I figured I’d write up a trip report, despite it not involving many of the more “exotic” aspects of poker trips that many here enjoy. It’s very long, has mostly all poker content.
Cliffs Notes – I travel to Tampa, get hit with the deck and take money from bad players.
I left Tallahassee (not having to work on the weekend for the first time in forever) after work at about 6 pm. Stopped north of Ocala in the Jai-Alai poker room there. Worst game ever. It seriously was ten people sitting around a 1-2 NL table with ~$30 each, limping every pot with ATC.
Pluses: Room staff was very friendly – greeted me as I walked in, and took time to explain where everything was in the room. Chip runners are a plus.
Minuses: Aforementioned lack of money/action.
Notable hands: Bought in for 100, and dropped down to around $75 (mostly raising and then missing the flop), when I picked up AA in the big blind. Several limpers to me, and I raise to 10. 1 caller from UTG+1. Flop is K74 rainbow. I bet 15, villain calls. Turn is another low card. I shove – villain thinks for about 10 seconds, then calls with K-9. River bricks and I pick up the pot.
Stack dwindles again down to around ~100 due to some ill-dated continuation bets. I raised 3-4 limpers in MP with AcKc (I was probably the only one who raised at the table the entire time). This time 3 callers; Flop comes Qc9c3c. I check the nuts, player on my immediate left bets 10. Folded to me, so I make it 25 – immediate call. Turn is the 8s, and I bet out another $25. He immediate shoves for about 30 something, then turns around to talk/brag to his friend. Meanwhile, I call, and quietly table the nuts. Villain turns around and tables his Js 10s for the straight, and is trying to figure out why the pot is being pushed to me. Then has to turn around and tell friend that he did not in fact win the hand.
Room closed at 1:30, I make a grand total of $20. It’s better than losing. I then make the additional 2 hour drive to Tampa Hard Rock, arrive at 3:30 am, and immediate get seated at a 1-2NL table.
I buy in for $100, and immediately set about building a stack. I lose about $80 on 2 hands I can’t remember (something along the lines of flopping top pair, and folding to heavy, multi-way action on the turn/river). I drop down to around $20, reload another 80. I then proceed to chip up to around 200-300, mostly picking up good cards and having them hold up in small pots. 1 notable hand; I raise 10c10s in late position after some limpers to 15, short stack in the SB shoves for ~35-40. I call, he shows KK. Door card is a 10, and I suck out for a decent pot.
Table breaks some time in the early morning, and I get moved to another table. 1 solid player, 1 short stack who knows how to make the most out of his money, and 8 people who have no real idea what they’re doing. This was readily apparent –
Whole table limps, so I limp as well with Qc8c on the button. Flop is Kc 9c 9h. Checked around. Turn is 9s. Again, checked around. River is the 10c. Checked again to me on the button…I check as well, and pick up the pot with my flush. Immediately, half the table is asking why I wouldn’t bet my flush. After all, it was a flush! I mention the fact that there was no point in betting, because the only hands that would call would be someone with quads or a FH. Most of the table stares at me as if I am speaking in Swahili, while the other solid player is just shaking his head and tells me I’m wasting my time. To say I have a tight image at this point is a bit of an understatement.
I continue to pick up a pot here and there – nothing particularly notable. A set here, two pair there, etc.
It gets to early afternoon – I’ve now been at the room for ~12 hours, and awake for somewhere over 30. Somewhere between 1-2 in the afternoon, the table suddenly loses all its action players. Hand after hand, its 7 folds, limp on the button, SB folds, BB checks and then check to the river for a $4 pot. I am slightly punchdrunk from lack of sleep, and decide that it’s my duty as the big stack (I have about $600 at this point) to loose up the table. My rationale is that I’m leaving soon, and it will earn me poker karma down the road.
I raise (always to $8) roughly 12 out of the next 15 hands. I tell the table before hand, that I am going to raise practically any two cards because the table is too tight. I win every hand I raise. My end of the table seems to be having a good time – other end of the table is staring daggers at me. Finally, they start believing that maybe I do not have aces when I raise.
The next hand I pick up JJ. I raise to 8, get 2 callers, then a limp reraise to 16 from UTG. Normally this would set of alarm bells, but I’ve been up for a while, and talk myself into the notion that maybe they’re playing back at me light. I call the 16, then a player in LP reraises all in to around 30. I again talk myself into calling and we go 4 to the flop. Flop is Ac As Qc. 3 players with chips left check. Turn is the Qc, checked around again. River is a blank, I fold to a bet from the limp-reraiser. He shows KK, all-in player shows AA for quads.
