Home Game Road Trip Part IX
Just a short time ago, two big Atlanta area games were busted by police. Because of t
hat, the games in my hometown are laying low for a while. Not even I, as resourceful as I am, could get entry into games that I didn't already know about, and those I know about weren't being hosted while I was in town. It's unfortunate; Atlanta has a beautiful underground poker scene.That doesn't mean that I didn't play poker.
I took the Bluff editor out for a few drinks to chat about the industry, and, as often happens when two poker players start drinking, we ended the night with a couple friendly HU games of NL. Needless to say, I kicked his ass.
Actually, he might be reading this...
The game was tough, but I got lucky in a few keys hands, and I ended up winning. Twice.
Summary of the trip:
At each of my games, I asked the players what it was exactly that brought them to a poker room and what it was that made them stay. The answers I received:
1. Reliability. Players are worried about their sites staying open long enough for them to receive their winnings.
2. Ease of deposits/withdrawals. As all American players know, it is getting harder and harder to get money online and, more importantly, get it off.
3. Customer service. No one likes waiting 24 hours for a response from Customer Support. Many places don't even bother to reply. Personally, I won't play anywhere with crappy support, so this is something I can easily relate to.
I can honestly say that Eurolinx excels at 1,2, and 3.
The trip was a lot of fun. I got to meet micro-limit, high stakes, and tournament players, as well as people running sportsbooks and a PPA rep and poker magazine editor. The attitude regarding the UIGEA and Frank's bill is pretty much the same everything (con and pro, respectively), although the rationalizations behind both seem to be different depending on who was doing the interpreting.
The trip is over, I'm back in Malta, and already I'm missing live poker. I guess I'll just have to wait until Vegas and the WSOP.
As always, questions and comments can be sent to lydia@eurolinx.com. I will respond to anything I receive.
Thanks to all who participated in the trip, who read the blog, and who sent me mails while I was in the States.
Home Game Road Trip Part VIII
(I think I've officially run out of clever city slogans)
Only an hour north of Boston, Seabrook, NH, has become a bit of a poker haven. Because of laws passed just last year in the grand state of New Hampshire, poker clubs that benefit charities are completely legal. The club in Seabrook is held in some new rooms built into the Seabrook Greyhound Track. When you first walk in (if you come in the Track side, like I did), you could almost see giant dustballs chasing each other through the place. A few retired cowboy-looking sorts were hanging around the bar, too. The poker side, however, was slamming.
An MTT was being held in the first room I went through. There were probably 20 tables filled with young, online-poker-hungry men, and I think I might have even drooled at the site.
I ended up sitting at a $40 STT, though, so I could chat more easily with the person I was there to meet, the New Hampshire representative of the Poker Players' Alliance. Unfortunately, we got seated at different sides of the table, so that plan was blown out of the water.
The STT turned out to be a super-turbo. The blinds doubled every 10 minutes, and we all started off with 1500 in chips (1 1,000 chip; 4 100 chips; 4 25 chips). So I'm sitting there, looking at the 9 chips in front of me, wondering how on earth people play this game regularly. 10 minutes isn't even an orbit in a game like this.
As you can imagine, most of the players were blinded out. I managed to stay in long enough to bubble, but only because of a series of miracle rivers.
The talk with the PPA rep was interesting. He has an argument for the "poker is skill" side of the legality issue that's quite intriguing. I'd be happy to send it to anyone who e-mails me.
Coming up: Atlanta, and a summation of the trip.
Home Game Road Trip Part VII
I'll give up on Foxwoods one of these days. Not because it's a bad place to play (it's not) or because it's not professionally run (it's very professional), but because I have yet to have a good run there.
Unfortunately, this trip was no different.
For those of you who have never been to Foxwoods (what are you waiting for??), it is MASSIVE. I showed up around 7pm on a Thursday, and there were more tables filled than I have fingers and toes. I'm afraid I didn't bother counting any higher than that. There was only one 10/20 Limit game going on, and those players looked pretty settled, so I put myself on the list and sat down at a 2/5 NL game. Awful, awful players, for the most part.
