A Day in Par-A-Dice

For some unknown reason, it appears that my "international" home game from last year just fell off the face of the earth. I know that some of the guys who play in it play several nights a week, so maybe that had something to do with it. The last Brick and mortar poker I remember playing was seven weeks ago, so I thought that I would take most of Sunday and travel to the nearest poker room -- the Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria, IL.

Playing at Par-A-Dice is kind of a mixed bag. I have been doing well there recently, but the tables tend to be populated by regs. They are not unfriendly or anything. It is just that I am not one of the bunch. A WSOP Circuit Event was going on at Harrahs Hammond, so I thought that maybe some of the stronger players in Peoria would be out chasing money in Hammond -- even more reason to go to Peoria.

I got there in the early afternoon and was surprised to see that one of the former international home game players was seated at a table. He appeared to have a big stack, which his aggro ways grew to over $2000 as the day went on.

As for my table ... the players were mostly decent. I got a reg who is a good player to dump a ton of chips to me when my A-K was rewarded with a King and the flop and one on the turn. He didn't show, but I am guessing he had perhaps K-Q? In another hand, I raised with A-Q and was called by a player appearing to be new to poker and one of the aggro players. The flop came Q high, but as I was getting some chips to raise. I saw that the new guy was getting ready to put some chips in the pot, so I checked. He bet out $20 and was called by the aggro guy. I re-popped to $60 and the new guy called. I was concerned that maybe he was playing some junk cards and hit two pair ... but I also knew it was possible that he didn't know better. I raised on the turn and he called. Hmmm. The river was no help and my pair of Queens with Ace kicker did not improve. I bet on the river and he again called. I was relieved to see that he had been calling all the way with Q-J! My instinct was correct, thankfully.

Had another fun pot when I was on the button with 9-7os. Almost the whole table limped in, so I did also The flop: 7-7-9! The turn and river made flush and straight possibilities and I was able to extract some money from a few players. It is nice to flop a boat -- especially when it holds.

I stayed way too long, seeing that I had a long drive home. However, the trip was fun and profitable. What more can a poker player ask for?