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Server Time: 8/28/2008 5:29:50 PM PACIFIC |
 Hold'em Tourney at the Belle, FeliciaLee, 15. Dec 2003 11:01 | ||
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| Wednesday, December 3, 2003 Tonight, tonight...a tournament tonight! Okay, so singing doesn't translate well into the written word. LOL. Glenn and I missed the HE tourney on Monday. We ended up taking a nap, and while we would have gotten to the Belle in plenty of time for the tournament, there were eight out of ten tables rocking, so tourney seats were sold out in advance to the seated players. They were only able to have a two table tourney. Jeez, we need to do something about this. Put some tables out into the pit, like Bellagio. One of the Belle employees told me that on Monday over 100 people enquired about the tourney. 100 people! Jeez! Come on, guys, let's get some more tables and spread those tourneys! At any rate, Wednesday was the first time I'd gotten a chance to get back to the Belle from my icky, sticky trip to Vegas. The cardroom wasn't quite packed. There were five tables being used. There was an unusual 4/8 game going on with a full kill. That doesn't happen until after midnight, I have been told. Good to see! I loved meeting all of my poker friends again. What a change from the grumpy guys in Vegas. I was greeted with lots of "hellos" and smiles. No one was telling me to "shut up" when I tried to joke around with them. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see me return, as I was as happy to be back! The HE tourney "sold out" to a crowd of 29. Ten on the big tables, nine on the little one. I got the little one, lol. I backed another player. He is a good horse to back, as he is in the money even more often than I am. He is not the best tourney player in the world, but he does well for the Belle, and I get 50% of him. He is very generous, as he will offer to tip out of his own pocket. I let him make chopping decisions, and while I don't always agree with him 100%, he is never selfish or completely out of line. That goes a long way in my book. During the first forty minutes of the tourney, I got two premium starting hands: AA and KK. Predictably, both of them got run down, lol. Of course my T7o in the BB held up to win a huge pot, but I couldn't win with the good'uns. Isn't that the way it always is with poker? With my KK hand, I didn't take a really bad beat. My sole opponent had TT and got his set. Unfortunately, with the AA, a kid called two bets cold, out of position, with A9o. He was clearly very nervous, hands shaking, with the tight ballcap and Moneymaker wraparound shades, lol. Poor thing. He played so badly that I felt sorry for him. Anyway, he called with A9o, then stayed in when he caught a nine. I bet the whole way, but he caught another nine on the river, and I lost a huge pot. He was so easy to read that I didn't waste another bet on the river, and simply called when he bet out. With a table that chased this much, I was pretty crippled in the limit portion of the tourney. Luckily, I turned up the juice when we reached no-limit, and got back my stack. From my original starting chips of 1k, I'd gotten down almost to the felt with the T7o hand, then got back to 700 right before the break. I kept shoving all-in at the right times, and managed to get up to 1100 by the time our table broke (the first to be broke). I was seated in the eight seat at a bigger table, when we were down to 20. Poor "Moneymaker" was in the four. "Ionizer" Bob (not the one who was in the hospital with pneumonia) was in his typical one seat, and Larry was in the three. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a couple who spends quite a bit of time in Laughlin. I am told they are from Montana. They are of retirement age, but not elderly (I would guess around 60, maybe mid 60's). The first time I saw them at the Belle, someone warned me that they cheat. I took this to mean collusion. From that first warning, I was warned several times from other people at the Belle. No one seems to like this couple. Both Glenn and I played at tables with them. Sometimes they were together, sometimes they were at separate tables. I never saw anything even slightly inappropriate, and just dismissed the rumors as that. Then, a dealer told me about the cheating. I paid attention, filed it away in my brain, but never saw anything. A couple of dealers started talking about the couple, since, at one point, Glenn and I were asked not to sit at the same table, if it could be avoided, because another couple had been accused of cheating. These dealers, and floor people, made it obvious that Glenn and I were NOT accused, but since another couple had obviously been cheating, it had made the whole room wary of couples sitting at the same table. While I was in Vegas last week, someone told me about the "cheating couple" in Laughlin, and had I met them yet, etc. I was stunned. People even know about this couple up in Vegas, where they usually never bother with us country locals. This person warned me heavily about the couple, and affirmed that everything I had heard was true. I vowed to pay closer attention. After all, if a cheater is really good, I wouldn't see it, right? I was trying to "see" something, but I never did, so I had dismissed it as rumor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, so let's fast forward to the continuation of the tournament. The husband of this particular couple was sitting in the ten seat of the table I'd just been moved to. In one of the first hands, he should have been the cutoff. Instead, he swore it was his button. He