Playing at the Gemini Club
So, yesterday I tried out the new Gemini Players Club. When I got there a little before 7 there was no cash table and only 5 people for tournament. We stayed a little and finally a table scraped together. I bought in for $245 total ($200 buyin, $25 fee, and $20 in dealer tokes). I sat down and immediately took $100 off of one of the regulars. I raised with AK, flopped a King, and it ran. I built my stack up with a few different hands. I was hovering around $600 when I raised with A8h on the button. One caller for $10, flop 2-2-3 with 2 hearts. I c-bet the flop for $20, he calls. Turn Qh. Bingo. I bet $40, he calls. River is a blank, he checks and I bet $100. He flat calls and mucks when I table the flush. I finally cashed out at the end for $886. I was plus $1465 for the weekend after this session.
I went back today and discovered that the rush was over. I bought in for $235 ($200 + $25 + $10 in tokes). First hand I get JJ, raise it preflop to $10, three callers. Flop is 8-2-4 two diamonds, checked to me and I lead out for $20. Short stack shoves for $55, I repop it all in. Third player folds and I lose to a set of 4's. I bleed down to about $80 when I get 77 in the cutoff. UTG makes it $10, few callers and I call $10. BB makes it $35. UTG (who is tilting from a previous beat) angrily calls. Three others call. I shove for $58 more. BB shoves all-in. UTG shoves in. Everyone else folds. Flop is all blanks, turn a 9, river a blank. BB shows AK, UTG shows A9 suited, my 7's get mushed. I rebuy and play a few hands before the final doozy of the night. Old man at the end of the table makes it $20 UTG. He's been severely overbetting with A-x and I am sure he doesn't have a pair. I wake up to 10's and call. Everyone else folds. Flop 5-8-2 2 hearts. He open shoves for $210. I have $213 behind and snap call. He shows A-J and is 99.999999997% to win. Turn a blank, river an A. I decide I've had enough and leave, still up $200+ for the two days.
As for the club itself, it's very well run. The dealers are quick and efficient, and they bring checks right away when you need them. The food and drink are OK, overall it's a classy place. There are some concerns I had about the security last night though. The guard doesn't look like he could stop an ice cream truck. Unless he's doing the Mr. Furious routine from Mystery Men, that is. The cage door was left unlocked and unattended repeatedly. I understand there was only about 10 people there, and there are cameras everywhere, but it's still a bad idea. Tonight was better, two people covering the cage it was attended all the time. I am told that Saturday night there was over $70k on the tables, so they definitely need to stay on top of the money.
I will definitely play again, and I recommend it to the CPMGers at large. The owner/manager/whatever and I talked and he is emphatic that he wants to spread a variety of games and would absolutely get experienced dealers if we wanted to do mix games or draw games. I hope this takes off.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A Profitable Weekend (Long and Rambling, sorry)
This is my one free weekend this month (no kids, no on call for work) so I decided to be as big a degenerate as possible for me. Kirsten and I hit Eddie J's on Friday night for some $1/1 NLHE. I've been staying away from NL for the most part due to the excessive beatings I've been taking at it, but she really wanted to go and I didn't feel like sitting at home alone, so I decided to take a couple buy-ins and just nit it up.
I lost half my $150 stack early on, guy raised with 10's preflop, I called with 58s and flop came 3-5-6 2 spades. I check-raised him all-in and he quickly called, of course I bricked out. I was hovering around $80 when I got moved to the second table. The table was playing very passive except for the guy on the end who decided to bet every hand when it was checked to him since people kept folding. I check-raised him for $50 on a stone bluff (my one try for the night) and he folded, bringing me back up to a little profit. That hand got me rolling, and then I started slamming the game hard. I limped with 2-2, no raises, flop comes Q-10-2 two diamonds. Dawn bets out $10, I raise to $25. She re-raises to $60, I shove. She tanks, and calls out my hand "I know you have a set of 2's". She turns her hand up, she has Q-10c. She talks herself into believing I'm on a draw and shoves in $150 more and my hand holds up. I then slid into that awesome zone where I was actually making hands and getting paid. I called a raise with AK and flopped Broadway, I raised preflop with J's and turned J's full of 4's, etc. I ran it up to about $500 and was considering leaving when we got merged to one table.
