The Audacity of Attire - Barack Obama All In Shirt

Get yourself one of these while they last!

Macau Poker Report - Pt. 1

Nine days into our Asian tour, Mrs. Chicago and I landed in Macau, via ferry from Hong Kong. The Hong Kong ferry is quite convenient – about a $10 (US) or less taxi ride from just about anywhere in Hong Kong and a $17 economy class ferry ticket – you can be in Macau in less than an hour.

Macau was a Portuguese colony less than a decade ago, and the influence upon the Chinese administrative region is evident. The local currency is the Pataca (MOP) which has an exchange rate of 103.20 MOP to $100 Hong Kong (HKG). Everyone will accept HKG, and sometimes you’ll even get change in HKG; keep in mind you’re paying a 3% premium on the exchange rate.

We landed in the arrivals hall and had to clear immigration, collect our bags, and clear customs. All were done in a short time, and we headed out to the taxi stand with little fanfare. We directed the driver to take us to the Sofitel, which apparently is not info enough. The beautiful Sofitel hotel came to be just 2 months ago, so most still know it by its former name, Pier 16. Everyone else has never heard of it at all. The accommodations were beautiful, high-end, and accompanied by top class service. One limiting factor is the hotel’s location at the far west end of the Macau peninsula, but the whole region is small and transportation, cheap. Our ride to the hotel, from the eastern coast of the peninsula to the hotel was 40 MOP, or $5 US.

After checking in and grabbing a great lunch at the hotel, we headed out for a quick tour of Macau. We walked through a fairly prominent square and tourist area on our way to the ruins of St. John’s Cathedral. The ruins are worth a visit, as only the façade remains where a large cathedral once stood. The walk to and from the site provided us exposure to the local commerce and throngs of tourists.

Next we hit a few of the casinos, starting with Stanley Ho’s latest incarnation, the Grand Lisboa. There were plenty of games that American’s would be familiar with – Black Jack, Craps, Caribbean Stud Poker, and Roulette (the European, single zero version). There are more Baccarat tables than you can shake a stick at. Then, there are several other games that are unique to the region, or at least this hemisphere. There was a game where three dice are thrown and one can bet on the cumulative roll being high (10 or higher) or low. There are also, of course, bets on specific rolls, etc, like Craps. There was a variation of Roulette with a smaller wheel (I think this is “Boule”). There’s also some crazy game with a silver cup, buttons, and some guessing as to the number of buttons captured (think jelly bean jar guessing).

After heading up a few levels, getting lost, and getting found again, we stumbled on the very smoky poker area. There were about 16 tables in the room, with four in use on this Tuesday afternoon. The area was cordoned off with ropes and a sign that indicated “Players Only”. Apparently they don’t like spectators. This is bad for business, in my mind. First of all, spouses and friends might want to watch, and players might avoid playing and alienating their traveling companion instead of getting in a few hands until their spectating companion get bored. Second, why not encourages newbies to try out the game by letting them get a feel from the rail?

The room manager at least let me in to observe the action at the moment, stack sizes, etc. Much like my experiences playing in Europe, the room favors smaller stacks of higher denomination chips, quite contrary to the North American custom, making it difficult to see how deep some of the players were.

We decided to continue our tour and delay the card playing until later. We hopped in a cab and traveled across the Bay of Pak On, bordering the South China Sea, to the Taipa Island side of Macau, and to the worlds largest casino, The Venetian Macau. The building was immense and housed six or eight separate playing floors, with all of the same games, except many more tables. We walked through two gaming areas and found that about ¼ to 1/3 of the tables were in use. There were a couple of non-smoking gaming areas, which generally consisted of one or two non-smoking tables completely ringed by throngs of gamblers smoking away at the adjacent tables. There was no escaping it. Mrs. Chicago and I grabbed a drink in the Bellini Lounge and rested our feet. Later we explored the high-end Canal Shoppes, which were completely devoid of tourists or customers.

I suggested we should go explore the Grand Waldo casino to see the Pokerstars Poker Room and the supposed “incredible” spa. We exited the west end of the Venetian and walked the city block length walkway out to the road. Glancing across some undeveloped land and a construction site, we could see two or three structures where we supposed the Grand Waldo should be, but all were dark, and none appeared to be completed projects. We bagged the GW and jumped aboard an arriving bus that was headed to the Sands Casino, which was conveniently on the Macau Peninsula side.

