I fell on my ass tonight.
After several good performances in a row, I took a spill and hit the ice pretty hard in the Muck's $4-8 kill game. Some of the other players wouldn't have scored high on technical merit -- calling all the way with hands like 10-3 offsuit isn't going to impress the judges. But if you can nail the landing by catching your miracle card on the river, maybe the approach doesn't have to look pretty.
Oh well. The short version was that I was three racks in before I began to skate out of it. Luckily the same pair of lame players who kept sucking out stayed around long enough for probability to catch up with them a little bit.
I didn't come all the way back, but close. Finished down $35 for the night.
Jackpot's at $280k.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I hope they never hit the jackpot
It's at $272k tonight, my third night in a row at the Muck, and while it would be incredible to catch even a table share I'm having a pretty good time just skimming the extra action.
It reminds me of some kind of nature show where an unusual bloom of algae kick-starts an entire food-chain feeding frenzy. Looking around the room tonight at the regulars -- the better players, I'm talking about -- you could almost see them licking their lips. Everyone knows that if they wait for the right moments they're going to walk away with the jackpot chasers' cash. There are more people in more pots playing worse cards, and that's just got to be good for the game.
I had a pretty lucky night. The first hand I played was pocket kings in a kill pot, and they held up for a decent win. I was never down all night. I could have done better, but I got tired and made a couple of mistakes. Twice I bet into the nuts on the river and got check-raised, and then felt compelled to pay it off.
Still, I won $193 and left close to my high for the night.
It reminds me of some kind of nature show where an unusual bloom of algae kick-starts an entire food-chain feeding frenzy. Looking around the room tonight at the regulars -- the better players, I'm talking about -- you could almost see them licking their lips. Everyone knows that if they wait for the right moments they're going to walk away with the jackpot chasers' cash. There are more people in more pots playing worse cards, and that's just got to be good for the game.
I had a pretty lucky night. The first hand I played was pocket kings in a kill pot, and they held up for a decent win. I was never down all night. I could have done better, but I got tired and made a couple of mistakes. Twice I bet into the nuts on the river and got check-raised, and then felt compelled to pay it off.
Still, I won $193 and left close to my high for the night.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Hail to the chief
President Nixon loved poker. So did President Truman. So it seemed like the most patriotic way to spend President's Day was at the Muckleshoot, trying again for that juicy jackpot. On Monday it had ticked up to $267k. That's a lot of dead presidents.
I actually came one card away from winning the big end Monday night. It wasn't really all that close to being a jackpot, but it still felt like a bad beat. And it was one of several memorable hands on the evening.
This was in a $4-8 kill game, and I was already up a couple of racks when I was dealt pocket 3s in the big blind. A bunch of players called before the flop without a raise, so I happily checked along. The flop was an eye-bugger: J-J-3, giving me a boat on the snap. I checked, hoping to induce a bet, or even just give somebody a chance to make something. But everybody checked around, including the aggressive player in late position who I counted on to bet. The turn was a blank (too bad not a 3, as it turned out).
I checked, Mr. Aggressive bet, a couple of people called and I check-raised -- had him right where I wanted him. But now he three-bet, saying something about being sure he had the best hand but I'd probably come back over the top anyway. Which I did, of course, and happy to do it. So we were heads-up going into the river, which brought ... another damn jack! He bet with such joy that I knew he had the quads -- J-10, which meant his kicker would have played for the jackpot -- and I was one 3 off of a huge payday.
It was a great table, and that brought laughter and even some sympathy all around.
A few hands later I got most of my chips back in an eight-way kill pot that I limped into with pocket 6s. The flop was K-Q-Q, and if anybody had so much as looked at their chips I'd have mucked, but it remarkably checked all around. I'm thinking of a card, I said, and sure enough the turn brought a 6, boating me up again. Now a guy bet into me, and I made a big joke about how it's bad luck to slow-play, then popped it. Several people called. Then I got more action, including a raise and a reraise, when the river brought a third club. This time the boat held up (there as a flush and somebody had a Q for second and third place), and I scooped.
As will happen, the bad players ran out of money and left. We played short-handed for a while and I sloughed off a hundred or so trying to bull the game. Ended up with a $181 win.
I actually came one card away from winning the big end Monday night. It wasn't really all that close to being a jackpot, but it still felt like a bad beat. And it was one of several memorable hands on the evening.
This was in a $4-8 kill game, and I was already up a couple of racks when I was dealt pocket 3s in the big blind. A bunch of players called before the flop without a raise, so I happily checked along. The flop was an eye-bugger: J-J-3, giving me a boat on the snap. I checked, hoping to induce a bet, or even just give somebody a chance to make something. But everybody checked around, including the aggressive player in late position who I counted on to bet. The turn was a blank (too bad not a 3, as it turned out).
