Foxwoods Trip Report

[timwakefield 68]

Soooo I'm not sure this will be too coherent since I'm a little cracked out right now, but hopefully it'll turn out ok. Anyways, I went down to Foxwoods Saturday with No Neck (Nate), and we met up with Nutzbuster (Scott), NoSup4U (Mark, obviously ), and Gilbertology (Josh). It was my first trip to a casino, so I figured maybe it's deserving of a report. Soooo, got there around 2 and met up with the FCP crew for lunch. Sadly we missed DoinSublime because he didn't have anybody's phone number and he got in later. We had lunch, hung out for a little while, and then went by the WPT tourney but JC had already busted and was gone . There were plenty of pros still in - let's see, we saw Victor Ramdin, Eric Seidel, TJ Cloutier, David Benyamine, i forget who else, along with well-known internet donks like Zeejustin, Durr, Rainkahn. It's always weird seeing famous people - I'm not the type to get all excited or want to shake their hand or anything like that, but it's strange because I feel like I know them, but of course to them I'm just some random stranger. We headed over to the poker room around 4 and I hit up the $1/2 NL tables. I debated whether or not to play higher but I'm totally new to live poker, and also my stupid bank will only let me take out $350 from an ATM per day, so I only had about $500 in my pocket. Thirdly, I'm a tourney/sng player. I was a little nervous at first, being totally unfamiliar with normal table dynamics at a casino, like what is proper when making/getting change, how much to tip, if it's impolite to go out for a cigarette every hour, etc. Obviously it didn't take me long to figure all of that out, and I'm plenty comfortable playing with real people from home games, so it's not like I was nervous about playing, just about doing something stupid/illegal. I think I played pretty well for the most part. I just played tight/aggressive...and also probably speculated with way too many marginal hands, but I didn't really get hurt. The first big hand I had was against the table lagtard maniac, but he'd just sat down maybe ten minutes ago so I didn't know him yet. I did have a small read on him because I saw him show down a QJ winner on like 3384Q board that had action on at least 2 streets. Honestly I didn't pay total attention to the hand since I wasn't in it, but I did see him win this decent-sized pot with complete air+rivered queen, so I was pretty sure he was a bit of a maniac. Back to the hand I was in, a couple limpers, I make it $15 in mp with AK, villain calls on button, one other caller. Flop A34 rainbow. I lead $25, villain calls, other guy folds. Turn 4. I'm about $300 deep, villain has a little over $200ish. I bet $60, he shoves, I friggin tank for awhile - maybe I'm a donkey? anyways I call and he has deuces and I hold. I won a few decent pots with AK, AQ, etc. Table lagtard really paid me off well on a hand where the flop came AT6 spades, I had Qs9s, and he called 3 large bets in position with some kind of ace. People really love to show their cards, and I was happy to show a fair amount as well. I know, I know, free information is never a good thing.....but on the other hand I think there's also something to be said for creating a table persona for yourself, and at a $1/2 table I think you want everybody to like you, because they really will be nice to you. Nutzbuster can certainly attest to that, since 1. It's a known fact, now confirmed by me as well, that he's pretty much the nicest guy ever and 2. He chopped a sng last night when his opponent offered an even chop HU when he (his opponent) appeared to have like alllllllllllllllll of the chips. So yeah, I was very nice, talkative, etc. Everybody really loved to show one card when they won a pot uncontested, and I kinda got into that a bit. For example in my later session, against the older, funny, slightly-odd Italian fellow who gave me a half-serious evil stare every time I raised preflop, I was happy to show down my winners when he folded. It's not like I showed all my winners all night, but I was perfectly happy to show against this guy, since he was a totally unbluffable whale and would pay me off with like bottom pair anyways, muttering about how lucky I was. He kept going on and on about the hand where I raised with KT in MP and flopped top 2, because he thought it was so outlandish to open with KT. He wasn't rude or anything, and I had a good time talking and joking with him, but he certainly had an interesting take on poker. Nate wussed out and took the 10:30 PM bus back to Boston, and he just managed