Just got back from Turning Stone about an hour ago. It was a great time, and was a blast to play at a real table with real chips and a dealer. Ali and I got there at around 5:30 after about a 6 1/2 hour drive. We dropped our stuff off at the Super 8 where we were staying and drove down to the casino (it was only a mile down the road, but we ended up turning the wrong direction, getting on the highway, and travelling 20 miles before we pulled a U-Turn and drove 20 miles back).
We got in and walked around till we found the poker room. The casino was pretty big (keep in mind I've never been to one before), and there were tons of blackjack, carribean stud poker, war, craps, roulette, etc. tables. We finally found the poker room which was in the back and fairly small compared to the rest of the casino. They have 22 poker tables with games ranging from 1/2 NL (100 and 200 dollar max buy) hold'em, and 1/3, 2/4, 3/6, 5/10, 10/20, and 20/40 hold'em (these don't all run at the same time, but just by who signs up at the board to play). They also have 1/5 stud, but there wasn't any Omaha.
Ali and I bought in at the cashier for $100, and went to the 1/3 table. I had never heard of this limit before, but basically it's 1 dollar small blind and 1 dollar big blind, and you can bet anywhere from 1 to 3 dollars on any stage of the hand, but if you raise, it must be in increments of 3 bucks. We played for about 6 hours and left the casino at midnight. We each started out pretty cold, losing about $40 each after Day One.
We drove back to the hotel, watched some TV, and went to bed. The next morning, Saturday, we got up at 8:15, and went over, hoping to get a place in the $65 buy-in NL hold'em tournament. Lucky that we got there early, because the line got packed, and people had to be turned away as the maximum allowed was 185 people. In the tourney, Ali got hit really bad on the first hand. You start with 2500 in chips, and he lost most of those after getting AJ. The flop came KJJ. He made a big bet, got raised, he reraised. I don't know how big the pot got, but the other two cards were rags, and the guy he was going against showed KK. I was a little more fortunate, stealing some blinds, and stealing some pots after the flop, getting up to about 3000. Then, the big hand for me came when I got 99 in the big blind. I got raised 300, and I called, with me and one other guy heads up. The board came AA9. He bet 500, I called, slowplaying. The turn was a 4, he bet another 500, I raised another 500., he called. The river is another 4, and I'm scared of him having an ace now. He bets 1000, and there's so much in the pot, I had to call. Luckily, he turns over QQ. That put me up to about 6000. Unfortunately I lost all but 1700 on this hand. I was in the big blind with AKs. One guy raises 500, I raise 500, he calls. The board comes A K 10. He checks, I check, slowplaying again. The turn is another 10, and I can't slowplay anymore. He bets 700, I go all-in, putting him all in for 2600. He turns over A 10, river comes an 8. I steal some blinds, and stick around for a while, but then the blinds get up to 300/600, and I only have 1700 left. I get AQ, and go all in, getting called by another guy going all in and one more guy who has more chips than both of us. The short stack shows 99, the big stack shows 10 10. Board doesn't help anyone, I bust out in about 75th.
The rest of the day goes pretty good, I played 1/3 again, both Ali and I playing for a total of about 14 hours until midnight. I finished even, minus the $65 for the tourney (then again, Ali paid for this as part of his half of the room total.
Day 3 was very very good for me. Again, Ali and I played 1/3 for the whole day, sitting at different tables though. I kicked major ass, winning $175 that day. The one bad beat I had that day was when I had AA. The pot was raised to 4, and I raised to 7. I got 4 callers. The board came Q, 2, 3. I bet 3, got 3 callers, fourth person folded. The turn came 4, I bet 3, got 2 callers. The river came 5, I bet 3, got 2 callers. Person one has nothing, but person two, this really annoying woman shows 66. She chased the 4 card straight the entire way when I had reraised, and then bet the whole way. To make things worse, she goes on to say how she plays at Turning Stone every day, and has read a ton of poker books.
Day 4 was awful for me. I tried out the $100 max buy NL Hold'em table. I only played for about 15 minutes because the 1/3 table wasn't ready yet. I lost $30 there. I went over with Ali to the 1/3 table and played for a while. I was pretty impatient, and chased a lot of cards, and played mediocre hands with no help. I lost all but $18, and went to the 3/6 table to make myself play tighter. I bought in for $200 total. I played for four hours and was roughly even, down just about 12. Then I got into a monster pot. I had J 10 in the big blind. I got about 4 people in the pot, and the flop came J 10 4. There was a bet of 3, two callers, I raised to 6, guy raised to 9, I capped it at 12. Turn came 2, no flush and no straight possibilities on the board so only a set beats me. A guy bets 6, I raise to 12, and I get just him to call it. The river is an 8, I bet he raises I call. He shows 88. This set me off. It was over a $100 pot, and it was what I had been waiting for for over 4 hours. I first said, "wow, you had a set" then I saw he caught it on the river. I went off on him, knowing they couldn't do anything because I was leaving the table. I said "Wait, you caught that on the river?" He goes "Yep, was hoping for it" as if I'd be sympathetic. I say "Jesus Christ, what the hell kind of poker is that? There's 2 overcards on the board, the bet is getting capped and raised every single time- what the hell do you think we had" He goes "Hey, I won the pot didn't I?" I say, "Oh, you sure did- please continue playing that way, I'm sure you'll come out on top of the poker world" With that I left.
I walked out of the poker room and let Ali play for another half hour. I had left the room with $122. I ended my four days down only about $40 or so, including the tournament. Ali lost about $180. It was a hell of a good time, despite that awful beat at the end of the trip. The hotel sucked ass, and we've gotta find a way to get a decent place for cheap next time, preferably in the casino. Also, the 6 1/2 hour drive is a real bitch, so hopefully there' s a cheap Southwest flight or train or something up there.