There is one guy who I have played with a number of times. Who needs reading glasses but sometimes forgets them. I mean almost always forgets them. So he holds his hands up and looks at it at arms length. I with out trying end up seeing his hold cards if I am seated to his left or right. I am not trying to see his cards I am just trying to watch the action at the table unfold and we are at rather small tables so in watching the actions I sometimes happen to see his cards. I will tell him once that I can see his cards and most of the time this will prompt him to watch how he looks at his cards. But sometimes he forgets and it hampers me when I am watching the hand unfold because I have to go out of my way not to see this guys cards.

So what do you do in this situation? I often tell the tournament director and he reminds the guy to try to keep his cards to himself. Is it wrong after telling the guy and having the TD tell the guy that you can see his cards without trying to use the info he seams willing to give me on each and every hand?

It is my opinion and that of most poker players that a room that is a bit isolated from the casino is better than open to the floor. I think the marketing department is what urges casinos to put the poker area on the floor open to passers by is so that those passers by get interested and sit down and play to keep the game going. In some ways I like that idea because people who did not come to the casino to play poker tend not to be that good at poker and will tend to loose money and if the poker players play the right way and take the passers by’s money slowly they will be having fun and will keep the game more live and moving. On the other side of that same coin these passer bys will chase a one or two outer all the way to the river not knowing how unlikely that their monster hand is to hit and guess what they hit that miracle card. I know in the long run these fish err I mean passer bys will go broke chasing cards but at this point I only get to see people in the short run so I would rather play with people who know what they are doing and will play the way they should be playing.

We had a hard time keeping a full table for about an hour we had seat 9 empty about 5 times. A woman took the seat that all of the regulars knew. I was thinking great another grinder at the table. She raised almost every hand and was getting no respect from the regulars and not winning many pots. I noticed she raised any pair and any ace in her hand. I pick up A 10 of diamonds in late position. She made it $5. I could see that the button had his hand in fold postion, so I called. The flop had two diamonds. She bet $10. I was not going to fold my nut flush draw. The turn was the third diamond giving me the stone cold nuts for this board. She checks. I don’t think I would get a call if I bet the 3^rd diamond, so i check as well. The river is a 2. I think she hit two pair and she bet $15 I pop it to $30 and she snap calls. I turn over the nuts. She whips her cards at the dealer and says this game is bull shit! Before the dealer can give her a warning she had grabbed what was left of her chips and stormed off, nearly knocking over one of the regulars on his way back to the table from a smoke break. He asked the dealer what happened and the dealer replied “I don’t think she liked that he (gesturing to me) had the nuts to her two pair.” The guy gave me a high five and said he hates the way she plays. I was like well tips are welcome lol.

A guy sits down in the 10 seat and has $300 in chips this is the table max. He starts to try to run over the table and is making large over bets. I get the feeling that this is one of those guys you see sit down after watching too much poker on TV. No one is calling this guy so I am not getting any info on the guy. I get A8 of hearts in the small blind this guy raised to $7 so I call. Flop is like 3 4 8 rainbow check check. I have top pair top kicker with a back door flush draw. Turn is 2 that would complete a A5 straight or a 5 6 straight he bets $30. I go in the tank for a bit I am like if he hit the straight would he bet that much? No because he would want a call. I don’t see many people raising with 5 6 preflop in early position. I don’t think he has me on like 5x for a straight draw that he wants me to stop chasing. I knew at this point that he had something but nothing that big because he did not want a call on the turn.  River is a 7 it would give the 56 a higher straight. There is no flush draw on the board. He checks I don’t have much left maybe $25 I shove thinking top, top is good. He tanks and calls after about 10 seconds. I turn over my A8 and he turns over pocket 9s. I was heart broken. But I had $50 more bucks on me and back in for that (in retrospect I should have had to put 10 more in for a valid rebuy but oh well). The guy in 6 seat left the table and the guy who just took me down to the felt asked for a seat change and was granted that change.

