Commerce Casino Poker Room

I ended up playing 4 NL tournaments -- two full table normal tournaments, one shootout and one short-handed. I didn't go very deep in any of them. I think I played fairly solid, but ran really bad. Two ended with big suckouts against me and two were tough situations that I'm not sure I could get away from. The good news is that I won two sats -- one for a $1k score and the other for a $2k score so I was a bit up in total. Here are a few hands that I would like some feedback on.
Hand 1: I'm a few hours into a $550 NL tournament. I find myself with 15 BB and am in the CO. David Phan is to my left with a huge stack and the SB/BB also have big stacks. It's folded to me. I have two red Tens. Do I push or raise? Not a huge decision but I'm curious what most of you would do because my decision proved fatal whereby another decision might have resulted in a different outcome.
Hand 2: Early in a $1k tournament. I'm UTG+1 with 4k and see JJ. UTG also has 4k. Blinds 50/100.
UTG mini-raises to 200. I just call for various reasons -- mostly to play a small pot and I'm suspicious of UTG mini-raises. One blind calls. Flop comes TJQ rainbow. Check to me. I bet $500, only UTG calls. Pot now $1700.
Turn 5 also brings back-door flush draw. UTG bets 600. Do I call, raise, push? If I don't push, what's the plan for the river?
Hand 3: $130 10-handed sat. Three players left, blinds are 400/800. We're in the BB with AJo and 6500 chips. The SB has 2k and the button has 6500. No mention of chop, but let's assume for argument sake that if we knock out the SB that we would likely do a chop with the button.
The button pushes and the SB folds. Do we call or fold?

I drove up from SD to Commerce last Friday to play in the $545 NL event, some weird stuff happened and it might make for an interesting read. I get to Commerce around 11AM and buy into the 1pm event. The tourney room is pretty empty but I hear a $120 satellite starting and I jump in. In level 3 (100/200) there are 8 players remaining when this hand comes up: I’m in SB with t1600, dealt K8 spades. Lady in MP limps, button limps, I ship it in. Lady thinks about it and calls, button folds. She rolls over 52 diamonds, flop 528, no help and I’m down $120. (She won an $80 table right before this one so her poker ego was pretty big; I saw her bust out ten min later and in the next hr she lost three more $120 sats)
I decide to jump into another $120 and ended up getting in a $100 last longer with 4 others. Play is slow but we finally start losing people in level 3 and 4. There are five of us remaining (3 of the last longer guys), blinds 200/400. Folded to me on the button and I shove with Q10 suited for my last t2100, get called by AA in the big blind, -$220. I’ve been at commerce less than 2hrs and I’m down $885.
I take my seat at table 13 and play begins. My table was a couple experienced guys on my left and a sleepy Robert Turner on my right. (My first and only WSOP even was a $1.5k four years ago where I played scared money and busted pretty early; Robert Turner was at my table then as well. The two largest events I’ve played in and we have drawn the same table both times… weird.) I have to keep kicking him under the table when it is his action, and he gets a short stack pretty early. In the first five hands there is a player on the other side of the table who gets check-raised twice and folds both times, grumbling about not wanting to go out early. When he raises the next time I call from the small blind with A2 diamonds. Flop comes out A45 two diamonds. I check-raise him all in (I have him covered) and he folds AK face up after committing half his stack. I’m happy to take it down on the flop, and now my stack is growing. The next hand I really butcher; I played k10 hearts from the button and call off a big portion of my stack to see turn and river when I have pair, gutshot and flush draw in a 3-way pot. When I miss and the board reads j 9 7 10 2, I bluff half my chips after it is checked to me. I get called by a set of 7s and I’m sitting pretty low now. A few hands later I double up with KQ, then get KK the very next hand. I raise and get called by one player (one of the experienced guys, has been pretty active thus far). Flop is 9 10 4, I bet 75% pot he calls, turn 8. Without hesitation I ship it in (slight overbet of the pot) and he calls with the nuts and I’m drawing dead. This is the exact situation I have spewed off my chips in the last three big tourneys I’ve played in, (two FTOPS online and this one). I get a strong starting hand and play it way too fast. I am instituting a mandatory 15sec rule for myself that forces me to at least think about my play a bit more. The second I moved in I was like “WTF am I doing?” LAPC Tourney Room = -$885 for me.
I move downstairs and decide I should take advantage of the busy cash games before I have to drive home in traffic. Historically I have played the 5-10 and 3-5NL games at commerce and crushed them.
<b>Flashback:</b>
My first trip out was 4 yrs ago during the LAPC. I played two days in the lower limit games and took $1400 of my $2k profit to the 10/20NL game that my friend said was pretty soft. I sit down and before I can even order food I get dealt QQ. I raise preflop and get called by the large dude in a straw hat. He looks like a big lumberjack with his beard and hat, I’m guessing he was wearing overalls. Flop is Jack high and I bet out, he raises me and I shove the rest of my chips. He calls with one pair, flush draw and gutshot. He hits the 9 on the river to take my stack. I am stunned and slink back to the low limit area to grind it out again.
Back to last Friday. I am on the list for 10/20NL and a bunch of us start a new must move table, low and behold the same Lumberjack sits down. I am having serious Déjà vu with the same dud sitting in the tourney with me and now I sit in 10/20NL for the first time since that day 4yrs ago and the same dude who took my money is at the table again! I decide not to say anything to him, and two hands into the game I get moved to the main game. The only hand I get in the first half-hour is AA and I reraise preflop and everyone folds.
The big guy (I’ll call him Alaska because its shorter than lumberjack), gets moved to my table and he is splashing around. He bluffs one pot on the river and gets caught, then gets reraised and folds the next hand. He looks pretty steamed. I am dealt AK in the BB; two limps then Alaska raises to $220. I decide there is a good chance I have him dominated and I don’t mind gambling on a coinflip either and decide to push it in. He has $1200 more and I have him covered; he thinks about it for a while and calls with q 10 offsuit. Dealer quickly runs it out and he makes a straight! WTF? I don’t know if I’ll ever beat this guy.
I laugh it off and rebuy, it is a great table with lots of action and some huge suckouts putting people on tilt. I talked to him later about the hand 4 yrs ago and he remember the whole thing; there was a Philipino player at the table who has a knows Alaska pretty well I guess, (10/20 reg. I am told) who says he was at the table when that hand happened as well. The poker world is pretty small! I play a couple more hours and get in a couple interesting hands.
I watch seat 7 get all in with seat 8 for a $5k+ pot on a 6 high flop. Seat 7 shows JJ and seat 8 shows 77, turn is a 7…bring on the tilt! Seat 7 rebuys and plays every hand. When no one calls one of his raises I call from middle position with J7diamonds, I call his C-bet, turn-bet and $300 river bluff with 3rd pair. He instamucks and I don’t show my hand.
I am in late position with 6-4 spades, I have ~$1700. Pot is raised from the cutoff to $70 (Seat 7 from above), I call, BB Alaska calls. (Pot ~$220) Flop comes out 6 8 J, one spade two hearts. Cutoff c-bets $100, I call (thinking I might be able to steal this on the turn if a spade hits and I semi-bluff), Alaska calls. (Pot ~$520) Turn 4 of hearts. Not the card I was expecting, but when it is checked to me a throw out a bet to see where I am. I bet $150 (I’m still debating the bet size, my thinking was that by checking I was leaving the door open for one of them to bluff me out on the river, but I was pretty sure a large bet would be called by any heart. My plan was to check behind on the river and fold to any bet if a heart hits; on a non-heart river I would call if the tilty guy bet, but probably not if Alaska bet.) Anyway, the original raiser min-raises me to $300, I am getting a pretty good price and I think it is likely he has a pair with the nut draw so I call. River is a 6! He bets out $560 and I raise all in to around $1300, he calls and I take down his KQhearts for a nice pot.
I play Q10diamonds and flop top two, I bet flop and turn and get called by Philipino guy in both spots. I check the river hoping he will bluff at it with a missed heart draw, unfortunately he checks and shows AQ. I think I could have made another value bet and gotten paid off there, oops.
I raise to $80 with KK in late position, 4 calls including the philipino guy, seat 7 and Alaska. (~$340) Flop comes out 2 4 9 rainbow. Checked to me and I bet $260. This is where it gets interesting. Philipino guy goes all in for $1600+, Alaska folds, seat 7 calls all in $1150. WTF? I tank for a while. I am pretty sure seat 7 has a set, but it is less than $1k to match his bet. The other guys bet screams flush draw, but the flop is rainbow. I try to convince myself he might have JJ or 1010 and if I beat him I get the side pot of around $1k, but that just doesn’t fit. They call the clock on me and I lay it down. They turn over 3 5 offsuit and 2 4 offsuit (seat 7), lol. Turn 6, river 2, LOL!
I get some revenge on Alaska later winning around $800 off him in a few smaller pots before I need to hit the road, but he has gotten the best of me so far. Overall it was a fun day of poker, it always surprises me how action packed the cash games are at Commerce. I hope to get back up and play some 10/20 again soon. Any 2+2ers at that table?
Total for the trip: Tourneys -$885, Cash +$1120.
Cliffs: Donked off my chips in tourney and sats. Erased losses and turned small profit in cash games. Déjà vu twice in one day.

I had planned on playing the 6-handed $545 tournament. Matt Savage and I exchanged emails and I wanted to stop by to see him and get in some poker. Unfortunately, I'm an idiot and didn't check the starting time. Don't know why I assumed it was a 7pm start. I did get there at 2:50pm thinking I would spend the afternoon playing some satellites. It turns out that there was 10 more minutes to get in as an alternate. I would get the full starting stack of 4k and the next two 40 min levels were 100/200 and 100/200 25. Hmmm, not great, but with an avg stack still at 5.5k it wouldn't be horrible. Okay, I decided to give it a shot. I didn't have my players card with me and the guy who dealt with them had already closed shop but the staff was very helpful and got me my seat in minutes.
I managed to stay out of trouble for the first few orbits and won most small pots I played.
Hand 1:
My first major hand was with the blinds still at 100/200. Me on button with A8. Folds to me and I raise to 500 with a 4k starting stack. SB who has 1800 or so pushes. I insta-call. He has K9. Flop comes with a K and 8. River is 8 and I'm in business.
For a fairly major 6-handed tournament loaded with aggressive pros my table turned out to be great. There was a young pro two seats to my left who was somewhat aggressive. Actually he talked a lot and represented through his words that he was the real deal and very aggressive. In reality he was fairly predictable and not very aggressive at all. Most pots were heads-up and there wasn't much post-flop aggression or pf 3-betting. About an hour in Makisim Karandeyev sits to my left. He's young, friendly guy who tells us all that he just won the NL event #11, but is actually a limit specialist.
Hand 2:
I'm in the BB with KT at 100/200 25 and around 5.5k. UTG makes it 600, button calls, SB calls, I call.
Flop T84 with two clubs. SB makes it 1500, I push. Folds to SB who calls with JT. He has me covered by a bit. My hand holds and I'm in business with a great stack.
Hand 3:
Still 100/200 25 and I'm at 11k. I make it 700 with AJs. BB who has about 10k takes a while to decide. It seems to me that he is seriously thinking about raising. I put him on a hand like 99/TT/JJ/AQ. He calls.
Flop comes K rag/rag. He immediately leads out for 1200. I have no part of the flop, but the timing of his bet really raises alarms to me. I really feel he has a hand like JJ and is testing the waters. A raise here or a call and then bet or raise on the turn will very likely get me the pot. However, I'm torn because I would have to risk about half of my stack and I have a very healthy stack right now and don't want to bluff it away. I decide to just let it go, but do regret the wimpy play. Any thoughts?
Hand 4:
Pretty standard. My stack and blinds are about the same as above. I raise with TT. Aggressive young guy (AYG) across the table calls as does a short stack to my right. Flop comes KT9. AYG checks, shortie puts his last 300 in and we both call. AYG checks in the dark which sucks. Turn comes an 8 so I really can't slowplay any more. I fire about 2/3rds of pot and he folds. Pretty standard.
3-bet City
I lose about 3-4k of my stack through blinds/antes and PF raises with hands like AT, AJ, KQs, etc., and either missing/continuation bet/fold to raises or more often then not, having my buddy to the left, Makisim, 3 betting me. This happens 3 times and while I do want to look him up at some point, I decide that I'll wait for a better opportunity so am forced to fold each time, until:
Hand 5:
150/300 25, stack: 9k. I limp with KTs from UTG+1 (is it possible to be in early position 6 handed?). This is my first limp of the day when first in. Everyone comes along except the UTG who already folded. Flop comes T92 rainbow. SB makes it 500 into a 1600ish pot. Checked to me and I make it 2k. Makisim asks me my stack size and takes quite a bit of time deciding what to do. He eventually makes it 4k. Hmmm. Very weird bet. He either got a bit worried and thinks that this weird bet will screw with me or he really has a strong hand and wants me to come along. I think quite a bit about it and decide that he doesn't have much, but what a stupid bet. Why do it? Very tough spot. Given our history I just can't lay it down and really am convinced I have him and he's just making another move, given that I've shown no resistance to his other raises. He probably pegs me as weak (is it right?) given what he's seen, so I push my last 6.5k. When he doesn't immediately call I'm pretty sure I'm good.
After about a minute he calls with... QT. What the f*&^&ck? I RR the original raiser, then push over the top of him. He still has over 20-25 BB with about 7-8k left. What could I possibly have given the way I've been playing? I haven't shown down one hand that was out of line. Of course he rivered the Q and sent me packing. No hard feelings. I hope you add to your trophy case with my chips. Here's the proud event #11 winner:

