When I got to the Muck on Tuesday night there were five open tables. That can only mean one thing. A glance at the board confirmed it: The massive jackpot, approaching $300,000 last week, had been hit since my last visit. The new total: only $144,000.
I didn't get all the details, but apparently it went off Saturday afternoon in a $4-8 game, with regulars getting the big and small ends of nearly $150,000 and $75,000. That always makes the room happy, the suggestion, I guess, that at least some of the cash will make its way back into the local poker economy.
It hasn't been too long since $144k -- the amount of the reset, backup jackpot -- would have seemed like a pretty attractive target. But on Tuesday nobody seemed interested. The place was weirdly quiet.
My game was decent but I was extremely card dead. On several occasions I made a hand, like flopping two pair, only to lose to runner-runner cards. And that happens. A couple of times, I see in retrospect, I let my boredom or frustration get the better of me and stuck around longer or pushed harder than I should have, with predictably bad results.
Overall, not a good night. I got out of there with four white chips left of the two racks I purchased. Adding back the six chips I spent on my fried rice, that amounts to a $190 loss. Ouch.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Mid-size room at Snoqualmie
I was disappointed to read in this morning's P-I story on the Snoqualmie Tribe's casino that plans call for a poker room of only 10 to 15 tables. That will be nice, but considering that the casino is supposed to be twice the size of the Muck I was hoping the poker room would be bigger.
A tribal administrator told the paper the poker room will be "prominently featured in the casino" and will hold regular tournaments.
The Muck's at 18 tables now, with an expansion coming.
(The rendering of the planned casino appeared in this morning's Times.)
Friday, March 03, 2006
No more Muck tourneys
The Muckleshoot web site announced today that it's canceling all tournaments until further notice. No explanation, but my guess is that with so many people lined up for a shot at the jackpot -- tournament players aren't eligible -- they need the tables.
Good move, I say. I'll bet after someone cracks the jackpot the tourneys will resume.
Good move, I say. I'll bet after someone cracks the jackpot the tourneys will resume.
New Snoqualmie casino
The Seattle Times reports today that the Snoqualmie Tribe has received approval to build a big new casino on I-90 less than 30 miles east of Seattle. No details about a poker room, but it looks like the casino will be about twice the size of the Muckleshoots, so that bodes well. And for those of us in the city, it's much closer.
Supposed to open next year.
Supposed to open next year.
Just as well
The woman sitting immediately to my left the other night had an interesting philosophy for a poker player.
She was young and attractive, probably in her early 20s, but she looked tired and she was a terrible player. Every hand, good or bad, she called, almost never raising or folding before the flop or, for that matter, after. Occasionally she'd drag a pot, but not often, and she kept digging into her purse for another hundred.
A few of the dealers who came to the table asked if she'd been home; turned out she'd been at the same table, apparently losing the whole time, for more than 24 hours straight. After a while a young guy sat in and tried flirting with her.
Sure would be nice to hit the jackpot, the guy said. We could go buy matching Mercedes. Her reply, I thought, explained everything:
"I don't care about material things."
She was young and attractive, probably in her early 20s, but she looked tired and she was a terrible player. Every hand, good or bad, she called, almost never raising or folding before the flop or, for that matter, after. Occasionally she'd drag a pot, but not often, and she kept digging into her purse for another hundred.
A few of the dealers who came to the table asked if she'd been home; turned out she'd been at the same table, apparently losing the whole time, for more than 24 hours straight. After a while a young guy sat in and tried flirting with her.
Sure would be nice to hit the jackpot, the guy said. We could go buy matching Mercedes. Her reply, I thought, explained everything:
"I don't care about material things."
My classic dumbass move
Stopped by the Muck after work on Tuesday night, figuring in the middle of the week it wouldn't be quite so crowded and I'd be seated quickly. Not so. With the jackpot at $292,000 there's no such thing as a slow evening, apparently. Every table was full and I waited 45 minutes for a game.