I got tangled with the same guy again. I had J9 in the big blind he limped and I just checked. Flop was 3 7 J rainbow. I have top pair but kicker issues. Turn is a 10 we both check. River is an ace. He counted out a small raise but then looked at the board and winced and just checked. I think he is afraid of the straight that KQ would put out there and I decided this is my chance to put in a bluff (something I am trying to get better at) so I try my best at some reverse tells and try to have my hand shake and I swallow rather pronounced as I sheepishly slid the rest of my small stack in. I then try to act disinterested in his decision. He starts talking he asks if I had the KQ and I was still staring off at the horse races on the screens in the room. He then says “well I think you have it but I’m going to pay you off.” And calls. I flip over my J9 and he flips over JK and felts me again. I tell the dealer I will be right back, I take the walk of shame to the ATM. I get out some cash too much and go to the cage and get 100 more in chips.

As I returned to my seat a guy two to my right had left and the guy to my left both left the table. An older Italian gentleman had taken the seat two to my right the one to my left was empty. About two hands into the new $100 I get JJ and the older guy raised to $6 I called. Flop is 2 8 8 He checks I bet $10 he calls. Turn is a 10 he checks again and I bet $15 he calls again. River is a 4 he bets $15 I raise him im not sure how much but not all in. he calls I flip over my Js for jacks and 8s he just stares at the board for like 15 second the dealer points at him he then flashed his cards to the dealer who announces 2 4 off for 8s and 4s and the guy mucks and seams baffled. I do not think this guy plays much poker and I think he thought he had 3 pairs or something. While I was gathering up my chips a younger guy sits down to my left. In his second hand we tangle. I have pocket 8s and limp. The guy to my left makes it $12 3 callers the guy who felted me twice the older Italian guy and me. Flop is 2QQ I check guy to my left makes it $5 guy who felted me twice folds Italian guy calls. I figure the guy to my left has a Q but 5 bucks to win 58 bucks im not folding. Turn is my yatzee card an 8 so I now have a full house. I bet $15 and the guy to my left calls Italian guy gets out of the way. River is a blank I am rather sure the guy has not made a full house and only has trip Qs. I shove all in and get a call. I some how ended up with exactly 400 in front of me after tipping the dealer. My body is shaking as I stack up my chips because after I shoved I was like if he has QQ or Q8 Q2 or what ever the river was I am toast. But when he only had trips my body released the adrenaline and I was shaking. It took me  two full hands to stack and count my chips. I kind of hit and ran but I was tired and Paula was ready to go soon plus I was hungry.

Yesterday I was playing some micro-limit on Full tilt. I was at some rather soft tables and one hand stuck out as funny and some what made me laugh not so much at the guy for what he did but seeing who I was not that long ago in poker in this guy. I am in the big blind with A7 of spades, UTG raises to .06, fold, fold, SB raises to .10 I call, UTG calls. Flop is 10d Ks 10s SB checks as do I and the UTG as well. Turn is a Jd, SB checks as do I and UTG. River is Qs SB shoves for 1.57 I have the nut flush and call there is a pair on the board but no one is playing like they filled up. UTP folds. SB turns over A6 of hearts for an A high straight I have a straight as well but my flush is better. He says unreal and I said you had to see the flush was out there and he called me an idiot. Why am I an idiot I had a flush and straight draw all he had was a straight draw. Now he called me an Idiot and I don’t care. What I find funny about this is I used to play much the way he did in this hand so focused on what I have that I miss things that are as clear as day. Then when the pot is pushed the other way I would feel so dumb that I would take it out on others not myself.

            Paula has been some what encouraging me to make a deposit and play higher stakes to see if I can start to make some real money. I often think the same thing. I start to think that I have the skills to make a run at some real cash. Some times I think about it and how it would be cool to make money off of poker or at least make some extra cash at it. I have decided not to make a run at a higher level for now at least. I want to build this tiny bank roll up and see how high I can take it. I do still think that at some point when my bankroll is ready I can use poker to at least supplement my income. I do think I need to set goals as to when I would like to move up this would motivate me to put in more hands and study more. I am having fun with it for now and I don’t want to have it become work at any point.

            Yesterday july 28^th I went to the venue where this tragic event took place, a bar that always has a rumble of chatter even during announcements when we should be listening. There are also a number of just bar patrons who are there to eat and drink but not to play poker and when the TD said he wanted to have a moment of silence for Sudhir the place was truly silent and all the men removed their hats. Sudhir loved poker and played nearly every day. Some of the players who play with him more often asked the TD for something a bit unusual by allowing Sudhir to be sat in for the event. So at table 3 the table he sat at most there was a empty stack to be blinded off.       