<b>Time to do my own sucking!</b>
It's too early to leave so I put down my $120 and play a one-table satellite. We get 1500 in chips and the blinds move up very 15 mins. Pretty standard group of players, a few guys who think they know how to play BUT... very few really understand hand values in these things. It amazes me the hands that people fold or consider folding in this tournament.
I win a small pot on the first hand with AQs and then go card dead for a while. I stay at around 1800 as blinds move up to 150/300 -- I'm just getting no opportunities to make a move. I keep my stack steady by simply pushing blind from the SB and button when folded to me. Then I go on a crazy run.
I'm UTG with the blinds about to eat me alive so will play a very wide range of hands. Still 6 people left. My first card is an A and I push without looking at the 2nd. The SB open folds 88 without hesitating. Pretty weird if you ask me given how broad my range is in this situation. I guess if he thinks I play like everyone else it makes some sense. Unfortunately my second card was also an A, but I probably would have done the same thing if I knew. I proceed to get KK, JJ, AK, 88 over the next bunch of hands and knock out two players to take a large lead. I do suck out on a guy when I called his short-stack all-in with 88 when he had JJ and I flopped trips. However, that hand wouldn't have killed me, but this hand...
PAY-BACK HAND
We're now 3-handed. An attractive Asian female who is fairly good has about the exact same stack as me. We are both at 6.5k or so and one guy between us had 3k. Nobody mentions a deal and I'm in no mood to offer one. Blinds are now 400-800. I have Ah7h and auto push. The SB folds and the Asian female goes into the tank. She says she loves her two cards and is having a hard time folding them. I assume she has KQs and don't really feel like flipping right now so I hope she folds. She is seriously thinking about folding and I'm pretty sure she will. She has done this routine countless times before.
To my surprise she calls. To my SURPRISE she show AJs. What just happened? She almost didn't call me? With 3 handed action and blinds at 400-800? You gotta be kidding me. Of course, the flop comes with 3 hearts and I suck out.
A few people make mention that I was caught stealing. A7s in that situation is like trip A's. So now I have 12k or so vs. 3k for my opponent. If he asked for a deal I would have probably given him 200-300, but he doesn't. He makes some mention of catching up with me and then chopping. I take him out in about 3 hands and take the entire 1060. Boy, I sure earned that one! I feel bad because I started to talk to some of the other players and completely forgot to tip the dealer. They must think I'm a complete schmuck. When I come back next week I'll try to make up for it.
I must close by mentioning how impressed I was with the tournament. It really felt like I was in the Amazon Room of the WSOP. The tables were packed between the featured tournament, a variety of one-table satellites, the daily multi-table satellites and the final table from the previous day. The staff was extremely efficient, the dealers were great and the food, as always, was first rate. I'll be back for a few more tournament and will be sure to report back.

Following are the winners of Events 14-16 of the Commerce California State Poker Championships. Congratulations to all the winners!
Tomorrow, Friday the 19th, is SUPER SATELLITE DAY. Win a seat to Saturday's Main Event. The Satellite fee is $190. Satellite's are being held at 11:30am and 6:30pm.
The entry fee for the Main Event is $1580 and the starting time is 2pm on Saturday the 20th.
The complete schedule can be found here:

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://commercecasino.com/tournamentDetails.aspx?tournamentId=4">http://commercecasino.com/tournamentDetails.aspx?tournamentId=4</a>
<b>Event 14</b>
1stPLACEJonathan Samuels, Santa Barbara, CA$26,344
2ndPLACEMax Nguyen, Fountain Vly, CA$13,267
3rdPLACEAdrian Kuan, Canada$10,350
4thPLACELuis Sanchez, La Habra Hts, CA$7,998
5thPLACEJames Mordue, Los Angeles, CA$6,586
6thPLACEAlan Myerson, Sherman, Oaks, CA$5,175
7thPLACEJohn Lukin, Redondo Beach, CA$3,952
8thPLACERichard Munro, Bell Canyon, CA$2,823
9thPLACEUnknown$2,352
10thPLACEMichael Kent, Los Angeles, CA$1,976
<b>Event 15</b>
1stPLACE Mehdi Bodala, Woodland Hills, CA$16,866
2ndPLACEReza Payvar, Irvine, CA$8,493
3rdPLACEPaul Lui, Irvine, CA$6,626
4thPLACEAlberto Zaga, Mexico$5,120
5thPLACEJohn Sarno, Santa Fe Spgs, CA$4,217
6thPLACEQuang Vo, Fountain Valley, CA$3,313
7thPLACETroy Grogan, Bellevue, WARNINGS rseshoe-Bossier City.</a> This year was a special year for me as it was my 30th. (I still feel like I’m 24ish.) As I take an inventory of my life at 30, I see that I am very blessed. I’m married to a wonderfully beautiful and incredible wife. I’ve got a miraculously healthy 3 year old baby boy. My wife and I are both healthy, physically and spiritually, and we’re financially stable despite a tumultuous year in real-estate in 2008.
I haven’t been to a casino in a long while, nor have I been playing much online. It got too big for a while and I decided to pull the plug on it. I still get my fix from time to time online, but the serious study of the game and the dependence on the extra income I’ve cut out. (The income has been sorely missed.) There is no more 18 tabling for me and I’ve forgotten more about poker than most average people will ever learn. I’m down to 2 or 3 tables and only playing once every 2 to 3 weeks or so. My bb/100 has skyrocketed though, so that is one positive. Oh, and despite my best efforts in the 2nd half of 2008, I spent all of my bankroll on paying down my wife’s car, vacations and other miscellaneous crap.
We arrived at the HSBC a few minutes before 7pm and had to rush to check in and unload our bags in order to join our friends at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mysushiko.com/">Sushiko</a> at the Louisiana Boardwalk. The LA Boardwalk is in walking distance of the HSBC, but unfortunately, Sushiko is at the other end of this massive outdoor mall, so we drove. The food was good but it took 2 hrs to get it. We ordered a “Boat,” which consisted of an assortment of Sashimi (raw fish), Nigirisushi (raw fish over rice) and 2 Norimaki (rolls.) My wife and her friend were expecting more rolls, but they obviously weren’t listening to the waitress when she said twice that the “Boat” only contained 2 rolls. The “Boat” is an actual 2’x 8” wooden boat that docks in the middle of your table. They have “Ships” also, but the “boat” handily served 4. The food was an A-, Service was a B and the Environment was a solid A, less a 15 point deduction for our long wait. Overall, I’d count the experience as a good one B+ after a curve bonus due to the fact that I had good friends around me to carry the 2 hour delay.
When we finally returned to the HSBC around 10pm everyone made a break for their favorite money pits. Several fell victim to the one armed bandits, others decided to try their luck at craps. Of the 4 couples that celebrated my birthday at the HSBC, only 1 couple came away a winner at the craps tables. As for me, I wisely made my way down to my favorite sweet-spot, the exquisite HSBC poker room. I’ve been to 3 rooms in Tunica, 5 in Biloxi, 2 in Vicksburg and the El Dorado poker room across the river in Shreveport and IMO the HSBC’s room is at the top of the list. It's a bit smaller than the others, but it’s always clean, the dealers are well trained, polite and professional; there are flatties everywhere; the service is great and you can get seated exceptionally fast at your game of choice. On this night, I was put on the list for the $1/3 NL game and immediately agreed to sit at a $4/8 limit game. Within 10 minutes my name was called and I was playing America’s new favorite game, the unlimited version of Texas Hold Thems.
I tried an old game of spot the sucker and it was just like riding a bike. The loud mouth at the end of the table was telling everyone that “He doesn’t want none of this!” He proceeded to turn over a rivered gut-shot ftw. He was playing every hand and betting hard and talking big when he had it or else he was keeping quiet and betting small when he didn’t. Luckily, 2 very capable regulars got up and left the table soon after I sat down, they were replaced by 2 rednecks wearing matching Stihl hats. The 2 new additions quickly proved very profitable for me as I proceeded to bust the loud-mouth and one of the rednecks in successive hands. I could say that it was my egggggspurt poker playing and mental prowess that allowed me to take their money, but the truth is that I flopped 2 consecutive flushes with suited connectors in late position and they both blew up in turn on the flop. I only had to sweat the bare ace against the loud mouth and the redneck blew up w/ top pair top kicker from the blinds in a multi-way limped pot. About the time that I got my tiny mound of chips stacked and a text message out to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://tworags.com/home/Mr_Taterhead">Mr_Taterhead</a> about how EZ poker is, my wife walked up to tell me that she’s done gambling and that she’s ready for me to come upstairs. <i>“WOWIE, WOWIE, WOWIE!!! Sorry boys, I hate to hit-n-run, but when the wife says she’s ready, it’s time to gogogogogoogogo!!”</i> I quickly cashed in my $350 win and headed upstairs to cash in my favorite birthday present of all time!
We rejoined Mr_Taterhead and our other pals the next morning for a late breakfast at the HSBC’s ever enjoyable buffet. With full bellies the guys headed back into the casino for a try at winning some of our money back from the craps tables. The other wives took what little money was left from the destruction that was the night before and tried to throw that away at the LA Boardwalk mall. My wife had latched on like a Michael Vick pit-bull to a large bite of my prior night’s poker winnings, I'm sure that the GAP appreciated it. I gave most of the red-necks money back to the casino, and then luckily my wife called and said that they were all done shopping. If the truth be told, I left there with what I came with and my wife was all the richer for my good fortune at poker. AH, the good life!

David, out friend from the Commerce, sent me a text message informing me that he had 5 tickets to the Commere’s private suite at Staples Center. This would be the first game back for the Lakers from a their longest road trip in team history (and most successful). Plus it was Gasol’s first game at home for the Lakers so this was no ordinary game. David… you’re the man!
I invited a few of our Featured Bloggers. The Commerce was nice enough to send a limo to take the guys over to Staples. Sirwatts, Thayer, Vivek and their buddy and Adam’s roommate Ray (exitonly4) joined me.
Sirwatts and Vivek
Dave and Thayer grab some treats
Exitonly4 enjoys watching the Lakers crush the Hawks
Oh, did I mention that Norm MacDonald from SNL weekend update fame showed up? As many of you know, Norm has the poker bug and plays quite a bit. He was featured prominently during this year’s WSOP telecast. I believe he had the chip lead after day one of one of this year’s events.
<b>A sick prop bet, and bad beat for lakong!</b>
With about a little over a minute left in the first half the Lakers were leading 64-28 and it looked like the Lakers would easily double the Hawks’ score. Norm wanted to bet that they wouldn’t so I suggested we make a $20 prop bet on this. The Hawks could not make a basket and the lakers went up 69-28 with 53 second left.
Norm took out $20 and tried to hand it to me, but I wouldn’t take it. I didn’t want to jinx the bet. The Hawks hit a 3 with 42 seconds left to cut the lead to 69-31 and then Kobe makes it 71-31 with 31 seconds left so now it seems certain I will win until Richardson hits his second 3 point shot to make it 71-34 with 19 seconds left. The Lakers can now run out the clock, but Gasol gets fouled with 2.9 seconds left and makes only 1 shot. Everyone in the booth is now into this and we all realize that the foul might just cost me the bet.
The Hawks take it out under the Lakers’ basket, the guy throws it down to half court to Childress who takes a few dripples and throws up a three point shot. We have the perfect angle and it looks like it just might… maybe, who knows… oh, no… swish!!!
Final score at half time 73-37!!! We were all cracking up. It was hysterical. The best bet I ever lost.
I’m not sure what the fingers are supposed to mean. Dave wanted me to make the loser sign, but Norm suggested something about us doubling our fingers. Not sure, but heck, I just follow orders!
Here’s the
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=280219013">score breakdown if you want to see this for yourselves</a>.
We didn’t really watch much of the second half. Norm and his friend Lori Jo were great fun and we discussed poker, politics and all kinds of other subjects. Everyone had a great time and of course the Lakers went on to win. What more can you ask for? A perfect night all around.
After the game the limo came to drive the guys back to the Commerce and Norm, Lorie Joe, David and me went to the Pacific Dining Car for a late dinner. Didn’t get home until 1:30-2am, but it was well worth it!

First of all, huuuuuuuuge thanks to Scot and Kyle at TwoRags and Dave and everyone else at the <b>Commerce Casino</b> for making this happen. It was a great time, and very much appreciated. One of my favorite parts of traveling for poker is going to different sporting events around the world. So the deal was that the Commerce had arranged for a limo to pick us up and drive us to and from the game, and we had VIP tickets for the Commerce's box. Myself, Thayer, Vivek, and Ray ended up going.
The limo was set to pick us up at 7 at the casino. We had a little trouble finding the driver but we still managed to get to the Staples Center in time for tipoff. As we're walking around the side of the stadium to the VIP entrance we get a little taste of Hollywood. Some perfect 10 blonde girl is walking up to the gate and paparazzi are going crazy snapping photos of her. Unfortunately I never got a good enough look to see who she was, but it was definitely one of those things you just don't really see anywhere else. So we get up to the booth and find Scot, and meet Dave from the Commerce (thanks again guys). The booth is pretty cool, and there's lots of free food and drink so I'm quite happy with it. The first half of the game is probably the biggest annihilation I have ever seen in professional basketball. LA was pressing hard on defense and Atlanta couldn't hold on to the ball for 10 seconds at a time. It took a string of miracle threes before the end of the half for Atlanta to not finish down 40. When coach was teaching them to beat the press during timeout, they must have been as distracted by this as I was:

Anyways around half time Norm McDonald came up to the booth and he was a lot of fun to hang out with, definitely a funny guy in person. Here's a shot of everyone in the booth:
And another shot of the Laker girls just because. Unfortunately, we were a bit too high up and I didn't quite have enough zoom on my camera to get a real good shot. This time they're wearing the traditional Laker gold.

