So Much To Say

Wow where to begin. It's been almost a week since I posted anything, and to be honest it's not like a lot has been going on. Danielle drove down to Orange County on Saturday morning (some people do have to be from there, her included) to spend time with her family. I flew down Wednesday morning (that'd be about 22 hours ago) and am currently awake because apparently sleeping from 10am -4pm, then trying to go to bed at 11:30pm is a non-starter. So instead I will blog on stolen "low" wireless internet.

Last week's propping was kind of a disaster. To make a long story very short, in the entire week I played 75 minutes of 20/40 (and I had to fight Davey to start a second game with an 8 person list and 3 available props to even get that). The whole decision of taking this job was an exercise in compromise. Was it worth destroying my schedule, not seeing friends like Pete everyday (although as it turns out gaining one night a week with Batman), and giving up game selection in order to get pay check? The schedule and friends are one major part of the equation, but focusing purely on the financial aspect it's hard to say things are going correctly if my goal is to play lots of 20/40. I was under the impression that I'd spend maybe 40 percent of my time in 20/40 games, and most of the rest in 40/80, with a small smattering of green chip limit and spread no limit games mixed in for variety. That hasn't even been close to true. The common theme seems to be that I spend the first 4-5 hours of my shift bouncing from 8/16 to 6/12 to 3-100 spread and all over the freaking casino with game after game breaking on me, with the 20/40 game full the entire time and in no need of a prop. Then around 3 or 4am I get called into the 40/80, which at first is 8 or 9 handed and plays down to 4 or 5 handed within an hour or so, after which it either breaks or I go home.

This is why I developed my propping theory, that it only makes sense to prop the level above which you're confident you can crush. Because of the pay structure, from a purely financial point of view I'm basically indifferent between free-lancing a 20/40 and getting paid to do nothing. This is because they are paying me so damn much. Now of course far better would be to play 20/40 AND get paid, which is what I was hoping would happen in the first place, but this past week it just hasn't been in the cards.

Financial results, however, have been stellar, mainly because I have run well in the 40/80 games. Objectively speaking, these 5 and 6 handed affairs at 4am, when everyone else has been playing/drinking for 4-10 hours and is typically stuck several thousand dollars (why on Earth would they still be there otherwise?) are goldmines, so I suppose I can't complain too much. In 3 weeks I'm up $3200 in play (this includes a tiny bit of play at The Oaks and AJs), and on top of that have gotten paid a pretty large sum of money for the trouble (I've been asked to keep this blog clean of salary information and will respect my employer's wishes graciously). So I guess what I'm saying is that things haven't worked out quite the way I planned, but they are working out pretty well none-the-less.

Now for some humorous hands. First, an 8/16 game from Tuesday evening. The kill is on (I spend a lot of time in kill games....the Garden City 8/16 and 40/80 games have a half kill to 12/24/ and 60/120 respectively. If you win two pots in a row, where the second pot must have a flop, you get "the kill", which means you have to post a special 6 chip blind and get to act after the big blind preflop, regardless of your actual position) via the maniac on the button. He's been going batshit insane for exactly 3 hands, which happens to be how long he's been at the table. UTG limps, I limp with A7cc (this game is off the chain....I already won a $600 pot in it once tonight) and two more players limp. The maniac tries to raise but is informed it's not his turn yet. The small blind calls and Papa Soy, a super nitty old green chip prop, raises....his own big blind....when it's obvious somebody is already going to raise.....The maniac is next and he of course 3-bets. Now UTG calls and I realize I'm basically being asked to call 3 bets cold (Papa Soy is going to cap it) to take A7 of clubs to war against AA or KK. This seems folly, so I fold. Everyone else calls and Papa Soy caps it and we see the flop. It should be noted that this was the longest I think I have ever seen the preflop action take in a limit hold 'em game, which is saying something.

The flop is one of those misfires by the dealer. He puts the three cards face down and tries to spread them, but one sticks and you only get two instantly. 4c 2c. Aiyah. In this brief moment I pray that the remaining 3 cards will contain no clubs and that I will have saved a rack of chips but....9c. I have flopped the untie-able, lock down, everyone else is drawing almost dead, nuts. I walk away from the table to take my 20/40 seat early (I had been playing off til my blinds but decided this was something I just didn't need to see) only to find a customer un-racking chips in my previously vacant seat. This is not a mistake I will make again. So I walk back to the table and much action has gone in and the maniac is somehow dragging the pot with a naked ace of hearts face up and Papa Soy is quitting the game with black kings face up. The table disintegrates instantly and I'm sitting there with 3 racks of green chips and my dick in my hand, wondering how I let this freaking happen.

One more kind of frustrating one. It's 5:52am and I'm due to go home in literally 3 more hands. I am happy that my day has ended, am ready to go to bed, and also up a few hundred bucks for my trouble. Then I pick up black queens on the button and venture once more boldly into the breach. Both blinds call and we see a flop of:

Ks 9c 4s

They both check, I bet, the small blind calls, and the big blind looks like he wants to raise but doesn't and just calls. He is what I would call an "aggro spew monkey". The turn confirms this read.

Ks 9c 4s - 6s

He check/raises. I look into his soul and am pretty sure I see the naked, cold, and hungry ace of spades, but I cannot be certain. I call only, figuring he'll barrel off anyway so I win the same if ahead and lose less if behind.

Ks 9c 4s - 6s - Js

He bets. Note that I have the second nuts. I call only. He tables As 7h. A single tear escapes my left eye.

In closing I will leave you with a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, all that jazz, and a commentary on Mexican food. Tonight Danielle and I went out for dinner, and I ordered steak fajitas and she a seafood chimichanga. Upon our food arriving Danielle commented that she simply could not believe it took her until "adulthood" to discover the Mexican delicacy she was about to consume. I nodded and said simply

"Ah yes, the chimichanga. The burrito's answer to 'Why is this not fried?'"