One more stop in LA before we get back home… the Bicycle Casino. Spent a few hours there the last night before returning. Any time I’m out in LA, I try to head out with my friend to the casino; glad we got to do it again. How’d it go?
Well, it reminded me of that scene in Rounders; it wasn’t quite as bad as my stop at Resorts World in the Catskills, NY last year… that was a pool of sharks…but it was similar. In the movie, Matt Damon walks in to the casino in Atlantic City, and finds everyone he knows sitting around the table; he then goes into how they’re not exactly playing together, but… they’re not there to take each other’s money either. They show all the people that end up sitting at the table, and how they easily take their money. Yes, the table was full of people who knew each other… then me and my friend. It was a 1-3 no limit table, but we found out pretty quickly, it would cost more than that to play a hand. Plenty of pre-flop raises to go around, and not a few chips either. The tower of 20 chips was pushed in easily; sometimes it would be double barrel. How much you like your 2 cards? Not that much, normally.
Yes, it would be an exercise in patience; trying to pick your spots here and there… try to avoid getting steamrolled. I think I did pretty well all things considered, although… my patience ends up turning me into a passive player; it’s tough to win that way. Sure, you may not lose a lot, but… you will miss out on some big pots, and I did. However, I did get one of them. Looking down at KK… I knew I would be in no matter the pre-flop raises this round. I was actually the one who raised, but a small one; there were some callers. Flop came Q and two rags; I was feeling pretty good. I pushed one of those towers of 20 chips in; 2 callers. Turn came a blank… although I think there were straight and/or flush possibilities on the river, so… I went all in. 1 fold, 1 call… I survived the river and more than doubled up; very nice. Lady had AQ… and I was feeling good.
After that hand, I just started dwindling down. I didn’t start playing stupid or anything, but I did get involved in a few more pots; I just could never get that card… or saw a card pop that made my hand unlikely to win… I ended up leaving a few hours later down $50. $50 for 3 hours of poker playing… I’ll take that, except unlike in Vegas, I had to pay for my beers here… haha.
It was fun. Although the people all knew each other, they were nice enough. In fact, they were more agitated with each other than my friend and I who joined them on this Monday evening. It had been a while since I played; how long will it be until I play again???
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