Friday Cash - 2023.13

 Once again, it was time to circle the wagons and saddle up in the mix game streets in the garage around back! This time there would be two tables of five, meaning all the games were in play, including Badugi, Badacey, and even both varieties of deuce to seven low ball, single and triple draw! 

Lea Anne, Ian, Mike C, Colin and yours truly made up the 1st table, Stuver, Priya, Babs, Jeff G and “Bomb Pot” Rich formed the second.

I don’t know too much about what happened behind me at the second table, though by the sound I can confirm it was rather boisterous, but I can tell you that my table was loaded with action. We played perhaps the most variety of games that I’ve ever experienced in under three hours. As 10:30 approached Lea Anne packed up for the night and so there was nine total left in the garage.

Normally this would be the time that we would combine into a single nine hand table, but just for fun I suggested to the fellas near me that we just keep it 4 handed. Expecting to be rejected, I was instead enthusiastically supported, as that would mean of course we could still play everything. And so we did! With a bunch of big hands of several Omaha varieties, including Courchevel! 

As midnight approached, Rich, Jeff and Stuver cashed out. The true degenerates stuck around and played until just past 1 AM at a single table of six. Dang people, y’all like to gamble!

The big winner of the night seemed to be Barbara, who finished several hundred dollars ahead. Colin made a nice come back after being down quite a bit to finish the night about even I believe. Yours truly was down and then up and then just above even at the end of the night. No matter the outcome for me, it was a great time!

Speaking of a great time, some people apparently had such a great time they felt compelled to drop a $20 bill into the tip jar and someone else (presumably) dropped a ten! This generosity does not go unnoticed by your host. I really, really, really appreciate it! Of course it’s not necessary, but I am very grateful for such a nice thing. You are all the best, for reals! 

We are going to keep this freight train of cash games going, next up will be NLHE only, yes that’s the Cadillac of poker, Texas no limit hold ‘em! With bomb pots and the Nit game it should be a grand old time. Look for the Evite, the game will be in two weeks. Hope you can make it!

Until then, peace and we out!

Postscript: as everyone knows we have a ton of people in the business of entertainment in our little game. I was honored to be bestowed with a gift from the front lines of the current ongoing strike. The artwork, by an unknown artist, was very cool!

2023.09 - Crazy Pineapple

 It was a lovely, almost cool, overcast day in Burbank. Perfect conditions to stay in the garage and play what was going to be a two table affair. But then at the last minute it turned into a three tables of 7 event. This was our annual crazy pineapple tournament, with the legendary tiki king chips in play as well as a couple of new accoutrements. 

It’s a tournament that I truly do look forward to all year, it seems silly, because it’s basically the same game as Texas no limit hold ‘em, but the twist is you get three hole cards instead of two and then you discard one after the flop. A pretty minor difference, but people always treat it as if it’s insanely different! I enjoy it because it’s a bit less bluffy and there are significantly bigger hands at showdown.

Unfortunately this year it was not to be for me. I was the fourth to bust out after Jeff S, Chris R. and Allen R. in that order. 

I did get to play for a good solid 2+ hours, so I did enjoy it. It was especially great to see my brother who joined us, and by a not so crazy coincidence, sat at my table. It was nice catching up with him before we played cards, and it was great having him at the table. I also especially appreciated Jeff G dealing for our table. Jason dealt for the second table and Jerry was dealing over on table number three.

Stephen B. Busted next and we broke the third table. It wasn’t much longer than 90 more minutes, with Jason, Colin, Josh, Mike C, Joey, Alan S and Rich busting in that order, that we then broke the second table and it was final table time.

It was great to see the good Doctor David make the final table, unfortunately he was second to bust out after Jeff G. Yours truly continued to deal and then it was Marc D, Joe and then finally Lea Anne exiting as our unfortunate bubbler. The good news for her was, she and Ian decided to chop the last longer bet, so they got $90 apiece, meaning that she ended up with a $10 profit on the night!

And then it was in the money time! I have to say, the entire final table was an absolute crazy roller coaster. Giant stacks went back-and-forth more than a few times. Once again early on it looked like it was going to be the Joe show, when a massive pot between Joe and Jeff was pushed in the former’s direction. Alas, Joe was unable to hold on to his mountain.  Jerry also had a huge pile of chips from an earlier 3 way all in where he spiked a set of jacks to crack AA and then lost a bunch, only to gain a lot of it back towards the end.

