Just Another Night in Par-A-Dice

The past two weeks have just flown by. After my excursion to the Aurora casinos and The Shoe in Hammond, I did a repeat a week later. The King of Komps had another free night and buffets at Harrah’s Joliet, so off we went. The results were much different this time.

Sad to say, the most successful part of the trip was the buffet at Harrah’s Joliet that I ragged on in a previous post. It was actually much better this time around. I don’t know if eating earlier in the evening or on a more crowded night had anything to do with it, but it was like we went to a different buffet. It still is no bargain at $19.99, however.

I lost a small amount at the Hollywood Joliet poker room. It is small and only has had one or two tables running whenever I have been there, but the vibe has been okay.

I ran into some problems at Harrah’s Joliet. I got my pocket Queens crushed on an 8-9-9 board. Yes – a guy had pocket 8’s. I lost some other hands there where there were several people in big pots. The implied odds were really good, but I was just really unlucky that none of my overcards ever hit.

At The Shoe, I ran Jacks into Aces, Jacks into Kings. I finally started getting back to even when the late night drunks and rich donks came in, but the table broke. At my new table I quickly chipped up, only to flop Broadway and be all-in after the flop against pocket Kings. You know what happened next. The turn was a 9 and the river was a 9. One or two hands later, a shorty raised and I called with A-Q. The flop was Queen highly, so naturally I called his all-in bet after the flop. Unfortunately, he had pocket Aces. It was just that kind of night.

My session at The Shoe was a marathon that ended at 6:00 a.m. Nothing like playing poker all night, then hopping in your car for an almost 2 ½ hour ride home.

I returned to work last week and even fit in (sorry for anyone squeamish) a colonoscopy. Life gets wonderful as you age!

 

I decided to check out a new mini slot lounge in town. It looks like they are becoming the rage in Illinois. But hey – free snacks and soft drinks with a small list of menu items and alcoholic beverages for purchase makes for a decent little environment. I had some promo dollars and used that to cash out a little score. The people around me (only six machines there) kept looking as I hit the bonus on Lotus Flower time and time again. A second trip saw some bonuses on the same machine. Round three will be in the near future.

Yesterday I heard the poker sirens calling again, so I decided to make the shorter trip (1 ½ hours) to Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria. I snuck a quick look in the poker room, only to find the end of a tournament going on and what looked to be a three-handed table. Yuck. I played some sweet sweet video poker and then saw the game completely broke up. Back to the video poker and some slot play. Later on I saw a group of four or five that started a new game, so I entered. It turned out to be quite an evening.

The players were all locals, but very few looked familiar. The table filled up, and for the rest of the evening running into the wee hours of the morning, I not only played against some pretty bad players, but also found the favor of the poker gods. I hit sets. Some of my draws hit. It was one of those nights where virtually everything went well.  I had position on the good players and didn’t make many mistakes. Needless to say, it was a big night that helped to restore confidence that sometimes I might even know what I am doing at the poker table.

As I cashed out in the early morning hours, one guy said “Goodbye, cheater.” I am not sure if he was just ribbing me because I was winning a bunch of pots and took a decent amount off him, or if he was upset at a hand that happened a couple of hours earlier. We were in a hand together and both missed our draws. After the river, he said “You win” and was ready to muck his cards. His friends noticed that I hadn’t turned over my cards as I usually did at the conclusion of a hand, so they urged him not to muck (one player to a hand, jerks). When I saw that his Ace high was good, I mucked and said “No, you win.” I mean seriously – if your opponent wants to muck his cards thinking that he has lost, who would not accept this gift?

Since the Par-A-Dice poker room is small, there is limited table selection. However, even a small room can generate decent profits if the situation is right.

By the way, the title of the post was something that one of the players said after taking a nasty beat. I dunno know – it seemed like a great night to me!