Well I am truely becoming absent minded as I could have sworn I did a post in December. Maybe I did and blogspot gnomes deleted it!
Anyways, I thought I had done a small post on my casino visits.
While traveling home to visit family over the Thanksgiving day weekend I was fortunate enough to visit 3 casinos : Wheeling Downs in WV, The Meadows in Washington PA and Hollywood at Penn National Race Track just outside of Harrisburg.
The first visit was to Wheeling Downs where I have played several times before. The business in the room seems down from previous years but that is most likely due to the PA casinos opening their poker rooms. Not much has changed at Wheeling and they still managed to have 2-3 tables up till the morning hours. Actually I don't think the second table broke before 2 AM which is pretty good for a Tuesday night. Play was pretty standard with a few true novices sitting down and donating then leaving. There were a few loose players who kept the game going also. I didn't win alot but managed a small profit.
I left about 4 in the morning on my way to the Meadows in PA. Only about a half hour drive between the casinos. I came to find out that no employee or business partner (including suppliers) of any PA casino may play in any casino in PA. They must travel out of state if they wish to enjoy any casino action. I think this is a ridiculous rule for the PA casinos.
The Meadows poker room is very nice and pretty spacious. I believe they had 21 tables in their room and you were not bumping into people at the next table. The place only had one table going when I showed up at 4:30 AM but I did make another visit on the return trip 5 days later. :) Meadows had competent good dealers and the players were for the most part enjoyable. They do drawings after like 3 AM for $50 free money so that is something to look forward to when you are grinding it out in the wee hours before dawn. LOL Again managed a small profit and had a good time.
Left the Meadows around 8:30 AM on my way to Harrisburg PA. I got there around noon and was happy to find the poker room already had 5 tables running. This room has some unusual rules which are different from other PA rooms and even the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg IN (Cinci). I do not recall the specifics but I remember being frustrated with the room. The floor personel even acknowledge the strangeness of the rules but said it was out of their hands. Another thing they allow is for players to run up a stack at one table and then ask for a table change and take $700 of the table and sit back down with $100 at the new table. Missplayed two hand within the first 20 minutes and woud play another 4 hours to end a losing session due to those two hands. Had a decent time with most of my table mates there.
I did not return to Hollywood on my return trip as it was slightly out of the way.
Hopefully I will improve my memory and writing to make my trip reports more interesting to read in the future. :)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Summer is nearly over.......
Wow... hard to believe that it has been nearly 3 months since I posted on here.... I am getting worse.
But I really haven't been playing alot of poker.... at least not live. Even online due to a decimated bankroll I haven't played alot of cash tournaments. Mainly been playing freerolls. And lots of them. LOL
During most of the month of July I hardly played live at all. Actually I think I only played live poker once that whole month. The month of June helped set up my hiatus as I had a losing month. I should have known I would jinx myself by posting that I had only had two losing weeks for 2010 in my last posting......
Someone please remind me not to brag or be pleased with myself again. LOL
When I have played live since July it has been a mixed bag. Some days playing well after putting myself in a hole early in the sessions. And other days just being card dead and not being able to put any hands together that would hold up. I have been a little better at playing the other players occasionally and not just my cards. So at least in that there is some improvement and a little bit of a silver lining in my grey clouds. LOL
As for online, my play worsened and I also ran bad. I pretty much drained my FTP account though I still have a small amount left. Trying now to just play micro ring games to build it back up but that has been something of a roller coaster for me in the past 30 days.
I have played many freerolls on FTP, PS and UB. I tend to go pretty deep but frequently come up just short of cashing since you have to be in the top .2 to .5 percent of the field. I did manage to place second in a freeroll on FTP. 7500 started I believe.
On Walker poker I managed to have my account drop below $100 for the first time in awhile but I have almost doubled the amount since then. I believe I am playing smarter and also more willing to put my money in when I believe I have them beat even when I don't have the nutz. Many players on there are uber aggressive and will push you off of hands with all ins that are like 10x what the pot is.
