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05-14-2007, 03:54 AM
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00Snitch in Melbourne : Day 3 (nc,tldr)
Day 1
Day 2 Day 3 Cliff notes: - very tldr warning - I get a great breakfast - Buy some chocolates for the gf - I get a bad seat at a good table - get a hot run of cards, build up to somewhere around $500 - get a cold run of cards - get a run of decent hands in big pots that cost me lots of money - end the session something like $200 down - thwart Melbourne’s poor transport ticketing system - go to the wrong stadium for the game - go to the right stadium for the game - watch the game from the everything-is-free corporate suite Joel is a machine. He leaves for work at 8:30am. It’s 11am before I’m pounding the pavement. First agenda item is picking up some chocolates for the girlfriend who, now that I think about it, seemed a little keen to get me out of the house for four days…but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (I hope she doesn’t read that horse bit…).. Along the way I get distracted by a surprisingly busy looking coble-stoned alley leading off the street. It looks like I will find food down there, so away I go. I take a pavement seat at a small café. The first thing that stood out was that if “you wanna be where everyone knows your name” this was the place. Not only did all the staff seem to know all the patrons, but all the patrons seemed to know each other as well. I later find out that this “community” environment is quite common in Melbourne, partially because the strong Greek population is very supportive of their local businesses. Breakfast is your usual bacon and eggs, but with a bit of a twist it’s served on some kind of Turkish bread with some kind of parsley pesto and garnished with rocket. The pesto and rocket add a bit of lightness and freshness. A great meal. As I’m polishing off my coffee, a guy comes and sits at my table, orders a coffee and lights a cigarette. My first reaction is “Hey, you can’t smoke here buddy!”, then I remember I’m in Melbourne. You can smoke everywhere! I light one up. Take that Queensland state health department! I’ve been to the chocolate shop before, if “boutique” can be used as an adjective, that’s what it is. They have a little section where you can see people making the chocolate behind glass, and then there are cases and cases of little chocolate squares everywhere. The décor is very classic, sort of old, middle European styled. I order a coffee and I pick out a gift box selection of 16, sampling some as I go along. I’m actually starting to feel ill by the end of the process, but they are very, very good chocolates. Who would have thought you could spend fifty bucks at a chocolate shop? I stop in at home base on the way to the big house to drop the chocolates off, I’m at the table with a rack of yellow ($2.50) by around 1:30pm. I’m in seat 9. I run really well for the first hour or two. I made a nice flush in a big pot and had a couple of top-pair hands win me moderate sized pots. Before I know it, I’ve got a full pyramid of bright yellow chips. The players of note are: Seat 1: A young very aggressive (by live standards) Asian guy. He is probably around 27VPIP and very aggressive post flop. He is positionally aware and I have seen him lower his raising standards when open raising. I have seen him raise flopped middle pair to face the field with two. I have seen him cap flopped TPTK. Seat 2: Another old Greek guy who is running hot. He play’s is as aggressive seat 1, but a little tighter preflop and with no positional awareness. Seat 4: A guy who looks like he is there for some fun. He bluffs too much on the river. He calls too much on early streets. He plays loose and passive, except when he is making river bluffs. I don’t really get a chance to play much against this guy. Seat 6: Terrible middle-eastern guy who just calls way too much. He just keeps pulling $100 notes out of his wallet and re-buying. I have seen him make some terrible river overcalls with ace-high busted draws. Seat 8: An old guy who is tight preflop, with no positional awareness. He probably plays a flat 20% of hands from all positions. Open limps in LMP. He is very passive pre and post flop. I have seen him showdown cowboys after limping preflop and check-calling down. Although there was an ace on the flop. After my early run, things started going pear shaped. I think with the two aggressive guys on my left and the callings stations behind them, then the super tight-passive on my right, my seat at this table is not very good. Had I been to the left of the aggressive players, or even as far around as to the left of the calling stations in seat 4 and 6, things my have been easier. This hand perfectly illustrates the passiveness of seat 8. SB is the aggressive Asian BB is the aggressive Greek CO is the tight passive old man Hero is OTB with T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 2 calls, CO calls, Hero calls, sb completes, bb checks Flop (6 players, 6sb) A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] rag SB bets, 2 folds, 1 calls, CO calls, hero calls Turn (3 players, ~5BB): 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] SB bets, 1 folds, CO calls, <font color="red">Hero raises</font>, SB folds, CO calls River (2 players, ~10BB): off-suit rag CO checks, <font color="red">Hero