So all-in-all it was a great night. VIP treatment, basketball, free beer, Laker girls, and celebrities. What more could you ask for? Back on the grind with the $1500 LAPC event tomorrow.
Mike

On Tuesday, I rolled down to the Commerce around 2:30p and hunted down <b>shaundeeb</b> for a lunch at the Arena Bar and Grill, Commerce’s sports bar. I'd never met SFD and braced myself for a conversation without punctuation, but he surprised me with complete sentences and cogent thought. A few minutes into lunch, <b>LakeofFire</b> showed up and then David Mosikian, Player Relations god for the Commerce, wandered over and, as I found out later, picked up the tab. I wish I had known; I’d have ordered a couple of extra entrees to go.
After lunch, I signed up for the $1,000 NL event (Event #19). I didn’t look like they were going to get that many entrants, but by the start there were well over 25 tables going. The official count was 268 entrants with a $72k first prize.
Like many of the prelims, the structure was pretty quick—one hour levels, but 3000 chips and 25/50 blinds to start. I never really got anything going throughout the tournament. I definitely had some decent hands AA (3 times), KK and flopped trips and two pair (twice) but never could get paid off I finished about 50th when I shoved UTG with KQo with <10BB. KQo < ATs…nice playing with you guys.
High points on the day…
- Men the Master two seats to my left at my first table. He got down within a chip or two of the felt when he shoved with top pair, bad kicker, 3rd nut flush draw on the turn. He immediately doubled back up when a guy called his push with K high and redoubled when he insta-called an all-in with A2s. Deeb put it succinctly in the text message. “lol asians” No caps or punctuation, of course.
- Dinner in the Eden restaurant with SFD, <b>SirWatts</b>, <b>grafyx</b> and Lake. Grilled salmon…tasty…and good for you!
- <b>LakeofFire</b> flaming out in typical spectacular fashion, zooming up to several thousand BBs within the first two hours and then blowing it all before the dinner break. I thought he’d dusted the stack off on two hands, but as he corrected me, he had way too many chips to do it in just two hands. Three then, whatever.
- Meeting <b>JP OSU</b> of "I got mugged for 30k in Australia" fame on a break.
- Grinding through 80% of the field and not getting paid despite three pairs of pocket aces, a pair of pocket kings, flopped trips and two pairs ad nauseum because I’m a grey-haired nit and only play the nuts, obv.
- Moving to <b>shaundeeb</b>’s table short and having him mock me with a “Nice stack, sir!” and having him shake his head in disgust when I was shown the rail with my KQo < ATs.
- Other notables in the event: David Pham, Jennifer Tilly, a guy directly to my right supposedly never played a hand of poker before today but “is really good at blackjack.” You’ll be fine, sir. The games require skill sets…
Anyway, I should have some better stuff to talk about next week. <b>Adanthar</b> and <b>nath</b> are allegedly coming out. we're doing some filming with some of the guys on Monday and I have another deal that looks like it might just close later in the week. Plus, deeb's in a room with my credit card on file, unsupervised...

I arrived in LA Sunday night and played the 2.5k tournament yesterday. I started out on a really good table with a lot of people who didn't seem to be very good at this game. As an example, early in the 25/50 level there is a limper UTG and an older gentleman makes it 300 from utg+1. The BB calls and the limper folds. The flop comes Qd7d6h. The BB checks and then utg+1 instantly moves all in for 5000 total. The BB starts tanking and finally makes the hero call with QdJh, the older man has AQ and BB gets knocked out.
Unfortunately I didn't have much luck accumulating chips early. One interesting hand I played also took place at the 25/50 level. The old man from AQ hand limps utg. There are two more limpers including the button. I complete the SB with 8d7d. BB checks and the flop comes 8c7h4s. I lead out for 200, the bb folds and the AQ gentleman makes it 700. I'm pretty overpairs to the board are a very large portion of his utg limping range that raises me on this flop. I start thinking about the best way to get all the chips in, then the button starts thinking and playing with his chips. It's still early in the tournament and I haven't seen the button get out of line yet - so this is not particularly good that he hasn't folded yet. He finally makes it 1600, leaving himself about 2.5k behind. Now I have a problem, top 2 pair isn't looking nearly as good. I have to fold as it is way too likely the button can beat my hand. UTG moves allin with TT and button snap calls him and shows 8s7s - the same hand I had. The button doubles up and I miss out on a nice opportunity, but I'm pretty happy with my fold as chopping with the button was probably the best case scenario.
Things don't go well for me at the 50/100 level and I somehow end up with about 1100 chips remaining at 75/150. With 7BB left, I really need to find a spot to open shove but the guy two to my right is limping or minraising 6 out of the last 7 hands. He limps utg and I look down at A9o and decide to go with it. I think it's ahead of his range as he will have a lot of broadway hands and suited connectors. It folds around to him and he snap calls with AK. I get there with a 9 on the flop and double up to about 2500.
The very next hand I get dealt AQs. This hand can be somewhat awkward to play from early position with 16bbs for a standard raise. Since I just shoved last hand with A9, I thought there was a good chance someone would look me up light if I just open shove. I get called by the AQ gentleman from earlier, this time he has A8o and I double up again to over 5600.
A few hands later AQ gentleman limps for 150. Button makes it 400. I have 44 in the BB and make the call. limper calls as well. Flop comes 652 2 diamonds. It gets checked around and the turn is a black 3. I lead out for 1k and AQ gentleman calls and button folds. The river is a Jack of diamonds and I think about it for a second and decide to check. I think vs this player that this is a mistake. I should make a blocking bet here of about 1k, I think he will pay off with worse hands despite 4 to a straight and 3 to a flush on board. Also, I think he is very unlikely to bluff raise me off the best hand. He checks behind with a set of 3s and I win another pot.
Later I have about 6k at 100/200/25a. I make it 600 AA in early position. AQ guy calls on the button with about 5k. BB also calls and covers us both. Flop comes KhJhTd. I have about 3x pot on a very scary board for AA and check. In a cash game when stack to pot ratios are much greater, a check is a pretty standard play on this flop. However, in a tournament with these shallow stacks, I think I need to just pot the flop and shove the turn if I get called. I'm in ok shape vs 2 pair hands and sets other than TTT aren't that likely since I would probably get 3 bet preflop by KK or JJ. The only hand that is really bad news for me is AQ or Q9. Button also checks behind and the turn is a black Q and I take it down with a bet. It turns out button apparently had TTT and decided to slow play this flop, which is a pretty terrible play on a board of this texture.
I get moved to a new table after this and ended up losing a small pot getting blinded down to about 5k. It folds to me in the small blind at 200/400/50a and I have K5s and make a pretty standard shove. Small blind calls with 99, but there is a K on the flop. For the 2nd time I get it in way behind and get lucky.
At 300/600/75a utg opens to 1800 and utg+1 calls. I'm utg+2 with 10k and have AKo. I move allin. Vannessa rousso is in the BB and pretty quickly moves allin for 20k. Everyone folds and she shows JJ. The river is an Ace and I double up to about 24k.
Later in the level I have 19k. Guy two to my right open limps like he does a lot. I look down at AJs and make it 2500. Button moves all in for 8.5k. It folds to me and I do some quick math and figure out I'm getting a little better than 2-1. Not a great spot, but I have to call. He has AK and I don't get lucky this time.
Now I'm down to 10k again still at 300/600/75a. Guy two to my right open limps, I complete the SB with Q9s. BB checks and the flop is J99 2 hearts. I lead out for 1800 and both players call. I say to myself, no heart please. Turn is the 5h. I check, BB checks, Button bets pot. I have only about a pot sized bet left so I'm getting 2-1 to call. I'm pretty sure BB doesn't have a flush. I'm not happy about it, but decide that since button bet so much he's possibly trying to protect a worse 9 or semibluffing with a hand with a big heart in it and make the call. Button shows 3h4h and I don't get lucky on the river and finish the tournament in 40th place.
After the tournament, I'm hanging out at the hotel with Vanessa, Thayer, and Andy. It's 1:30am, they decide they are hungry but room service is closed. Thayer mentions there is a carl's burger two blocks away and he offers to go fetch for $1000. Vanessa offers to do it for $900. Bids continue until I offer to do it for $150. They accept and pay me $50 each to fetch some burgers and oreo shakes. It's kinda nice hanging out with such ballas.
Later we play $20 a point chinese, I set one of my hands wrong and cost myself 5 or 6 points, but still end up $40. One of my only winning chinese sessions ever, I'm such a fish at that game.

I made it out to the Commerce last Friday night (February 1st) for the $545 NL event #8 of the LA Poker Classic. Approximately 550 runners showed up for the event and they paid 55. We started with 2500 in chips, 40 minute levels and a 25/25 starting level. The structure was pretty good for a preliminary event. You can download all of the structures at the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.commercecasino.com/tournamentDetails.aspx?tournamentId=3">Commerc's tournament page</a> – just click on the event name to access a word file with the structure.
I got to my seat a few minutes after the start time and missed one hand. I wish I missed two! On the second hand I’m on the button with 7[d]8[d] and two limpers to me. I make it 100 to go and they both call. The flop comes K75r and they both check so I make it 200. One guy checks. Great start, Scot. I decide I’m going to shut down until I see an A on the turn and my opponent appears to be very uncomfortable with it. He checks and I decide to give it another shot with a 300 bet. He calls. I’m probably drawing dead and the blank on the river doesn’t alter my opinion. My opponent fires and I muck after pretending that I have a decision. Great start!!!
I shut it down for a while and nothing much happens for the next hour or so. I lose a few small pots and blind down a bit to around 1400. At the start of the 3rd level with blinds of 50/100 we’re told that we have one more hand until we move tables. I’m in the sb with 57o and there are 4 limpers to me and I complete. The BB checks and we see a flop of 55T. Bingo! I have 1400 left and there is 600 in the pot. I could check and let some more money in the pot but I feel that a push here would really look weak and I’m bound to get a call by any ten and one of the 5 guys must have a T… right? So I do push and UTG goes into the tank. He clearly has a T and is very confused by my move. Now the fun starts. The CO who has plenty of chips counts out 1400 and puts it clearly in front of him like he is going to call. I’m really pissed off here, because it’s a move to get the guy to fold and I would like to get both of them to call. The UTG guy is not looking close to a decision so I force him to make one by calling the clock. He ends up folding as the clock is counted down and everyone else folds! He says he had KT and didn’t call because of the other player. I am pissed. I tell the guy who counted out his chips that his move was completely uncalled for. What was the point? I had already made the bet, so what is he trying to accomplish if he was always folding. He didn’t think he did anything wrong and I really was in no mood for a fight so I calmly moved on to my new table.
The new table was great. Lots of weak players and the weakest were on my left. Problem was, I was still fairly short stacked and needed some chips. So after an orbit or so I’m in the BB and 5 people limp to me. I look down at ATs and push. The UTG player had been slowplaying AQ and quickly called. Great. Well it was great as the flop came 789 giving me hope and a T on the turn giving me the lead. The river was a blank and now I was in business and could play a bit.
For the next hour, play I did. I raised any two cards from late position in the CO or Button virtually every single orbit, unless of course there was a raise in front of me and then I often RR. The blinds often folded right away. When one of the blinds would call he would check every flop and I would make a Phil Hellmuth type small bet and he folded 100% of the time. Nice. I built my stack up to about 7k when I made my big mistake of the tournament...
I have AA UTG and make it 600 at 100/200 blinds (there was a 50 ante at this point). The button, who had only 1800 called me which I found very weird. The flop comes AQ5 with two diamonds. The right move here is to just check on both flop and turn because he has to bet one of the streets… doesn’t he? Anyway, I did not do that. I felt that if he’s calling a third of his stack he has to have a good A or a strong pair. Doesn’t he? Even with a pair why not push preflop? So I really felt he had the case A and would call a push. Well I misread the situation, because he folded to my push. So I lost his 1200 in chips which I should have easily won, but the worst part was that he doubled up on the next hand and then on the next hand he pushes with 2400 in chips and I find 99 in the blind and call. He has AK and wins the race so I effectively lose 3600 by not slowplaying my AA. Oh, well.
I chip up a bit more and then call a small stack push with A9 and lose to his K5. I then go completely card dead for the next few hours but manage to stay above water with a steal or two per orbit when the situation is right. I also make 2-3 re-steals which all work without showing any cards. I do get AK and a few middle pairs, but never get called.
So my stack fluctuates between a very modest 5000-8000 but I never can get it above the 8k mark. One of the main problems I had was that a guy directly to my right was always at about the same stack size as me and he kept beating me into the pot and I never had a hand I could call him with.
The worst part about being so card dead was watching one particular guy go from 7k in chips to 50k in chips in about 30 minutes. The guy was a machine. He did play well and made a few impressive calls, but he also won about 5 straight races.
It’s now close to 11pm (the tournament started at 3:30pm) and somehow I’m almost at the money bubble. There were 60 left and they were paying 53. 53rd paid about 1100 (it turned out that they paid 54th and 55th too). I just could not find a hand for orbit after orbit and blinds just went up to 600/1200 with a 200 ante and I am now down to 4500. I do the math and realize that if I go through the blinds one more time I will only have 2x the BB and I’ll need to win a hand at showdown. I feel like I must make a move if the situation is even so-so prior to the blinds hitting me. In MP I’m deal T8s and it’s folded to me so I feel this is the time. Turns out, it wasn’t. Everyone folds to the BB who wakes up with TT and I’m out.
Could I have waiting? I guess in hindsight, of course. I might have even folded to the money or just keep waiting for that one hand, but it hadn’t happened in hours so there was no reason to believe it would happen in the next two orbits.
Did I miss any opportunities to steal earlier? I don’t think so. I really played as aggressively as I could given my stack size and my opponents. The AA hand definitely hurt me. If I had an additional 3.5k it really would have allowed me early opportunities to play around a little more.
Anyway, I had no regrets.
The tournament was very well run. They had a nice food/refreshment area set up on the tournament floor level and the food voucher was honored in the buffet restaurant. The buffet was quite good and was about a $25 value. I ate with two guys from the military who had recently served in Iraq. Really nice guys (one of them was the good sport who slowplayed the AQ against my AT). I also liked the 3:30pm start time. I made it quite far, but still got to get some sleep. In most tournaments if you make it that far and get busted it’s probably around 2-3 in the am.

