"You'll Read About it on the Blog!"

As I mentioned in one of my last two posts (or possibly both of them), I’ve been to Vegas twice since mid-April.  I’ve never told my stories in chronological order, so let’s start with the reason I went back there a second time, just at the end of May.

My long time poker/blogging pal Lightning organized a Poker Blogger (and readers) Meet Up Game for May 30.  This was to celebrate the return of retired blogger Josie to Vegas.  It’s been 10 years since I first met Josie in person in Vegas. At her insistence, she has her own personal label on this blog, so you can find it on the right side of the page and find all the blog posts that reference her. I think the prime motivation for her timing of this particular visit was to see Koalapete from down under again, who I first met on the same trip that I met Josie and have seen in Vegas a few times since.  Josie was coming to Vegas with her long time pal Gary, aka The Crafty Southpaw (The link is to his seemingly defunct blog, even tho he hasn’t posted in over four years, but you see, Gary is not on Twitter)  My recollection is that when I burst upon the blogging scene, some 11 years ago, Gary was the first person to add my fledgling little blog to his blogroll, and I am forever grateful for that.

I wanted to see all those wonderful folks again, and I wanted to finally meet Gary, who always struck me as a great guy from his blog.  So I had no choice but to head up to Vegas just a few weeks after I’d returned from there.  Lightning, enterprising fellow that he is, did a blog post about the game and soon everyone wanted to attend! 

The location was the fairly new Sahara poker room, which I had never been in since the hotel underwent about 17 ownership and name changes.  It is a small room and is sadly short of players too much of the time, so I could never find a game there during my last trip.  Since it was quiet and the manager over there is a good guy, Lightning figured it would be a good place for a private game (or two), and he was right

I was surprised to see Mr. Ben, but then I shouldn’t have been. Ben lives in England, but despite that, of all the bloggers I’ve met in Vegas, I’ve probably run into him the most.  It’s like he’s always in Vegas when I go.  He is a good guy, and it is always a pleasure to toss cards with him. I don’t believe he made a special effort to show up in Vegas for the game, but like I said, he’s in Vegas a lot.

Josie greeted me with the traditional ass grab, or at least that’s what she tweeted.  In reality there was a big hug but no ass grab.  I don’t think anyone else hugged me, and I’m not complaining about that. 

By the time we started, there were enough for two tables, and I think a third table of mixed games broke out at one point.  We drew for seats, and at the “main table” I got seat 8, sitting between Ben in Seat 9 and Lightning in seat 7.  In seat 6 was Luke Johnston, not a blogger but a long time twitter pal to most of us, and a former dealer at both Sahara and the WSOP.  Blogger and twitterer Mr. Subliminal claimed seat 4.  He lives in Vegas and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him several times before.  Usually he is sitting next to me at the Wynn and after about an hour and a half he finally gets around to telling me who he is since I apparently suck at matching names and faces.  This time I recognized him!

Seat 5 was taken by Joseph W, aka Hockey_Poker who I only recently started following on Twitter but is a prolific poker player and, I guess, a hockey fan.  By strange coincidence, I met Joe for the first time earlier that same day.  You see Lightning, Koala and I had lunch at the Cafe at South Point, and afterward, I wanted to check out the tournament area they had for their summer series.  I was kibbitzing with one of the dealers there I know (it was Mike, ex of the MGM) and somehow, even though we had never met, Joe figured out I was Rob or perhaps I figured out that he was the hockey poker guy.  I have no idea who first realized who the other one was.  But I did recognize him when he showed up at the MUG game and took seat 5.

Gary, Koala and Josie took seats 1,2,3 respectively.

It was a really fun game, but we were surprisingly restrained, and not nearly loud enough to justify having the room to ourselves. But we were laughing all the way through.  A few of the Sahara dealers were having fun knowing it was a big group of friends and were making as many jokes as we were.  Sadly though, as much fun as we were having, I didn’t catch a lot of “blogging material” type comments and I didn’t catch a single “woman said.”  That’s probably because Josie was so far away from me it was pretty hard to hear most of what she was saying.   Same for Gary & Koala (tho I wasn’t expecting any “woman saids” from them).  And after a couple of hours Josie switched tables so she could play with the one and only Tony Bigcharles  (he needs no introduction) who responded to Josie’s many pleas on twitter that he come down from Reno to play in the game.  Another twitterer who needs no introduction, Alysia Chang was also at that table.  There may have been some other people at that table that I knew or should have known but I can’t recall.  Sorry.

So….the poker.  The very first hand I was dealt pocket 6’s on the button.  Instead of facing a raise, a re-raise and a 4-bet, as you might expect from a game like this, it folded to me.  I have to raise there, right?  I made it only $8, but the blinds folded.  Can’t win them all if you don’t win the first, right?

Later, with King-Jack of spades I limped in and Ben, acting next, raised to $11.  It was four-way and the flop was Jack-high. I checked, Ben checked and the rest checked as well.  On a blank turn Josie bet $15 and I called, heads up.  There was no betting on a blank river and I claimed the pot, beating Josie’s pocket 8’s. 

I got pocket Aces and before it got to me, Joe made it $11. After a couple of folds, I made it $33.  Joe called, we were heads up. The flop was Ace-high but two spades.  I bet $35 and Joe called.  There was another spade on the turn and we both checked.  A Queen on the river put four to Broadway out there, in addition to the possible flush.  When Joe bet $45, I tanked for awhile, but the board was too scary to raise.  I just called.  Turned out that Joe had rivered a set of Queens. Set over set is always nice if you have the bigger set, but Joe didn’t have that set til the last card.

I limped with 9-7 clubs.  The flop had two clubs so I called Josie’s $15 bet.  Heads up, no more betting.  The final board had two jacks and a third club hit the river.  I didn’t bet it because my flush was low and the board was paired, but I won the pot.

