The Belle of Baton Rouge

No, its not a chick that goes to LSU. Its a riverboat casino near downtown Baton Rouge. I got a chance to check out this place last night. The web site said they have live poker. Sweet.

When I walked on the 3 deck boat it said that live poker is on the 2nd deck. I look one way on the boat, no luck. I look the other way, no luck. I look amongst the table games and there they are, it the pit with blackjack, craps, etc. They had 4 tables. They had a 4/8 limit game and a 2/5 NL game (100-500 buy-in). There was only one 2/5 table and I signed up and was #3 on the list. I went and grabbed dinner and when I came back I was #1. About 1 1/2 hours later I finally got my seat.

The table had a good mix of stacks. The biggest stack had around $1200 or so and the smallest was around $100. The table for the most part was solid with no real obvious weak spots. The 73 year-old gentleman next to me was telling me about the players, who were mostly locals. It always pays to be friendly at the table.

I played 2 laps around the table with not even a sniff of a good card. After about 3 laps I raise it to $20 with 7,5 off and get 2 callers. The flop comes J high and I let out for $35 with air and won the pot. The second hand I played I had nothing and fired $20 on a flop of j,9,4. The turn was an 8 and I bet $35 the river paired the J and I checked. The guy checked behind me with a pair of 4's. Should have fired the 3rd bullet.

The first decent had I was dealt was A,J in late position. and limped along with 5 others. The flop comes J high and there is a $20 bet in early position and a call. I pot it to $55 and get 1 caller. The turn is a baby and I bet $55 and the player folds.

My hand of the night I get 10,10 UTG and raise it to $20 and get 5 callers. The flop comes Ad10d5c. I lead out for $30 and get 2 callers. The turn pairs the 5 and I bet out $55 and get 1 caller. The river beings and off-suit J and I bet $90 and the other player folds. I wish the 3rd diamond fell on the river. The guy folded on the turn said he folded A,J. If he sticks around for the river I win a monster. He said he would have led out, I would have raised and he would have shoved for around $250 total. Oh well, I'll take the pot I won.

The next interesting hand was the much talked about A,J. I raised to $15 in EP and got around 4 callers. The flop comes A,10,9 rainbow. I lead out for $25 and got one caller. The turn is a 7 and I check. The other player bets out $60. This seems way too high of a bet. I called and we see the 5 on the river. I checked and he bet $90. I took my time and replayed the hand. What could he have? The $60 bet on the turn does not scream 2 pair to me. It seems like he is not proud of his kicker. The $90 bet on the river really seems like he doesn't want a call. I took probably 2 minutes or so and finally decided to call. He showed A,J. Chop chop. I was really proud of the way I took my time and replayed the hand. Every bet tells a story and I was able to figure it out.

After that hand I am probably up around $200 or so. The next interesting hand I have Kc,4d in the sb and limp ino a 7-way pot. The flop somes AcQc10c. I check and the BB bets $20. One person calls and I call. The turn is and off-suit J. I lead out for $50 and both players call. Hmmmmm. The river is a non-club J, I check, BB bets $50, the other player raises to $100. OK I'm done and fold. The BB shoves for $130 total and the other player calls. The BB has 6c4c and the other player tables A,J. Wow. 3rd place for the A,J on the turn and he wins. Glad the board paired on the end cause I probably lose another $100 in the hand.

I played about 2 more laps and got up after around 3 hours and I booked a winning session of $60. Could have been more but I was happy with a win anyway. I have actually never had losing session in Louisiana (5-0). I will be at Harrahs New Orleans later today and should be putting in a marathon session before my flight leaves tomorrow morning for home. I will probably get in a live session at the track Friday before I hit Paboo's home game tournament.