Riverdance - My Honest Seneca Trip Report
Part 1
Well I arrived at NY on Thursday night around 8pm. Called ahead and put my name on the 1/2 list (100 or 200 max). I arrived at 8:15 and waited for about 10 minutes before a $200 max table opened up. I played a total of five hours at the same table. There were two hands in that five hours of interest. I bought in for the max. and if my stack went below $200, I would add chips to my stack. I usually get a couple hundred extra in $25 chips so I can add to my stack if I get below $200. Unlike some forum members, I don't usually double up in the first couple of hands and have to usually wait a couple of hours before this opportunity arises.
I am at about $300 when I get dealt pocket 2s. I am in the SB and there are three callers of a $20 raise. I call for the $20. The flop comes 297 with two diamonds. I check hoping for a raise and the next player makes it $20 to go followed by the initial raiser making it $60 (one guy folds). The guy betting $60 is new to the table and has a guy sitting right behind playing shotgun. When I see this I know he must be new to the game as he has to confer with his friend every once in a while (didn't know this was allowed in a casino?). I figure he must have an over pair. I decide to raise a further $80. The other player calls and the initial raiser has about $120 behind so he raises an additional $40 (all-in). I figure there is enough in the pot and would rather go heads up with the new guy so I also go all-in for a further raise of a $100. The last player takes his time deciding what to do and he finally decides to call. The new guy has AA and the other player has a flush draw. Of course the Q diamonds comes on the turn and he hits his flush (remembers its only variance right), and I don't pair the board for the full house. I am down $200+ at this point
Next action hand. It is around 1:30 and I am playing in the $300 tourney the next morning at noon. [Lesson 1, don't play too late the night before a tourney.] I decide to leave when the BB gets to me and my stack is still basically at $200 [I'm down $300 at this point after the previous big hand]. The VERY LAST hand before I am about to leave, I look at my cards right away so I can get up and low and behold, I am dealt AA (figures). I raise to $20 figuring I won't get any callers and the guy beside me makes it $40 to go. Everyone folds and the BB makes it $80 to go. I am figuring I will go broke on my very last hand of the night. I just call as does the other player. The flop comes 255 and the BB goes all-in. Of course I call figuring nobody is going to play 22, 55 or A2 or A5 for $80. The other guy also goes all-in. What is interesting is they both have huge stacks of at least $450+. The other two players show their cards and the guy besides me has KK and the BB has QQ. Not sure why the BB went all-in not figuring he was beat? I'm thinking for sure I will lose all my money and go home down big time but some how I manage to win the pot for about $600. One of the other players reminds me I can't leave now as I just took all their chips. I decide to stay for another thirty minutes. I chase a couple open ended straights and leave with $510. After five hours of 1/2, I am up $10 on the night ($2 per hour). But its better than being down $500
Tourney details and more cash action to follow.
Part II (Game Day)
After dropping my wife off at the outlet mall (-ev move for sure), I head back to Seneca around 11am. I tried to get on a 1/2 table before the tournament started but the place was packed and they didn't want to start a new table because they figured that a lot of players would be in the tournament at noon. The tournament was very well run (from what I saw) and the tournament started right on time. There were 93 players in the tournament with first taking $9,009. I didn't really have any great hands in the first two blind levels. I got dealt KK at the 50/100 level, raised to 275 and everyone folded (nice). When I get to the 100/200 level, I'm sitting at around 5,500 and one player has been eliminated from our table. I get dealt AQ in the BB and decide to check and see a flop. There are four callers and the flop brings 236. I decide to take a shot at the pot with a $1200 raise. Folded around to the last player who plays with his chips and he goes all-in (and has me covered). I am beat so I fold and he shows 45 for the straight (Lesson 2 - raise those premium hands). My last hand (100/200 level), I get dealt pocket Kings again and before it gets to me, it is raised to 600. I bump it up to 1,200 and the other player calls. The flop comes J102 and he goes all-in and has me covered. I know I am ahead so I call and he shows A10. Of course the river brings an Ace and my tournament is over that quick (riverdance).
