Live Poker Thread

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Feel free to post anything about live poker in this thread even if it's just to brag about getting lucky and winning big but let's keep the bad beat stories to a minimum.Some of the most interesting things that I would like to hear about are the people and characters that you come across when you play live. I don't play very much live any longer but I'll think about some of my stories from the past and share ones that might be interesting.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

This story is from 1996 when the roving charity casinos were going strong in Toronto. They were temporary casinos that could spend a maximum of three days in a row at a location before they would have to move and the money supposedly went to a charity. They were usually held in hotels, restaurants and banquet halls and had a maximum of 3 holdem tables with 10/20 limit being the largest game and they also had blackjack tables with a low max limit.I was in a 10/20 game at a restaurant in the West End of the city when a guy in his 30's with long greasy stringy blond hair was seated at the open seat next to me. He maybe weighed 120 pounds and had track marks on his arms and looked like the stereotypical drug addict.He bought in for the minimum $200 and it looked like it was all the money that he had. The game was a wild one with $500 pots not uncommon. He played super tight and slowly was bleeding away his money when all of a sudden he shot straight up in his chair after looking at his cards and proceeded to raise every chance he got in a hand. I wasn't involved but it was a 5 or 6 way pot and of course he had AA and lost a massive pot to some random hand that somebody else had and he went broke. He sort of whimpered and got up from the table and left. A couple minutes later somebody came running into the restaurant saying to call the police because somebody was lying in the middle of the busy street outside of the restaurant sobbing and asking that a car run him over. It of course was the drug addict.This is obviously a very sad story but I think an interesting one and hopefully he got help since the police and an ambulance did come and took him away.

[Hockey Guy 4]

I was sitting @ a 3/6 limit dc game when something odd happened. There was me, a black woman, another white? guy, & 6 east asians(vietnamese I found out later)@ the table. A hand occured where it ended heads up against the 2 blinds who had been soft playing each other all night. As a matter of fact all the asians were pretty obviously colluding(at this point I wasn't 100% sure since we didn't get to see many tabled hands)against the 3 non asians at the table which include me. Anyway it came to the river & went check check & the small blind turned over the nuts that he got on the turn. BTW the last of the non-asian players had folded on the flop & the pot was fairly large as the pot was capped 4 or 5 ways preflop & the 1 non asian player had bet out on the flop before folding when it came back to her capped. There was no more betting in the hand after she folded which was pretty standard from what I had experienced the whole time I was there.I immediately got up when I saw he had the nuts & went for a little walk to cool off because now I was 100% sure collusion was indeed happening.I went to talk to the poker room manager about what was going on & he basically told me that I should probably leave since they knew I was talking to him about this issue. I realized he was hinting to me that I might be in danger & cashed out quickly & left. I could sense that I was being followed & as I went down the stairs I made a left @ the bottom & made it look like I was going out the front door which was right there. I snuck through the slots & saw that I WAS followed down the stairs by 2 guys who went out the door & were obviously looking for someone. I hurried through the casino to the other door to the parking lot & got the hell out of there. As I was leaving the parking lot I looked back @ the door only to see the same 2 guys again obviously looking for someone out the parking lot door. I turned right to leave the lot even though I should have turned left to get home easier so I would not have to drive near them where they might get my licence plate. I was pretty scared @ this point & have never gone back to this particular poker room. I was told later by a cop(friend) that the leader of the triad was most likely playing there that night & these were probably his minions. He even told me that the leader was known to play @ that table but after I described the 2 to him he said that it definitely wasn't the leader but he was there almost every night playing something. He also told me they had heard this story before & people had been roughed up slightly & intimidated under similar circumstances. Nobody ever pressed the issue & when he asked if I wanted to make a formal complaint I declined especially since nothing really happened to me since I got out of there unscathed.

[dna4ever 2]

Used to deal at a 'friendly' weekly home game. Played every Friday like clockwork, nothing big, $100 - $200 buy-in with a 1/2 non rake cash game. Max 50 people. Had this game for years and one Friday night about 2 years ago we are at the final table of the tournament and I'm dealing the cash table and I see these 4 dudes come through the sliding glass door in full on SWAT gear. Vests, pants, gloves, masks goggles, shotguns, semis, pistols, etc. First reaction was cops, but once they gave the 'get on the ground' order it was obvious this was a robbery. Was quickly apparent as well it was an inside job as they went straight for me since I was holding the cash. Knocked the table over on top of me which pinned me down, I quickly gave the money after the shot gun was put into my back, but the jerk still maced me at point blank range.Guess there were about 15 of us left when it went down. They were very efficient, in and out in 3 - 5 minutes and took everything from the tournament money, cash game money, everyone's wallets, ipods, phones, etc. We have a pretty good idea of who was involved, but not much you can do about it. Definitely a top 3 scariest moment of my life and needless to say we have not had that game since. Two funniest moments from that night (in hindsight).Apparently when I got maced I instinctively said "What the FUCK is your problem jackass?" I think I was just pissed cause I gave him the money and he still blinded me for about 30 minutes. I don't even remember saying it, but my good buddy that was laying on the floor beside me said "Dude, not cool to piss off the masked man that has a shotgun in your back"They were at the final table of the tournament and one of my friends was 2 to the right of the button and had KK and was all in preflop. That was the only table that was not flipped and the room was an absolute mess with chairs, chips, random crap thrown all over the floor. But after the dust settled my friends KK was still face up on the table and he delivers this beauty "Ain't that some fucking bullshit!? Hijacked in the mother fucking hijack"

