Hey niles. great meeting you. Never let on when you feel out gunned. Some nefarious opponents will try taking advantage. My only reads on people after 3 hours was if O8 opens for 10x he has 2-7.

One last trip report. my wife knows nothing about pokers. as far as she knows i win every time i play. This is what she wrote to her forum:

My husband played poker for ten hours in Detroit yesterday. He met Joe Cada the world champion and kicked his ass.

I have know idea where she would get such an idea.

The preflop action was right. I made a loose call OOP with A8, as we were pretty deep, and I felt that Mills was 3 betting me pretty light. (I was right, he said he had Q5). 4 betting preflop was probably a better play by me though. The flop was 864 (or something to that effect, giving him a gutter ball and a flush draw).

I debated raising the flop, but stack sizes were pretty awkward to do that, as I would have to fold if he shoved.

Turn was 7, and I checked, and he bet 110. I considered coming over the top, he had 290 or so left, but it just felt to me like he wasn't folding, so I reluctantly let it go.

almost correct, i have a good memory so i'll post. $5 button straddle, steeser makes it 15 to go with A8 and O8 called, folded to me from hijack and I make it 45 to go with Q5. steeser calls from sb and O8 folds. flop 874 steeser checks, i bet out 60 and he calls. at this point i felt strongly that he had a marginal hand but thinks i'm weak. turn is just gin with the 6 and i bet out 110. steeser tanked for a while but ended up folding. believe that is right.

Because you requested it.

First off, there was some leveling going on, as Joe had cold 4 bet me from the blind with Qs8s, after I had 3 bet Mills from the button with ATs. I folded and he showed.

I think I limped after a limp or two with 66 (playing 500 or so). JoPoe (playing about 350) called from button or SB, can't remember which, and then Niles (playing 175 or so...) made it 12-15 from the BB I believe. I called, and JoPoe called.

Flop came 542. Niles bet 30, I smooth called, but before I called I thought I picked up something from Joe, that he wasn't really interested in the hand and looked to be ready to fold (not sure if I was just wrong, or if he intentionally gave that off). Joe then raised to 120 or 125, and Niles quickly folded. My thoughts were that Joe was just making a play at the pot, as I didn't think he picked up on what I thought I read.

Since Joe still had 250 or so behind, I felt I had a lot of fold equity, so I shoved. I'm not sure what I was repping, except maybe a set or wheel, but since I did have 2 blockers to the nuts, I wasn't concerned with that specific hand....besides, I was SURE he was going to fold.

Instead of folding, he snapped, to which my immediate thought was "Oh ****!". But he quickly held up the dealer, asking how many times I wanted to run it, as he had A8. I decided twice and he agreed.

The first runout, the turn was a red Q, but the river was the 9 (always bad to lose the first one).

The second time the turn was a red 3, giving me a higher straight than him, and the river blanked, so we split the pot.

After figuring out the equity, I was 50.5%, so let it be known that Joe is a suckout artist.

haha i was due for a new phone because i dropped my old one in the toilet so i treated myself to a new iPhone 4S today

where do you usually play? i play all over the place because there's nothing by me. we can meet up sometime to play.

so i was driving to cada's yesterday, and even though i had planned to wake up early and get in line before it opened.. that didn't end up panning out and a little before 11:30 i was concerned and called to see if i should start driving recklessly or not. yep full up, i immediately turned around, went back to bed, and woke up to play the monthly $100 at the electric slick at 2.

turned out it was a monthly $50 with the same structure. played all day and chopped it HU for 1300.

people were fastrolling all day, i was very impressed. i consider myself the fastest roll in the west (detroit metro area), and i especially love it when i see other people fastrolling, cause it shows their concern for others being ****in tortured by slowrolls and it's just plain good sportsmanship in this cruel cruel game.

coolest hand i played was where i had ~80k at 3/6k. i open TT in mp to 15k, late 20s guy with a big stack flats LP and a blind completes. flop Ac8c2x, i cbet 26k, LP bigstack calls, blind folds. turn Kx, i check, he quickly bets 30k, and i contemplate and jam all-in for 9k more. he hates himself, puts in the call and turns over 85, wiffs river. that was a pretty fun one for me.

