[pig4bill]

Continued...

Thursday 11/30 10 PM:
I roll into Phoenix and made good time on the road. I have a reservation at the Red Roof Inn in Tempe on a 15th Street address. The numbered streets and avenues in Phoenix run north-south, so I figure I can find any place with a numbered Street address. I take the exit they say to take, and I'm on 48th St. What the heck? So I drive down 33 blocks to 15th St. This is pretty much the dregs of Phoenix and no motels in sight. I call the Corporate Red Roof number and start yelling at the poor reservation clerk. After an hour of driving around in circles lost, I finally find the place. I'd forgotten this place is one block inside Tempe, not Phoenix, and it has this short little weird 15th St that's not related at all to the other numbered Streets. So here it is 11:30 PM... should I try Casino Arizona? Sure, why not. My business the next day isn't until late morning. I drive over, and for the size of the casino, the poker room is huge. It's weird too, in that there are several monster tv screens that put most, if not all, Vegas sports books to shame, but there's no sports book. I get a 4/8 seat right away. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm getting a weird vibe from this place. I don't like it much so far.

The guy I'm sitting next to insists on splaying his knees far apart so I can't sit close to the table without coming in contact with him. I don't like to be touching males, so I nudge his knee a bit hoping he gets the hint. No luck. I nudge him really hard. No luck. Okay, I'll sit back here and reach for the table. Lots of yelling and arguing from the spread-limit table next door. The guy next to me orders a huge plate of brocolli, and that's a smell I just can't take. That's the last straw, and I get up to leave. I'm not sure I'll be back.
BUY IN: $100 Played: 45 minutes Result: +$6

Friday 12/1 1 AM (actually 12/2):
Had a full day, and no time for poker until now. I probably shouldn't have returned to CA so late because I have a full day planned tomorrow, with lots of driving. Put my name on the list for 4/8, then went to watch some 5/150 because they had open seats. By the time I decided I wanted to try it, the open seats all got taken and my 4/8 seat opened up. Put my name on the 5/150 list and about broke even til I got the 5/150 seat. I didn't notice the night before, but they have jackpots here. I don't like jackpot rooms because I know I'll never win one, and would just as soon the rake not get taken. I consider it to be a lottery ticket, which is often thought of as being a tax on the stupid. Even worse, here they rake the jackpot before any cards are dealt, so you pay it even if you chop the blinds.

There is one loud obnoxious drunk at the 5/150 table, and a couple quiet ones. Again with the yelling at neighboring tables. The session was a little weird - every pot I won was with just top pair or a better kicker, or sometimes just high card. Otherwise, no memorable hands. People drift away until they break our table. The only seats left are to the right of deep stacks of $800 or more. Bed time.
BUY IN: $100 Played: 2 hours Result: +$53

Saturday 12/2 10 PM:
Another full day, and against my better judgement, I return to CA. I have to drive back to Vegas tomorrow, and then the bay area the next day, so I have lots of miles to go, and should be getting some sleep. Put my name on all the low limit lists, and 6/12 opens up first. This is an action table, with about 4 deep stacks. There is one really loud obnoxious drunk that everyone wants to kick his ass. A few even offer. He's a good player, but he's also monster luckbox tonight. He's getting trips and boats and flushes like crazy. I suspect Mr. Obnoxious is not quite as drunk as he seems because he nurses each beer for 45 minutes or more. I finally get one of my draws to come in with a flush on the river, and he starts in on how bad I must be to stay in the hand so long. I suspect he's waiting for me to make a speech about how I had 12 outs (inside straight draw as well as flush draw) and the pot was paying me 8 to 1 to call. I think Mr Obnoxious is a crafty devil, and I just sit there and let him berate me for the next 2 hands.

I screw myself on a kill pot hand. They don't have kill pots where I play, so as I'm trying to figure out how many bets are in the sea of chips that have been splashed on the table, I hear "$24 to you sir". Crap! I have pocket 8's but there's a pair on the board and someone must have trips. Too much to cold call a 4 bet, so I fold. Ah, but it wasn't a 4 bet, it was just a raise, since this is a freakin' kill pot. You know what's coming next - turn 8, river 8. Mr Obnoxious is celebrating his boat. I have no doubt that I could have gotten my whole stack in and called heads up against him, and it would have been sweet. Other than those hands, I cannot get anything to improve, to include getting pocket Aces and Kings cracked. I keep buying more chips, repeating "variance, variance" to myself. Finally, I give up. It's not my night.
BUY IN: $300 Played: 4 hours Result: -$246

Final comments on CA: I've never seen such obnoxious behavior in a poker room. Dealers looking at player's cards, sometimes during live hands. Enough swearing to make a sailor blush. It's not good natured swearing like you do with your buddies either. An amazing amount of yelling and arguments and trash-talking at the tables. An equally amazing number of drunks too. The scary thing about that is there are no hotels withing walking distance, so a lot of those drunks are driving home.

Next: Return to Vegas