[Dodger]

As David mentioned in an earlier post, David, Hagar and I made a little trek to a newer? cardroom in Auburn. I'm inclined to not say anything about this place, because I really don't want any of our good players to know where all the super-fishes are.
We drove on up to get there on Friday for a 6:30 opening and the tournament that starts the night. Roll on in at 6:15 and it's a $40 buy-in with a $40 add-on/re-buy any time before the fourth round. 21 players start at about 6:45 and I sit on table 1 with 10 players I've never seen before and Hagar and The Kid are on table 2. The whole time our table heard nothing but laughter and loud voices coming from their table so I'm going to have to let them fill you in on what happened over there.
I got nothing but shit cards the whole tourney as I watch all the players at my table just throw chips around like crazy. I managed a couple of wins and hung around for 12th place. No love for Dodger, oh well.
After they broke down to one table the ring game started. I was having a smoke and walked in just as they were getting ready to deal the first hand. I bought in for $100 bucks in the $50-$100 buy-in NL game. I sat down where the small blind would be and they asked me if I wanted them to real-deal the button or if I wanted the small blind. (Thanks for the options) I told them to play there first hand and I'll start on #2.
Dealer deals the first hand and the action starts right away. I was sitting in between two geezers that seem to have a grudge for one-another. They threw chips around at each other the whole tourney and it started all over again in the cash game. First hand position 3 raises to $15, #4 calls, #5 calls, folds to John on my right who makes it $50. Dave(geezer) on my left calls, as well as the two others. Flop comes 7, 9, Q rainbow. Dave bets $20, fold, fold, John goes all-in, Dave calls. Open up........Dave 7, J for bottom pair, meager kicker,.......John 6, 9 for middle pair no kicker. Blank, blank....John doubles up.
I just sit amazed wondering what the hell I got myself into.

So my first hand, second of the game.
I look down at Q,Q...I sit and wonder what the hell to do.
Raised from early position to $15, John makes it $30
I call, Dave calls, as does the raiser---4 players to the flop
Flop Q,6,6
Dave bets $15, raiser folds, John makes it $40, I go all-in.
Dave folds, John calls.
John flips up A-7, no draws, only outs A-A runners
Turn brings the ace, river a blank
First hand, up about $150-real tough game.

I got crappy cards the rest of the night but if you had decent cards they were more than willing to pay you off-real easy money.

I cashed out $328 at 1:15 and was amazed at the play. The play got better as the night wore down, and the fish lost there money. Dave had exhausted his cash and had to write a check for $800 to cover his house loans. John had exhausted his cash as well, I'm not sure how much money he owed the house, but all night you just kept hearing "give me another $100" At one point John went all-in 5 straight hands and lost every one of them. He had to be into the game for at least $1500. I think Hagar was around $350 when I left, and I'm not sure about David. I think he was up when he left rather abruptly around 10:00. (jerk, you didn't even say goodbye.)

All-in-all the place is pretty nice. They're planning on expanding real soon to 7 tables. Everyone was super friendly and were almost eager to give you there money. The dealer's were just OK but were pretty beautiful to look at. They start every day with some sort of tourney, either $40 with the add-on or a $60 freeze-out style. They primarily play NL in their ring games depended on the players tastes.

I just don't want to see any BYOC players there

 

[Hagar]

(It looks like Dodger and I were posting concurrently so I'll just tack my post onto his thread.)

The mood was up for a little road trip this weekend. While playing at the Derby Wed. one of the other players was a dealer from the Auburn card room and was talking about his room. Kid, Dodger and me decided to check it out last night.

The modus operandus up there is top open the doors at 6:30, run a tourney and then break into cash games. We were all up there in time to get in the tourney. The room has 3 tables and I must say I was impressed to see the "main" table surounded by sweet high-back, swivel office chairs. Very comfy.

The Friday tourney format (ignore the flyer in the window): $40 buy -in gets you 2,000. You have an option to buy another 3,000 for another $40 at anytime during the first 3 rounds, which most everyone did at different times. Very fast 12 minute rounds for the first 3 rounds and then up to 15 minutes for the rest of the rounds.