Heheheh.

Actually, no. Whether I'm being a nut peddler or a complete lunatic (even chance of either), when I push a wall of chips at someone, I'm going to be ahead and I do run very well. When someone does suck out on me, it tends to be jaw dropping for everyone present.

Mostly what you were experiencing, though, was a function of how well known I am. FWIW, it was probably not a waitress, it was more likely the massage therapist, whom I've known for 2-3 years. If it was indeed a waitress, than I'm more (in)famous than I realized, because I don't know any of them at all.

By the time you got to the PLO8 table, I had already stacked a couple people and was up for the night. Not that there was any hard feelings about the hand, anyway. As soon as that club on the river hit, I turned to millsandrew and grinningly blamed him.

I was confused when both of you mucked. I was sure the 3rd man had a busted broadway draw and I expected to chop with you. (I had 2 of your outs, so I didn't think you'd hit the straight on me) It was a pretty small pot for the table, anyway. I figured that you just had really jacked up hole cards.

Sounds good. Let's talk closer to March about where and when.

Grats on the score. You and Jose were two most asked for players at the party that weren't there. Hope to meet you if I make it out to the west side to play.

Sick sick brag, bro. Niles mentioned that he usually plays at NVD and MCC.

Fairly accurate, but I remember it a little differently as i was the donator. You opened for 7 and got 5 callers including myself in the BB. I checked dark(which i normally never do but was feeling froggy). You then led out for $20, steeser was the lone caller and it came around to me and i raised to $60 and you shoved. It was approx $90ish more for me to call. I maybe could have folded here, but i had a ton of outs to an over pair(which is what i put you on) and was getting the right price to call i felt. Nice set and nice play!

That pretty much did it for me for the night as i only had one bullett for the night. Had a great time meeting some of you and i agree we should do it again sometime.

My wife laughed at this post about your wife.

Highlight of the night:

The sick power of Omaha being able to profit against stranger with the 53o hand and him waking up with 72 in BB with 1 limper and making it 22 to go. I knew what he had even before he tabled it. nh

Wish i could have stayed longer and made my money back, oh well always next time and a softer table somewhere else.

lol I thought for sure I was gonna get raised all-in. How obvious was that 7-2 raise?

You know, if it was more a 50/50 split with the randoms, we could have stayed out of each others way and preyed on the randoms (we busted a few of them anyway). But as it was we just ended up 3-betting each other instead. Was nice playing with you guys all the same.

It was great to meet all you guys that played in the NL game. Frank, thanks for setting this up and making me feel welcome even though nobody knew who I was. It was even great talking with your family (they were very nice!).

Anyway, it didn't take me long to realize this was the most skilled live table I've ever played at. There wasn't much limping, lots of aggression, and a decent amount of leveling. And of course 72 added some action.

I squeezed with 84o early in the night for my first 3bet, took it down preflop and did not show. I started opening a somewhat wide range of hands and often stole blinds. A few times we made it the flop and the texture was bad so I check/folded. Then I raised 56hh in early, 2 calls for a flop of 9T2ss. Again a bad texture, but since I hadn't been cbetting much I decided I'd get some credibility so bet 20 into ~25. I think millsandrew called. Turn and river were 3s and 4s, we checked down and I sucked out on Tx with runner runner straight on 4 flush board (I'll take the run good).

Regarding my Q8ss cold 4 bet, millsandrew opens (figured fairly wide range mostly because of your age... and actually you hadn't played a hand for a while so I thought you might try to use that to your advantage), then steeser 3bets the button to 25 (I figured you had a lot of marginal hands too, mostly since you were the button), and my stack was big enough (~$300+) to put a lot a pressure so I 4 bet to $70. I did like that my Q8ss has some chance of flopping draws in case one of you decided to flat. I wasn't going to show but you guys talked me into it.

