Vegas Trip in April
I know it's way too early, but I'm excited and the trip is booked. Will be flying in April 26 and home on May 3. I work
Thanks for following!
It took me a little while to get use to the new format, but I'm good with it now. I miss the up arrow, but that's the only thing I miss (so far).
Played an interesting game yesterday. I don't normally play in this game, but my husband had to work for a few hours, so I headed out. It's 1/2 NLHE w/ a PLO DBBP followed by one hand of PLO, but they added a second hand for me 😉
OMG, the loose/passive play is almost unbearable. Very first hand a guy limps from LP w/ AKo and bemoans his loss to some random pair that hit on the river -- no betting the whole time. Amazing. Plus, they chase anything.
So many times I should have bet to take it down, but you just never knew what they were going to show up with. So frustrating. One guy called a raise pre w/ 4c5c (not against me), called a big flop bet w/ a club draw and bottom pair, then called all in (a little bigger than pot) on a blank turn when he still had only bottom pair -- he won w/ a pair of 5s vs. the nut flush draw. I guess it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.
I raise pre from MP w/ AJ, get two callers, flop is JKX. I bet and get an LP call and a fold. Check/check turn, he bets a blank river, I fold and he shows KK. I think they were all just hoping to hit the per hour high hand for a whopping ~$40.
Somehow, I was in for $500 and down to ~$230. I announced that the next last PLO hand was my last hand:
Everyone limps in, as always. I am in LP w/ something like KT76 w/ two diamonds. Flop comes 9TJ w/ two diamonds. Guy bets, I call, two more callers. LOL. Turn is the beautiful Q. He bets, I gii, and he calls w/ 99XX -- no other draws. River is an A and I double up for a $40 loss on the night.
They also had a pull tab, $10 each, for four bottles of bourbon. I don't really drink bourbon, but I like it and I have friends who do, so I bought three of the 16 tabs. Right before the reveal, I offered to split with anyone and one guy took me up. Of course, I won! He wanted one of the nicer bottles, and I let him have it because he was so down on the night. No biggie. I still took home about $90 worth and now have a gift and bourbon for when friends come over.
(Larceny 1.75L small batch and Elijah Craig 750ml, which is my neighbor's go-to.)
Played in a 1/2/5 PLO-only game last Sunday vs. the usual NLHE players. Only five of us showed up, unfortunately. I was up ~$200 when this hand happened:
BTN ($450) straddle $15, I ($700) pot $50 from SB w/ 9cJhKsAs, folds to BTN who pots.
We have lots of history going back and forth. He knows a little about poker, but not much, and he's doesn't study and is not a PLO player. I know he is doing this very wide, so I repot and we gii.
He has TdTh3d4d, so I'm a slight favorite. He says, "I can't believe you don't have a pair." LOL. He still doesn't realize he was a slight dog. However, the poker gods were in his favor. We ran it twice: he flopped a set on the first board and I rivered as straight, but he rivered diamonds. His TT held the second board. Oh, well. I had to leave soon thereafter because my husband cut his hand, and my pre-vet degree makes me the doctor in the family.
Haven't played otherwise, but I might tonight.
Played the better, slightly splashier 1/2 w/ PLO DBBP and two rounds of PLO after on Saturday night. Hubby played with me, which was fun. It's getting close to 2 a.m. (now actually 3 a.m.) and I'm on my last hand, which is PLO. Hubby is cashing out up a whopping $80 after being in for $1, 400. I'm in for $500 and up about $950.
Straddle is on. Pot, pot, call, I call the $150, guy to my left hems and haws and folds. Straddle shoves ~$400, shove $500, shove $500, back to me. I have KdQhTd9h. Ahhhhh. I know these guys are just gambling, but I really don't want to lose $500 on a gamble, even with this hand knowing they don't have much. I sigh fold.
Guy who folded shows me KhQdTs3h, so I'm feeling pretty good. Third all-in flips over KxTh2hXx. I'm feeling even better.
Flop is AhJh2s Turn is 7h. River is a blank. Ahhhhh. Th2h takes it down. The guy to my left went a little nuts 😉
Nice to have an $845 win, but that would have been even nicer! At least the guy who won was in deep, and I don't think he can really afford it, so I felt slightly better.
Might get a game or two in before the Ireland trip. Someone on these forums said there is a lot of dodgy sh!t going on in Dublin. Oh, well, at least we'll be there with locals.
Had two more small wins at the same game: $80 on 3/13 and $235 on 3/15. I need to pay better attention to hands so I can post some, but the players are so transparent it doesn't seem worth the effort.
Off to Ireland this evening. We have a hotel booked in Dublin Wednesday and Thursday, and then we are pretty much winging it. We will rent a car and head toward Connemara, where our friend's family has a home -- I hope we get to stay there, but not even positive about that. We do have dinner plans at Trocadero Thursday night, which our friend's sister, who lives in Dublin, made for us. The only other plan is dinner at Ballynahinch Castle in the Owenmore Restaurant, which our friend made for Sunday night.
