I'm still playing 20/40 at Diamond Lil's 3 or 4 days a week, usually sessions of 12 hours or more. The games are so good I'm kinda wishing I could go there every day. Sometimes having a real J-O-B is SO inconvenient. :-) I'd retire tomorrow if I didn't like the web programming work (and the paydays) so much.
State law doesn't allow 24 hour operation, so Lil's games shut down from 6:00am to 10:00am daily. I used to try to get there right at ten, to start the 20/40, then play until mid-evening. But lately the second and third 20/40 games are starting sooner, so I'm coming in afternoons, and staying later. Where the day game is real good, the late night game is, well, awesome.
The swings can get kinda big in these games. Oftentimes it's a rammin' jammin' thing where some guys and even girls will raise or cap preflop with some the really wacky hands, because, "Hey, nobody is ever gonna put me on this !!" :-)
So you hang on, and play good hands, and keep reminding yourself what a huge chip-burning mistake it would be to try to run over these people. Instead, you let them try to run over you, then try to help them run into a wall (when you have a big hand), or maybe just a speedbump (when you have just a decent hand and they have nothing.)
And they WILL keep betting, without regard for whether or not they have anything. Have you ever called a heads-up river bet with absolutely nothing, like 45 suited on a draw that never got there, just for the pot odds that the bettor might muck his hand when you call? What? That sounds crazy, doesn't it?
But that very situation presented itself the other day. I had been studying the guy for some time, he had already "bet then mucked" three times within an hour, and I really felt like I could *tell* that he was about to do it again; after he bet, he was uncomfortably squirming the same way he had those other times. So I called with 5 high, the bettor mucked, and I stacked the chips. I roughly estimate this to be a situation that will occur about as often as a lunar eclipse.
-----
Friday night I came in on the button with Jd Td for five way action. Considered raising, but looked like the blind might raise, so I just limped, and, sure enough, she did raise.
The flop came with Kd and Qd, giving me a straight draw AND a flush draw. The blind raiser checked, and someone bet early. I just called, expecting the blind to raise for me, and again she did not disappoint. So I 3 bet, and she capped it. Still five way!
Both my draws got there on the turn: 9d! We capped it. Then we capped it again on the river. She had the A high nut flush, and kept raising me back with no hesitation. Either she didn't see the possible straight flush, or else just refused to accept that she might be beat.
In addition to that really nice pot, my straight flush also won the bi-hourly $500 High Hand cash bonus. The next night Mrs. Rock made a Royal, so she took down a $500 bonus too.
--------
Franklin
This guy is a wildman. I mean, look up "Maniac" in the Poker Dictionary, and you'll see his picture in there as the example. When the mood strikes him-- and it usually does-- Franklin will call or raise or cap, with just about anything.
Couple days in a row recently, he sat beside the dealer with a huge stack, sometimes over seven thousand, and ran over pretty much everyone. For a while. Eventually the wild play catches up and the stack dwindles (doh), but along the way it's quite a ride. Everyone has a real good time.
My man Franklin made a play the other night that was, well, just remarkable. It was mid-evening, and the barmaids had been kept really busy for a couple hours. In other words, several players, especially Frank, were severely hammered. No shortage of rammin' and jammin' in this game.
In this hand the pot is capped 6 ways before the flop, then on the flop is bet and raised by the time the action reaches Frank. He three bets. No surprise yet.
It takes a while for the action to get back around to him, and by this time it is capped again. Then, for some reason, Franklin is taking forever to make his decision to call. He's just sitting there in his wrap-around shades, "thinking," and it takes about 30 seconds before the dealer and everyone else finally realize that, between the time he three bet and now, Franklin has fallen asleep. It was one of the funniest things I ever saw in the game.
