Casino Trip Report 12/16

Went to Hollywood Casino in Aurora with a buddy of mine who used to go to NIU with me. We got there at about 4:15, which we like to do because usually you can hit the changeover from the day people to the night people and that way you don't have to wait very long. The room only has 6 tables and they usually only have 5 running at one time, especially on the weekends because of some dumb Illinois gaming regulation about a limit to the amount of gaming seats in a particular establishment. Usually on Friday the room runs two 10/20 tables and two 5/10 tables, with one feeder table, which is usually for the 5/10. Well yesterday the feeder table was 10/20, meaning my buddy and I didn't get to sit until about 6:45. I played a little loose for the first hour because I really wasn't feeling well. After about the first hour and a half, due to lack of cards and a slightly looser hand selection, I found myself stuck about $150 of my $300 buy-in. I battled back well though picking up a lot of small and medium sized pots, one with a set of deuces and another with pocket aces and trip 9's on the board. A few hours and a couple of King high flushes later, I actually find myself up about $150, then this hand happens: I limp in late postion with Kh9h and the flop comes out 8hTh3h. We're five handed and the player with first action checks, 2nd bets, 3rd calls, I raise, last to act and first to act muck. 2nd calls and so does 3rd. The turn comes a blank and the player now in 1st position (2nd last round) bets out again, this time 2nd pos (3rd last hand) raises. I'm completely perplexed at this point and I call, as does an equally perplexed 1st position.

Time for an aside... 1st betting position (on the turn) was a man approximately in his late 40's 2nd betting position (on the turn) was a woman prolly about 5 years older than me. We had been talking a lot since she was on my immediate right and it was clear to me that she was not extremely experienced playing limit hold em. She had been showing me her hands and things like that and I was giving her a few pointers if she asked for em. Anyway, on the flop, I knew that one of the players in the hand with me had a set. I didn't know what the other player had but I was hoping it was a lower flush than mine. As soon as the suited board came out I decided that I was going to assume that my flush was good and try to maximize value on this hand, assuming a 4th heart didn't hit the board. If someone else had flopped the nuts, I was going to let them take me for a ride because I wasn't about to play afraid on the off-hand chance that God hated me and someone else was on AhXh.

Aside over... The river card comes another blank, (it brought a straight possibility but no heart and no paired board). The man in 1st position checks, lady in 2nd bets, I am once again perplexed and I raise. 1st position folds and 2nd reraises. At this point I have a feeling I may be sunk but the pot is too huge to fold. I call and she shows me AhQh, we're pretty much back to even. Now I was in the 9 seat and my buddy was in the 1 seat. After the hand the 2 and 3 seats, who are regulars at this room and were generally act like God's gift to poker most of the time (which is cute because they're basically weak-tight nut-peddlers who get pissed when their aces get cracked in limit... don't you have to have experience to be a grinder? Wouldn't an experienced player know that aces in limit...nevermind) I fuckin hate those guys... were criticizing my raise on the river. They basically said that I should have put the woman on the nut flush. Ok, two things. 1) Against a tighter player, I would agree with this, but I sat next to this woman for 4 hours at this point. She was a nice lady, but she had poor hand selection and a tendency to overplay. 2) I'm sorry but in a limit game I refuse to play afraid of the nuts. I made the hand I was trying to make when I limped in with my K9s, and it was the second nuts. If I play that hand passively, I don't lose as much in that pot, that's for sure, but the 9 out of 10 times the second nut is good, I lose more with the money that I don't make.

A classic example of this occurred earlier in the night, and was pretty much one of the biggest pots I won. I limped with 56s in early position and flopped the ass end of the straight. I Was first to act on every street. I led out at the pot on every round and got 4 callers on every round except for the river, on which I got 2. Two blanks did my body good and the low straight took it down. Now, had I gotten reraised, would I have been worried? Yes. Would I have folded? FUCK NO. I would've relinquished the driver's seat and check/called down, but that's also because I only had like the 9th or 10th nut when the board paired on the river. Now maybe I'm just weird or crazy or both but to me flopping the ass end of a straight and playing it fast until you meet resistance, or flopping the 2nd nut flush and playing it fast isn't exactly mind-bending, but I guess I'm not good enough to lay down the 2nd nuts in a limit game... and I'm ok with that.

All in all, I had fun, which is my first goal everytime I play live. Near the end I actually picked up 4 small pots in a row, 3 of them uncontested, and I left up about $75. Hollywood Casino is ok, but I prefer my "home" casino, The Empress in Joliet, expect a trip report from there to come in the next few weeks.

- Huck