Poker Comic #32

Who Needs Sleep?

The weekend with KingLucky here in Oklahoma was great, and even profitable. Well for me anyway, I think KingLucky might have come out negative if you include gas.

We started out by heading for the Thunderbird Wild Wild West Casino in Norman Oklahoma, after KingLucky drove from Kansas City to my house. We stopped to fill up on the way, and I thought I didn't like paying for gas, but the 32 gallon tank in his Avalanche really takes a bite.

We arrived at the T-bird around 7:30 and got seated at $3/$6 limit around 8:30 after playing some slots and video poker. I'm pretty sure they keep the number of tables in the poker room short just so there will be long waits and people will hang around and feed the slots.

They opened a new table so KingLucky and I got seated at the same table, but we sat across from each other. If people didn't know we were friends it's their own fault, since I had to borrow his lighter every time I got up to smoke. I had my normal roller coaster of a night, getting down to the felt once (with the nut) and finishing up about $50. KingLucky went on a tear and got up $250 before leaking some away and finishing up $150. It's not that hard when the only hands that get capped pre-flop he catches a set.

I didn't see pairs all night. In the second hand I had a pair of eights that I raised and then folded when the board came with all aces and faces, and there was a bet and a raise in front of me. KingLucky split that hand when he and another guy both showed AQ. I even think they were both suited. Other than that I got a pair of fives and a pair of nines, and that was it. Big slick showed up once, and it actually came back to win when four hearts showed up and the ace was red and round. Gotta love runner runner flush when you're bluffing with ace high.

Luckily the straights came through when I needed them to. I called a raise with 54h in position. I called the flop bet when the board came Q63. Turn was another Q but the river came an innocent looking 7. The original raiser bet, re-raised me and I capped. He showed AQ and I took a pretty big pot as there was another player that called every round except the re-raise on the river.

I'm proud of the fact that I left the table when it turned bad. We were busting out players pretty frequently and at one point they filled it up with what looked to be some decent players. We got a lot out of the fishy callers up to that point, so we went back to the video poker for a bit and got out the door by 7am.

After breakfast and a few hours of sleep, we went to Ted's Cafe Escondito for some FANTASTIC tex mex food. If you're ever in or around Oklahoma City I highly recommend it. The service is usually outstanding, and the food is top notch for mexican.

From there KL and I went to a home game in Mustang, Oklahoma. Attendance was very poor as a group of guys got confused about what day the game was supposed to be and showed up at the host's house the night before. The host was in Texas on Friday, so he wasn't there to tell them what was going on. Another bunch of guys didn't show even though they RSVP'd that they would come. The problem is that the host was my and everybody's boss, and they don't have the balls to say no face to face when they don't want to go to his parties. They just make up some excuse after the fact. So this poor guy bought food and everything for a big crowd and barely anyone showed. Have I told you I work with a bunch of gutless pussies? Seriously, this is the worst office I have ever worked in as far as quality of personalities. Deep down they are a group of deadbeat losers. They talk negative, they act negative and they live negative. If someone went postal and wiped the place out, I can honestly say it'd be no big loss. As long as I was on a break.

KingLucky took the tournament down with little hassle, although nearly three hours for a single table tournament is pretty extreme. I was playing fast and loose trying to get to the Casino quicker as the poker at this party wasn't what I'd call a thrill a minute. It was a rock garden and I didn't want to wait for the blinds to force people to act. I called a min-raise pre-flop with 59 of spades. The flop came Q96 with two spades and I went all in with second pair and a flush draw. Both other players in the hand called. The guy just after me went over the top of my all-in with a set of sixes, and the original raiser called him with a pair of kings. I had some outs, but the queen of clubs on the turn ended my night.


From there we went to the Lucky Star Casino in El Reno, Oklahoma. It's a bit nicer place than the Thunderbird, but the play in the poker room was about the same level. The list was much longer but went very fast as they opened a new table and KingLucky and I got seated at the same table again. We were across the table from each other again too.