I continued to hit hands including flopping another set of J's against someone with KJ, and I put a couple of sick suckout beats on Aunt Patty. She got me early on with a couple of dumb plays (raises UTG with 78 off, I flop trip 9's and she turns a straight, etc). She was getting short stacked and opened for a $12 raise with 6's. I called with AK. Flop was 2-4-7. She shoves for about $45, I call. Turn A, I take it down. She got all mad, but she had what I figured her for (plus I was WAY up at that point) and putting a beat on Patty is just desserts. There was one giant clusterfuck hand with Eddie J that cemented my night. In early position, Jewish Andy (who, BTW, is not Jewish) raises to $8. I call with Q9h, Eddie calls, a couple other people call. Flop comes 9-9-8 2 clubs. Andy leads out and I pop it to $50. Eddie re-raises all-in. Guy behind him calls for $47. Andy tanks and folds (he said he had KK I think). I tank for a minute, but I decide that Eddie's range is open and he could be anywhere from a draw like J-10c to a 9. I figure in a cash game I really can't fold trips, so I call. Eddie tables 8's for a flopped full. Turn is a blank, river a Q for a higher boat. Eddie looked like someone shot his dog. Up to about $750, I hit cruise control for a while until it comes down to the very last hand of the night. I am in the blind with JJ, Eddie raises from the mid to $8. I pop it to $20. He thinks I'm making a move because it's last hand, he calls. Flop is 2-3-3 two hearts. I lead for $50. He tanks for a minute and just calls. Turn is a Q. I am concerned that he may be on overs like AQ or KQ, but I am not folding. I put $100 out. Eddie tanks again and finally shoves for another $40. I call and table my Jack's. River is a blank and Eddie mucks. I finally cash out $963 on a single $150 buyin.
Saturday night at Dave's did not go as well. I busted out of the tournament about halfway in, I had been floating and couldn't get any momentum. Tournament just isn't my game right now. I sit down at 8 game and for the first few orbits I can't miss. I get into a couple hands with Colin and I put a couple of horrible beats on him, and I run my stack up to about $400. I then proceed to give $150 of it to RR Dave on a stone bluff (my one of the night) and was of course picked off. I put a lot of pressure on him, but he couldn't lay down bottom set and I get snapped off. (I don't think he made a bad call, certainly I would've. I obviously didn't put him on a set or I wouldn't have bluffed at all). I spiral down to about $55 and get up to go play NL. The NL table is down to me, K, Mailman, Dave, Paoli, and Roland. It's a nit-fest, with everyone folding to $3 raises. I float there until Mailman flops a set against Roland's flopped straight and busts, breaking the table. I head back to 8 game with 15 minutes left to final orbit. I get into a couple of huge hands with Jeff Reigler (including making a wheel in Stud 8) and run myself back up to about even. When the table finished I was back up to $184, minus my tournament loss I profited $4 for the session. This was after I covered about $50 in prop losses, my Jack of Hearts really fucked me last night, I couldn't hit shit in the first round of props.
Today I'm going to go over and check out this Gemini Players Club and see what the deal is. Everyone says it's a berry patch, so I may end up liking it and it's pretty close. I will report back on it after I play a little and try it out.
This is my one free weekend this month (no kids, no on call for work) so I decided to be as big a degenerate as possible for me. Kirsten and I hit Eddie J's on Friday night for some $1/1 NLHE. I've been staying away from NL for the most part due to the excessive beatings I've been taking at it, but she really wanted to go and I didn't feel like sitting at home alone, so I decided to take a couple buy-ins and just nit it up.