I checked, Mr. Aggressive bet, a couple of people called and I check-raised -- had him right where I wanted him. But now he three-bet, saying something about being sure he had the best hand but I'd probably come back over the top anyway. Which I did, of course, and happy to do it. So we were heads-up going into the river, which brought ... another damn jack! He bet with such joy that I knew he had the quads -- J-10, which meant his kicker would have played for the jackpot -- and I was one 3 off of a huge payday.
It was a great table, and that brought laughter and even some sympathy all around.
A few hands later I got most of my chips back in an eight-way kill pot that I limped into with pocket 6s. The flop was K-Q-Q, and if anybody had so much as looked at their chips I'd have mucked, but it remarkably checked all around. I'm thinking of a card, I said, and sure enough the turn brought a 6, boating me up again. Now a guy bet into me, and I made a big joke about how it's bad luck to slow-play, then popped it. Several people called. Then I got more action, including a raise and a reraise, when the river brought a third club. This time the boat held up (there as a flush and somebody had a Q for second and third place), and I scooped.
As will happen, the bad players ran out of money and left. We played short-handed for a while and I sloughed off a hundred or so trying to bull the game. Ended up with a $181 win.
A record wait
It took two hours last night to get into a game at the Muck, the longest board I've ever seen. Nobody's hit the jackpot yet -- it's up over $261,000 now -- and the dealers said it's been packed like that every day.
We thought about bailing as soon as we got there. Instead we decided to take a pager and walk across the casino to the sushi place. But they wanted to give us a pager too, predicting a 45-minute wait. That seemed too long -- we actually thought we might be in a game by then -- so we passed and went back to the poker room. An hour later we slunked back to the sushi place, but the wait was even longer, so we passed again. Another hour later we got a seat and ordered some table-side dinner.
I played a really good, solid game, nothing too fancy, made a couple of hands, and cashed out a $111 winner.
We thought about bailing as soon as we got there. Instead we decided to take a pager and walk across the casino to the sushi place. But they wanted to give us a pager too, predicting a 45-minute wait. That seemed too long -- we actually thought we might be in a game by then -- so we passed and went back to the poker room. An hour later we slunked back to the sushi place, but the wait was even longer, so we passed again. Another hour later we got a seat and ordered some table-side dinner.
I played a really good, solid game, nothing too fancy, made a couple of hands, and cashed out a $111 winner.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Kind of a funny Valentine
It's hard to get much more romantic than a $4-8 kill game, so Michelle and I headed down to the Muck after work Tuesday night. It made me smile with my heart.
Everybody at our table fell in love with Seat 6, an inexperienced player who was in every hand. When he opened his mouth (to raise), he wasn't smart. But he was lucky. If there were any cards in the deck that could help him on the turn and river, he caught them. Cupid's got his running shoes on tonight.
Anyway, I'll save the bad beat stories. It was a very fun game, but unbelievable. I lost $214, and was almost grateful. It could have been worse.
Our funny Valentine in Seat 6 bought in for $40, ran it up to $300, lost all of that and bought another rack, ran that up to $400, lost all of that, rebought for the last $39 in his wallet, and had $300 or so in front of him when we left at 11:15. It must have been fun.
By the way, nobody has hit the jackpot yet. It was at nearly $242,000 and counting.
Everybody at our table fell in love with Seat 6, an inexperienced player who was in every hand. When he opened his mouth (to raise), he wasn't smart. But he was lucky. If there were any cards in the deck that could help him on the turn and river, he caught them. Cupid's got his running shoes on tonight.
Anyway, I'll save the bad beat stories. It was a very fun game, but unbelievable. I lost $214, and was almost grateful. It could have been worse.
Our funny Valentine in Seat 6 bought in for $40, ran it up to $300, lost all of that and bought another rack, ran that up to $400, lost all of that, rebought for the last $39 in his wallet, and had $300 or so in front of him when we left at 11:15. It must have been fun.
By the way, nobody has hit the jackpot yet. It was at nearly $242,000 and counting.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Jackpot over $200k and counting
They're packin' the Muck again for a piece of the jackpot, however unlikely. It was at $214,000 and change last night when I sat in on a good $6-12 kill game.
The jackpot's harder to hit at Muckleshoot; you need quads or better beat, with both cards playing, so it doesn't get cracked too often. Even so, it's been several months now since it last went off, and that's a long time even there. "Overdue," the hopeful regulars all agreed at my table, and I'm sure the same conversations were taking place around the room.
It's stupid to chase jackpots, as everyone knows, but when it gets that high it's hard not to think about it. I mean, man, the big end is $107,000! Even a table share would be close to $8,000.