Last night I went down to meet up with 2+2er <b>Heisenb3rg</b> who’s in town from Toronto to grind out some limit and check on <b>lakong</b> in the 6-max turbo (busto) and <b>LakeofFire</b> in the single table tournaments (couple of chops). After having a drink with Heisenb3rg, I surveyed the cash game action. Check this out, last night (Wed) around 9p, at least 45 tables of NL and tons of other action!
<b>Main Poker Room</b>
<i>No limit</i>
6+ tables of 1/2 $40 max
7 tables 2/3 $100 max
9 tables 3/5 $200 max
13 tables 5/10 $400 max
8 tables of 10/20 $600+
1 table of 20/40 $2k+
Interest for a 50/100 NL
1 table of 100/200 NL $30k+
1 table of 200/400 NL
<i>Limit</i>
1 table of 1/2
3 tables of 2/4
X tables of 4/8 missed this but I know they’re spreading it
2 tables of 8/16 half kill
4 tables of 9/18
4 tables of 40/80
3 tables of 60/120
3 tables of 100/200
1 table of 200/400
1 table of 400/800
1 table of 300/600 mixed
1 table of 600/1200 mixed
<i>Other games</i>
2 tables of Chinese poker; one 100/Kondition, one 200/Kondition
4 tables of 4/8 stud
Interest for 40/80 stud 8 or better
2 tables 4/8 Omaha hi/lo
2 tables of 30/60 Omaha hi-lo split with 1/3 kill
Interest list for PLO
I probably missed some games but you get the idea. Among the name players I saw: an oddly sober Layne Flack playing Badugi; Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman and Todd Brunson in what looked to be an 800/1600 mixed game; Jean-Robert Bellande voted off Survivor but welcome in 100/200 NL; and Shawn Sheikhan playing Chinese poker short-handed. In the tournament room, Mel Judah, Shannon Elizabeth and lots of knuckleheads I recognized from other events.
<b>You girls here with anyone else?</b>
I hadn’t planned on playing but as I was wandering around the tournament room, they were seating a $280 sit-n-go and needed a final entrant. An omen, obv. I took the seat. The $280 sit-n-go starts with 1500 chips, 25/25 blinds and 15-minute levels. My tablemates reminded me of my ex—bloated, unthinking and little regard for value. I mentally booked the easy win.
I'd barely settled in and called for a cocktail waitress, when on the 2nd hand of the tournament, I looked down at pocket queens. Now two girls and me flush with cash is an obvious trouble spot, but with one Jack Daniels in me and another on order, I felt up for the challenge. One EP limper to me, I raised 100 and got three callers.
The flop was a nice Q[h]J[c]2[c].
The players checked to me. The arrival of the 3rd little temptress filled me with lust, and I showed off for the girls by tossing $300 into the pot. One for each of you!
Call. Call. EP limper now shoved. WTF? Sir, I’m not abandoning three hotties at this party and leaving. I call. Call. Crying call. Ok, let’s see them, folks.
EP guy who re-raised me all-in flips up 2[h]2[s].
I present my harem with pride Q[d]Q[s].
Pretender to my left shows K[d]T[s].
And Crying Caller shows T[c]9[c].
Sadly, like other similar situations (me lit, multiple women), this ended with me short on cash when an unwelcome third party presented himself—in this case, a river K. Stunned by this pimp, I prepared to head out in shame. But as the winner (Crying Caller) scooped the pot, I realized he had donked off a few chips in the very first hand. I collected a $375 side pot. Taxi fare.
Guy to my right says “Hey, you made money!”
“Well, not exactly.” I responded as I sat back down.
“Oh…yeah…I guess you’re right.”
The blinds were only 25/25 and I still had chips, so like any guy so worked, I struggled to rebuild. Ironically, I built back up to 800 courtesy of JJ which held multi-way but bounced out shortly thereafter when I called a shove on my blind with AQo. AQo < ATs and I was out.
Ok, let me get this right, Edmond…you get it in right with four women and you’re home by 11p with no money? Well, yeah...but I'm going back. The cash games are SICK!
Edmond

The Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040
(323) 721-2100
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.commercecasino.com">website</a>
<b>The Los Angeles Poker Classic</b>
Ok, you’re shaking off the holiday hangover and skimming over that list of resolutions. Let’s be honest, the only one you’ve got any shot of keeping is “Play more tournaments.” Well, there’s good news. You don’t have to travel to some god-forsaken part of the world to bang heads with MTT superstars like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/home/Bond18">Bond18</a> or <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/home/A_Junglen">A_Junglen</a> at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/home/Adanthar">Adanthar</a> at the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City or even <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/home/Landlord79">Landlord79</a> at the World Poker Open in Tunica. No, in fact, some of the juiciest tournaments on the planet are right here in Southern California.
The Bike, the Hustler, Hollywood Park and Pechanga all have events during the first couple of weeks of January, but the must-play series you need to put on your calendar right now is the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.commercecasino.com/tournamentDetails.aspx?tournamentId=3">LA Poker Classic</a> held at the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/CommerceCasino.html">Commerce Casino</a>.
The <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.commercecasino.com/tournamentDetails.aspx?tournamentId=3">LAPC is a six-week string of events</a> running from January 24th until March 3rd. The $10,000 Championship event (starting February 23rd) is one of the premier events on the WPT calendar and usually sets the momentum for the coming poker year. That’s right, fellas…it's a World Poker Tour/Game Show Network televised event. Make no mistake, you’re playing for money AND glory at the LAPC.
In our, well ok…my opinion, the LAPC events feature the biggest and softest fields you’ll find within 20 minutes of a decent restaurant and warm weather beach. Last year’s prize pools totaled over $16 million and the competition is roughly equivalent to that you’d find in a home game circa 1995. Sure, there are some first-rate players, but for every guy who knows what he’s doing, there’s half a dozen C-list celebs, Asian crazies or dudes holding a voice recorder who don’t. Oh, and when they bust out…they head straight to the cash games to pay your 2008 rent. It’s beautiful.
Still not convinced? Consider this. Yours truly, easily the worst tournament player on this site, has cashed in LAPC events. And I deserved to. Are you hearing me? Book a flight, order <a rel="nofollow" href=" http://www.tworags.com/files/lapcmoneycounter.jpg">sturdy money counter</a> from Staples and get your butt over to the Commerce to PLAY THESE EVENTS. Your bankroll will thank you. Seriously.
<b>The Schedule and Structures</b>
Here’s the schedule with the number of entrants and approximate prize pools in the comparable 2007 event.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/lapc2008.htm"><b>LAPC 2008 events</b></a>
As you can see from the chart, almost every event had a pretty good turnout in 2007. Good god, man, even the stud events had over 100 entrants! Prize money for the series totaled almost $16.5 million. It’s easily the richest series of poker events in California. Note: if you click on the event name link, you can see the structure for that event.
The majority of events are NL freezeouts with buy-ins of $330, $545, $1065, $2595 and $10,000. There are also limit, 7-card stud, Omaha hi/lo, 7-card stud hi/lo events and several special NL event—a 6-handed Turbo (20 min level) event that promises to be chaotic, a Shoot-out event, a couple of re-buy events and our favorite, a Tag Team event held on Valentine’s Day.
Now <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/home/lakong">lakong</a> would probably prefer to spend his $545 on third row seats to see Barry Manilow at the Staples Center, but, to me, I think the Tag Team NL event is the better play. What, you’re going to spend $500 on some overpriced, prix fixe dinner and an outfit she’ll wear once? I say drag her to the final table and create memories to cherish for a lifetime. Trust me, nothing say romance like a nice his and her stack of hundreds.
The series culminates in a $10K multi-day, WPT-televised event which has drawn increasing numbers in each of the last five years. When Gus Hansen won the event in 2003 (WPT Season 1), there were only 136 entrants. Last year, there were almost 6 times as many entrants (791) with $2 million guaranteed to the winner and $1 million to the runner-up. No word yet on what the first and second prizes will look like, but the paycheck will definitely put you ahead of budget for 2008. Past winners include Ferguson (pre-TV), Hansen, Esfandiari, Mizrachi et al. And anybody who is anybody has made the final table…Bloch, Pham, Stupak, Vinh, Gazes, Schoenfeld, Benyamine, Forrest, Lindgren, Tran, etc.
Most daily events start at 3:30p but note that the Championship event starts at 12:30p. All events will be held in the tournament room on the 2nd floor up the wide staircase by the valet entrance.
<b>Satellites</b>
For those of us short-stackers, there are single table satellites for tournament chips running continuously starting January 7, 2008 at 11a. You can see the range of buy-ins and structure here.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/lapcsingletablesats.pdf"><b>Single table satellites</b></a>
In addition, starting January 24th, there are super satellites every night (except Jan 31st and Feb 22nd) with a $220 buy-in and multiple re-buys starting at 7p. You can see the structure for those little free-for-alls here.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/lapcnightlysat.pdf"><b>Nightly satellites</b></a>
Finally, January 31 (Thursday) and February 22 (Friday) are Special Super Sat Days with satellites at 11:30a and 6:30p. Note: the evening events typically draw a bigger field. You can see the structure for those satellites here.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/lapcsupersat.pdf"><b>Super Satellite structures</b></a>
<b>Away game for you? No problem!</b>
We realized not everyone’s as good with staying focused around beautiful weather, hot women and free money as we are, so here are a few tips to make your LAPC trip a bit less stressful.
<b>Getting there</b>
The Commerce Casino is roughly equidistant from Los Angeles airport (23 miles), Burbank airport (22 miles) and Long Beach airport (20 miles). The John Wayne/Orange Count airport is more of a hike (31 miles) and San Diego airport’s at least a 2-hour run without traffic, with traffic…forget it.
If you have a choice, consider Burbank and Long Beach as alternatives to LAX. Burbank to Commerce is almost a straight shot down the 5 freeway, and Southwest flies to/from Burbank airport. Similarly, the Commerce is a quick drive up the 710N from Long Beach airport and JetBlue flies into Long Beach.
If you’re driving…use the Google map feature <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/CommerceCasino.html">here</a>. Just give yourself time around rush hour. The Commerce is directly off the 5 freeway, a major N/S thoroughfare in LA. It can be easy to get there off-peak, but during rush hour, it’s tough sledding.
<b>Where to stay</b>
The Commerce has a nice hotel on its property, the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://cpccla.com/"> Crowne Plaza</a>. Unfortunately, the 200 rooms are usually sold out during the LAPC so your best bet is to try one of the other local hotels.
For quality of service, your first choice should be the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/LAXCMDT-Doubletree-Hotel-Los-Angeles-Commerce-California/index.do">Wyndham Gardens aka the Doubletree Hotel Commerce</a>, located at the Citadel Shops, a huge outlet mall up the street. The hotel is within walking distance (couple of minutes) of the Commerce. Further away but within 10 minutes or so of the casino, you’ll find
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=00884&brandInfo=RA">Ramada Inn – Commerce</a>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Booking/property_info?propertyId=00395&brandInfo=RA">Ramada Inn – South El Monte</a>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxnk-norwalk-marriott/">Norwalk Marriott - Norwalk</a>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=05608">Best Western – Montebello Plaza</a>
Any of these hotels are decent for sleeping and showering, but you should manage your expectations. There’s not much else to do in any of these areas.
If you want a hotel with more amenities or off-casino entertainment, consider staying near LAX or the beach communities (Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach). You can find good, inexpensive accommodations within a mile or so of the beach and other shopping, dining areas. Remember, too, if you’re looking for sun and women, it’s LA…head for the beach!
Wherever you’re staying, you can either drive in and park at the Commerce (valet’s $2, not including tip) or arrange a courtesy shuttle. If you need a ride, just call the casino and ask for the floor shift supervisor. If you give them some notice and tell them the game or event you’re playing, they’ll usually send a shuttle for you. Even better, if you’re staying with a group of other guys, coordinate to come in at the same time and the Commerce will definitely send a car to pick you up.
<b>Miscellaneous stuff</b>
A player card is required for entry into all the tournaments. You can get one at the tournament sign-up area on the 2nd floor or from Player Relations.
If you want to wire entry fees in, you can find the info here. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/lapcwire.pdf">Wire instructions</a>
<b>Past trip reports</b>
If you’re curious about the Commerce NL games, you can read my recent trip report here. With pics!
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?ACTION=blogs&todo=view&ID=1464">Commerce NL tournament area and cash games</a>
And here’s another tournament trip report and look at the tournament area. Again, with pics!
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?ACTION=blogs&todo=view&ID=1530
">California State Poker Championships</a>
All right, that's all I've got for now. Seriously, if you happen to like money, you NEED to play the LAPC events. Why grind in front of the computer all year like you did in 2007, when you can lock up a year's worth of earn by the end of Feb and spend the rest of the year chillin' on the beach?
See you in all but the Ladies event!
Edmond