I had a run of crappy cards, so must have been giving off rocky vibes. Not like it helped any when I decided to raise. That's one of the biggest benefits of being a female at a poker game: people will call you down just to see what you have, no matter that they know you have the nuts. I honestly feel that women can be profitable players while playing at a lower skill level than men. Not that all women are worse players, of course, but they can get away with it better. They just have to be able to recognize that they are going to get called down no matter what. This is not a hard and fast rule, of course, and everything should be dealt with contextually, but as far as rules go, it's not a bad one to go by.
Of course, this also means that people will call you down with absolute crap, so the swings can be hefty. See: Thursday at Foxwoods.
Three big hands, and I was down $1000 in 2 hours. AA beaten by T8o, QQ beaten by T8o (although I mis-played it, and probably deserved it), and QQ beaten by T9o. Ouch.
I moved down to 1/2 NL after that, and it didn't get much better. Ran through one buy-in in about 4 hours, and the second buy-in didn't really go up or down in the next 4. The 1/2 game was bee-yu-tiful, though. On the first table I sat at, the guy to my right didn't understand how the blinds worked. No one around him could help out much, either. I hung around that table until the chipstack, not a great player himself, left the table with $1300, about 3/4 of the money on the table. I put in for a table change after that. At the next table, the players were more solid, but at least they had money to donate. Not that I got any of it.
I really like Foxwoods. The dealers are friendly, but not overly so, the floor managers are professional, and the players are weak. It's too bad it's out in the middle of nowhere.
At one point, I was walking around the room, and a floor manager stopped me and pressed a mini-stack of three black chips into my hand, all secret-like. Initial thought: "Woot!" but then he leaned in and said "Breath mints." (Note to readers: I do not have stinky breath, as far as I know. He was just being friendly [I hope]). I said, "Uh, thanks" and walked on. Who disguises breath mints as heartrate-increasing black chips? That's just cruel.
On the plus side, I'm 86% sure I spotted Johnny Chan!
Game type: 2/5 NL
Time at the game: 2 hours
Players per flop: ~40%
Result: -$1000 (Ouch)
Hand of the night: I'm UTG with QQ. I raise to 30. 2 seat calls, as does one person in late position. Flop is 932 rainbow. I bet 90, seat 2 pushes, late folds. I think (probably for too long) and call. 2 seat flips over T9o. Turn is a T, river blank. Game over.
Overall impression: Couple people at the table who would have been better off playing slots. There were about 4 decent players total......................................................................
Game type: 1/2 NL
Time at the game: 8 hours
Players per flop: ~50%
Result: -$230
Hand of the night: UTG raises to 12, middle calls, others fold. Flop is 239. UTG bets 20, middle calls. Turn is A. UTG bets 25, middle raises to 100, UTG pushes. Middle calls. River is blank. UTG turns over 45o, middle has 33. Middle leaves, disgusted.
Overall impression: Most of the players were complete dolts, but there were a couple who knew what they were doing. Should probably have been here all night instead of dropping a grand at the 2/5.Home Game Road Trip Part VI
aka Beantown (why on earth is it called that??)
The quality of a game can often be judged by the quality of the players, especially when it comes to friendly home games. If we were to judge the Boston game I went to solely on its players, all I can say is that it had charactah.
Hosted in a basement about an hour from Boston, various pieces of poker paraphanelia adorned the walls. There was the requisite poster of poker-playing dogs, as well as a poker wall clock and framed royalty, of the card kind. Insulation showed between beams in the bare ceiling, and bags of chips could be gotten from a cardboard box on the bar. A Red Sox game played on a flat-screen behind my head. This was the first home game I'd gone to on my trip that was actually held in someone's home.
And then there was the accent. I love the Boston accent. I've lived a lot of places with a lot of different accents, but nothing holds a candle to this one.
A lot of good things were said, but I'll keep it to the best. The only girl player at the table (besides myself) took over for the dealer for a few minutes. A couple of the players were taking their time with their hands, and she said:
"We playin' pokah heah, or fuckin' tiddly winks?"
Classic.
Long-standing home games often develop their own words and phrases for hole cards, crappy rivers, etc. This game had several (enough so that it really did feel like I'd walked into a different country when I stepped through that basement door), but the best was Ta-tonka.
