Welcome to the Horseshoe

My boat has changed on me while I was gone. In a rather humorous development, Harrahs decided to rebrand Caesars Indiana as a Horseshoe Casino. Understandably, they didn't want to waste their premium brand on a casino in the middle of Southern Indiana, so they decided to downgrade the brand. Here is the humorous part: as part of the rebranding, they remodeled both the boat and the casino and upgraded everything, so now we have a crappier brand on the much spiffier boat.

So I decided to pay my newly made over boat a visit last night, despite not really feeling like I was in the mood to play. However, boredom kicked in and I drove up there nonetheless. I really, really like the new look. It is much less gaudy than the cheesy Roman motif. I must admit though, I really miss the Bacchus Conference Center. For those of you forced to take a mythology class at some point in HS or college, I hope you appreciated the reference as much as I did.

I started out at $4/$8 because $1/$2just hadn't been going very well for me lately. Let me explain that the $4/$8 crowd is...well, effing old is what they are. I have a good 20-30 years on most of them, though my friend Shane joined the game later in the evening bringing the median age down from 65 to 60. Oddly enough, Brian Powell (snagglepuss) was at the boat too and he was also on the 4/8 list, but didn't move when they called his name.

When my friend Brad showed up, I decided to pick up from 4/8 since I was down fifty bucks and couldn't really get anything going. We grabbed a bite to eat and when I got back down to the room, I decided to give $1/$2 NL a go.

I had only been sitting 15 or 20 minutes and I hadn't really played any hands when a player in early-ish position made it $17. This may seem like a big raise, but it is actually fairly standard for the boat. Another player called and I called in the CO with KsQc.

The flop come KcJc8c and it checks to me. I start to count out chips and I start out with 40, take two back, add one, then decide that yeah, I was right the first time, I want to bet $40 and push my bet out. Both players fold and, as I am raking the pot the guy to my right looks at me and says:

"Miss will you do me a big favor?"

"What's that?"

"Will you never play a hand with me? You scare the shit out of me"

At this point, the initial raiser from the hand chimes in, "it's true! She's frightening! Did you see her count out her chips? I am completely scared"

Now, this is a table I LOVE. Guys who find the little girl who bets big rather frightening are great opponents for me, because I don't necessarily have to have a huge hand all the time like I do against most $1/$2 tables. But, I decided to have a little fun and responded:

"Scary? Lil ole me? I look like I'm 11! I'm as intimidating as Little Orphan Annie!"

"Exactly!," the man to my right exclaims. "Annie looked like Satan! Like you do! I don't care what you say, I am watching out for you."

Well, the rest of the evening anytime I was involved in a hand, this hilarious redneck to my right would start belting out "The sun will come out tomorrow!" The table was generally hysterical and I managed to just keep picking up smallish pots here and there.

I think the only other semi-big hand I won came when hysterical redneck made it $7 and I called behind with Jh10h. The button, who is a good player and a regular, calls and the guy in the big blind calls as well. The flop is AhQd2h and it checks around to the regular who bets $20. I realize this is not the price to call, but I figure the implied odds are with me considering he wouldn't expect me to call with just the heart draw, plus if the king hits I am golden. Its heads up to the turn, which is the Kh. We both check. The river is a blank, I bet $30, he calls, I show, he mucks.

Thrilling, right?

That is about as eventful as it got all night. Took a guy's last $24 when I got QQ, raised with AA twice, got called both times by a couple of players, bet the innocuous flop and they folded.
This is my kind of $1/$2 game. Really, I just needed the morale boost of being able to take down some hands without going to showdown and finding a table where I had a table image that garnered some respect. I suppose I could have stayed longer, but Brad was about to leave and I wanted to catch up with him, plus I still had the drive home to consider, so I picked up with $60 more than I started. After rake, tips, and food, that put me at even for the day and down for the trip when you consider the cost of gas. However, it was one of my first winning $1/$2 sessions since I first got to Vegas and I was very happy to just see a few things go my way. I will probably be back next weekend to see if I can turn in another semi-profitable performance. fingers crossed.

I Enjoy Being a Girl

I was up at the boat yesterday putting my governmental money to good use. There was hardly anyone there, so I was forced to sit down at one of the two $1/$2 NL tables. Man, did I get stuck at the wrong one. There were two guys, both very drunk, who were basically getting it all in every hand. Each had around $1000 in front of them compared to my paltry $200. The one bright spot was that I was seated to the immediate left of them, meaning they had to act before I made any decisions. Well, my very first hand I pick up queens and raise to $10. The first drunk guy reraises me and every fiber of my being says "shove all in", but I, being a big wimp, elect to call instead. The flop is K 8 3 rainbow. He bets. Again, every fiber says shove, I fold. I know I know, I play like a shameful little girl, but I just HATE going broke on the first hand. And, as I had just seen, this guy was calling any and everything. Considering how bad I was running, I didn't even want to take them up against just an ace. He showed AJ, smirked like he was some big shot, and went broke a couple of hours later. So did the second drunk guy, who I picked up about a hundred bucks off of.

After the two drunk guys busted out, the table calmed down and I proceeded to sit there for an hour and a half folding all my crap hands. I got nothing to work with. The big stack at the table is a guy I have played with a few times (I think his name is Scott...we'll go with that). He raises to $25. This may seem like a lot, but that is generally his standard raise. He is a fairly tight player, but his range on opening in early-middle position here is probably 77+ and KJs+. I have QQ again. Yee haw, I think to myself. I then pop it up to $75. It fold around to him and he looks disgusted. He asks how much I have total, which is $143 in addition to the $75. He then says, "I hate to do it, but I guess I go all in. I mean, there's only one hand that beats me."

Oh crap.

I ask, "only one, huh?" and he nods his head. I don't think he' s lying either, so I tell him there are two hands that beat me and fold my queens face up. He shows the kings. Bummer.

Well, later, he raises to $20 and I am in the big blind with 10 10 and I elect to flat call and avoid a situation like last time. It is just him and I in the hand and he asks if I have a pair. I say I do, he tells me he has one as well. The flop comes out and it is 8 high. I inform him my pair is bigger than the board and he is like, "I flopped a set." Seriously? I check, he puts me all in, I fold, he shows 88. At this point, all of the other guys at the table are like, "Woah man you are WAY too nice." He says, "come on man, I don't want to take all her money, we're friends, it is fine." Granted, this guy and I don't technically know each other's names, but I appreciate the kindness nonetheless. Later, my friend insisted this was not some good samaritan, but just a dude with a crush.

This has gotten me thinking. I mean, to be perfectly honest, I suppose it crossed my mind that being the only female under 30 in the room went into this guy's decision making process. That being said, if that is the case, honestly, I don't feel bad about it. First of all, I am not in the poker room, whoring myself out to get guys to be nice to me. I sit at the table, I am personable and, anyone who knows my personality realizes I am just friendly in general. Secondly, I have to sit at tables with so many disgusting, mysoginistic men who HATE to be beat by a girl that it seems only fair I get some advantages being a female as well. Finally, this is a game where everyone is developing some sort of table image and what is going on in this situation is more of the same. I have established a reputation as a solid player who is also kinda fun to have at the table. As a result, I get respect from the regulars when I raise and people who are in marginal situations stay away from me sometimes.

So, I don't care if he thought I was cute because I am secure enough in my card playing skills to realize if I didn't know how to play cards, I probably wouldn't get that kind of treatment at all.


Oh, and current balance: 997.14