to catch it which was fortunate for him because there is mysteriously no late bus on Saturday. Not so fortunate for me because the next bus was at 9:30 AM so I just played poker all night. Nate called me like 6 times to tell me it was the last bus, but it was too late when I saw the missed calls. I probably would've stayed anyways though. On a related note, they need more hotels at Foxwoods, pronto. The first session I played I finished up almost exactly $300 (bought in for 3, cashed out 6), and it was about 5 or 6 hours I guess. Took a break, smoked a joint with Nate (we couldn't find you Josh ), had dinner, learned that I was stuck in Foxwoods for 11 more hours, and got back on a new table.. A few pots I remember: one I raised to $12 in EP with 99, loose kid calls, button calls. Flop K65, I bet $25, loosey calls, other guy folds. Turn was a Ten, went check-check. River was a 2, I checked, he bet $50, and I tanked a little bit, definitely leaning towards calling. Now on the one hand maybe I was looking for an excuse to call, but on the other hand I felt like he gave off a silly-obvious tell:Him (leaning back in his chair): Take your time.Me: I call.Him: Eight-high. I flopped a set of aces, which kind of sucks because obviously none of my opponents had the case ace. I also flopped a set of queens on a Q76 diamond board and got it in against a shorter stack who had flopped the flush and he held. I think generally I got a good feel for the table and the game, and I was playing fairly well, mainly playing small to medium pots. I did play one pot pretty ridiculously: limpers to me in MP, I call with A6 spades, loose gambool kid makes it $12, like 4 callers, I call. I have $400ish, villain has a bit less. Flop A83, UTG checks, I check, loosey bets $40, table folds to me, I attempt to raise to $100 but accidentally minraise to $80 instead, he gets kind of flummoxed - the check-raise wasn't exactly used often at this table, and I think it was the only time that I did it all night. Anyways he decides to call. Turn 7. I bet $120, he tanks and folds AJ face up. I really messed the hand up a lot, what with the accidental minraise, the playing it like a retard, and then was so friggin glad he folded I didn't even see him show, everybody else at the table pointed it out though cuz they wanted to know what I had. Anyways he was leaving soon and asked me what I had and said "You can tell the truth," and for some reason I was like, 'Dammit, oh well I guess I'd better tell the truth.' I lied pretty much every other time anybody asked me all night, but this time for some reason I told him that he folded the best hand. I did lie a little out of habit and said I had A9 . When he asked me how I can make a play like that I told him because I can get him to fold AJ. One pot I played against the Italian dude: I open to $10 in MP1 with KQs, he calls, table folds. Flop K74, I bet $10, he raises to $30, I call. Turn Ace, I check, he bets $20, I call. River Queen, I bet $30, he calls and said he had K7 but I didn't really believe him. Oh one other hand that I played poorly - villain here is a fairly solid aggressive player, but definitely oddly loose in certain spots. Eh, I kind of had a tough time figuring him out - he kept getting big cards and playing them well, stacking some shorties, etc. He also seemed tight/careful postflop in big pots...sometimes. Anyways though, he was directly on my left and had me covered, I had about $400. A few limpers, some dude makes it $15, I raise from the button to $35 with AK spades, villain calls in the SB, dude folds. Flop 762, or something equally lame, with one spade. Villain leads for $40 and I call. Turn king, check-check, river 7, check-check, he had Jacks. How can I call that flop??? How can I check that river??? Anyways I finished the 2nd session up about $90 after like 8 hours with some short breaks. So for the trip I was up $390.Sooo...what else. Oh we saw Jeet playing in the high-stakes balla game but didn't say hi since he was busy playing in the high-stakes balla game. Jeet - that weird dude who kept looking at you? That was me . I caught up with Josh and Scott a few times throughout the night, but didn't manage to catch up with Mark, since he was also ballin it at the serious limits. Anyways it was a ton of fun meeting you guys! Too bad we couldn't get together for a sng or something, but that poker room is so huge it's pretty impossible to find anybody if you don't know where they are. Hopefully there'll be another Foxwoods meetup soon, and maybe next time I'll plan ahead enough to book a hotel room .