Our friend is heading back to the U.S. on the 27th, so we'll drive back to Dublin with him. He's going to England to fly a load of horses to the U.S. -- it's his main job -- pretty impressive for a 69-year-old. We'll probably play poker that night, and then the 28th is my birthday and my husband is taking care of plans for that day -- he might include some poker then, too, because he knows I enjoy it so much.
I'll try to post a little and maybe add a few photos.
Got to put it in with the KQT9ds
Sorry I didn't post from Ireland. Too much going on. It was a fabulous trip! The weather was amazing -- very little rain, and only a few hours the last couple of days. My husband never even put up his hood.
We spent the first two days in Dublin just walking around and eating/drinking, and had our first Guinness at John Kehoe's, then drove to Connemara to my friend's vacation cottage between Letterfrack and Tully Cross. They built it ~1965. My husband had a blast driving on the left and controlling a stick with his left hand.
This area was gorgeous. Also, we had an amazing dinner at Ballynahinch. The bill for four would have been around 700 euros, but our travel friend is best friends with the owner, and the entire bill was taken care of! He even arranged a sauna for my husband so he could get in the lake. It was freezing! He lasted 30 seconds 😉
We stayed three days in Connemara, then drove the Wild Atlantic Way, stayed a night in Doolin, then drove to Killarney. Our friend hand to leave early, so he drove back to Dublin on Wednesday. We stayed an extra night in Killarney, then took the train to Dublin and spent the last two nights there.
Friday was my birthday, and it was awesome! Took a hop on/off bus around the city in the morning, had an amazing lunch at Piglet Wine Bar, then hopped back on the bus to Smithfield area and enjoyed some music at The Cobblestone. Finally, took an Uber to D1 Casino for a little poker. Played NLHE and PLO, but unfortunately had zero luck. Rake was low, free drinks, cheap food, good dealers, and a fun bunch of players. Really enjoyed it!
A few photos, but not even close to all of them!
View from the cottage in Connemara:
Clifden:
Connemara National Park:
Rusty, my friend's sister's dog on the trail in the Connemara National Park:
On the way to Killarney. We skipped the Cliffs of Moher (too touristy), but Spanish Point was much better, and no other people around!
We stayed at Foley's in Killarney:
Off course trying to find St. Brigid's Well (we failed):
Drove part of the Ring of Kerry, stopped at Ross Castle. This is the view:
Ladies' View on the Ring of Kerry:
My favorite artwork -- found in St. Stephen's Green (we stayed across the street at Staunton's). So glad we try to read all plaques:
I enjoyed reading this thread and I actually like the new format. Less clutter and bigger font (i think)
Thanks. I like it now, too. More to come. Heading to Vegas on April 26 and hope to play a few more games before then.
FWIW, the poker in Ireland is very similar to in the U.S. You had to sign up, which took a while, but then it was just the same. Rake was 10% up to 5 euros, no drop. Dealers were competent, even in PLO. Players were friendly and bad 😉 Everyone tipped -- wasn't sure about that one since tipping is so different from in the U.S. They also tipped for drinks, which was nice to see.
The players I talked to were from Ireland, Croatia, and China. Might have been a few from other areas. They were your average loose/passive players. Lots of limp/calling, almost no 3betting. I wish we had more time, but our flight was supposed to leave at noon, so wanted to get there by 9:00 or so. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed five hours! Yes, we missed our connection in Atlanta and stayed the night. Helped with aligning sleep patterns, at least -- have to think positively.
Those are great pics. Connemara National Park looks stunning.
I'll be reading from now on as I was given a tip on how to read it in the old format. I was sad to skip it due to my resistance to the new. For those like me who are avoiding the New, click java's name>Find threads started by java>this thread. Opens right up in the old format. Not sure what happens now in my subbed list since this is my first post. We'll see!
Thanks for the tip!
Played the "better" 1/2 NLHE game w/ PLO DBBP followed by two hands of PLO last night. Husband played, too. Great game.
These guys are amazing. They will chase almost any draw and limp/call so wide. I lost my first couple of PFR to 4c5c and 9cX (both called $15 from OOP, I flopped nut straight w/ KdTd and bet big, flush on turn for clubs, but 5c4c checked and lost to a four-card flush on river w/ 9X), 56s (he called $15 pre, flopped straight), J6s (he was the $10 straddle and called $25 more, called a big flop bet, hit the flush on turn, I folded), and 23o (J6s guy called $15 after limping BTN and flopped a wheel, again I folded to his raise). LOL.
I then doubled up to ~$300 again vs. my husband w/ two pair in an Omaha hand, but lost that, too, to DBBPs and a few more ridiculous hands. Just could not hit or hold if I did.