I didn’t write down the details but I lost a pretty big pot when I rivered the bottom end of the straight with a Jack in my hand.  However Lightning had King-Jack and won with a bigger straight. I was kind of chasing the gut shot all the way through and just needed a King to get it.  Instead, an 8 gave me the bottom end, so I called off on the river only to see Lightning’s bigger straight.

As I noted, Josie moved to the other table and was replaced by a fellow named Gabriel.  I’m not sure if or how I know him, but he was apparently part of our group and was a good guy.  Anyway, he opened this hand to $10, and before it got to me, Luke called the $10.  And I looked down at the dreaded Pocket Kings!  Well, now, what do I do here?  I believe Gabriel had a lot of chips and I was thinking, “here goes my stack.”  Nevertheless, I did indeed three-bet.  Not sure why I bet a little bigger than I ordinarily would have, but I made it $50.

Everyone folded and of course, I mean of course, I had to show the Kings. I figured almost everyone there knew of my perpetual problems with that hand.  So I showed my hand and everyone reacted.  At least a few people, including Gary I specifically recall, shouted “Dreaded” or “the dreaded hand” or “Dreaded pocket Kings.”  I have to admit, it warmed my heart a little!

Luke had left and been replaced by someone not of our group.  And this new player was acting like he really didn’t know what he was doing, like he had never played poker before.  I had pocket Queens and this newbie had opened to $6 in front of me.  Lightning called.  I was thinking about raising but I got caught up in thinking this newbie was so quirky and so unpredictable I should play it safe and just call.  The flop was K-Q-X.  The newbie checked, Lightning bet $8.  I made it $25.  The newbie folded and Lightning tanked. He talked about trying to get a read on me.  Finally, reluctantly, he folded.  I told him, “You can read about what I had on my blog post!”  I didn’t show.  But I believe I texted him what I had just to be a nice guy.  I think he folded a King with a weak kicker.

I had pocket 9’s in the big blind and Gary opened to $12, a few others were in the hand.  My 9’s were an overpair.  I really don’t remember the betting action but on the river, with the 9’s still an overpair, Ben took a stab at it with a $25 bet and I called.  He said, “Well you won, I have nothing.”

Now, my good buddy Don had arrived and took over Joe’s spot in the center of the table.  He opened the pot for I don’t know how much and I called with Ace-10 of hearts.  I didn’t accurately record the betting action, but there was an Ace on the flop and I called Don’s c-bet.  Another Ace on the turn. I think I called but I may have bet, can’t recall.  I do recall the river, it was a 10. Yahtzee!  Kaola was in the hand too and he led out for $25.  Don tanked a long, long time..I had the nuts so it was just a matter of how much I was gonna raise if he did call (if he had raised, I would have shoved).  But eventually he folded.  So I put out $75 and now it was Kaola’s turn in the tank.  He thought a long, long time, talking through the hand.  I suspect if he didn’t know me, a call would have been easier.  But eventually he folded.  I shouted over to him, “You’ll read about it in the blog!”  However, after we were done playing I did tell him I had the boat.  He told me had pocket Queens.

Eventually a good chunk of us got up to move on.  I had played 4-½ hours. My longest poker session by far since the 2020 lockdown.  There was a lot of nice conversation after we were done playing too.  I did get to chat with both Alysia and Tony who were at the other table the whole time (or maybe they were at the mixed game that sprung up, I know Alysia was).  Alysia and I compared our results for the night, she won a buck or two, I recovered from down over $100 to book like a $7 loss.  Tony was really interested in learning about the re-opened and re-located poker room in Ventura.  I answered all his questions, and I must admit I have been remiss in not discussing the new room here on the blog. I hope to rectify that soon.  I have no idea why Tony is so interested in the Ventura poker room though.  It’s not like it is practical for him to play there.  Now that it is right on the beach I’m sure there is no lodging anywhere near there that he could afford.  I’m not sure there is lodging near there that that Elon Musk could afford.

The goodbyes were turning out to be long, most of us were through playing, and when I left I thought everyone would soon join me in departing but that was not the case.  I got texts from both Lightning and Don that I missed a big time brouhaha.  It was at the other table, not the one Lightning, Don and I were playing at.  Don was still playing and Lightning was just chitchatting.  But apparently a drunk guy gave another player a “beer shower” (and got beer all over the table) and then took a swing at the same guy, but the guy successfully ducked the punch.  He fled, but I think I heard that security caught up with him, and the victim was hanging around because he wanted to press charges.  I hope that in Lightning’s version of this night, which I’m sure is coming soon, will give more details on this epic skirmish.

It was really great meeting old friends, making new ones, and just bullshitting and playing poker with a great bunch of folks.

I saw we do it again, soon, what do you say?

Very funny dealer (Tom, maybe?), Gary, Kaolapete, Josie, Mr. Subliminal

Joe (Hockey_Poker), Luke, Josie, Lightning, Mr. Ben, yours truly.

California Poker--Inside & Out

Since I’ve last blogged. I’ve actually played poker. Live poker.  Twice, in fact.

Now the last time I’d played previously was in October at the Bike and I reported this to you here. I didn’t return, and if you read that post you’ll understand why. I especially hated the use of porta-potties instead of the virtually brand new restrooms they had just inside the facility.  Then colder weather came, and then the state put us back in total lockdown early in December for a few months.  They closed card rooms, indoor dining and they even banned outdoor dining.

Sometime earlier this year, not sure when, they opened up a bit.  Outdoor dining was allowed, then even the card rooms could open for outdoor gaming. I resisted going back because of the cooler weather and because I didn’t like the restroom situation.  However, L.A. county did finally ok indoor dining (25% capacity), at which time I saw The Bike promoting the fact that they were now offering indoor dining in a couple of their eateries.  I assumed that meant the inside restrooms would be open.  Perhaps it was worth a trip down there.

