the computer.
Next to the laptop, it remains one of the best computer purchases I've ever made. Last year I bought it for $800, last month I bought it for $620, and now it's at $500 (with coupons and free shipping).
I would think about the 24" if the width were more; ideally I'd run six tables at once.
But I'm perfectly happy with the 20.1" and laptop's 1920x1600 (despite being small) for the additional table or two.
§
Killed the first spider I've seen with a Diet Coke can. He was a speedy li'l bugger. He looks more like a sunspot or cataracts or Nazi tattoo.
§
I believe the final boxes that I media mailed have arrived.
Now to get some shelves. Or maybe I'll just leave 'em in the boxes.
§
Despite all the recent slot talk, I've still been playing long hours of poker online. That's what I consider my real "job" and anything outside of that -- including live poker play -- I consider fun. At least until I can build a bankroll to play the higher limit games at Bellagio or Mirage.
Online, there appears to be no end to the amount of beats I've been taking lately. I've been running bad the past few weeks, which probably accounts for my slotplay at The Palms (though truthfully, when I'm running good that extra money is also put into those blasted machines).
How I'm surviving has been in 10/20 6max and 50+5 SnGs. I've dropped the 10/20 for now because of a depleted bankroll from the SnGs. The 10/20 is still as wild as ever, with people chasing down any number of low pairs (or just overcards). How do they get so lucky?
The 50+5 has become like the 30+3. Even the 100+9 has people playing questionably (though that game is more difficult during the day, the 50+5 is good all hours).
My once-reliable yet low 23 percent ROI in both 50+5 and 100+9 has dropped to the negative and it's taken my ITM along with it, meaning I'm losing money playing these.
Reviewing some histories, I don't believe I'm playing worse and don't think I'm in denial. I'm still seeing 21 percent of flops (this could probably stand to be lower) and I push hard with big hands.
And I'm making good reads; I just happen to get sucked out an inordinate amount of time by people unable to drop their top pair/bad kicker or medium pair or flush/straight draws... and then get there. I've heard people online and live say they "had to call" a pot-sized bet because of "pot odds," though the concept of pot odds doesn't mean 2:1 on your money with half of it yours. For close to those odds, you may as well smack down a bet in roulette.
The way people are playing, poker is becoming more and more gambling. I might be in with the best hand preflop or on the flop but I still am not 100 percent (or even 75 percent) to win. I understand that, and it's these players that will pay me off in the long run, but I certainly seem to be on the tail-end of luck lately.
Unlike ring games, with SnGs, once I'm out I'm out. I put a note on them but I can't play them again unless I happen to see them in a future SnG. That's the one disadvantage. I'd love it if Party would offer SnGs with one rebuy. That would be a novel idea.
It's the consistent beats all bunched up that get to me -- people calling all-ins because they can't let go or putting me on a bluff and then hitting.
(warning: bad beats ahead)
It's a helpless feeling, at the whim of players calling big raises with face cards to runner a straight. Or not letting go of a small pocket pair despite overcards on the flop and turning a set. Or them raising with JJ, having an A on the flop, and re-raising all-in only to spike a Jack.
The reason I play AA and KK so hard is because I'd rather get the blinds than get them beaten. I believe my stat on AA winning is incorrect because of this. If I had a way of tallying how much I've lost with AA instead of the number of times I've lost with AA, I'm certain it's a losing hand.
I'm actually relieved when my QQ or KK is beaten by AA. At least the better hand won. But then I think, where's my miracle card when I need it? Why can't I make a straight or set or flush like other people do all-in against my AA?
AK is my nemesis (other people play it much more strongly than I do, even on a rag flop to my JJ or QQ or KK... and get there), but at least that's a better hand than a small Ace. Many times I'm losing to their kicker pairing or we're splitting the pot when two pair falls on the board.
One hand I flopped the nut flush and thought that I was good until someone called my flop bet (as well as preflop raise) with bottom pair of 10-3 (3 was his pair and he was suited). He runnered a full house.
mamagrub is arriving tonight, and we're staying at Sunset Station all weekend. I won't be bringing my laptop, and when I play slots with her, I'll just buy-in for $20 at a time.
I'm looking forward to taking some desperately needed time off from poker.
Because right now, I'm just sick of it.
— —
Thursday, February 17, 2005
A stint of Clint and a pull from Pamela
Through Feb. 23, MultiPoker has a 50 percent reload bonus, up to $100 (deposit $200 and get $100), using code FEB05RELOAD. 1000 raked hands to clear within 15 days after your deposit.
MultiPoker is a skin of Party, so except for the tournaments, both share the same players and tables.
If you haven't already signed up to MultiPoker, you can through this link to get a 20 percent signup bonus, up to $75 (deposit $375 and get $75), with 375 raked hands to clear within 30 days after your deposit. You can then do the reload bonus.
Party no longer lets their players sign up to their skins, but you can get around this by signing up on another computer, then you're fine to play on your regular machine.
§
Yesterday The Palms was advertising a free pull by Pamela Anderson... slot pull, that is. She was also going to be there for her Fashion Show at the Rain nightclub while signing autographs and maybe giving real pulls?
So I went, only to find out it was for new player's card members. Discrimination! Four free pulls (75 cents per pull, $3 total that the slot wenches fed into the machine before you played) on her new slot machine unveiled at The Palms.
Like people were voting, there was a long line to play a bank of eight machines that was buried in the far end of the casino next to Sunrise Cafe (after all, if it were at the entrance, you wouldn't be entranced by the other games).
This line of players seemed too seasoned, so I suspect The Palms offered the same deal to locals, who mostly play video poker there. I need to change my address so I can get in on this. Sunset has similar offers to locals -- almost daily there's a long line beside the buffet for invited guests, and they're picking up all sorts of trinkets like a dish set or calendar or Christmas ornament. I want my knicknacks!
