Monday, February 11, 2008

Late Florida Recap - Day 2

*Sorry for the lateness*

So Darko was down in South Beach with his, uh, lady friend, and it was time for us to go out to dinner.

“Want to meet up,” he asked?
“Sure.”, I said. “Do you want to meet somewhere in the middle?”
“We don’t have a car”.

So I drove down to South Beach.

It’s actually only 13.5 miles from my parents (more good information from the GPS unit). So I picked them up and they gave me a choice for dinner. “Steak or Italian”. Well, I happen to know that steak is expensive. I’m amenable to expensive, but I’ve spent a whole bunch lately and my bonus sucked so if I can save a few bucks, I will. Just out of curiosity, I asked which steakhouse. “Shula’s”.

Make the VERY expensive.

So We went off to an Italian place they found the day before down a little alleyway in South beach off of Washington Street. The place was a bit touristy, but the food eas very very good and pretty authentic. We ordered Mojitos and they came with fresh fruit and large pieces of raw sugar cane to stir them with. Tasty. Thanks again to my gall bladder surgeon for allowing me to drink again. We ordered prosciutto and melon, calamari salad and three pasta dishes to share. All of the food was great and the pasta, especially, was made in the Italian Al Dente style. Darko had been very kind to take me out to dinner as a consolation for my crappy bonus a few weeks ago, so when the bill came after a very pleasant dinner, I felt obliged to pay for them. He tried to object but I wouldn’t be swayed (except for the tip, which is a nice gesture). Keep in mind that a few sentences ago, I WANTED TO SAVE MONEY! Seriously, I’m an idiot. But just as seriously, it was a really really good time and worth every second and penny I spent. The weather wasn’t fantastic, as it had turned cloudy and cool, so we ended up back at their really nice hotel for a few beers out on the veranda. More good conversation ensued. I had to leave after a while to let them retire (their word for it?), but I have to give Darko kudos on his choice of traveling companion. Wall Street Poker approved mightily.

After I left, I had a choice. Go home immediately and go to sleep, or go play poker. Ok, I didn’t really have *that* choice. The choice was actually between where I was going to play. There is an Indian casino near South Beach that I had never been to, but it’s 30 minutes West in the Everglades. I decided against that and went north to the Seminole casino, which is only 15 minutes from my parent’s place. I ended up playing 2-5NL, which sounds impressive until you realize that it’s only a $100 max buy-in. But who sits at these tables, anyway? That’s right, super agro-monkeys. I sat down with my $100 and immediately got frustrated. Time after time, I got outflopped when I was ahead. I went tilty after getting sucked out a few times and I started playing silly poker. Kh7h? Yeah, that’s a good hand. I stood up to get some perspective and came back to the table in a better frame of mind. After being down $250, I bought in for one more $100 buy-in and went on a good run. Then came the hand which could have made me a ton of money. I had Th9h UTG. I limped in for $5 and there’s a few limpers. A Vietnamese kid who had donked off a $400 stack into $150, raised to $15 and he got 2 callers behind him. I completed my $15 and the flop came down TT8 with 2 diamonds. This is a perfect time to go all in, isn’t it? I did, for $90. Aggro-Vietnamese guy called but mistakenly thought I had put in $70. When the dealer informed him it was $90, he tried to take the bet back, but there is a rule in the Florida poker rooms that once the money goes in, it can’t come out even if you were mistaken. So he completed to $90. Ok, he’s no threat. A woman to his right called. I got her on a flush draw. The other pre-flop caller looks at me and tries milking me for information. He asks if I have a Ten. I say I do. He thanks me for being honest and then calls! Wow! I figure he has me beat but in reality, he was setting up a pretty good play, as I’ll explain later. All I know at this point is that I might be ahead and I’m getting 3-1 on my money. A decent place to be. The turn is Ks. It checks around to the guy who asked me about my cards and he goes all in for $115! I figure him for KT but the woman calls! Aggro-Vietnamese guy folded. The woman is definitely on the nut flush draw, but the guy turns over T2! Wow. So that was his brilliant play. He was playing for the side pot, and for all the money in the pot, he knew the woman would be pot-committed to the flush draw. Genius. The turn was Qc! Not only did that smart bastard get the side pot, he also split the pot with me! So that’s how T9 can make less money that T2 on a KQTT8 board. Class dismissed.

Twice, I got 77 and flopped sets with them. I played both of them perfectly, milking more than $80 profit off of each one. By 4:30 AM, I looked down and found my stack was at $351. OHMIGOD, I’m even! Time to leave I guess. Damn poker monkeys.

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