Next hand I look down at AcAs. Raise to 8 and all fold. Typical
Very next hand, I pick up JJ again – raise to 8. Short stack shoves for 30-40ish. I again talk myself into the “they don’t expect me to have a real hand” rationale, and call. He shows KK and I’ve now dropped about $100 in three hands. I resolve not to leave until I get it back.
Karma rewards me sooner then expected – I continue to raise at least ½ my hands, straddle every orbit, and generally call pretty much any raise that gets to me. I also proceed to get hit in the face with the deck. Flopped a straight with 5d9d, flopped a boat with 5c2s, etc. Most of the table continues to hate me, except for 1 new player at the other end, who both knows how to play and has a little gamble in him. He likes me less after the following hand.
I call his UTG+1 raise with 2s3s. Heads up – flop comes As 5c 9s. He bets 20 on flop, I call. Turn is a blank. Check-Check. River is 4h. He check calls my $40 bet. I show the wheel.
A short while later, a young looking (even to me at 27) player sits down with ~100. I inform him, as I have with every new player, that I am on a perpetual mission to loose up the table, and will be raising frequently. He looks at my stack (back up around $600), and says something along the line of “I wish I was here earlier then, because you wouldn’t have that stack.”
While he is sitting down I’m involved in a hand I don’t particularly remember the details on – basically I called a 3rd barrel with some middle or low pair, and villain shows air. A good call on my part, but it wasn’t for a ton of $.
The very next hand, new cocky player raises, I call with Kd3h. Flop comes Ks 5d 7d. He bets 15, I call. Turn is 9d. He again bets (20? 25?), I call again. River is a blank. He fires $30...I think for about 30 seconds, then call. He shows J4o (both black). Apparently, he wasn’t paying attention to the previous hand – He now has ~$20. Well played sir.
Several orbits later, I pick up KK, raise to 8 in MP. Flop is KJJ. I bet 10 on the flop, and get 2 callers (as I said, I'm getting no credit). Turn is a 10, I check, tight woman in LP bets 10, EP calls and I call. River is a blank, EP checks, I'm about to value bet, but I see chips in lady's hand...I rethink, then check. She bets 10 again, EP folds, and I raise to $40. Lady tanks, then eventually calls. I assume she had a straight or a J, at least, bc of how tight she was playing.
I continue to get hit in the face with the deck – I runner runner quads at some point, and get paid $100 on the river. I’m now getting no credit whatsoever – every raise is getting 4-5 callers. Mission accomplished. It’s now 630ish, I’ve been up for 36 hours, playing for nearly 20 of them. I’m sitting around 650, and ready to leave and get some sleep. My chips are actually in my rack at this point, when I drop about $120 making a series of poor to terrible calls against the tightest player at the table. She shows 2 pair, I show 1 pair. I’m now down to a little over $500, and decide I will make it all back – always a good decision – like I said, I’m a bit punch drunk, and had talked myself into leaving up around $500. 3 hands later…
I call a raise from player UTG of $20 with QTo, 1 other caller. Flop comes QJT rainbow. Not bad for me, but I’m definitely worried about AK. UTG bets around 30-40 (my memory on amounts gets fuzzy at this point). I call, as does player behind me. I pray for board to pair. Turn pairs the Jack. F@%#. I’m now behind AA, KK, KQ, AQ, any hand with a J, along with all the other hands I was behind. UTG checks, I check, and LP player also checks. River is a 10, which I’m ambivalent about. I’ve got 10s full of Qs, so I beat any other 10, but anyone with a J now a higher boat. UTG bets 25. I can certainly tell he’s not crazy about the river, so I call…as does LP person. UTG shows KQ, LP player shows KK, and the 10 is the only card that could have given me the winner (although as it turns out, I was ahead on the flop). I drag a huge pot, and realize I’ve probably used up all the karma I accumulated (as well as the last of the caffeine keeping me awake), and cash out up around $550. I find my hotel, and crash for a solid 12 hours.