Sadly, Franklin got himself 86'd about a week later. A new policy said that waitstaff will decide when an intoxicated patron should be "cut off," and that doing so also means they will be "picked up" from whatever game they might be in. In other words, if he's completely toasted, let's get him outta here and back on the road, where he belongs. Brilliant. And if there's some guy in the game you want to get rid of, and if he's drinking, just slip the waitress a big toke, get her to declare him cut-off, and, poof, he's gone. Sweet, huh? :-)
Same day this new "policy" starts, Frank shows up, and starts chugging. Next thing you know they cut him off AND tell him to cash out. He doesn't appreciate this, starts loudly expressing his unhappiness with liberal and non-stop use of some language that is not allowed in the cardroom. So then "go home for today" expands to include "and don't come back!" Tragic! I miss him already.
That policy changed within a couple days. Now they've found a way to circumvent the need to cut anyone off; instead, they "slow him down" by saying they can't serve him another drink "for a while," like an hour or so.
-----
Talk Dirty To Me
Sometimes the good laugh comes from someplace you wouldn't expect. Alex is a Southeast Asian transplant ESL kind of guy, nice friendly kid, always smiling, but kinda quiet; doesn't usually have a lot to say. Well, the other night there was this young Asian woman in the game who was going out of her way to impress everyone with how frequently and loudly she could say the F word. I guess the dealer is supposed to say something, but he didn't. Me? Couldn't care less, one way or the other. If anything, I guess I found it "amusing."
After a while, though, Alex pipes up and tells her "Miss, please watch your language. There are gentlemen present." :-)
But all these players throwing around the F word, and various other taboo letter-words, are kinda pathetic, and are just amateurs. They don't get it; they don't understand that a real professional knows how to talk dirty-- maybe even filthy-- without actually using any of those words that can get you in trouble. Here's an example, and we leave it as an exercise for the reader to imagine the reaction this outburst produced:
Shauna is a tough aggressive player, and a slender, sexy, bright and sophisticated young woman, with kind of a pixie look. She's in the game (or the 50 games at the Mucks) most days.
Recently she got her short dark hair tinted with some red accent streaks, and it came out real nice.
Next day she's in the game sitting next to me, with red fingernails and toenails to match the hair, and this guy comes over and starts, well, not really "hitting on" her, but just saying how much he admires the coordinated new look. Then, in a suggestive way, he asks "Is *everything* colored red?"
Shauna is not particularly shy. "Oh," she responds, "Are you asking me if the carpet matches the drapes?"
Hey, they started this, not me. I mean, I'm not gonna go there on my own, but they brought it up, and a crazy-good riposte immediately popped into my (admittedly somewhat twisted) head, and how could I resist? So I jumped right in, and said:
"Wait, can I guess? I'm gonna go with hardwood floors."
[Editor's Note: Almost immediately Sarge was told - but NOT shown - that he had guessed correctly.]
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Weekends at the D.L.
Last Friday night we made history at Diamond Lil's, here in Renton, Washington. (Renton is to Seattle as Henderson is to Las Vegas. South end..)
For the first time ever, just about midnight, they spread a FOURTH $20/40 Hold 'Em game. They'd been peaking at three games most nights for a couple weeks, and that in itself is noteworthy enough. But now they're pretty much the only Washington room spreading this limit, and Lil's has established herself as *the* place to play 20/40.
So I've had a clear choice to make lately. Always great to have options, ain't it? I can drive 15 miles to the huge Muckleshoots tribal casino in Auburn, Tuesday or Thursday, and play in a $50/100 game that sometimes features a couple ding dongs, but pretty much always includes several of the toughest players in Washington, guys that I would, well, just as soon not see in my game.
Or I can drive 2 miles to Diamond Lil's any day, and play their $20/40 Party Game. Well, it starts out half-serious in the morning, but by early evening the liquor starts flowing, and the players start tilting, and you know the rest. These are 'fasten your seatbelt' games. These often are 'matchstick' games, where, hey, no matter how late it is, or how tired you are, can't afford to leave, so prop your eyes open with matchsticks if necessary, and play on!
Our state law changed last Spring, and now allows this higher limit outside the tribal rooms. I think it was around that same time Lil's started paying $500 for high hand every 2 hours Mon, Tues and Weds, and $300 other days. They also have both a bad beat jackpot and a harder-to-hit super jackpot. So they rake $3, then drop another $2 to fund those "incentives." This means that in their $4/8 game, they're dropping 1.25 small bets per hand! In the 20/40 it becomes 0.25 small bets, somewhat more overcomeable. Is that a word?
