Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my loyal readers (any still out there?).

It's been a while since I last played at Hawaiian Gardens Casino.  I got the pass from the wife on Saturday and headed up to Los Angeles early in the morning after my workout.  I was originally planning on heading to Bicycle Casino to use a coupon the casino sent to me back in August.  The coupon included a $10 California Games Bet Voucher, $15 towards a complimentary dinner, 1000 instant reward points and 25% of Hotel Spa services.  It expired on Dec. 31, 2017 so I used that leverage to sweet talk my wife into letting me go.  I figure the EV of the coupon was north of $25 depending on the rules pertaining to the California Games Bet Voucher.

But, I never made it to Bicycle.  On the way up there I checked Poker Atlas and discovered that the overnight 20/40 game broke, so instead I went to Hawaiian Gardens as it is on the way to Bicycle and already had two 8/16 games running and an overnight 40/80 still going.

I looked at the 40/80 lineup, declined, put my name on the board for 20/40 and took a seat in the 8/16 game.  An hour and $200 later, the 20/40 game started with me planted in seat 9.  Seat 9 at most poker casino tables is my favorite seat.  Most dealers are right handed and since you're next to the dealer and the rounded edge of the table at seat 8, there's usually more room and you don't have to struggle to see the board.  And with right handed dealers, they are usually swiveling the dealer chair in a manner that keeps their body away from seat 9.  Left-handed dealers are a bit of pain to deal with when in seat 9, but fortunately they are rare.

In any case, for the first time in a long time, I ran like a god.  For like the entire session.  Once again, I qualified for Crush Club.  In for 2 racks, out for 12+ racks.  Here's the documentary proof:

Here's an example of how good I ran.  Sylvia, a very tight Korean lady opened the button - 3.  Button - 2 and button both called.  I called in the big blind with 64o.

Flops came 7 5 3 two spades.  I led, Sylvia raised, 1st cold caller called, button 3-bets, I called, Sylvia called, 1st cold caller now capped, all called.

Turn was an offsuit deuce.  Checked to the 1st cold-caller who bet, button raised, I 3-bet, Sylvia folded for sure a big pocket pair.  All called.

River was an offsuit 8.  I bet.  Called in both spots.  Button - 2 had 33, button had 77.  That hand is just pure dumb luck.

Another hand I opened the button with QQ.  Blind defended with A9o.  Flop came Q98.  Check/bet/call.  Turn 9.  Check/bet/call.  River 8.  Check/bet/2-bet/3-bet/4-bet/call.  I just called his 4-bet.  Too weak?  Should I 5-bet and call a 6-bet?  Or is 4-bets enough with top-full on a double paired board where there are 2 quad combinations that have you beat?

Or another with QJo in which a player on full blown tilt raised a limper with AA got 2 callers behind and I called in the big blind with QJ.  Flop came J 7 3 rainbow, I bet he raised and I called.  Turn was a Q.  I bet, he raised, I 3-bet, he 4-bet and I called.  River was a blank and it checked through?!?

Talk about burning up chips and not thinking about what hand your opponent could possibly have.  Is there any 1-pair hand that any competent 20/40 limit player 3-bets on the turn as played up to that point?  Uh, no.  Thanks for the gift buddy.

As expected my 2017 poker hours were way down given my new gainful employment.  Nonetheless 2017 was a profitable year poker-wise.  Nothing major, but made an extra low 5-figures on the side.  Not bad for a hobby.

Happy New Year everyone and have a great 2018!

BigO has swept across the Nation, and Oceans-11

Pot-limit Omaha, game of the future.  At least that's what I keep hearing.  Yet, it never really took off.  But, and I must stress the but, pot-limit Big O has, especially at Oceans-11, where on a busy night you can find 3 games going.  What is Big O you ask?  It's 5 card Omaha, played high-low split with 8 qualifier for low.  This game can be found spread in both fixed limit format—barf—and pot limit formats.