I also have an old friend who is now interested in online poker. He is just learning the game so at this time he is only playing play money and freerolls. Just trying to help him play tight to begin with to get a feel for the game and maybe get lucky and cash in a freeroll. He is really enjoying it for now. Will see how long it takes till it frustrates the hell out of him like it does everyone else from time to time. LOL
As for the Columbus poker scene, we are now back to 9 clubs. This is even after 6 have closed. Nick's Shark Tank being the newest on Bethel Rd. Pretty nice club.
There is another new club, The Bicycle Club, but I am unfamiliar with it.
Also, the local Vegas Nights group is running 7 days a week in the same location, so basically they are another club but they still rake the games for charities.
Just under two years till they will complete the casino here in Columbus.
No new trips to any casinos but I am starting to jones for one. Probably will make a trip in the next month or two. Might even go to the casinos in Detroit for the first time.
But I really haven't been playing alot of poker.... at least not live. Even online due to a decimated bankroll I haven't played alot of cash tournaments. Mainly been playing freerolls. And lots of them. LOL
During most of the month of July I hardly played live at all. Actually I think I only played live poker once that whole month. The month of June helped set up my hiatus as I had a losing month. I should have known I would jinx myself by posting that I had only had two losing weeks for 2010 in my last posting......
Someone please remind me not to brag or be pleased with myself again. LOL
When I have played live since July it has been a mixed bag. Some days playing well after putting myself in a hole early in the sessions. And other days just being card dead and not being able to put any hands together that would hold up. I have been a little better at playing the other players occasionally and not just my cards. So at least in that there is some improvement and a little bit of a silver lining in my grey clouds. LOL
As for online, my play worsened and I also ran bad. I pretty much drained my FTP account though I still have a small amount left. Trying now to just play micro ring games to build it back up but that has been something of a roller coaster for me in the past 30 days.
I have played many freerolls on FTP, PS and UB. I tend to go pretty deep but frequently come up just short of cashing since you have to be in the top .2 to .5 percent of the field. I did manage to place second in a freeroll on FTP. 7500 started I believe.
On Walker poker I managed to have my account drop below $100 for the first time in awhile but I have almost doubled the amount since then. I believe I am playing smarter and also more willing to put my money in when I believe I have them beat even when I don't have the nutz. Many players on there are uber aggressive and will push you off of hands with all ins that are like 10x what the pot is.
I also have an old friend who is now interested in online poker. He is just learning the game so at this time he is only playing play money and freerolls. Just trying to help him play tight to begin with to get a feel for the game and maybe get lucky and cash in a freeroll. He is really enjoying it for now. Will see how long it takes till it frustrates the hell out of him like it does everyone else from time to time. LOL
As for the Columbus poker scene, we are now back to 9 clubs. This is even after 6 have closed. Nick's Shark Tank being the newest on Bethel Rd. Pretty nice club.
There is another new club, The Bicycle Club, but I am unfamiliar with it.
Also, the local Vegas Nights group is running 7 days a week in the same location, so basically they are another club but they still rake the games for charities.
Just under two years till they will complete the casino here in Columbus.
No new trips to any casinos but I am starting to jones for one. Probably will make a trip in the next month or two. Might even go to the casinos in Detroit for the first time.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Almost Summertime........
Well it has been a few months since my last posting.
For myself, not much has changed. I have continued to grind and to very slowly build my bankroll. I have never quite gotten to the point where I play at least 3 times a week live on a regular basis. If I was able to do that (sometimes just need the desire to do it) I could probably build my bankroll much more quickly.
For 2010, I have only had two weeks that were losing weeks!! And those were the first two weeks of the year!! I have had a few significant losing sessions yet have managed to make a profit every week. Some have been very small but still a profit. This past week nearly saw that streak of winning weeks come to an end as Saturday night saw me stuck over 2 buyins and it was 3 in the morning. LOL Wasn't looking so good. I got extremely lucky on one hand and that hand got me a decent profit for the day. I played A6s in mid position. Late position good player raised to $12 and got one other caller. I gambled and called also. Flop came down AK6 rainbow. Check, I checked, OR (original raiser) bets $30, EP player folds. I CR to $75. He flats. Turn is A. I bet $80, he flats again. River is a Q. At this point I get concerned that he has AQ. I didn't think he had AK because I felt he would have reraised me on flop or turn. I checked. I only had $200 in front of me. He went AI and I called. He had KK! I hit my two outter on the turn for the miracle and a nice size pot. Normally that the A on the turn happens against me when I trap someone with a monster like he did to me. He had me buried and I never saw that hand coming. Got very lucky but we all do at times and I will take it when I can.