The tourney started with 2 full tables. I was hoping to watch the table for a while to get reads on all the unknown players who all knew each other. That didn't last but about an orbit, as I just started catching a lot of cards and had to play. I beat on the table for a while and by the end of the third round I was easily the tourney chip leader. Feeling pretty good about my chances I let the cards dictate my action, and unfortunately they dictated for me to go take a nap. For about the next 3 orbits, I didn't see any cards higher than 4 and they didn't pair. After that, I just got the normal selection of crap. Every time I'd get something that I felt like pushing, somone else would come into the game with a raise so I just threw it away. (Most of these players didn't know how to lay a hand down, so the best cards was mandatory.)

Then I started running into to trouble when I did start shoving my stack around. I finally got a "powerful" KT from late position and raised. Unfortunately, Kid had AK and was shortstacked on the BB and had to call. A few hands later, I similar problems with the player to my left and in a matter of about 3 hands, played with in one orbit, I was in short stack range. Then we combined to one table and had the misfortune of getting parked right back in the path of the blinds. Half of my chips commited to the Big Blind, I was forced to call a raise with 87o. I got lucky and out drew a set when my straight card hit the river. Armed enough for one more orbit, I essentially get forced to look at a 23o with half my chips the next big blind. One of the late position players felt the need to raise and I just couldn't call. If I had known he only had 22, I probably would have taken my chances on hitting my overcard 3, but I figured I was well undercarded. I was all-in on the small blind and failed to hook up.

I was happy with my decisions in the tourney, the cards just ran dry at the wrong time. Dodger had fallen a bit before the final table and the Kid followed me over to the cash game.

I guess they hold true to their name of "Dealer's Choice" as they tend to let the players decide what game to spread. They have been featuring a $50-$100 buy -in NL game with $2/3 blinds, which is what drew me to check out the place. They will on occasion spread 3/6 limit or 2-6 spread limit if the players want to play it that way.

I sit down in the cash game still reeling from the tourney and Dodger has this big shit-eatin' grin on his face and is sitting behind a tripled up stack 10-15 minutes into the game. He's rolling his eyes and pointing to the two guys to his either side, doing the "fish on" finger in the cheek, and motioning that these guys like to shove. Almost every hand. Not that I thought that he was, but he wasn't kidding. It was pretty crazy. I managed to drag a $50 profit on my second hand and never looked back, but it was a mine field. Here's an example of the general mentality (this was one of the worse players): After having raised to $10 or $15 before the flop and getting 6 callers, he said "I make a little raise and scare everyone out!" I about fell on the floor because he was serious. Of course HIS raises meant nothing, but still, 6 callers to a rasied flop in NL is pretty loose.

There were 2 players in particular that were absolute ATM machines. This place extends some form of credit to most of it's regulars, so we got into a pattern at one point:
ATM1:"All-in. John, put me down for another $100."
ATM2:"All-in, John put me down for another $100."
ATM1:"All-in. John, put me down for another $100."
ATM1:"All-in. John, put me down for another $100."
ATM2:"All-in, John put me down for another $100."

It was like that every hand for about an orbit. And it was the same thing over and over. Bottom pair? All-in. Straight draw? All-in. (This was from a guy who "won't chase the flush draws cuz they'll make me broke.") "Oh hell, it's time to go home - All-in. John put me down for anohter $100!" It was really quite amazing to watch the carnage. It was like they just couldn't figure out that it was OK to fold a hand. I was running a little cold during this stretch, but there was plenty to go around.

One of the ATMs wrote an $800 check to the manager, another had at least $600 in credit (he must have gone through several cash buy-ins before the credit). Another lady was in for 3 or 4 buy-ins (she really thought she was a player, but was really just an actress) and kept telling the dealer that she "sucked" (all in good fun, but she was getting a little edgy).

