Things are going to change, I can feel it

I thought I was the man. But Frank Peng is the man. After driving out to Vegas yesterday, he hit the tables sometime around 2030 and almost 15 hours later, he's still out there.

He's actually on his way back right now, and obviously, he's going to want to sleep. Since the computer is in the room where he'll crash, today's post will be short.

Frank arrived to fill the void left when my cousin Heather and her two friends left this morning. Last night, Nikki and Sara weathered the "Thunder Down Under" male revue, while Heather and I opted for the Vegas classic "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana. Apparently Sara scored a lap dance on the house, and the two of them (umm, I mean Nikki and Sara) had a good time.

I joined up with Frank at Bally's to play a little poker. I didn't get started until 2330 but managed to end up +$326 in four hours' time. Yes folks, that is a 'plus' sign in front of that last number. Heather watched me play a little and I tried to explain the reasoning behind a few of the hands I played, in case she ever wants to lose hundreds of dollars herself one day.

I don't know how the heck Rob got the Lord Tracy reference - I did a Google search myself and found nothing promising in several pages of hits. Right on! Scott Malmquist suggested today's in an earlier email, and hopefully it will prove to be true. We will see.

HAND OF THE DAY:
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While waiting for Frank to arrive and the girls to return from a shopping spree, I pulled out the ol' "Super System 2" and caught up on a little bit of poker reading. Doyle Brunson's chapter on no-limit outlined a strategy regarding playing small suited connectors when you "know" your opponent has a big pair, with the idea being that if you hit the flop you can bust him, and if you don't you can quickly bail.

So I find myself with 76 spades on the button, and I call. The big blind then raises to $20 - which at a $1-$2 blind game, is a large raise. From the blinds, this typically means JJ/AK or better. A short stack went all in for roughly the same amount, and with Doyle's advice fresh in my mind, I called.

Wonder of wonders - the flop comes T76. I now have two pair. The club and straight draw is a little scary, but there's little chance my opponent has those. He underbets the pot with $20, and I raise to $100. He is wary now and guesses I've flopped a set, but puts me all in for my remaining $30 or so.

The turn and river are harmless, and I more than double up on that hand (he had KK). I am still not convinced that this is a good strategy - I suppose it depends on the sizes of the stacks relative to the size of the bets. For instance, if your opponent bet out $20 and he only had $60 left in his stack, you probably are not going to hit the flop enough times (1 out of 4) enough times to justify the call. It makes more sense to call when both your stack and your opponent's are deep, thereby providing the possibility of a large payoff if the miracle flop comes.

Anyway, at least for today I cannot complain about the proverbial suckout, as I was finally the beneficiary of one. I think that makes it about 37 to 2 in favor of my opponents, but I'm conveniently letting my short term memory take over for a while. Play well, everyone!