Please Poker..... Send Me a Sign

And it did. In more ways than one.

I arrived at Turning Stone about 7:30 Friday night and met up with Pog and my sister from Cambridge (plus boyfriend makes four). We checked into our room, ate at the food court (unimpressive), and signed up for diamond cards (the FPP).

I meandered over to the poker room and bought in for $200. I was estatic to see 3/6 LO8 going as a full table. I signed up right away and waited... and waited... and waited. The table was made up of gentlemen all between 60-80, and it appeared they all knew each other. At least two of them had motorized scooters. I finally saw a few get up for eats, but their seats are earmarked for 30 minutes. It appears there is no chance of breaking into the WWII "Fighting Hellfish" reunion table.

(I was surprised how well Buffalo was reperesented in the room. I saw a Bills J.P. "Operaman" Losman #7 throwback and a Buffalo Braves Bob McAdoo #11 home jersey. If you were there, I was the one wearing a Bills mock turtleneck and a Bisons home cap.)

Finally, about 11 pm, I go to the check in and ask for a 1-3 LHE seat. (There are about 60 tables in the room, and 1-3 LHE is on about half of them.) I get seated right away, and finally begin some play. I pick up a few pots early, and for the first two hours I remain above water - perhaps +$12 was my high watermark. Never had any huge hands, but won mostly on continuation bets.

Then I went card dead. Worse than card dead. I have NEVER been cold decked like this in my life. For the next three hours, I just bled to death. I may have picked up one pot in the last two hours. I finally quit at 4 am, cashing out $125 for a $75 loss. I estimate I played just shy of 250 hands total, and here are the results:

Dealt AA, KK, QQ: Zero. Nada. Never.
Dealt AK: Twice (early). Won once.
Dealt AQ: Once (suited). Folded after flop.
Dealt JJ: Three times. Won once hitting a set.
Dealt TT: Never.
Dealt 99: Three times, but never winning a pot.
The Hammer: Twice. Won once hitting a set of 7's and showed to the fold.

There was not much bluffing to be done. A LOT of calling going on. Plus there's no booze at TS, so no drunk tourists. (You can BYO, though).

I'm disappointed that my patience didn't pay off. That's why poker is the fickle mistress your want to break up with sometimes. It's very frustrating to sit there and take lumps, while some frat yahoo sits down with $15 and catches AA and KK in his first orbit. Plus he doesn't toke the dealer or the cocktail.

After quitting at 4, and not being able to sleep, I played some penny and nickel slots while drinking coffee and eating a Krispy Kreme (we bought a dozen on the way out). Not much luck there either, but you can play a LONG time on $20.

Saturday morning my sister put me on slot tilt. I convinced them it would be fun to play slots and they obliged. We found some machines using my tried and true method of picking the lowest traffic area. On my sister's third spin she says, "What's max bet?" and hits the button. Of course for her 100 credit play she hits for 2558 credits (which was a $125+ payout on a nickel slot). I now realize I will cease any serious gambling as any karma I might have earned has been sucked out of me.

Sister's boyfriend plays some blackjack and wins just shy of $50. We have a nice buffet lunch (bought by the slots winner, thank you!) and decide to spend the rest of our Saturday in Sylvan Beach.

Sylvan Beach is a boardwalk style beach and amusement park on Onieda Lake, about 12 miles from TS. It is old school and white trash as an amusement park can get. However, my sister is a skee-ball addict and she must get her fix. So off we go.

I have to say at this point I am dead tired. I didn't sleep at all Friday, so I kind of wander in and out of the action for the day, enjoying a slushie here and there. The breeze off the water makes the heat bearable.

When we walk into the gaming room, both sisters look at the prizes (for tickets) they offer. Skateboard 2,000. Coffee maker 10,000. DVD player, 25,000. Neon poker sign, 3500. At some point in the day, the sisters decided they must acquire the poker sign for me as a birthday gift.

And so they played. everything. The game that was played most was the "push the quarters off the ledge" game. I played some too, with extended breaks. I guess the sisters are very goal oriented - either that or hardcore arcade addicts.

Finally, about 6:30 pm the goal was reached and the sign found its way into my hands. With an extra 125 tickets left over, I also procured a poker chip keychain.

Very tired, I made it home about 9 pm - now with a poker shrine in my bedroom:


(The flash takes away from the glow of the neon.)

Thanks again to my family for a great weekend.