So three weeks ago, on a Saturday, I went down to the Bike. I was right, you could now enter the building to either eat or use the facilities, but the main purpose of the Bike, to play games of skill and chance, was still relegated to outside.

One new thing was that you had to have your ID scanned in order to enter the property.  I assume that they want to track everyone who was there in case they get some kind of COVID outbreak. (In case you have forgotten, I received my second vaccination in early March, see here).

It was a fine day weather wise and the outdoor nature of the game was not an issue on this day.  I used the PokerAtlas app to get on the waiting list and didn’t have to wait too long for them to open a new game for me and seven other alleged poker players.

It was my usual game, 2/3 NLH, $100-$300. The tables were filled with plexiglass, and it seemed to me that there was more plexiglass than I remembered.  The tables were 8-handed, and sitting in one of the two center seats, across for the dealer, seemed cramped. Oh, I had plenty of legroom, but both my arms were butted up against the side plexiglass for my spot pretty much the whole time.  I had heard that during the original lockdown, the Bike had ordered new, larger tables to accommodate social distancing.  Still, I was cramped, eight-handed.  

Masks are required at all times, this is a statewide mandate.  Masks are required whenever you leave your house, inside and out. Technically, I am not allowed to walk the few yards to my mailbox without wearing a mask. And you are not allowed to eat, or drink, at the table.  Can’t even have a capped water bottle that you keep closed and sip occasionally.  That is strictly against the rules.  Again, this is a government mandate, not the Bike’s. 

One thing I will say, playing poker in these conditions is a lot less fun than pre-COVID.  Between the masks and the plexiglass, conversation is virtually non-existent. One of the reasons I switched to poker from table games long, long ago was that poker was such a social game. And it’s conversations at the poker table that result in my best blog stories.  No more.  In two sessions, virtually no one said a word. And it was very difficult to hear anyone, especially the dealers, most of whom had heavy duty masks and face shields.  I had to be very careful to make sure I totally understood what the dealer was saying before acting.

Once I started playing, I felt rather rusty.  It had been so long since I’d played regularly that I forgot how to play to some degree.  Of course I knew the rules, I just didn’t feel I had the right strategy or the right at-the-ready experience for any situation that might come up. I can hear some of you saying, “he never knew how to play anyway!”

I was card dead, which because of my rustiness, was fine by me.  I wanted to get back into it gradually and the garbage hands I was chucking hand after hand made that easy to do.

At the end, it seemed like I only played two hands, the only two pocket pairs I got.  One was Aces and one was Kings.  I won with one and lost with the other.  If you need me to tell you which is which, then this must be your first time reading the blog. But I think I suffered because of inexperience.  Well, inexperience with the Aces.  Maybe I just was spooked by the dreaded pocket Kings.  I guess it’s still me, rusty or not.

I had played nearly an hour and probably hadn’t played any hands but the blinds.  I got two Aces and a guy in front of me raised to $11. I made it $28 and it folded back to the original raiser, who made it $54.  I didn’t think too much (dumb), I just took a $100 stack of reds and put it out there next to my $28.  I should have raised more.  This time he just called. 

Like the time I played in October, this wasn’t the typical Bike game I recalled from when I played there regularly years back.  There was no wild action.  It was actually nitty.  No one was out of line. So when he four-bet me, I was sure he had a real premium hand. Like pocket Kings. Maybe Queens. Or Ace-King. Nothing else. Especially since this guy had been at the table as long as I had and he probably saw that my three-bet was my first raise, and really, my first voluntary bet of any kind. He had to know I had a big hand.

So when the flop was King-high, dry and rainbow, I panicked.  I assumed he had just hit a set of Kings.  Well, I didn’t assume it but I was sure worried about it. When he checked I worried he was setting a trap, so I checked behind.  A brick on the turn and again, it went check, check.  Same thing on the river.  My lack of recent playing experience cost me. Of course I should have realized he wouldn’t play a set of Kings like that. Maybe he’d check the flop, but he’d come out firing on the turn. I needed more practice.

I said, “I guess you don’t have Kings?” as I showed my Aces.  He hesitated for a bit and then showed his pocket Jacks quickly before mucking them.

I’d like to think if I’d been playing poker regularly for the past year I would have played that better, and maybe gotten some more money from him. On the other hand, he might not have called any bets with that King out there, the same King that freaked me out.

The only other time I raised was a bit later when I got the pocket Kings myself in early position.  I opened to $15 (which was actually on the high side for this table, that’s how unBikelike it was).  I had two callers. The flop was Jack-high, I bet $25, one caller.  The turn was another Jack.  I checked. He bet $55.  

It was me. It was pocket Kings. It was my first poker session in over five months.  I couldn’t shake the feeling he had a Jack. A Jack was certainly in his range, right?  Ace-Jack, King-Jack, etc?  I didn’t trust any other read I could come up with, so I folded.  I think it is most likely I made a bad fold, but I’ll never know.  Again, I couldn’t remember how to play, but I could remember how many times Kings have cost me dearly.  Oh well.

I really couldn’t play longer than two hours. I find it even more annoying wearing a mask while sitting down and playing poker than I do when I am shopping at Walmarts. Also, the lack of water was really tough on me. I have a dry mouth problem, I can’t go that long without some liquid. I had smuggled in a couple of tiny bottles of water but I would have had to have left the area, with my jacket, in order to get to it.  I just cashed out and drank one of the bottles of water on the long hike to my car.

I was able to book a $75 win thanks to those Aces, at least.

Two Saturdays later, just the other day, I returned to the Bike. I had noticed they were now offering indoor gaming. L.A. county had progressed to where indoor dining was now up to 50% capacity, not 25%, and this meant that card rooms could have some indoor tables, if they were properly spaced out. I assumed that there was no way there would be room for all of the Bike’s games inside, and that it would be a mix of indoor and outdoor. I assumed the tables games, where they make their big bucks, would be the first allowed indoors, followed by the huge buy-in poker games. My crummy little 2/3 game would be the last to get inside.  