I skipped the line, waited for a machine to pop up, and squeezed myself in there as a paying customer.
Hers has new photography by David LaChapelle (of Elton John fame) but the design of it is a poor excuse for a slot machine as any.
It's essentially the Wheel of Fortune machine -- a reel slot with progressive. Hit one of the Pamela symbols and you get to spin the wheel amidst her digital voice wishing you luck.
I ran $80 through her and only got to push her button once.
I thought with her big opening she might be a bit loose and easy, but that Pamela is pretty tight.
Okay, that's about all the sexual slot innuendo I can muster.
It's also not a very fun machine to play, as those things you're just there to spin or donate to the progressive. They should've designed a bonus machine around her like Jeff Foxworthy's redneck machine. That would at least get people to play longer for a Pamela cartoon. 'Course, it would have to be G-rated as they all seem to be. Funny how despite it being Vegas and gambling and minimum 21 years old and hookers out of the woodwork if you hit that jackpot, all slot content is tame. If you're playing a Pamela Anderson or Playboy slot machine, wouldn't you expect some level of lasciviousness? It's all to not offend the blue-haired grannies, but I think it's time we have something not so kid-oriented.
I want to hear "fuckin' A!" when I hit and I want play a bonus round where I guide the scantily dressed cartoon Pamela through bedrooms avoiding hepatitis.
The Palms has the new Clint Eastwood nickel machine with a twist of a scattered progressive at the cost of one extra nickel. So you could play 15 lines times the number of credits, and to play the progressive would only cost an extra 5 cents. Other similar progressives multiply that amount by the credit line (if you played three credits, it would be (15+1)*3 for 48 vs. the (15*3)+1 for 46 for Clint). Not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless.
His is a fun machine in the style of WMS's other popular slots like Men in Black. The difference here is they put some thought into it, like WMS does all their games (Keeping Up with the Joneses, RingQuest, Password, Match Game, etc. -- is it no wonder IGT's stock is down?). They all have a similar payout structure and feel to it, but they put much effort into the cute animations and sounds and multiple bonuses. Even the machine itself -- just look at all the things going on in Men in Black that attracts you to sit down at the machine.
Clint ran cold for me after $300, never hitting anything bigger than 800 credits and hitting the bonus round only three times (you select a box of bullets and shoot targets for coins or wanted posters). A woman sat next to me, deposited $20, and hit the bonus four times. Hate when that happens.
Threw more money at the Twilight Zone slots (which I quite like and seems to make my money last the longest) and the Richard Petty racing slot. Then the rest at the Wheel of Fortune $1 progressives, Cops'n'Donuts, and the American Bandstand nickel slots (I've never been able to hit on this machine).
Well, so much for my slot abstinence. I played an hour past Pamela Anderson's appearance, so I didn't catch even an attempted glimpse.
Throughout February, The Palms is offering 2x points on reel slots (basically all but video poker) and a free buffet coupon (or $10 voucher to Sunrise Cafe or their Mexican restaurant) after 300 points.
I misread this to be 1000 points and also misread it to think I could get multiple coupons. (The 1000 points offer was something about play 1000 points in 90 days and get discounts to the buffet.) I played through over 4500 points but they only offer one coupon per day. I could've spaced this play out over 15 days, earning 300 points and then collecting the buffet so I'd be fed for half a month straight, but nooo, I had to do it all in one worthless stint of Clint.
I picked the buffet, which closed at 10 p.m. and I entered half an hour before. That was still enough time for three trips to their Fantasy Market Buffet, which was small but tastier than Rio. Also much cheaper -- their dinner goes for $11.99.
The smoke-filled poker room was packed, and when they were expanding into the keno room last year I remember them promising a 9/18 game (it was painted on the wall as "coming soon"). That room is now called the High-Limit Poker room, but they just spread NL in there.
This appears to be a trend throughout the Vegas poker rooms that used to spread 6/12 or anything above 4/8 (which, uh, was only 6/12 as they rarely spread 5/10): all those tables are now NL. At least at The Palms, their NL is $100 min./$500 max. and 2/5 blinds.
By the time I checked on the game, I had $240 left in my wallet. Not enough for NL. I had a choice: I could go home or blow the rest on slots. If I had such a hankerin' for slots, the wise thing would be to save that money for future slot play at The Palms for a future buffet coupon. Why throw it all away in one night?
You don't have to be a Vegas oddsmaker to guess what I did.
— —
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Sixty cents an hour
Got a call from a director friend who said a directing student in Michigan is looking to do a script analysis and film a scene, and he needed something edgy. My friend graciously recommended an early script of mine.
If I'm known for anything as a screenwriter, it's this David Lynch-ish script. It seems to leave an impression on people, and causes them to think everything I write is similar (which may not be good). It's intensely visual and a little creepy with film-school pedantic Freudian and religious symbolism throughout. As my screenwriting instructor says, it's the script where characters have a tendency to lose limbs.
This script won a contest, bounced around a talent agency and a couple studios for a bit, got coverage, got me meetings, and ultimately ended up at the bottom of the sock drawer that I don't have because I can't afford furniture.
I'm still fond of it and am curious to see what the student does, assuming he chooses it.
For now, I seem to be bereft of new ideas, though I don't plan to introduce writing to this Vegas bum life until April.
I'm only at the halfway mark for the required 50 hours to get an entry into the Station Casinos' $200,000 freeroll, which I'm now less excited about qualifying for because I found out every 20 minutes it will alternate between Hold'em and Omaha (high). I don't know the first thing about Omaha, so it would be a complete crapshoot for me. I suppose I could play my heart out in the 20-minute Hold'em round and then fold every hand but big pairs in the 20-minute Omaha round. Still, the $50,000 first prize might be worth 25 more hours of 4/8 and 3/6/9 hell.
