New underground club reviews

I got some emails about new clubs opening up in the city and Darko and I went out last night to check them out. The first, the Good Look club, is based somewhere in the Garment District. The club has a superb security system with a security guard outside the door who frisked us thoroughly. The club is run by the same guys who ran the old Extra Big Blind club (before they got shut down) and the guard asked if I had the old membership card. I lied and said I had been at the Extra Big Blind club but forgot my card. He gave us static about it and almost didn’t let us in but a quick trip inside and he got permission for us. We told them we were regular players at the Salami club and that seemed to open them up. After we got our new ID cards and chipped up (nice chips, by the way), we made our way to a 1/2 table in full swing. The club is very spacious, with 15 tables, a cage area, a full bar area for drinks and snacks and even a massage girl/waitress. Dealers were experienced and the place is generally well run. There were multiple big screen TV’s showing sports and the buyins for the table were the same as Atlantic City. In general, the whole experience reminded me of AC, with fishy type players and tight play, which suits me just fine. There were three 1-2 tables and 2 2-5 tables going for a full 50 players!

John and I sat down with $240 each and got the feel of it. John, thinking he was at Salami, played a little too agressively and had to do a re-buy. I played tight poker and was up to $320 when my dream hand came. In the big blind, I had A9o and was able to just call when no raises came pre-flop. Flop was A99! It got checked around to a guy who had been playing a bit loose and getting lucky (e.g. hitting two pair on the river with middle pair the whole way). He had worked $300 to $800 on pure luck but was back down to $500 at this point. On this board, he bet out $15 and got called by nearly all the players in. There was about $65 in the pot at this point and a King came down on the turn. I decided it was time to milk the pot and I bet out $30. Everyone folded until Mr. Loosey-Goosey raised me to $100. Ka-Ching! I made a point of ‘deciding’ what to do when I moved all in on him. He insta-called and flipped up J9. His jaw dropped when I flopped my boat and he was drawing dead on the river. Sweet! My stack was now $650+ and I managed to get it up to $725 when we decided to leave at 11:45pm.

John had gotten lucky on a few hands towards the end of our run to get close to even on his session (or at least not totally down). We weren’t finished with the night though and we decided to hit the other club nearby to see what it was like. It’s the AC club, two blocks away. When we got in the building it looked really familiar to me and it turns out I’ve been there before, about a year and a half ago. At the time, it was called the Rounders Club and they re-opened recently under a new name but in the same space! Weird. The place is smaller, only 6 tables, but 3 of them were going and one of them was spreading 20-40 limit, which I have seen advertised but never actually seen going. John and I bought in for another 200 each and sat next to each other at the 1-2 table. This club is not nearly as nice as the other one. It’s bigger than Salami, but the dealers aren’t as good as the Good Look and it’s a bit scuzzy looking. The players are looser than Good Look though and I adjusted accordingly. I doubled my stack in the first twenty minutes when I raised under the gun to $10 with pocket 4’s. I got a few callers but no raisers and the flop came up with high cards. I was looking for the 4, obviously, and didn’t get close. Oh well. I checked and, amazingly, it got checked all the way around! Luck be a lady, but a 4 came on the turn. I bet out $15 and got called by two players. The board was now K8T4. The river came a 9. I led out with $30 and got re-raised to $60. It’s possible the guy had QJ for the straight, but I can’t imagine him calling my $15 bet on an inside straight draw. Instead, I put him on two pair, probably T9. I trusted my instincts and went all in for another $85. He thought about it for a little bit, which made me feel better about my move, and finally called. I flipped up the set and he mucked in disgust. On the very next hand, he moved all in pre-flop for $120+ with 99 and got called with KK. He lost and left the table in a fury. I loved it! John was doing poorly but managed to triple up with only $36 when his 77 miraculously stood up against two callers. Then he doubled up on a huge stroke of luck. He had called a small pre-flop raise with J5o (can you say tilt) and hit a flop of J75. Lucky, lucky. He raised a bettor and got called. The turn was a 7. Uh-oh, he had just gotten counterfeited on his two pair but John moved all in over the top of the bettor anyway. The guy called with AJ for two pair, and a much better kicker. John was now dead to a 7 or a Jack for the chop or a 5 for the win (6 outs total). A 5 hit on the river and John dragged the pot! He really needed it too and we were able to leave at 1AM with him only down about $200 for the night. I had held on to some of my profit at this table and left up $101 for a great night of +$586.

I don’t know if I would go back to the AC club, but Good Look is fantastic! Too bad Ricardo doesn’t cook there… :-)