As for the poker scene in central Ohio, we have begun to see a shaking out of the clubs. Of the 11 that were open at the beginning of the year one closed permanently and two others closed for "renovations". It remains to be seen if they will open back up. Expecting more "renovations" this summer as the weather gets better.
Gemini Berea Ohio was forced to close for the time being after the city cancelled its occupancy permit after alot of pressure from outside sources. They claim they just don't want it but all of the facts of the club were laid out in the process of getting the permits. Most likely it is the Jacobs group applying the pressure as Gemini put a hurt on their "charity" operations at Nautica.
I came close to winning a $12k package for the WSOP on FTP for $1. I played well, ran well but then got too tight. I was in the top 15 of the remaining 140 players and had been moved to the table with the CL who was abusing the field with his 1.4M in chips. I had 800k. Was dealt 66 in EP and did not want to tangle with the CL because he raised 99% of the hands and CB each time also. Not to mention a few shorter stacks on my left who may have pushed for $150k to $300k to pick up the blinds and antes which totalled over $40k ($10k/$20k, $1k ante). After I fold the rest of the field folds to the SB who flats the call. Naturally the BB (CL) raises but only a min raise. Curious as to whether the raise would have been greater had I entered the pot. Flop was KJ6 of course. Both players got it AI as they both connected on the flop with one pair. The set would have held and I would have had a 2.2M plus stack. I could reasonably have cruised to the ft. They were only giving away 5 of the $12k packages. Not making that play really bothered me and I managed to put myself on tilt and wasted away my chips. I went out 104th. Disappointing as that is the closest I have ever come to winning a seat. Tournament started with nearly 31k players! It is a good tournament and I recommend it to anyone who plays on FTP.
That has been the highlight of my online play. I have been doing miserably online but that is due to poor play and not alot of volume.
In live play I made my first foray to a New York casino. Went to Turning Stone casino in the middle of the state. It is an Indian casino so my friend who is only 18 was able to play there. We had a pretty good time and we were successful also. We did not crush the games as we had hoped but managed to make a profit for the trip. That was only my second trip to a casino in the past few months. The other trip being a two day-one night trip to Belterra in Indiana with a friend. I managed to win both days and for the most part stay away from the slots and pits.
Hope everyone has a succesful and fun summer. I plan to continue the bankroll building. I hope to step it up some as I now have a few extra buy ins to mess around with.
For myself, not much has changed. I have continued to grind and to very slowly build my bankroll. I have never quite gotten to the point where I play at least 3 times a week live on a regular basis. If I was able to do that (sometimes just need the desire to do it) I could probably build my bankroll much more quickly.
For 2010, I have only had two weeks that were losing weeks!! And those were the first two weeks of the year!! I have had a few significant losing sessions yet have managed to make a profit every week. Some have been very small but still a profit. This past week nearly saw that streak of winning weeks come to an end as Saturday night saw me stuck over 2 buyins and it was 3 in the morning. LOL Wasn't looking so good. I got extremely lucky on one hand and that hand got me a decent profit for the day. I played A6s in mid position. Late position good player raised to $12 and got one other caller. I gambled and called also. Flop came down AK6 rainbow. Check, I checked, OR (original raiser) bets $30, EP player folds. I CR to $75. He flats. Turn is A. I bet $80, he flats again. River is a Q. At this point I get concerned that he has AQ. I didn't think he had AK because I felt he would have reraised me on flop or turn. I checked. I only had $200 in front of me. He went AI and I called. He had KK! I hit my two outter on the turn for the miracle and a nice size pot. Normally that the A on the turn happens against me when I trap someone with a monster like he did to me. He had me buried and I never saw that hand coming. Got very lucky but we all do at times and I will take it when I can.