I lost half my $150 stack early on, guy raised with 10's preflop, I called with 58s and flop came 3-5-6 2 spades. I check-raised him all-in and he quickly called, of course I bricked out. I was hovering around $80 when I got moved to the second table. The table was playing very passive except for the guy on the end who decided to bet every hand when it was checked to him since people kept folding. I check-raised him for $50 on a stone bluff (my one try for the night) and he folded, bringing me back up to a little profit. That hand got me rolling, and then I started slamming the game hard. I limped with 2-2, no raises, flop comes Q-10-2 two diamonds. Dawn bets out $10, I raise to $25. She re-raises to $60, I shove. She tanks, and calls out my hand "I know you have a set of 2's". She turns her hand up, she has Q-10c. She talks herself into believing I'm on a draw and shoves in $150 more and my hand holds up. I then slid into that awesome zone where I was actually making hands and getting paid. I called a raise with AK and flopped Broadway, I raised preflop with J's and turned J's full of 4's, etc. I ran it up to about $500 and was considering leaving when we got merged to one table.
I continued to hit hands including flopping another set of J's against someone with KJ, and I put a couple of sick suckout beats on Aunt Patty. She got me early on with a couple of dumb plays (raises UTG with 78 off, I flop trip 9's and she turns a straight, etc). She was getting short stacked and opened for a $12 raise with 6's. I called with AK. Flop was 2-4-7. She shoves for about $45, I call. Turn A, I take it down. She got all mad, but she had what I figured her for (plus I was WAY up at that point) and putting a beat on Patty is just desserts. There was one giant clusterfuck hand with Eddie J that cemented my night. In early position, Jewish Andy (who, BTW, is not Jewish) raises to $8. I call with Q9h, Eddie calls, a couple other people call. Flop comes 9-9-8 2 clubs. Andy leads out and I pop it to $50. Eddie re-raises all-in. Guy behind him calls for $47. Andy tanks and folds (he said he had KK I think). I tank for a minute, but I decide that Eddie's range is open and he could be anywhere from a draw like J-10c to a 9. I figure in a cash game I really can't fold trips, so I call. Eddie tables 8's for a flopped full. Turn is a blank, river a Q for a higher boat. Eddie looked like someone shot his dog. Up to about $750, I hit cruise control for a while until it comes down to the very last hand of the night. I am in the blind with JJ, Eddie raises from the mid to $8. I pop it to $20. He thinks I'm making a move because it's last hand, he calls. Flop is 2-3-3 two hearts. I lead for $50. He tanks for a minute and just calls. Turn is a Q. I am concerned that he may be on overs like AQ or KQ, but I am not folding. I put $100 out. Eddie tanks again and finally shoves for another $40. I call and table my Jack's. River is a blank and Eddie mucks. I finally cash out $963 on a single $150 buyin.
Saturday night at Dave's did not go as well. I busted out of the tournament about halfway in, I had been floating and couldn't get any momentum. Tournament just isn't my game right now. I sit down at 8 game and for the first few orbits I can't miss. I get into a couple hands with Colin and I put a couple of horrible beats on him, and I run my stack up to about $400. I then proceed to give $150 of it to RR Dave on a stone bluff (my one of the night) and was of course picked off. I put a lot of pressure on him, but he couldn't lay down bottom set and I get snapped off. (I don't think he made a bad call, certainly I would've. I obviously didn't put him on a set or I wouldn't have bluffed at all). I spiral down to about $55 and get up to go play NL. The NL table is down to me, K, Mailman, Dave, Paoli, and Roland. It's a nit-fest, with everyone folding to $3 raises. I float there until Mailman flops a set against Roland's flopped straight and busts, breaking the table. I head back to 8 game with 15 minutes left to final orbit. I get into a couple of huge hands with Jeff Reigler (including making a wheel in Stud 8) and run myself back up to about even. When the table finished I was back up to $184, minus my tournament loss I profited $4 for the session. This was after I covered about $50 in prop losses, my Jack of Hearts really fucked me last night, I couldn't hit shit in the first round of props.
Today I'm going to go over and check out this Gemini Players Club and see what the deal is. Everyone says it's a berry patch, so I may end up liking it and it's pretty close. I will report back on it after I play a little and try it out.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Break Even Weekend, Sort Of...