Hi everyone. I used to keep a blog on blogger.com, but got bored with it and stopped. I do like to discuss poker and sometimes contribute in poker discussion boards over at 2plus2 and FTR. I live in Westwood and mostly play at the Commerce. I noticed some cool odds cards they were giving out last night and saw that there is a deal with tworags and they were looking for bloggers so I thought I would check it out.
I read through some of the blogs here and was pretty impressed with lineup of guys you have here so I thought why not? I'll give it a shot. Please don't laugh. I'm not a professional player, but I do want to be one day. I'm a winner at the $200 and $400 no limit games at the Commerce and would like to try to move up soon when I'm ready. I don't feel that I'm quite there yet, but i'm close.
So please give me feedback and let me know what you think about my game. I'll try to post regularly after each session.
Last night I played in the $400 game. The blinds are $2 and $5. I bought in for the full $400 and played for about 5 hours. I left the game with $1700. This was a good night for me, but not unusual. I like to move tables around looking some of the loose Asian dudes. Most raises in the $30 or so dollar range get called by 3-4 players so i'm looking for opportunities to make big raises with strong hands once there is already $100+ in the pot. When players call these $30 raises it doesn't mean they have much. So I'll usually just take the pot right down, but my hope is that I get called by a middle pair if I have a big hand or even a hand like Ace-Ten when I have big slick.
I must have won a half dozen hands this way last night. It gets to me on the button or in the blinds and Ihave a hand like big slick or Jacks through Aces and I just jam. One time I did this with Jacks and got called by A7. Sick.
One time a guy raised to $30 without looking at his hand. I only had 78 but called from the button after two other players called in front of me. The flop was 456. f-yeah!!! The guy looks at his cards and says that he has a huge hand and has to bet. He bets $200. i push and he calls $170 more. The poor dude flopped a straight too with 37. Wow!
This is fun. I hope to continue on my next entry soon. I'm probably going to join some buddies at the Commerce tomorrow night.

Had to drop off some tworags/commerce promotional cards at the Commerce this afternoon and even though I didn't have much time to play I couldn't resist at least a little action so I dropped $400 down at the $5/10 NL (400 max) table, ordered some chicken kabobs - food is free at these limits - and began a quick session. Only had about an hour to play, but what the heck.
I observed for a few hands. Many hands went unraised and almost all reasonable raises in the $15-25 range got called by at least one or two players. This was also one of these weird games where every hand seemed to be won by a nut flush or fullhouse.
After about an orbit I'm dealt A[d]9[d] in the SB and complete with 4 limpers in front of me. Flop comes with two diamonds and I make it $30. Two people call. The turn brings the flush and I make it $75 and one guy calls. The board pairs which worries me just a bit, but I decide to make it $100 (kind of a value bet) and might consider folding to a push. He folds.
Played a few other meaningless hands before this one comes up. I'm in the BB and UTG makes it $20 and 5 people call! I look down at Q5 and call. The flop comes 557. Nice. I probably need to check, but most people don't bet the 5, so I decide to lead out with $50. One guy calls. The turn is the nasty 7 for 5577. The SB makes it $100. Hmmm. I'm having a hard time putting him on a hand I can beat. Now if he was super confident that I had a 5, then his bet is brilliant, but how can he be that confident? My lead on the flop could easily be a 7, an overpair or a bluff. In fact, more often than not it isn't a 5. On the other hand, if he had a 7, then why lead? I decided that he might lead, because if I don't have a 7 he assumes I'll check. I ended up folding. It seemed like the right decision here. Any thoughts?
The only other semi-interesting hand was this. I have AKo in EP, and make it $20. The HJ calls (he only has another $60 or so behind), the CO makes it $100. I have about $320 left so I really have only two options, I'm not deep enough to call and fold on the flop. I decide to do the only reasonable thing here (at least to my warped mind) and push. Of course the HJ calls and the CO calls too. The board brings all low cards, but 3 spades. The short-stack had KsJs and the CO had the same AK as me, so I lost about $80 on the hand. Not sure how good a call it was for the other AK guy -- probably pretty close. Let's see:
He is calling $220 into a $520ish pot, so he's getting more than 2-1, but what can he reasonably put me on? I raised, there was a caller and he RR. It sure looks like my range is QQ, KK, AA, AK. It's probably close. Just did an Evaluator scenario and it looks to be about BE. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?EVID=144">Take a look here</a>.
Nothing more happens and I lose about half of my buy-in. No big hands, no terrible hands, just lots of small bleeding over the 1.5 hour session.
One crazy hand to note just as I'm stacking my chips. A guy goes all-in for $250 and shows me his TT. Another guy calls. The guy called so fast that the TT guy is worried about an overpair, but then the flop comes 678o and the turn is a 9 so Mr. TT seems golden. The river brings another 8. The opponent turns over 99. Can you believe that? Let's do some calculations on the QuickOdds program:
Preflop he's an 82% favorite
On flop he's a 76% favorite
On turn he's still a 73% favorite
I guess it wasn't as bad as it seemed. The straight draw on the flop and trips on the turn kept it closer than it looked at the end.

Last Thurs night around 9p, I headed down to the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/CommerceCasino.html">Commerce Casino</a> to update my <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/la%20comps.htm">LA card room comparison chart</a> and check out the low stakes NL games there. Some of you might not be familiar with the World’s Largest Poker Casino (ok, world’s largest LIVE poker casino) so here’s a quick tour.
The Commerce Casino/Crowne Plaza hotel complex is located directly off the 5 Freeway about 7-8 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The 5 Freeway is a major LA thoroughfare and traffic can be brutal midday, but at 9 pm, it’s a breeze. You can’t miss the casino from the highway—both the casino and the attached hotel are well-lit with excellent signage.
In the satellite image below, you can see the Commerce’s proximity to the freeway and massive parking lot. The hotel part of the complex is the curved building on the left of the property; the main casino comprises the rectangular portion. If you look carefully in the upper right of the parking lot, you can see a N/S tennis court that was built well before the hotel was built. Senior management at the Commerce took their tennis seriously in their younger years!

<b>"Past the chariot..."</b>
As you can see, there’s plenty of free parking on the property, but since I’m lazy I opted to valet (about $2 not including tip). As you enter from the valet, you’re confronted with two oversized statues. I never really understood the Roman/Egyptian theme, but they look great and definitely give the sense of Las Vegas grandeur.


<b>The high stakes room</b>
Directly behind the statues is the high stakes room where all the big games ($10/20+ NL, $20/40 limit, etc.) run. There’s a large multi-screen monitor in a corner of the room, but for now, all the waitlists are managed by hand. I think Commerce is probably moving toward an automated system at some point. The low stakes NL waiting list is automated and there are a number of new flat screen monitors located strategically throughout the other areas of the casino. But for now, it’s white boards and markers in the high stakes and main room.
<b>The main room</b>
Continuing the tour, from the high stakes room, you go through a California games room (blackjack variants, pai gow, etc.) to the main room of the casino where all the middle stakes games are spread. It’s a huge open room with several food court type restaurants around the perimeter. Like the high stakes room, waitlists are kept by hand but there’s a sign up board at all four sides of the room (yes, it’s that big) and there’s floor staff manning the boards and directing players to seats. As a result, there’s rarely a problem finding or getting into the game you’re looking for.

I did a quick walk around to see what kind of action was running. Check this out for a Thursday night…
7 tables of 1/2 $40
7 tables of 2/3 $100
9 tables of 3/5 $200
8 tables of 5/10 $400
6 tables of $10/20 $600-no max
3 tables of $20/40 $2000-no max
1 table of <b>$100/200 $30k-no max</b> (note: Commerce usually has $50/$100 NL with a $5k minimum)
That’s over 40 tables of NL! By comparison, the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/Bellagio.html">Bellagio</a> has 40 tables IN TOTAL. Of course, the Commerce spreads all sorts of other games—limit, stud, a MONSTER mixed game ($300/$600 usually and sometimes $400/$800) and a few Omaha games. There are over 240 tables in the casino and I’m guessing about 160 or so are dedicated to poker. They also run daily tournaments and recently began running $40 sit n gos using Lightning Poker electronic tables. More on those later.
<b>”Excuse me, which way to the mini-ballers?”</b>
Checking my bankroll, I realized I was a little light for the $100/$200 NL and made a mental note to put 60-100 dimes in my backpack for my next trip. I’m rolled for $5/10 but, in a rare show of discipline, resisted the urge to grab four stacks of $5 chips and find a seat. Instead, I stuck to the task at hand, namely checking out the low stakes NL action.
Commerce spreads its low stakes NL in its tournament room, located on the 2nd floor in the tournament & banquet area. The room is directly above the high stakes area and is accessible by a wide staircase, which spirals above the aforementioned statues. I’m pretty sure this staircase is the steepest staircase on Earth not associated with a Mayan ruin or pharaoh’s tomb. There’s probably room here to continue the metaphor with some reference to bloody sacrifice, but I’m not a virgin and don’t even know one, so let’s leave it that it’s a climb to get to the room.
I think the 2nd floor location cuts down on the number of low stakes NL and limit tables Commerce spreads. Both Hawaiian Gardens and Ocean’s 11 had more small NL games running, but they were right off the main floor in both casinos and tough to miss. Then again, those guys didn’t have nearly as many of the larger games that Commerce has. Whatever...this place is huge and there's plenty of action for anyone.
The room itself is what you’d expect of a hotel ballroom, high ceilings and chandeliers, with the inclusion of 30 or so tables and a snack bar. To the far right of the room is the cashier and brush area, and there are two Lightning electronic poker tables against the far wall. In the low stakes NL room (seen below courtesy of my lousy cell phone camera), waitlists are kept via an electronic system. There are several other monitors not in use; presumably, these are used for tournaments. The staff does a nice job keeping the lists moving, although I did have to wait about 20 minutes (4th on the list) to get seated in $40 NL.

<b>”I had pot odds!</b>
As with other rooms in the area, small stakes NL at the Commerce tends to be more social than competitive. That’s not to say the players don’t take it seriously—they do. It’s just that the tension, personality clashes and other drama you sometimes experience at higher limits is pretty much non-existent at these levels. Players tend to shrug off bad beats and etiquette faux pas and move on without lingering resentment.
Despite the good intentions of some players, the play tends to range from awkward to poor. Most players have an understanding of what beats what but the insight typically stops there. Of course, players make vocal references to position, draws and odds but more often than not that thinking, as expressed, is WAY off base. That’s not to say that the players aren’t experienced—it’s obvious that many play A LOT. But the references to odds and, specifically pot odds, are often well off the mark and the resulting decisions and stacks reflect it. In short, for a player with solid fundamentals, there’s plenty of equity sloshing around in these games.
It’s interesting how quickly you can assess the table just by listening and watching. Players at this level have no qualms about thinking out loud and recapping their thought process or what they folded after the hand is completed. Of course, in a game of limited information, it’s always best to keep your thinking to yourself for at least two reasons. First, you should avoid giving anyone any edge on how you might play, and second, as Lincoln once said “Better to keep you mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.” In any event, just by watching a few hands and listening to the color commentary, you can get a quick sense of who’s got an idea of what they’re doing.