I go back to 1/2 and build my $200 stack up to around $350. A $1k satellite begins so I decide to give it a shot. I am doing well and get dealt 77 when a medium stack who has been aggressive and has gone all-in a couple times in a row does it again. I decide to call and he shows 66. Of course he hits another 6 on the river (more riverdance). A couple hands later I go all-in with A9 against A6 and of course he hits his 6 to send me back to the cash game. At this point I am really bagged from the night before but I keep playing anyhow (Lesson 3 - don't play poker tired). The next eventful hand I get dealt Q10s and it is raised to $20 pre-flop. I decide to call as I am on the button and the flop comes 9sJsKd giving me a straight and a shot at the straight flush. One of the nicest flops I have ever seen! It is raised to $25 and one other player calls. I look at the bad beat pot which now stands at over $212k. I want to raise to make these guys pay to see another card but I think to myself, is it possible that this could develop into a bad beat hand? I figure that if someone has the bottom end of a straight flush (ex. 78s) and 56s happen to hit, then it is possible. Also, if someone has trips at this point and I hit my straight flush and they hit their quads, we can also win the bad beat pot. I decide to raise another $25 and both players call. The next card is a blank and it is checked to me. This is where I make a crucial error. At this point the bad beat jackpot cannot be won so I should have raised the pot or gone all-in to stop any chasers from winning the pot. I decide to raise $40 and one guy folds and the other calls. The next card is the 3s and the other player bets $65. I figure this is a value bet but I can't lay down my flush so I call and he shows k8s for the better flush. What's interesting is he had my two outs for the straight flush in his hand. After this mistake, I decide that I should call it a night and head back to Canada $500 lighter. Overall it was a fun time and I did ok in the cash game, really losing most of my money on the tournament and the satellite. So there you go, an honest trip report where someone actually lost money at the end of the day.
Well I arrived at NY on Thursday night around 8pm. Called ahead and put my name on the 1/2 list (100 or 200 max). I arrived at 8:15 and waited for about 10 minutes before a $200 max table opened up. I played a total of five hours at the same table. There were two hands in that five hours of interest. I bought in for the max. and if my stack went below $200, I would add chips to my stack. I usually get a couple hundred extra in $25 chips so I can add to my stack if I get below $200. Unlike some forum members, I don't usually double up in the first couple of hands and have to usually wait a couple of hours before this opportunity arises.
I am at about $300 when I get dealt pocket 2s. I am in the SB and there are three callers of a $20 raise. I call for the $20. The flop comes 297 with two diamonds. I check hoping for a raise and the next player makes it $20 to go followed by the initial raiser making it $60 (one guy folds). The guy betting $60 is new to the table and has a guy sitting right behind playing shotgun. When I see this I know he must be new to the game as he has to confer with his friend every once in a while (didn't know this was allowed in a casino?). I figure he must have an over pair. I decide to raise a further $80. The other player calls and the initial raiser has about $120 behind so he raises an additional $40 (all-in). I figure there is enough in the pot and would rather go heads up with the new guy so I also go all-in for a further raise of a $100. The last player takes his time deciding what to do and he finally decides to call. The new guy has AA and the other player has a flush draw. Of course the Q diamonds comes on the turn and he hits his flush (remembers its only variance right), and I don't pair the board for the full house. I am down $200+ at this point