[NoSup4U 0]

I think generally I got a good feel for the table and the game, and I was playing fairly well, mainly playing small to medium pots. I did play one pot pretty ridiculously: limpers to me in MP, I call with A6 spades, loose gambool kid makes it $12, like 4 callers, I call. I have $400ish, villain has a bit less. Flop A83, UTG checks, I check, loosey bets $40, table folds to me, I attempt to raise to $100 but accidentally minraise to $80 instead, he gets kind of flummoxed - the check-raise wasn't exactly used often at this table, and I think it was the only time that I did it all night. Anyways he decides to call. Turn 7. I bet $120, he tanks and folds AJ face up. I really messed the hand up a lot, what with the accidental minraise, the playing it like a retard, and then was so friggin glad he folded I didn't even see him show, everybody else at the table pointed it out though cuz they wanted to know what I had. Anyways he was leaving soon and asked me what I had and said "You can tell the truth," and for some reason I was like, 'Dammit, oh well I guess I'd better tell the truth.' I lied pretty much every other time anybody asked me all night, but this time for some reason I told him that he folded the best hand. I did lie a little out of habit and said I had A9 . When he asked me how I can make a play like that I told him because I can get him to fold AJ.

Good report! It was nice meeting you and Nate. I love the above part of the report, because you've probably set this kids poker development back at least a year. From now on he's never folding top pair to anyone hahahaha!!!!Mark

[Moneyball16 0]

Nice Trip Report.

[MyPlayIsRAB 0]

ill make sure to make the trip down for the next one now that im not permalifebroke, aybe i can drag DDG with me as well since hes relatively close and has a fake id

[timwakefield 68]

ill make sure to make the trip down for the next one now that im not permalifebroke, aybe i can drag DDG with me as well since hes relatively close and has a fake id

I'm 26, but I assumed that I would have to show ID at some point, but I didn't. I'd be pretty worried that they would spot his fake ID though, but if he doesn't look young he probably won't get asked.

[Balloon guy 158]

Nice trip report.Scott really has you guys fooled, It's a known fact in the southwest that he has killed golfers with his errant balls and asked for a free drop afterwards.I mean come on, you play it where it lies!

[cardcore 0]

good readwould loved to have meet the rest of you (met josh and scott, super nice), but I dropped like 3 buy-ins at the 2-5NL game on retarded beats and just went home after that since i was pretty disgusted with poker

[fitzinabox 0]

good write up, i enjoyed it.

[fatman 1]

good write up, i enjoyed it.

[natedawg2 0]

Sounds like u had a blast, GG/NH

[Sheiky 0]

Enjoyed reading that, very good report.Who's jeet?

[timwakefield 68]

Who's jeet?

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it!Jeet = Jeetorious = PoppinFresh on fcp

[king1305 0]

Nice read Tim. Glad FCPers are a fun crowd offline too.Mark

[troyomac 0]

I'm 26, but I assumed that I would have to show ID at some point, but I didn't. I'd be pretty worried that they would spot his fake ID though, but if he doesn't look young he probably won't get asked.

Good report...but you're 26 and never been to a casino? I'm quite surprised by that.

[timwakefield 68]

Good report...but you're 26 and never been to a casino? I'm quite surprised by that.

Yeah, I lived in NYC for awhile and went to a cardroom a few times, and I guess I've just never been too interested since I can gamble from my living room. But I had a blast and can't wait to go back.

[Incubus77546 0]

NoSup4U (Mark, obviously )

I lol'd

[nutzbuster 7]

