ANOTHER TRIP TO RIVERS

 Well, Elizabeth went off to take a friend for a birthday dinner. So, I went off to Rivers.

The timing was right because I wanted to test the hypothesis that softer players play   around 4PM.  That was not the case this time.

Then again I joined an active game, not a new game.  

New games usually are my favorite.  Less money to overwhelm, and usually a mix of player skill levels.

The game I joined was terrible.  Betting was high and heavy, and one fellow with about a thousand dollars was just bullying. He acted two players after me.  That was not where I wanted him.

Dealers do not sell chips at Rivers, so I bought in for $140 and put another hundred in my front pocket.  Slowly, I was drained and added $50 to my money at risk.  I caught very little.

Then in a blind I had 4-4 and it went around without big raises.  

Bully boy was out, so it was more like real poker.

The flop of K-10-4 gave me trip 4's and two opponents were left.  One had pocket Aces.  I don't know why he did not bet them and push me off in the first round. The other had K-10, top two.

Quickly the betting absorbed all my money at risk.  However, of the six outs no one connected, and my trips held up.  

It was a fine pot and brought me above  even, but it did give me a lot of money in front of me.  

I played a few hands, but when bully boy raised to $300 a hand where the player to my right bet $100, I decided to see a few free hands and then cash out.  Bully Boy had gotten the fellow to fold, but he showed his cards and they were not the best.  

There was some discussion on the Vegas board after my last trip report about my decision to bet half of my buy in initially and replenish from my pocket.  No one seemed bothered.

Hit and Run was also discussed on that board.  At my table there was an elderly lady. 

(okay, so I am old, but she was a good bit older.)  

She was very pleasant, but she was not the best player, and she talked too much about why she had acted.

Others knew her and said she usually lost.

But not this afternoon.  Bully Boy or not, she raked in 5 large pots, most of them very big. Then she folded to lose ten dollars. And then, her rush over,  she packed up and left.

The fellow to my left did tease her about being a "hit and run."   She said she had lost earlier that day, and he said to her that he was only teasing.  No one seemed annoyed. No one trashed her even after she went home.

Anyway, I left $153 ahead.

Then I went to the VP.  This time I opted to play JOB rather than DDB.  The pay table I had been practicing on was just a bit different than the one in the casino.  On the tutor the payback is 98.98;  in the casino 98.87.  Casino payback is 200 for a SF, 50 less and 50 for quads 5-K or 5 more.  

I can't tell if it changes the recommended plays.

This time I decided on JOB.  It is easier to remember, much less volatile, and it may even payback more.  I did not write that paytable down.

Anyway, I got lots of 2 pair, so that paid for the switch.  I hit lots of trips but no quads.  The one big hand was when I held queen of spades and was dealt the other four cards in a K high straight.  That was my profit.  I quit $40 ahead.

I like that 2P pays double.  The other games frustrate me on that.

So it was a good afternoon with a profit of $193.

O drove home before sunset and the roads were easy.  Near home I stopped at Stewart's  for an off diet ice cream cone, and that with a few left overs at home was supper. 

I just did not have sunlight time nor appetite for Ricitello's Italian. Next time.