My A8s vs steesers 66 was a fun one. I was in position so I decided to make the loose call preflop to close the action 4 ways. Lol my reaction on the flop was "holy crap, I just flopped 2 overs, nut flush draw, and gut shot. I haven't flopped this great of a draw in months", so at first I naturally tried to look disinterested to hide my excitement. So niles led 30, steeser called, I made it 120 and niles folded. Then I started to try to look disinterested in hopes that steeser would think I was just hollywooding with a set. Nope, he jams in my face with 66 (Wow, ballsy man!). So you did pick up the disinterested part, just not how I wanted you to! I was happy to see 66 but wasn't happy about flipping for $800 so offered to run it twice. Of course I would have scooped the whole thing if I let the dealer burn and turn... whoops. I'm not sure that I would ever completely bluff the flop there, because I did think niles had an overpair, but I never have 36 so you always have at least 5 or 6 outs and some fold equity, so pretty impressive shove with 66.

Another hand I raised AJo in early. millsandrew and one or two more call. Flop T44cc. I cbet and millsandrew calls with KQ (no draw?) to float me with players left to act (how rude). Turn is a blank. I figured he mostly had Tx and flush draws, so decided to rep an overpair and fired 75 again. millsandrew quickly started raising and I tossed my hand before he completed the bet. Very nasty bluff sir!

Finally picked up 72s towards the end of the night, millsandrew limps, steeser raises, i 3bet, millsandrews 4bets AA and I fold. Lol I really did consider 5bet jamming... that would have been a great way to blow $300.

I managed to avoid Frank as he slowly built his stack throughout the night. I did have AA once and a set once but won small pots.

Niles, I wouldn't sweat it man. I thought you played great and enjoyed reading about your thoughts on the 99 hand (seemed like great analysis to me, I think 80 just wasn't quite enough to force a fold). And if you were wondering, the one time I squeezed you on the button to 45, I had AK. Other than that I was mostly avoiding you and trying to play with the aggro fish on the other side of the table

Anyway, was great to meet you guys. Hope to see some of you around motor city. I'll try to be a little more active on the forums from now on!

When I read this earlier, I should have realized this was an amusing embellishment. However, my wife wouldn't stop blathering and go find something better to do and I wasn't really catching the full tone of voice.

Sometimes, I am completely dense. Okay...maybe a little more frequently.

Time for a report from the Omaha 8 table DOUBLE THE CARDS, DOUBLE THE FUN

I walked in around 5:45 and do a little lap around the room to see if I knew anyone there. Spotted gambit in the middle of a RxR game, i giggled to myself as I saw one of his favorite players to his left. Settled myself inside the bar and in walks Omaha and his crew/family who were super cool and wonderful to meet. Snagged up the first tshirts since there were very few XL tshirts. Caveman, sevup and sev's BFF were the next ones to roll on in and we did a little bsing.

I ended up taking down the only prop bet of the night. I was checking out our waitress who had an interesting look that I'm a total sucker for. I'm going to call her Ugly Bettys Hot Sister. I was a bit curious of her age though. Most bar jobs the girls are around mid to late twentys, but I had a feeling that this beauty was a little bit older then she wishes to be. So I poised the question, how old do you think this cute gal is. Now we all took a good hard look, and it was really tough. A few went low which I'm sure was just to score brownies points, BFF or we will call him "K" went with the 37, but I was feeling 31. She could have been younger, but there was a look in her eyes and a bit of gruffness in her voice that sounded like she had seen some battles and could have been in the late 30s or older. Which would explain my attractiveness to her, as sevup will tell you I like my woman old and salty, but I went with my gut and locked in at 31. So sev calls her over and asks to settle a bet. She lets out a sigh and says "How old do you think I am?" (btw for maybe the one lady out there who might read this, thats a tell) I pipe up and say 31 "OMG IM 30, I DONT LOOK THAT OLD???" to which "K" replies, "I said 23" she walks away in tears muttering "i still get carded..." and I feel better about myself knowing I have a career at Ceder Point guessing your Age, Weight, Month of Birth.