Might.
Last night cashed in my comp for the Rio World Market Buffet, which normally runs $22. Without giving any play, signing up for their player's card gets you a buffet comp for two. Good deal.
The buffet is large but the quality is so-so. Their shrimp needed peeling. If I'm eating at a restaurant, I don't want to work for the food. Desserts were good, though, and the fruit tart didn't have legs I had to pull off.
My favorite buffets remain Bellagio and Aladdin.
I tend to eat myself silly at these things and last night was no exception, so to avoid stomach cramps walking to my car, into the poker room I went (which was the plan anyway, killing a buffet & poker room with one stone).
Rio's room only had three tables going: 3/6, 4/8, and 300NL 2/5 which had a waiting list.
This was one table more than the last time I was there.
I put my name on NL, sighed, and entered a shorthanded 4/8. One thing nice about the California cardbarns is the variety of limits and the always-busy and always-full tables. More often than not I'm entering a shorthanded game, which is fine because that's all I play online, but I find I'm much less aggressive in person. I'm more straightforward in my play, also seldom check-raising when heads-up.
A new NL table opened up, but it was only four-handed. Played in it anyway, and an aggressive ex-con drunk guy mad about the Utah win was giving away his money. I couldn't catch a hand against him, though I successfully bluffed small pots away.
The table broke in about 15 minutes.
Walked back to the car, proud to not spend a cent on slots or blackjack. Though if the bikini bj dealers were dealing, I may have played a hand or two.
Then went to Sunset Station to get my hours in and also, as if I didn't already eat enough, to get in a few strawberry juliuses and Red Bulls in tall glasses (separately, of course).
NL is only spread when they have NL dealers, which is mainly on the weekend. I went for a 4/8 table that at least wasn't short. Also being seated was an extremely loud drunk guy wearing a Rolex and holding three racks of whites in front of him. His drunk and vulgar father sat behind him, and their conversations always contained some cursing.
He played every hand, mostly raising or capping preflop. The only hand I beat him with was quad Queens and he folded to my raise.
But it wasn't too difficult to beat him, as Ace high usually did the trick.
I stared at his racks as they mysteriously jumped to other people's racks. He rebought $400 and left when that was gone.
Meanwhile everyone else's chipstacks were increasing. Another guy played every hand (mostly coming in for a raise), got extremely lucky on multiple rivers, and was up $700 mostly courtesy of the drunk.
Mostly locals in this casino, they'd leave after they'd hit their hundred.
Playing live is an arduous experience. Sunset Station practically issues you cigarettes before playing, it's so filled with smoke. This, contrary to an incorrect memo circulating that the Stations were going nonsmoking as of Feb. 1.
A Japanese woman who said "ay-ahhh" to every flop gave me lessons on how I should've played a hand. Recalling that she cold-called a raise with 29s, I thanked her and said I was just learning. She left with five racks, though said she was stuck for $500 and broke even.
In extremely loose games like these, I see more flops in position and when I can get in cheaply, and I raise less with big hands. The only way to bluff is to bet out on the turn when an Ace or King hits, and that involves some acting. I try to light up my eyes and look directly at my chips when that card comes, and then I bet out. This surprisingly works, because despite their loose-aggressiveness, the players were savvy and frequently if they had any face cards preflop they would've raised. Coupled with the fact that I was rarely in a pot unless I had something, this was usually good enough to take the pot facedown.
But five hours for $3.50 (and free drinks)... can't even get a double-double at In-N-Out for that.
— —
Monday, February 14, 2005
Batten down the Cooler
Heard some interesting things about the Wynn casino, opening April 28 (Stevie's birthday). They'll be using the new radio frequency (RFID) chips that emit serial numbers to defeat counterfeiting and also track play more exactly (Hard Rock will be adopting this technology next month). They're hiring 11,000 employees (who all have to submit to a $50 drug test). They're bringing their chefs in-house (many other restaurants with celebrity chefs don't actually have that chef working there).
And rumor has it Daniel Negreanu will be their poker room manager (22 tables, probably half of them high-limit).
I can't wait for this casino to open.
The Luxor banquet in the Egyptian Ballroom (west tower) was just like a wedding banquet minus the dancing and the bouquet throwing. Open bar (no Red Bull), sitdown dinner (Caesar salad, steak and shrimp and mashed potatoes and big vegetables, chocolate/raspberry tiramisu-ish dessert that has some fancy name I'm sure), and awards ceremony giving away cash for correct trivia questions, funny t-shirts worn ("You so want me"), best dance at the slot machine, longest marriage (40 years and "humor" being the answer to how they stayed together so long... I would've answered "prostitutes"), a comment of "nice tie" to the emcee, and then the final big money slot prizes. First place won $22,500 and was presented with a big check and a trophy. Not a bad weekend for smacking a button for 60 minutes, eh?
They also had acts for all of us (250 slotaholics plus guest). The band Fahrenheit played and drumrolled at appropriate times. A 13-year-old girl named Maria destined for a Cirque du Soleil future already works with the Mandalay Group and presented us some flexible yoga moves that made my nether regions cringe while simultaneously thinking if she'd be single in five years. Sasha and Alicia did a seesaw balancing act with a board and a can. Alicia just smiled and handed boards and cans; Sasha did all the work.
We were also treated with a 10-minute video of ourselves playing in the tournament, cut and edited to a couple upbeat songs. The camera made it around to everyone, and got to me three times. I reckon slot hosts study this video, because mine already knew my name by sight.