[HighwayStar 8]

Only top 3 scariest moments? That sounds several orders of magnitude scarier than anything I've experienced.

[serge 904]

Anyone in Toronto went to the CNE yet?Trip report appreciated.

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Geez. I thought this was going to be a fun thread and we get stories about Drug Addicts, Attempted Suicide, Armed Robbery (don't forget to bring your gun to the home game next time), and intimidation from Asian Gangs.So dark.

[king_tanner 84]

Geez. I thought this was going to be a fun thread and we get stories about Drug Addicts, Attempted Suicide, Armed Robbery (don't forget to bring your gun to the home game next time), and intimidation from Asian Gangs.So dark.

I was going to tell a story about DEA agents running into my local cardroom with machine guns but I guess I won't lolcrosspost from American Idol Thread (this was 2 weekends ago):So I was at Lake Tahoe all weekend. Friday night around 2:00 am decided to play limit 3/6 holdem hammered drunk at Harveys. I was in every single pot at least pre flop. Brian Dunkleman (american idol season 1 host)sitting to my right.me: 2 9Brian Dunkleman: AApot is capped all streets (except post flop I only called)board plays out A 3 9 9 9Brian Dunkleman: YOU F_UCKING SHITHEAD!!!!me: I thought I played it okBrian Dunkleman: I can't believe the f_ucking tourists at this placeme: you should have just called on the riverfloor comesBrian Dunkleman: F_uck it I'm leaving anyways.Me: Later Ryan SeacrestHe gives me an angry glare and leaves. Apparently he was headlining a comedy show there the next night, he was on several billboards around the casino.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Anyone in Toronto went to the CNE yet?Trip report appreciated.

I haven't been but I heard that they're spreading bigger limits this year, still all Limit Holdem though.Yesterday they had 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40 and 25/50 Games.

[serge 904]

I haven't been but I heard that they're spreading bigger limits this year, still all Limit Holdem though.Yesterday they had 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40 and 25/50 Games.

Thanks..Why wouldnt they try to spread no limit as well? With all the tables they can spread it IMO

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Thanks..Why wouldnt they try to spread no limit as well? With all the tables they can spread it IMO

It would require them to train the dealers in another game, they can barely deal one.NL is a much slower game so even less hands and less rake for them. Why go to the trouble to get the government to change their license to offer another game when all their tables will be full with limit holdem which gets them higher rake.

[pezeveng 207]

Went to CNE last night and it was rammed. This city needs a full time poker room. Bob i use to go to those charity casinos when i was 17, the blackjack was such bullshit you lose on a push. Later I found out that they were even rigging the decks removing some face cards and replacing them with fives. Biggest crock of shit. I hate playing on tables with down and out players. I stopped playing live at a certain point because the sob stories took the fun out of the game. One of my first posts on this board was on the topic of does anyone else feel bad wiping a guy out of his last dollar. I wrote it after a trip to niagara when it seemed all the down and outters were playing.

[serge 904]

Went to CNE last night and it was rammed. This city needs a full time poker room. Bob i use to go to those charity casinos when i was 17, the blackjack was such bullshit you lose on a push. Later I found out that they were even rigging the decks removing some face cards and replacing them with fives. Biggest crock of shit. I hate playing on tables with down and out players. I stopped playing live at a certain point because the sob stories took the fun out of the game. One of my first posts on this board was on the topic of does anyone else feel bad wiping a guy out of his last dollar. I wrote it after a trip to niagara when it seemed all the down and outters were playing.

So did you win?

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Went to CNE last night and it was rammed. This city needs a full time poker room. Bob i use to go to those charity casinos when i was 17, the blackjack was such bullshit you lose on a push. Later I found out that they were even rigging the decks removing some face cards and replacing them with fives. Biggest crock of shit. I hate playing on tables with down and out players. I stopped playing live at a certain point because the sob stories took the fun out of the game. One of my first posts on this board was on the topic of does anyone else feel bad wiping a guy out of his last dollar. I wrote it after a trip to niagara when it seemed all the down and outters were playing.

