Stars in my eyes and my first game online
I got bit by the online bug a couple of years ago. We had a weekly game in the basement of a bar starting in about 2001/2002. Playing all kinds of games from Cincinnati, to Omaha 8, to 7/27, etc. etc. That went on for a while, then I started playing at some local 'underground' places. The first time was a rush.
Another guy in town has played on and off for years (Mr. Boo from previous posts). A friend and I were talking about playing online in his bar (I'll get to my first online game later.) We ask him if he knows of a game in town, and he says probably, he will call and see. Warning us ahead of time that it's an almost impossible game to beat being that it is 3/6 with 4 dragged from the pot. The players are as loose as it gets and it will drive you up the wall. This information was never even heard, we were too excited he knew of one in town we would take our chances. Mr. Boo makes a call and says he is sending some people over. He tells us where to go and tell the person in the front we are looking for Ice Box and the rest would be taken care of.
My friend and I ordered one more beer and talked it over. There is something about going to a place we had never been and asking for Ice Box that seemed like we were getting in over our heads. Finally we decided that it couldn't be too bad and headed off. We pulled up, went in to see a couple of old guys eyeing us and a petite dated woman bartending. My friend and I both have long hair, and this is the sort of place that it can lead to a bit of drama when you walk in with long hair.
The bartender asks "Can I help you?" and we reply "We're looking for Ice Box."
She points to a door and says "Down that hallway and to the left."
So this is what it feels like to be at an illicit game in the backroom of a place like the _______. The first thing that went through my head was how brightly lit it was. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but fluorescent lighting and light color painted walls wasn't it. We reached the door and went in, all the action stopped and we asked if Ice Box was here.
He replied "That's me, we're playing 3/6 and have one seat open right now." Introductions were done, somehow they got the impression I was from Israel, so I just flew with it. Every once in a while I would mutter something in gibberish and get some odd looks. It was a strange group of people, but strange in just the way that I like it. Names like Oil Can Dan, Doc, and Ice Box were the norm, among some rather normal names with quite some characters.
The chips looked to be 20 years old, at one time they would have been nice, but the ends were literally rounded over with wear, and would leave little white dust on the table if you clicked them together too hard. It was a passed deal, one player who was 98 had someone else deal for him, since shuffling the cards to him meant cutting them five to six times. All the drinks were free, as was the food, the pots were big, and in less than 2 hours I was hooked $180. On the way out the door they said to come back anytime. I smiled and said sure.
My friend and I dissected the game, he also lost over $100 in that time. This was a totally different game from anything that we had encountered before. Let me state that the players were not good, in fact that's what made it so hard. It took at least another 4 months to learn how to break that game, but we finally came out with a +EV.
[I think I am going to tell this whole story in more detail later so you will have to wait for it.]
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Ok back to my first online game. Ultimate Bet is the site that took my cherry and smashed it right against the virtual Caribbean scened poker table. I think I deposited $100, back when you could still use a credit card. After looking around for a while it seemed like a SnG might be the place to start.
I think it was the third hand and I was in the BB. I caught QJ of clubs and it was raised 3xBB to me, I called as did someone else. Flop came Tc9c8c, I checked my straight flush, EP went all in, LP went all in and I called with the nuts. EP had Ac2c and LP had AhAs. They had me at flopping a straight flush. (Imagine a young cute looking boy with glasses in the background.)
The sad part is that I don't think I even placed in that tournament.
Another guy in town has played on and off for years (Mr. Boo from previous posts). A friend and I were talking about playing online in his bar (I'll get to my first online game later.) We ask him if he knows of a game in town, and he says probably, he will call and see. Warning us ahead of time that it's an almost impossible game to beat being that it is 3/6 with 4 dragged from the pot. The players are as loose as it gets and it will drive you up the wall. This information was never even heard, we were too excited he knew of one in town we would take our chances. Mr. Boo makes a call and says he is sending some people over. He tells us where to go and tell the person in the front we are looking for Ice Box and the rest would be taken care of.
My friend and I ordered one more beer and talked it over. There is something about going to a place we had never been and asking for Ice Box that seemed like we were getting in over our heads. Finally we decided that it couldn't be too bad and headed off. We pulled up, went in to see a couple of old guys eyeing us and a petite dated woman bartending. My friend and I both have long hair, and this is the sort of place that it can lead to a bit of drama when you walk in with long hair.
The bartender asks "Can I help you?" and we reply "We're looking for Ice Box."
She points to a door and says "Down that hallway and to the left."
So this is what it feels like to be at an illicit game in the backroom of a place like the _______. The first thing that went through my head was how brightly lit it was. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but fluorescent lighting and light color painted walls wasn't it. We reached the door and went in, all the action stopped and we asked if Ice Box was here.
He replied "That's me, we're playing 3/6 and have one seat open right now." Introductions were done, somehow they got the impression I was from Israel, so I just flew with it. Every once in a while I would mutter something in gibberish and get some odd looks. It was a strange group of people, but strange in just the way that I like it. Names like Oil Can Dan, Doc, and Ice Box were the norm, among some rather normal names with quite some characters.
The chips looked to be 20 years old, at one time they would have been nice, but the ends were literally rounded over with wear, and would leave little white dust on the table if you clicked them together too hard. It was a passed deal, one player who was 98 had someone else deal for him, since shuffling the cards to him meant cutting them five to six times. All the drinks were free, as was the food, the pots were big, and in less than 2 hours I was hooked $180. On the way out the door they said to come back anytime. I smiled and said sure.
My friend and I dissected the game, he also lost over $100 in that time. This was a totally different game from anything that we had encountered before. Let me state that the players were not good, in fact that's what made it so hard. It took at least another 4 months to learn how to break that game, but we finally came out with a +EV.
[I think I am going to tell this whole story in more detail later so you will have to wait for it.]
-----
Ok back to my first online game. Ultimate Bet is the site that took my cherry and smashed it right against the virtual Caribbean scened poker table. I think I deposited $100, back when you could still use a credit card. After looking around for a while it seemed like a SnG might be the place to start.
I think it was the third hand and I was in the BB. I caught QJ of clubs and it was raised 3xBB to me, I called as did someone else. Flop came Tc9c8c, I checked my straight flush, EP went all in, LP went all in and I called with the nuts. EP had Ac2c and LP had AhAs. They had me at flopping a straight flush. (Imagine a young cute looking boy with glasses in the background.)
The sad part is that I don't think I even placed in that tournament.
posted by ephro at 5:48 AM
1 Comments:
Loosest. Table. Ever.
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