Lady Luck was making the rounds and granting her favors on several of us in chunks at a time. After one of the minor ATM's left our table, they brought another player over from the "side game" (they actually had 2 NL tables going for about 4 hours full for about half the time and shorthanded for the other half) and he sat to my right with a fresh Benjamin - guess he just got busted on the other table. Well, he quickly turned that $100 into about $1,000 when he went on a 3 orbit rush. Some of his cards were good and some of his cards "got good". He wasn't pushing bad hands like the other fish, so his game looked better then it really was. (The curtain was pulled back when he won a hand with a 92s that wasn't in the blind. The ATM to his right also had 92s but their common turned straights got voided when Super Rush flushed him out on the end. I just shook my head and Dodger was just busting up.)

After Super Rush finally got tired of stacking chips, I got Lady Luck to sit in my lap for a little while and after watching my doubled stack drift back towards even, I hit a little run where I built it up to about $350. "That guy hasn't played a hand in 45 minutes and he just raised. Hmmmm, ah hell it's time to go home, I'm all-in. John put me down for another $100."

30 buy-ins and 4 ATMs later, the table did eventually get to where it resembled a reasonable game. Now you could put a move or two on people - raises got a little more respect and there was actually a little thinking going on. We were down to one table and it was suddenly 1:00 am. I wished I hadn't looked at my watch, because as soon as I did, I got very tired and decided that I didn't belong at the table any more (not to mention I had a 1+ hour ride home ahead of me) and decided to pull out. I look up and see Dodger racking his chips and follow behind him about 3 hands later. (Kid had checked out a couple hours earlier to attend another "social" activity.)

I cashed out for a little over $400, Dodger looked like he had about $350 and the Kid walked out with a little over $200 and we all went through some pretty cold stretches. I definately have to check this game out again. The regulars were a mix of decent vets (3 or 4), old time ATMs (7 or and a couple of wanna be rounder types. Nobody in the game that gave me any cause for concern - they were all pretty readable and it didn't take long to figure out which ones to stay away from, which ones to call with marginal hands and which ones you could milk for their whole stack if you hooked up big. It's the type of game where you can priobably do well most of the time - the suckouts (or lack of them) will decide whether you have a good night or not.

The card room spread some chow at around 8-9:00 (last night it was hot links, but I guess they regularly feed the players). It was a real friendly place. The dealers were sweet young thangs who ran a pretty decent table (the younger one had a little trouble managing a few complex moments , but she was still learning and did a fine job over all). The players were fun and friendly for the most part. There was a little incedent early on in the cash game when one old curmudgeon started talking about a hand he wasn't in (may have been goading a player to call one of the ATM's all-ins) and the ATM got a little pissy about it. After a few minutes of "you better stop that", "you better stop this","I'm telling you straight up this" and "don't you go telling me that", everything calmed down and the curnudgeon was soon gone.

If you feel like checking them out, they're in the same complex as the bowling alley. Take the Forresthill/Auburn Ravine road exit and head back over the freeway. Turn right on the frontage road (I think it's Bowman) and it's up on the left (clusterd in a building between a Mexican restaurant and a bar). They didn't seem to allow alcohol in the card room, but the bar was just 12 steps away.

I wish this place was a little closer to home as the NL game is well run, the blinds are in line withthe buy-in, and if last night was any indication, it's very beatable.

 

[Ender]

Hagar and Dodger already posted pretty much all the thoughts that I had on this place, so I'll just add a couple more things. First and foremost, BYOC'ers, dont' forget your fishing poles when you come to this place. Or at least bring your PIN, so that you can access all the ATM's and fishies here.

Like stated above, I rolled in just in time to see Hagar. We waited for the doors to open, wondering a bit about this small poker room that was cramped in between a Mexican resteraunt and a bar. Tournament was not too bad. My only complaint was that the blinds were way too fast, but it's mostly to get people into the joint. I did ok... no special cards. Doubled up against Mark (sorry) when he raised my AK on my blind. Made it to the final table and had the horrible luck of having to pay the blinds, then getting moved to the big blind. Ended up going all in on the next orbit, doubling up, then the blinds increased and I was forced all in on the blind again and busted out. Oh well...

