been meaning to post something all week but its been hectic...

anyhow, last weekend i decided to check out the new cardroom at the choctaw casino in durant, oklahoma... so i made it into a mini vacation and took friday and monday off from work, booked a luxury suite, and headed out to play some cards...

got there around noon on friday, the drive took right at an hour, so its definitely an acceptable alternative to the local cardrooms, many of which take almost 30 minutes to get to anyway if i dont catch every light green and dodge all traffic...

since check-in wasnt until 2pm, i decided i might as well settle in to play a little poker. wandered around until i found the room, said hello to the brush, and popped in for a little look around. the room was very very nice... large, lots of room between the tables, nice chairs, pretty nice tables (although i hate tables with racetracks), and it was all glassed in so the sound of the drones at the slot machines was muted to a whisper. definitely as nice as or better than the room at the old hollywood in shreveport (who knows what theyre calling it this week), and blew the room at winstar clean out of the water (which wouldnt take much)...

there were no seats available for $1/$2, and there was no $2/$5 game going at the time, so i got on the list for $1/$2 behind one other guy, and within 10 minutes, 5 more folks showed up and they started a new table... bought in for $200 by accidentally giving the chip runner $300 (the bills were fresh from the bank and two stuck together)... i didnt notice it until almost 3 hours later, and by then it was too late... oh well, ill definitely be more careful in the future. anyhow, so the table was a pretty good one for the first hour or so, and i got up about $100 pretty quickly... but all that went away when i ran a stone bluff against the BB when he raised the 6 limpers for about the 6th time in a row... i decided he was probably out of line, and when it folded around to me, i decided to take a flop. it came rags, but missed me... checked, BB bets a little over half the pot, and he looks weak to me, so i decide im going to run a call bluff... if it comes another rag on 4th street, im betting it straight out... sure enough the turn is a brick, and i bet out about 2/3 the pot... BB counts, re-counts, then calls. fuck. the river misses me again but it pairs the bottom card on the board, and i think another bet might take the pot down... so i make what i hope looks like a value bet for about 1/3 the pot, and the BB goes in the tank for about 3 minutes... im almost positive he's going to fold, and he actually picks his cards up at one point to muck... then puts them back down... counts out... and calls. FUCK.

so, i ask if he can beat 8 high, and he shows AK... ace high wins and im down $100... oh well, bad timing on my part, but still, i ALMOST managed to make him lay it down, so i guess i dont mind too much.

anyhow i figure i just got some great advertising and that i might be able to turn it to my advantage, so i bought back up to the cap... but about 10 minutes later a cocky "bad boy" maniac sits two to my right from another table, with about $700, and proceeds to run all over the table. normally id be glad for it, because the rest of the table was pretty weak-tight, and i had position on him, so i could probably count on getting it heads up with him just about any time i wanted... but after about 20 minutes i realized that having that big bluff blow up in my face must have put me off my game, and that if i wasnt careful id get myself stacked. right about then my brother showed up and i decided it was a good time to get up and check in to our room...

the suite was very nice, two tvs, huge bathroom, huge bedroom, nice living room with a big poofy couch, pretty sweet digs for $120... we kicked back for a bit then went back to the room...

man what a difference an hour makes. the room was jumping. my bro wanted to play some limit so we sat at a new $4/$8 table that was forming... and let me say, this was the most personable poker table ive ever played at... we were the youngest guys at the table, everyone else were retirees there to have a good time, and didnt mind losing the money... so we chatted it up and between the two of is made out like bandits. 4 hours later my bro was up over $100 (not sure exactly how much) and i was up around $200. doesnt sound like a lot, but i dont think ive ever made $50 an hour playing 4/8 before so im not complaining...

after that we got comped meal tickets and hit the buffet. it sucked, bad. not much to say other than AVOID THE BUFFET. the burgers at the blue moon cafe kick nine kinds of ass though, definitely try one if youre ever there.

so another hour down and we head back to the tables... and the room is FULL. i mean, every damn table. all 18 of them. even so, we both got seats at different tables within about 10 minutes. i turned into a human card rack and within an hour was sitting on about $700. would have been over $800 if not for a dealer error, and my insanely good humor at the time. i was dealt KK in the BB. limped in 5 spots, the SB completes, and i bump it up to $15. i get CALLED by all 6. im already mentally preparing to muck the kings, when, lo and behold, i flop one! as i try not to jump for joy, the SB goes to his stack and counts out $85! woo hoo! ive got about $400 at this point, and the SB has about $120 left. there's two spades on board and i dont have one. the SB looks really comfortable, and i get a feeling hes going to get them all in there, so i go all in. it folds to the SB, who is about to call, when the dealer burns and turns!! the SB is like, whoa whoa whoa! stop! i havent called yet! the turn was another spade, so i get this sinking feeling he might have just made a flush. the dealer calls the floor over, and the floor starts getting all panicky and wanting to do some kind of crazy shit, i dunno what, and i just say "hold on a minute here, let me see if we cant work this out with the other guy"... so i tell the other guy, its up to him, he can call my all in, and ill match it, OR we can just consider him all in for his $85, and get on with life. he agrees to the $85-all-in and the floor says, ok good deal, lets see the river. its a blank, and the SB shows 55 for a flopped set of 5s, and i feel sick for not insisting that he put the rest in if he wanted to play... but honestly, the floor looked like he was about to just completely have a breakdown, and i just wanted to keep the game moving.

stupid, i know, but oh well, maybe its good karma.

i guess it must have been because 2 hands later im on the button with K2 of hearts and 6 limpers, so i decide to limp the button myself and see if i can flop nasty. the SB completes and the BB checks. flop comes 22T rainbow and im like... booyah! SB checks, BB with about $190 bets $20, theres one caller, and i raise it up to $60. SB folds, BB calls, overcaller folds. turn is a 6, and the SB bets half his stack. im not about to fold, and he really looks like he wants to get the rest of them in there, so i re-raise him for the rest of his money. he beats me to the pot, jumps up, and throws aces down like he just scored a touchdown at the superbowl... then almost faints when he sees my K2. the river is a K and the poker gods give me a boat just to rub it in.

ok thats it, im tired, ill continue with day 2 tomorrow...