Fallsview 2/5 Cash Aug 10 TR
I made it to Fallsview Saturday night, planning to meet up with Blondefish but he was a no show as far as I could tell.
I called ahead and got put on the list. Made it to the desk about 5 minutes before I was to be kicked off. Got my players card and chips and was seated within 10 minutes of my arrival.
They had at least 7 2/5 tables going and maybe 2 tables of 5/10 at 8pm. This number grew quickly as the poker room got busier.
My table had a good mix of players. Very loose and bluffy middle-aged Asian to my left with 800+, TAG Asian to his left with 1000+, tight middle-aged Asian woman to his left (who raised every hand she decided to play, always continuation bet too much and could be bluffed out) with a shortish stack. A couple non-descript players with average stacks, a somewhat laggy young guy with an average stack, a TAG Asian guy with 1000+ and an average-above average player to my right with 1500+.
I played it pretty tight the first couple of orbits. That was easy to do since I was dealt complete crap and every hand was raised before it got to me. I won a few pots in the first couple hours and got my stack up to 600+ before THE hand occurred.
I was dealt TT in the BB. The tight middle-aged Asian woman raised from EP to 15 (a bit low for the table). There were a couple callers (including the very loose Asian guy who had moved to my right). I considered re-raising but figured the woman would put in a huge continuation bet and could stack her if things worked out. The flop came JT5 with 2 hearts. I checked, the woman bet 45 with about 200 behind (that bet seemed kinda low for her) and just the very loose guy called. I raised enough to put her all in but surprisingly she folded. Not surprisingly the very loose guy called. The turn was a blank and I only had about 300 back so I shoved and he insta-called. I told the guy I had a set and he had a dejected look on his face. The river paired the board and he mucked and popped another 500 onto the table. After 3 hours I was up >600. #pokerjahwinrates
At some point a middle-aged Asian guy sat down with around $300. He won a few pots, nothing notable then cracked my KK on a QQ9 board having called 30 PF with Q4s and managed to suck in a couple of players. I got out with minimal damages. Duly noted. Later, I folded A9o UTG and he raised to 20 in MP. At this point he had around 800. This was re-raised to 60 by the laggy young guy (with 700) in the SB and this new Asian and another player (short stack) called. The flop came AA5. The laggy young guy checked, the new Asian bet around 120, the guy in the middle with a short stack called all in and the young guy hummed and hawed and said 'You know about the bad beat jackpot, right?', which is a magical code phrase for 'stop betting you asshole because we could win the BBJ'. The turn was a Q, the young guy checked and the new guy jammed for about 350. Then the young guy tells the table he has KK, knows the other guy has an Ace and is hoping for an Ace to come on the river (Greenstein style) so he can win the bad beat jackpot. And with that, he talked himself into calling. The fifth Ace did not show up. It was a 5 and the new Asian guy showed A6s. This seemed like an incredibly bad call PF but it worked out. I would have chopped with that donkey if only I had called 60 PF. The laggy young guy went on to try to justify the call for a couple more hours that he had odds to call for another Ace to win the BBJ. I didn't have the heart to tell him the other guy would have had to be playing exactly AK for the BBJ to pay off (I guess that was possible), not to mention I had folded the other Ace anyway. The new Asian guy left the table soon after that with close to 2000 and sat at 5/10. The guys were rubbing their hands waiting for him. Turns out he is a 5/10 regular. I checked out his table about an hour later and he was up over 5k, so he must have been doing something right. Actually, I doubt that. He was doing something wrong but getting lucky would be my guess.
I had KK cracked twice, QQ once but never for very much. These guys make it obvious early on when you are behind but still get a few others to try to chase them down.
One time I misplayed AA badly UTG by limping (hoping for someone to raise as was the norm) and faced a 6-way limped pot. The board came KQJxx and my AA somehow held. Terrible play on my part.
I gave back a couple hundred of my earlier gains failing to catch something to trap with and having some bluffs called down. Once the big stacks called it a day, I cashed out before the next time session charge hit.
The game is very beatable but I expect to see huge variance. Partly due to the BBJ and the players it attracts. I'll make a separate post about that. The players are for the most part very loose, some are aggressive and some love to throw out big bluffs. (I saw the very loose Asian guy put out big bets on the river and get called 3 times only to have him muck without showing. Later, I saw him playing $50 per hand black jack after he got busted for the 4th time at our table. This confirmed my impression of him as a 'gambler' of the highest degree.)
I called ahead and got put on the list. Made it to the desk about 5 minutes before I was to be kicked off. Got my players card and chips and was seated within 10 minutes of my arrival.
They had at least 7 2/5 tables going and maybe 2 tables of 5/10 at 8pm. This number grew quickly as the poker room got busier.
My table had a good mix of players. Very loose and bluffy middle-aged Asian to my left with 800+, TAG Asian to his left with 1000+, tight middle-aged Asian woman to his left (who raised every hand she decided to play, always continuation bet too much and could be bluffed out) with a shortish stack. A couple non-descript players with average stacks, a somewhat laggy young guy with an average stack, a TAG Asian guy with 1000+ and an average-above average player to my right with 1500+.
I played it pretty tight the first couple of orbits. That was easy to do since I was dealt complete crap and every hand was raised before it got to me. I won a few pots in the first couple hours and got my stack up to 600+ before THE hand occurred.
