Lucky Phony!

Sometimes you just can’t win a dollar in the casino, even under the best circumstances. BJ count good, lose big since that’s when you’re supposed to lose big. Big VP, lose even when you’re on a 100%+ machine. Poker players terrible, you still run bad and lose. It’s really and it really hurts. But you know I still won over 2700.

I lost the bus spin. Down 60. I lost 393 in 2-5. Got mad and won 440 in pai gow(still need the points for diamond card). I’m starting to wonder if I need that gamble session to play regular poker better. Just as a change of pace. I think once I get it though and I REALLY need that gamble, I’ll do one hand for 25. Low risk slow shit just to relax and socialize. It’s not a bad idea. You just got to remember to keep it at 25 even if you lose hand after hand.

The next day I played the usual plo8. I constantly ask myself, as a base, should I play this game as a bull or a bear. Obviously it’s board, hand, and opponent dependent but the big questions happen preflop. Just in case one of you fuckers secretly get in my game I won’t reveal what I’m thinking, but I def put a lot of thought into it. My swings were wild. At one point I was down 800, but I ended the session up 1732. Big Jeff was the big winner on the day. The guys there always say I’m lucky. Lucky Phony Lucky Phony they say. They say I’m very lucky on the river, which I guess is the best street to be lucky on. Just because I got the huge draw and get there is lucky? Maybe it is, I don’t know. But they never say they would play the hand differently. Jeff was the lucky river guy today so hopefully he doesn’t talk next session. That lasted nearly 17 hours so I needed sleep after that.

Bill Potts recommended to me that I should only play the Random Riches promo when it’s a full house(and any straight flush besides a royal, for sure). But the PLO had all the regulars so I avoided the game this trip. Won 962 over 10 hours there. Would have been more but I had a set vs two guys with a diamond flush draw and it rivered. I got a table game promotion. You get dealt 10 cards and you make the best hand and get paid on that. I hit a flush and got 200 promo dollars(that I promptly lost every bet on in pai gow). I also saw Jim Gaffigan show. He made laugh, again and again. Ditching work tomorrow to play early Thursday. Last two weeks the players were bad so who knows?

Penguin Road Trip Part 2!

I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite a long time. For those of you who don’t know, Penguin Road Trip is the GF and I going to Pittsburgh to see a Penguins hockey game. This is usually proceeded or followed by a Penguins road game in the NY area. This is exactly what happened. On Sunday we saw Rangers at Penguins and then Tuesday it was Penguins at Devils. But let’s all discuss stuff in order.

I made a rare early Thursday trip since I had to leave Saturday morning to begin the trip to Pittsburgh. GF and I made a new friend at our Penguins Meetup Group and she very generously allowed us to not only stay at her house, but to drive with us there. She keeps an apartment in NYC for work and a home in Pittsburgh. So anyway, Foxwoods. Larry said Thursday evening games are really good. I played a little bit and won 132. Nothing special. I’m now doing the technique where you create a wall with your chips and you sneak looking at your cards with one hand. I like that technique. It gives away less tells I feel too.

This was the funny session. After eating I ended up playing 2-5 with Larry. I actually ended up stacking him. I limped 22 on the button after 3 callers. SB called. Larry makes it 35 in the big. It goes call, call, fold, then I call, Sb calls! Flop 724. Sb checks, Larry bets 130. TWO callers! I call...SB calls. I can’t fold but I think if you’re a good player you have to have set over set in your mind. Turn...2. A safe card lol. SB checks. Larry bets 135(with 200 behind btw). This is a terrible bet, and we ate in the lounge later and he admitted it. What is he possibly putting people on? So they all fold and I call. River is an 8 and Larry checks. I put him all in he calls. He thought I had 56 which is gross. He got upset at me but it’s part of the game. He said revenge would be his in plo8 lol

The next day we got the plo8 going. I did the card technique again and it helped me a lot.
I was protecting my checking range a ton on the river a ton and some people were like what are you doing? Well not only protecting the range but I’m also not inflating pots where I can have a
tough decision if they pot the river. This helped me out in a couple hands
because one time I had a nut flush draw and a gutter for nut straight and a player had a made straight and the board paired. I was OOP and checked, but it froze him. Then I made it on the river. Maybe he checks that turn anyway no matter what but maybe not. I also got quartered in a big hand but it could have been massive so I like it. So I won 816 in NL the previous session and 832 in plo8. Nice to win again. We played like an hour of pai gow after(Larry and I ) and he won 140 and I won 395.