After about a twenty minute ride, we arrived at the Sands. This particular hotel and casino had several floors of gaming, as did most, but was somewhat small in gaming floor size (at least as compared to the biggies we had previously visited). The name Sands evokes old Vegas and the erstwhile Las Vegas property that bore its name. I was surprised by the scene, with music and ambience targeted at a much younger audience. We stomped the yard, and then headed over to the neighboring Mandarin Oriental Hotel for dinner.

At the Mandarin we had dinner at a Thai restaurant called Naam. The interior of the restaurant was simple, elegant, and quite attractive. From our table we had a view of the Mandarin pool area, which was also very nice. The service was friendly and attentive. The menu was broad and accessible. The food was disappointingly mediocre. Mrs. Chicago’s dish was seasoned by garlic, always welcomed at our table, but it wasn’t fresh, instead they had used jarred garlic. We didn’t expect that at a restaurant of this caliber. Worse, was my Phad Thai Pak. This dish is made by every chef who has ever claimed to make Thai food. This was one of the poorer iterations I’d experienced. This particular version was “vegetable” and featured carrots, peas, and corn. That was okay with me, except that they had clearly come directly out of a can, and tasted it. Ho, ho, ho Grean Giant faux pas.

After dinner, we headed out on foot, intending to return to the Grand Lisboa poker room...

Rebuilding Your Roll

Since Chicago Jason hasn't updated for a bit, and is off traveling with Miss Chicago somewhere in the Pacific, figured I'd write one. So the first month at the Horeshoe was a brilliant one, after 7 visits I was up 12 grand. Playing everything from 2/5 to 5/10/20 mixed Holdem/Omaha. I usually keep my roll around 5 grand, and stay around 1/2, 2/5 games. I would take from my roll anytime I was over 7 grand, and buy stupid new toys or pay off bills. Well after a month of killing it, I took everything but a grand from my roll and applied it to my student loans. Thinking I was running so well, I could keep winning with only a grand behind.
Any who I than ran into the worst poker 10 days of my life, as everyone could have guessed. Starting with two trips chasing quads and straight flush bonuses the Horeshoe promo was offering with Chicago Jason. We all we're playing hands we shouldn't have in 2/5 Omaha, any suited connectors..I mean any, 4-3 of clubs, perfect! It was sick that someone would hit the bonus every 90 minutes. Although I did hit the quads bonus I was still down in play. Third trip I got served at a 5/10 table.. was slow playing a straight and my opponent hit his flush for all the mula I had that day. Finlay the end of my roll, and the beginning of my negative roll (on a buddy's finger for 2 grand) was a Saturday with Mr. Porsche. He settled into a 5/10 table, where I, like a kid high on whip its, I bounced from 5/10 to 2/5 Omaha, blew through the end of my role and 2 grand I borrowed in a matter of less than three hours. It was not pretty, the end of it was me with Pocket Kings 1 right of the button with the 3 left to act. I raise it 120$, folds to the caller under the gun. He asks me if i want action, I don't respond, he says well, you got 300 all day, I'll put you all in, I think about it, and say I doubt he has aces (he was playing ATC as far as i could tell... a bit drunk too) I call, he shows 2, 3 off suit.. and of course flop hits 2, 3. I haven't lost it at the table since back at Fox Woods 8 years ago, but I wanted to punch this guy...I said some stupid shit, and Mr. Porsche and I left. Wasn't really mad at him, just at myself, I had killed my bank roll that's been alive for the better part of the decade... keeping it at 5 grand and enjoying the profit from it.
So that was a month ago, I started my bank roll up again with $200 out of my income and 30 days later up almost to four grand. I've played incredibly smart from hands to game selections. I think that's the most important, game selection. I've stayed away from my usual games LP, Mr. Porshe, Coligate, Ryans and even the Horeshoe somewhat and tried the easier neighborhood games, just until I get back to where I was. In fact I think I want to get to 10gees and sustain it there, so this never happens again. Either way I still have some work to do, but its going well. And if anyone beats me with 2,3 off suit again, I still might punch you. Watch your rolls people, and your stocks ;p

Banco Casino Prague - Mini Trip Report

After a great day of sightseeing in the gorgeous city that is Prague, and a nice dinner with Mrs. Chicago and her colleagues, I headed to the Banco Casino on Na Příkopě in Prague, Czech Republic.