I wake up the next morning around 9:30, check some email, etc. Check out around 11:30, back at the Hard Rock around Noon. First hand, I hit a set of 33s…up around 40. Next hand in the SB, my 5c3s flops an open ended straight draw, and ends up turning into a club flush. Villain does not have a club. Up 60. Next hand JJ – raise to 10, 1 caller. Flop is 3 low cards. I bet 15, villain calls. Turn is a Q. He checks, and I check. River is a blank, villain bets $35 and I call. Villain shows AQ, and I’m back to about even. Easy come, easy go. I bust my first buy in when I get all in on the turn with FD+gutshot in a 3 way pot. I rebuy, and chip back up to around $200. Meanwhile, new player at the other end of the table buys in for $100, immediately turns it into about $250 when he chases (among heavy action) his Ac10c to the river on a 3-9-J-K-Q board, rivering the gutshot against another players K-J. I play tight, waiting for opportunity.
About an hour later, villain surprisingly still has his stack when following hand comes up. EP player raises to 15, villain calls, and I call in the SB with AJo. Flop is A-Q-x rainbow. I check…EP raiser clearly does not like the flop, and bets 10…she obviously does not have an Ace, or pocket queens – if it was just heads up, I would raise the flop and take it down right there. Villain calls, however, and I call as well, wanting to keep him in the hand. Turn is a K. I check, EP player checks, and villain bets 25. I call, which tells EP that she should fold, which she does. River is a 10, giving me broadway, no flush possible. I check again, knowing villain will bet it. He complies, and makes it 30. I raise to 100, and villain tanks. Finally he makes the call, and shows Q-T for the rivered two pair. Villain complains that I “got my straight on the river.” I continue to play, run fairly well, and eventually cash out up around $300.
One final notable hand I played. Live straddle, and it gets folded to me on the button. I have been playing extremely tight, so I raise to 15 with 89o, figuring I’d be able to make a quick $7. Old guy in BB calls (he was new to the table – so much for me getting respect). Flop comes A-Q-x, rainbow. I bet 20, and he calls. Turn is a K. Check-Check, and I’ve pretty much given up on the hand. River is a blank – and I’m basically praying he’ll bet so I can fold and not destroy my tight image. He checks, and I figure to make one more stab at it. I bet 30, and he quickly calls. I tell him “if you can call me, you definitely have me…I don’t have a pair.” He hesitates, and I don’t particularly want to show the hand (again, bc I had a good image going). Finally, I just say 9 high, and he flips pocket QQs. I’m still trying to figure out if he slow rolled me because he wanted to see my hand, or he genuinely believed it might not be good? Needless to say, I stayed out of his way if he was in a pot for the rest of the session.
Other random observations: One guy at my table the first night got involved in a huge pot. Both players are new to table, and apparently had no history together. Board ends up K-x-9-8-K, with the two clubs on the flop, but the FD not getting there. Heavy action the entire way. Guy to my right bets $30, gets check raised to 100, and folds 9’s full face up. Check raiser on the river later alternately claimed to have 8’s full, or K’s full throughout the night. Either the absolute worst fold I’ve ever seen, or the best, considering it was 1-2. I can say I never would have made that fold.
On Sunday – this amused me greatly. Young douchebag player sits down with 100, and fairly quickly gets involved in a hand. He raised pf, got 2 callers. 1 was all in on the flop or turn, the other check called both the flop and turn. On the river, the board read K-Q-J-6-4, with 3 clubs (club flush having gotten there on the turn). Douchebag gets check to on the river, and makes a $30 “value bet.” Asian woman calls, and douchebag shows AcAs with the Ac. All-in guy mucks, and Asian lady (in the 10 seat, douchebag is in the 1 seat) looks at his hand for about 3 seconds (clearly trying to make sure he didn’t have a flush (all board cards were black), then tables KQ for top two pair. Douchebag gets pissed, starts making some racially inappropriate comments under his breath. It was basically all I could do not to mention that might have been the worst river bet I had ever seen. I quietly discuss with player next to me how many buy ins he will drop – he drops 3 then leaves.
Food court at Hard rock had some very good baked ziti. Regulars in the room mentioned that it was fairly empty for a Saturday (about ½ full).
...........would have netted everyone at the table around 5,000 on top of the two players who were on both ends of the beat, who would have won 75,000 and 37,500.
. BTW, whatever happened to the guy in the 10 seat who kept getting me and the guy in the 1 seat? I was hoping i'd read that you stacked him.
