2025.30

 

I truly believe that the best weather in the country, and therefore planet earth, is in Los Angeles - especially in the month of October.  Just under a very dry 75°, with a delightful intermittent breeze, it really doesn't get any better than it was this last Saturday in Burbank.

And so, as the months cool and it gets nicer and nicer, we once again find ourselves within the cozy confines of the Garage Around Back, for a 1pm pre-tournament Cash Game.   Big Mix as always on Saturdays, that means all the games!  We had the perfect number as well - 8 gambling friends who love to throw down in the mix game streets.  Including a brand new face to the garage, though I've played with him on Monday nights for years in Moose cash games - the one and only Mr. Steve A.

The mood was light but the action was serious as we got underway.  I must say our cash games have come a long way since the early days - we would play maybe once every two or three months, and the buy-in was capped at $50 and people would reload maybe once in an evening if they got unlucky.  A "big" pot was over $20 lol.   Yes, things have changed.  Today, hundred dollar pots form on the regular, and people are not shy about putting their chips to work and applying pressure, irregardless of the game variant being played.  

Early on, this fine Saturday afternoon, the red birds were flying back forth - three bets were plentiful, and the action was intense!

Above we can see our humble hosts stack shortly before we wrapped at 4:30, I would finish well up - just over $100 in profit.  A couple others did well also, I believe M.C. booked a nice win.  A couple of others were down, and the remaining got stung a bit (though everyone reloaded and no one left early).

But the big wiener on the day was Mr. Allen R. whose castle of chips was just starting to grow biggish in the picture that I snapped below, about 2/3 through the session.  By quitting time it had amassed even larger for a nice chunky 3 figure profit.

And then it was time to kick everyone out briefly - as I prepared the tournament.  Mr. Brent, M.C and Steve would not return, as they'd had their poker fix for the day.  But we would get quite a few more players for the 5:30 tournament.

For this event all the faces were familiar, I'm glad that quite a few newer players found their way back to the garage.  Action kicked off right on time with 14 runners.  As with the cash game, this tournament was packed with people who knew what they were doing and wasted no time in putting their chips to work.

Your humble host spun up a stack early, but then was stymied when his AA ran head first into Ms. Sharon's flopped set of kings!  How did I not go broke when she didn't 3-bet pre?  Chalk it up to the poker gods or something lol.

I also was caught flat footed when my turned two pair lost to a rivered two pair, and I took myself to value town with a chunky sized fifth street bet.  Good times!

Meanwhile, over on table 2 - this happened...

Yes that would be Mr. Vito and his incredible (flopped?) Royal Flush.  First one in the history of the garage that I can remember.  I can only recall seeing this one other time in my entire life in live play (I've seen it a handful of times online) - so this is for sure one for the books!

As 9pm approached, the final table bubble burst, and your host made it in under the wire.  I was on the nub though.  So too was Mr. Royal Flush somehow...

I believe I busted first, and then Vito - then Karen and Dan L.

We were paying 4, and our unfortunate bubble was the estimable Ms. Sharon who departed with grace and class, only one middle finger raised instead of her usual double barrel salute.

Debbie was out next, collecting a buy-in ($60) for her trouble, which is certainly better than nothing, though not by much.

And then there were three...

Play continued this way for longer than I expected, but in the end Dan G. had to succumb in 3rd place for a nifty $160 payout.

It wasn't that late, and Allen R. had a pretty big chip lead, when he graciously proposed an even money split with Colin in exchange for the TOC seat lock-up going to Allen.  Colin eagerly accepted so they both took home $320!

A big thanks to everyone who came out, both cash and tourney, and made it a great time as always.  What makes our game the best home game ever is the players - for sure!  So kind and gracious and fun, I truly appreciate your competitive spirits and your humble friendliness as well - you are all my role models!

Our next tournament, very likely the last tournament of the year - is scheduled for Saturday, Nov 22 at 530pm.  In between now and then we will of course continue our cash game shenanigans, the next one of these is in two weeks, Friday Nov 7 at 7:30, No-Limit Hold-Em only with a 2/1 NLHE/PLO mix kicking in after 10:30.  Evite is already out, be sure to let me know if you didn't get it, as I don't have everyone on the list because I don't wanna bug ya if you aren't interested.  We do play almost every week and I know those emails can be annoying ha ha.

Anyhoo - that's all I've got for you today.  Go away now!  (IYKYK) - Peace and we out!

