Wow, haven't done a poker post in awhile... I guess without a "home game":http://bigbrit.blogspot.com/ every week there's not usually anything exciting to report. This past weekend I hit the casinos, tried $3/6 Hold 'Em for the first time, had some ups and downs, and came out on top. Saturday night I went to check out the Desert Diamond poker room for the first time. Well, that's not exactly true. The first week I moved here I actually wound up there, but just walked through to look at it, and was waaaay too intimidated to sit down.

This time I walked in ready to play (especially after hitting the poker room at Casino Del Sol a few times and finding it not scary). I went up to the cardroom manager (super-nice guy (Jason maybe?)) and asked about $2/4. He said that everyone in a seat right now was a die-hard, so it might be a long wait. He wanted to know if I would take a seat at a $3/6 table instead. I thought about it for a minute, then said "sure". After all, it's only a buck more in blinds per orbit, so as long as I played tight I figured I'd be alright.

Finally got into my seat, got $100 in chips, and I was ready to play. I folded about the first 20 hands, then got pocket 4s. I call the big blind, and the flop is full of overcards, so I fold at the first bet.

Couple of hands later, and I'm dealt pocket 9s. 5 players to the flop, and there's a 9, so now I've got a set. There's a bet in front of me, and I raise to try and ward off any freak draws. 2 callers, and the turn in a blank. I bet out again, get one fold and one call. Last card makes a pair of jacks on the board, so now I've got a full house. It's checked to me, and I bet. The woman I'm heads-up against folds, and I show my cards as sort of a PR move. It was a nice sized pot, and now I'm probably at about $140.

After that, however... nothing went right. I continued to play tight/aggressive, but cards weren't coming my way. I mucked bad hand after bad hand... 2-5o, 10-5o, 7-3o. Fold, fold, fold. It wasn't really frustrating; just some quiet bemusement that I wasn't getting anything to work with. The few good starting hands I did get didn't turn into anything. I would flop four to the flush, and then no more cards I needed would come. Medium pairs wouldn't yield anything, so I would have to fold. The end result was that I walked away down about $70, but considering how long I was playing, and how much worse it _could_ have been, I was pleased with my play, but just dissapointed with the net results.

Yesterday I went to Casino Del Sol, to see if I was just having an off night. Once again no $2/4, but there weren't even any tables of it, so I had to go to a $3/6. This one started out much the same way; up a little, down a little, but holding my own and no major disasters.

Then the cards started coming my way. It started with A-10o, and the flop came with some cards towards a straight, and 2 spades. My ace was a spade, so I figured it would be worth it to stick around. 4th street was another spade, and the other guy in the pot is betting like mad trying to get me off the hand, but I stay in. Last card is another spade, and now I've made the nut flush. With no pair on the board, I'm sure I've got the best hand, and I do. That opened the floodgates, and I started getting some really good hands. Flopped trip 7s which held up. A-J of diamonds makes a flush grabbing me a monster pot. Even my A-10 stands up as top pair, top kicker. After that hand one of the better players at the table (and they were by far better than the people playing the night before) commented that he couldn't get a read on me, which I took as a huge compliment. Of course, I had to say something funny like "why, because I look like I'm shitting my pants on every hand?" I don't think I wound up losing a showdown the rest of the day. I had a weak 2-4o (in the blinds) turn into 2 pair on the river, beating out a pair of aces.

The funniest hand had me a late position with a 5-7 of diamonds. Flop came with some low cards and a 7 (with a diamond), so I stayed with my pair and backdoor flush. Next card gave me a gutshot low (A-2-4-7 on the board), so I called the bet from across the table. Last card was the miracle 3, giving me a wheel straight. The other guy had a pair of aces, and I flipped up my 5, proclaiming "straight!". The dealer took a look and said, "I can't get a straight from this", which of course made my heart completely stop beating. Then she took a second look and decided I did indeed have the straight, and raked that one in.

The total tally had me walking out with $275 after buying in for $100, so a profit of $175 for the day (not including all the tips for the dealers), making my weekend tally solidly in the black. I probably could have stayed longer and made more, but I had plans (bowling!) that I didn't want to miss. Small aside; the guy who said he couldn't read me and one of the dealers both made a point to tell me when I was leaving that I had played really well, which was pretty cool indeed.