"Pot odds" is the default rationale for any action in these games whether it’s calling pre-flop or on the flop. Surprisingly, everyone seems to nod in agreement when it happens. I’m not a tank tapper, but I’ll be honest, I’ll throw an “O rly?’ glance around when someone attempts to validate a bonehead play with “I had pot odds!” I honestly think that the typical low stakes NL player really has no idea what his/her odds are in various situations.
<b>My table</b>
My table was pretty standard for So Cal baby NL—mostly younger guys (mid-20s), one or two guys in their 30s and a couple of Asian women…and me, a grey-haired exec—clean shaven, no tats, no surfer brand t-shirt—standing out like Angelina Jolie at a refugee camp.
To my immediate left was a former dealer turned tattoo technician, a skill he proudly noted he learned in prison using a tattoo gun made from a Walkman, guitar string and pencil. He was a nice enough guy, but you have to wonder about someone who discusses his prison stint with a total stranger within 15 minutes or so of introduction. In the off chance I ever end up in prison and get out, I can pretty much guarantee that I’m going out of my way to keep the topic OUT of random conversations. My tablemates will just have to speculate on how I learned to make moonshine and tie a nifty corn row, thank you very much.
In any event, I’m in seat 1, he’s on my left and very active, calling pretty much any raise and limping into any pot. To his left, is a disinterested Asian kid wearing headphones and reading a magazine. To his left is a guy who looked like Ferris Bueller after a few more days off. Seat 5 was an older Asian man. To his left, an older Asian woman, no relation. Seat 7 was younger guy with tats and sideways baseball hat who stood up every time and was visibly excited each time he made a monster hand.
Landlord79 wrote some thoughts on his favorite live tells here...<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=100">Landlord79's forum post</a>. Here’s mine. When your opponent stands up, insta-calls flop and turn bets each time (as in the instant his opponent said “I bet…” he shouts “Call!” whether it’s his turn to act or not), shoves the river and then shows down monsters each time—two flopped sets and a flopped straight…that’s a good tell to note.
Like all of Commerce's tables, the tables in the low stakes room all have auto-shufflers which keeps play moving. On the other hand, the game is social so there’s more chit-chat, commentary, cell phone play, etc. than in the higher stakes games. To their credit, the dealers and chip runners keep the games moving; I counted 29 hands in the first hour and 31 in the second and, over the two hour period, only saw two hands surrendered without a flop. That’s pretty much standard for what I’ve seen elsewhere in similar games (Hollywood Park: 33 hands/hr; Ocean’s 34; HG 32; etc.). I also noticed that almost all the hands make it to the river. Unlike that larger games where a stiff turn bet will often end the hand, hands here go the whole way. Figure 2-3 hands an hour to NOT make it to the river.
<b>Finally, some hands</b>
I only stayed for a couple of hours but here are some hands that are indicative of the quality of play. I tend to play a TAG style which is markedly different than the prevailing table style—I’d routinely be one of the only players not in the hand. These guys, though, don’t drive all the way from Pomona to FOLD, so you see some real gems.
<i>Hand 1</i>
Older Asian woman in EP raises to $15 pre-flop. Note: the blinds in this game are $1/$2. Tattoo guy next to me, the small blind, states “You’re not going to steal my button.” and calls. She’s at least five seats from him and stealing here never, but he’s defending.
Flop…225 rainbow. Check. Check.
8 on turn. Asian woman checks but pulls a stack of chips from her rack. Tat Guy bets $15 and Asian woman calls instantly.
T on the river. Check. Check.
TG's T8o > Asian woman’s AQs.
Ok, let’s recap…7.5x raise pre-flop. No continuation bet by Asian woman but she’s insta-calling a half pot bet on the turn with A high. And then TG checks his two pair when checked to. Nifty stuff.
<i>Hand 2</i>
Multi-way limped pot. 9[c]9x4[c] flop.
Checked around.
J on the turn. Tat Guy (again the small blind) min bets. Formerly disinterested Asian kid in headphones (the big blind) is suddenly interested and calls. Everybody else folds.
J on river. Min bet. Call.
97o = 92o. Split pot.
<i>Hand 3, in which Edmond dips into the Luckbox</i>
Limped to me on the button with A[h]J[h]. I raise to $8 and everyone folds around to Asian woman, who calls. The pot ≈ $20.
Flop is Qxx with one heart. AW checks to me and I bet $15 with my A high backdoor straight and backdoor flush draw. She labors, commenting “You so tight! I know you have big pair!” Well, yes, ma’am…thank you…please fold, though. No such luck. She calls.
6[h] on the turn. She checks to me again. I figure she didn’t like her hand much on the flop so I move in for my last $20 with 9 good outs, maybe more. No laboring now, she insta-calls. WTF, you turn a set, lady?
I’m resigned to calling for the chip runner when the lovely 2[h] spins off giving me the nut flush. Asian woman triumphantly tables QTo and says “I have queen! If you have three queens you win!” I have no idea what she’s talking about, but show my flush and stack my chips.
At this point, the conversation somehow segues to Tat Guy commenting that 69o is his favorite hand, and when the other woman at the table gives him a disgusted look like he’s a prepubescent teen, he insists that his birthday was June 9th. She’s skeptical and because I’m one to stir things up a bit, I suggest he could confirm it with his driver’s license. "Uh, I don't have one." No, of course you don’t.
<i>Hand 4</i>
As I mentioned in my Ocean’s 11 and Hawaiian Gardens reviews of low stakes games, when players get short, the games play similar to the early stage of a re-buy tournament. For example, a few hands later, AW raised in early position to $10 or so. Short stack in the blind shoves for $20 and change. Folded back to AW, she calls without hesitation. Shover shows A4o; AW shows QJo. A high, all goot.
<i> Hand 5</i>
A few hands later Tat Guy pushes a T high flop for $200 (into a $30 pot) with two players still to act. One caller but Tat Boy’s Q[c]T[c] held.
<i>Hand 6, the hand of the night</i>
Ferris limps UTG. Asian man to his left raises to $10. One caller to Tat Guy in the small blind, who again announces “You’re not stealing my blind.” and re-raises to $20. Ferris now re-raises $40, leaving $10 behind. Asian man concludes “I have pot odds.” and calls. Folded back to Tat Guy who now shoves putting Ferris in for his last tenner. Ferris instantly calls, of course, and turns over AA.
There is perhaps no more transparent play in poker than the EP limp and subsequent re-raise. That is, at all levels, almost always AA, KK or AK…with AA, by far, the most prevalent. Yet by for some reason, both Asian guy and Tat Boy concluded that they needed to play in the face of that action.
AA > Tat Guy’s 99 > Asian Guy’s K9s for $250 or so.
AG mucked his K9s and had no obligation to show, but without prompting by any player, the dealer retrieved the cards and opened them for the table, a pretty gross mistake. The Asian guy complained a little but no one else at the table seemed at all fazed by it. In a higher stakes game, guys would’ve been calling for the floor and howling like someone killed their dog.
At this point, Asian Guy stated that “I can’t win at these levels.” and vacated his seat. He’s played about 5-6 hands in similar fashion and reloaded twice. What’s amazing is that no one said anything about his K9s play and when a new player went to take the seat, two players warned him (seriously) that that was the “bad beat” seat.
<i>Hand 7, in which Edmond again dips into the Luckbox</i>
Limped to me, I have T[s]9[s] on DB and call.
K[h]J[c]7[h] flop. $4 bet by some EP player. One other caller to me; I call with my double gutter.
8x on turn. EP better checks and other player bets $4 again. $20 pot at this point with all indications suggesting that my opponents are chasing flushes. I raise another $20 and get one caller.
2[h] on river and min-better pushes for his last $12. Gross. I’m convinced he hit his flush given his play to the river but call the $12 in what had turned into a $60 pot.
Instead, he shows A[h]J[s] and looks startled that he didn't scoop the pot. 2PTK no good on that board, sir.
Despite the play, it’s common to see guys sitting relatively deep in a short period of time. I had $100 or so. Tat Guy, despite every effort to stack off with marginal hands, had $160 to my left. Ferris had $240 or so and at least two others were sitting 2x buy-ins.
<i>Hand 8</i>
There is a pre-flop raise to $10 or so with two callers.
786 rainbow flop and three players, including a new older guy sitting in the “bad beat” seat, get all-in for a $300 pot. Q turn, J river. Let’s see the hands, fellas.
TT > 55 > K9 with the old guy showing the K9.
As he packs up to leave, a couple of people at the table again comment on the “bad beat” seat and how “old guys always get it in with draws.” Ouch.
<b>Lightning Poker tables</b>
Toward the end of my session, the floor initiated a new sit-n-go on one of the two Lightning Poker tables Commerce recently installed. These are 10-seat electronic tables which can be use for cash games or single table tournaments. At present, Commerce runs $40 sit n gos ($34 for the prize poll and $6 for the house) and starts the tournament whenever 10 people sign up. Note: on the board, it’s referenced as a $40 mixed game. You can see one in action below.
Players seemed to like the tables, commenting that the play was “fast” and “sit n gos are fun”. Players start with 500 chips and 10/20 initial blinds and level times increase every 10 minutes. Top spots pay in the tournament 60%/40% and the tournaments run about 40-45 minutes. Basically, you’re playing to heads up, chopping for 80% and playing for the balance.
I didn’t play it, but I’m guessing that a player with a good understanding of sit n go fundamentals could beat the game fairly regularly. Imagine Party $5 + $1 sit n gos paying to two spots with worse players.
You can read the Commerce’s press release or some more info on the tables here.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/files/commercelightningpoker.pdf">Commerce press release on Lightning Poker tables</a>
<b>Beating the game</b>
Despite the rake ($3 + 50c jackpot fee), I believe the low stakes NL is a beatable game for a fundamentally sound player. Any time guys are putting capital at risk without thinking and, when they do think, do so OUT LOUD despite a known premium on information, it’s a beatable game. I finished the night up $40 ($20/hour or 20BB over 65 hands or so) without ever being really challenged.
The real challenge, of course, is to maintain discipline and play the opposite style of the table. In general, these games range from very loose passive to moderately loose aggressive without any moderation for hand value. I believe a player that adopts a tight, aggressive style—raising premium hands in position and betting those hands HARD can be a winner in the game.
Of course, it’s very seductive when 6-7 people limp or limp/min-raise/call to get sucked into limping with your 97o. The problem is, of course, that you rarely hit the flop hard enough to have real confidence from the flop and you can end up chasing draws and burning up chips.
<b>Back again for more</b>
On Saturday night, I headed back down to the casino with a friend to get a quick look at the $2/3 100 max buy-in game. This game is spread in the main room and, on Sat night, there were about 10 tables running. I was seated within 15 minutes.
Hands per hour tend to be a little higher in this game as players have a better handle on the game and fewer hands make it to the river. Figure about 35+ hands/hour with maybe 3-4 not seeing a flop and 5 or so not making it to the river.
The players at my table for this bigger game were somewhat more knowledgeable with 1-2 solid players, 3-4 ok players and the balance sort of mediocre. I was the swing man of the group, alternating between solid and mediocre throughout the session.
I finished the two hour session even despite stacking off early with AK on an A high flop versus a turned set of jacks by a short stack and then 4-betting AK into a pair of kings (oops!). I recovered nicely in the second hour getting paid on the last two hands before our table broke with AA v 66 on a low flop and then a set of 6s v TP2K.
There was definitely better play at this table—no ridiculous overbets (other than my 4-bet referenced above), players betting their good hands, more thoughtful reads of the flop. But there was still flashes of dead money including the following:
3-bet all-in and call for $60+ on AQx flop. Players showed 77 and KQo. What?
4-bet all-in and call by the nut flush for $60+ into a $150 pot on a 2[h]25[h]88[h] board. Winner showed an 8, obv.
River re-raise all-in with K9s on AT936 board with three clubs. Winner called $100 with A3o without the slightest hesitation.
<b>”Ok, who ordered the banana splits?”</b>
Tom Wolfe, the author, once described a dinner with <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson">Hunter S. Thompson</a> in which the gonzo journalist pulled a marine air horn from a bag and set it off stunning a crowded restaurant. Wolfe recounted another dinner where Thompson ordered two banana splits and two banana daiquiris for his entree. After polishing them off, Thompson called for the waitress and looped his finger in the air. “Do it again.” He downed another round to the disbelief of Wolfe’s wife-to-be and ended the evening, as he did many others, ejected from the premises in a drunken stupor.
When you were at dinner with the doctor, it was an event and, there was really no explanation other than “Well, what do you expect? It's Hunter.” So it is with low stakes NL in Southern California. You’ll repeatedly see behavior and plays that are at best, unusual and, at worst, worthy of open criticism and calls for the floor at higher stakes. But in low stakes NL, even the most egregious poker or social gaffe merits at best a resigned shrug and call for more chips. If you can handle the odd and often deviant behavior, there’s always entertainment and value!
<b>Afterword</b>
1) For those of you who are curious, apparently all you need to rig a homemade tattoo gun is a pencil, a guitar string and old Walkman. I was skeptical of Tat Guy's claim, but a quick search of YouTube shows that he wasn’t kidding. The assembler uses an electric toothbrush in the following video but you get the idea.
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2) Tom Wolfe’s excellent piece on Hunter S. Thompson can be found <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006325">here</a>.

Defying even the most aggressively managed expectations, I made it into day 2 of the California State Poker Championships with an average stack. 362 runners started the day; we're down to 40 players with the money at 27.
Play resumes tomorrow at 2p PST with blinds at 600/1200 and a 200 ante. I'm sitting with 42,800 (average is 45,000 or so). Remaining players include James Woods and Amir Vahedi; notables eliminated today include Jamie Gold, Men Nguyen, Kenna James, etc.
I've been hovering around an average stack since my early chip lead (15 minutes in a guy shoved into my flopped straight). I can't say I've been card dead--I flopped straights and sets, had AK a number of times and AA-99 repeatedly. Apparently, I've been unable to convince my opponents I'm full of crap so the vast majority of my hands have gone raise, nail flop, bet out, win modest pot. Whatever, it's better than the alternative.
I'll write something witty and poignant to convey the hurt and shame of my flame-out later tomorrow night, but for now I'm into day 2 with enough chips to see a flop.
Edmond