We didn't get anywhere close to hitting it. I only had a couple of pocket pairs all night, jacks and kings, and neither held up, but I managed to get out of there with $67 of sugar.
The jackpot's harder to hit at Muckleshoot; you need quads or better beat, with both cards playing, so it doesn't get cracked too often. Even so, it's been several months now since it last went off, and that's a long time even there. "Overdue," the hopeful regulars all agreed at my table, and I'm sure the same conversations were taking place around the room.
It's stupid to chase jackpots, as everyone knows, but when it gets that high it's hard not to think about it. I mean, man, the big end is $107,000! Even a table share would be close to $8,000.
We didn't get anywhere close to hitting it. I only had a couple of pocket pairs all night, jacks and kings, and neither held up, but I managed to get out of there with $67 of sugar.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Triple Crown winner
I'm not saying that Brett Hansen is the best player in Seattle -- I've never seen him play -- but he did win the $200 buy-in main event of Diamond Lil's Triple Crown tournament last weekend.
Hansen, of Federal Way, took down $8,530 of the $21,000 prize pool.
Second place ($4,990) went to Matt Kalish of Seattle. David McLean of Seattle won $2,310 for third place.
By the way, I talked to Dave, who is either the poker room manager or the lead floor guy at the Muck, and also to Amy, Muckleshoot tournament director, about why there isn't a big WPT-qualifying state championship tourney around here.
The biggest obstacle, they both said, is a shortage of hotel rooms near their casino or any of the other big rooms. They also don't have a ton of space to accommodate a huge field. Maybe later, after the poker room expansion is done, they said.
Hansen, of Federal Way, took down $8,530 of the $21,000 prize pool.
Second place ($4,990) went to Matt Kalish of Seattle. David McLean of Seattle won $2,310 for third place.
By the way, I talked to Dave, who is either the poker room manager or the lead floor guy at the Muck, and also to Amy, Muckleshoot tournament director, about why there isn't a big WPT-qualifying state championship tourney around here.
The biggest obstacle, they both said, is a shortage of hotel rooms near their casino or any of the other big rooms. They also don't have a ton of space to accommodate a huge field. Maybe later, after the poker room expansion is done, they said.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Good game, no papers
I enjoyed the $8-16 game last night at Diamond Lil's. It was the kind of table I like -- not overly aggressive, but filled with experienced players who are smart enough to lay down a hand. My plan was to play my solid, conservative game, show down a couple of winners and then probe for steal opportunities.
Unfortunately, the papes never came and I ended up booking a small loss.
The only pot I won all night came after sitting there literally for more than an hour without playing a hand, just throwing away a parade of J-4, 9-2, Q-3 holdings. I picked up AKd in middle position, raised and got called by two guys behind me plus the big blind. The flop came down king high, K-9-3, I think. I bet out and the table captain -- a cocky but gregarious (and lucky) kid on the button -- called, saying I'm not scared. I put him on something like pocket 10s, maybe AQ, A9 suited or even, I hoped, K-Q or K-J. The big blind, a poor player, also called.
When the turn came a queen I looked at the button and purposely over-fumbled my chips, playing up my image as the tight nervous player afraid to enter a pot. Everybody laughed, and that seemed to spook the kid, who laid down his hand. Big blind called, though, which made me nervous that he'd stuck around with something like Q-3 and was being overly tricky. So I checked down the river and scooped the pot.
And that was that. A bit later I had J-8 in the big blind, bet all the way when the flop came 8 high, but lost when a guy with 9-7 made a straight. Minus $111 for the night.
Unfortunately, the papes never came and I ended up booking a small loss.
The only pot I won all night came after sitting there literally for more than an hour without playing a hand, just throwing away a parade of J-4, 9-2, Q-3 holdings. I picked up AKd in middle position, raised and got called by two guys behind me plus the big blind. The flop came down king high, K-9-3, I think. I bet out and the table captain -- a cocky but gregarious (and lucky) kid on the button -- called, saying I'm not scared. I put him on something like pocket 10s, maybe AQ, A9 suited or even, I hoped, K-Q or K-J. The big blind, a poor player, also called.
When the turn came a queen I looked at the button and purposely over-fumbled my chips, playing up my image as the tight nervous player afraid to enter a pot. Everybody laughed, and that seemed to spook the kid, who laid down his hand. Big blind called, though, which made me nervous that he'd stuck around with something like Q-3 and was being overly tricky. So I checked down the river and scooped the pot.
And that was that. A bit later I had J-8 in the big blind, bet all the way when the flop came 8 high, but lost when a guy with 9-7 made a straight. Minus $111 for the night.
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