So then the Pittsburgh part of the trip began. I got on the bus and got back to flushing at 8am. Too early, shoulda took the bus an hour later. I take an Uber directly after getting off the bus. Another mistake, should have ate breakfast first. So I’m supposed meet Heather(the new friend) and take a rental car with her. I was 45 mins early and it was freezing.  I go up a hill and luckily find a diner. I eat a couple egg sandwiches and go there at the meeting time. Her Uber goes the wrong  way and she’s 30 mins late. Uber GPS screwed up. I didn’t see the door to go in so I’m freezing. We eventually get the car and then to her apartment to pick up her dog. I like this dog. Very small and no barking. The dog liked me a lot.

We eventually picked up the GF at her house in NJ. Her dad tested Heather by saying she must be an Eagles fan since she was from Pittsburgh, but she said Steelers and passed. It was a fun ride. We took turns picking songs to play through the radio. I had lots of Lindsey Stirling and Amy MacDonald in there of course. Love those two. Heather is so nice that she allowed my other friend Taira to stay over. She lives in Ohio but is very close to Pittsburgh. Taira and I have an odd relationship. We met on a dating website. We spent a Vegas trip together for a full week after we just talked online and like once on the phone. There are times where I think she hates me immensely and other times where I think she’s a good friend. But 100% she thinks I’m a goofball, so I play that up by saying goofball things. She also REALLY likes to give me shit about stuff. I say or do something that is even slightly off she will call me out on it, so I make sure to be ridiculous. I’ve never had a friendship like this.

After we all got to Heathers house we had plans to meet Goblin the Bulldog and her owner. This dog is amazing. Her mom dresses her up in Pittsburgh stuff. It’s so cool. I’m also a GIGANTIC fan of bulldogs so after we went to Burgatory(if you’re in Pittsburgh you need to try their shakes) and we took it to Allegheny City Brewing. A nice beer spot that’s animal friendly. I played with and took pics  of Goblin and it was great.  I love that dog SO much. You can look up Goblin, The Bulldog on Facebook if you like. Shortly after that we went back to Heathers, chilled a while, and went to bed. I have been having some neck and shoulder issues lately so I couldn’t sleep with pillows. Luckily the bed was firm and my head was level. Earlier on we went to Target and got a Crosby jersey shirt.

The next day we went to the game. An early game, 1230. Tickets to Penguin games are pretty expensive, almost as much as Rangers ganes. But eventually found nice centered ones for 132 a piece. Heather didn’t go because she had business to do. She promised us she would go to the Devils game though. The Penguins won 6-5.  I got endless nachos in a souvenir helmet that was way too much for me. But I did get a nice  souvenir cup with it too. Took those home. After the game I got a Crosby jersey at 30% off. I was due for a new one. So Taira took us back to Heathers and then drive home. She hasn’t spoken to me since so maybe she’s mad at me.

Drive back to girlfriends was good. We went to Sheetz(which is a poor mans Wawa yet a rich mans 7-11) and got food for the trip back. Did the song thing again. It made a 6 hour trip  breeze by. Eventually got back to GFs and called it a night.

Next day was annoying. We saw Alita Battle Angel and I liked that a lot. GF thought it was iffy. We tried to see Isn’t it Romantic afterwards but  some old lady was on the floor after we get in there. I had to get a massage at 615 and clock was ticking even if it ended on time. Couldn’t take the delay so I complained and got a re-admittance ticket. It’s free money since I have A-List and see 3 free a week anyway at AMC. Maybe I’ll give it to my mom. Maybe. I got the massage. Unlike Foxwoods massages, this was a  medical massage. She tested my back and shoulder and gave me advice on how to get better. One key thing she said was to do Wall Angels. That shit strengthens and relieves my problem area of pain. You should YouTube them. They feel awesome and I’ve never heard of them. I gave her a 20 dollar tip like I do Fox ladies.

