Some small stakes live poker

Posted by bellatrix

April 28, 2008

San Manuel Indian Casino

I was at a conference in Lake Arrowhead, just north of San Bernardino, which is just a half an hour drive from where I live. If you ever get to go to Lake Arrowhead, it is really beautiful and a nice cool-off from the warm weather in the valley. I did some hiking and felt so refreshed coming down the mountain, even though I was working there. So I decided to stop by San Manuel for some poker.

San Manuel is a very typical Indian establishment. I don’t know about the typical payout structures from the slots, but my guess is that the rule “the closer you are to LA, the worse the payouts” holds here and the slots are horrible. It was full and stinky on a weekday afternoon, but nevermind, I was only going to the poker room. Already, I noticed, I only had about 400$ to spend, so it was going to be a low limit afternoon.

Too bad, because when I got there there was only one 15/30 game going and the next limit was 4/8 with a kill. I put my name on the 4/8K and stated a 6/12 interest list and wandered around the room a bit. The room is nice and big and still seems to be undergoing some constructions. For example, as of now the cage is outside the poker room, so if you want to cash out your chips you have to go into the smoky slot area again. There were no magazine racks, which is sad, because I hadn’t brought anything to read with me.

Fortunately a new 4/8K table was started soon and I found myself with a seat. I must have been playing on the internet too long, because I gave the chip runner 200$, while everybody was buying in for 80$ (10BB, lol). I should have done like the romans, but my mind just slipped… so right away, I had the “chip bully”, “internet player” target on my back. Oh well…

My session was pretty uneventful. I put a bad beat on this lady. I raised 99 in MP and got called by BTN, lady in SB and the BB. Flop is JTx and I c-bet, only lady calls. Turn is Q, I say eff it and keep on betting, river is K and I keep betting. I don’t know what the lady had, but she really gave me an angry look when I tabled my hand. Heh! I have a donktastic image now and I can value bet well. Lady even moved to my right, which is kind of weird, because if you think I’m a donkey and LAGtard, you should move to my left.

After 90 minutes, I suddenly get bored and cash out with +65$. I don’t know, I just didn’t feel right and the people weren’t overly friendly or anything. I just left… But I’ll still keep it on the backburner for that 15/30 game…

Cache Creek Indian Casino

I travelled to UC Davis last week to meet some people. Unfortunately, against my plans, I had to stay one more night. I hadn’t made any plans for dinner with anybody, so I thought, I might as well go play some poker. Of course, I didn’t bring my laptop to check where the nearest Sac-Town card-rooms are, so I ended up driving to Cache Creek.

I have been there quite a lot to play some BJ, even though the rules are not the best, the game is not closely watched and you can do an ok spread on their shoes. However, I hadn’t been there in like 2 years, so it felt weird driving that highway 16 again after such a long time. It is really a romantic drive as the casino is out in the middle of NOWHERE.

They have a new poker room now. Apparently on the weekends they have a big 1000NL game, but that weekday evening the big game was *gasp* 4/8K, to which I got a seat immediately.

This session was a lot more fun with just the right mix of nits and lags. I was card dead (no kidding, really 62o 3 times), so I folded for about an hour. The guy next to me was a huge lag and bluffer and was bad beating everybody. It was hilarious how everybody was gunning for him and he kept stacking their chips. Of course the first playable hand he bad beats me, too, as his 89 (rivered straight) > AJ (2pair). Meh! Very slowly, after I buy another rack, things turn around and I get some chips. Nothing spectacular.

I want to leave up 20$ and was already racking up when this happens. New guy sits down, it’s a kill pot and I open raise AK UTG+1, new guy calls and so do 2-3 more people (don’t remember). Flop comes (Axx)r. I bet, two call. Turn is x, I bet, new guy calls, blind goes away. River is x, I bet, new guy calls. But the way new guy was stacking his chips and making his calls was amazing…. HE HAD NEVER PLAYED POKER BEFORE! Right when he lost that hand (and I won a 100$ pot approx.), he started ratholing some chips and looked as confused as ever, it was not an act! While I was folding my UTG hand and stacking my chips, I pondered, whether I should stay with this new guy here, but then my stomach started growling and I decided to leave with +115$ for 3 hours of fun work.

The rest of the evening was spent enjoying a nice Vietnamese meal and with some blackjack play (I won, too, yay!). If Cache Creek wasn’t so far out of the way, I would really recommend this poker room for low stakes players. The dealers and players are really nice, no abuse or angle shooting. Unfortunately, game selection is a bit bad and I hear the rake is bad at the NL games (it was fine 3+1 at the limit), plus you earn points with your frequent player card, which you can turn in for buffets clothing and other.

Yep, so that was it. I’ll try to write some about Internet Poker in the next few days…

Bookmark It