So imagine my surprise when I got there and the outdoor area where I had played just two weeks ago had been turned back into the driveway for the valet parking.  Yes, all the games were now inside, including all the poker.  Now, some of the outside areas that were now deserted looked like they could still be used for gaming if they got super-busy, but basically, the Bike is like it was pre-lockdown. The tables were a little farther apart, but not really all that much. I’m sure their setup had to be blessed by the county health officials, who of course, always know what they are doing. Of course, there was still no eating/drinking at the table, all of which still had  plexiglass. Masks of course were still mandatory.

Now it happened that the weather this Saturday was particularly picture perfect, even by Southern California standards.  Playing outside this day would have been pretty damn nice. Still, it was good to see the progress we are making that we could play poker inside, like civilized human beings.

One thing that seemed to be worse inside than outside was the plexiglass.  The fluorescent lighting indoors reflected horribly off the plexiglass, making it even harder to see. I was sitting next to the dealer, normally a great seat from me to see from, and had trouble reading the board.  Another player on the other side of the table had to constantly ask the dealer to read the board to him, and sometimes she slid the cards right in front of him. And this guy was a lot younger than me, and wasn’t even wearing glasses (though I suppose he might have had contact lenses).

I was a little less card dead this session, but that didn’t work out to my benefit. Won a small pot with Ace-9 off in the big blind. I opened to $15 with Ace-Queen suited from UTG+1 but didn’t get a call.

Then I ran up against a guy who reminded me of Mr. Subliminal. He probably didn’t look anything like Mr. S, but I never remember what Mr. S looks like when I do run into him, and for some reason that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this guy.

I guess out of boredom I limped with Ace-5 of hearts.  It was 4 or 5 way. The flop was Queen-Jack-10, one heart.  With a gutshot and the back door flush draw, I called Not Mr. Subliminal’s bet of $20, we were heads up.  No bet on the turn, a brick.  Another brick on the river, he bet $20.  I honestly thought my Ace might be good, he had made a few other river bets (that didn’t get called) that I suspected might be bluffs. Ace-high is a bluff catcher, right?  I called but he showed me a 10.

Then the hand that really stuck in my craw, against the same guy. I had pocket Queens UTG and made it $15. Only this guy called.  The flop was 10-9-3, rainbow. I led out for $25, and after thinking for a bit, he went all-in!  He had over $220 and I had him covered, but barely. I tanked.

It wasn’t a draw heavy board. Would he play a set that way?  I didn’t think so, that would be bad play. I mean, I hadn’t played like a guy who would raise with Queen-Jack under the gun. He might have had the draw himself, I suppose, and was making a semi-bluff.  One way or the other, I felt I was probably ahead. He couldn’t play a set that badly, could he?  Well, I never convinced myself that he could have, but I couldn’t convince myself that he didn’t have a set, either.  Would he play two pair like that? Maybe?  Anyway, again, I will blame my rustiness, but I just couldn’t find the call in me. I folded. Pretty sure I made a bad fold, but I’ll never know.

Inside, I was able to last a full two and a half hours with the damn mask and no water, but I had to call it a day down $125. But I suspect I’ll start spending more and more Saturday afternoons playing some poker, our government lords and masters willing.

Back to the Bike....Sort of

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw that I retweeted announcements from The Bike and Commerce (and other L.A. area-rooms) that they were re-opening at long last—for outdoor gaming.  The state of CA still won't allow indoor casinos open, but they are ok with gambling if you want to play outside.  But it took awhile, because in addition to the Governor, there was another group of dictators standing in the way.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.  So while in San Diego and parts of northern California, outdoor casinos were approved, L.A. said no to even outdoor gaming.

This all changed on October 5 when the Supervisors deigned to allow the local casinos to reopen as long as the games were outside.  That's when the Bike and Commerce reopened their poker "rooms" and their other games of chance.  In California still, only Indian casinos (as I explained here) can deal games inside a building.

Outdoor poker, on its face, sounds rather ridiculous to me.  I mean, there's such a thing as weather.  My first thought was, "What if it's windy?"  Here comes the flop…..and there goes the flop!  Gone with the wind.  And even though there is no better place weather wise to try to play outdoors than Southern California, we do get occasional rain, extreme heat, extreme cold, in addition to the wind.  OK, the extreme cold part may be a stretch, but when you have lived in Southern CA most of your life, you think anything under 70 degrees is extreme cold.

But I had to check it out.  It was still hot when the rooms opened, as we are known for hot early autumns.  I figured if I was going to check it out, I'd best get down there before the weather changed.

So the first Saturday I could (Oct. 10), I planned on seeing what it was all about and if nothing else, get a blog post out of it.  If you are wondering about my little Ventura room, well Ventura is in a different county and they were not opening.  I subsequently saw on their website they planned to re-open on a limited basis beginning Oct. 13.  But later I learned that they only opened for table games, and are not currently spreading poker.  Also, believe it or not, the other L.A. county "poker rooms" that opened, Hollywood Park Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, etc, only opened for table games.  I believe this has to do with the insane rules the state and the county put in place for offering games even outdoors.

Anyway, lucky for me, the Bike uses PokerAtlas's Table Captain software instead of Bravo (As you know, I work for PokerAtlas).  Not only could I see how busy the newly re-opened Bike was (answer: very) but I could add my name to the waiting list for the game(s) I wanted long before I arrived at the Bike.  I mean through the software, through the PokerAtlas app.  I had noticed that the lists for the 2/3 game I played had been ridiculously long since opening.  Of course one of the reasons is that they could not have nearly as many games outside as they could in the casino, where they have close to 200 poker tables.  What was weird, though, was that they had five 2/3 games running and there were still like 40-60 plus names waiting. 