From what I could gather, you'd been Ta-tonka'd if you'd been just brutally drawn out on. If a river card showed up that everyone at the table could see was a complete asshole of a card, a couple people would shout out "Ta-tonka!" in their raspy Bostonite voices.
Game type: 1/2 NL
Time at the game: 3 hours
Players per flop: ~50%
Result: -$35
Hand of the night: UTG raises to 12. Middle position makes it 35. Everyone folds, UTG calls. Flop is 4h6h8h. UTG bets 40, Middle makes it 120, UTG goes all-in for an additional 200. Middle thinks for a couple minutes, then calls. Turn is Tc, river is Kh. Middle turns over KK for a rivered set. UTG bangs his head against the table and makes a move to muck. Someone at the table says, "No heart?" UTG flips over his cards, revealing 7c7h, and takes the pot down.
Coming up: Stuck in the 'Woods
Home Game Road Trip Part V
Pittsburgh
If there were prizes awarded for best entrance, Pittsburgh would clean up. You're driving through countryside and hills, looking at all the cows, starting to approach some suburbs (but they're nothing, really), then you go into a tunnel and when you emerge, you see this:
Wow.
In respect for the game's privacy and the managers' wishes, this part of the blog is going to have less information than others have. I also took no photos for the same reason. (The photo above was yoinked from the Internet. I wish I could take shots like that...)
The game is run in an old warehouse-type building that would have been torn down if the players hadn't been there every night keeping it busy. A donation is made weekly to the local community. Perhaps because of this or perhaps because they just don't care, the police in the neighborhood look completely the other way. Not as ideal a situation as if it were legal, but it works nonetheless.
When not passing out trays of chicken salad sandwiches, a waitress gives back massages to the players. Security is an off-duty cop who checks people in before they enter the room, and the cashier obviously knows what he is doing. Beer, liquor, and food are free. In short, it's professionally run.
There were three tables running at full capacity when I got there: two 1/2 NL and one 5/5 NL. The players were a lot younger in general than those in the Columbus game, but there were a couple guys with grey hair warming seats. I hung out at the 5/5 NL game for a bit, and the action was fierce. Raises to 200 were common pre-flop, and half the stacks were upwards of two grand. I was clearly out-classed in this game, so I was pretty happy when a seat didn't open up until right before I had to leave to get back to Columbus.
Overview: If this game was any further underground, you'd need spelunking gear to find it. The players are friendly, the games are serious, and the people running it are exactly the sort of people who should be. As I wrote before in the Columbus part, I really admire the games that contribute a portion of their earnings to the local community. It encourages good feelings towards the game, helping to ensure its longevity, and it's just a darn nice thing to do.
Coming up: Playin' pokah in Bah-ston.
Home Game Road Trip Part IV
Columbus
Yes, you read that right. Ohio. It used to be that when I thought of Ohio, the only thing that came to mind was November 2004. Not anymore. There is a game in Columbus that is a thing of sheer beauty.
Over 30 years running, the game stays legal by re-locating every two weeks to a new spot, always a charity. A hefty chunk of the rake is then donated to that charity. No worries about there ever being a week without a game; the list of charities wanting in on the action is a long one. The idea behind this is not only clever, but it gives back to the community, something I deeply respect and wish I could see more of. Entrepreneurial and charitable at the same time. If we had more of that in the world, it'd be a much better place.
There's nothing underground about this game, and it shows. Laughter is unrestrained, people leave their jackets and purses around, and a uniformed cop sits at one of the tables. Six hand-made tables are filled with players, and more hang out at empty tables waiting for seats. Home-cooked goulasch sits steaming on a nearby table right next to a couple cardboard boxes of donuts and a cooler of sodas (no alcohol). Everything free, of course. The average age of the players is upwards of 40, although there are a few of college age hanging around. Not an iPod or flat-screen TV in sight.
This is old-school poker at its best. No talk of pot equity and no mention of EV, these players are working class and it shows. Even the women seem a bit hard around the edges, but only because they know where they are and they know what they're worth, and it's no small amount. Everyone knows everyone, and even small arguments, like one at a 10/20 table right after I got there, are soon resolved in laughter and back-patting. If "honest" is a word that could ever be given to a poker game, this is the one I'd assign it to.