They had both "charity rules" and regular blackjack at those roving charity casinos. You must have been playing at a charity rules table.Also a lot of the people who operated them were scumbags and that was one of the major reasons the gov't got rid of them.

[pezeveng 207]

The wait was too long Serge i walked around for a bit than sat down at triple action bj because i can play $75 a hand. The table limits at $25 suck because if your down $300 or more no way can you make your money back. Sat down for 5 hands made $137.50 thanks to a bj on the last hand. I spent more time walking from the parking than i did playing. Parking lot was rammed. I was 17 at the time playing in the charity casinos so I was just happy to be there. Didnt even know the real rules or how to play till I was at least 18.

[serge 904]

The wait was too long Serge i walked around for a bit than sat down at triple action bj because i can play $75 a hand. The table limits at $25 suck because if your down $300 or more no way can you make your money back. Sat down for 5 hands made $137.50 thanks to a bj on the last hand. I spent more time walking from the parking than i did playing. Parking lot was rammed. I was 17 at the time playing in the charity casinos so I was just happy to be there. Didnt even know the real rules or how to play till I was at least 18.

triple action bj....Sounds like something from a porno..

[rcgs59 15]

someone from up here needs to do a home game, itching for some of you guys moneyespecially Serge's

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Another live poker story from the early days of the Charity Casinos in Toronto.The different charity casino operators usually operated from the same part of the city and a lot of them would tend to cater to one ethnic group or another. One day I was playing in Markham at a charity casino that mostly had Asians playing at it. We played 11 handed and the table I was at was 5 Koreans, 5 Chinese and me. The Koreans were all speaking Korean to each other, the Chinese players were all speaking Chinese and they didn't even try to enforce the English only rule but it didn't bother me. Serge was actually one of the dealers that day and I remember him sort of looking at me and saying sorry about the table talk but it was okay since the action was amazing and the game was wild.

[serge 904]

someone from up here needs to do a home game, itching for some of you guys moneyespecially Serge's

We have lots of home games, if you are interested PM me

Another live poker story from the early days of the Charity Casinos in Toronto.The different charity casino operators usually operated from the same part of the city and a lot of them would tend to cater to one ethnic group or another. One day I was playing in Markham at a charity casino that mostly had Asians playing at it. We played 11 handed and the table I was at was 5 Koreans, 5 Chinese and me. The Koreans were all speaking Korean to each other, the Chinese players were all speaking Chinese and they didn't even try to enforce the English only rule but it didn't bother me. Serge was actually one of the dealers that day and I remember him sort of looking at me and saying sorry about the table talk but it was okay since the action was amazing and the game was wild.

LOL remember that day. I am usually pretty tough enforcing those rules when I deal, but had no shot at that game.LUCKY STAR.

[rcgs59 15]

just to add something in this live thread, Fluff has a new FB page Join in people http://www.facebook.com/pages/Justin-Filtz/214652995251958

[Pot Odds RAC 23]

Feel free to post anything about live poker in this thread even if it's just to brag about getting lucky and winning big but let's keep the bad beat stories to a minimum.Some of the most intereting things that I would like to hear about are the people and characters that you come across when you play live. I don't play very much live any longer but I'll think about some of my stories from the past and share ones that might be interesting.

Not a pure Poker story, but I just happened to think of it in relation to another discussion I was having...Back in Grad School the money games in those days were Pool and Backgammon. I was OK at Pool and Better at Backgammon. The same guys with whom I was shooting Poll and playing b'gammon were also the ones that ultimately got me interested in Poker. One of the guys in particular was a tremendous Pool player and just overall good gambler. Today he makes a living at Pool and I've seen him several times on ESPN. One day we were in a Pool Hall - I think it was Queens NY. My friend was also a pretty decent amateur magician. He pulled out a deck of cards and was showing me a Sleight of Hand Trick on the felt of a pool table. The Owner shouted at us to put away the cards because he could lose his liquor license if we were caught playing cards.I laughed and looked at my buddy and said: "...because everyone knows you can't gamble in a pool hall."

[GWCGWC 83]

You know you can't gamble in a pool hall. Can't you read the signs?Live poker is fun.

[tbrick412 0]

Sigh, 1/2 players are so bad but I just never win. Played a 5 hour session and ended up down about $100. Any advice? Or just wait because 5 hours is like 125 hands and a tiny sample size?

[lurbz 2]

jose cansecothat is all

[Canary3 1]

Lol live poker. The slow play and discussion of "strat" tilt me so much.