Wednesday Report from L.A.

We have us a good ol' fashioned turf war brewing here at the Bike in Los Angeles. You have in-house poker staff, who like things run 'their way' and then you have WSOP staff, who actually know what they are doing, trying to run the tournaments in a professional manner...the way all the other circuit events and WSOP Las Vegas are run.

What's funny, is I think, at the heart of it, they both think they are right. Us players know that there is only one side that really knows what they are doing. And we are just getting caught in the crossfire. It's funny, watching as one of 'their guys' comes over and botches a floor call, then an hour later one of the WSOP regular staff comes by and makes a proper ruling on a very similar situation.

It's not really bothering me all that much...I've learned not to let much about this game piss me off anymore. Why? I mean, it is what it is, we obviously will never have the power to fix anything that is wrong in poker...so I find the best thing to do is kick back, watch, giggle about it...and watch the monkeys try to pry that coconut open with their hands.

A lot of us thought the Bike getting the WSOP-C event would result in huge numbers. It hasn't. And the reason I'm hearing from a lot of people who live here and play full time, is that the Bike carries a bit of a bad rep for not knowing how to run tourneys. That is really too bad. But I can see that they might have a point. And if they hope to attract another event with the WSOP...they are going to have to learn to be a lot more cooperative with the WSOP regular staff, because these guys really DO know what they are doing. I mean, hell...they do it year around. It's not that tough. Follow the normal rules, keep things consistent. You know what I mean?

Here is a fun example. You go to play a SNG. The dealer sits with 10 stacks of chips in front of them...and ten seat cards. Correct? Those cards should all be turned DOWN...why? This isn't a trick question. To assure random seating. Why? Well, there is this thing called collusion. Where two or three guys might decide to 'play together' to try and win the SNG as a team. It's mighty beneficial to be seated next to each other. And the Bike floor people have, for some reason, deemed it acceptable for the players to choose their seat.

I finally managed to convince one of them that this was sound reasoning...and she immediately told the dealers to start turning the cards face down. I felt like a winner. Yay, Monkey...changing the world, one rule at a time. Wait! Hold up! By the end of the day...they were right back to doing it the old way. Sigh.

On a positive note: The food here at the Bike is tremendous! If you are playing cash game...you don't pay a penny for food. And you can eat as much, and as often as you like. This, I guess, is to cover up for how much rake they take. The rake on the cash game is INSANE. So when you whine about it, they counter with..."at least the food is free!" True...but the drinks all cost money.  If you are eating in the tourney room, its just super cheap...like $3-$5 for a huge plate of food. I've already had three really great meals.

Yesterday was kind of crappy. I lost all three tourneys. The nooner was very annoying. I lost half my stack to a little Asian punk with dark glasses AND a hood, despite it being about 80 degrees in the room. On a limped pot for 100 I raised to 350 on the button with AK. The lady from the other day who drove me NUTS flatted (huge shock) from the BB, and the punk called. The flop comes K-2-3. They both check. I bet $550. They both call. Turn is an ace. They both check. I bet 900. She folds. He pauses....then raises to 3000. WTF? Set? 45? Making a move? I keep getting into these spots all week. I smooth call. (should have shoved) The river is a damn 4. Lovely. Obviously was craving a king or an ace. He shoves all in. I have 4500 left in my stack. Jeezuz. I can't imagine that I'm not beat. I fold AK face up. And he shows me.....K-9. Mmmmhmmmm. Seen those shows about spontaneous combustion? 

I lost the rest of my chips with, again...AK. Get called. Flop K-Q-10. I bet. Get called. (by a guy with QJ) Turn is a jack...giving me the nut straight. I check. The guy puts me all in. I call (obviously) and what is the river? What else? A fucking queen. Good game.

I play the 5pm deepstack. Last about 30 minutes. I play the 8pm turbo. I litterally announce who I am going to get knocked out by. Another OMRG...this one with a big awkward gut and a tight-fitting sweater and a foreign (Italian maybe) accent that makes him hard to understand. I raise early with AQ. He calls. The flop comes 7-10-A. I check. He checks. Dammit. Turn is a K. I bet this time. He raises. I re-raise. He flats. The river is another ace. I bet. He goes all in. Whatever, I call. Oh! How nice! Ace 7! He covers me by several thousand. I push all of my chips into the pot...and as I'm getting up, the moron dealer (house dealer, not WSOP) calls the floor to bitch about me splashing the pot! Yeah. No kidding! Splashing the pot. Hahahahahaha. I just looked at the floor guy and suggested he teach his dealers the rules of poker. "I am OUT of the tourney! My opponent has me covered!" The floor guy just shook his head and said he was sorry. Me, I just left....to SNG-land.

I ended up chopping two SNG's....a $120 and a $200...and ended the day just a little down for the day. Today is a 6-handed $550. The last 6-handed tourney I played...not sure where that was, New Orleans I think...I bubbled. I would like to improve on that.

Oh! Speaking of New Orleans...has anyone noticed that those results from over there STILL have not posted ANYWHERE? I'm serious, I really do NOT think that event ever happened.

Okay...gotta cut it short! Time to go face the clowns again. Maybe today I will wear big, red floppy shows and put on face paint.

MONKEY