Change100 at PokerWorks

After writing for most of the day on Monday, I got the itch to play some live poker. The timing couldn’t have been worse. It was about a quarter to five in the afternoon and I’d be hitting the East L.A. interchange at the peak of rush hour. As I drove down La Cienega with the Grateful Dead playing, I told myself that if the freeway looked like a mess, I’d keep heading south and go to Hollywood Park. If the freeway was moving (in Los Angeles driving parlance, “moving” is defined as the average speed of the freeway falling in the 35-45 MPH range) I’d get on and head for Commerce. It was better than moving and Commerce won the evening’s first coin flip.

I was sitting in a $4-8 game by 5:30. I was sad to find out that the $6-12 action had dried up and they had stopped spreading it about a year ago. Had it really been that long since I played live at Commerce? So when faced with the choice of $4-8 or $9-18, $4-8 won easily. The low-limit room had changed quite a bit since when I last saw it during the L.A. Poker Classic in February. The whole elevated “Terrace” area that had housed the $9-18 and $15-30 games was demolished, and now the floor was a single-level sea of tables. Near the side entrance I also noticed a new “Player Information Desk” with computerized tournament schedules and pre-registration.

Until I played a few hands, I was unaware that from 5-8 PM it was Double Jackpot time. The bad beat jackpot was a monstrous $22,000 during those hours, which goes a long way toward explaining why the room was completely packed on a Monday. At least 7 people were in every pot and when the board paired aces, the the table got deadly quiet. SoCal degenerates take their jackpots very seriously.

The Lineup:

Seat 1: Grumpy, fat asshole in a Hawaiian shirt that sort of looked like Jeffrey Lisandro.
Seat 2: Crazy, loose Russian chewing on an unlit cigar.
Seat 3: Quiet, bespectacled Asian man.
Seat 4: Another quiet, bespectacled Asian man, but this guy was a dead ringer for Yau-Man from Survivor
Seat 5: Asian guy about my age with deep acne scars
Seat 6: Young, chatty Filipino guy pounding Red Bull who showed me his cards almost every hand
Seat 7: Your stylishly attired blonde heroine
Seat 8: Another Asian guy about my age in a blue sweater and hipster glasses
Seat 9: The chatty Filipino guy’s older Filipino friend.

I won the first two hands I played. I limped along with the rest of the world with J-To and caught a J-4-3 flop and a T on the turn. Then, with K-3 of clubs from the small blind, the flop came K-K-J and the older Filipino guy paid me off with A-J. That put me up about $80, a very nice start. But this is Commerce, people. Anything can happen, and here, it usually will.

I certainly opened up my hand selection in this game. So much of the pre-flop action here was determined by the early position players. If the EP players limped, EVERYONE was limping, and raising hands like A-J or 7-7 would only build a monsterpott (because everyone was calling the raise) and drive up everyone’s odds to draw. If the EP players folded, there was more of an opportunity to open-raise and at least have some potential to thin the field. I played any pair and any suited connectors pretty much from any position. Not that I saw a whole lot of them, though. There was about 90 minutes in the middle there where I saw a whole lot of unsuited, unpaired cards below a 10.

My end of the table was having fun with the game. The two Filipino guys were “pushing”– a side bet where one would pay the other when he won a pot. The guy in the hipster glasses was drinking a double Chivas Royal, and the younger Filipino guy was constantly cracking jokes and showing me his cards while guzzling an XL can of Red Bull. The other end was in some fifth circle of hell. Mr. Grumpy in the 1s was perpetually on tilt to the point of muttering to himself and the Russian was on a rebuy frenzy– stuck almost three racks already.

At one point, the Russian was heads-up on the river with Yau-Man. The board read A-J-K-Q-6 with four clubs and the Russian bet out, as he had on every street, but this time Yau-Man raised. The Russian slammed 8 more chips into the pot and furiously flipped over his A-9… no clubs. Yau-Man turned over J-6… also no clubs.

“You call me down with the Jack of NOTHING?!” the Russian bellowed as Yau-Man dragged the pot.

That’s Commerce, baby.

I played three interesting hands of note:

1. Ah-Ac: I picked up the bullets in middle position and raised the 4 limpers that were already in. They all called along with the big blind. The flop was 9s-9h-3s. Everyone checked to me and I bet. Two of the five players called. The turn was an offsuit 4. Everyone checked to me again, and I bet. Only the acne-scarred guy in the 5 seat called. The river was the 4s, putting a third spade on the board, and Acne-Scars suddenly led. “Oh man, it had to be a spade” I moaned as I dejectedly called. Acne-Scars turned over the 3-4 of clubs and my stomach sunk as I realized that I’d been rivered by his full house. My aces and nines were good all the way through the turn.

“That’s Commerce” I muttered to Red Bull as Acne-Scar dragged the pot.

2. 4h-7s: In a seven-way raised pot (you read that right), I somewhat reluctantly threw out four more chips in the BB and told Red Bull that never, ever win with this hand. The flop came a miraculous Qd-4c-7c. I bet right out, Hipster Glasses called in the BB, Grumpy raised from UTG, the MP players fold,ed and I made it three bets. Hipster Glasses called two, Grumpy capped, I called, and Hipster Glasses called. At this point I put Grumpy on an overpair and Hipster Glasses on either a straight or flush draw. The turn was the 5d. I bet out again, and this time Hipster Glasses raised and Grumpy re-raised! What is going on here!? My read on Grumpy hadn’t changed, but I was now about 90% sure that Hipster Glasses had 6-8 which gave me about a 10% chance of my two pair boating up on the river. I made the laydown and Grumpy muttered something and called. The river was the Th. Hipster Glasses bet and Grumpy called.

HG showed the 6d-8d for the straight (and a flush re-draw that he picked up on the turn). Grumpy predictably tabled A-A and got up to take a tilt walk. Red Bull couldn’t believe I didn’t call with 4-7.

“That was a hell of a fold” said Hipster Glasses. “You’re a pretty disciplined player.”

“So are you. If it were just me and Grumpy McGrumpster down there I would have called down.”

“Can I at least buy you a beer? Or a Chivas Royal?”

“Nah, I’m driving.”

“Seriously, how can you fold two pairs?” queried a bewildered Red Bull.

“I told you I never win with that hand.”

3. 4s-6c The older Filipino guy had left the game maybe 15 minutes before and was replaced by this methed-out bearded guy with a missing tooth. 5 people were already in the pot and I called in the small blind. I don’t think I folded my small blind once in this game. The flop was a K-4-8 rainbow. I checked and it was checked around. The turn was a 6 and I suddenly had bottom two. I bet to see where I was at and only the methed-out bearded guy (MOBG) called. The river was an 8, counterfeiting my pair of fours and leaving me with sixes and eights. I check-called MOBG’s bet. He shows K-2. Sunk by the river again. Only Red Bull wouldn’t believe it. He grabbed my cards and tried to show the dealer that I had two pair.

“Nah, I got counterfeited” I explained to Red Bull. “He has kings and eights, I have eights and sixes. I was ahead until the river.”

“Yeah, buddy, why don’t you sit on her lap if you like her so much?” said MOBG.

My early profits had evaporated and I quit the game only $32 loser. It was a miracle I got off dropping that little after those three huge hands.

I feel fine about the way I played, though the next time I decide to play at Commerce, I’ll make sure to come when it’s NOT double bad beat jackpot hours. The second the jackpot returned to normal, it was back to the standard 4-5 people in a hand instead of 7-8. Most likely I’ll play my next live session down at Hollywood Park, where I’ve heard such wonderful things about the $6-12 action.

Until next time…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.