I was dealt TT in the BB. The tight middle-aged Asian woman raised from EP to 15 (a bit low for the table). There were a couple callers (including the very loose Asian guy who had moved to my right). I considered re-raising but figured the woman would put in a huge continuation bet and could stack her if things worked out. The flop came JT5 with 2 hearts. I checked, the woman bet 45 with about 200 behind (that bet seemed kinda low for her) and just the very loose guy called. I raised enough to put her all in but surprisingly she folded. Not surprisingly the very loose guy called. The turn was a blank and I only had about 300 back so I shoved and he insta-called. I told the guy I had a set and he had a dejected look on his face. The river paired the board and he mucked and popped another 500 onto the table. After 3 hours I was up >600. #pokerjahwinrates
At some point a middle-aged Asian guy sat down with around $300. He won a few pots, nothing notable then cracked my KK on a QQ9 board having called 30 PF with Q4s and managed to suck in a couple of players. I got out with minimal damages. Duly noted. Later, I folded A9o UTG and he raised to 20 in MP. At this point he had around 800. This was re-raised to 60 by the laggy young guy (with 700) in the SB and this new Asian and another player (short stack) called. The flop came AA5. The laggy young guy checked, the new Asian bet around 120, the guy in the middle with a short stack called all in and the young guy hummed and hawed and said 'You know about the bad beat jackpot, right?', which is a magical code phrase for 'stop betting you asshole because we could win the BBJ'. The turn was a Q, the young guy checked and the new guy jammed for about 350. Then the young guy tells the table he has KK, knows the other guy has an Ace and is hoping for an Ace to come on the river (Greenstein style) so he can win the bad beat jackpot. And with that, he talked himself into calling. The fifth Ace did not show up. It was a 5 and the new Asian guy showed A6s. This seemed like an incredibly bad call PF but it worked out. I would have chopped with that donkey if only I had called 60 PF. The laggy young guy went on to try to justify the call for a couple more hours that he had odds to call for another Ace to win the BBJ. I didn't have the heart to tell him the other guy would have had to be playing exactly AK for the BBJ to pay off (I guess that was possible), not to mention I had folded the other Ace anyway. The new Asian guy left the table soon after that with close to 2000 and sat at 5/10. The guys were rubbing their hands waiting for him. Turns out he is a 5/10 regular. I checked out his table about an hour later and he was up over 5k, so he must have been doing something right. Actually, I doubt that. He was doing something wrong but getting lucky would be my guess.
I had KK cracked twice, QQ once but never for very much. These guys make it obvious early on when you are behind but still get a few others to try to chase them down.
One time I misplayed AA badly UTG by limping (hoping for someone to raise as was the norm) and faced a 6-way limped pot. The board came KQJxx and my AA somehow held. Terrible play on my part.
I gave back a couple hundred of my earlier gains failing to catch something to trap with and having some bluffs called down. Once the big stacks called it a day, I cashed out before the next time session charge hit.
The game is very beatable but I expect to see huge variance. Partly due to the BBJ and the players it attracts. I'll make a separate post about that. The players are for the most part very loose, some are aggressive and some love to throw out big bluffs. (I saw the very loose Asian guy put out big bets on the river and get called 3 times only to have him muck without showing. Later, I saw him playing $50 per hand black jack after he got busted for the 4th time at our table. This confirmed my impression of him as a 'gambler' of the highest degree.)
Comments
For me? Just a couple of hands where I caught flushes. One I had a gutshot SF draw and I caught a flush and caught a bluff from the super bluffy guy. Another I had Ac in BB and the flop came with 3 clubs. Checked around. When the club came on the turn, I got 2 streets of value from another player with a week flush.
I did catch 2pr against a tight player and got him all in. Unfortunately he had a set. Luckily, he was short stacked and it didn't hurt much. I might have deduced he had a big hand since it was the first hand he raised from the BB and led out on the flop. Then again, he could have done the same thing with a big pair.
I think in 4+ hours, I caught 2 flushes and 1 set and maybe was successful with a few bluffs. Not a lot of action but profitable and fun to watch the other hands.
If the ace had come then the KK guy would have had Aces full of Kings, and his opponent would have had quads.
He would have been real disappointed though - the guy with A6 would not be using both of his cards to make the best hand and thus it would not qualify for the Bad Beat Jackpot.
I wonder how many people know this rule:
"Players may not discuss the possibility or likelihood that the bad beat jackpot will be awarded during the hand currently in progress; doing so may void qualification for the jackpot."
Also, in my research I found out that to have the losing hand in the BBJ at Brantford:
"If the losing hand is a full house it must contain at least one Ace."
So, at Brantford to have the losing hand in a BBJ you must have either the low end of a straight flush, a pair (to make quads) or AK, AQ, or AJ. You can't have KK and have your opponent have AQ on a AAAxx board. At Niagara or Fallsview this would qualify for the losing hand for the Bad Beat Jackpot.
I know in Gatineau when I started playing (believe it's still the same), you had to have As over at least Qs cracked, and here's the kicker, you had to have pocket rockets in your hand. In other words, AQ with a board of, say, AAQ99 (other guy holding 9s) would NOT qualify for the BBJ.
Not sure if they've changed the rule (didn't really pay attention to the rule since I'd never come close to it nor seen it won in 3-4 years of playing there) since though.