That was strange because back when I was a playing at the Bike fairly regularly on Saturday afternoons, there were never more than three 2/3 games running and never more than 10 players waiting to get in.  My only guess was that they were running fewer bigger games or mixed games, and therefore the players who would normally be playing bigger or mixed games were stuck playing down to 2/3.  Or that there was just such a pent up demand for live poker that everyone was coming out of the woodwork to play.

I checked with a PokerAtlas colleague about how getting on the waitlist from the app worked. The ability to add your name to a list from the app is only an option, some rooms use the software and don't allow players to do that.  Turns out Bike only allows it for the "Plaza Games"—which are the so-called bigger games.  The 2/3 I play is the smallest game they consider a Plaza game so I could add my name to the list long before I got there.

Before I left my house Saturday morning, I checked Google Maps and got a break when it told me it would only take 39 minutes to get there.  That meant that there was clear traffic, no real delays.  I guess that is one of the pluses of the state being in lockdown.  On the average October Saturday, in order to get to the Bike I would frequently run into traffic from a UCLA or USC home football game (or both), and/or a Dodgers playoff/World Series game.  Nothing like that on this Saturday.  And still, no one was driving to a restaurant to eat!

So before pulling out of my garage, I registered for the 2/3 game.  There were five games running (this was before noon) and I was around 46th on the list!  Yikes.  Pretty sure I could get there before hitting the top of the list.  Only issue was that they would only keep me on that list for one-hour. If I didn't show up within an hour, I'd be taken off the list and have to start fresh at the bottom when I arrived.  I knew if that happened, I'd never get into a game this day.

The app has a neat timer that appears right on your phone so you can see how much time you have to report in before you will be zapped from the wait list.  Traffic was a bit worse than Google anticipated, so by the time I hit the Bike parking lot I only had 7 minutes to report in to stay on the list.  By now I had moved up only to #34 on the list.  Ugh.  OTOH…..there were now over 70 names total on that list.

My guess had been that the outdoor gaming would be in the parking lot.  But that was incorrect. I didn't see any poker tables in the lot.  I did see a few temporary signs with arrows pointing to the "casino."  It turned out that I had parked a long ways away from the actual tables.  I didn't have time to repark, I needed to get to the casino post haste to check in (or so I thought).  So I walked with great alacrity to try to find the casino.

Whew.  It was a long walk.  Turned out that the gaming area was in the very front of the casino/hotel (the parking lot is in the back), basically where the valet parking / front entrance to the hotel is.  By the time I got to the casino area, I had walked so far and so fast I was sweating profusely.  This, despite the fact that the weather had changed.  This was the first cool day in L.A. in many months.  It was actually pleasant, not hot.  Cool, but not cold.  It was actually perfect weather for being outside. 

But at the pace I was walking to get there "in time," I was soaked with sweat from that walk.  Wearing the mask that is of course required didn't help. Nothing worse than a sweaty mask.

I had to get thru the temperature check and get a wrist band that would allow me to travel thru the various gaming areas.  Then I tried to find someone to check in with.  But I looked at the app again—I was only at #34 on the waitlist—and it had a button to press to check in.  So I could check in on the phone. I didn't know that.  I didn't have to rush.  I hit the button and explored the layout.

Where the poker area was looked to be at the very front, where the valet driveway would have been.  The cement was covered with some kind of astroturf.  There was some kind of temporary covering overhead, not a tent, but something a bit more solid I guess.  There was an electronic waitlist board.  And poker tables.

One of the rules was that there was no eating or drinking at the table.  There were a few dining tables up against the building, but how you got served I never learned.  There was also a coffee place near there, but they had no soft drinks and no real food (maybe some pastries?).  Eventually I asked if they even had bottled water but they did not, but they did give me a cup of ice water.

There were some banquet chairs in a couple of spots outside of the poker tables for waiting.  There were also a few tables a bit away that you could eat or drink at if you somehow had something to eat.  I eventually sat over there so I could pull my sweaty mask down and drink the water but that area allowed smoking so that was annoying.

I asked where the restrooms were and got a real shock.  They pointed over there….outside.  The only available restrooms were porta-potties!  In L.A., they are referred to as "Andy Gumps."  Ugh.  Seriously?  The hotel is open, there are nice restrooms inside and we have to use damn porta-potties?

Well, I had no choice.  Gulp. Well, ok, it wasn't my worst nightmare but come on, who wants to use one of those things?  There was no running water either.  There were some kind of portable hand-washing stations outside the potties.  The was a sign on them that said "Please don't drink this water."  Hmm….I mean if the water is unsafe to drink, what is it doing to my hands?  And remember, in the Covid age, hand washing is most important.  There was also of course a lot of hand sanitizer available.

It occurred to me that the diseases one could contract from one of those porta-potties are likely much more deadly than Covid. Yikes.

What I found out about this was that the first day they opened, they were allowing guests to go instead the hotel to use the facilities inside.  But the state (or maybe it was the county) told them no, they couldn't do that.  They were ordered to get the porta-potties. No one was allowed to use the inside facilities. So the government thinks it's fine if you get sick from dysentery as long as you don't get Covid.  Makes sense.

Anyway, hanging out outside with only a cup of ice water was pretty unpleasant.  I decide I would wait no more than 90-minutes, and if at that time, I wasn't real close to the top of the list I would just give up and call it a day.  I mean if I wanted to sit down, it was either in the poker area with my sweaty mask on or in the smoking area with smokers.  I figured 90-minutes was all I could take.  And I reasoned that I didn't want to stay long enough to have to use those Andy Gumps more than one more time.  Ugh.

So after about an hour, while I was sipping on my ice water with my mask pulled down in the smoking area, I checked the list on my phone and I was now #30.  I was pretty much writing off getting to play.  I figured I would stay with my original plan and go to 1-1/2 hours.  Maybe the list would start moving faster?  By the way, at one point when I was walking around I saw a sign saying they were not currently taking names for the waiting list, there was no available space on them!  This was for every poker game, not just my game!  Think about what kind of business the Bike could have been doing if only they were allowed to use that beautiful, newly remodeled casino they just spent millions sprucing up only a few years ago.