It was noticed that one of the bigger whales in our Wednesday game was also playing in the RxR game with gambit. As were sitting there a little longer a few other live ones were strolling around the room from the Wednesday game. We were starting to get worried, we might have to abandon this 2+2 game and get our normal game running. The original plan was to play mix games. An all out war to challenge each others poker knowledge, filled with limp pots and exciting min raising action! Problem was we couldn't let these guys off the line, as they haven't been around much. Sadly one of them got away and left, but one who I wouldn't call a fish, but likes to splash around in pots stuck around. But most importantly we got the big whale playing RxR. We shall call him "The Friendly Bastard" matter of fact, thats how he introduces himself. Sadly he was only willing to drop one bullet in our game, but he has been known to fire off a few rounds.

So knowing there was a few fish in the room we pleaded our case to Caveman/Turdzilla/gambit and all those who were jumping in to change the game to PLO8 and luckily they were willing to play. A few "I've never played this game before" were uttered which made me cringe because thats almost an automatic double up. Happens every Wed, someone walks in says they've never played and takes the money and runs. We make sure The Friendly Bastard gets a seat, a legendary rock gets the 10 hole, and a buddy of mine "G" who really wanted to play mix games took up the last chair and proceeded to set up his rock garden. He eventually got us to give in to his pleads by the end of the night to play a few rounds of Stud 8.

Now actual hand histories are somewhat blured as I had a few beers and took advantage of 3 dollar Jameson shots. I know I lost a bit of money trying to play pots with The Friendly Bastard. He is a player that doesn't care about money and just wants to have a fun time, but i try my best to get involved in pots with him. A lesson for all poker players, not everyone cares about optimal lines, maximizing EV, and playing perfect poker. Some people just like to sling money around and have a good time. Please don't berate these players, they are few and far between. To get in arguments about how they're playing is useless and really awful for the game. You don't want them playing better, and you sure as hell don't want to discourage them from playing. A lesson "G" and "K" have much to learn. I try to entertain and point out the fact that hes dangerous and a liability. Sadly I couldn't get any of his money and by the time he fired through 300 I was stuck around 180-200, standard. Eventually I ended the night around +200.

The sober ones or those with actual long term memories could explain how the action went, but overall it was a fun time. I wouldn't have minded dropping a few buyins in that game. Big thanks to all that came out. Omaha/Gambit did a great job setting things up, seriously if they ask you don't be afraid to jump in on their podcast. Cadas, man they went all out for us. The food there is amazing, jump into some cash and get something under 9 bucks. The floor is over the top friendly and easy to work with. If you would have told me that they would have had over 100 runners for a $250 dollar tournament you might have made some cash off of me. Nice to see they had 105 for the two tournaments.

oh and I took a phone call near the end of the night from the old bastard. He rambled on for a good 15 minutes about how much fun he had.

Couldn't have said it any better than Rob, well except the bff comment, that's gonna come back to haunt him! He did almost nail the waitresses age spot on and certainly had to have worked at cedar point at some time. I had the under there. It was nice to meet everyone and all the thanks to Frank and Gambit and Cada's for making this happen. I do remember a few hands from the 08 game and will try and post them later today.

it sounds like i missed out on good cheer, but i'm glad to have won some instead of lot a bunch at games i can't play.

but im sure our ships will pass some night.

And we blow right past the 3.5 TR line. Sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves, so we will have to do it again. Still hoping for one or two more TR from the PLO8 and Stud 8 game (you know who you are). BTW, although I did most of the organizing, it was Gambit's idea to have the party, so make sure you thank him when you see him.

Forgot to tell about one more prop bet. When Pay4MySchool finally gets there like at 10 pm, Steeser says to me, he's such a nit he probably won't play the 72 game. My memory banks go back to the time I heard P4MS tell me he goes to the tables to make money, not to gamble, so I agree and offer $5 that he doesn't play the game. Steeser snap calls my bet and I'm like wtf? Obv, P4MS doesn't even hesitate and says yes to 72 game. I think I got set up for that one, but it was fun to hear P4MS say, "am I some life nit?"

Forgot about that, but very funny.

I thought the story was going to better. Fail imo

Hey blame Rob for the fail. I got the waitress over and lobbed him a softball but I don't think she was impressed when he over-shot the landing on her age by a year!

Definite noob play putting prop bet win before waitress win. Wont straddle again any time soon.