Ego says that I should want to play in the bigger game. My years of experience, and (what I should like to think is) my reputation in the local poker community, says that I should want to play in the bigger game. Yeah? Well, screw that. Sure the Mucks' 50 game is 2.5 times bigger than Lil's 20 game, but I actually think that, for me, potential expectation, bets per hour, may be more than 2.5 times better at Lil's !
Last night I raised there with 2 red Queens, and by the turn I was head up with a drunken maniac, while the King and two other Diamonds were on board. We both checked. Then another Diamond hits the river, and he checkraises me and shows me Ah 5h, for a pair of fives, then seems surprised when it doesn't win the pot. Huh? Thing is, this is not unusual in these games. Daytime games are sometimes medium snug, but nearly all the tighties leave by dinnertime, and the evening and late night games are just awesome!
Meanwhile, I hear the Mucks rarely spreads any limit between that twice-a-week 50/100 and their now weak 10/20 game. As is so common everywhere, their big thing now is the spread limit game, and that is strong, with a couple tables of a couple levels going daily. I sure would love to learn how to play no limit, or spread limit. Great potential, I'm sure. But currently, I have no frickin' clue how to play those games, how to size my bets, how to not lose my whole damn stack to one stoopid mistake. I accept that PL and NL games are the "Real Poker." I understand how limit games were invented by cardrooms to prevent the suckers from going broke instantly, and to keep them around, paying rake, longer. But until I get a clue about the spread games, I have to stick to limit, and right now I'm just loving Diamond Lil's.
Often times ALL the other players are ESL folks, and especially evenings and late night, I'm often the ethnic minority at the table. But we all know each other all too well, and get along great, with just a couple notable exceptions. There's lots of animated but friendly trash talk in the game. There also are cliqués of friends who don't bet against each other once they get heads up, and the "English Only" rule -- three signs posted -- is mentioned frequently by staff, and ignored universally by players. 98% of the time someone speaks a particular Southeast Asian language during a hand, it's completely innocent. The other 2% of the time, it's an intolerable cheat, where they tell their friend(s) what they hold. But these things don't happen often enough, and are handled so ineptly when they do happen, that I think of it more as an annoyance than a serious threat.
The Turncoat
One morning I arrived to start the game and ran into Treebark, a seasoned player I wrote about in an RGP post nearly 10 years ago. This guy is about my age, but has been around the game at least twice as long as I have. Anyway, he had been there all night, just finished breakfast, and was tired and headed home. We chatted a couple minutes, and he stood up to go, but I asked him to listen to something first, then go away and think about it.
"Next time we're both in the game with these guys who seem to think that poker is a team sport, let's do what they do," I tell him. "Let's show them what it feels like."
"Let's each take half of the other, and I'll see you later in the parking lot."
"And if we're both in a hand, we'll jam it to knock the other guy out, then just check it down once we get heads-up ."
"After the hand we'll give each other back a bet or two, essentially 'chopping up' what 'the other guy' lost."
I guess we both knew that I was just venting a little, and wasn't quite serious. I laughed, and he laughed, and he went on home.
Couple days later I'm in the game and Tree comes into the room. As soon as he sees me, he comes right over.
"Hey, remember what you were talking about the other day?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Well forget about it," he tells me, with a perfectly straight face. "I can't do it. I'm with them now."
For the first time ever, just about midnight, they spread a FOURTH $20/40 Hold 'Em game. They'd been peaking at three games most nights for a couple weeks, and that in itself is noteworthy enough. But now they're pretty much the only Washington room spreading this limit, and Lil's has established herself as *the* place to play 20/40.
So I've had a clear choice to make lately. Always great to have options, ain't it? I can drive 15 miles to the huge Muckleshoots tribal casino in Auburn, Tuesday or Thursday, and play in a $50/100 game that sometimes features a couple ding dongs, but pretty much always includes several of the toughest players in Washington, guys that I would, well, just as soon not see in my game.