Great trip report, and glad you ended up positive on your first 'live' poker foray! Bravo sir.It was great to meet both you and Nate. And apologies if anyone else made it out there but somehow missed us. It can get sketchy getting everyone together sometimes so I'm sorry if we missed anybody. It's always a good time meeting up as everyone I have ever met from FCP have been super nice.I'd also like to shout out and thank Seth again for meeting Josh and I one night and springing for drinks, munchies and goot times at the Hard Rock. And sorry again man about the way the luck ran for you afterwards, just bad beat after bad beat. It was really awful. I would have my own run with the poker devil but overall ended up positive on the trip, thanks to a dominating 1-2 session on the last night. I just ran the table over pretty much, but oddly had folks laughing too. It was like, the perfect session? LOL!I'll spare everyone all the horror stories save a few. I ran bad...then good...then like suicidally bad...then good again to save the trip! At one point I got moved to Gilbertology's 2-5 table.then came the one key hand.....I decide to play J-8 of spades.Don't remember how the action all went down to be honest, but the flop came J - 6 - J rainbow. I shove my trips... and Josh insta calls with J -6 OFF!!!!!!!!! I F*CKING HATE YOU, ROOM MATE FROM THE BOWELS OF HELL!!!!!!!! I was already running bad prior ot this table change and this just set me on an evil downward mood spiral....until I realized the last thing I needed to be doing was sitting at a poker table. I miss played the final hand so badly I knew it was time to go and cashed out like $150. I was down almost $1600 for the day. SO sick. Just kidding about Josh, obv. He is a very cool dude and was a great roomie. We all had a very fun time on this trip. And New England is SOOO beautiful. I drove out to Mystic this morning and had breakfast at a little locals type farmhouse cafe. It was awesome. The town was founded in like 1649 or something. Just too cool. And freezing cold, which was a nice change from the desert.Other notable moments....As I was cashing out I get to the window just as Moneymaker is cashing out and ask him how it went. HE gives me a look and a moan and head shake, ala "ISAP". He cashed out $6,600 and later on I was told he lost $100K that night. Ouch. I was also told that during the high stakes game (they ran one for the WPT pros that were in town) one guy won $250K. Russo was in that game for a while, DUrr (I think) Victor Ramdin, etc. blah blah blah. People were all over. Ramdin and Moneymaker were several times over in the 5-10 game at one point and it seemed like those guys were in EVERY damn game at one point to be honest! They always ended up playing the/a high stakes game.Anyway, I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out and I am dead tired. Sorry if this is a crappy report. Look forward to seeing yo guys in Vegas ina few weeks.not Mark

[Dapper Dan G 0]

ill make sure to make the trip down for the next one now that im not permalifebroke, aybe i can drag DDG with me as well since hes relatively close and has a fake id

i'd rather go to turning stone, where i can gamble legally. i'm not a big cash game player and i wouldn't make a long trip to a casino if i wouldn't be playing some tourneys.

I'm 26, but I assumed that I would have to show ID at some point, but I didn't. I'd be pretty worried that they would spot his fake ID though, but if he doesn't look young he probably won't get asked.

i'm 19, and i look younger than that. the risk/reward seems ridiculously disproportionate. the fake is ok, but foxwoods is a lot different than the palm beach kennel club, so i wouldn't really know.

[Dapper Dan G 0]

oh and i completely forgotnice trip reports guys, i hope you had a blast

[cwik 0]

excellent little write up.

[timwakefield 68]

Hey Scott, nice report, sorry you had such a rough night of poker, but it was fun meeting you guys!

[nutzbuster 7]

Hey Scott, nice report, sorry you had such a rough night of poker, but it was fun meeting you guys!

Ha, it's all good in da hood. I made out up and enough to pay for the trip plus a few. That night was brutal though, every time I flopped trips I either chopped it or got out kicked! I came back from dinner, played my first hand, flopped quads 6's and made maybe $50.Less than an hour later...quad 8's!!!!, but again, not much in the way of a pot, maybe $100. Just disgusting.Foxwoods ......dislikes.They stab you in the eye every half hour for $6 and if you are just breaking even with pots you are losing $12 an hour. I think that is pretty steep and really sucky. I also found that many of the dealers, while nice enough, but pretty bad overall. Some were really on top of it but tons of mistakes were being made. Maybe a result of their ridiculous shared tips policy? I also found many of the bathrooms close to the poker area to be in pretty rough shape and only marginally clean. Foxwoods rises up like a giant jewel in the forrest, a virtual Emerald City, and most of the place is pretty impressive. You'd think they would have state of the art shitters to go with it. Not.Other than that I really liked playing there overall. And there is a pretty good and poker room kitchen right behind the 5-10 tables that made grabbing a quick tasty snack VERY conveinient. I will say that I found the play to be much tougher than I had anticipated, mainly at 2-5. Maybe it was because the WPT was in town, but overall most folks at all my tables generally had a decent clue what to do and the games were not easy at all imo. When I dropped down to 1-2 the level of play was so much worse and I was easily exploiting the weakness there, which led to a nice win. I prolly should have played there the whole time in hind sight. Meh...Anyway, another great trip overall and good times all around. I am planning on going again for sure.

