One More Writer

Arkansas is interesting. But this post is for Rick and Ryan, who asked me to give them the details on the card club.

Mortimer's Card Club. Wow. Weird set up. $4/$6 limit, you could bet $4 or $6 on any betting round, 4 bet cap, that's the easy stuff. The odd thing were the blinds: $1 sb, $1 bb. You never had to pay more than $1 for your cards, regardless of what hand you had. You could always open for as much as $6 anytime. So this led me to play 6 hands over an hour and a half. My AK and 99 didn't work out too well the first time I played them, and I was a fool and played A10 unsuited. Against four other people I picked up pocket 3s and didn't hit with them, and all of a sudden I was down to $20 from my buyin of $60. The table rake was $2.5 for your seat every 20 minutes, so that wasn't eating me up, it was just a few bad hands.

finally, with that $20 I got AK s again, opened with it for a full $6, got a caller, 3 rags with a runner runner flush for me, I bet it and got called by one guy. Fourth street came up with another diamond for my flush draw, but I still had one to go. I bet $6 and got called again. Fifth street I hit an ace for a pair, waved my last $2 in the air. My opponent must have thought I was checking, and he flipped a 67 unsuited that didn't quite make his inside straight. Thank God for idiots.

I was up to about $44 after that hand, and then played aggressively with 10s versus three players, putting in a raise preflop with two callers. Flop came up rag J K and I decided they didn't have a piece of it. One of them folded when I bet, the other called me down to the river with A5 unsuited. (Luckily, no ace for him.)

Up to $70, I got 10-7s on the kill button. Oh yes, the kill button. When you win a pot, you get the kill button. IT IS XTREME POTSITION!!! When you have the kill button, unlike normal limit games, where the blinds double, at Mortimers you get to act after everyone, even the button. Then the Kill button acts as a $2 chip, so you only need to pony up $2 to see a flop unless someone made it $6 or raised.

I called of course, as it's Rick's magic hand and not a bad one for me.

The flop came up 8,9,J, rainbow. This guy to my right had played every hand in the last half hour, terrible player. He opens for $6, I take a look at him and start moving for my chips. "You raising me?" he asks. "Yup. I have the straight, and you're gonna have to pay to see it," I tell him an draised it $6. He calls.

Fourth street is another spade, giving a possible flush draw out there. Fish checks it and I bet it. He calls. The river comes up Ks, for a possible flush and a higher straight out there (not that mine was the nuts to start with.) Fish checks and I reluctantly have to call without betting it. He flips over AJ unsuited and I'm up over $100.

I'd like to say I cashed out over $100, but the VERY next hand I had KK with the Kill button in my possession. The short stack three to my right makes it $4 to go. Fish calls, I raise it to $10 and we get one other caller. Short stack raises to $16, Fish unexplainably calls, and I cap it at $22. This puts the short stack all in, fish calls, and we have three-way action on the flop. Comes up Queen rag rag, and I bet $6 on it after the Fish checks.

I guess I could have bet $4 or checked to keep the fish in, but I didn't want an ace coming up and ruining my pot - i figure make him pay to draw to it. Anyway, he drops it and I flip over my KK, waiting for the short stack to take me down.

He had AA, of course.

I ended the night with $77, cashing out $76 and keeping a one-dollar Mortimer's chip. It took me down to $20, but that's a fun game and setup.

OK, back to the work in Arkansas. I'll have an update on that later today, I hope. Or on Thursday. GO RAZORBACKS!!!!