I'd probably be laughed out of the place for using language like this, but there is something beautiful and romantic about seeing seeing poker in its most natural state. Talk with any group of players about how TV has impacted poker, and you'll hear a lot of positives and negatives. Pretty much everyone will agree that it's gotten flashier, younger, and more about image than ever before. Walking into a game like this, it seemed like ESPN had never gotten its claws in the WSOP.
Whenever I see a game without some kind of security, I worry. I've known a couple games that have been robbed at gunpoint (more about that when I get to Pittsburgh, too), and there's nothing that hurts a game more. This place had no member list, the location is advertised in the newspapers (!!!), and just about anyone can wander in and out. At no time, though, did it feel unsafe. Basically, I wouldn't want to fuck with these guys. There was a woman wandering around giving massages to a lot of the old-timers; covered in tattoos, she could probably take down at least four armed banditos with her bare hands. If her stare alone wasn't enough to make them run for cover. I was definitely intimidated, and I'm fairly unflappable (if also small and unarmed).
Poker-wise, the game was good. The players all knew each other well, which puts a newcomer at an immediate disadvantage, but there was enough looseness to make it profitable. I actually hit a few nice draws and made out pretty well, but I could see myself doing only slightly better than break-even on a more regular basis with these guys, at least until I got to know them better. $20 and $50 bills were being used almost as regularly as chips, which helped keep a lot of money on the table. I did notice one guy pocketing a few bills after selling a couple stacks to his neighbor, but that seemed more the exception than the rule, and there were enough chips being tossed around the table that making a deal of it wasn't worth it.
I could go on forever about this game. One last bit, though, and I'll wrap it up for the evening. Around midnight, the cashier/floor manager got up to announce the tournament schedule for the evening. At 1, there was a $50 buy-in freezeout, at 3 there was a $30 rebuy, and:
"At 9am, we'll all be holding Sunday mass."
And everyone laughed.
Game type: 10/20
Time at the game: 3 hours
Players per flop: ~40%
Result: +$620
Hand of the night: None that I recall.
Overall impression: With its old-school atmosphere, friendly players, and contributions to local charities, this game makes me proud to call myself a poker player.
Coming up: High(er) stakes in Pittsburgh.
Home Game Road Trip Part III
The City that Never Sleeps
Thursday: I was only in New York City about 6 hours, something I'll likely regret later on. When I'm away from NYC, I forget how much I like the place. Pretty much everything you can say about NYC has been said already a million times over, and likely most of it is true, so I'll stop there.
Sorry, no pics. I was trying not to look like a country girl tourist who was visiting The Big Apple for the first time. I'm pretty sure I failed.
Met up with Sniper, a 2+2 member, for a few drinks. It was good times.
Atlantic City, Yet Again
(not my photo)
Friday: Headed out to AC with spatne for a meal at Noodles of the World in the Borgata (highly recommended) and a quick game at Harrah's. I'd never been to Harrah's before, but it turned out to be pretty much what I expected. Loud slots, lots of flashing lights, and a smallish room, which was fortunately isolated from the rest of the casino. They had a Bad Beat Jackpot of $58K. Ordinarily, I'm not thrilled with the idea of a BBJ, but the last time I was in AC, my quad 9s got whomped head's up in a 10/20 game by quad Kings, so call me superstitious or an idiot, but I was OK with it here. The highest game they had was 4/8; I signed up for that, then sat down at a 1/2 NL. Ended up staying at the 1/2 when my name was called for t
he 4/8. Game was too juicy to stand up.There were about 3 people in the game who were obviously tourists, but the rest seemed like locals. The guys to my left and right had enough teeth combined to fill the mouth of any normal human being. Maybe. The one to my left wore a dirty plumber's jacket and had black-stained fingers, and the one to my right could have been his uglier older brother. Loose passive, the both of them. Liked to buy in for $100, lose it, buy in again...
The dealers were alright, but a few had too much to say about the game for my taste. Table coaches get on my nerves, and I feel that dealers are paid, at least in part, to keep their mouths shut about the game.
Got invited to a home game in Virginia by one of the tourists. Doubt I'll be able to make it, but it does make me wish that I could keep on longer with the road trip, or do it again. The beaches in Malta are warming up, though, and if my Anglo-Saxon skin got any paler, you could see right through me.