Next action hand. It is around 1:30 and I am playing in the $300 tourney the next morning at noon. [Lesson 1, don't play too late the night before a tourney.] I decide to leave when the BB gets to me and my stack is still basically at $200 [I'm down $300 at this point after the previous big hand]. The VERY LAST hand before I am about to leave, I look at my cards right away so I can get up and low and behold, I am dealt AA (figures). I raise to $20 figuring I won't get any callers and the guy beside me makes it $40 to go. Everyone folds and the BB makes it $80 to go. I am figuring I will go broke on my very last hand of the night. I just call as does the other player. The flop comes 255 and the BB goes all-in. Of course I call figuring nobody is going to play 22, 55 or A2 or A5 for $80. The other guy also goes all-in. What is interesting is they both have huge stacks of at least $450+. The other two players show their cards and the guy besides me has KK and the BB has QQ. Not sure why the BB went all-in not figuring he was beat? I'm thinking for sure I will lose all my money and go home down big time but some how I manage to win the pot for about $600. One of the other players reminds me I can't leave now as I just took all their chips. I decide to stay for another thirty minutes. I chase a couple open ended straights and leave with $510. After five hours of 1/2, I am up $10 on the night ($2 per hour). But its better than being down $500
Tourney details and more cash action to follow.Part II (Game Day)
After dropping my wife off at the outlet mall (-ev move for sure), I head back to Seneca around 11am. I tried to get on a 1/2 table before the tournament started but the place was packed and they didn't want to start a new table because they figured that a lot of players would be in the tournament at noon. The tournament was very well run (from what I saw) and the tournament started right on time. There were 93 players in the tournament with first taking $9,009. I didn't really have any great hands in the first two blind levels. I got dealt KK at the 50/100 level, raised to 275 and everyone folded (nice). When I get to the 100/200 level, I'm sitting at around 5,500 and one player has been eliminated from our table. I get dealt AQ in the BB and decide to check and see a flop. There are four callers and the flop brings 236. I decide to take a shot at the pot with a $1200 raise. Folded around to the last player who plays with his chips and he goes all-in (and has me covered). I am beat so I fold and he shows 45 for the straight (Lesson 2 - raise those premium hands). My last hand (100/200 level), I get dealt pocket Kings again and before it gets to me, it is raised to 600. I bump it up to 1,200 and the other player calls. The flop comes J102 and he goes all-in and has me covered. I know I am ahead so I call and he shows A10. Of course the river brings an Ace and my tournament is over that quick (riverdance).
I go back to 1/2 and build my $200 stack up to around $350. A $1k satellite begins so I decide to give it a shot. I am doing well and get dealt 77 when a medium stack who has been aggressive and has gone all-in a couple times in a row does it again. I decide to call and he shows 66. Of course he hits another 6 on the river (more riverdance). A couple hands later I go all-in with A9 against A6 and of course he hits his 6 to send me back to the cash game. At this point I am really bagged from the night before but I keep playing anyhow (Lesson 3 - don't play poker tired). The next eventful hand I get dealt Q10s and it is raised to $20 pre-flop. I decide to call as I am on the button and the flop comes 9sJsKd giving me a straight and a shot at the straight flush. One of the nicest flops I have ever seen! It is raised to $25 and one other player calls. I look at the bad beat pot which now stands at over $212k. I want to raise to make these guys pay to see another card but I think to myself, is it possible that this could develop into a bad beat hand? I figure that if someone has the bottom end of a straight flush (ex. 78s) and 56s happen to hit, then it is possible. Also, if someone has trips at this point and I hit my straight flush and they hit their quads, we can also win the bad beat pot. I decide to raise another $25 and both players call. The next card is a blank and it is checked to me. This is where I make a crucial error. At this point the bad beat jackpot cannot be won so I should have raised the pot or gone all-in to stop any chasers from winning the pot. I decide to raise $40 and one guy folds and the other calls. The next card is the 3s and the other player bets $65. I figure this is a value bet but I can't lay down my flush so I call and he shows k8s for the better flush. What's interesting is he had my two outs for the straight flush in his hand. After this mistake, I decide that I should call it a night and head back to Canada $500 lighter. Overall it was a fun time and I did ok in the cash game, really losing most of my money on the tournament and the satellite. So there you go, an honest trip report where someone actually lost money at the end of the day.
Comments
There must be a curse for pocket 2s at Senaca....my flopped set on 2 3 6 rainbow ran into somebody with 45....good grief.