Now, I am not a pot-limit Omaha (PLO) specialist, nor a Big O expert, but one of the great things about poker, is you don't need to be an expert to be able to win in the game.  It's like the old joke goes, I don't need to be able to out-run the bear, I just need to be able to out-run you.  It's the same at the poker table.  I don't need to be the best player in the world, I just need to be better than most of the current players at the table that I am playing with.  In other words, game selection.  Oh, and the secret to Big O, make the nuts and always try to have a redraw.  The weaker players are more than willing to put it in with no chance to improve and you can be stone free-rolling them.  I'll give some examples from my last two sessions.

I got in two sessions over the labor day weekend.  Work has been a little light the last couple of months fortunately, so I was able to enjoy the 3-day weekend with the family and get a little poker in.  On Sunday, I played multiple different games and hopped around, but spent the majority of time playing 2/3 pot-limit Big O.  Couple of strange rules at Oceans-11, though.  In a normal pot-limit games the first open is 3 times the big blind plus the small blind (by the way, this math is always correct.  If you want to compute a pot-sized raise it's always 3 times the bet you are facing, plus what's already in the pot including any callers of the current bet).  So in a normal 2/3 pot-limit game a pot-sized open would be to $11.  But, to keep things a little bit easier for the dealers (mainly, I suppose) and some of the more math challenged players, the game is played with red chips ($5).  So keeping in line with this, a pre-flop limp is $5, while a pot-sized open is $15.  Basically, the small blind and big blind are combined to treat it as a single $5 blind game.  After the flop, if either blind calls and one folds, the other blind's amount is rounded up to $5 when computing the pot amount.  Now because of all these quirky rules, the best deal in the world, is if you live straddle.  Normally a live straddle would be double the big blind.  So, I think if you want to live straddle it should be $10, but the powers that be have decided that would make the game play too big, and thus a live straddle is only $5!?!  That's right.  For the price of a normal pre-flop call, you can buy last action pre-flop.  That's pretty crazy if you ask me.

Now on to the free-rolls.  There are multiple players who don't seem to realize that in the pot-limit variety of the game, unlike the fixed limit version of the game, getting quartered or scooped is catastrophic.  And, if you are drawing for only half the pot, your pot-odds are effectively halved.  So if you are facing a pot-sized bet, instead of getting the normal 2-1 odds, the pot odds are halved if you are drawing only to half in either direction.  You should be looking to scoop or three-quarter your opponent.  That's the key to BigO.  Because of that, it can actually be mathematically correct to fold on the flop with the nut low, with no redraw to a high hand, or a made nut straight with no redraw to a higher hand and no realistic chance of low, if the action dictates it.  Because of the pot-limit format, the bet sizes grow geometrically if the stack sizes are deep enough.

On Sunday, I got it all in with 89JQK on a 79T rainbow board against a person with J8A27.  Yes, we both flopped the nuts.  But I have all the redraws to a higher straight, while the other person only had a variety of runner runner draws (full house, low, broadway straight).  We both bricked and chopped it up.  Not ideal for me, but oh well.

On Monday, I got it all in multiple times free-rolling the same opponent.  In one I had A3567 suited in clubs.  I flopped the nuts with on a 234 board with one club.  Turn is a 5 bringing a back door club flush draw.  River is Tc, giving me the scoop as my opponent had 67xxx with no low and no redraw when the money went all-in on the turn.  The next one, I had KQT98 double suited in clubs and spades.  I flop the nuts on a AQJ two club board.  Unfortunately, the turn is K, and I end up chopping with my opponent's ATTxx hand.  There were a couple of other instances as well, but I think you get the idea.

Casino Arizona err Talking Stick Casino

Cross off another one.  I made it to Talking Stick resort for some poker.  Oddly enough, however, their poker chips say Casino Arizona.  Casino Arizona is a little over 7 miles south of Talking Stick, though.  Apparently only the Talking Stick has poker.  I'm assuming that the two casinos are owned and/or operated by the same entity.



The poker room at Talking Stick is adequate.  Large for a poker room affiliated with a casino that has table games and slots.  47 tables, and a wide variety of games were going while I was there.