But a few seconds after I put my phone back in its holster, I heard a beep and looked at my phone again.  It was a text from PokerAtlas telling me my seat was ready!  I wasn't about to ask why it still showed me #30 on the waiting list.  I rushed my ass over there and tried to find a floor person to tell I was being paged to a game.

I found a guy and told him about the message.  I was prepared to pull out my phone and show him the text but he didn't question me at all.  He just asked me what game it was and took me over to the area where the 2/3 games were running.  It looked like they were about to find another player for an open seat they had when the guy I was talking to said I had gotten a text and the seat was mine.  As it turned out, this was all on the honor system!  I never proved that I had gotten the text and they never went over to their list or the board to clear my name.  They never asked my name!    But they let me have the seat.  If only I had known it was that easy, I could have cut in way ahead of everyone!  But I did nothing wrong.

I ran this by my boss a few days later and got her best guess as to what happened.  Either the folks at the Bike screwed up and paged me in error, or maybe since, as I witnessed, they weren't clearing names, I really was next up, and the list just wasn't being kept up.  Because for the entire time I was playing at the table, I kept checking and saw my name still on the list, slowing moving up, and after another hour and a quarter I finally heard them call my name for a seat!  So I dunno what happened but if I had waited to be actually called, I would have left before that and never played.

I waited for them to sanitize my seating area, which they promptly did whenever there was a new player or a seat change or a table change.  As I mentioned, you were not allowed to eat or drink at the table, so that for me, is a bit tough (I tend to have a dry mouth that I need to keep lubricated). But at least it had been so long that I had stopped sweating.  But the mask does also tend to make my face itch, so I had to leave the table periodically so I could step outside and pull down my mask (after using some hand sanitizer) to scratch my nose or mouth.  Fortunately my seat was near the area completely unprotected by a temporary ceiling so I could step "outside" and pull down the mask within a few seconds.

The table was 8-handed and there were plexiglass dividers.  There were no electronics connected, so it was manual shuffle and—there was no way to clock in for comps!  The Table Capt system is great for keeping track of player comps but it does require electricity.  It didn't bother me for this one time but if I was going to make a regular habit of this (I'm not), it would be a pisser.

Once I started playing, I was immediately reminded of why I stopped going down to the Bike.  The players drove me nuts.  Not by the way they played, but by the fact that they didn't play. They walked around.  A lot.  The guy next to me got up almost every third hand to go over to a blackjack table to check in on his friend.  Everybody was getting up every few hands to wander around, look for a better game or whatever.  Even I got up more than I usually would to go "outside" to scratch under my mask. Despite the huge waiting lists, seldom were all eight hands actually dealt.  I was instantly reminded of how annoying I always found that about the Bike.

But when they did play, it wasn't the same old loose-aggressive players that I remembered.  The action was fairly tame.  Surprisingly so. I saw almost no crazy moves the entire time I was playing.  It was strange.  I had gone in thinking that players used to bigger games were playing down to 2/3, but this did not appear to be the case at all.  Maybe it was just my table, or maybe people who haven't been playing lately just wanted to ease into it.

I bought in for the $300 max. Early on I was in the big blind with Queen-7 off. There was no raise so four of us saw a Queen-Queen-Jack flop.  I bet $10 and didn't get a call.

Then of course, of course, I got the dreaded pocket Kings.  I opened to $15 and only got one call, the lone female at the table.  The fact that I only got one call shows you that this was not a typical Bike game. The flop was Jack-8-x and I bet $25; she called.  Another Jack on the flop.  Hmm….I figured she probably had a Jack.  I checked, she bet $50.  Oh well, I figured there was no way I could get felted with pocket Kings if I didn't call, so I called.  The river was a blank, I checked but so did she.  I showed my hand and she just mucked.  Winning with pocket Kings!  If that is the new normal, I'm on board.

I got pocket Aces and opened to $15.  No one called.  Again, proof that this isn't the old Bike!  I won a whopping $4 because they take a buck for the jackpot drop.

I got King-Queen of diamonds utg+1.  I opened to $15 and got one call.  The flop was Jack-high, two diamonds, I bet $20, he made it $55.  I called.  The turn was a King and I checked, he checked back.  There was a Queen on the river, I bet $50 but didn't get a call.

I had pocket deuces on the button and called $10.  This time it was five-way.  The flop was Jack-high and it checked around.  The turn was a blank and it checked around again.  The river was another blank.  This time, the guy first to act put out $17 and it folded to me.  I figured if the guy had a Jack he would have bet the flop.  So I smelled a bluff, though of course if he paired anything on the board or had a low pocket pair he had me beat.  I shrugged and called.  He just mucked without showing.  I guess I still have a little card sense.

Futzing with that damn mask was really getting to me.  Why do we need a mask if we are outside again?  I had played enough, and was up a nice $140, so I decided to call it a day.

It was nice playing poker again.  Am I going to go back to play at the Bike in this outdoor set up?  Not very likely.  Not as long as the only restrooms are those damn porta-potties.  No thanks.  It's too bad, because otherwise it's not bad (assuming nice weather).

Sadly, the young lady above was not at the Bike on this day.  This a pic of a woman who won a tournament at the South Point (in Vegas) recently.  This was posted on their Twitter account.  I dunno who the young lady is, but it would be great if I ran into her at the Bike one day, wouldn't you agree?  She sure knows how to dress for poker. By that I mean, notice how she is wearing her mask.

I Played Live Poker....Seriously! (Part 2)

The Dreaded Pocket Whats? (Part 2 of 2)

Part 1 is here and we pick up right as I enter the Morongo poker room. I asked about the games.  The electronic waitlist was on display in the casino right above the sign that said "poker room." There were long lists for all the games.  Most of the games had lists longer than the board allowed for names.  There were like 25-35 names for each game.  I did notice that names at the top of each list that had the phrase "called in" after them.  Good to know that they accepted call ins.  I did forget to ask how long they keep the names on the list if you call in.

