Poker at Ballys

On Thursday it was time to get back to the poker tables at Ballys, one of my favorite places to play because they offer decent comps ($1 for each hour played) and the low quality of the players.

I have about $50 in comps racked up at Bally's good for several free lunches in the future.

Poker tables at Ballys usually have 1 or 2 players who are VERY new at the game of live poker, often not understanding the blinds or how to physically place their bets. If you can spot the weak players, it's not too hard to take advantage of them when the situation arises. Anyway, I arrived at Bally's around 9 a.m. and after about 20 minutes got seated at a game that was just getting started.

Usually when I play, I like to have $200-300 with me. I buy in for $100 and like to have another 100 or so in reserve in case I need to rebuy. But after hosting Katie and having a recent run of losses, my poker budget was down to about $170. So I was determined to play conservatively, waiting for premium starting hands and being somewhat cautious in my play, though not timid.

Early on my strategy worked perfectly. I took down several pots with three 9s, a straight and two pair. But due to my conservative play, the pots were relatively small - $20-30 each max. But still after 7 hours of play, I had almost doubled my buy-in with a stack of about $100. It was just before 4 p.m. when I decided to leave and picked up a rack to carry my chips to the cashier.

But first I decided to play one final hand. I looked down and saw Q-9 of clubs. I usually like to play such suited cards if one of them is Q or higher, hoping to hit a nice flush. Besides when no one raised, it only cost me $2 to see the flop, which came J-10-8 with two diamonds.

I had flopped a Queen-high straight and was hoping to cash in big, especially when one guy bet $20 and was called by one other player. Everyone else folded and when it was my turn I slowly thought about it and raised to $60, hoping that one guy would call and the other would fold. But even if both folded, I would still be happy to take down the pot that was already over $50.

One guy did fold, but the other - a 300-pound loudmouth type with about $400 in his stack - grunted "All In." That was a PLEASANT surprise to me, since I had the VERY BEST hand anyone could have at this point. There's no better feeling than having an opponent go all in when you have The Nuts...I quickly called and shoved all my stack into the pot.

Loudmouth showed A-K of diamonds. He had gone all in with A-high, a straight draw (he needed one of 3 remaining Queens for a higher straight) and a diamond flush draw and he looked sick when I showed my Q-high straight. There was about $500 in the pot and I was anticipating winning it if I could avoid another diamond hitting the board.

The turn was a 4 of Spades.

The river was 2 OF DIAMONDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I felt physically nauseous as the dealer shoved the huge stack of chips toward Loudmouth. "Nice hand" I mumbled as I rose from the table and walked away stunned. Fiscally, I had lost my $100 buy-in, plus the $100 I had ground out over 7 hours of quality play. But losing that huge pot on the river was VERY depressing. I had gotten in all my money with the best possible hand on the flop, yet walked away a loser...

Why did I have to play that last hand, I thought over and over. Why didn't I leave up $100?

I spent about 10 minutes waiting before driving home. I wanted to be able to focus on the crazy Vegas traffic and not dwell on my crushing loss, but it was not easy. When I got home I explained it all to Helen and she advises me to get right back to the tables.

She's been laying low for a few days, recovering from our hectic schedule during Katie's visit. Somehow Helen strained her left rib-shoulder area and it's been painful for her. As a result, she's happy to log some quiet couch time while I run errands or play poker.

But on Friday, I was still gun shy and had a non-gambling day. I went to Wal-Mart and picked up some prescriptions for both of us. Made us turkey sandwiches for lunch, paid some bills online and relaxed watching TV the rest of the day. Dinner was leftover chili that was really tasty.

Maybe today I'll try poker again as our adventure continues...