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07-30-2007, 02:04 PM
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Trip Report: Caesar\'s Indiana
I finally played in my first B&M casino this past weekend. I decided to spend a few nights at Caesar's Indiana to break up my roadtrip from Michigan to Georgia, and it was well worth the visit.
I arrived early Friday evening with $175 in my wallet ready to play some poker. I didn't have to wait long before a seat opened up at $1/2 NLHE table, and when I sat down I felt like a kid in a candy store. These people may as well have been playing with their cards face up. After thirty minutes or so, a surly looking gentleman sat down at the table and went ahead and posted blind UTG, instead of waiting one more hand for the BB, so I had him pegged as a guy with some gambool to him. Eventually the following hand came up: This gentleman posted a $5 button straddle and was called in three places. I raised to $30 with AK in MP, and only the surly looking gentelman called. Flop was AJx and I bet $50. He asked if I had AK and called. Turn was a K and I moved in for my last $70. He muttered something about a dumb call and then called. I tabled my AK, river was a blank and this guy mucked. So I'm feeling good, pick up a pot here and there, lose a small pot or two, and have my stack up to $350 when this hand happens. I find two black kings UTG and raise to $15. I get two loose calls when the BB announces raise, and makes it another $50 to go. This has me seriously concerned. This guy was as straightforward as it gets. He checked and called with all of his draws and medium strength hands, bet out with his strong hands, never bluffed and certainly didn't reraise preflop. This was the type of guy who would just call with QQ or AK. Ignoring all of the warning signs, I moved in for $350 and lost to two black aces. Leaving the table, the first thing I wanted to do was get in my car, drive back to Georgia, and never play poker again. How could I be such an idiot? However, after cooling down I reminded myself what soft games these were and it would be a while before I had this kind of opportunity again. I got $200 from the ATM and told myself that I didn't need to win back the full $350. I was only -$175, and my mission was to win back $75-$100. I ended up winning back $140 before calling it a night. Showed up early on Saturday to register for the 12:00 $200+20 tournament. They start you out with 2000 chips and 25/50 blinds. After the first hour, you can add on 1500 chips for $5 which goes to the dealer. I'm down to 1450 chips during level II, 50/100 blinds, when this hand happens. Two weak players limp into the pot and I raised to 450 with AJo. It folds around to the first limper who calls, the second limper folds, and there's 1150 in the pot. Flop comes 567 and the limper checks. I go ahead and push for my last T1000, he calls with 44 and busts me. Rather than dwell on how badly he played his hand, I tried to decide if I could have played it better. Should I have just shoved preflop? That probably would have forced out 44. Should I have limped along? My reasoning for raising just 450 preflop was that it allowed me to get out of the hand if I needed, where I could take my remaining T1000 to the addon period. Limping in that spot seems pretty weak, I don't know. All in all, I felt okay about the hand. I'd be a genius if he was playing his KQ or T9 or whatever garbage. So, at this point I'm -$35 from the previous night, -$92 from a room at Days Inn, -$220 for the tournament, -$45 for the cheapr hotel I'm staying in that night, plus a few dollars for food, so in total I'm down a little over $400. Then I proceeded to beat the $1/2 NL game for over $800 and felt extremely good. Some interesting hands: 1) I check my option in the BB with QJc. Flop comes T92, all clubs. I lead out for $10, the limpers fold and the SB calls. The turn is another 9. The sb checks, I bet $25 and she minraises another $25. I'm a little concerned now, as the SB hasn't really gotten out of line since I've been there. I decide to call. The river blanks and now she bets $100. Obviously I'm worried about a boat or a bigger flush. I couldn't see her check-calling on the flop with a set or two pair, so I was confused. I talked myself into believing she might have been slowplaying a smaller flush, and pay off her tens full. In hindsight this is an easy laydown, and this hand really shows my NL cash inexperience. 2) After a limper or two, I raise to $20 with JJ in MP (I thought I was raising to $15, but threw an extra chip out by mistake). A young man with a lot of chips calls me in the BB. He's wearing sunglasses, has a little bit of FPS, and has doubled me up twice already with dubious holdings. I'm sitting on nearly $400 at this point. Flop comes AQx, two hearts, and he checks. I bet $30 and plan to shut down when the Jc comes on the turn. He checks and says something about "Careful now" when I reach for chips. I bet $75, about 3/4 of the pot, and he calls. He says, "Heart!" and an ugly 3h falls on the turn. He puts me all in for my last $260 or so. I fold in disgust and he shows me a black AT. He tips the dealer $30 and leaves the table. Everyone's asking me if I had AK, and I tell them yes, feeling really bad about my play so far. Here I am making big calls with the worst hand, and making big laydowns with the best hand. I tell myself that I got outplayed and that I need to take it like a man and learn from the hand later, away from the table. 3) Grind my stack back up to $350-ish when the following hand occurs. A few weak players limp in, I raise to $10 on the button with 64d, and the BB reraises to $30. The BB is a young man in his late 20's who's been keeping his head down and looking like he's in a really bad mood, even though he doubled up earlier with a set of 7's. Everyone folds to me, and I happily call the $20. I have position, a deceptive hand, and feel like this guy is fixing to make a big mistake. Flop comes 643, and he leads out for another $30. I raise it up to $100 and he calls. The turn is another 6. He checks, I bet $90, he moves me all in and I double up vs his JJ. 4) I make it $10 to go with AA in the CO. The button, SB and BB all call. Flop comes Q74, I bet $30 and the button raises to $70. The blinds fold and I happily fold after thinking about a second. The button shows me QQ. All in all, I really feel toughened up after this little excursion. I cost myself a few hundred dollars by zigging when I should have zagged, and zagging when I should have zigged, but feel like I handled the beats well and learned from them rather than beat myself up too hard. The competition is very weak and soft here, so I definitely recommend a visit to anyone who's in the area. Unfortunately, they don't offer any extraordinary comps to poker players. You swipe in and out of the poker room with your Total Rewards card, and they credit you with $0.75 for every hour you play, no matter what limit. The personnel I talked to pretty much said poker players get a bad deal compared to the rest of the table games. Aside from that, though, I still think it's very much worth my time to play poker here and I'll be back in September with my girlfriend, who I expect to be a big favorite in the 1/2 NL game. 
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