Twin River

Finally got down to the poker room at Twin River today. Very small, just one area in the middle of a bunch of slot machines and a food court and the waitlist was very long. I was hoping there'd be a 2-4 stud game going that I could jump into without waiting but that was not to be the case. Only stud game going was 5-10 and even that had 3 people on the waitlist. Ended up getting on the ist for 3-6 limit and 1/2 no limit. I was 16th on the list for limit and 38th on the list for no limit. The board actually only displayed the first 22 waiting so it was awhile before I could even see my initials on the NL waitlist. While I was waiting for about 40 minutes a guy came up to me and asked me how long I had been waiting. I told him and my place on the waitlist (had only moved up 1 place on the limit waitlist at that point as well) and he decided to leave and go to Foxwoods instead.

Waited for about 2 hours; there was a video poker machine close to the poker room so I could still track the waitlist so sat and played for a bit. Put in $5 and played 5¢ per hand. Got quads pretty early and was up a little over $2, but slowly started to lose that back and then realized the pay table only paid 1 credit for two pair. FREAKING LAME. There were other machines in the room that paid 2 credits so if you're going to play just watch for that. They were taken when I was there so didn't get to play those. But once I got back down to my original $5 I cashed out.

Soon after I got to 10th on both lists, but figured the NL game would open first as the list was moving a lot faster (assuming they only had 1 table going for the limit game). They had an open seat and called a couple of names and had a few no shows, so moved up a few more places. Then a couple more seats opened up and a few more no shows allowed me to take a seat at a table, just in time for the BB.

Very first hand the player two seats to my left straddled with the table joking that he could straddle 3 hands in a row if they filled the seat to my direct left by the next hand. I did defend with 75o, with like 5 players to the flop it came Q♦7♠5♦ and I check/folded. Very next hand they did fill the other seat and the guy straddled again. That player would be pretty aggressive as well so had to be careful not to limp too many hands with them acting behind me.

Pretty card dead early on so was mostly observing. Saw a hand come up where two players wound up all-in on the river on a board of A 2 3 2 6  (with no flush possibilities). Ended up being quad 2s against 3s full. This was a limped pot as well with a bet and call on the turn (forget who bet and who called, but it rules out 66). Hard for the guy with 33 to put his opponent on a hand that could beat him.

Frustratingly had to fold some hands I wanted to play. Had K♥Q♥ and limped behind on the button, BB put in a raise to $25 then a EP player who limped and reraised to 67 and I folded but hated it. Original raiser folded and the guy showed 66. The other guy said he had KQ, blah. Really hated all of my options in that hand. 

 

Other hands I had to fold were J♥T♥ UTG and A♣J♣ in the BB after a raise and re-raise before it got to me. Did get 55 in the SB the next orbit after that but there was a straddle  so called for $3 more. Four players to the flop which came 5♥Q♣7♠ I checked, expecting one of the aggressive players to take a shot, but it gets checked around. Turn 8♥ checked again expecting them to be this time, got checked around again. River 4♥ completing a possible heart flush, checked around a 3rd time, happy to show it down and just take the pot at that point. Got a measly $15. I said "was hoping one of you guys would bet it" and he said "you got my straddle at least". Kind of sucks being out of position there; had I been on the button and gotten checked to twice, of course I would have bet it. I may have even bet the flop in that spot.

So a few more orbits go by and one guy leaves and an older lady sits down. I get J♣2♣ in the BB and checked my option with like 4 players in the pot. Flop J♠8♠2♥, I check, she bet $15 and 1 other player + me call. Turn was a blank (forget exactly what card) and she bet $15 again. The other player called and I called again. River was a card that I believe allowed for a possible straight but not a flush. The woman bet $15 again and the other player took a little while before acting. He tried staring me down and I looked away instantly and tried throwing off a "fake tell" that I had a monster since I had a hand that was barely worth a call (plus he also saw that I checked a set 3 times the hand before so I'm capable of slowplaying a hand all the way). I read him for missing a draw and I felt he was putting the woman on top pair only and was going to try and blow us both off our hands. But didn't want to see a raise from him because it would have been a really difficult call for my remaining chips. He ended up folding after some thought and I made a pretty standard call. I figured she might have me beat but probably shows up with top pair only a lot of the time since she might figure her hand is good with no one raising. I called and beat her J♥T♦.

Got in another pot with her soon after. Had A♠K♠ two off the button and I opened for $8 after it's folded to me (pretty rare in this game to have the first 4 players pass). In succession, the remaining 4 players behind all called. Keep in mind this was the ONLY hand I raised preflop all session. LOL. Flop came K♦8♥2♠ . SB checked, the woman was in the BB this had and bet $25. I called and the rest of the players ended up folding. Turn 5♠ to give me a flush draw. She bet $25 again and I considered shoving here but I thought maybe she may have had better than just top pair this time knowing that I check/called all the way with two pair the hand before. I just called again. River 7♠ completing my flush. She checked and I asked for a count of the pot which I was told wasn't allowed, nor were they allowed to spread the pot which I was told by a few players at the table. I did look this up after the fact and it's pretty standard to not allow players to know what's in the pot with the exception of pot-limit games. Was told by the player on my right that we are supposed to keep track of it ourselves. I could have replayed it back and figured it out but just had a mental block at that point in the heat of the action. I had about $80 left and it was pretty apparent that I should just stick it in, which I did. The dealer put a nifty all-in button next to my stack and the woman ended up folding. I showed the hand and told her it was a good fold. I asked her if she had a K and she said yes.

 

Cashed out a couple of hands later (the person I came with wanted to leave anyh0w). Had bought in for $100 and increased that to $223 by the end of the session. If this lady didn't sit down who knows if I would have even booked a winning session. Was told that the games here are mostly soft but because of the long wait today most of the casual non-poker players "giving poker a try" went off to play slots or other games. Makes sense. 

Had I ended up getting called for the 3-6 limit game instead it probably would have been a terrible grind. That game is really only profitable when you're playing against clueless players. There needs to be enough players to see the flop and take their lousy hands too far to beat the rake in that game. At least with no-limit you have the implied odds and you really only need to take one bad player's stack to be profitable. Not to say this woman was a terrible player; I just think she had a limit mindset which can be very dangerous in a NL game (keep betting until you are raised, don't assume top pair is no good if you're called, etc). That was good enough to get the money today. 

Glad I checked this casino out cause I don't plan on being back. Next journey into livedom will be one of the NH cardrooms. The new one in Nashua (Boston Billard Club & Casino) looks pretty promising and according to Poker Atlas they spread Omaha there as well.