“Lady Luck”

First I need to do a quick recap of my experience in the Check N Raise $10,000 qualifier. In summary I went out quick. I played three hands.

Hand 1: I hit the nut flush on the river and moved my stack from 2500 to 3700.

Hand 2: I have pocket aces either UTG or second position. The blinds were at 200/400. I raised 400. I got a couple of callers. Flop came with Q5T. I bet 800. There is only one caller. The turn brings an 8. I am now curious as to what my opponent has so I check. My opponent also checks. I am puzzled. The river brings a 9. I am now thinking he was on the straight draw and he just filled it. I check again. He bets out 400. I call. He had two pair Q5 on the flop.

Hand 3: I hold pocket jacks. Flop comes AKJ, giving me a set. I bet half my stack. My opponent raises me so that I have to go all-in. I am thinking he hit the nut straight. No help comes my way and sure enough he was holding QTo.

The only thing I can think of that I could have done differently was to go all-in with the pocket aces and taken the blinds. It was too early in the tournament and relatively small blinds. I was hoping for a bigger payout. Oh well!

I would like to present two song lyrics that a relative to poker.

Tesla’s “Lady Luck”

“Hard as it seems, but not as hard to believe.What can it be?I guess I'm on a losin' streak.”

I have not been on a huge losing streak, but I heard this song yesterday and found it applicable to poker and many of the blogs I read.

This next song lyric has to do with the No Limit ring games I have been playing lately. Several times I have just said WTF and taken “Shots in the Dark” at dragging large pots with less than powerful hands. I have won a few and lost a few, but sometimes it is fun to just go for it.

Ozzy’s “Shot in the dark”

A SHOT IN THE DARK NOT A THING THAT YOU CAN DOA SHOT IN THE DARK ALWAYS CREEPING UP ON YOUBUT JUST LIKE THE WOUNDED AND WHEN IT'S TOO LATETHEY'LL REMEMBER THEY'LL SURRENDER


There was one hand two nights ago where I decided not to take a shot in the dark. However, it was not really a shot in the dark. I had pocket kings. The flop formed an open ended straight with 2 diamonds. A king hit the turn, so I was poised to take this one down. I bet $2 and got two callers. The river brought a third diamond. I checked and one caller raised $6. I wanted to call so bad, but had to assume he had the straight or the flush. I was ahead for the night, so I did not want to blow my winnings on a high risk call. The dude showed his cards and all he had was an ace high. I was the one who surrendered.

Here is a giant “I told you so!” I have been saying since this blog began that Texas needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Let me throw out some quotes from an article in the Houston Chronicle, “Upping the Ante”.

“L’Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino in Lake Charles, La., is set top open later this month and has a marketing blitz under way that’s focus largely on Houston. I have already seen two full page ads in the Austin American Statesman for this new casino.

“Operators of the $365 million casino complex are advertising heavily to attract Houstonians and other Texas…” Does anyone see a pattern here?

“It views Houston and Lake Charles as similar to New York City and Atlantic City.”

“We have design this market for Houston.”

“…renewed debate over the hundreds of millions of entertainment dollars Texans spend out of state…”

Louisiana casinos already take in $164 million per month.”

“Fifty-three percent of the customers are from out of state, mostly Texas.”

Gee! Shall I go on? One more –

“Gambling is a significant revenue source for the state of Louisiana, which taxes the industry.”

Now I just need a bankroll big enough to qualify as a Texas worthy of a private sea plan to escort me to the L’Auberge du Lac Hotel. I would be happy to wear boots, jeans, and a cowboy hat.

Texas is missing out on a huge revenue stream. Not only are we missing a revenue stream from gambling but the elegance of fine hotels along the Gulf Coast. I do not support gambling bills that only permit one arm bandits, but I will support the legalization of GAMBLING in Texas. Adding our own casinos would put us closer to Succeeding from the Union. Just kidding! ;o)

Here are two quick suggestions for the Texas Congress.

First you should work hard to legalize gambling, because the revenue would solve many of your squabbles.

The second is quit wasting legislative time honoring athletes, honoring the dead, and deliberating over frivolous special interest bills and move on the tougher decisions that truly impact your citizens. All of these concerns can certainly be addressed and communicated outside of the legislative session.

Imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics: 29 have been accused of spousal abuse; 7 have been arrested for fraud; 19 have been accused of writing bad checks; 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses; 3 have done time for assault; 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit; 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges; 8 have been arrested for shoplifting; 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits; 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year. Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet? It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.

This is definitely an uber blog for me. I will attempt to write more often. I am excited in that I already received my check from Check N Raise poker. I am ready to check out the casino’s in Arizona. That is correct Texans! There are even casinos in the Arizona desert. One interesting tidbit about the check I received. There is no affiliation what so ever with the online site. It is a check drafted from a bank. Imagine that!

Play on!