How to Tilt a Table (AC Trip Report Pt 3)
Friday, December 28, 2007
To really get the flavor of the weekend, I have to backtrack a bit. The afternoon session from the last post was broken up a couple of times by family and friends stopping by or calling. While wifey Kim was out shopping with Mama Roose, Mama High and Roose's wife, I continued to play poker. At some point, Papa High stopped by to see how I was doing. When he left, he mentioned lunch with the girls. I told him to keep me informed.
A little while later, Roose stopped by to see if I was interested in grabbing lunch with the girls. Apparently, Papa High and Papa Roose had already left to meet the girls by AC's outdoor outlet. Robbie Hole's mom was coming in for X-mas, and after she arrived, Hole and Mama Hole (man, that just doesn't sound right), headed over to meet the girls as well. It was just Roose and me left, so I asked for him to let me finish my orbit. I was in the cutoff at the time. Roose had just busted, so he refused to wait. I checked my watch, almost 2pm, and decided to let him go. We had our annual X-mas eve dinner plans at local Italian restaurant Rafici's and we usually ended up overeating during dinner anyway. I wanted to save my appetite.
After he left, the short-haired Asian chick to my left ordered a chicken noodle soup from the poker room. It looked good and after I changed to the LO8 table, I ordered some soup as well. I figured it would satiate me between my inadequate egg sandwich breakfast and the feast to come. As it turned out, the soup was fantastic. I highly recommend it to anyone playing poker at the Trop.
This is all to say that when I finished my poker session, there was no one else around. I decided to head upstairs, where I watched some TV in my suite's living room, and then read some more of the Hunter S. Thompson biography that I've been slowly reading. Eventually, everyone returned back, and Roose, Hole and I took advantage of my balconey. Wifey Kim came back as we all hung out, and I eventually not so subtlely told my boys to beat feet. Wifey Kim and I hung out and eventually got ready for dinner.
By the time we headed to Rafici's, I was back to hungry. As per usual, my mom duped me into thinking we had to be there early. Wifey Kim and I (along with our passengers, Roose and Roose Wife), were the first to arrive by a good 15 minutes. While the chicks chatted, Roose and I watched the 1991 Holyfield/Forman fight. We both tried to convince the other to take Holyfield. No luck there.
Dinner was amazing, as always. As expected, we started off with calamari and baked clams. I then had the New England clam chowder, followed by Chicken Parmesan, which I shared with wifey Kim's Penne ala Vodka. By dessert, we were all stuffed to the gills.
Back at the Trop, wifey Kim and I went searching for ice cream. All of the places were closed due to the holidays, so instead, we played some slots. We eventually got bored and retired to the room. After hanging out for a bit, wifey Kim dozed off. Earlier in the night, we discussed whether I would be playing that night. I didn't really care either way. But once those eyelids shut, the crave was once again on.
I snuck out after changing into my poker gear, and texted Hole and Roose on the way. Down at the poker room, I found a quick 1/2 NL game. I sat down to a table where the player on my immediate left was stacking a big pile of chips. Across the table, the 1 seat was staring at him with crazy eyes. The 1 seat was a dark haired guy of average height, on the slimmer side. He had jet black hair and bushy eyebrows. His eyes were wide open, as though he wanted you to see as much of the white as possible. He looked batshit crazy.
I was immediately dealt AQo in the BB, and after about 5 limpers and the SB's call, I raised to $15. The only caller was crazy-eyes. My flop was AQX. I checked, expecting crazy-eyes to do something crazy. He did, betting $20. I raised to $50 and he called. The turn was a blank and I bet out $75. He folded. I was up $60 in my first hand. Things were looking good.
From there, the table just got weird. Crazy-eyes was completely crazy, telling stories about how one guy accidentally mucked his cards at a casino, so he hit him with a brick in the back of the head in the parking lot after waiting 20 minutes for the guy. He announced to the table, "Really, man, there is no bigger dick move than mucking someone else's hand." I added, "Actually, there is one bigger dick move...hitting someone in the back of the head with a brick." Everyone laughed, including crazy-eyes.
Sadly, I was carddead, and was up a mere $52 when I felt that it was time to walk. I had been playing enough poker and I didn't feel the usual urge to continue. I was happy to lock in my profit and see what Roose and Hole were up to. After racking up and cashing out, I found Roose and Hole making their way into the poker room. I asked them what they had in mind. They both wanted to play some 1/2 NL, so I wished them good luck. As I walked outside the room, I heard them call a new table, with Rob and Dave's names included. I doubled-back and went to the desk. "Is there any more room on that new table?" "Sure, sir. Second to last table in the back."