By the time I sat in I was hungry and tired and not as sharp as I should have been -- or at least that's the excuse I keep allowing myself. I made a rookie blunder I haven't made in years ... literally gave away a pot.
First a little background. It was a comfy little semi-loose, passive $4-8 kill game -- usually four callers, and very few pre-flop raises -- but I wasn't getting any cards and didn't really play a hand except the occasional blind for the first 45 minutes or so. Finally I got KK in first position and worried that, if anything, a raise with my super-tight image would get me nothing but the blinds. So when I popped it I was shocked to see five callers jump in, and all without a reraise. Less shocking was the ace on the flop. I was smart enough to get out of the way while a couple of the cold-callers battled it out, and an AJ offsuit took it down. Fine. All well and good.
Fast-forward half an hour or so. I'm still card-dead, still tight, which maybe by this time makes me look weak. I decide to call under the gun with J-10 of hearts. As usual four other players including the BB limp in behind me. The flop comes 9-8-4 rainbow, giving me an open-ender, so I bet out, hoping my tight image might even let me take down the pot right away. Instead, everyone calls.
The turn's an 8, pairing the board, but possibly a scare card that works in my favor. So I bet again. This time I lose a couple, but the player to my left calls, as does the BB. Not good. The river's a 9, missing my hand and putting two pair on the board. Now almost anything that could call beats me, including ace high -- or even king or queen high, for that matter. So I prudently check, and so do the other players.
Here's where I embarrassed myself. The guy to my right mucks his hand, the caller to the left turns over his pocket pair, and seeing that I'm beat I toss my cards face down into the muck as well. ... But wait! Those are pocket 2s that guy has! He's playing the board: 9s and 8s with a 4 kicker! Argh!!! My jack high would have held up for about a $60 pot.
I was able to laugh at myself, which helped just a little since the rest of the table was laughing too, especially the dude stacking his chips with the worst possible hand.
Not surprisingly, I didn't get much respect after that. They chipped away at my meager stack and I went home $75 to the bad.
By the time I sat in I was hungry and tired and not as sharp as I should have been -- or at least that's the excuse I keep allowing myself. I made a rookie blunder I haven't made in years ... literally gave away a pot.
First a little background. It was a comfy little semi-loose, passive $4-8 kill game -- usually four callers, and very few pre-flop raises -- but I wasn't getting any cards and didn't really play a hand except the occasional blind for the first 45 minutes or so. Finally I got KK in first position and worried that, if anything, a raise with my super-tight image would get me nothing but the blinds. So when I popped it I was shocked to see five callers jump in, and all without a reraise. Less shocking was the ace on the flop. I was smart enough to get out of the way while a couple of the cold-callers battled it out, and an AJ offsuit took it down. Fine. All well and good.
Fast-forward half an hour or so. I'm still card-dead, still tight, which maybe by this time makes me look weak. I decide to call under the gun with J-10 of hearts. As usual four other players including the BB limp in behind me. The flop comes 9-8-4 rainbow, giving me an open-ender, so I bet out, hoping my tight image might even let me take down the pot right away. Instead, everyone calls.
The turn's an 8, pairing the board, but possibly a scare card that works in my favor. So I bet again. This time I lose a couple, but the player to my left calls, as does the BB. Not good. The river's a 9, missing my hand and putting two pair on the board. Now almost anything that could call beats me, including ace high -- or even king or queen high, for that matter. So I prudently check, and so do the other players.
Here's where I embarrassed myself. The guy to my right mucks his hand, the caller to the left turns over his pocket pair, and seeing that I'm beat I toss my cards face down into the muck as well. ... But wait! Those are pocket 2s that guy has! He's playing the board: 9s and 8s with a 4 kicker! Argh!!! My jack high would have held up for about a $60 pot.
I was able to laugh at myself, which helped just a little since the rest of the table was laughing too, especially the dude stacking his chips with the worst possible hand.
Not surprisingly, I didn't get much respect after that. They chipped away at my meager stack and I went home $75 to the bad.
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