Casino Niagara Trip Report
My sister-in-law lives in the Horseshoe and we go down to visit every three months or so. Her husband loves to play poker but rarely goes to the casino. This is the second time he went with me.
Saturday night at Casino Niagara
Call the brush at 8 PM and ask to be put on the list for 1-2 NL. I mention that it will probably be an hour before we arrive and she says if you get here in 90 minutes I will have seats waiting for you. Gee Thanks!
We arrive and get seated at two separate tables. I put in a request for a move to my buddies table as soon as a seat opens.
Hand 1
First I’ve played after about 7 at the table.
AcKc in mid position and I open the pot with a $10 raise. BB calls. He has played about 5 hands since I sat down and has $90 in front when the hand started. Pot is $21.
Flop is 946 two diamonds.
BB Checks. I bet $20 and BB smooth calls. Pot is $61.
Turn is a 2. Check. I bet $40. Call. Oops. Pot is $141.
River is K of diamonds. He bets his last $20. Did he really make these two lousy calls on the flop and the turn with a flush draw?
For $20 in to $160 pot I call. He announces, “I have the NutZ,” and shows A3 diamonds.
I muck my hand with out showing and some guy asks the dealer to see my hand which she removes from the muck and flips over. Is this bad form on the players part?
Yes I know I played this hand terribly. I should not have built a pot with an A high hand but he did make a mistake on the turn and the river. He called my bets VERY quickly and I put him on a flush draw.
Question: Was I a donkey to pay him off on the river at 8:1 when my read was a flush draw? He could have played 88 or 77 the same way.
Hand 2
Three hands later from the BB.
5 Limpers to me and I have QQ. I raise to $30 and they ALL call. Pot is $150.
Flop is AK6 rainbow.
I Check, Check, Check, Bet $50 and takes down the pot. WTF?
I move to the other table with my brother-in-law when a seat became available. True I was down $150 but was unhappy because the table I left was juicy.
There were 4 solid TAG’s at the new table, all with $300 - $600 in front of them. One guy that limped nearly every pot but was a great post flop player and the rest of the faces revolved every couple of hours usually dropping 1 or 2 buy-ins during their stay.
I was card dead for over an hour and a half. Had 8-3 on my button 3 times in a row however once I was soooted, still I didn’t play it. Limped maybe 3 pots and then folded post flop.
Later I picked up some cards in position, nothing huge but playable hands KQs, Ajo and such. Using aggressive pre-flop and post-flop play along with my tight image I raked 6 smallish pots without a showdown and had $250 in front.
Side Note: In 7.5 hrs at the table the biggest PP I had was 10-10, which went into the muck because the dealer failed to move the button and declared a mis-deal. The next best was 7-7. Live poker is rigged!
About 1 AM a new face arrived at the table. No chips just cash. He’s 65 to 70 years old with huge glasses, a fleece top and pants and an umbrella under his arm. My initial thought is that the guy will be a total nit. LOL - Never judge a book by its cover. He buys a stack of reds from my buddy, posts UTG + 2 and LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Crazy Grampa’s first buy-in was gone before he reached the CO position. He re-bought another stack immediately and never reached for his wallet again. Without a word of a lie CG put money in EVERY pot between 1 and 4:30 AM. He had $275 in his stack when I left and had been as high as $700.
The TAG’s started limping into every pot with him except his BB. He repeatedly made it $40 to go from his BB when there were a slew of limpers. About a half an hour in he busted the guy immediately to my right and then took the seat when the guy left. Booya!!
Post flop CG would routinely bet $50 into a $10 pot.
I saw him go to the river with people all-in with bottom pair several times and call huge bets with air.
Once again I went card dead for what seemed like hours but I did limp into several pots with CG trying to hit a monster and stack him. No such luck. I bled off about $75 trying to see flops and hit a hand against him beacause I was afraid he would go busto before I got the chance.
Hand 3 CG at the table about 2 hours.
UTG I have about $200 with Ac8c I limp and 4 limp with me. CG has $300ish and pops it to $25, I call. Everyone else folds, pot is $56.
Flop is A K 6 rainbow. CG bets $50.
My range on him here is basically any 2 cards. This has been my best opportunity since he sat down at the table even though I am behind about a million hands here namely, AA, AK, AQ, AJ, A10, A9, A6, KK, K6, and 66. I do think he will pay me off with any Ace that I have not already mentioned, any King or quite possibly and PP or any 6.
I push the $175 I have left into the pot. If he folds I take down $100. If he calls I am ahead of a large portion of the hands that I think he will call with. If I am behind so be it.
Dude goes in the tank for the first time all night took maybe two minutes said, “Call,” and threw another $135 in the middle. Pot is a little over $400.
He doesn’t show his cards, so I don’t show mine.
Turn is 7.
River is 10.
CG shows A7 for two pair and rakes the pot.
Wild hand. Good read. Tough break. On with life.
Re-buy and rebuild back to $200 before calling it a night.
Overall it was great fun! The dealers were not in any major rush at any point through out the night but all were pleasant and competent. There was only one disagreement at the table and it didn’t get too nasty. My buddy netted $260 in the second time he ever played in a cash game.
There were more than enough fish to go around and if I didn’t live 2 hours away I know I could consistently beat this game.
