The one thing I really hate about poker right now are options for places to play, the options I have are:
Hard Rock: Too Smokey and they take big chunks of the entry amounts, buy-in amounts for tournaments are freaking high.
Derby Lane: Horrible format 700 chips, Horrible players, have to get there at 11:00pm to get a seat, and have to wait until 1 pm toplay.
Online Poker: Sucks compared to a live game, reading people is diminished to betting patterns etc.
I really don't have a place to play where I enjoy the atmosphere and the people, that's a big deal in poker if you aren't comfortable at the place you play it makes playing there much harder. The Plaza Tournament in Vegas was really good, and the format was on par, the people there were cool too unlike at the places here.
Well, after my horrible showing at Derby last weekend (out on 3rd hand) I decided to try my luck again, and this time I figured I had to do better than last time LOL. Well once again I failed to pre-register the day before, so I had to get there early and wait the long hour or so before the tournament started. I was the last player to get a seat, and the funny thing is it's the same people that play there every week. I used to play at Derby a lot and I stopped playing there for a long time, I come back almost a year later and the same people are lining up to play here. I would have thought maybe they would be tired of Derby by now I can't play there all the time, I don't see how they do it.
Well, I decided to go to Bennigans before the tourney to relax eat and read some more of Harrington on Hold'em before the tournament. I was just getting to the part where he was going over tells, so I decieded to focus on that today in the tourney. I got back to Derby with about 5 minutes to go before tourney time and I took my seat. I surveyed the table as I sat down, and the first red flag that went up was this guy with a strong accent I think he was romanian or something those guys are almost always aggresive, he was acting before me which was good there was an elderly guy there had to be in his 80's, so I figured he would probably be tight and only play face cards (I know I shouldn't profile players before I see a hand, but I can tell a bit about how someone plays listening to them talk, and how they act).
So the tournament starts and I start out as the small blind, and I get dealt J 10 not a bad hand to get in the small blind, everyone folded around to me, so since it was the first hand and I didn't have any information about the big blind, I limped, then he did the stupid automatic big blind raise to 30 (10/15 blinds), what a weak raise so I just called and the flop came A K 7, I bet 15 as a feeler bet and he came back over the top for 30, I laughed in my head as I folded my hand. I already had a beat on this guy the words weak were spread all over, not because of his bet, but because of how nervous he was coming over the top for 30 chips.
As the tournament went on I gathered information about the other players, and I had a good feel for each player and felt good about entering pots against them. The player who was in the chip lead at our table was betting big and taking down pots left and right and he had elminated the Romanian guy on the 6th hand (told you he was aggresive), I figured he was bluffing like anyones business, so I was waiting to pick my spot to bust him, but one guy he pushed out of a pot said "nice steal", this guy got pissed and said, "nice steal!, nice steal!, you don't win these dubllons (spelling?) by stealing, and he pulls his Derby Lane victory coins out of his pocket and tosses them the table towards the guy and shows his hand, he had the nuts. So that was free information for me, he wasn't bluffing, so I changed my strategy against him.
the guy in 4th position opened the pot with a raise to 75, the eldery guy called, and another person called every else folded I was big blind, I look down at my hand and I have JJ, so I survey all the players who called and the initial raiser and I push all in (the squeeze play kind of), and every folds except the old man who says we might as well do it and he flips over KQ, I had him covered by plenty, a J came on the flop to give me the hand, and I was moved to another table with a total of $4000 chips.
I sat down at the next table and there was one hand of note, there were 2 big stacks at the table, so I figured aggressive players maybe, so I watched a few hands, one of the guys (vietnamese guy) was aggresive and the other guy was very tight. The reason I pointed out the other guys race is because a lot of asian players I come across are usually aggresive at least 75% of the time, so it's more for my info than stereotyping. Anyway the asian guy raises to $125 everyone folds it comes to me I have KJ suited hearts, I call the flop comes J 7 3 all clubs, so I check he bets 200, I re-raise to 600 he starts to think about it for while and looks over at me, then he goes al-in (I felt that move coming for some reason, he seemed to be defending a hand rather than winning one), so I think about the odds of him having a flush, and I decide to call he flips over QJ oh yeah, and I eliminate him and move up $6000 chips.
I move to the 3rd table there are only 3 tables left at this point about 21 people top 18 get paid, everyone is playing tight and stupid as usual all of a sudden they forget how to play poker and they just go all-in every hand. This one player goes all in for 1800, and I had been watching him and felt I had a good read on him, plus the way he was looking just said he didn't have that great of a hand. I look down and I have pocket 10's, I call he flips over Q 4 suited diamonds and says you got me man. Q 4 suited? WTF is he thinking? Well the flop comes Q, and I don't catch a 10 and he wins the pot, he then apologizes for making a stupid play, I tell him it's part of the game, it's not a big deal etc... even though I was now crippled. But this situation spells the exact reason I hate Derby it's the players more than anything his bet was in early position, he could have at least waited to steal from other positions that were more favorable, he got lucky he caught a Queen because he was behind.
I ended up the bubble man again going out in 19th place because that all-in loss crippled me then the blinds went up to 500/1000 so I was a goner anyway. My curse at Derby continues, I play well all the time when I go there, but I don't have any decent winnings to show for it, but I am patient it will come in due time.
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