I didn't get to play a lot of poker the past week, I have been on call for work. Working 14+ hours a day takes it out of me (I'm not 23 anymore, and I can feel it) and it's tough to concentrate on poker when the threat of the phone ringing lurks behind you. I made it to Dave's last night for some hot 8 game action and was seated at the most ridiculous tournament table. I'm sandwiched inbetween Chan and Gary K, who have decided that they don't really care about the tournament and are playing like it.
Chan is raising blind before the cards are dealt, Gary is calling without looking, Chan is shoving blind on the flop, etc etc etc. Can I get a hand to hold up? Nope. I take the rest of Gary's first buyin with pocket Jacks, but other than that I couldn't get any momentum. I blinded down to about 6K when I shoved on Mailman with KJh. He snap called with A2 and I was out. In the cash game, I sit down at NL for a few minutes until the 8 game opens up. No real hands of note, though I did make $40 in about 10 minutes. Once 8 game opened up it got more interesting. Jeff was in full calling mode, running me down several times in stud and razz with hands he shouldn't be calling a bring in with. I can't complain too much, I want him to stay in with this crap, it just gets frustrating to see him in so far behind and then win the hand.
There was the usual drama, too. We ended up with Grayday at our 8 game table because the NL broke up at 3:15. Chan and Andrew had decided that they didn't want to play five handed NL anymore, so they got up and moved to a different table to play heads up NL. With only three people left the NL table broke and Grayday sat with us. He's both a gift and a curse - he has no idea how to play (and that's good for my profit) but it slows the game down with the constant "How much can I make it?" and "What do I have?".
I should be back to regular pokering soon, the winter season is letting up and spring is slow for work so I will have more free time to roll. I am finally out of debt and making money for the first time in three years, so I can establish a roll and seek out better games for my skill set. I heard there was a $5/10 Stud 8 game at Mountaineer recently, I would take the day off work and rob someone to play in that game.
As for my new poker app, I like it. I think I'll buy the full version. It's easy to set up, and the chart does not hide anything from me. I do like seeing the little line moving upward after every 8 game session (though this time it only went up $7, but they can't all be life changers I guess).
I didn't get to play a lot of poker the past week, I have been on call for work. Working 14+ hours a day takes it out of me (I'm not 23 anymore, and I can feel it) and it's tough to concentrate on poker when the threat of the phone ringing lurks behind you. I made it to Dave's last night for some hot 8 game action and was seated at the most ridiculous tournament table. I'm sandwiched inbetween Chan and Gary K, who have decided that they don't really care about the tournament and are playing like it.
Chan is raising blind before the cards are dealt, Gary is calling without looking, Chan is shoving blind on the flop, etc etc etc. Can I get a hand to hold up? Nope. I take the rest of Gary's first buyin with pocket Jacks, but other than that I couldn't get any momentum. I blinded down to about 6K when I shoved on Mailman with KJh. He snap called with A2 and I was out. In the cash game, I sit down at NL for a few minutes until the 8 game opens up. No real hands of note, though I did make $40 in about 10 minutes. Once 8 game opened up it got more interesting. Jeff was in full calling mode, running me down several times in stud and razz with hands he shouldn't be calling a bring in with. I can't complain too much, I want him to stay in with this crap, it just gets frustrating to see him in so far behind and then win the hand.
There was the usual drama, too. We ended up with Grayday at our 8 game table because the NL broke up at 3:15. Chan and Andrew had decided that they didn't want to play five handed NL anymore, so they got up and moved to a different table to play heads up NL. With only three people left the NL table broke and Grayday sat with us. He's both a gift and a curse - he has no idea how to play (and that's good for my profit) but it slows the game down with the constant "How much can I make it?" and "What do I have?".
I should be back to regular pokering soon, the winter season is letting up and spring is slow for work so I will have more free time to roll. I am finally out of debt and making money for the first time in three years, so I can establish a roll and seek out better games for my skill set. I heard there was a $5/10 Stud 8 game at Mountaineer recently, I would take the day off work and rob someone to play in that game.
As for my new poker app, I like it. I think I'll buy the full version. It's easy to set up, and the chart does not hide anything from me. I do like seeing the little line moving upward after every 8 game session (though this time it only went up $7, but they can't all be life changers I guess).
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