Tables were reserved by our host names. Met a friendly older couple Tom and Irene, who travel from Illinois to Vegas about five times a year. Their main game is video poker but this time they played more table games. Met another woman (who won $4000 in the tournament) who plays strictly penny slots and was put up in the Executive Suites. For being as big a player as her, she didn't know she could manually increase credits onscreen and she thought Quackers was a new game. Hmph.
My final slot score went out with a bang, scoring higher than my first two rounds. The third round is critical because it's doubled when tallying the final score.
Alas, it wasn't enough to put me in the top 10 (which got $1000). Nor was it to put me dead last, and that honor was awarded $400. But I was within kissing distance (this being Valentine's Day and all) of 10th place, enough to want to participate again.
My slotplay really isn't that much compared to what I was playing online. Playthrough there ranged between $300 and $450K per month. If I transferred all of that play to live casinos (if I had the patience, that is), I too could be getting the whale treatment. Over the Thursday-Sunday weekend I played through what I do normally whenever I visited Vegas -- about $6000 not counting blackjack time. I lost more than what I usually lose, too -- $2500, which is about $2500 more than I can afford.
This play (or loss) gets me comps and free rooms and invitations to slot and bj tournaments, but I'm disillusioned because with all this play, I'm severely due for a jackpot that just does not seem to be coming. In a game that's pure luck, other people I speak to seem to consistently have the bulk of that luck, and all I'm doing is donating hard-earned poker money to the casinos in exchange for free finger sandwiches.
So all this is coming to a screeching halt...
With just two more excursions, if you will: 1) mamagrub's in town for her birthday this weekend and she only plays slots, so I will too; and 2) Luxor's next slot tournament is the first weekend of March -- just two weeks away (assuming I'm invited).
After that I'm drastically cutting down on slotplay. I've resigned myself into thinking I'm just not one of those people who can hit on slots like others can. Sitting next to two people who hit royals or next to someone who spins the Wheel of Fortune for 1000 credits (unheard of) just makes me ill. I'm a Cooler just to myself.
Aside from slot madness, I also played in the 10 a.m. Luxor crapshoot tourney.
Crapshoot because you only start with 300 chips. Blinds start at 10/15 and escalate fast enough to end the game in two hours -- just in time for the noon tourney.
To speed things along further, the second hour is no-limit. This really is a game that's closest to a slot machine. At T300, you can't afford to wait for good cards.
I lasted to 7th, which is what they paid to. $42 for a $28 buy-in, so $7 per hour.
Then played some 50NL 1/1/2 at Luxor at a tight table. A preflop raise was enough to get the blinds. Better to limp with big pairs and take that risk, because otherwise you were only getting $3.
Brian the dealer made a mistake I hadn't seen before, when he burned and turned a card... after he had already dealt the river card. This made for some good-natured ribbing afterwards, asking him how many more cards we would see this time.
After the banquet, I played 200NL 2/4 all night at Mandalay. Wild, wild game, as top pair was enough to take the pot... and two people would call all-ins on just middle pair. At my must-move table, one person was already up to $800 in 15 minutes.
Saw a football-type guy sit down and go through his second $200 in five minutes. He was puzzled when his two pair didn't win... because someone else had a bigger two pair. He didn't mind, though -- he'd scored big in blackjack.
Another guy called all the way to the river with pocket 4s. The other guy had a straight, but any pair would've beat him.
Pots were frequently in the $400 range. One pot was over $800 involving AA vs. QQ vs. three other people who dropped on the river. QQ won.
Me, I wasn't getting cards and dwindled to another buy-in before cashing out $220 down.
As one dealer's down ended and he switched with another dealer, I overheard him whisper, "Batten down the hatches."
— —
Friday, February 11, 2005
Raining slots
Sadly, Arthur Miller passed away. I don't know how he did it, but he was still churning out play after play. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years we see some unfinished plays of his a la Tennessee Williams.
I went to see Miller speak a couple years ago at the Kennedy Center and the man pulled no punches. He was spry and articulate, and for 45 minutes he spoke honestly and openly about everything from politics to Marilyn Monroe to Frank Rich to the state of theater today. What made it more daring was there were many politicians in attendance (including Laura Bush), and Miller just lascerated the President and Republicans in general.
I'm in the middle of a slot tournament at Luxor and came home in the middle of now-all-too-familiar torrential rain to get more money from NETeller (urp).
Luxor's slot tourneys are my favorite. Not only do they award the biggest prize anywhere (a prize pool of $100,000 with $22,500 to first place), but it's also high energy, they have cool prizes, and it's a lot of fun.
But man, does it force me to play slots so that I can keep being invited to the next one. It's limited to 250 invited people and for each one they give a gift bag of a Valentine's Day stuffed monkey, book, and chocolate/fondue maker (coincidentally, I had gotten a fondue maker for mamagrub's birthday). For each of the three rounds, they hand out $30. And there's a big sit-down banquet at the awards ceremony. All this just for getting your butt out to Vegas.
The past few times I've stayed at Luxor, I've received a pyramid-shaped gift basket of all kinds of food and treats. After checking in yesterday and hanging in the room for an hour or so waiting for the friendly room service knock, I thought it wouldn't be coming this time.
But when I returned late last night, there it was! Along with a cart of finger sandwiches, bottled water, and bottles of Pepsi.
It's hard not to feel like giving Luxor all my gaming dollars.
And that I did. All my ATM dollars as well.
At least some people were winning. A guy behind me let out a woot and hit a royal for $2122. The blasted thing sang all variations of "We're in the money" that I had to leave.
Then another guy sitting next to me hit a jackpot of $1199 (a dollar less to handily avoid the taxman, and also for less paperwork from the casino).
Constant reminders that I'm not cut out to be a slot player. I'm tired of losing the same amounts that people win. Next time I should just give my money directly to these winners and cut out the casino middleman.
