Poker at Ballys

Recorded my first winning poker session of 2017 at Ballys on Monday and it was highlighted by two big hands.

I got to the poker room about 10 a.m. and immediately got a seat at a game that had been going overnight. There were 6 bleary-eyed guys at the table, each with more than $300 in chips stacked in front of them. I like this kind of situation, because they are tired, often a little drunk, and they have chips to put at risk. I bought in for $100 and vowed to wait patiently until I had a good hand.

With one eye on the WMU-Wisconsin game, I played conservatively until I looked down at K-K, a hand that got me in trouble twice the day before. This time, though, I hoped for better fortune. It came on the flop of Q-10-4 of different suits. One guy bet $10 and got two callers, before I raised it to $20. Only the original bettor called, so it was just us vying for the pot of roughly $80. The turn was a 2, no help, but no danger either. My opponent bet $30 and I just called. The river card was another 2 and my opponent bet $35, which I called. He showed A-Q for two pair, queens and deuces. I turned over my kings and the dealer shoved the hefty pot in my direction.

There was a guy at the table from Rochester Hills and he had $50 on WMU because he wife went there. He is a poker dealer at the MGM Grand in Detroit and was getting 8.5 points and cashed when the Broncos lost by only 8, 24-16.

For over an hour I didn't really get involved in the action. My cards were really dead...Q-4, 9-2, 8-3. Until finally I looked down and saw A-A winking back at me. After 3 guys called the $2 blinds, one guy raised it to $17. Instead of re-raising and chasing people away, I just called, along with one other player. The flop came K-6-3 of different suits. At this point, I'm hoping the raiser had one king, but not two. He bets $25 and I'm the only caller. The turn card is a 9 and I like that. The bettor pushes in $30 and I hem and haw before calling. I'm feeling pretty confident at this point. The river card is another 3 and the bettor shoves out $40. I call and show my Aces. He reluctantly shows A-K and begins moaning about how he couldn't believe he lost. "I played it just the way I wanted," he said two or three times.

"So did I," I answered. "So did I."

After 3-plus hours, I headed home with $153 in profits.

While I was at Ballys, Helen was on the phone with sister-in-law Lorraine in Thousands Oaks, CA. Turns out Norman is not coming to LV for the CES convention, which starts Thursday. Helen also talked with her sister Natalie and texted with Anna during the day. She also took down our small Christmas Tree and watched a couple of Lifetime Movies. I made us a pasta dish and salad for dinner and we wound down watching a little TV.

And so our LV adventure continues...