Another fun hand: One limper w/ $55, I have 99 in SB so raise to $25, he shoves, I call. He has KdJd and hits a K.
I finally win a big DBBP vs. a guy who called down w/ two pair on top board and a set of 3s on bottom. I had second set on top board (three clubs on board) and nut straight on bottom. I actually checked the river thinking we were chopping, and he put his last $65 in -- I scooped.
I was in for $500, but cashed out for $685, so happy. Hubby was up ~$150 after being in for $700.
I hope to play this game Saturday night, but we are spending the day with the granddaughter about 1.5 hours away and not sure if we'll be home in time.
My favorite artwork -- found in St. Stephen's Green (we stayed across the street at Staunton's). So glad we try to read all plaques:
you made me look
the david tully webpage where he mentions the birds nest also contains a funny ai interaction regarding a pr0n store and mattresses printed with poignant societal messages (seperate events)
Now I'm going to look!
Edit: Pretty cool. The mattress is interesting -- love that his grammar is correct on the mattress (his for the gerund), but his punctuation is not quite as good 😉 Now I'm going to peruse his site. Glad I saw the bird's nest! Amazing that it is so new -- wonder how long it will last and how it will grow.
Played Saturday night (the same game: 1/2 w/ PLO DBBP and two hands of PLO). Sunday was the host's birthday, so they started early and had prime rib and cake, etc. Great night of poker. There was a new player who actually went by Mayhem! This guy was insane. Early on, I thought he was decent, but he was a wild card. My husband, who can also be a wild card, read him like a book. He made one bad call for $650, but otherwise he just crushed this guy.
Sadly, I had a pretty bad run, but after being in for $2, 000, I was down only $330 😉 My husband was up $2, 100! And he was in for $2, 000. LOL. Can't believe how much money ended up on the table in this little game. All I know is that I hope Mayhem shows up again, and I hope I run a little better. I played well, just a bit of run bad -- mainly in DBBPs, which these guys don't know how to play, and unfortunately they got lucky, after making bad calls, a few too many times :(
Looking forward to your TR at the end of this month. Hope you run good in games this month leading up to the trip!
Now I'm going to look!
Edit: Pretty cool. The mattress is interesting -- love that his grammar is correct on the mattress (his for the gerund), but his punctuation is not quite as good 😉 Now I'm going to peruse his site. Glad I saw the bird's nest! Amazing that it is so new -- wonder how long it will last and how it will grow.
play the video for 'adding memories' with sound
thought it was a poignant capturing of a moment
Wow. I wish I had known about Tully and "Derelict" before we took the train from Killarney to Dublin -- it goes through Portlaoise.
Hubby and I are playing tonight. I hope it's a good game.
On another note, I came across this video last night and thought it was so funny. From Nikki Limo. I almost never watch YouTube videos, and I avoid TikTok at all costs, but after seeing this, I went and watched almost all of her shorts on YT. (Mods, please delete if not allowed -- I can't find the video anywhere else.)
It was a good night. Two wild players were supposed to show up, but only Mayhem showed. I was worried because he bought in shorter than normal and seemed to be playing tight, but then he went on tilt, so all was well. My husband bluffed me (granted, off of A high) twice last night playing 72 because of the above video. Well done, honey! However, I managed to eke out a $370 profit after being in for $800. Hubby was up $500.
Pretty good hand for me to start my comeback after I bought in for my last $300: PLO, I have 9JQKss, Mayhem straddles $10, two calls, I call, hubby calls, Mayhem raises to $50, all call. Flop ($250) comes 3d5sJc, folds to me and I pot. Hubby folds, Mayhem calls for $200, UTG calls for $100, fold. Runout: 3d5sJc2c5c and MHIG! LOL. My husband would have hit the nut flush and a wheel, so I'm glad I potted. UTG called w/ TTQK and I never saw Mayhem's hand.
Was a fun night. Played until 2:30 a.m.
Good warm up for Vegas! Hope you have a safe trip-looking forward to the TR!
Thanks! Getting very excited. My session last Thursday did not go as well, but it was still fun. Just couldn't get anything going in a short-handed game. I think I lost $600, but most of it was to my husband!!! Ugh. He was hitting everything against me.
I'll post shoe/roll pics this week. No plans except for poker yet. Since we are staying north end, I might try to find PLO games at Wynncore, but I know I'll make my way to Aria a few times, at least.
Requisite shoes and roll. Not the entire roll, and we still have a $1, 000 Wynncore chip from two trips ago.
Bringing the heels just in case have a dinner with my husband's business colleagues. They are very comfy. Can't find one of my running shoes because my dog hides them, so walking shoes will do.
On the way to the airport. Noon departure.
Lol. Just noticed the mud on walking shoes. It's from falling in a bog in Ireland! Another reason I was not planning to take them.
Gogogo! Hope you have a safe trip over. Looking forward to the pics and TR!