As for the poker scene in central Ohio, we have begun to see a shaking out of the clubs. Of the 11 that were open at the beginning of the year one closed permanently and two others closed for "renovations". It remains to be seen if they will open back up. Expecting more "renovations" this summer as the weather gets better.
Gemini Berea Ohio was forced to close for the time being after the city cancelled its occupancy permit after alot of pressure from outside sources. They claim they just don't want it but all of the facts of the club were laid out in the process of getting the permits. Most likely it is the Jacobs group applying the pressure as Gemini put a hurt on their "charity" operations at Nautica.
I came close to winning a $12k package for the WSOP on FTP for $1. I played well, ran well but then got too tight. I was in the top 15 of the remaining 140 players and had been moved to the table with the CL who was abusing the field with his 1.4M in chips. I had 800k. Was dealt 66 in EP and did not want to tangle with the CL because he raised 99% of the hands and CB each time also. Not to mention a few shorter stacks on my left who may have pushed for $150k to $300k to pick up the blinds and antes which totalled over $40k ($10k/$20k, $1k ante). After I fold the rest of the field folds to the SB who flats the call. Naturally the BB (CL) raises but only a min raise. Curious as to whether the raise would have been greater had I entered the pot. Flop was KJ6 of course. Both players got it AI as they both connected on the flop with one pair. The set would have held and I would have had a 2.2M plus stack. I could reasonably have cruised to the ft. They were only giving away 5 of the $12k packages. Not making that play really bothered me and I managed to put myself on tilt and wasted away my chips. I went out 104th. Disappointing as that is the closest I have ever come to winning a seat. Tournament started with nearly 31k players! It is a good tournament and I recommend it to anyone who plays on FTP.
That has been the highlight of my online play. I have been doing miserably online but that is due to poor play and not alot of volume.
In live play I made my first foray to a New York casino. Went to Turning Stone casino in the middle of the state. It is an Indian casino so my friend who is only 18 was able to play there. We had a pretty good time and we were successful also. We did not crush the games as we had hoped but managed to make a profit for the trip. That was only my second trip to a casino in the past few months. The other trip being a two day-one night trip to Belterra in Indiana with a friend. I managed to win both days and for the most part stay away from the slots and pits.
Hope everyone has a succesful and fun summer. I plan to continue the bankroll building. I hope to step it up some as I now have a few extra buy ins to mess around with.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Next.......Month
Rewriting this as I attempted to spell check it and wiped out my original post..... frustrating.
Well my winning cash game sessions continued after last posting. Nothing huge and no large wins but consistent. Only a couple of losses in the mix. Playing fairly well and have had a couple of lucky hits at the right time. I haven't been playing as much as I used to but feel like I have been playing alot.
Tournaments continue to be my most frustrating point. But I think the main reason for that is I have tried to force myself to be more aggressive to pick up chips in order to try to win the tournaments versus just cash. Of course there have also been plenty of being patient and waiting and trapping people and they just continue to get lucky. When I need the luck in the tournaments it usually doesn't happen. But recently I did manage to get very lucky against a couple of friends of mine who are brothers. All 3 of us got it aipf in a freeroll down at Platinum. I had AK while they both held pairs. AA and 44 !! K on flop and K on river for my official donkey win. :)
Online has seen its better days for me. I have bottomed out two of my four accounts while the third (Walker Poker) is all from freeroll money. I am now trying to rebuild something from practically nothing on PS and UB. Both accounts are under $10 right now. Trying to stick mainly to .01/.02 NL. I really haven't been home as much to play so it is slow going. FullTilt (FTP) is my main account theses days. I have been losing steadily lately as I am playing too many MTTs and not cashing. I did managed a nice score couple of weekends ago. Managed to win a $2 MTT with over 600 players. Guess it was just my day. Entered ft as one of the ss. Got the right hands at the right times.
The new Gemini - Berea is doing very well. 9 cash tables on the weekend usually and 2-4 cash tables during the week. Platinum Players Club has been doing fairly well. They had a $100 tournament this past Sunday and got 29 runners. Good for their first $100 tourney. I have yet to visit Paizan's or Premeire but plan to do so on the next couple of months.