I was in Phoenix on business and managed to get an afternoon of poker in before my return flight home and I managed to pick up a dime, after getting stuck a rack.  So that was nice.

Hawaiian Gardens err The Gardens Casino

I finally made it to the newly remodeled Hawaiian Gardens Casino, err, um, The Gardens Casino in um, well, Hawaiian Gardens California.

I have no idea why they changed the name.  I guess so the mailing address didn't look so damn confusing?!?

Nice room, I really liked.  Very large and spacious.  They have a very nice VIP room where the higher limit poker games are spread.  And while I was there they were serving complimentary wine and had a complimentary cheese and charcuterie spread set out for the players along with self-serve bottled water.  Lots of little amenities that were nice.

Plus the floor and dealers were all good for the most part.  Most of the players were reasonably behaved as well, with the exception of a couple of minor outbursts at dealers who made mistakes.

I played the 20/40 and the 12/24 OE 1/2 kill and had a great time.  I'll definitely be back again, next time I am in the Los Angeles area.

Esquire!

I did it!  I passed the California Bar Examination on the first try.  I will very soon be an officially licensed attorney in the great state of California.  I am currently working as a patent litigator at a major law firm in Southern California.

As expected, now that I am back to work full-time, my poker hours will be going down.  But I expect that in between stints of working like a dog, I'll still find some time to sling chips across the felt.

Greatest Mix Lineup Ever!

Labor Day.  A day of rest for some.  For others, not so much, especially those playing in the 20/40 mix game at Oceans-11.

On Sunday evening after the neighborhood block party, I moseyed my way up to the casino.   Visiting San Diego and the casino was on old friend of mine from Las Vegas.  I got into the game around 9:30pm.  The mix game usually starts around 6pm every Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

I had a great time chatting with my friend and booked a small loss and went home a little after 2am.  I wake up on Monday at a reasonable time, nicely rested.  Since it was a holiday my kids had the day off from school, and I reflexively checked out Oceans-11 on PokerAtlas.  I see that there is a 20/40 mix game going.  I just assumed with the Labor Day crowd they happened to get a game going spontaneously.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

I showed up around 3 pm after having lunch with the family to discover that the game has gone overnight and 3/8 of the game is made up of over-nighters.  These poor souls put in a marathon session, with each being in the game for over 24 hours before they finally quit.  These were the same people I left on Monday morning at 2am remember.  13 hours later, they were still there.  On a holiday.

And then cabbie Dave made an appearance, along with Mac.  For a while, it was the most glorious lineup ever.  I may never get to play in a mix game that good ever again. 

And I actually got to book a reasonable win to top it off!

Potpourri

Added a couple more casinos to my list.  Spent last week in Los Angeles with the family doing various things including Universal Studios.  I managed to sneak out to Hustler and the newly remodeled Bicycle Casino.

 

The newly remodeled Bicycle is very nice.  I remember the first time I was there.  I think it was season 2 of the WPT and I went up to play a satellite tournament.  That was back in 2003, so it's been a while.

While at the Bike I had an opportunity to catch-up with a friend.  He's sort of internet-famous.  He does commentary for live at the Bike sometimes.  He's also a comedian, at least he likes to think he is.  Here's a sampling of his material.  Comment if you'd like.  It would be interesting to see what others think.

In other news, Cabbie Dave made a late appearance last night in the Oceans mix game.  He ran hotter than the sun and cleaned out 3 players.  I made it out unscathed luckily, and won a little.  He's caught on to the games quick, although he still plays too loose and goes too far with his hands.   But on those nights when he's running hotter than the sun, watch out— he always seems to catch exactly what he needs.

We've added pineapple razzdugi into the mix.  This game is great.  Awesome action.  And I got to make #1, #1 against Dave last night.  I had A34569, all suits covered except hearts heading into 7th street.  I bet blind against Dave's board, which if I recall, I had him board locked as the best low he could have was like a 7.

He called and I showed my 6 cards and he asked if I had a badugi.  I answered it depended on my last card.  I sweated it in and revealed the deuce of hearts for the double pee pee scooper.

Fun game.