So there's a seat open in the $100 NL game. The "main" table has, get this, high backed leather office chairs around the table. Gotta be the best chairs I've ever seen at a public cardroom. So I buy in, plop down next to Mark, and raise my second hand with AQs. Fish calls. Walking ATM calls. flop is Q83. I bet 40, fish folds, ATM calls. Turn blank. Bet 50. ATM folds. Rinse, repeat. I cashed out up $60 after paying for the tourney. Wished I could have stayed longer, but had somewhere else I had to be. Sorry Dodger, I did say bye once but I think you were in a hand!!! Nice playing with you again. We'll have to check this place out some other time =)

A couple of things to point out about this place:

-Regulars seem to have running tabs here. Busted out? John, bring me $$

-Free water, soda, coffee, chips, cookies, and dinner too! (BBQ dogs)

-John (owner) is a nice guy. Talked to him awhile. He owns the bar, which he is closing to make room for more tables. He appreciated the business, and told me to tell people about it. I have a flier that I can scan and put up here, if someone can show me how.

-Tourneys 7 days a week (5pm or later they open), then table games of whatever we want. Last night it was 2 tables of $100 NL, 3/2 blinds. Affordable rake.

Overall nice players. Locals mostly, a couple of college kids. Good stories, banter, etc. Dealers are nice, average dealing quality but learning it looks like. One was a cutie. Place is overall pretty nice. Laid back, may as well have been a garage game. NO cameras!? no nametags, etc for dealers (cute dealer was wearing a nice low cut blouse). I'll check this place out again, but the drive is a bit far. Fish city, though!

 

[Hagar]

Round 2:

Since my mother's day activities would put me on that side of the area, I decided to head up to Auburn Saturday and spend the night.

I got there about 6:30 to learn that they do their tourney at 4:00 on Saturdays (2:00 on Sundays if you're keeping score). Luckily ther was room in the cash game right away and I took a seat. This table had a completely different feel than the last time. The crowd was a litle tougher in general than the last time. There was only one ATM at the table and the rest were fairly decent players. A couple of them were a little on the loose side and created a lot of action, but they weren't idiots.

I say down, go the feel of the table, picked my spots and steadily built a nice stack. By 9:00 I had $500 in front of me and felt like the king of the world. I kind of wished I had to be somewhere about then, but it was just too early to leave and I had no reason to believe there was any need to.

Somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00 Shiz pops in and sits down next me. On his seciond or third hand he fets AA snapped off by a pretty solid player, who, for some reason, called his pre-flop raise with 64 (of course it was suited). Even though Shiz didn't know it, the call was really out of character with how the player had been playing. He looked at me with a "why the hell did you drag me up here" look on his face. It was a pretty rude welcome. He managed to get it back and then some before he left around midnight.

I went on a pretty bad tailspin after feeling pretty good about what appeared to be a little redemption from the bad luck on Friday. I slid down to near even playing solid poker but just getting into bad corners with good cards, and not making the correct reads. The guys who were betting and raising with marginal hands were suddenly showing real hands and my above marginal hands got real expensive. I caught a few pots to get back up a few racks and then went in the toilet for the rest of the night. I was getting a lot (I mean a lot ) of big Ace hands that would hook up on the flop but get punked by sets or other bad flops. It was actually pretty amazing how many times I could get keep getting in bad places. It was a lot like what was happening on Friday. I ended up burning through 3 racks trying to get unstuck, but I just couldn't catch a break - I lost my last hand (set of 5s) to a straight flush. OK, I get the hint, time to go.

The place was still fun and friendly and I will go back. I mostly wanted to let you all know that it's not always going to be a "ducks in the barrel" game if you go up there. There was one loose ATM who was into the game for $1200 when I left, but for the most part, players were peeling off 2 or 3 buys and leaving.

 

[Ender]

Hags,

Thanks for the update on this place. It's good to get a 2nd feel for a place, since it's often hard to gather an opinion after only 1 sitting. All in all, this place looks like it's pretty beatable, but maybe not nearly as fishy as we originally thought. Sounds like there's some good players to look out for, some ok ones, and some bads ones (just like most tables you see).

