Tonight I took a long stroll down what is an ever shortening memory lane. There have always been good reasons to keep New Orleans in our thoughts. I've had some incredibly good times there. So I've scanned the archives for some "Poker Blogger" connections to the Crescent City. Later tonight, I'll add my own facorite New Orleans Story. I encourage you to do the same.
Here's one connection for starters, from a site called "Legends of America"
Poker in the United States was first widely played in New Orleans by French settlers playing a card game that involved bluffing and betting called Poque in the early 1800's. This old poker game was similar to the “draw poker†game we play today. New Orleans evolved as America’s first gambling city as riverboat men, plantation owners and farmers avidly pursued the betting sport.
UP FOR POKER
The last time we wrote about New Orleans here, it was after a nasty bender here in G-Vegas. Otis wrote :
"Still, deep down, I know that my body will rally. There's something about Las Vegas and New Orleans that has always turned off all ill-feeling sensors in my body and allowed me to survive for days on end on little more than booze and buffet food (or, in the case of New Orleans, booze and bignets)."
That was a big post, or at least an important milestone for Otis. He's the last comment :
"Hi Otis -
I enjoy your blog. Would you drop me an email sometime in the very near future - there's something I'd like to discuss with you.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
PokerStars Poker Room Manager"
BILL'S BLOG
You'll remember, we're due for another silly blogger get-together soon. Bill led the way in finding a time and place. Many of you voted from a long lost of cities and, remember, NO was almost the choice.
Ok, since there was no real way to get an accurate count with so many people saying things like “X would be cool but Y would work too,†I tried just count every place that got a positive mention as a vote. As of 11:51pm PDT on 6.14.05, we have the following tallies:
New Orleans: 11 votes
Tunica: 8 votes
Minneapolis: 1 vote (shocker)
Los Angeles: 1 vote
Atlantic City: 5 votes
Vegas: 11 votes
Niagra Falls: 1 vote
Reno/Tahoe: 4 votes
Cruise: 4 votes
Laughlin: 2 votes
Cantebury: 3 votes
So, basically, we’ve got a tie for first between New Orleans and Vegas. Joaquin suggested narrowing it down to just two so the two tied for first seem like the obvious choice. Cast your votes!
Las Vegas won the runoff.
POKERATI
Here's a trip report from the card room at Harrah's.
Case in point: A few months ago, I was in New Orleans on businesses and decided to stop by Harrah’s Casino. The waitlist was long, so I asked the floor boss to get me on any table as soon as he could. This turned out to be the $4-$8 Hold’Em table…which is an awful game. In the $4-$8 game at Harrah’s New Orleans (or48HNO), you are likely to see seven or eight callers pre-flop, even after a raise or two. You can’t chase anyone out of a hand, and even if you do have a strong hand, you are likely to lose to someone who played shit cards and pulled miracle cards post-flop. I once saw A-Ks lose to 4-8o after max raises pre-and post flop…with a flop of A-K-5. Turn was a 7 and River was a 6 giving the 4-8 moron the straight and a big pot. In summary, the 48HNO counts as poker, but just barely.
LAS VEGAS AND POKER BLOG (LAS VEGAS VEGAS)
One of the better sites out there for POKER REPORTING, had this from the WSOP event in New Orleans.
The $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event attracted 259 players contributing to the $2,460,500 prize pool. The final six players making the broadcast table include well known professional poker player and magician, Antonio Esfandiari taking on a group of relatively unknowns. With the exception of Mark Cole, none have had a cash in a major tournament before this event. Completing the final table are Harry Cullen, Nick Mao, Corey Bierra, and Walter Chambers.
1. Walter Chambers Baton Rouge, LA $787,340
2. Corey Bierra, Atlanta, GA $433,050
3. Antonio Esfandiari, San Francisco, CA $221,445
4. Nick Mao, Long Beach, CA $172,235
5. Mark Cole, Greensboro, NC $147,630
6. Harry Cullen, Houston, TX $123,025
7. Imre Leibold, n/a, $98,420
8. Marlon Labbe, Lafayette, LA $73,815
9. Cyril Gittens, Miami, FL $49,210
SHE VERB
Here's another trip report. It IS tragic, but we've all enjoyed Hurricanes when we visited.
I found myself at Harrah's in New Orleans just before Mardi Gras as a present from my soon to be ex-husband. Just typing that feels wrong and horrible and is the reason I stopped updating any of my sites. But that story is for sheverb. The Harrah's Trip is for the Poker Diaries.