I've altered my strategy a bit with slots. Well okay, there's no strategy regarding slots. But I'm always betting the max lines (which I always did anyway) as well as max credits. Online, my slot play is $9/pull. I couldn't understand why I was scared off playing that live (the same dichotomy goes with poker).
So I upped my betting and am playing the $1 and $5 slots. And now I know why -- because the slow burn burns faster, and my live slot losses are now on par with my online slot losses. Better to just throw it all on black and be done with it.
Which is why I'm home, waiting for NETeller to clear a withdrawal so I can get the cash from the ATM.
The absurdity of all of this isn't lost on me, but I think there's an ever-so-slight positive EV with continuing to play these tournaments. It's basically a 1 in 250 lottery shot at $22,500. Even second place is $15,000. To get invited to each one every month by a bunch of regular slotplay, even if I lose, could be made up in an instant by one of those wins.
Not a good way to think, as chasing for comps never is, because it gets to the point where you need to hit a big win just to break even.
It's been six hours now and the withdrawal still isn't showing. I may end up sticking around at home and watching Shaun of the Dead. Cashless in Vegas is worse than being impotent.
Once the cash hits, the plan is poker at Mandalay or Luxor or Excalibur through the night until my final slot tourney round at 9 a.m. tomorrow. The walkway will be put to good use, avoiding all this rain. May also check out one of the crapshoot tourneys at Luxor or Mandalay. That's a strict donation there, but no worse than donating it to slots.
I just woke up in time to play the final semi for the PPM cruise. The first thing I noticed was the felt from Aladdin still in my fingernails. The second thing I noticed was that within the two hours I was sleeping, the bad beat jackpot hit for almost half a million. The third thing I noticed is that now I have to wait 30 more minutes (meaning I could've slept another half hour).
Seems Party pushed back the time of their tourney start.
Why?
I suspect they have a few extra seats on the boat, because for this final semi (and a couple others in this set of February semis), they guaranteed that the top 26 will win.
Only 1504 have entered at 210+16 and with the value of each package worth $12,600, that means there's actually a one-cruise-package overlay in this tourney! (1519 people entered on Friday and the top 25 won.)
I also noticed that they switched yesterday's tourney to NL from limit. Another sneaky thing to do, especially if those signed up expecting limit suddenly found themselves in NL.
At my table there are five people with T3000. I'm next with T2400. One T1800, two T1600, and one T1400.
This is something else I don't like Party doing and perhaps accounts for a lower turnout than they could actually achieve -- based on your play leading up to the tourney, they award you points that you can convert to chips and use to add to your chipstack, up to 2000 chips.
I only had 1400 extra chips, and I'm already T600 behind five people at my table.
They do this with their $1M guaranteed tourney as well, and I think it's unfair to dump this on people who are paying 210+16 or 600+40 as it is, only to squeeze a couple thousand raked hands out of them just so they can be evenly matched with others.
§
Took a long nap most of yesterday and felt better when I awoke, enough to play some poker. I didn't want to push it, but as long as I was coughing only sporadically, that was a sign of a 24-hour cold plus or minus a few 24 hours.
Doctor's orders would probably say to stay in just in case, but I was hungry and it was about 9 p.m.
First, I had to pay for the meal. So I did a planned hit-and-run in the Party 10/20. First win I got I would shutdown and head out. These kinds of things can always backfire because I could end up stuck and then at the table for hours just to make my meal money.
Fortunately pocket Queens were dealt on my third hand and a guy called me down the whole way with AK.
$58 up and on my way to dinner!
I opted for Ellis Island's delicious $4.95 sirloin (with soup of the day the cream of broccoli). The hole-in-the-casino locals haven and laser karaoke destination that is Ellis will soon become more widely known later this year when the Super 8 motel next door is converted into a hotel-condo-casino called Aqua Blue and run by Michael Jordan, a man not a stranger to gambling himself.
Even when he came out of retirement to play with the Washington Wizards, the night before a game he would take off to Atlantic City and play blackjack in a cordoned off section just for him. Being up or down a few $100K was the norm.
If anything, he knows the gambler mentality, and his casino will have generous comps.
After stuffing myself and listening to semi-decent karaoke, I skipped all the table and slot action and headed across the street to Bellagio to search for mamagrub at the slots. She rarely keeps her cell on, and her room wasn't in her name, so I had no way to contact her. Kept myself entertained for an hour or so looking at the new conservatory installation (the Year of the Rooster theme) and loitering around the casino (some of the most achingly beautiful women hang out at Bellagio... and I'd bet they have an achingly expensive pricetag).
There always seems to be something different going on in Vegas, it's hard to choose what to do. The Chinese New Year is next week, and I saw signs at Venetian that they'd have dragons and other celebratory festivities throughout the casino floor. Maybe porn stars too? Aladdin mentioned they're having a Mardi Gras celebration next week. I hope to check out both.
At Bellagio, watched people lose at the $1000 minimum/$10,000 maximum blackjack tables. They sat with stacks of $1000 chips in front of them, betting nonchalantly as if they were $5 chips. Hard to imagine, each win is like a jackpot or monthly rent to us regular folk. I don't think I have the balls to ever lay that much on the line and I wonder if I were ever in a position where I could afford that, would I? I still think no. There are limits even for this grub when it comes to gambling.
The poker room had a waitlist a bajillion names long (as much as I like the room, I haven't played at Bellagio for at least a year because the wait's been forever), so off I went to Aladdin.
Played 100NL 1/2 and hit some good hands early (people insanely call big bets and all-ins with medium pair), then suffered two big beats, one in which the guy said, "I'll give you my money," when I pushed on the flop. I had AK, he had A-10. The flop had a King. He called the all-in and runnered a straight. Alas, he played a few more hands and then left.