Roose and Hole thought I was gone already and didn't even notice me right away as I took the 10s. Roose was in the 4s and Rob was in the 7s. I bought in for $100, something I never do. I had one goal in mind: tilt the table and then leave, so that Roose and Hole could feast on the flesh of their tenderized competition. I didn't care two shits about my short buy-in.
In the very first hand, I was dealt K5. I opted for a modest preflop raise. The flop came down KT5. I made a large bet and took down the pot. On the very next hand, I had KTo. The player who called my last hand raised, and I called. The flop was QTx, and after he checked to me, I bet out. He called. The turn was a blank and we both checked. The river was a King, giving me two pair again. This time, my opponent led the action with a $50 bet. I raised all-in for $24 more. "Ah, you got me." He folded. WTF?!
At this point, I was already being loud. I held out my two cards and offered, "Left or Right, I'll only show you one." He refused to pick so I mucked the cards. "Fine, don't play along."
A little while later, I won a pot with KQ after flopping top pair and reaching the turn. There were two spades on the board. After winning, I offered the Left/Right deal again. He pulled the King, which was a spade. "Damn, you were on the flush draw!"
I basically used every trick in my book to drum up some action. I made blind preflop bets (we'll get to that in a minute). I announced "It's PRIME time baby!" and then insisted on only betting prime numbers (11, 13, 17, 23, etc.). I set up the button and offered the dealer $2 if he could deal a card entirely underneath the button (no part of the button could be outside of the card...he hit, by the way). I made min raises to $4 preflop and then followed it up with a $2 bet on the flop (we'll get to that too). I offered to show cards for $1 after winning a hand. Again, my goal was to loosen up the game. It was all in fun, and for the most part, the table seemed to be playing along. They loosened up some too. Of course, by the end of the session there was some backlash. I offered an older guy the old Left/Right routine, to which he replied, "I'm not playing any of your games." I made a half-hearted explanation as to why it would only benefit him, but mucked at the same time. You don't want to play my games? Well that's on you, buddy.
With all of this going on, in one hand, I raised to $4 blind UTG. There is no straddling in AC, and whenever I ask they tell me I can blind raise as though that is some sort of consolation prize. Normally, I'd never pull this move, but I was looking to have fun. I received one or two callers and then Roose raised $10 on top. Everyone folded ot me, and I opted to call blind. I didn't mind losing money to Roose, after all. The flop was 9-high and I checked. Roose bet out $25 or $30. I admitted that I had to check my cards: J9! With top pair, I flat called. We both checked it down and I took down the pot. Whoops!
A little while later, I min-raised to $4 with some random cards. I like these potsweeteners. I got a bunch of callers and played the usual, "No respect!" shtick. I hit middle pair (7s) on the flop and bet $2. Amazingly, I got one or two folders. There were still three other players left. The turn didn't help me, but I bet out $7 or 8 anyway. I think I got two callers. The river was also no help, and I bet out $20, announcing, "I can't softplay you the whole time." Everyone folded. This, by the way, reminds me of my belief that odd betting patterns can really mess up your opponents' game in live poker.
By the time I had enough, I was up $150. I decided to pack it in and head upstairs. I unwound in my room as I got random calls and text messages from Rob. Finally, at the end of his session, he called me up. He had won over $300 from the now loose table. Roose was felted when someone hit quads to beat his fullhouse and then a fullhouse to beat his flush. I tried my best buddy!
The next morning, wifey Kim, Roose, Roose Wife and I went to breakfast at the Seaside Cafe. The food was adequate, but the portions were surprisingly small for an AC diner-like restaurant. From there, we headed home.
Overall, it was a very successful trip. I got a room upgrade for cheap, won over $300 at poker, lost a minimal amount at slots and table games, and made enough money to pay for the dirt-cheap trip. I also found a new type of discipline to my game, namely the ability to get up and walk when table conditions or my personal mood did not feel right. I hope to build on that in the future.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 1:59 PM,
1 Comments:
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At 3:22 PM,
Schaubs said...
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Great stuff. Glad you came home a winner and managed to learn a few things in the process.
I like balcony's.
