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OT - Poker Hand (Columbus, OH Casino)
Posted By: Stick
Date: Tuesday, 28 June 2016, at 5:33 a.m.
Almost 4 years later and I finally caved in. The fine city of Columbus, Ohio has had a casino since late 2012 now. While I had been a few times (3?) over the last 3-4 years it was never to do anything but drink. The casino itself is pretty solid for a random city casino. 4 places to eat, decent poker room, all the usual slots and table games. Overall I was impressed with it when I first saw it a few years ago. They have a bar in the center, place for bands to play which happens frequently on Friday/Saturday nights, and it's a mere 12 minutes from my house.
How and why I'd never went to play poker (or blackjack) I don't know. Possibly still a little burnt out from poker after all these years? Lazy? No free alcohol like Vegas? Or simply that I go to Vegas and LA enough to curb my need for a local casino. I'm sure it's a mixed bag of all that and who knows what else. Last Saturday though I found myself with nothing better to do and decided to go check it out. If nothing else I would now have an answer for all those people who ask me about. I'm supposed to be a 'professional gambler' so it makes sense I would at least be able to give feedback or an opinion about a local casino when people ask.
The poker room only ran a 1/2 NL game, a 2/5 NL game, and the highest (and only I believe) limit game they had is 4/8. That low level limit game is virtually unbeatable. Casino wins on the rake, everyone else loses or on a good day makes a couple dollars. To win, esp. any real money at limit, the stakes need to be 10/20 or higher. You could grind 5/10 if the game was weak enough but it's like work and we all know that's a 4 letter word. From what I heard over the speaker they also were offering a PLO game, maybe even decent stakes.
The Hand
So since limit was out as an option I went with the NL game which is more entertaining anyway. I've been there long enough to know the players and the table tendencies. An early position player who doesn't get out of line raises preflop. I call from early/mid position with 8Q of clubs and get a couple of callers behind me. 5 people see the flop.
I wouldn't recommend playing hands like 8Qs behind an early position raise but this game almost never gets 3 bet (unless it's me), a lot of people see the flop, and you can outplay them postflop.
The Flop
5c 7h 8h
Not a terrible flop for me, top pair with a reasonable kicker and a backdoor flush draw. People were seeing flops with lots of hands, esp. suited connectors, so I'm content but not overly happy initially. It will also likely escalate to a large pot and my holding even given the flop isn't something I want to invest a lot of chips in. Still...
The pre flop raiser leads out for $30. This is where it gets interesting. There is no way that this is a continuation bet into a board of that texture and 5 players. In my mind he's definitely on an over pair. It's a lot less likely he would have raised from early position with a middle pair (88, 77, 66, 55) and even if he somehow had spiked a set, I don't believe his bet would have been as large as it was.
So I decide to call on the pretense that my hand isn't that bad but especially on the fact that, assuming we lose the other players which is likely, I can push him off his hand a lot of the time when a scare card comes. There are tons of scare cards. Whether it be something that completes the straight, another 8, or even an ace.
Well, two players behind me call! Now we go to the turn and it's 4 handed.
The Turn
Kc
So now I've picked up a flush draw and what I see as an overcard came. The early position player still leads out for $40 but it seems to me like a scared bet. I'm thinking he has TT or JJ now and if I make a move he's dropping. The other players concern me a little but no matter what they have I feel I have outs at the worst. They are likely on a flush draw (hearts) and maybe a straight draw or some junk like A7. The pot was big enough now that I decided taking it down would be just fine with me. I raised enough to put all three players all in if they decided to call. I had them all covered. (I never sit short)
First guy calls. Second guy calls. The original player leading the betting up to that point folds. He would tell us after he had JJ which I believe. Needless to say, I'm not happy getting not just one, but two calls! They weren't pot committed. I think it still cost each of them over $100 to call. Your question to answer before you go on is what range do you put them on?
Oddly enough, after they open their hands I'm pretty happy about things and my play. One of them had the nut heart draw with AT of hearts and the other player was actually on a club draw with A4 of clubs!? What he was doing calling that flop bet I have no idea. That's how soft this game is.
Going into the river I'm a clear favorite in the hand at around 48%. Unfortunately a heart hits on the river and all my hard work is for naught. I may have lost the pot but I still have a smile on my face. I read my opponents correctly for the most part, played it properly I think, and got my money in at the right moment. Most of all, I'm just happy to be playing in this game!
I ended up up on the night a significant amount for such a small stakes game. I returned next week to play a night and repeated the process. I'll probably continue to go every once in a while. I take in a couple magazines (tennis or poker) and a book, read for a bit, play some poker and people give me money. Good set up.
Stick
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