Another beat and I was down to $100, and I treaded water the next few hours, finally leaving $25 down.
Left at 8 a.m. when the game wasn't good anymore. Which was actually about two hours too late. I need to work on that timing.
$25 isn't too much to lose, but in context of what I should be making hourly when I play these games, it was pretty dismal. So I sat down at some blackjack and came away with $300 in 20 minutes. That was more like it.
This is the allure of gambling to me: the instant action. I don't have to grind out a win (or possible loss) over eight hours of folding. I can do it in a few minutes and be done for the day.
It's wins like these that make me wonder why I don't just play blackjack instead of poker. Looking over my spreadsheet of losses, I'm reminded it's because over the long run you can't win at blackjack. And without a significant bankroll (even more so than poker), the house will win every time. I should be happy with my small win and escape before variance kicked in.
I colored up.
Drove home, stopping for a Sonic breakfast burrito, tots, and delicious smoothie along the way, then into bed for a couple hours of rest before the Party semi.
I'm playing it now and my table's expectedly tight, which I'm taking advantage of by scooping limpers and blinds. Once I can get to T3000, I'll ease up.
The cruise next month interferes with a few things going on that week, so I'm ambivalent about how I do and won't be playing my best.
Because I still want to go to The Palms to watch the Super Bowl and play poker! Can't let a pesky 8-hour online tourney interfere.
Though we're now at the first break and me with T2700. 1107 players left. Time to go concentrate.
Happy Super Bowl!
— —
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Excalibur spud beat
mamagrub's in town this weekend with a bunch of her gal pals. They're seeing Mamma Mia and hanging out. She expressed some disappointment that she wouldn't be able to play slots or have time to get together, but she'll have time to catch up when she returns in two weeks for her birthday (which I still need to shop for).
I'd planned on staking out Bellagio and then Mandalay to surprise her, but I'm feeling very much under the weather today and don't want to get sicker by staying up all night (like, uh, last night).
A big shame, because I'd also wanted to see Artie Lange at Hard Rock tonight, or even just play some at Hard Rock because it'll be a mob of Howard Stern fans. There's also the Miss Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant at Silverton.
Tomorrow they're being low-key about any Super Bowl parties. The NFL put their foot down on their trademark, and Vegas can't even advertise with the words "Super Bowl" so instead there're ads for "Big Game" or "Super Game." My plan was and is still to play poker at The Palms, where they'll be giving away money every touchdown.
Hopefully I'll feel better by then.
Last night, met up with Helixx at The Venetian and talked poker shop.
More and more, I realize Venetian has fancy Emperor's New Clothes candyshell coating (their hotel rooms are incredible) but inside is pretty dull and lackluster. Too bad they didn't combine the gondola experience within the casino floor.
All their slot machines are old (by at least a year) and very few are ticket-in, ticket-out. I also didn't see a single penny slot. Get with the program, Venetian! I wouldn't be surprised if they're losing money.
'Course, that didn't stop me from giving 'em a whirl, quickly dropping $140 before heading out, not coming close to the playthrough required for the free wheel spin. So they're not losing money on me.
I don't plan to return.
Then headed downtown to First Friday, the arts walk on the first Friday of every month.
Once I got past the potato art celebrating the splendor of the spud (it was the Cult of Potato's world tour premiere party, don'tchaknow), I saw some pretty nice artwork that I'd be tempted to purchase if it didn't already go toward slots. Walked around for an enjoyable couple hours.
First Friday is bigger than I thought, extending from Main Street to the Arts Factory, with a street blocked off from traffic offering art vendors (along with Starbucks giving out free samples of their new chocolate drink). Many furniture and antique stores along the way that were open late. And a shuttle bus taking you up and down that route and further (to the Ice lounge).
Because of the odd shape of my apartment and the conference table eyesore that I've set up that extends one wall, I have no space for a couch, but there's a nice but pricey leather loveseat at one of the furniture places that I'd love to pick up. They said $35 delivery on anything, which is very reasonable. Maybe by next First Friday I'll be able to afford it. Maybe I can get a bed while I'm at it.
Then drove to the Aladdin. Well, I'd intended to go to Aladdin but ended up at Excalibur. Helixx did the bulk of his play there and chatting about the NL game whetted my appetite.
The last time I played NL at Excal was when the bloggers were in town. I sat at a table with Otis, he took a break, and by the time he returned I'd lost $300 to some massive suckouts. People will call you down with any Ace.
I like poker rooms where I don't have to walk clear across the casino (or a shopping mall -- ahem, Aladdin) to get to, and I can park right in front of one of Excalibur's casino entrances, where the poker room is.
Sat down immediately in a shorthanded 100NL 1/2 game. Surprising for a Friday night. Lost my initial $100 just getting blinded out, rebought, then built that up to $300. An irritating dealer would always say "nice pot" anytime the pot was over $100. Figuring this was her way of reminding the winner to tip or to tip more, I almost didn't want to tip her at all.
Then this hand.
I have QQ in MP and raise to $15.
Two callers after me, including the chip leader at about $600.
Flop is A-K-10.
People were staying on any Ace, and I figured I was dead here even to a King and probably best to check-fold, but I still had some Jack outs.
I bet $30.
Two calls. I'm dead.
Turn is A-K-10 (Q).
I chicken out and check. With one caller, I bet. With two, I become a Nancy. JJ was a possibility. AJ and KJ and 10-J also. With any luck, they would check behind with their Jacks and try to trap me on the river.
Nope.
First caller moves all-in for $70 or so.
The chip leader then raises two of his stacks, about $250. This would put me all-in.
If the chip leader had called the $70, I would've called to see the river.
I didn't know what to make of his raise, but in retrospect it was to drive me out of the pot.