[BeaverStyle 1]

good write up, i enjoyed it.

[timwakefield 68]

Ha, it's all good in da hood. I made out up and enough to pay for the trip plus a few. That night was brutal though, every time I flopped trips I either chopped it or got out kicked! I came back from dinner, played my first hand, flopped quads 6's and made maybe $50.Less than an hour later...quad 8's!!!!, but again, not much in the way of a pot, maybe $100. Just disgusting.Foxwoods ......dislikes.They stab you in the eye every half hour for $6 and if you are just breaking even with pots you are losing $12 an hour. I think that is pretty steep and really sucky. I also found that many of the dealers, while nice enough, but pretty bad overall. Some were really on top of it but tons of mistakes were being made. Maybe a result of their ridiculous shared tips policy? I also found many of the bathrooms close to the poker area to be in pretty rough shape and only marginally clean. Foxwoods rises up like a giant jewel in the forrest, a virtual Emerald City, and most of the place is pretty impressive. You'd think they would have state of the art shitters to go with it. Not.Other than that I really liked playing there overall. And there is a pretty good and poker room kitchen right behind the 5-10 tables that made grabbing a quick tasty snack VERY conveinient. I will say that I found the play to be much tougher than I had anticipated, mainly at 2-5. Maybe it was because the WPT was in town, but overall most folks at all my tables generally had a decent clue what to do and the games were not easy at all imo. When I dropped down to 1-2 the level of play was so much worse and I was easily exploiting the weakness there, which led to a nice win. I prolly should have played there the whole time in hind sight. Meh...Anyway, another great trip overall and good times all around. I am planning on going again for sure.

I thought on the whole the dealers were kind of average. There were a few really great dealers, a few competent dealers who clearly weren't paying much attention, and a few super-duper slow dealers. The only major mistake that happened was when one dealer put out a river prematurely, but then she just sat there and seemed to want the players to just figure out what to do about it, so they asked her to call the floor, which she reluctantly did. She was also really really slow. Of course they made her re-deal the river after the action was completed, and the aggressor then got rivered and started swearing, etc. My favorite dealer was this goofy Asian girl, but she was really really on top of the game. It was funny because she was clearly a shy and soft-spoken person but she didn't take an ounce of shit. At one point some kid came by at like 6 AM and his friend, this SUPER annoying maniac kid at the table gave him some chips off the table for a taxi. She quickly said that wasn't allowed - Dealer: I'm sorry you can't do that, please put them back.Kid: Oh come on I need to get a taxi home, nobody here minds, don't be a jerk. (Starts to turn around with the chips in his hand)Dealer: FLOOR! FLOOR!!Kid: Man are you serious? This is ridiculous.I gave her nice tips .

[drcossack 0]

I thought on the whole the dealers were kind of average. There were a few really great dealers, a few competent dealers who clearly weren't paying much attention, and a few super-duper slow dealers. The only major mistake that happened was when one dealer put out a river prematurely, but then she just sat there and seemed to want the players to just figure out what to do about it, so they asked her to call the floor, which she reluctantly did. She was also really really slow. Of course they made her re-deal the river after the action was completed, and the aggressor then got rivered and started swearing, etc. My favorite dealer was this goofy Asian girl, but she was really really on top of the game. It was funny because she was clearly a shy and soft-spoken person but she didn't take an ounce of shit. At one point some kid came by at like 6 AM and his friend, this SUPER annoying maniac kid at the table gave him some chips off the table for a taxi. She quickly said that wasn't allowed - Dealer: I'm sorry you can't do that, please put them back.Kid: Oh come on I need to get a taxi home, nobody here minds, don't be a jerk. (Starts to turn around with the chips in his hand)Dealer: FLOOR! FLOOR!!Kid: Man are you serious? This is ridiculous.I gave her nice tips .

pwned.Description of this dealer please? I'm planning on going up there soon.