They had one table each of 1/2 ($40-$100), 1/3 ($100-$300), 5/10 ($500-$3K) and 3/6 limit with a kill ($30 min).  There were two tables of 2/5 ($200-$500).  There was also an interest list for 4/8 limit.  Why they kept that, I dunno.  With those long lists and their obviously inability to open a new table, there was no chance any of the existing games would break so that they could start that 4/8 game.  There might also have been some kind of Omaha game running, at this point, I can't quite recall.  The guy at the podium told me they were limited to 8 tables at this point.  I think maybe I saw a semi-private room that might have had a bigger game going, not sure.  All I knew for sure was that they were not able to open any more tables despite the long lists.

I was pretty much prepared for this.  I knew I'd have a long wait, and I knew that in order to increase my chances of playing any poker this day I had to get my name on as many lists as possible.  The guy told me I could put my name on multiple lists, and if I was in one game, I could stay on the list of the other games and move if called there.

So I put my name on the lists for 1/2, 1/3, 2/5 and the 3/6 limit game.  The 3/6 game was somewhat pointless.  Although that list was only like 20-25 names I think, with only one table I didn't think there was any chance I'd get called any time within three hours.  Limit players tend to last longer than no-limit players.

The two longest lists were the 1/2 and the 1/3, both were like 30+.  I didn't think there was any chance of me getting into either one.  Maybe the 1/3 (the one I wanted) because it was actually shorter. Yes, more people wanted to play 1/2 at $40-$100 than 1/3 at $100-$300.  This is Southern CA.  I don't get it either.  By the way, I asked and they have absolutely no promos or bonuses during the weekend (weekdays only).  Also there are no comps!  So no need for me to even bother getting a player's card. 

I have been told that the reason players at Bike and Commerce play those $40 buy-in no-limit games is that they are just playing for the bad beat jackpot and trying to hit it for cheap.  But in this room, on the weekend, there was no point in that, you were playing $40-$100 NLH for some other reason.  Most likely, stupidity (or maybe, to be fair, you have a really good short stack game). Also it means I was getting ripped off, since they did take a jackpot rake of a buck a pot while I played, and I had exactly zero chance of getting any of that money back (just slightly less chance than I normally have). For this I blame, of course, Emperor Newsom.

My best shot at getting into any game was the 2/5 game.  Not only was it the only game with two tables running, but the list was the shortest one (other than the 5/10 game). I think it had about 17 players in front of me, and the top three were listed as "called in" so they might not even show up.

When I had decided to head over there, I knew there was a possibility that my best shot at poker would be the 2/5 game, which as you know I really don't play.  I have played 2/5 a couple of times in Vegas. And of course, I was out of practice, not having played poker of any kind in nearly six months. I had a plan for this.  I was going to buy in for the $200 minimum and play three times as tight as I normally play. In other words, I would wait for pocket Aces and otherwise fold every hand I was dealt.

In fact, I texted my buddy Lightning that I was at Morongo and would likely have to play 2/5 or leave without playing a hand of poker. He told me that 2/5 is a very different game than 1/2 or 1/3.  I said, "I'll buy in for the minimum and only play Aces.  Definitely not Kings."

So I got on the four lists, gave him my cel number, and took off.  I was told I had to leave the poker room.  There was no waiting in the poker room—again, social distancing—I had to wait outside the room.  When my table was ready, I'd get a text, and I'd have 10 minutes to get back to the room to claim my seat.  OK.

I checked out the casino.  I noticed there was a little casual eatery near the poker room, it was packed.  But imagine, a place where you could eat at a restaurant indoors in CA. Native Americans 1, Emperor Newsom 0.  There was also a food court as well.  They had a Fatburger, a Panda Express and a bunch of no-name places (at least, I didn't recognize the names). There was an Italian place that advertized both pizza and pasta.  Between that and the Fatburger, I'd be set if I wanted to eat there.  Again, indoors!  Take that, Emperor!

They didn't really have a lot of table game action. Maybe that's because the cheapest blackjack I saw was $25.  The only thing cheaper was some of the other table games, 3-Card poker and what-not, some of which was $15 minimum. I had no interest in any of that.

Nor did I have any interest in the slots.  Funny, as much as I love Vegas, as often as I've been there, I never really enjoyed playing slots and hardly ever do. I've always found it quite boring.  And also bankroll draining.  Even video poker has no appeal to me.

So I didn't play anything.  I just walked around and then found a seat at an unused slot machine near the poker room and sat and waited for a chance to play poker.  I watched the board and went over close to it every so often to see how I was progressing.  Initially my name didn't even make it on the board for the 1/2 or 1/3 games, but eventually I was at the very bottom.  But I could see I was getting close on the 2/5 board.

And eventually, after about an hour, I got texted to come to the room….it was for the 2/5 game of course.  OK, time to test that short stack strategy.  To be honest, I felt so rusty I wasn't sure I had any strategy for any game.

As planned, I bought in for $200 and took my seat.  It was seven-handed with the plexiglass dividers as advertised.  The dividers didn't bother me at all, perhaps because I was right next to the dealer.  But between the dividers and the masks, there wasn't much chatter at the table.  But who knows, it might have been that I didn't have a particularly talkative table.

Now the trouble with 7-handed isn't that 7-handed per se is bad, it's that if there is a player or two missing you are really very, very short.  And for long periods there was at least one player gone, sometimes two.  I heard one guy ask and he was told you could be away from the table for 45-minutes and still keep your seat.  I've complained about that at full-ring 9-handed games, but for 7-handed that's just absurd.  But it is what it is.  At least I can say that while I was playing, no one person was away from the table very long.