The casino consists of two small floors, as do many of the so-termed "casinos" in Prague. The first floor is about 20 slot machines, and a staircase up to the second floor. Upstairs there's a registration desk and three sub-divided rooms. One room contains two black jack tables, a couple roulette wheels, two "stud poker" (a house game) tables, and some assorted machines and chairs, etc. The second room is the "player buffet", which consists of a few hot plates of unidentifiable Asian fare, surrounded exclusively by Asian players. The third room features some additional slots, and automated roulette wheel/interface, a bar with room for 4 or 5 bar stools (but no actual stools), a Wheel of Fortune, and three poker tables.

The three tables were in use the prior night when I stopped in during a 1000 Kr ($60) re-buy tournament. This night there was one table in play, a 9-seater, with no open seats and at least 4 smokers smoking at the table. It was a NLHE table with 25Kr/50Kr blinds (~$1.50/$3) and a 2000Kr min and 10,000Kr max buy-in.

After about a 30 minute wait, I got a seat and bought in for 4000 Kr. The play was fairly loose-weak. Three or four action players did almost all the raising pre-flop and typically one or more of their counterparts called a raise, in or out of position. I took advantage of the loose play by raising up a couple hands preflop and c-betting with little fight.

I built my stack to about 9,500 when the following hand occurred. I had Ac2c in the small blind and the action limped around to me, I completed and the big blind checked. There were 7 of us and 450 in the pot. The flop came As4c5c - gin! I had top pair, nut flush draw, gutshot straight draw, and a straight flush draw.

I led 250 into the pot to see what action would ensue. I got a fold, a call from a super loose-weak player, a call from a super loose aggressive player, and several folds to the cutoff (also super LAGgy) who popped it to 1250. I decided that I was a favorite against just about any hand head's up, and that the two calls behind me meant virtually nothing. Moreover, they didn't even represent flush draws, meaning that most of my spades could be live. I decided to three-bet, giving me some fold equity and trapping the limpers in between. I didn't really expect the re-raiser to fold what must be a temporarily stronger hand, but it was certainly possible.

I put 4000 on top, effectively demonstrating that I was all-in. It folded back to the raiser who paused and said "I have to go with this". He shoved and I called. He showed 4h5d. Bottom two. Wow! This was best case scenario. I had 17 outs on the turn, and assuming neither of us improved, 20 on the river. I was almost a 3-2 favorite with 25,000 Kr in the pot. Of course, I did not improve, and my opponent raked in a tremendous pot, sure to reak havoc on the rest of the table for hours to come.

After just a couple hours and no strong hands to speak of, I headed out... walking down Na Příkopě and through Wenceslas Square back to my hotel. Perhaps we'll pay the place another visit tonight. Pictures to come...

Poker in Chicago - September Charitable Games

Courtesy of ChicagoJoe ....

Thu 9-4 ... Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Fri 9-5 .....Woodridge Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-6 ......Tinley Park Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-6 ......Wood Dale Rockford Charitable Games
Sun 9-7 ......Park Ridge Midwest Poker Live
Tue 9-9 .....Addison Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-10 ..Skokie Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-11 ....Mt Prospect Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-11 ...Tinley Park Chicago Charitable Games
Fri 9-12 .....Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-13 .....Glencoe Michael Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer 4th Annual Casino Night
Sat 9-13 ...Lake Zurick Rockford Charitable Games
Sun 9-14 .....Park Ridge Midwest Poker Live
Tue 9-16 .....Buffalo Grove Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-17 ....River Grove Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-18 ....Schiller Park Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 9-19 ......Bolingbrook Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-20 .....Burbank Main Event Charity Games
Sat 9-20 .....Hillside Chicago Charitable Games
Tue 9-23 ....Elmhurst Rockford Charitable Games
Wed 9-24 ...Niles Rockford Charitable Games
Thu 9-25 ....Des Plaines Rockford Charitable Games
Fri 9-26 ......Villa Park Chicago Charitable Games
Sat 9-27 ......Villa Park Chicago Charitable Games


Chicago Charitable Games www.chicagocharitablegames.com

Main Event Charity Games www.maineventcharitygames.com

Midwest Poker Live www.midwestcharitablegames.com/

Rockford Chartiable Games www.rockfordcharitablegames.com

Flopped a Set, Disconnected Board, Folded on the Flop?!

Last night a few of us headed to the Horseshoe in Hammond for a late night poker session. We had called about an hour + ahead to put our names on the list for a few games. In particular, I was looking to play $2/5 Pot-Limit Omaha, which was very good to me last week, but would play $2/5 No Limit Hold'em or $5/10 if it looked like a good game.