Net profit ($160.00). But fun, fun, fun.
Saturday night at Casino Niagara
Call the brush at 8 PM and ask to be put on the list for 1-2 NL. I mention that it will probably be an hour before we arrive and she says if you get here in 90 minutes I will have seats waiting for you. Gee Thanks!
We arrive and get seated at two separate tables. I put in a request for a move to my buddies table as soon as a seat opens.
Hand 1
First I’ve played after about 7 at the table.
AcKc in mid position and I open the pot with a $10 raise. BB calls. He has played about 5 hands since I sat down and has $90 in front when the hand started. Pot is $21.
Flop is 946 two diamonds.
BB Checks. I bet $20 and BB smooth calls. Pot is $61.
Turn is a 2. Check. I bet $40. Call. Oops. Pot is $141.
River is K of diamonds. He bets his last $20. Did he really make these two lousy calls on the flop and the turn with a flush draw?
For $20 in to $160 pot I call. He announces, “I have the NutZ,” and shows A3 diamonds.
I muck my hand with out showing and some guy asks the dealer to see my hand which she removes from the muck and flips over. Is this bad form on the players part?
Yes I know I played this hand terribly. I should not have built a pot with an A high hand but he did make a mistake on the turn and the river. He called my bets VERY quickly and I put him on a flush draw.
Question: Was I a donkey to pay him off on the river at 8:1 when my read was a flush draw? He could have played 88 or 77 the same way.
Hand 2
Three hands later from the BB.
5 Limpers to me and I have QQ. I raise to $30 and they ALL call. Pot is $150.
Flop is AK6 rainbow.
I Check, Check, Check, Bet $50 and takes down the pot. WTF?
I move to the other table with my brother-in-law when a seat became available. True I was down $150 but was unhappy because the table I left was juicy.
There were 4 solid TAG’s at the new table, all with $300 - $600 in front of them. One guy that limped nearly every pot but was a great post flop player and the rest of the faces revolved every couple of hours usually dropping 1 or 2 buy-ins during their stay.
I was card dead for over an hour and a half. Had 8-3 on my button 3 times in a row however once I was soooted, still I didn’t play it. Limped maybe 3 pots and then folded post flop.
Later I picked up some cards in position, nothing huge but playable hands KQs, Ajo and such. Using aggressive pre-flop and post-flop play along with my tight image I raked 6 smallish pots without a showdown and had $250 in front.
Side Note: In 7.5 hrs at the table the biggest PP I had was 10-10, which went into the muck because the dealer failed to move the button and declared a mis-deal. The next best was 7-7. Live poker is rigged!
About 1 AM a new face arrived at the table. No chips just cash. He’s 65 to 70 years old with huge glasses, a fleece top and pants and an umbrella under his arm. My initial thought is that the guy will be a total nit. LOL - Never judge a book by its cover. He buys a stack of reds from my buddy, posts UTG + 2 and LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Crazy Grampa’s first buy-in was gone before he reached the CO position. He re-bought another stack immediately and never reached for his wallet again. Without a word of a lie CG put money in EVERY pot between 1 and 4:30 AM. He had $275 in his stack when I left and had been as high as $700.
The TAG’s started limping into every pot with him except his BB. He repeatedly made it $40 to go from his BB when there were a slew of limpers. About a half an hour in he busted the guy immediately to my right and then took the seat when the guy left. Booya!!
Post flop CG would routinely bet $50 into a $10 pot.
I saw him go to the river with people all-in with bottom pair several times and call huge bets with air.
Once again I went card dead for what seemed like hours but I did limp into several pots with CG trying to hit a monster and stack him. No such luck. I bled off about $75 trying to see flops and hit a hand against him beacause I was afraid he would go busto before I got the chance.
Hand 3 CG at the table about 2 hours.
UTG I have about $200 with Ac8c I limp and 4 limp with me. CG has $300ish and pops it to $25, I call. Everyone else folds, pot is $56.
Flop is A K 6 rainbow. CG bets $50.
My range on him here is basically any 2 cards. This has been my best opportunity since he sat down at the table even though I am behind about a million hands here namely, AA, AK, AQ, AJ, A10, A9, A6, KK, K6, and 66. I do think he will pay me off with any Ace that I have not already mentioned, any King or quite possibly and PP or any 6.
I push the $175 I have left into the pot. If he folds I take down $100. If he calls I am ahead of a large portion of the hands that I think he will call with. If I am behind so be it.
Dude goes in the tank for the first time all night took maybe two minutes said, “Call,” and threw another $135 in the middle. Pot is a little over $400.
He doesn’t show his cards, so I don’t show mine.
Turn is 7.
River is 10.
CG shows A7 for two pair and rakes the pot.
Wild hand. Good read. Tough break. On with life.
Re-buy and rebuild back to $200 before calling it a night.
Overall it was great fun! The dealers were not in any major rush at any point through out the night but all were pleasant and competent. There was only one disagreement at the table and it didn’t get too nasty. My buddy netted $260 in the second time he ever played in a cash game.
There were more than enough fish to go around and if I didn’t live 2 hours away I know I could consistently beat this game.
Net profit ($160.00). But fun, fun, fun.