I wanted to get total trash hands for at least a few orbits so I could fold and try to learn the table.  So of course I got pocket 9's in one of the first hands I was dealt. I was in early position.  I just limped to see what would happen. Someone made it $25.  I shrugged and called.  It was heads up, The flop was Queen-high.  We both checked. We both checked a blank turn, and a blank river.  He showed pocket 10's to take it.  I suppose in my normal 2/3 game I might have bet the turn and taken it.  Or maybe he would have called and I've lost more money.

I folded a few more times and then, in the small blind, the last hand I wanted to see showed up.  Of course I mean the dreaded pocket Kings.  Yep, I suppose the fates demanded it.  Trying to play three times tighter than normal, I was destined to get pocket Kings, and so early yet.  I'd played 10 minutes of poker in the past six months, and there they were.  And here I was playing with the big boys, in a 2/5 game that I never play.

Well I promised Lightning I'd muck them, but of course I did not. A late position player raised to $15 and the button called.  As much as I am spooked with this hand, of course even I would automatically three-bet there.  But….but…..it was pocket Kings.  I was in a bigger game.  I was out of practice (do I need to be in practice to mess up pocket Kings?).  So I played chicken-shit.  No, I didn't muck them (sorry Lightning).  I just meekly called.

The flop was Q-4-4 and I checked. The preflop raiser checked but the button bet $20 and I called, the other guy called.        The turn was a 3, I checked, the next guy checked and the button bet $50.  I figured he likely just had a Queen.  I called.  The other guy folded. The river was a blank.  I checked, the other guy thought about betting but finally checked and showed a Queen.  I flipped my Kings to take the pot, leaving the other guy to wonder if I was perhaps the biggest nit in Riverside county. But it was a nice pot and I was up about $75 for the moment.

Of course I should have three-bet pre.  But based on the post flop action, I think it's a safe bet if I had, I would have taken the pot down right there and made less money.  That's not to say I played it right, just that my absurd meekness paid off that one time.

Editorial comment: As I was proofing this post, it occurred to me that I should refer to Gavin Newsom as "King Newsom" rather than "Emperor Newsom." (Wait for it) After all, I've seen many detractors of his refer to him as King on Twitter. My thought tho was that I wanted to be a bit original and Emperor sounds more self-important than King.  However, if I had called him King Newsom, I could from now on refer to Pocket Kings as "Pocket Newsoms."  And that would give me one more reason to hate them. The dreaded pocket Newsoms?  What do you think?

Much later, I got pocket Jacks in early position and made it $25.  There was one call.  The flop was Ace-Queen-x.  Ugh.  Hoping he had a smaller pocket pair and missed, I decided to c-bet $20, but he called.  The turn was blank and I checked, as did he.  The river was another blank and after my check, he bet $85.  I folded.  Did I let him steal it?  Perhaps.  I wondered if a turn bet would have ended things.  I'll never know.

I got pocket 9's on the button.  It folded to me so I bet $15 and took it down.

I got pocket 9's again (third time this day!) and called $20.  It was three-way.  Ace-high flop, there was no betting. The turn was a 10 and I folded to a big bet.

I got deuce-4 in the big blind and there was no raise, one limper so three of us saw the flop.  No one bet the flop, which did have a deuce on it.  The turn was a Jack so I bet $5 on my deuce.  One call.  No bet on a blank river.  I showed my deuce, and the guy didn't show.  I think he was hoping to win with Ace-high.

That's all the hands I noted.  Now I should mention that after playing at this game about an hour or so, I got texted that my 1/3 seat was ready.  I decided to stay where I was.  I was getting tired from the long ride out there, and figured I wouldn't be staying much longer. But I did note that even with that ridiculously long list and just one table, I could have gotten into the 1/3 game after about two hours of waiting.

Plus, I had noticed something about this table.  I don't think it was at all a typical 2/5 game.  As nitty as I was playing, nobody else was all that aggro.  I actually wondered if most of the players were really 1/3 players who were all, like me, playing the bigger game because there was less of a wait for it.  Or maybe, like me, playing more cautiously because they were out of practice. Seriously there was not a lot of three-betting, no really aggro moves, and very few all-ins.  I was holding my own, honestly.

When I was ready to call it quits, I was down $15 for the session. I was actually pretty happy about that.

Let me some a few words (ha!) about the safety protocols that were in effect. I already mentioned the temperature checks at the door.  Anytime anyone left a game, someone came by and sanitized the area he had left.  New decks were replaced every dealer change.  One thing I noticed—and I have no idea if this new or standard for Morongo—there were no automatic shufflers.  I had wondered if all the hand sanitizer would get on the cards and muck up the shufflers but they were hand shuffling so no issue (there was no space for a auto shuffler at least on the table I was at, so maybe they never used them). And the dealer also sanitized their whole area every time a new one pushed in.

It was quite impressive.  Of course, I became super paranoid and made the mistake of ordering a bottle of water instead of a diet coke. The thing is, I had to pull down my mask every time I took a sip, and also had to use two hands to open the water, and I realized that I didn't want to do any of that without sanitizing my hands every time first.  There was a bottle of hand sanitizer behind my table on some kind of bar that was otherwise unused that I kept getting up to use. Of course, you were not allowed to eat at the table.

Even before I sat down to play, I realized there was absolutely no reason at all that Bike, or Commerce, or my Ventura room, couldn't reopen this very day using the very same safety protocols. Of course someone could get the virus there, but they had greatly minimized the chances. It is ridiculous that those card rooms are still closed, and also ridiculous that you can't eat indoors in a restaurant anywhere in CA outside of an Indian casino.  You go, you Native Americans!

I left feeling quite happy about finally getting out, getting to a public place and getting to play some poker again, even if it wasn't my preferred game. It was the best I've felt mentally in a long, long time.

Also, I rather enjoyed saying, "F*** you, Gavin Newsom."