Or I can drive 2 miles to Diamond Lil's any day, and play their $20/40 Party Game. Well, it starts out half-serious in the morning, but by early evening the liquor starts flowing, and the players start tilting, and you know the rest. These are 'fasten your seatbelt' games. These often are 'matchstick' games, where, hey, no matter how late it is, or how tired you are, can't afford to leave, so prop your eyes open with matchsticks if necessary, and play on!
Our state law changed last Spring, and now allows this higher limit outside the tribal rooms. I think it was around that same time Lil's started paying $500 for high hand every 2 hours Mon, Tues and Weds, and $300 other days. They also have both a bad beat jackpot and a harder-to-hit super jackpot. So they rake $3, then drop another $2 to fund those "incentives." This means that in their $4/8 game, they're dropping 1.25 small bets per hand! In the 20/40 it becomes 0.25 small bets, somewhat more overcomeable. Is that a word?
Ego says that I should want to play in the bigger game. My years of experience, and (what I should like to think is) my reputation in the local poker community, says that I should want to play in the bigger game. Yeah? Well, screw that. Sure the Mucks' 50 game is 2.5 times bigger than Lil's 20 game, but I actually think that, for me, potential expectation, bets per hour, may be more than 2.5 times better at Lil's !
Last night I raised there with 2 red Queens, and by the turn I was head up with a drunken maniac, while the King and two other Diamonds were on board. We both checked. Then another Diamond hits the river, and he checkraises me and shows me Ah 5h, for a pair of fives, then seems surprised when it doesn't win the pot. Huh? Thing is, this is not unusual in these games. Daytime games are sometimes medium snug, but nearly all the tighties leave by dinnertime, and the evening and late night games are just awesome!
Meanwhile, I hear the Mucks rarely spreads any limit between that twice-a-week 50/100 and their now weak 10/20 game. As is so common everywhere, their big thing now is the spread limit game, and that is strong, with a couple tables of a couple levels going daily. I sure would love to learn how to play no limit, or spread limit. Great potential, I'm sure. But currently, I have no frickin' clue how to play those games, how to size my bets, how to not lose my whole damn stack to one stoopid mistake. I accept that PL and NL games are the "Real Poker." I understand how limit games were invented by cardrooms to prevent the suckers from going broke instantly, and to keep them around, paying rake, longer. But until I get a clue about the spread games, I have to stick to limit, and right now I'm just loving Diamond Lil's.
Often times ALL the other players are ESL folks, and especially evenings and late night, I'm often the ethnic minority at the table. But we all know each other all too well, and get along great, with just a couple notable exceptions. There's lots of animated but friendly trash talk in the game. There also are cliqués of friends who don't bet against each other once they get heads up, and the "English Only" rule -- three signs posted -- is mentioned frequently by staff, and ignored universally by players. 98% of the time someone speaks a particular Southeast Asian language during a hand, it's completely innocent. The other 2% of the time, it's an intolerable cheat, where they tell their friend(s) what they hold. But these things don't happen often enough, and are handled so ineptly when they do happen, that I think of it more as an annoyance than a serious threat.
The Turncoat
One morning I arrived to start the game and ran into Treebark, a seasoned player I wrote about in an RGP post nearly 10 years ago. This guy is about my age, but has been around the game at least twice as long as I have. Anyway, he had been there all night, just finished breakfast, and was tired and headed home. We chatted a couple minutes, and he stood up to go, but I asked him to listen to something first, then go away and think about it.
"Next time we're both in the game with these guys who seem to think that poker is a team sport, let's do what they do," I tell him. "Let's show them what it feels like."
"Let's each take half of the other, and I'll see you later in the parking lot."
"And if we're both in a hand, we'll jam it to knock the other guy out, then just check it down once we get heads-up ."
"After the hand we'll give each other back a bet or two, essentially 'chopping up' what 'the other guy' lost."
I guess we both knew that I was just venting a little, and wasn't quite serious. I laughed, and he laughed, and he went on home.
Couple days later I'm in the game and Tree comes into the room. As soon as he sees me, he comes right over.
"Hey, remember what you were talking about the other day?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Well forget about it," he tells me, with a perfectly straight face. "I can't do it. I'm with them now."
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