Looks like my first trip to Las Vegas to play poker will be postponed. Didn't jump on the cheap flights when I should have and now the cost of the flight would eat up too much of my bankroll to make it worthwhile going out there. I was really looking forward to it and I am dissappointed but I know sometime this year I will probably make it out there.
Well my winning cash game sessions continued after last posting. Nothing huge and no large wins but consistent. Only a couple of losses in the mix. Playing fairly well and have had a couple of lucky hits at the right time. I haven't been playing as much as I used to but feel like I have been playing alot.
Tournaments continue to be my most frustrating point. But I think the main reason for that is I have tried to force myself to be more aggressive to pick up chips in order to try to win the tournaments versus just cash. Of course there have also been plenty of being patient and waiting and trapping people and they just continue to get lucky. When I need the luck in the tournaments it usually doesn't happen. But recently I did manage to get very lucky against a couple of friends of mine who are brothers. All 3 of us got it aipf in a freeroll down at Platinum. I had AK while they both held pairs. AA and 44 !! K on flop and K on river for my official donkey win. :)
Online has seen its better days for me. I have bottomed out two of my four accounts while the third (Walker Poker) is all from freeroll money. I am now trying to rebuild something from practically nothing on PS and UB. Both accounts are under $10 right now. Trying to stick mainly to .01/.02 NL. I really haven't been home as much to play so it is slow going. FullTilt (FTP) is my main account theses days. I have been losing steadily lately as I am playing too many MTTs and not cashing. I did managed a nice score couple of weekends ago. Managed to win a $2 MTT with over 600 players. Guess it was just my day. Entered ft as one of the ss. Got the right hands at the right times.
The new Gemini - Berea is doing very well. 9 cash tables on the weekend usually and 2-4 cash tables during the week. Platinum Players Club has been doing fairly well. They had a $100 tournament this past Sunday and got 29 runners. Good for their first $100 tourney. I have yet to visit Paizan's or Premeire but plan to do so on the next couple of months.
Looks like my first trip to Las Vegas to play poker will be postponed. Didn't jump on the cheap flights when I should have and now the cost of the flight would eat up too much of my bankroll to make it worthwhile going out there. I was really looking forward to it and I am dissappointed but I know sometime this year I will probably make it out there.
Monday, January 18, 2010
New Year.... Same Story...
Well I ended up having a very good end to December in live play. Made a few final tables of some of the small tournaments I play in here and chopped two of the tournaments. Ring games were also a brighter spot than they had been turning in 7 out of 8 winning sessions.
Things were looking very good heading into the new year.
Ahh.... but then reality woke up and smacked me down. Had a fairly large loss (at least as far as my losses go) the first weekend of the year. I continued down that path for the first 2 weeks of the year.
The good thing is that even with that I am playing well and enjoying myself. Little unlucky and a little card dead I can deal with. When I have been at the tables I have fun so even with the losses I am in a different place now than I was 2 months ago.
Recently booked two winning sessions to put a stop to the losses. They only covered about 20% of the losses but helps so that I can continue with a positive attitude.
Have my monthly big tournament coming up this Friday. Should be interesting.
Also, there is a new club opening up with long time poker players running it. These guys are pros out of NJ. This should make for some very interesting situations in Columbus. They will be opening up the 11th...... that's right..... ELEVENTH club in the immediate Columbus area. They even had a write up in Poker Pro magazine and one coming up in CardPlayer. Summer time will see a shakeout of all of these clubs. There is not that much poker action in Columbus to support them all.
Gemini is opening its second club in the greater Cleveland area this Thursday. I wish them well. They should be successful. I also wish The Platinum Players Club success (NJ pros' club) which will be opening this Friday (tentatively).
Things were looking very good heading into the new year.
Ahh.... but then reality woke up and smacked me down. Had a fairly large loss (at least as far as my losses go) the first weekend of the year. I continued down that path for the first 2 weeks of the year.
The good thing is that even with that I am playing well and enjoying myself. Little unlucky and a little card dead I can deal with. When I have been at the tables I have fun so even with the losses I am in a different place now than I was 2 months ago.
