Breakin' rocks in the hot sun...

The 5-10 Omaha at the Mirage just broke and I did a lot of the breaking. But I had an accomplice. More on that at the end. First to last night's action.

I ended up playing a wee bit late in the lovely Tropicana poker room last night. I use the word "lovely" as a synonym for "dark, dank, hole". Six tables, in the darkest corner of this already dark casino. Self-service table list ("be you're own Brush at the Trop!"). Cocktail waitresses who fondly remember serving the Rat Pack guys. You get the picture.

I played $1/2 No Limit and quickly blew off $200. Four guys at the left end of the table (I was in seat 6) we're big stacked and calling EVERYTHING. I got rivered a bunch of times and one time got way to attached to a pair of tens. Problem was, I was playing too passively. After the rivering that had me reaching for another $50 (after dumping $200) I decided to get angry.

I went on tear and won about 6 hands in a row. Three of them were stone-cold all-in bluffs in position when a scare card dropped. My favorite was this hand:

I have A-4 diamonds in the UTG seat ("under the gun, right after big blind"). Now I hate little Aces, especially in no-limit, but this table was pretty passive so I called. I think the hand got raised, but not to more than $10. Big blind called. Maybe 5 people in the pot.

Flop comes down A-7-2 with one diamond. Big Blind bets. Now you see why I hate little Aces; it is damn near impossible for me to not be outkicked! (He might not have an Ace, but who is going to bet out from early position with a 2 or a 7 with an Ace on the board? This guy was not that kind of player.)

I think he bet like $10-15. I was still a bit pissed off, so I called (I figured I had 1 out for runner-runner flush and 3 outs for a straight, about 10-1, not great but the implied odds were good if I hit.) Everyone else folded.

Turn comes J diamonds. Now I am 4 to the nut flush. Big bling bets $20.

I push all in for $80 or so.

BB thinks a bit, says "I believe you" and flips over A-7 (2 pair). "Holy Shit!" I think to myself, "that should have been on ESPN!".

I had a good read on the guys across from me two. After an hour or so their betting patterns/amounts were real clear. I could tell when one of the guys was betting second pair and bluffed him off twice when a scare card fell on the turn (A, K, etc.).

I ended up winning all my money back. It was here that things went down hill.

The $2/4 table next door decided they were going to play Omaha. So, of course, I changed tables. We only got 2 hands in (I won both) before two newbies sat down and did not want to play. Somehow I ended up blowing off $125 in LIMIT hold'em in like an hour. I was fishing like a mad man.

Actually, I just sucked.

Anyway, I am beat now, so I will have to write my bit about conquering "The Rock Garden" tomorrow. Highlights:

- Playing in a $55 single table satellite (it sucked!)
- Going on a huge run in $3-6
- Going on a bigger run in $5-10 full kill Omaha

G'Nite!

----------Added Later-----------

So I just love the Mirage $5-10 FK Omaha game. First of all, it seems to be the last Omaha game left on the strip (I found a rotation game once at the MGM, but only once and that's another story...). Second, it seems to be the same 8 rocks every time I sit down.

The combined age of the "stock 8" players at the Mirage $5-10 O8B game is around 600 years. I am not shitting you. I was damn near skate-punk-young to these guys. And they play like their social security checks are on the line, which, come to think of it, is probably the case. This makes me feel kind of bad for them, until I realize these folks are here all day every day.

Anyway, since they play so damn tight, I play a little looser than normal. I was even warned by a dealer at the $3-6 game that these folks only raise with killer hands (obvious once you watch for a while). So this makes my hand selection easier. Unraised pots, play looser and perhaps raise with something not-quite-worth-it; raised pots: bail unless it is something strong.

Surprisingly, several of the players at the table recognized me from the last time I played there (like 6 months ago...story somewhere below). I killed the game last time for several hundred...this night was not much different. I managed to leave up something like $500 after about 3-4 hours of play. I won one kill pot worth over $300 when my top full house beat the player with second full house (I played the hand intentionally weird and sucker punched him at the end, no way he could put me on top full house until the last reraise...he thought I had made nut flush).

Anyway, I love that game and hope it manages to survive at least a little while longer.