bets</font>, CO calls Hero shows two pair, tens and nines CO show Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], flush Ace high CO wins pot ~12BB At first I thought he was showing me a busted draw, then I realised he had the second nut flush and turned a straight flush draw. Getting around 9:1 perhaps my flop call was a little thin and I deserved that? A little while later… MP is the middle-eastern guy that calls too much CO is the tight passive old man SB is the aggressive Asian Hero is OTB again, this time with ducks There are a few limpers, Hero calls, SB calls, BB checks Flop: 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T off suit Checked to Hero, Hero checks behind. Turn (4 or 5 players, only a few of BB in the pot): 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] SB bets, MP calls, CO raises, <font color="red">Hero 3-bets</font>, SB folds, MP calls, with shaking hands, CO caps, Hero sighs and calls, MP calls. River (3 players, getting up near 15BB in the pot): K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] MP checks, CO bets, Hero folds(?!), MP calls CO shows A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], The nuts MP laughs and shows his K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] and reaches into his wallet and grabs another $100 When CO raised the turn, I was very worried. When he capped my 3-bet, I figured my hand was a draw to ten outs. I had no concerns about a higher set, so I was ready to go to war when my boat came to shore. It unfortunately sunk at sea and I was left stranded. At the risk of turning this into a bad-beat post, I will post just one more hand (ok, maybe two more). In case you aren’t following the story: BB is the tight-passive old man UTG +1 is the aggressive Asian UTG +2 is the aggressive Greek MP is the middle-eastern that calls too much Hero is UTG with A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="red">Hero raises</font>, UTG + 1 calls, UTG + 2 calls, MP calls, SB folds, BB calls Flop (5 players, 8.5SB): KQ9 rainbow BB checks, <font color="red">Hero bets</font>, UTG+1 raises, UTG+2 calls, MP calls, BB folds, Hero calls. Turn (4 players, ~7BB): Q Hero checks, UTG+1 bets, UTG+2 calls, MP calls, <font color="red">Hero raises</font>, <font color="red">UTG+1 3-bets</font>, <font color="red">UTG+2 caps</font>, MP calls, Hero folds(?!), UTG+1 calls River (3 players, $4,000,000): J UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 bets, MP calls, UTG+1 calls All players flip over their cards UTG+1 shows 99, Nines full of Queens UTG+2 shows KQ, Queens full of Kings MP shows AT, Straight, Ace-high UTG+2 Wins massive pot MP pulls another $100 out of his wallet This hand surprised me a little that the aggressive Greek didn’t 3-bet the flop with his top two pair. The flop bet may have been ambitious with four opponents. I thought about the turn for a little. I was getting up near 10:1 immediate odds and probably fairly good implied odds. At the time, I thought my 3 outs were all live. I still don’t know if I should’ve called that or not. One more hand that stung me was when I checked my QTs from the BB. With four or five players to the flop, I checked an ATx flop. The aggressive Asian guy bet, I called closing the action getting close to 10:1. The turn comes another T. I check-raise the aggressive Asian, trapping a couple of callers between us. The aggressive Asian 3-bets, I call and call one on the river. He shows KT and I muck. Somewhere along the line, my once towering pyramid has been reduced to a couple of measly columns. I add four more columns for $200. I consider the irony in building a pyramid of chips considering the purpose for which the ancient pyramids were built. In my mind I dub the four new columns the “Fish Chamber” of my chip tomb. Around 4pm Joel sends me a message saying “Meet me at 7:15. MCG. Gate 6”. Sweet as! The Melbourne Cricket Ground is the premier sporting stadium in Australia and his company owns a corporate suite there. Not wanting to be the one who has us denied entry to a venue, I ask him if a hoodie and jeans will be suitable attire. He suggests I buy a shirt with a collar. Fine. Snob. I play a few more hands, then call last orbit, I’m begging for something to play, willing to play anything. Finally, what will be the last hand of my trip, I catch a monster: UTG+1 is the aggressive Asian MP is the middle-eastern guy that calls too much Hero has A9o UTG Hero Calls, 4 calls, SB completes, BB checks Flop (7 players, 7sb): 75x rainbow Hero Checks, UTG+1 bets, MP calls, Hero Calls Turn (3 players, 5BB): 2 Hero Checks, UTG+1 bets, MP calls, Hero Calls River (3 Players, 8BB) 9 Hero Checks, UTG+1 bets, MP calls, Hero calls UTG+1 shows A5, A pair of fives MP shows T7, A pair of sevens Hero shows A9, A pair of nines Hero wins pot (11BB) with a pair of nines. This fuels my theory the more like the fish you play, the more you win. I should write a poker book. I shouldn’t have even made it to the river and I certainly shouldn’t have check/called it (should have been bet/fold or maybe bet/call I think). I just desperately wanted to showdown a hand. There was one other semi-interesting hand that I was involved in that went along the lines of: I raise early with something like AK, the agro Asian guy cold-called, and there was another cold-caller in middle position. The flop came all one value, something like 