Did I mention Sacramento poker > Reno poker? Seriously. I take it that the El Dorado didn't have the 2/3/5 10 to come in uncapped game going? Oh yeah, the Reno locals pretty much suck. You got that spot on. Funny thing is that the Peppermill is the place to go play.

Really, the only time going to Reno specifically to play poker is during the Pot of Gold and WPT events there - all at the Hilton/Grand Sierra. If I find myself driving up to Reno to play poker for some unexplained reason, I just stop in Auburn and go to Deuces Wild - a better room than any in Reno.

Congrats on the craps score. So at the Nugget you only get 3x 4x 5x if you have $25+ on the pass line? And you don't bet at least $25 on the pass line where this could be an issue?

Was playing some 5/5NL (the capped $300-$500 buyin) at the Bike. This is part bad beat story and part "you wouldn't believe how stupid some people are" story, since I would never just tell a bad beat story.

on the button. I call a $25 raise as do 3 others. $125 in the middle for a flop of . It checks to me and I bet $100. Called twice, one of whom is a confirmed retard. Turn is the , so now I've got two pair and a flush draw. Both of the others have about $350 and it's damn clear at least one is drawing. It checks to me again so I push. Retard #1, who is in the BB, thinks and thinks and ultimately calls. Other guy folds. It's another king on the river which counterfeits me, and dummy proudly turns over his Q7o. Makes some comment about "I can't just sit around waiting for aces."

No, those kinds of things don't just happen online.

Marathon 11 hour session at the Bike yesterday. Not much happened for the first 10 1/2 hours other than two AA hands getting cracked to the tune of about $1200.

Before my own story here's a sick one from someone else. Ridiculously tight guy next to me takes about $1500 off of another guy after he flops kings-full. Then about an hour later he does it again. To the same guy, for the same money, with kings-full. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

It's like 1AM when the table starts getting drunk and surly, and some young drunk guy who I'm fairly certain I recognize as some tourney hotshot sits down. He buys in for $800, does some dumb things and just runs insanely hot and within an hour or so is all the way up to $7800. We all know it's just a matter of time before he gives it all back. I'm not getting shit to work with and am hovering around even for the session (a bit under $2500 in my stack).

He starts giving it back with some dumb bluffs (perhaps when the last guy called you down with bottom pair you don't want to try to bluff the next guy the same way?) I'm still not doing anything and am thinking about just calling it a night. I would go home very disappointed that I didn't get a piece of that stack, or of the other semi-idiot at the table.
Then this one comes along:

in the SB. Moron is straddling. UTG+1 open-raises to $120. Moron #2 on the button flat calls. I decide there is no point reraising here so I just flat call and opt to bet out a safe flop. BB calls as does the moron (of course).

Backing up for one moment- while moron #2 was contemplating the $120, he asks UTG+1 "if everyone else folds do you want to check it down." This is of course a serious breach of etiquette but nobody says anything because it's also quite informational. UTG+1 says he can't say, but from the way he says things it does seem like he wants to, which means he has AK since it's obvious that moron #2 has some kind of medium pair.

Flop is . There is $600 in the pot so I decide to bet out $400 and see what happens. Needed to show enough strength so the others know I'm serious, but not go overboard since I may need to fold. BB folds, moron calls (of course), next two guys fold and moron #2 very reluctantly folds. There is some slim chance the moron has me crushed, but I suspect that he's drawing, and to god knows what. At this point he has me covered but it isn't by much at all. I decide that if I get a safe card on the turn I'll shove.

Turn is about as safe as it gets, . So I shove. Moron goes into the tank, asks for a count, all that. It's $1700 to him. It would leave him with about $100 left. He thinks for a while and calls. Before we let the dealer deal the river I ask him if he's drawing and wants to talk business, I can't tell what the hell his answer is so I just tell the dealer to deal. River card is about as ugly as they get, the . I table my tens and fully expect him to turn over hearts or something like A8 or any of the 136996 other hands that beat me, but he mucks 'em. Score one for the good guys.