I think for a bit and then muck face up (so I could bluff-raise later on to take the limpers and blinds), to the gasps of others. I tell him that was a good bet.
First caller flips A-J for the straight.
Chip leader flips Q-10 for two pair.
Whoops. I tell him it was an even better bet.
I put both on Jacks, but I should've thought more about why the chip leader would move in like that. He had to have put the other guy on a Jack. My weakness told him I didn't have a Jack. But to move in? He had to have known he was losing the pot either to me or the other guy. Why raise and potentially lose more?
River is A-K-10-Q (10).
Whoops again.
The largest pot of the night, and I missed.
My stack dwindled to $140 when the game became very tight. I was coughing more, so I cashed out $60 down and left, picking up a double-double and fries at the 24-hour In-n-Out on the way home.
— —
Friday, February 04, 2005
The way to Santa Fe
The car seems fine, as it had better after all the repairs. But that high-pitched whirring noise is still there (must be the fan), and now the ABS light turns on after 30 seconds and stays on. It's not much of a bother assuming it's a short and not an indication of something wrong, but Purrfect has certainly caused this, as this has never happened before. I'll drive a few more days before taking it in for them to correct.
Santa Fe Station is a hike. Past Summerlin, it's off I-95 in Lone Mountain. The name Lone Mountain reminds me of one of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater -- Escape to Witch Mountain. Had such a crush on the girl, who I just looked up and found she's Kim Richards, who's the aunt to Paris & Nicky Hilton!
I remember Lone Mountain from chatting with a girl sitting next to me at Mystere. She said she'd just moved there and I should look into that area, but when I did it seemed further from the Strip than I'd wanted. And unfortunately our conversation was curtailed before I could ask for her number, as I ended up sitting in the wrong section and was directed to another area.
The casino itself is similar to the other Station casinos I've been to (Sunset and Green Valley), but there seemed to be a prevailing cigarette scent throughout.
There's a section where they're building the arcade and movie theater that feels like it's been added on. Even the carpet is a bit plusher. Sat down at a few of the new slot machines (Password, Helen of Troy, Magic Mermaid, and others) while drinking strawberry juliuses (julii?).
A woman who was coughing and sneezing with a wad of tissues sat next to me. I thought about leaving, but Helen of Troy stuck me for $100 and I wanted to get one more bonus free spin round before leaving. This new wave of Aristrocrat games is based on the same concept of their original penguin/polar bear penny slot (that I remember, anyway), but they've realized addicts like me play for the bonus, so they make it harder to get to that. As a result, you can drop a lot of money faster without hitting anything, but the rare times you get to the bonus is profitable (though not usually enough to make up for what you lost on your way to the bonus because the bonus is only a certain number of free spins, and if normal spins take awhile before accumulating anything, 15 or 25 or 50 or 100 free spins may also not result in anything).
I mention the sick woman because yesterday I progressively felt worse, and today I'm coughing and feel sick. Damn slots will be the literal death of me.
Lost some, won some, lost some, then went hunting for the poker room.
Like Sunset Station, it's in a wing near an entrance, so I can park right in front.
The poker room is small but in an elegant, open area with loud, vertigo-inducing carpet that I suppose is in the tradition of a Southwestern theme.
The redheaded cocktail waitress was extremely friendly, remembering everyone's drinks. Even more impressive considering it was 4 a.m. I'd rather see her as the floor manager, but she's probably making more money.
The floor manager seemed stressed out, even at three tables running which combined to one. I wonder how he would handle a place like Commerce. Five minutes after I clocked in, he went around the tables asking for players' cards and he didn't remember I had just sat down (this also got me a t-shirt without yet playing an hour).
The dealers are horribly inexperienced. They were hesitant, slow, and made continual mistakes (flipping up cards while dealing, misreading hands, dragging pots to the wrong player), but I attribute this to them just having opened last month. Hopefully like Aladdin, they'll get better.
One hand in particular had the winner of the hand throwing his cards into the muck as the dealer dragged him the pot. Both didn't see another player still in, and if he'd raised a stink, he would've been the winner. Instead, the player made the audacious move of saying he knew what his cards were and dug through the muck until he found his two cards, then the floor was called over, they reconstructed the hand (no mention was made of the player retrieving cards from the muck), and the play continued from there.
I'm just a fly on the wall in these situations unless I'm involved in the hand. The player who was still in the hand was in the wrong as well, holding his cards up in front of his face, which is why everyone didn't realize he was still in. He ended up folding anyway.
It was all locals and all friendly, with very little raising and little chasing. In other words: unprofitable, though I walked away $72 up and a t-shirt after four hours (free t-shirt after an hour of play between 2 a.m. and 10 a.m.). Some had previously been at Cannery, which they complained had too many chasers and $200 pots in 4/8.
Mental note: get thee to Cannery.
Our table was six-handed until they combined us with another table, making us the only table running.
There's no real poker playing in this type of tight-passive game. No skill or reads involved, just playing the cards. It's no different from playing a slot machine.
Unless I find myself in the NW or downtown area, I doubt I'll make another specific trip to Santa Fe. All I can get there I can get at Sunset Station, despite it being a smoking (yet looser) room.
Found out that Texas Station will be hosting the $50,000 freeroll in March for anyone who plays 50 hours. I'm not quite there yet, but will use the rest of this month to tour other Station Casinos while adding to my hours.
They also anticipate 1000-2000 players, which seems awfully high for me considering how few people I've seen playing. Maybe they know something I don't. One thing's for sure -- they'll have to split up the first round over multiple days, unless Texas Station can accommodate 200 tables. And I doubt they'd be displacing any slot machines just for it.