Arthur, was the first to bust out and collect some money. Fourth place paid a nice $160, making for $100 profit on the evening.

Three handed play lasted for a while between Eric P, Ian and Jerry. At one point Eric had the chip lead, then he took a hit and then another one, and finally had to settle for third place and $240.

And then there were two. I wish I could say it was an epic battle that lasted for hours, with exciting changes in momentum and chips flying back-and-forth. But if I said that I would be totally lying. Ian had a bit of a chip lead, but Jerry offered him a bit more money in exchange for the tournament title and locking up the TOC seat. 

Ian accepted, taking $380 for second place along with the $90 from the last longer bet for a lovely $470 payday. Jerry got $340 plus the gorgeous PSP jumbo card cover. Well done sir! It’s been a minute! 

As always, I want to say a huge thanks to all my great poker homies who came out and made it a good time, I truly enjoyed myself even though I busted early. You all make it super fun every time, and I really really appreciate it!

Our next tournament will be Saturday, 14th, at 5 PM. We are back to good old fashioned Texas no limit hold ‘em, but it will be our annual Dia de los Muertos event, meaning it will feature the other really cool ceramic chip set with plaques that I own!

In between there will of course be Friday night cash games! Hope to see you soon!

Until then, peace and we out!

Friday Cash - 2023.12

 Another Friday, another chance to throw down in the cash game streets! This time, the Cadillac of poker, the mighty Texas No-Limit Hold-Em! Allen R., Lea Anne, Jeff G., Art, Mike C., Jeff S., Colin, Priya, Ian and yours truly - 10 handed alright - started the night off with a bang in a three way pot that saw all the money in the middle after the flop! Two top pair top kickers and a set of jacks! Ouch!

Yes, that’s Priya saying run it once! She of the set of fish hooks! No need to worry about tight players, it was obvious, even though it was a bit of a cooler, that everyone was here to gamble!

I would like to say that things settled down after that, but that was not the case. Frequently we had three bet and even four bet pots. It was pretty standard to go to a flop with a full PSP old school tournament buy-in ($45) or more in the pot! Our a little game has grown up a bit, but every single player at the table was good with it and comfortable being a shark among sharks. Very proud of all of us!

Inevitably, when you swim with sharks, even if you happen to be one yourself, there is a very good chance you’ll get bit. Several players left with nothing but dust, Allen R. was a victim of a particularly disgusting river and had to call it a bit of an early night.

I myself also saw bare felt, not just once but twice! Both times the money went in very good on the flop and the poker gods had other plans on the run out. Pretty happy with myself as I was calm as a cucumber both times, and genuinely wasn’t rattled at all. It’s taken me almost 20 years of playing this game seriously, to finally get to a point to be completely at peace when my decisions are good and the results are not. 

As a result, I was able to not only crawl back, but eventually grind out a decent $80 profit by the end of the night. No small feet after being down $200+.

I was nowhere near being the big winner though, Jeff G, Ian and the magnanimous Mr. Mike C all walked away with nice chunky profits. Mike I believe had the most of all, in for $100 out for just over $400. He had a very good run of cards but I also played well, snapping me off when I tried to bluff him and making other nice maneuvers that worked out well.

Yes, you are not going crazy, that top photo is a straight flush that Mike had towards the end of the night. He did not reach showdown, but we rabbited the river and he binked it!

Not too surprisingly, we were all done by midnight, burnt toast. It had been a long almost 5 hours of intense action, but a hell of a lot of fun!

A big thanks to the biggest degenerates in our game for coming out, y’all are true gamblers and it’s an honor to throw down with all of you. We had bomb parts galore as well as a raucous Nit Game where Priya played for the first time. Alas, she was the last person standing with a button in front of her and had to pay out the bounty. She was a great sport about it and even took the time to break her red chips into blue ones and pay everyone out individually. Class act all the way! 

Don’t forget, our annual Crazy Pineapple tournament is next Saturday at the usual time. The next cash game will be the circus, a.k.a. mix games, and will be on the Friday after the CP tournament. Hope you can make it! Stay tuned for the invite!

Until then, peace and we out!