            I went about playing my game and went back to being card dead most of the night and ended up getting moved to table 3 at one point. It was odd sitting at this table knowing that stack was there. I doubled up a few times but ran out of luck in quick fashion. Sudhir’s stack was still in play and we were approaching the bubble for points.

Here is where the truly touching thing became apparent to me I along with about 60% of the players who have gone out some a while back were sweating Sidhir’s stack. At one point he was down to 50 chips and was forced all in and a dead stack forced all in is a live hand. He held the worst cards you can have, yes the dreaded 7duce off. Flop is 72k and the turn is a 7 I don’t recall the river but he tripled up and ended up in 5^th for the event getting five points. The Rail gave a round of applause. Then slowly dispersed to their cars and headed home.  

            I cant say I knew Sudhir personally and I am rather sure that he did not know my name. I can say that I know he is sitting at the final table with those who have gone before us with that huge smile on his face.

            Montana West is my venue I run real well there and play from nine till well after 11 and can fold my way to that amount of time. The starting stack is only 200 and the blinds are 15 minutes long. The players are all cool and play rather passively. This may be the reason that I play much longer here than at the other venue I play at. There is rarely a preflop raise and many times it just gets checked down. Or one more bet and then the hand is over. Players are very tight nits and it is easy to play more LAG and raise light and C bet light and take down 80% or more of hands in position.

            Alley gators is not a venue that has been good to me. The players are very LAG and some are just maniacs I come of as a stone cold rock nit here. There is a raise preflop on 98% of flops and it is 5X or more on 60% of them. So playing hands like J10 suited is not giving you the odds to call. I end up waiting for premium hands that are not coming. I will get AK and raise and get 3 plus callers and miss the flop all together. The LAG players will come along with a C bet to see if they improve. I end up dumping my hand or loosing to a pair of 2s on the river. I get one hand worth playing a night at this place.

            I do not know if I will keep playing here for a few reasons. Some how they have circumvented PA’s smoking laws and allow smoking in the bar, Yuck. Putting this on top of me running bad here and I think I might go to Tuesday’s game to see if I fair better there.

            I also have had a big case of the blahs, over the last few weeks. I think I might be that I have major things coming up in my life getting married, a new car soon, and a Vegas honeymoon. That makes the day to day tasks boring by comparison.

The last one I played I drew a table that had two maybe three of these “gods gift to poker” and they were just playing at each other and they made it hard for anyone to get into the pot with out a monster. I was getting blinded down and had to pick a spot and had pocket jacks and got it in they ended up getting cracked and I was out but I was happy that I was taken out of the game because the negative attitude of the players at my table just made it a real grind.

This was a great table draw. Every one was willing to talk and be part of the game other than one kid who acted like a douche bag he berated a player for calling with two overs. One hand he was out drawn on and was using language that was not needed or allowed at the table. He went out shortly after the first break. I had a few huge hands that I think were great. I had rockets in the big blind and raised I got a big reraise It folds around to me and I shove all in and get called and my aces stand up. I had A2 in the small blind and it limps around to me and I call. Flop is 345 rainbow. There is an all in from a short stack all in one call and I call. I was planning on checking it down but the other guy makes a big bet and I have to call with this hand. He is rolls QQ I show my straight and he steams because that is the second time I cracked his Qs the prior hand was the other time.

We had one player who got real low on chips and we could not get rid of him not that we were gunning for him but every he went all in he was catching so it was funny he eventually lost and was on his way home great guy never did catch his name but he got his seat at roman delight. I then started to get real low on chips like one round of blinds and I would shove under the gun and catch one real lucky one with j6 off but that is poker. I was like this for well over an hour and I ended up at the final table. I was picking my spots well I was at 8k at one point and was up to 100k in less than two orbits. I then was card dead and was shot on chips once again went in with pocket 4s and got beat by pocket 6s. I was out in 5^th and was happy with that. I wish I could have held on and came in 3^rd or better so I could have won a borgata poker package.

I would like to thank all the players for being great sports and making it such a great day 7 hours of poker and I left happy. A huge thank you to griff and dave for putting on such a great well run event. River Chasers is a great company and I am glad that they are around I can play online poker but it lacks the personal relationships you develop at live events.