When we arrived at the casino none of our names were on the list! Most rooms have a policy where your name is removed if you don't show for an hour, but several of the lists were over an hour long (!), so I didn't anticipate that being the case here. The brush looked to see if we had been on the list (I presume that's what he was doing), but couldn't find us. He was kind enough to try get us close to whole again by putting us near the top of the list for each of our preferred games. The other fellas got into their games pretty quickly, as there were eight to ten $1/2 tables and a half dozen $2/5 NLHE tables, but I was on the PLO list, where neither of the two tables were moving at all.

I was #3 on the PLO list, so I took a little walk and cam back to the room to find myself #4 on the list - WTF!?! Then I was just grumpy. I glowered at passersby as I hovered from table to table, area to area. Soon I got my name on the $5/10 list as well.

After an hour or so I finally got on the feeder table for the $5/10 NLHE game (feeder, as in it was a must-move game). This was one of the softest No Limit tables I have been at in a long time, at any stakes. It was really incredible - I didn't know for sure that all of the players had actually played before. Unfortunately, when you're at a table of people who will play any pair to the river, you need to bring a hand, and I was short on them. When I moved to the "fixed" table I had slightly more than my original buy-in, around $1000.

After an hour or so at the new table, playing solid, tight poker in position, this hand came up. I was in the small-blind and an old AC/Nashland good-guy, Jimmy, was in the big blind. The under the gun plus one was a pretty solid player who had amassed some chips through patient, solid play. He was not particularly agressive, but played pretty straight, stayed out of trouble, and won a few pots in the time I was at the table. I did not perceive him as someone who would overplay a hand too terribly. He raise to $30, a smallish raise.

Two later position players called, and with $105 in the pot, Jimmy on my left, and a small pocket pair, I called, looking for set value. Jimmy called behind me as I expected. I'll insert the hand replayer here for ease of discussion, and pick up my commentary below.

The flop was gorgeous, 2 4 7 rainbow. The only real draw was a 5-6.

There was $150 in the pot and I could hope for a check-raise without too much risk, but there was also a risk of the flop checking around and me missing value. Additionally, I called from the small blind and could have virtually anything, so an over-pair to the board might call or raise for information/to slow me down. If it checked around and a 3 or 8 came off, or any even a 5 or 6, I'd be in a tougher spot. I wanted to be raised, so I poked with a $70 bet, less than 1/2 pot.

Jimmy folded and the pre-flop raiser raised me to $220. The other players folded it around to me. Something about the raiser displayed a lot of confidence, not projected strength, just a great deal of confidence and anticipation. I actually considered a set of 7s as a reasonable possibility here.

Often I would smooth-call here and re-evaluate on the turn, potentially even looking for a check-raise on the turn. This time, however, I really was starting to wonder if I was even ahead in the hand, and really wanted some more information. I replayed the events in my head, and mentally re-counted my stack, I had about $1170 after my flop bet. I had just enough, I thought, to get the information I needed and still be able to fold for a decent amount of my stack. There was $440 in the pot, and I was facing a $150 raise. I decided that a re-raise to $500 would be a sufficient amount to get some information from his reaction, and still leave myself some options. I made it $500, and had about $750 left.

The Villain asked me to count down my stack, and I informed him of my remaining chip count. He paused only momentarily, and then said "raise". He first pushed out the $500 call, and then an additional tower of chips approximately equal to my remaining stack. I perked up.

What the hell could he have here? I replayed the hand. Solid player makes a small raise in early position and gets 4 callers. Flop comes totally uncoordinated and small-blind bets out with a 1/2 pot bet. When the action is to him, there are still two people left to act behind him. After they fold, the initial bettor puts in a three-bet for almost half of his stack. He is projecting confidence, and hasn't done anything totally out of line. When it gets back to the Villain, he doesn't think too long, and four-bets, putting the small blind all-in.

Could he have an over-pair? I mean, why does he re-raise me twice with such a strong hand? Why not smooth-call either bet and extract on later streets? Perhaps the first re-raise gets out drawers (there can't be more than one), but isolates us. On the other hand, I'm in the small blind, I could have flopped two pair here, and he would be behind with AA -88, would he really four-bet against me? Does he have any confidence that I would lay down a better hand than his?

Could he have a draw? Seems pretty unlikely. I don't see him raising in early position with 5-6 too often, but when he does, he probably folds to my $500 bet with only a straight draw.

Two pair? I just don't see any two-pair hand he could have here. 7-4 would be odd for an early position raise. 4-2 is almost impossible, especially given that I hold two of the twos. Same with 7-2.