Against my better judgement, I sat down at a $3/6 no limit table. I had a copy of Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones with me, but I didn't really read it. Just skimmed some of the early chapters. My confidence was low because I had busted out on PartyPoker at the end of the year and wasn't doing well in the home games. My bankroll was right around $0 when I dropped the first $100.
And I dropped that $100, knowing that I would lose it. Do you want to know why? Because I had actually talked myself into believing that I was spending that money on a poker lesson.
Can you believe that shit?
The things people tell themselves in order to play poker.
The game was looser than what I had seen at the Hard Rock in Tampa. People who claimed to be veteran players at my table were busting out over and over again, bitter about the loose callers and dead money. Somehow, they didn't seem to realize that THEY were the dead money. Time and time again the made straight would lose to the suck out flush and the made flush would lose to the suck out full house. It was just unreal.
I nearly felt proud simply by making my $100 last as long as it did. Close to 8 hours in all. I won't tell you about what happened after I busted out and put $20 in a slot machine and won $40 in 30 seconds. No. I'll keep that to myself.
Then I left to drink Hurricanes, watch parades and catch beads. That's pretty much all New Orleans is good for.
BIG PIRATE
Wes has a really neat post about his last trip to Louisiana. It was actually fairly recently. Here's a portion :
After a blistering first night in Orleans that lasted until sunup, I begged off on second night festivities about midnight. I knew I was going to be the one driving to Mobile and then back home and figured I could use a little sleep one night. Steve understood and stayed out while I made my way back to the W Hotel (We had a free room for three nights comped by Harrah’s due to a previous trip Steve had made. He had gone into Harrah’s after a week of selling beads at Mardi Gras with about $200 to play blackjack. He worked it up to $1000 and started betting $100 a hand, which got the attention of the floor supervisor. He worked up to a $2000 stack and realizing who was watching, he calmly made a $1000 bet. Of course he hit ten and had to double up, right? Twenty came and the dealer turned over a low number. Three cards later, the math added up to a push and Steve shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, I tried.†Obviously, that is the way to get comped in New Orleans.) That night, I heard him stumble in about 4:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m., beer in hand, I asked him about his night. He admitted that he had gotten lost on his way home due to his state, and had been taken under the wing of a local “lady,†the type that like to meet tourists. She must have realized Steve was in no shape to be a client or pose a danger and graciously walked him back to the hotel. I said, “Steve, did she make you pay for the walk?†He replied, “No, and she gave me a free feel when we got here.†Like I said, Kramer.
IGGY?
With apologies to John Kennedy O'Toole...this is the Iggy bio from POKER SAVVY :
Ignatius J. Reilly
email: iggy@pokersavvy.com
Iggy blogs about poker nearly every day, all the while bemoaning the loss of "taste and decency" in modern times. He lives with his mother in New Orleans.
AL CAN'T HANG
Al is the honorary drunken mayor of New Orleans, and I've heard a dozen stories. Here's one...
Reminds me of the time where I was sitting in the aisle seat and BigMike was booked in the middle seat. I was already on the plane well ahead of Mike and a lady had the window seat.
We were chatting along when BigMike started walked down the aisle. I turned to this poor woman and started saying things like...
"Oh no, you know that fat ass is going to sit next to me...."
"Crap, this happens to me all the time. Fat people smell...."
"Why don't you give him the window seat and sit next to me"
She was completely stunned. She kept telling me to shut up because BigMike was getting closer and closer. As he stopped at our aisle, I just said....
"Oh Christ!"
Her eyes were burning a hole in me.
BigMike looks down and says, "Hey Al, what's going on". I replied, "Not much, how you doing?"
When I looked over at the poor woman in the window seat, she had turned 3 different shades of purple and actually leaned over and hit me.
She was grumbling the entire flight to New Orleans. We got a nice chuckle out of that one.
HUMAN HEAD THINKS BIG
Another trip report. New Orleans was FUN!
For the second session at Harrah’s in New Orleans, my wife and I were much better prepared, and we mopped that game (3/6 no kill) in the 4 hours we spent playing. These people were absolutely HEMMORAGING money, and for some reason only buying chips in $40 shots. I guess that was their idea of BR management. After drinks (plus wait staff tipping), and what I now realize was extravagant dealer tipping ($2/pot, bad HumanHead, BAD!), we still walked away almost 20 BB up. If given the chance I would have stayed at that table all night long. Friday at the Prairie Band Harrah’s I plan on playing in the $100 NLHE weekly tourney, simply because I’ve never played a live one before. If the live tourney play is ANYTHING like the B&M ring game play, I think I have a damn decent chance of doing well.
That's all for now. My New Orleans stories are coming soon. Please post your own. I think its important to keep thinking about what's happening. This is BIG!