Recently booked two winning sessions to put a stop to the losses. They only covered about 20% of the losses but helps so that I can continue with a positive attitude.
Have my monthly big tournament coming up this Friday. Should be interesting.
Also, there is a new club opening up with long time poker players running it. These guys are pros out of NJ. This should make for some very interesting situations in Columbus. They will be opening up the 11th...... that's right..... ELEVENTH club in the immediate Columbus area. They even had a write up in Poker Pro magazine and one coming up in CardPlayer. Summer time will see a shakeout of all of these clubs. There is not that much poker action in Columbus to support them all.
Gemini is opening its second club in the greater Cleveland area this Thursday. I wish them well. They should be successful. I also wish The Platinum Players Club success (NJ pros' club) which will be opening this Friday (tentatively).
Monday, December 21, 2009
Looking forward to the New Year.......
Well the "fall into the Fall" has stopped but hasn't quite turned around. I had pretty much taken a break from live play after the last posting. During that time I continued to play online. Managed to completely wipe out what little bit I had left on PS and just maintain my br on FTP and UB. Still playing too loosely at times. I think it is due to lack of focus. Having fun though and not caring.
I did make a foray into a casino over the Thanksgiving weekend. Traveled to PA for the weekend and stopped at Wheeling Downs. Hadn't been playing live so I definitely enjoyed sitting back at a table with chips. Also previously had been very card dead in live play for a few months. I actually lost at Wheeling but got hands I was able to play. I enjoyed myself even though I lost and felt a little renewed in live play.
After returning from PA I started playing in the weekly Tuesday night game again. Have not had a losing session yet but most have been because I cut it early due to the smoke. I don't know how I ever put up with the local vegas nights when 80% of the players chain smoked. I get such vicious headaches that even if I am winning I can not concentrate nor enjoy myself so I have to leave after as little as 2 hours of play.
Also started playing in the clubs again. Not weekly but several times a month. Not winning consistently but enjoying myself and getting cards I can play. Did well this past week chopping a small tourney and then doing well at the cash table within 2 hours. Was just getting very lucky most of the night.
And last week I also did well online in MTTs on UB. I really had not been playing much on UB as my funds had not been available to me for some time. (long story) LOL But I played several small stake MTTs and managed two final tables. I got a third which was nice as I had been ss in that tournament for most of the last two tables and then I got extremely lucky and won the second ft. Always feels good to have back to back fts.
2009 has been the worst of the past 5 years and I still have managed to eek out a very very very small profit. At this point I guess I am just enjoying playing even though I am only basically breaking even. I know this is a recipe for disaster financially so I am looking to turn things around in 2010 with a renewed focus on growing an actual bankroll.
I did make a foray into a casino over the Thanksgiving weekend. Traveled to PA for the weekend and stopped at Wheeling Downs. Hadn't been playing live so I definitely enjoyed sitting back at a table with chips. Also previously had been very card dead in live play for a few months. I actually lost at Wheeling but got hands I was able to play. I enjoyed myself even though I lost and felt a little renewed in live play.
After returning from PA I started playing in the weekly Tuesday night game again. Have not had a losing session yet but most have been because I cut it early due to the smoke. I don't know how I ever put up with the local vegas nights when 80% of the players chain smoked. I get such vicious headaches that even if I am winning I can not concentrate nor enjoy myself so I have to leave after as little as 2 hours of play.
Also started playing in the clubs again. Not weekly but several times a month. Not winning consistently but enjoying myself and getting cards I can play. Did well this past week chopping a small tourney and then doing well at the cash table within 2 hours. Was just getting very lucky most of the night.
And last week I also did well online in MTTs on UB. I really had not been playing much on UB as my funds had not been available to me for some time. (long story) LOL But I played several small stake MTTs and managed two final tables. I got a third which was nice as I had been ss in that tournament for most of the last two tables and then I got extremely lucky and won the second ft. Always feels good to have back to back fts.
2009 has been the worst of the past 5 years and I still have managed to eek out a very very very small profit. At this point I guess I am just enjoying playing even though I am only basically breaking even. I know this is a recipe for disaster financially so I am looking to turn things around in 2010 with a renewed focus on growing an actual bankroll.
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