What else could he have? 77 made, by far, the most sense. 44 was conceivable, and would be the only reason (other than calculating the cost of a failed bluff, or to be misleading), to ask for my stack size before his bet. If he has 44, he knows I could have 77 as a possibility, but probably wouldn't fold to any anmount of money I'd have on the table here.

At this point I'm almost certain he has an over-set. I can only otherwise imagine that he thinks I have a big pair, slow-played, and he has AA. Given the fact that a) I've demonstrated a fairly solid image here, and wouldn't go broke with TT-JJ, b) I could have the set, any set, and c) I was in the small blind and would be very unlikely to slow play a medium-big pair with four people behind me, and then play so recklessly on the flop, I decide that the chances of this crazy story finding its way into his head is slim.

So... I ask.

"No way. Seriously. I can't believe what a cold deck this is!" I Hollywood. I look him straight in the eye, and he's looking right back at me. "Did you really flop a set of sevens?" I ask him. He immediately blinks exactly one time and then glances away. He cannot look back at me.

I am now 95% certain that I am beat. With my perceived 5% equity in the pot, plus my perceived 5% chance of being ahead, I am not getting 9-to-1 on my money and I fold my hand.

Do you think I made the right decision?

Horseshoe Hammond - We Love the 'Shoe

We love the 'Shoe.

Members, friends, and associates of the Chicago Poker Club have all given the new Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and specifically the new poker room, two thumbs up. There are at least four active threads on our forum discussing the new room.

The Horseshoe Poker Room pulls together the best elements of card rooms around the country (if not world), but has a decidedly Las Vegas feel. The room I'd most closely compare it to is the Venetian, which if you've read this site, you know is a major compliment coming from me. The size, spacing, colors, and decor are all well done. The open wall dividing the room from the casino floor, and the design of the high limit room in the back, are straight Belaggio. There are elements of the Wynn poker room thrown in for good measure.

With 34 tables, two Pokertek tables, plasma tvs, and table-side service, this is a poker player's dream.

Chicago Joe had this to say:

Tuesday July 29th will go down as the greatest day in history for Chicago Poker Players. The Horseshoe casino is what area poker players have dreamed about for decades.

Walking into the poker room is like taking a magical trip into the top poker rooms of Las Vegas. Looking around the room filled with pictures of the legends. Doyle Brunson, Jack Straus, Stu Unger, Johnny Moss, Bobby Baldwin than as you walk into the high rollers room you see a larger than life picture of Benny Binion sitting at the end of a poker table with his famous shitty grin.

Poker players who are familiar with area local poker rooms will find many familiar faces among the Horseshoe’s staff. I saw many warm welcomes among players and staff through out the day. Instead of just building a poker room the Horseshoe designed this room for the poker player. The Horseshoe is the first Chicago area casino to have nine handed tables for a more comfortable and faster play. This room is truly legendary.

Thanks Horseshoe the dream came true.

Need I say more?

Just about everything in this room was done right. There are a couple of minor complaints, and most of those are being addressed, or will work themselves out in time.

The biggest issue/challenge I've faced is the poor phone reception in the room. Through no fault of the Horseshoe, of course, both T-Mobile and Verizon coverage are virtually non-existent in the room. In true customer-first form, Jeremy and the guys at Horseshoe are strategizing solutions. They've put in trouble tickets with the cell providers and are evaluating hardware that would boost the signal.

Critique two is the felt, which has been screen printed to promote the Horseshoe brand. At first glance, its kind of cool - throwback. The challenge is that the letters are white and the cards get lost in the text. There are two answers - first, the dealers need to learn to place the cards in the correct position, which would put them on the green felt, the second is that the room has already indicated that the next felt, when this felt retires, will not have the large lettering. That's only a matter of time. Its worth noting that the tables on the high limit floor (just a step up from the main poker floor) have yellow letters, and the problem is therefore diminished.

Finally, the chairs. The chairs on the main poker floor look attractive, but are uncomfortable. This is unfortunate as I'm sure they weren't inexpensive. Hopefully these will be phased out over time, as they need to be replaced. That's probably way out on the horizon. It seemed to meet that the chairs on the high-limit poker floor were a bit of an upgrade, though the same style, with a more cushioned, higher seat. Perhaps it was my imagination.

Overall, I give the room a big, fat A. If they're able to address the aforementioned shortcomings, I have no hesitation about giving the room a solid A+. Nice work guys!