was very vehement about being correct. The dealer agreed with him. Both the one seat (Bob) and the three seat (the two was vacant), Larry, said the opposite. Larry said he'd just paid his big blind. Bob said he'd just paid his SB. Poor "Moneymaker" in the four seat did the honorable thing and told the dealer, "They are right, it is supposed to be my BB now." Even with all of this, the dealer and the ten seat swore they were correct. Norm, the director, sided with the dealer and made one and three pay the blinds again. Larry got so upset that he left the table. He didn't scream, but he was clearly upset about it. The dealer realized about halfway through the play of the hand that they were correct, and she'd made a mistake. She paled and apologized numerous times. I tried not to get involved, even though I knew that the dealer had made a mistake. I just spoke softly to her and said, "When these things happen, say to yourself, 'Why would the four seat be willing to take the blind before his turn?'. It is in his best interest to get one more "free" hand, so why would he speak up unless he was telling the truth? He has nothing to gain by this." She agreed and called Norm (a new tourney director who has made atrocious decisions thus far. He is the same floorman who refused to do anything about the cheating and fighting at the 10/20 table a few weeks ago). He gave Larry 200 and Bob 100 out of the "rack" of tourney chips. When this happened, I didn't suspect the ten seat of cheating. I just watched him, but didn't jump to conclusions, knowing that this sort of thing happens all the time. Not long afterwards, though, when he was in the SB and we were shorthanded, it was folded to him. He looked at his cards and decided to fold to Bob, in the BB. Before the dealer (another dealer), could give his SB to Bob, he snatched it up and put it on his stack. A couple of us saw this move. Bob asked where his chip was. The dealer seemed confused. Someone spoke up and said he took it. He denied it. We said we'd seen him snatch it back and put it on his stack. He said that chip was one he'd put out there thinking he was the SB again, before he realized he was going to be the button. He argued vehemently, once again, but was eventually made to give the chip to Bob. He was protesting so much that it was obviously a sham. All of this time I've been looking for collusion with this couple. I have been looking for team play or something. I overlooked the obvious! They aren't sophisticated cheaters, they are scummy little angleshooters! LOL, what a dope I can be, at times! Anyway, in no time at all, we were down to the final table. I had built my stack up to a 2k. Not a good stack, but not so short that I was in dire straights. They blinds were still 100/200 when we reached the final, but we only had about five minutes until they doubled to 200/400. I drew the nine seat, which put me in the cutoff. Bonus! I got nothing, nothing and more nothing. I had to fold every hand, and give away my blinds. Now I was down to 1400. I need to be more aggressive with steals during tourneys. I know this. It is one of my weaknesses. Unfortunately, by the time the action got to me, there were usually two people all-in, lol. I'm not making excuses, there weren't ALWAYS two people all-in. I could have tried it with Ax once. Anyway, when I was in late position, Bob shoved all-in. Bob is a very aggressive player. He attempts a lot of steals with all-in moves. Usually he has two paint, or an ace. I crossed my fingers and hoped for one of those hands when I looked down to see 99. I shoved all-in as well. He said "uh oh," and my hopes grew some more, until I saw the pocket queens. He grinned at me, and I got no help, so IGHN, in tenth place and out of the money. Yes, I'd still play it the same way one hundred times over. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that I am done with the tourney report, I want to say that I think the Belle is a great cardroom, but not without problems. I have mentioned little (and big) things before, and there are some other things that need mentioning (for me, if for no one else, as this is my own, reflective journal). They need to count down the chips. I have been told by three members of staff that they do this. They do not. I don't know why people wish to lie, but they do not count down the chips. The week before I left for Vegas, Gene (a fun and crazy local), found a black chip on the floor. This was NOT a tourney day. The black chip was just laying there. If the chips were being counted down, someone would know a chip was missing. Racks of chips are being left on the top of a cabinet used to lock up the chips. The top is the height of any counter, not quite waist high, but about the height of a bathroom sink. These chips are out in open view, but can easily be taken, as tourney players must pass by the cabinet constantly, to go smoke or go to the bathroom, and as they pass by, they squeeze towards the cabinet due to another table being in the way. This shields the chips from the view of any onlookers and the camera eye. More and more, I am getting the feeling that chips are being palmed. I watch so closely when I'm in a tourney. I know how much each player has, at any given time. Things are not adding up correctly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I think I will end this post right here. I can't think of a way to put it all together, so you all will just have to live without any segues today. Let's hope the Thursday Omaha tourney goes well. I am in the need for a little lighthearted fun! Felicia :) | ||
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