Hope this weekend wasn't too horrible on your bankroll. I know how the bad beats can go. I dropped $300 on Friday while playing 4/8 at this Indian Casino in Redding while waiting for my mom to get off work (went up for mothers day weekend). Horrible players. My last hand of that session was pocket AA cracked when I flopped a set and the guy back-doored a flush. Oh well, life (and poker) goes on!

-David

 

[Hagar]

Hope this weekend wasn't too horrible on your bankroll.

As a matter of fact, this weekend was just awful for my bankroll. -$600 over Fri and Sat is just enough of a hit to have to sit out a bunch of my midweek sessions this month. It never seems to fail that poker treats me like a doormat when I have a more expensive than normal month going in real life and few extra bucks would be especially useful. Oh well, not gonna miss a house payment or anything.

It wasn't so much bad beats (yeah, there were a few) as it was just getting caught in spots where my good hands were getting punked. I don't think I've ever experienced a run like this. I'm used to getting sucked out on and running cold for days, but I've never experienced so many very good hands getting crushed by better hands.

Example of a big loss at the Sat game:

I got AJ in early position and just limp. A guy who had been pretty aggressive raised in late position and the ATM and myself called. The flop comes J high and the ATM bet $65 into me. I really didn't want to see this as I was now trapped between a fish and a decent agro.

I'm now in a spot where I have to either raise or fold. Calling may not get me any feel for where I was against the agro. I was pretty sure the ATM had a worse jack and he would call all-in. I would have much rather been able to put in a $30 feeler bet to see how agro reacted than having to raise. Agro could easily have had a big A or even an under pair. I figured I'd find out by raising. So I raise it up to $130. Agro shoved his $490 into a $250 pot. ATM of course called his last $20 and I had a tough decision. At that point I had him coverd by a little, but basically I decided that I got the info that I wanted. Agro wasn't a maniac and probably had KK or QQ and didn't want my AJ to hit an A (he did have a correct read on me) so after a bit of thought I folded and indeed he had KK, which held up. No bad beat, no bad play (except for the ATM who called the preflop raise with J9 off and forced premature big action), I was just caught in a bad spot.

I had a lot of those kind of spots as the night wore on. I guess I'd rather get beat like that then through suckouts, but it does make you question your chances of ever making a good decisoin again when the punking is as continuous as it was this weekend.

 

[Quads]

Geeze, it sounds like that place has 'car payment' written all over it!
Can't wait to get there and catch some of the action.

 

[solring]

Are they playing anything besides NL? Other than facing off against the BYOCers in one of the home games, I haven't played any NL live.

 

[Deuces Empty]

Shiz and I play up there pretty regularly. I think the "John" you guys are reffering to is Jeff. Jeff is an older, Italian looking guy. Him and Phil own the place. They usually spread NL hold 'em , but we've also played 5-10 omaha hi/lo there 6 handed late one night. There are some absolutely INSANE players you can run into there that can take your night from great to son of a.... in about 10 minutes. There's one guy Frank that plays there that regularly does live 50's and 100's. He is seriously dangerous. There is also a guy named Greg that comes around who will tell you that he sucks and doesn't mind throwing away $1000 per session. He likes to suck out. He called my all-in ($200) when I flopped the nut straight, with an ace high spade draw only. I've had good nights and bad ones. If you're catching cards, you will get paid out playing there though.

 

[Ender]

If you're catching cards, you will get paid out playing there though.

Doesn't this hold true in almost any poker situation? Really, when it comes down to it, most of the time you need at least as much luck as skill in a public cardroom... I mean, in the long run at the professional level you need skill, but really everything around here is amature level... just my thoughts.

-david

 

[Deuces Empty]

yeah, that's true. At this place you're way more likely to get called with big bets. You don't have to trap nearly as much, because you're going to get callers anyways. It's true that if you're catching cards you're going to get paid out, but this place you'll most likely get paid out better.