Tuesday was the Devils game. We met up with Heather and our friend Katie and our seats were only 66 bucks this time. Penguins won again. Other friends from the meetup group came over since the place was so empty. Shitty teams give good deals on tickets. So that’s really it.  Won tons of cash and the Penguins won twice. Fucking WONDERFUL Penguin Road Trip🐧🐧

Shes a Saint

So this one is the girlfriend trip. I’ve had experiences in the past where if you play virtually any poker at all while a girlfriend is there you’re either on the clock or already in trouble. My girlfriend doesn’t care. She likes to be with me. It’s awesome and insanely rare. So anyway we got there and I won 60 bucks on the bus coupons since I used hers too. Luckily the one green didn’t hit. After that I played pai gow for a few hours and lost like 730 bucks. She didn’t complain or get mad at me for losing. I told her that the goal is the diamond card and she understood.

The next day I played pai gow again and wasn’t aware it was triple tier until after the fact. I won like 120 bucks and earned like 600 tier points. I thought they just rated me really high. But no that helped me a lot. Played plo8 for like 13 hours and she watched me the whole time(of course we had a couple good breaks)! What other girl would do that? I just couldn’t get much going the whole time and lost 225. But only losing 225 while getting mostly unlucky is a sign of some talent for the game. I destroyed the Professor again which made it worthwhile. I actually broke even on the session because I took a break for mystery jackpot slots and to get points. I got the 225 back.

Saturday was kinda fun. Broke even in pai gow, ate Golden Dragon, and then saw the Aziz Ansari show and it was hilarious. There were like 4 comedians total and we had a great time. We missed the bus that we intended to take so I played some plo and won 425 in a high hour. So I really only lost about 275 cash and made about 1450 tier points. Wellll worth it. No house games until the March 8th triple tier day.

Shine bright like a diamond card

Blog is actually a few days late because I was on the bus with the girlfriend and I didn’t want her to see this. Gotta keep this shit separate. I actually have two trips to get to so let’s begin.

Remember that plan I had to play 1/2 a lot? Yeah, no. I played for 3 hours and lost 235. Hated my life during it. It’s a tilting level to lose at. But yeah that was annoying. Plo8 is becoming alarming to me. It started at 3 handed(without me). Dave and Larry and some rando. The tough pattern seems to be I lose early and then get it back when it gets short at night. Exactly what happened. This black guy Mike and I call The Professor jumped in and I killed him in most big pots. I mentioned that I beat him in heads up a month and I did it again. He was sitting next to Cancer Bruce and it was a comedy show since he never shuts the fuck up. So I won like 550. I’m almost a month and a half behind in newspapers so I might just bring 5 or so to the game every week.

I lost nearly all those winnings in 5 minutes the next day in 1/2. I missed a flush draw vs a checked set (my c-bet committed me after he check raised. 1/2 broke short stacker). Raised nines pre had to fold on a bad board. Then I picked up AA in position. AsAc, raised to 15 got 3 callers. Flop J54 all spades. Checked to me. I bet. One caller. Turn 5. I bet. Call. River A. Check. Shoved all in. Lady asked for a count. Then calls. Quad fives. She said nothing after I asked why she slow rolled. These people had no idea what the term meant. So I was done. I went upstairs and got it back in pai gow.

Speaking of that, I decided to go for diamond. I’m pretty close. I like the extra goodies that come with it. Bill Potts doesn’t think it’s worth it but I like them. I did a lot of bad things to get these tier points so I may as well go for it since I’m close. I found out the next triple tier day is March 8th so I need to hit that up before stating plo8.

I ended up playing some heads up plo8 Saturday. This guy may have been the most non-agressive person I’ve ever faced. I lost like 220 to him(20 in rake lol). Of course when I start beating him he “had to go” because of course they do. I’ll do the girlfriend trip blog tomorrow.