Game type: 1/2 NL
Time at the game: 3 hours
Players per flop: ~50%
Result: +$104
Hand of the night: I'm in SB with 9s8s. UTG raises to 6, two players call, I call, BB folds. Flop is AsQsTh. I check, UTG bets 12, one caller, I call. Turn is 3c. UTG goes all-in for 12. Other player folds, I call. River is 6h. UTG flips over 7s2s, and I take it down with 9 high.
Overall impression: Soft game. Dealers chatty, but fast. Chips thankfully pretty clean. Room is professionally run. I'd go back, although I would like to see some higher stakes action.
Coming up: In the Heartland, I find myself proud to be a poker player. I also find some great action.
Home Game Road Trip Part II
Philadelphia:
City of Big Broken Bells and Large Drippy Sandwiches with Thinly Sliced Beef, Melted Cheese, Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions, Maybe a Little Mayonnaise, but no Peppers, Please, on a Crusty Hoagie Roll (The locals probably prefer "The City of Brotherly Love")
Tuesday: Have you ever been to a southern Baptist church? One of those where the preacher says something meaningful, and the congregation repeats back the last 2 or 3 words in reverent voices, just to show that they really get it? The two guys behind me on the flight over here were doing just that. Funnily enough, they were mostly talking about Vegas. The conversation went something like this:
"I like to go with one of my friends. He's a high-roller."
"A high-roller!"
"So wherever we go, we get our food comped."
"Food comped, huh!"
"I like to play the penny and nickel slots, just as a time-killer."
"Just to kill time. Mm!"
Of course, there were various "Mmm hmm"s thrown in for added emphasis. This went on for at least an hour, and my lower lip was almost worn through by the time we landed from trying not to laugh out loud. It's not often I get to hear Vegas getting the holy treatment.
So, there is no poker in Philadelphia. Can this be true? If anyone reading this knows of a game, please e-mail me and restore my faith in the city. I don't need to know specifics, just that it's out there.
Met up with spatne, a Eurolinx player and poster on 2+2, for some sampling of the local cuisine and strategy talk. To my shock and horror, he informed me that Phily cheesesteaks are eaten in Philadelpha without mushrooms. Apparently, if you ask at some local joints for a cheesesteak with either mushrooms or peppers, you'll earn yourself either a punch in the nose or an order to go to the back of the line. Not a very subtle people, the Philadelphians. Even sans mushrooms, however, the cheesesteak I got from the little shop in the Italian district was good enough to almost make up for the lack of poker. Almost.
Atlantic City:
America's Favorite Playground (just don't get caught outside after dark without a bodyguard)
Wednesday: Casino tip of the day: Classic rock. Play it loud and sing along louder. It keeps your mind empty on the way to the casino, and keeps you awake on the way home. Doesn't matter if you like classic rock, or if you don't know any of the words. In fact, it might be better if you don't.
I had fond memories of the Taj Mahal from the last time I was in AC, so I started off there. I grow attached to good poker spots, especially if I have a history of running well there, so to find it as run-down as it was really got to me. I had some issues with the place.
First off, they let homeless people sleep at the empty tables. There was even a woman knitting a hat in the corner. There are also shady-looking people wandering through the tables; the people at my table tried to tempt one guy over by dropping a white chip between their chairs, but he didn't bite. Mr. Trump, you have lost whatever smidgeon of respect I may have had for you. You might be in the negative now.
Speaking of the Donald, if you order a bottle of water at the Taj, what you get is "Trump Ice," the Taj's very own bottled water with the namesake's face glaring at you from the label. About the last thing I want to see near my lips is Donald Trump's head. Yick.
And the last thing is something that so many places get wrong. Taj, wash your damn chips. White chips should be white, not grey with black streaks. When I leave a casino, I don't want there to be grime caked under my nails just from handling the chips. It really shows how much you care about your players when you let something as important as chips get as nasty as these were.
Game type: 5/10
Time at the game: 4 hours
Players per flop: ~50%
Result: +$45
Hand of the night: Nothing memorable.
Overall impression: Soft game, great dealers (naturally). There has to be something better than this in AC, though.