555. I bet, the Asian guy called, MP raises, I call, the Asian guy calls. The turn is an A. The Asian guy says something like: “I know you have an Ace”. I check. Asian guy bets, I raise Asian guy looks past the dealer at me, smiles and calls, MP calls. On the river, the Asian guy says it again: “I know you have an Ace”. I check, he bets, MP calls, I raise, Asian guy calls, MP looks confused and calls. The Asian guy and I split the pot with our fives-full and MP mucks. I can only assume he had a middle or high pair in the hole. Later, while I’m having a smoke away from the table, the Asian guy tells me that he was hoping I would pick up on what he was saying and run the double check-raise to trap MP for an extra bet on each street. I tell him I was hoping he could tell I was going to check-raise both streets to trap MP for an extra bet on each one. Am I a bad person? I cash out disappointed and somewhere around $200 down for the day. I leave the hallowed doors for the last time around 5pm. I stop to pick up a key ring for my girlfriend’s friend who sorted out the cheap plane tickets for me - she collects key rings. I got her one with a Queen of spades on it. I hope she doesn’t think I’m implying she is the black-lady or some other not-so-polite name oft given to the card. There’s a big shopping centre a block or two from the casino full of all your big name department stores, so I head over there, grab a nice looking shirt and a jacket to wear to the game. The shirt is chocolate brown with vertical pink stipes. I don’t know what the pattern is called, but it is when the gaps between the stripes are further apart than the width of the stripes and the stripes are paired in one light shade of the color (pink in this case) with one dark shade of the color. It goes well with the jacket that is also brown. It doesn’t get a microsoftesque name like “chocolate brown” just “brown”. I rush home, hit the shower, chuck on the new threads, I’m out the door in 15mins flat. Calling on the survival skills I honed back in ‘nam, I navigate my way to the tram stop. Somehow, the first one I come to has a tram that stops right outside the MCG. Either even I under-estimate my survival skills, or maybe it’s just that every tram goes to the MCG. Who knows? I can’t quite work out the electronic ticketing on the tram, so I prepare to play the ignorant tourist defence should I be asked for a ticket. This is different to the ignorant local defence which involves jumping and running from the tram as soon as a ticket inspector boards. I think if AFL wasn’t the local sport in Melbourne, this would be it. I’m quite excited to be going to the game, I’m not a big AFL fan, but it’s the M-C-[censored]-G man! Plus I like the sound of the corporate suite thing. I jump off at what seems like the closest stop. Fortunately, it is the closest stop. No sooner have I left the tram, Joel calls me. “Hey man, you know how I told you it was at the MCG? Well, it’s actually at Telstra Dome. Oh, and it’s gate 6”. Astute readers will recall he originally told me it was gate 8. Unfortunately, the closet stop to the MCG is not the closest stop to Telstra Dome. It had previously occurred to me that the streets and tram seemed quite quiet for a game that should have over 50,000 fans attending - I thought I was just early. I cross the street and wait for a tram in the opposite direction. Joel’s company better own a corporate suite at Telstra Dome or he’s shouting the beers. It doesn’t take long and the tram pulls into the stop. This tram is packed like a Tokyo subway, at least I am headed in the right direction this time. There are too many people for me to reach a hand-rail, so I wedge my head under some ones armpit to help me keep my balance. The next stop along, the doors open and some guy wants in, everyone looks at him like “OMG WTF MANGS THERE IS NO ROOM!!!11one” but he seems quite adamant that he needs to be on this tram. As he squeezes in, I think “Who the hell do you think you are buddy?!”. Then, as if he was replying to my silent thoughts: “Tickets please”. If he could really read my thoughts, he would have vomited, shuddered or possibly became aroused at my next suggestion. There is a silver lining to every cloud. I play my pre-pared ignorant local defence: “Oh! That’s where you buy tickets! I’ll go get one! Silly me!” and half the crowd jump and run at the next stop. I now get a seat for the rest of the trip. Finally I’m at The Dome, Joel arrives late. He has been at a “business lunch”. No wonder I got the bum-steer in the original directions. Lucky for him his company does in fact own a corporate suite here too. A few minutes later, I’m being waited on hand and foot with a constant supply of premiums and little gourmet snacks. Joel has over-indulged a little on $300 bottles of wine at his “business lunch” and takes it easy. Oh, I think there was a game on too. For the record, the ‘roos down the ‘dons in a fairly un-eventful match. Oh, did I mention this was all free. We head back to Joel’s place after the game, he’s looking a bit spent and has to work in the morning (it’s a Saturday dude!) and decides to hit the hay. I call him a pussy. I have a smoke. He has a suspiciously invigorating shower and we head back out for a couple of pints a near-by Irish bar. It’s the same as every Irish bar I’ve been too. 
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