I got aces in my second hand, which unfortunately was the big blind. Lee Jones has reversed himself in the second edition of "Winning Low Limit Hold Em" to say that you SHOULD raise with aces if you are the big blind, so I decided Lee knows best and bumped it. Of course everyone called and I got cracked by an early position player who decided "It's just another three dollars" and called the raise with 73off and flopped two pair. The board didn't save me by pairing something else and I start the night down $21.

I got it all back a few hands later when I made a pretty dubious play. The UTG player was down to $12 so he straddled the big blind for $6. I raised to $9 and everyone at the table except KingLucky called. The straddler raised blind to $12 and the dealer said "Cap!" I said raise to $15 and the dealer politely tells me I can't because it's been capped. I politely disagree and the dealer says "Floor!" So I get my raise to $15 raise but I'm pretty sure the dealer is pissed at me.

After the flop and a lot of folds it was down to me, the still blind all-in straddler, and an ornery guy at the opposite end of the table. I never looked back at my cards as the ornery guy was watching me like a hawk. I bet the turn and he quickly called. I quickly tossed the river bet out, relieved that I made my hand when the board showed A23 and I held 45h. The ornery guy thought for a moment and folded. The straddler flipped over his 86o, and I showed...56h. OOPS! I should have looked back! But the side pot was bigger than the main pot so I did okay. And the straddler was positively GIDDY that he won the pot with 8 high. The ornery guy at the end of the table? Not quite as happy.

I figured that would guarantee me action for the rest of the night. Not so. Later on that night I called with QT only to see a flop of QQT. I was in MP so I bet. FOLD FOLD FOLD FOLD...I only got one caller. He called my turn bet and folded on the river.

You can try to make an impression on these fishies that play low limits, but you are just wasting your time. They are just playing their own cards. If one of them had a pair of threes, he would have called me to the river no matter what the board showed. I might have made more money by letting someone catch up a little bit, but it was unusual for someone to fold to the $3 flop bet if they had any hope in the world.

The biggest pot of the night was a doozie. I called a raise in MP with 35 of spades. The way this table was going you had to have a big hand to win. I like hands like suited connectors or near connectors because they have a chance to catch big, and they are easy to get away from if you don't catch perfect. Someone limp re-raised to make the bet $9 and there were a total of EIGHT players. Now I don't know a lot of hands that are favored EIGHT to ONE over 35s. The flop was very uncoordinated, 932. I call the flop bet and nobody raises. To me this is a HUGE sign of weakness, and I know the bettor has a big pair. The turn is a five, completing the rainbow. The big pair bets and I raise to $12. Most of the table is still with us, and I'm praying for the board to NOT counterfeit me. The river is a seven and it's checked to me. I might have bet, but I just showed my crappy two pair of fives and threes and took down a $144 pot when the original raiser showed kings. Wow was he steaming after that.

We really ripped through a lot of players at the Lucky Star too. There are a LOT of people who buy in for the table minimums at these tables and just keep going into their pockets when they bust out. I know the min at the T-bird is $30, so you can barely finish a hand before you need to re-buy. And they like to play every hand too. Maybe they just like being all-in and taking the pressure to make a decision off. They're calling to the river anyway, so why not get there cheaper. It's tough trying to get into the minds of these fish, but I think it's important to try and understand their rationale, or lack thereof.

Anyway, the players turned over on this table very quickly, and eventually the table turned bad again. This time it was around 1am, and KingLucky and I were both up for the night again. I have noticed that truly bad players don't usually last too far into the night. People that come to the table after midnight are usually not as fishy as the ones that have been there since 7pm who keep going into their pockets over and over again. I think I need to take this into consideration when I play live poker.

We played some slots for a couple more hours and I finished my slot play up EXACTLY nine CENTS. I tipped my nine cents to the bucket in front of the cashier cage and we headed back to the house in Edmond, arriving just after 5am. After a few more hours of sleep KingLucky headed back for Kansas City.