Coming up: New York, New York, and playing with the plumbers at Harrah's.
Home Game Road Trip Part I
I will be posting each segment of the blog the day after I leave a city so I have time to edit and such. I'll try to keep it poker-related, but I do sometimes trail off. Apologies in advance.
If you like or don't like what you read, want to see more of a particular subject, or just want to say Hi, I can be reached at lydia@eurolinx.com.
Part 1: Austin, TX
Live Music Capital of the World (although the locals prefer "Keep Austin Weird")
Thursday morning: Up bright and early at 6 to prepare for a fraternity golf tournament Eurolinx is sponsoring a hole for. At the risk of sounding girly, the weather out here is gorgeous. Blue skies, just warm enough to feel warm but not hot enough to be sweaty, and everything smells green.
30-odd brothers show up for the tournament, and most of them play poker. Wanted more, but this will do. Hear about a series of meetings that all the UT fraternities have on Monday, so I extend the stay in Austin to attend a few of those. Besides, I'm liking this place and I haven't had a chance to go to a home game yet.
Thursday evening: All arranged for a 1/2 NL game. However, me being the smart girl that I am, I decide to take a nap at 6pm, just for an hour or two. Right. Result: I missed the game and was wide awake at 2:30 Friday morning. Jet lag sucks.
Friday evening: 1/2 NL. Pretty sweet game. It was held in a one-room apartment that was obviously just being used for that purpose, and hosted by a small group of Cambodians (maybe Vietnamese? I'm thinking Cambodian, though...). The players were all terrible. There was one hyper aggressive player who was involved in too many pots, but he knew his ass from his elbow, and there was a TAG Asian guy who was easy enough to avoid, but otherwise, the game couldn't have been better.
The guy to my left was a talker. He kept making lame remarks, then looking at me and smiling broadly like I was supposed to laugh or something. Worst of all, though, was that he kept making these weird grunting-type sounds. Something between "Hm!" and "Ng!" Just loud enough that I could hear him clearly, but not loud enough that anyone else at the table could, so I had to suffer alone. Horribly annoying. Got a card from another player and a promise for a game every night until I leave.
Tomorrow night, have two 1/2 NL games and drinks with one of the players in town. Bonus: first timers in one of the games get a free massage. Sweet!
Time at the game: 2 hours (wish I'd stayed longer; blaming the jet lag)
Players per flop: 65%
Result: +$256
Hand of the night: AA vs. Ks7s. AA (weak tight player) opens pre-flop with a raise to $27 (remember, blinds are 1 and 2). Big blind calls with K7. Flop is 9h6d3d. BB checks, raiser goes all-in, BB calls with his remaining $10. Turn and river unimportant. BB buys in for another $100, and I rejoice.
Overall impression: Sweet game, friendly guys, professional set-up. If this is what all the games in Austin are like, I'm definitely headed back here soon.
Saturday: Unfortunately, I wake up on this morning with my head throbbing and my throat like sandpaper. The weather has turned, too, and become oppressive, grey, and, well, oppressive. What happened to beautiful Austin?
Side note: One reason I never liked blogs was that people seem to always post things about their health. Who cares that Sally wakes up with a stomach ache on Tuesday, or that Johnny's bowels aren't behaving? I sure don't. With that said, no more will be written about my throbbing head, swimming eyes, itchy throat, muffled ears, and knotted muscles.
Monday: Efforts made to go to a couple games this weekend, but it seems the depressing weather in Austin has kicked everyone's paranoia up a few notches. I was excited about this Monday game; newcomers were treated to a massage by a trained masseuse, and their business card listed both a full menu and a full bar as reasons to visit. Unfortunately, that's about as welcoming as they got. I ended up calling 3 times about the game, at least twice more than I like. Each time, the guy promised to call right back. End result: no one in town knew me well enough for me to go to the game. They had just one more person to call about me, but they'd call me right back. I gave up after call 3.
Summary of Austin: Friendly people, uneven weather (but gorgeous when it's good), lots of spicy food, and a very active and very soft poker scene. (Got a rundown on the scene from a local player, so that assessment is not based solely on the 2 hours I got to play there). Oddly, there seem to only be 1/2 NL games in town.
Tuesday: On the road again!