Moron #2 is damn near crying over this one since he apparently JJ to my $400 bet. He's the guy who allegedly a week or so ago was all-in with someone, lost, then filched $100 from his stack and walked out the door with it. Karma's a bitch, pal.

Moron loses the $100 or so on the next hand, all-in preflop with some junk. At the time he was getting a massage so he gets up presumably to go to the ATM, leaving the massage girl there. I thought about paying her for his massage but then realized that I'm just not that big of a dick, yet.

He returns from the ATM with $500 and starts his process all over again. I stay for about another orbit before heading off. 3AM, tired, surrounded by surlies, and I made my killing. No reason to stay. +$2200 for the session.

Here's one where I just don't know if I should have laid it down or not.

5/10 NL, I'm about $3k deep and the other guy is at $2k. I make a shits-and-giggles LP limp with . Villain is on the button. Flop looks good- . Six of us in it. Guy to my right, who is short at about $350, bets about $45. I didn't see any point in raising him since he doesn't have any money. I flat call, so does the villain on the button. Turn is a brick, and shorty pushes. I flat call again.

A word about the villain in this hand before we get to his action. He's a middle-aged Middle-Eastern guy (gee, just a few of those at the Bike). Earlier in the day he called the guy next to him a fucking asshole and threatened to fight him, not sure why. He was nearly bounced then. He's also showed down a few bluffs, and I called it every time since they were fairly obvious. He's calmed down by now but basically, he's an idiot.

After I call the $300 he raises to $1000. Now I am about 90% sure he has a flush here. There is some small chance he has the , likely with a pair, but like I said- I'm about 90% sure he has a flush. So the only real question is who has the better flush. Plus he's got another $1000 that is obviously going in eventually.

And for the record, I didn't have a care in the world what the shorty had but I know it wasn't a flush.

I was thinking about the kinds of cards he could hold if he had the flush. He's the type who could have any two suited cards in this spot, but regardless, it seemed my made it slightly more likely that he has a suited connector or one-gapper type of hand; the was on the board and me having the means I didn't have the 6, 7, or 8. It also means that he either has to have two broadways or his flush (assuming it's better than mine) is seriously-gapped. Not that I can't put him on that, it's just something to shave some % points off of this.

Also in my mind is that since I'm first to act, if the board pairs on the river I can push and there is a tiny chance he would fold a flush. Not a big chance, not a medium chance, but a tiny chance. Again it's just something to shave a point or two off of it.

So I called, the river was a brick, and all the money went in. He has .

Still can't decide if I just got coolered or if this is one of those hands that divides the good players from the great ones.

I played a tourney at the Bike and lasted 8 minutes. A new record!

It was a $225 buyin, I got and raised to 100, ancient guy next to me reraises to 300, for some dumb reason I called and saw a flop of x. I planned to CRAI on the flop but he checked behind, making it fairly obvious he had KK. I missed and went broke anyway. GG me.

Played some 5/10 ring after that. Here's the only hand of note:

In LP with , limp in with a bunch of others. Button donkraises to $40. Everyone calls, so there's 6 of us in it to win it. Flop comes down J96 rainbow, so I'm double-gutted. Checks to me so I bet $150. CO calls the $150, button pushes for $500. CO has me covered. I'm getting 3:1 on the call so I have to make it, just can't decide if I'd rather keep the CO in the hand or not. So I call, and the CO reluctantly folds. Button has AQ and it holds up.

I really couldn't decide afterward whether I'm better off with the CO in the hand or not. My odds to call the button are fine so I don't need more value, and I doubt I'm getting it from the CO anyway. Also a strong likelihood that if I miss the turn he could push me off of it, so there's that. Oh well, moving on.

Later on in a satellite I quadrupled up on one hand very early on, my AK held up. Then I managed to bust out 5th. WTF?

And I was offered a freeroll into the UB Sunday $200k so I played that...had a top 20 stack with about 600 people and was cruising until my J3 from the BB ran into the K3 that some donk limped with on a 633 flop.

I think the Gods are telling me to not play any tourneys this month.