I was upset that my information continued to be posted at those rogue poker sites, so, I stopped playing sit-n-go’s at PokerStars for a while. Played a lot of freerolls.
Then a friend asked me to see a show at Mohegan Sun. The tickets were free. The catch is that in order to get good seats, you have to arrive around noontime to pick up your tickets. The show didn’t start until 8:00 p.m. … Hmmmm. What to do with all that time?
So, I played for the first time in the Mohegan Sun Poker Room. It was pretty nice, a good amount of room, and the employees were nice and kept things orderly. I bought in for $100 at the first table. Sat out until it was my blind. The players were pretty tight, but, things were going okay. Then it was my second big blind.
Cards were dealt and players were calling, raising or folding. The dealer turned to the button to see what she was going to do. At the same time, a woman (employee cleaning up) tapped me on the shoulder and asked me about some stuff that was on the floor under a chair to my left that had just been vacated. When I turned back around, I see the flop had been dealt and the dealer was turning to the small blind. Huh? He didn’t even ask for my option. I said “Wait, I didn’t even get my option.” [ I was going to raise. Had a lousy K 5 clubs, but, the way the action was going, I wanted to raise the others out.] He apologized, and said he assumed I was calling, and asked me what I would have done. Raise, I said. So, then he had to call someone over to confirm what to do next and to witness the action. He explained to the other person it was his fault… which I appreciated because I was feeling like a creep – everyone at the table is staring at me like I did something wrong. So, the hand gets delayed and there is a discussion amongst the workers They decide what to do, but, then decide to get another person’s blessing. So we wait another few minutes for someone else to come over. The three confer and one stays to witness the rest of the hand.
By now, my cheeks are red, fists are clenched. I’m angry, embarrassed, and the players are showing signs of impatience. Believe me – If I had known how long it was going to take to get back on track, I would have folded up front. I feel like chucking the whole hand. But – I have to raise… and raise it good I did! [ Had to make it worth everyone’s time.]
I got two callers, a man out of position and the button (chip leader). Flop goes down and I bet again. Man calls, button folds. On the turn, I bet, man calls. On the river, man goes all in. There is nothing on the board except a King – which I have. Anyway, I called and lost a lot of chips. He had AK offsuit. I was nice to him, but, peeved. If I had been more focused, maybe I would have bet differently, maybe I would have folded. All that build up made me want to hold on to the hand longer… a learning experience 🙂
I got up and took a stroll to walk it off.
When I came back, I was still unsettled. I played for about another 20 minutes and got into a hand with the same player as the confusing hand. I had a straight on the flop and checked. He checked. I called him all in on the turn and he complained, but, called. He called all his chips with 2 pair, staring at a possible straight on the board. A 6 on the river gave him a full house. He was playing 9 6 offsuit.
I’m filing this under Poker Rooms even though a lot is about my, PokaPaloma’s, experience. Think it is important to know how the room is run and the quality of the dealers.