<b>First Satellite</b>
I made it the Commerce around 3pm. The tournament wasn’t starting until 7pm so I had plenty of time to play a one table satellite. They were running plenty of $120’s so I immediately sat down at one and it started within a few minutes. I only recognized a few regular local pros at the table. A few of the guys seemed pretty green and nervous. One guy asked if anyone was interested in a $50 last longer and I was the only taker. This in itself told me that the table was inexperienced because at the WSOP about 5-6 guys would always want to do it.
We start with $1k in tournament chips and 25/25 blinds/15 min levels. I was fairly card dead and didn’t play many hands. Given the fact that we only start with $1k in chips, it’s dangerous to splash around too much at the start, so I tried to find a good hands. Unfortunately it never happened. When the blinds got to 50/100 I was in the SB with AT and about 550 chips. The button had me covered and pushed. I thought for just a bit and decided to call. He was on a steal with Q8 and my hand held up. On the very next hand I raise to 250 with KJs from the button when folded to me. The BB pushes for 300 more so I’m getting over 2-1, which made it an easy call. He had A8 so I was 46% to win and a J on the turn made my 46% good. My last-longer partner busted out soon there-after so now I’m only in for $70.
Unfortunately, nothing much good happened after my KJ hand. I still never saw a premium hand and didn’t have many steal opportunities. With blinds at 200/400 and 4 people left I’m in the BB and the button pushes and has me covered. I have 850 left after posting the BB and look down at 89s. Not great, but it’s 850 to win 1450 so I’m getting 1.7 to 1. His range is super wide here, likely two overs which I would be 41% to, but he could have one over too with a hand like A5 so I would be a bit closer to 50/50, he could have an under pair which would put me at 50/50 or an overpair which is the only hand I don’t want to see; but this is by far his least likely holding. More important, was the fact that after this hand I have to post the SB and will be left with 650. Any hand I play for the next few hands I’ll definitely need to go to showdown and I won’t be able to win this many chips. Anyway, what seemed at first to be a so-so decision became an easy call for me. He had K7, so I was in okay shape, but his hand held. If you’re interested, here’s a link to an EValuator scenario which looks at this:
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?EVID=127">Link to scenario 1</a>
This scenario assumes all 4 holdings for my opponent are equal, and of course the are not. Here’s what I believe is a bit more realistic based on the situation:
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tworags.com/index.php?EVID=128"> Link to scenario 2 </a>
<b>Second Satellite</b>
It was still only 5pm when I finished the first satellite so I signed up for a second $120. This time I recognized about 5-6 of the players from previous tournaments. Warren Karp was seated to my right. Warren told me about a horrible beat he suffered in the Main Event this year of the WSOP. It was day 5 and they were down to 70 players. Warren had about $1 million in chips and was on the button with blinds of 15/30k. An UTG player makes it $100k and it folds to Warren. He looks down at AA. He feels that the UTG player was likely to have a hand in the JJ-KK/AK range and felt there was a decent likelihood that he would call an all-in. This player had about $1.2 million.. The average stack was about $1.5 million. Warren pushes and the UTG player calls quickly. Guess what he had? 55! Can you believe this guy plays for 5 days, made it this far, is in reach of going really far and calls off almost his entire stack with 55! It boggles the mind. Of course the guy turns a 5 and Warren is out. Oh, well! Warren still had a very nice payday, but it was very painful.
On to the satellite. On the very first hand the UTG player limps for 25. I'm just to his left and look down at 6[c]7[c] and decide to call too. The button and both blinds call. The flop comes 3[c]8[c]9[h]. A straight flush draw… not bad. The SB makes it 75, the BB calls, I call and the other two players call. The turn was the beautiful 5[h] so now I have the nuts. The SB pushes, the BB calls (what is going on here?) and I call. SB had 99 so he flopped trips and the BB had A[h] 3[h] so he has a flush draw. I manage to dodge about 15 outs and triple up. Not bad. I tightened up a bit for a while, but did win a nice pot when I see a flop with KQ and hit trip Q's on the flop.
We got down to 3 players and I was the chip leader, but when one of the remaining players took out the other guy he had a 30-50% chip lead on me. He asked if I wanted to chop and offered me 500 in tournament chips and I took it. He was only getting about $100 more than me, so it seemed like a pretty good deal given that the blinds were now at 400/800 and he was a solid tournament player so it would be a crap shoot going forward.
<b>Tournament</b>
I didn’t recognize anyone at my table, but for the most part the majority of players were solid and experienced. This was a big contrast to my experience at the WSOP where 7 out of 10 players were extremely green and nervous at each starting table. We start with $2k in chips and 25/25 blinds. Levels are 40 mins. This is a very fast structure and you need to get hands and quickly build your stack or you’ll be dead. The next level is 25/50, followed by 50/100 and then 75/150.
I was completely card dead for the first 3 levels. I never saw a pocket pair and the only big A I was dealt was AQ on the 3rd hand. My one mistake – perhaps – is that I splashed around quite a bit. I often limped from MP through LP with suited connectors and I called a few raises from the blinds with hands like AT. I never hit a flop, but I did have a few draws so lost a bit more when I called a bet to see another street. I won one hand in total during these levels – I had KQs and I called a guy down on the flop and turn with a K high board. If he pushed on the river I might have folded, but he checked on the river (I was out of position and checked to him on every street).
It might sound like I was playing very weak-tight, but the cards really dictated my play. Sure I could have made some big bluffs with nothing, but there really was no need for anything crazy yet. I had time -- or so I thought I did!
Towards the end of the 50/100 level I was down to 1300 in chips. I felt it was still just a bit early to push to steal the blinds and I didn’t like raising with only 13bb, so my goal was to go for a steal raise all-in. I couldn’t find a good situation, but then was dealt 88 UTG. As I said, I could have pushed, but felt it would be better to limp, hoping for someone to try and raise and then I would push. That’s what happened. UTG+1 also limps (very loose player) and a somewhat loose player in MP makes it 325 and I push. He pegs me as a tight player and went into the tank. He’s getting about a 50% overlay on his call. He asks if I have QQ/JJ and mumbles something like 'these are the only hands I want to see.'
This tells me that he has AK and he’s worried I have AA or KK. I really think if I said something like 'not QQ/JJ, a little better but you might have one over, who knows!' he might fold. But to be honest, I was more than happy to go against AK and get back into the tournament so I didn’t say much of anything. He counts out the pot and comes to the conclusion that he needs to call. He did have AK and I’m really not sure why it took him so long. He wasn’t concerned about the player to the left of me because this guy was very loose and it was clear he didn’t have much.
Of course an A came on the flop and I was out. The good news was that it was quick and painless and I got to go home at a reasonable hour and watch some of the US Open Women’s semi-finals on TIVO.*

Impressions: Any poker player on the planet needs to play the Commerce at least once in their lives. There are tons of tables and great action 24/7. The restaurants and other amenities aren't quite at the level of those you'll find at the big Las Vegas casinos, but as for poker action, this is the place. The Commerce is the center of the poker universe whether Vegas wants to admit it or not!
Atmosphere: Of the big LA casinos (Bike, Hollywood Park, Hawaiian Gardens) Commerce is the nicest and has invested the most in its facility. Everything is first-rate upon purchase and then maintained and cleaned constantly. As for space, there's plenty of room in each of the poker rooms (high stakes, main room, low stakes room on the 2nd floor). It can get crowded on weekends but there's enough space that it's manageable. The tables and chairs are kept in excellent condition; auto-shufflers and comfortable (albeit fixed leg) chairs throughout. Commerce hasn't gone with an automated wait-list yet, but the staff does a good job with the manual sign up boards.
Dealers: Dealers are as good as you'll find anywhere. They're not as personable as some of the smaller rooms where dealers can know all the regulars by name, but everyone's efficient and professional. Commerce maintains a ton of floor staff although it's not always obvious who's on shift or not. If you have a question or problem, there's always someone within earshot and they've seen it all so they can resolve ANY issue quickly.
Food: Food and drink available tableside and the service is very responsive. The food's a little better at the Bike or Ocean's 11, but did you come here to eat or play poker?
Service: Wait-lists are managed by hand. Brush personnel can be a little harried when it gets crowded but they do a good job of getting players seated quickly given the number of players. If you're looking for something special (seating with a friend or in a particular game), the staff will try to accommodate.
Comps: There are bad beat jackpots. Not sure about the comp program.

I visited the Commerce last week to meet with some potential business partners. After the meeting I decided to stick around for a few hour cash game session. There was no wait and I was immediately seated at the $5/10 NL table. The maximum buy-in is $400 and that’s what I started with – if you bust-out they allow you to buy back in for $600.
A quick scan of the table revealed few dominant stacks. There was an attractive Asian woman to my right who did have about $1000, but she told me that she was actually even having bought back in for $600. She was very chatty with the guy to her right. He just lost a substantial portion of his stack when he raised PF with AK, hit the A on a AT5 flop and then was CR all-in on his flop bet and called. His opponent had A5. He spent about 10 minutes discussing with her his bad luck and the reasons for his call.
The table was somewhat passive. Nobody appeared very aggressive or creative. Lots of very standard poker – fold bad hands, play good hands, bet with good hands, call with draws and good hands, etc. TPTK was a monster on this table and people were more than willing to go broke here with less than TPTK. Most everyone knew each other and was having a good old time being chatty and friendly. I was happy to join the party!
I waited a few hands for my BB and called a MP raise to $30 with A9. There were two other players. The flop came 9 high with few draws. I lead out for $70 and one player called. The turn paired the low card and I made it $150. The other player folded. One hand, good start. If only every hand could be so simple!
Things kept on going well for me for the first hour or so as I ran my $400 up to $1000 fairly quickly. Here’s a fun hand:
I like to raise with most hands from late position if it’s folded or limped to me. I’m in the CO and raise to $25 with T7s with one limper in before me. The blinds call and the original limper calls so there is about $100 in the pot.
The flop comes A high and it’s checked to me so I fire $60. Only the original limper calls but he doesn’t seem that confident. He makes a comment such as ‘no way you have an A, right?’. I didn’t think he was angle-shooting here, I really believe he meant it. My plan was to fire again on the turn if checked to me.
The turn pairs the A, which I like and don’t like. It makes it more likely that he doesn’t have an A, but also more likely that I don’t have one either. He checks again and as I take my time (as I always do) to ponder my options, he again says something like ‘no way you have an A.’ I only respond by saying $140. The second card on the board is a 9. I put him on either a 9 or a pair like 88 or TT. There is a possible straight on the board too so perhaps he has a straight draw. He takes quite a bit of time but calls. Now if he doesn’t say anything in this hand there’s a really good chance I would have given up the hand by now, but at this point I really think he doesn’t have the A and if I continue to play the game I think I can get him to fold. The river is a blank 2 and he checks again. He seems really frustrated and lost as I start to count out my bet. There’s no way I’m not going to take another shot at this hand. I just do not see him calling one last bet if he doesn’t have an A. I have about $250 left and announce all-in. He doesn’t take long to fold his JJ face-up. I was pretty surprised that he limped with it and also surprised he called the turn bet with it. This was the hand that put me at $1000 in chips.
Nothing much good or bad happened for the next hour or two. I win a bunch of small pots and lose some too. I don’t lose any pots at showdown. Most of the hands go like this:
raise from late position, blinds call. Bet at flop, they either call and I slow down or they fold.
OR
Raiser in front of me who I peg as weak, I call with intention of taking the pot away on the flop or turn when they slow down. If they are willing to fire on flop I will sometimes call if I hit some of flop or if I sense weakness. Often they check, I bet and take down the pot.
So nothing much happens for a while, although this was an interesting hand:
I raise from button with T6o, both blinds call, flop comes K64. It’s checked to me, I check this time – for no reason other than mixing things up a bit. The turn pairs the 6 so now I’m looking good. The BB bets $40 into a $75 pot. I pop it to $150 and the BB calls. The river is a Q. The BB checks. I’m a bit worried that he has a 6 too and really don’t want to get CR here. There was a flush draw on the board and the Q brought the flush so this could also be a problem for me. I decide to check and he shows 67. Unfortunately the Q gives us the same hand. I had him on the turn, but oh, well. What are you going to do. One thing about the hand was that the table saw what I raised with from LP. This was the first time in 2 hours that I had to show my hand from one of these raises. Not sure if this is good or bad, but I need to be aware of it.
I don’t play much for the next orbit or two and then this crucial hand comes up:
I’m in MP+2 with 9[c]7[c]. The CO raises and 3 players call. I call too and 2 other people call so there’s $150 in the pot.
Flop comes T[c] 6[h] 4[h]
The MP player bets $40 and one player calls after him. Now I have nothing but a gut shot here, but the bet is just so weak. I decide to call and my plan is to consider taking it away on the turn. One of the blinds calls too, so three of us see the turn and there is now $270 in the pot.
The turn is the J[c] so now I have a flush draw with my gut-shot. The MP player bets only $70 this time – what is going on here. Hmmm. What to do… The guy in the blind has only $120 left and the MP player has $250 left. I have tons of potential outs, plus these guys seem so weak and unsure of their hands. I decide that the best option is to push (I have tons of chips here). The blind folds, but the MP guy calls pretty quickly. He doesn’t really take much time to think about it.
The river bricks so I have nothing. The guy waits for me to show my hand and I do. He stares for quite some time because he cannot believe what just happened. He had K[h]3[h] so he missed too – he had a similar draw to me. So he wins this huge pot with K high. Unbelievable. His calls was actually pretty interesting. Assuming he didn’t put me on an A high flush draw, he had 12+ outs (his K could have been good, but probably not). Not sure what he thought I had or even spent a second thinking about it. He was probably a 2-1 dog at best and he was getting better than 2-1, but I really think he thought process was simply – ‘there’s a lot of money in the pot, I have to call.’ Well, it worked for him. What can I say?
Nothing much good happened for the next hour. I lost a race with AK, won a few small pots and ended up down about $100.
Well, had a great meeting and the session was fun. I was in the 5 seat and had a great view of the 2nd round of the PGA. I got to watch Tiger’s historic 63. That was fun too.

So I came down to LA this past weekend to see a few friends. At first I didn't think we would be able to fit in any poker because we were pretty busy, but we I decided to push back my return to Sunday night, so we headed over to the Commerce around 11am on Sunday. Boy was it busy. We waited about 45 minutes for a 5/10 table. The game plays a little lower than most 5/10 games I've played in before given that it has a 400 maximum buy-in. This limits the game to 40 BB which is pretty low IMHO. There are plenty of rooms that have NO cap at the 2/5 level which play much higher than this game.
So on the first orbit I'm dealt AA from early position and make it 35 to go. I get 4 callers! No respect, oh well. The flop comes t[h] j[h] k[c]. Not exactly a great flop for me with 5 people in the pot. I raise to 120 and a guy with 600 behind pushes. Another player calls and I have to give up my hand. Guess what the other players had. One guy had 56[h] and the other guy had AK[h]. I would have won the hand, but I can't call that, can I?
I rebuy to $400 again and don't see anything worth playing for a bit. I then make a standard raise from the button with A5 and get both of the blinds to call. The flop comes 557. Nice. The BB raises and I just call his bet. The turn is a T with only a backdoor flush possible now. The BB bets about 2/3rds of pot and I push. He calls with KK. Shame on him for slowplaying preflop.
I'll try to post some other interesting hands another time, but it was a fun 5 hour session. The food is comped in this game and it's really good. I had a steak for lunch and it was yummy. I left up about $900. At one poiint I was up $1500 or so, so was a bit disappointed, but not really. There were 2-3 good players at the table at any one time, but mostly the players were pretty bad. Either much too loose or there were a bunch of people who would play really tight and pretty much be giving away their hands when they did play. One time I called one of these players with 55 knowing that he had a premium pair. I hit my set on the flop and stacked him. I'll try to post some more hands another time.