2025.29

 

It was another perfect day in LA, a Friday in fact - so that meant that it was once again time for another Poker Party down at good ol' Pepper Street Poker.

But not just any party - this time around it was your humble hosts favorite - the Fix Limit Fiesta!

This meant a ten game fixed rotation where the betting was limited ($2 and $4) but the action certainly was not!  We also had frequent FULL KILL pots at 4$/$8!  12 eager gamblers sat down to throw down in the lightning fast limit streets, making for a furiously fun evening of one of the best ways to play the great game of poker!

Table one saw yours truly facing off with Wiz, Ian, M.C., Lea Anne and Mr. Brent.  Table 2 saw the long awaited return of Jason in the box, rounded off by el Jeffe G, Rich, Allen R, Jeff M and Alan S.

Fun and frolic were found at both tables, with things starting off at table one with a bang - quads in Seven Stud by the one and only Mr. Ian!

Later in the evening, we also had another stunner - somehow Mr. M.C. avoided capping every street with his Number Two 2-7 Triple Draw Hand, somehow he knew he was up against a Number One!

Ms. Lea Anne had a great night, and even stayed later than usual for her - until just after 11 - before racking up her substantial winnings.  She was for sure the big stack of the night.

As midnight approached, we consolidated to one table - with the typical groupings of some folks cashing out with a bit of profit, others stuck a bit and a few with dust.

Before we finished off the night with 7 players - a new player arrived a bit late (though she had let us know she would be) - the one and only and long time gone Mrs. Teresa!  Although she favors the Cadillac of poker (No-Limit Hold-Em of course) she splashed around in the limit streets no problem!

Would you believe me if I told you we wrapped it up at 1am?  Well if you did you'd believe a liar, because we actually finished well after 2am!  Oye!   Your host/dealer was DRAGGING lol.

But as always, it was a fantastic time.  Our next poker night is in two weeks - our monthly Saturday tournament at 530, the evite is out, be sure to let me know if you haven't seen it.   

Our next cash game event will be the Big Bet format, showcasing mostly No-Limit Hold-Em (featuring the Nit Game and Bomb Pots and PLO after 1030) - whatever the format you choose, it's always a great time!   Very much looking forward to seeing you on the felt again soon!

Until then, peace and we out!

2025.28

Another week, another chance for poker mayhem in The Garage Around Back!

This time it was our most popular cash game format - the Dealer's Choice, the Big Mix, the one with ALL the games. 

As per usual these days, our cash game numbers were comparable to our tournament attendance - 12 hearty gamblers were welcomed in to throw down in the mix game streets and gamble it up for a good 5 hours plus!

Among this degenerate dozen, we had a new player - another recruit from the Moose, the affable Mr. Brent, who was only able to play for a couple of hours; as he had a hockey commitment (playing, not just watching) at ye olde Pickwick Ice Arena later that evening.

We also saw the return of one of the original sons of PSP, Legacy OG Mr. Mike K., who barely missed a step, playing his second hand ever of Dramaha and winding up with a boat in his hand and a straight flush on board!  Welcome to mix cash Mr. Mike!

Action only ramped up from there - with plenty of dust-ups throughout the night.  We had more than a few people that by evenings end had very little or nothing to show for their efforts.  In turn, we had multiple folks turning healthy 3 figure profits.  The eb and flow of cash game poker!

Around 10:30-11 we had a flurry of cash outs, we finished off the night with a single table of 7.  Allen R, Wiz, Jeff M, Colin, Vito and yours truly.  We played for two more hours and ended up knocking off sometime after midnight.

Your humble host had been treading water for most of the evening, but found himself dragging a handful of larger pots at the end of the night - to end up with a decent $100+ profit.

The big wiener of the night looked to be Vito, who had more than a few favorable rivers in the final hours to push him well past a $300 profit (unless he had reloaded, which I'm thinking maybe he did).

A huge thanks to Mr. Jeff G. for graciously dealing over at the blue table - I know there's zero compensation at PSP, but it really makes the game better for everyone to have a dedicated dealer when there's almost two dozen game choices!

Next Friday we're looking at a Fix Limit Fiesta!  A 10 game rotation of all Fix Limit games - with $2/$4 betting levels and full kill pots!  Always a great time.

Remember, our next tournament is Sat, Oct 25 at 530pm - be sure to let me know if you don't see the Evite, it's been out for awhile and once again our responses are low - I'm wondering if a bunch of you aren't getting notified.  Let me know!

Very much looking forward to our next poker palooza - until then, peace and we out!