Traffic on the way back at 5:30 a.m. was incredible. When I was looking for apartments around this NW Strip area, I also ran into heavy traffic, which is the reason why I crossed the NW off my list. I didn't time it, but it also seems farther from the Strip than Henderson, but it's probably about the same distance.
Tonight is a First Friday arts event on Charleston. The Mayor will be there (apparently he goes to all these things), and it looks to be fun. Plus a way to socialize and meet others who might have interests outside of degenerate gambling.
But if I don't feel any better, I may stay in and play the Party cruise semifinal, which begins at the same time as First Friday.
I still have a freeroll left and I'll be starting with only 1400 extra chips (a 600-chip deficit). Those extra chips make the difference between waiting for a hand and pushing a hand. I wanted to do the NL one, so my only choices were tonight or Super Bowl Sunday. I'm signed up for Sunday, but may unregister and play tonight.
I'll be making plenty of moves early, that's for sure.
Made moves last night in Empire's $7500 guaranteed tourney last night. Empire now offers daily guaranteed tourneys with terrific overlays in different denominations. This one attracted 290 people at 20+2. This game felt like real poker. Pulled off some great bluffs that had my pulse rate doubling (these work closer to the final table, when there are better players who are able to laydown and are avoiding the bubble). I felt I was playing well amidst coughing, but I made a critical fold when a preflop raiser 3bet my flop raise with top pair/medium kicker. He didn't just 3bet it, he went all-in. This would've put me in great position, but I felt I was behind to a high pocket pair. On the other hand, I was pot committed and wouldn't have enough chips left. But I folded anyway (I now think he was the one making a move, possibly with AK or AQ... not sure if he really had a high pocket if he would've pushed so early). I was down to less than average chips and never recovered. My final hand I pushed with A2 on the button, and ran up against the SB's AK.
Out in 12th place to triple my buy-in, which sounds good until I calculate the actual amount divided by the hours spent (less than $10/hour).
— —
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Bad car beat
My wallet is bruised from shelling out $2212.78 in cash for car repairs.
Jeez. That's enough for a boob job (well, one of 'em anyway).
The friendly folks at Purrfect must've seen this outta town sucker coming a mile away, because a simple tuneup and oil change turned into several calls with escalating estimates along with foreboding "you can fix it now or wait until it breaks down" comments.
As they dug deeper, they found more leaks, more things to fix which I wouldn't know whether they fixed in the first place. And they said while they were in there, I should get this and that fixed and save on labor costs.
All four struts were replaced. All three belts. The timing belt. The water pump. Spark plugs. A bunch of seals. Rear brakes adjusted. Drains and refills.
The final estimate was $1700. I bristled, then asked if they'd checked out the cold start problem (the day I left to LA, it took seven tries before the car started -- good thing I rented a car). I suggested it could be a starter problem. They went ahead and replaced the starter, but didn't call with the final damage.
The car is 12 years old and not worth it, but I need a car around here and the cost of a used car would be at least double that. If it can last another two years, I'll be happy.
No checks accepted and I don't have credit cards with that available credit, so I had to cobble together cash. Which meant draining NETeller using their ATM card and throwing in my cash bankroll.
Yeah, my dream of buying a mini Cooper with cash will have to wait a bit longer.
When I paid mostly in $20 bills, the guy set my change down on the counter: two one-dollar bills and 18 cents. I looked at it and said, "Yep, this feels just like the casino."
He apologized and to their credit, they did seem to take off some of the strut costs.
I'd timed it so I could pick up the car and return before iggy's tourney started, but as I was leaving I looked at the smog test inspection report and it was for a 1995 Lexus. I'd be perfectly happy with that car, but it isn't mine and they'd neglected to do it.
They'd already charged me the $12.95 (had a coupon). I didn't even want the smog test, really. I didn't want to switch over to a Nevada license and plates, particularly because a few months ago I'd renewed my car for Virginia state emissions and county tax for two years, of which there's no refund. But people talking about how it's illegal not to do so and me being paranoid about being pulled over and lying that I'm passing through, I decided to be a good citizen (only now, I'll wait another month or so to hold off on the additional DMV costs).
I guess one benefit to being an official Nevada resident is I'd be up for jury duty, which I would welcome now that I have free time. I'd also be able to get into some clubs for free. If I were female, I'd be able to get into all of 'em.
So I waited in the shop for an hour (20 minutes past their closing), watching their TV and the tail-end of Major Payne, that godawful military "comedy" with Damon Wayans and the beginning of "JAG."
On the way back I picked up a frozen chocolate & vanilla custard, paid for with my $2.18 in change. Added a Coke (not Pepsi) to it and it was a delicious Coke Float.
I don't know what it is, but I can much more easily take a gambling hit of $2200 vs. spending it on the car. With car repairs, there's no rakeback,
The night before I played a tourney and was oh-so-close to the $5000 first place, but I ended near the bubble and out-of-cashing when someone called when he shouldn't have (K-10) and got lucky. I could've folded into the money, but I wouldn't have had the chips to catapult me to the top. That would've been a good win, and while it was too late to junk the car, I would've used the extra money for a car wash and a strip club visit (some of which, by the way, Nevada locals can get into without paying the cover charge).
I just need to pretend I lost it all on blackjack and slots, and I'll be fine.
I'm off tonight to check out the new poker room at Santa Fe Station. It's further than I'd normally travel (Summerlin area), but I want to check out the car. It's still making the weird whirring sound (they said it might be the old timing belt) that started when I was in back-to-back traffic at Hoover Dam, but it's probably the fan. Purrfect gives a decent 12,000 mile/12-month warranty so if it breaks down I'd rather it be sooner than later.
Let's just hope the transmission holds up. And let's hope for a poker win tonight while I'm at it.
Grubby's Hands of the Week
What is The Hammer?