I played in the last event at the LAPC prior to the main event. It was another $1k event with about 500 runners. Like last week, I got off to another fast start. On the second orbit I was dealt QQ from UTG, raised, was called by a later position player and bet every street. The guy mucked the river and I won about 1500. From there my stack pretty much stayed the same, at around 4-4.5k (we started with 2.5k) for the next few hours. There was really no eventful hands to report until...
About 2 minutes before the 7pm dinner break I raise on the button with KJs. Both blinds call. They were solid and aggressive players. The flop came Q95rags. They checked and I checked. The turn brought J and two of the same suit. They both checked again. There was approximately 1k in the pot. I was 99% sure that my TP, good kicker was the best hand. There was no way that these guys would check twice with a hand that could be me. I raised to 1k and the SB thought for about 10 seconds and pushed (we had about the same stack size). Given my initial read i decided that he was either making a move or was on a flush draw. I beat him into the pot and he showed A5 and a flush draw. He didn't improve and I was off to the races with a great stack of 8.5k at the dinner break.
We came back from the break and I quickly win $1k more when I made a blind steal attempt from late position, both blinds called, missed the flop, both blinds checked and took it down with a c-bet.
For the next two hours things didn't go quite as well. I just couldn't get things going. I did catch AA/KK/QQ. On the AA and KK hands I raised and nobody called. On the QQ hand, an aggressive opponent raised from LP, I reraised and he called. I led out the flop with a 2/3rds pot sized bet and he called. An A fell on the turn and he led out and I folded. He showed a flopped set of 5's, so the A actually saved me. This guy and i were tangling a lot and I was ready to go to the felt with my QQ.
The same guy was constantly raising my blinds so one time I called his raise from the BB with nothing and led out on the flop (still with nothing). He raised me all-in and I folded. That one cost me 1k.
One interesting hand that came up along the way: I have J8 from LP and call with two limpers in front of me. The button calls so for of us (the BB too) see a flop of J95. The first two players check, I decide to check to see what the button does (I intend to check-raise if I feel he's trying to bluff at it). The button bets 1k which is about the pot. The first EP player pushes and the next EP folds (he later showed AJ for TPTK and was also intending to CR). I fold and the button calls with J9 for two pair. The other player (who was my aggressive nemisis) shows QT and hits his K for a straight and doubles up. He was all-in and would have been out -- this is important since...
I now have about 7.5k which isn't great, but it's not horribe. Blinds are 100-200 with a 25 ante so I still have plenty of play. Here's my knockout hand, it pretty much played itself I believe:
I'm in the SB. Two limpers and my aggressive nemisis makes it 2300 more so there is about 3k+ in the pot. I look down at AK. With so much in the pot already and given the wide range I put on the raiser, I decide to push. He calls instantly and shows QQ. I don't improve and am out at 11pm with about 100 players left.
I was pretty happy with my play. You need to win hands like my AK/QQ hand. If I do, I'm at 15k and am one of the top 10% in chips. I also had AA/KK 3 times after the dinner break and didn't get action once. I had QQ and lost about 1.5k and then lost my stack with AK. You must win some money with these hands, but I didn't. What are you going to do?

I got off to a REALLY fast start. We start off with 2500 chips for the 25/25 level (big field – about 450 runners, $1k each). At the end of the 2nd level, I’m a bit over 8k in chips! By far the leader at my table and maybe in the top 5% in the tournament. It was mostly due to good cards. A few hands/situation during the good run.
1) only bad hand. I raise to 100 with AKs from MP, button makes it 600, I’m not sure what to do (what would you do?), I decide to see the flop, miss, he bets, I fold. Feel that it was weak, but also didn’t want to a) risk my stack here, b) be a pussy and just fold.
2) Q6d from button, 3 people in before me at 75, decide to make an iffy call with position, flop comes Kxxd, guy raises, another guy pushes, I call. He’s drawing dead with TPTK. Double up to 3k or so.
3) Raise to 150, I’m on button with 88. Flop comes 865 all hearts. Guy raises half his stack, I push (have him covered by a bit), he calls. It’s not bad, but not great. He has 77 with 7 of hearts. We’re probably about even. He misses.
4) I have KJ from BB, just check my option – 4 way action. Flop comes KKx. I check, they check. Turn blank, but brings a flush draw. I bet 200, am raises to 800, I just call. Turn brings flush, I decide to check call. I check, he checks, I win.
5) KK from EP. I raise, one caller. Flop low, I bet, am raised. I decide to check turn hoping to get action. He checks. I bet river he folds.
6) One or two other hands where I bet PF with good drawing type hands, miss, bet and take down pot. Don’t really lose anything.
So I go into break feeling very, very good about my chances. For rest of the tournament I do not win a hand. Not even one stinken hand! There are 3 significant hands, every one is questionable in my play.
1) Have AKs, (50/100 level). I have 3 100 chips in my hand. For some reason I don’t throw them all in at once. I kind of drop them one at a time, clearly can be called a string bet. Button makes comment about it (I won’t argue if called because I know I screwed up). He decides to just fold. BB takes a while to decide. Also knows about string issue, he decides to call. I’m thrown off a bit, because if he’s going to see the flop, why not call me on string bet; so now I’m thinking he might have a good hand and wants more money in pot. Q high flop, I miss. He checks, I check (would probably bet if the string thing didn’t happen but I'm very suspicious now). Turn, check, check. River, he bets 475 (into 600 pot). Now the board reads Q2627. I’m about to fold, but the bet looks really weak. I have a lot of chips. I’m starting to think that maybe he had an AJ, AT, A9 type hand which would make sense. The only hand I’m concerned about is a small pair. I decide to go with my read and call. He has Q9. Now I don’t think the string bet mattered much, because if he called there, he would have just called a normal 300. I then bet 500 on flop and he probably calls. Now I’m not sure I would fire again on turn. If I did, I probably would have won. My point is, I probably lose the same 800 (given his call) no matter what. Oh, well. Still have tons of chips.
2) Bunch of hands where I have medium pairs or AJ/AQ from lp, raise to 300, get reraised or miss on flop. Probably lose a good 1000-1200.
3) I make it 300 with 99 from MP. Two LP callers, BB who only has 1600 pushes. It’s 1300 to me. I’m getting 2-1. The guy was short-stacked. I put him on two overs or any pair over 55. I think it’s a good call against him, my only issue is the other two callers. Well, since I’m the big stack they probably need QQ-AA to call me. If they had that they probably re-raise me already so I decide to call. They fold. I’m up against AK, so I made a good read and good call. He hits an A and I lose. Oh, well, but this one was a good play – do you agree?
4) Here’s the one that killed me and cost me big. I’m utg with QQ. Blinds are 75/150. Ready to make a standard 500 or so bet, but decide to mix it up and just limp. My main reason is that there have been almost no limped pots at this table and I will re-raise any raiser. Oops, it’s a 5 way limped pot! Flop comes KT2, two hearts. Everyone checks. Turn is the J of hearts. I have the Q[h]. I make it 500, 750 in pot. Guy to my left pushes for 1400 more. Everyone folds to me. So I’m getting 2-1 almost. Hmmm. This was a tough decision. He is short-stacked. I guess it depends on what range I can put him on where I’m ahead. Probably 30% of the time he might have the A[h] with a pair that doesn’t beat my QQ. If he has me beat now, which is likely, I do have the [h] outs. Not sure if I made the right decision here, but I call and he has Q9 for the made straight. I don’t hit and lose. This hand really hurts because if I raise preflop I'm 90% sure he doesn’t call. I either win the blinds or maybe I get one caller so win an additional 500. So I lose 2k here, but would have won between 225-725, so this is a 2500ish swing. Not sure if the limp was terrible, but the call on the turn was very iffy. I have to mix it up and you don’t always just raise with good hands and limp with iffy hands. I was getting re-raised quite a bit before that so it made sense at the time.
5) Go to dinner break with 2400. Still have a chance given that there’s about 40 minutes left at 75/150 level.
6) Play in the 5/10 NL cash game during dinner (400 max buyin). First hand get KK. Raise to 40. Guy to my left calls. In the hand before, just when I sat down, a guy bets 240 on turn with a board of 99k3, and 3 spades. The guy on my left calls after much deliberation. The better then pushes another 200 blind before the river. The river brings a spade. Turns out that the guy to my left thought he had A9, but actually had A8. He’s on tilt now when in the hand with me. Flop comes J high. He only has 120 left so I push (95 in pot, want to look a bit suspicious with over bet). He calls and says, please don’t tell me you can beat the J. I say yes and now he’s really bummed, until the river brings an A and he turns over AJ. Oh, well, had a good dinner and only lost about 70 in all.
7) Get back to tournament. Am committed to playing good/patient poker. No need to panic, still have plenty of time. About the 4th hand I get AKs in mid position. Make it 525 to go. Blind calls. Flop comes JJ5. He checks. I have 1800 left. Hmmm. Do I want to be a pussy and just check and then allow him to take it on turn? If I bet, what good is any bet other than a push? I decide to bet the pot, around 1100. The 500 or so I'm leaving behind doesn't mean much, but it seemed like a good compromise at the time. It doesn't really matter when he pushes, I call and he turns over JJ for flopped quads. I think I’ve seen this movie before (I lost in the main event two years ago when my boat lost to flopped quads)! Not sure what the right play here was. His call PF could easily be a AQ, AT, A9, KQ, or a pair that folds to my push. Do I just give up the hand here and continue to grind? Not sure…
So all-in all, the tournament was a huge disappointment given where I was. Once I had the large stack I really wanted to play solid poker and grind up. Did I play terrible? Not really. I didn’t catch any breaks, and perhaps made a few iffy plays.

** One other interesting story. A guy at my table is supposed one of the top, if not the top internet tournament players. The guy next to me told me that he’s BeLowaBove (Kevin Saul). On about the 3rd hand he’s in a pot with a guy to his left. On the turn the guy bets about the pot and Saul calls. On the river (the flush comes), the guy bets a sizeable amount and Saul takes a while to decide and calls. The guy mucks his hand. Saul does not want to show his hand. We all tell him, as does the dealer, that he has to show. He will not show. We try calling a floor person but it’s the 3rd or 4th hand and there is no floor person to be found so this holds up play for a few minutes, which sucks because it’s the 25/25 level. At one point one guy at the table (a local pro) gives him static and Saul asks the guy if he’s Israeli. I don’t think Saul meant much by it, I think he thought he knew him, but the guy took it to mean that he was being anti-samitic. Of course the ruling was that he needed to show. He shows a Q high flush. Not sure why he didn’t want to show. Very weird – perhaps he didn’t have the odds to make the call on the turn, but it turns out he definitely did with the implied odds from the river bet. Anyway… a little while later the Israeli guy doesn’t have any 100 chips and asks Saul to make change – he has tons of 100’s. He won’t. This really set the table off. Later on people were being a bit antagonistic towards him and he doesn’t understand why.

Impressions: I have to rate it a 5 just because of sheer size and the amount of games being played.
Atmosphere: No complaints about the size of the casino, the chairs or tables. It is a little noisy in the room and it can be distracting at times. If you like a smaller neighborhood feel this is not the place for you.
Dealers: The dealers are good and the staff answered all of my questions.
Food: It doesn't take too long to get table service. I thought service would be bad for such a big place, but I was wrong.
Service: Only took about 10 min for a 1/2 NL game. The boards are big and easy to see.
Comps: I don't have a player card, so I will get back to you.

Impressions: I've played the Commerce many times. It's about 45 minutes from my house. Not as close as the Hustler and Bike. I'll usually come here to play in the LA Poker Classic or California State Poker Championship tournaments. Each takes place over 3-4 weeks and has many daily events. While at the tournaments I often play the cash games. The tournaments are hosted upstairs in a large ballroom and the cash games are downstairs. The room is the largest in the world and it is huge. It's several football fields in size and just filled with tons of poker tables. Several hundred I would guess.
The room is very upscale and the food options are great. There are tons of professional regulars who are ready to take your money at the middle and higher stakes games. But there are also plenty of fish and I have done well in the no limit games. In summary, I would strongly recommend this room if you visit Los Angeles. It's something special to see. Kind of like the Augusta National of Poker Room!
Atmosphere: Very large and spacious. The cash game tables are very nice and most have shuffling machines. Nice comfortable swivel chairs at all the tables. The tournaments take place upstairs in the ballroom and up there they do have the cheaper fold-up tables and old somewhat smelly chairs.
Dealers: The dealers are okay. Nothing special. For tournaments I have found the dealers to be very new and not too skilled.
Food: It's fairly easy to get drinks and the food options are great. There are several restaurants, a sushi bar and a large menu that they use at the poker tables.
Service: The waiting lists move fairly quickly. I have never waited longer than 30 minutes for a table.
Comps: They have a comp program. Also, at the 5/10 NL games they comp your meals.