By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 23, 2022
I took notes on my latest casino trip! Now my recollections are slightly more accurate.
It took me around an hour to drive from the Watershed Institute’s property near Hopewell in Central New Jersey to the Philadelphia Live (or Live!) casino in the City of Brotherly Love. Once I parked, I changed out of my sweaty shorts, underwear and T-shirt into mostly drier underwear, jeans and a polo shirt. After entering the casino, I swiped my players card at a rewards station but found that I would not able to do anything of substance without my PIN code, which I did not have to hand. I then wandered around the building, which was far larger than I remembered, in search of the poker room.
There it was — I’d taken the long way around the perimeter. I purchased a seat in the $130 triple stacks tournament, which would start at 6:15 p.m., and then bought into a $1-$3 no limit Texas holdem game for $330. I sat down in seat three at 5:08 p.m.
I folded the first hand I was dealt, king-seven off-suit. The player in seat nine bet opponents off a board with broadway cards, three clubs and a seven. As it turned out, my garbage starting hand would have made two pairs.
The next hand saw a preflop all-in featuring the players in seats four and nine, who respectively had king-queen and king-jack. The board game KJ a king-high straight, king-queen-jack-10-nine. That cleared out seat four, immediately to my left; a new player came a few hands later.
That new player played a big hand against the man in seat two. It turned out that both held ace-eight off-suit, making for a chopped pot.
The next hand, I found myself with pocket fours in what I’ll call initial position two, more popularly known as under-the-gun-plus-one. Initial position one, in seat two, had limped. I raised to $9. The big blind in seat one called, as did IP1 in seat two.
The flop was ace-four-five. It checked around.
The turn was a six.
The big blind bet $15 into a pot of $28. IP1 folded. I raised to $43. The big blind called, making the pot $114. (Note: In general, when calculating pot sizes, I do not account for casino rake or fees. In reality, the pot was at least one or two dollars smaller than the number provided here.)
The river was an eight. The big blind checked. I bet $55. BB called without giving it much thought. Big blind’s ace-eight off gave him two pairs, inferior to my flopped set of fours.
Afterward, I got into a notable hand with an older man in seat five; he was in initial position one and I was the small blind. The pot was $6 going to the river, which was 2♠️. I bet $4 with 10♠️8♣️. IP1 raised to $10. I called, only to lose to his 6♠️4♠️, which made a six-high straight flush.
I didn’t record the board, although it obviously also included 3♠️5♠️, and I don’t know if my $4 was a bluff or a value bet. At any rate, the straight flush won that half-hour’s high-hand bonus for IP1. The bonus was $400.
Incidentally, the dealer for this hand wore a name tag that said Shakespeare. However, I later heard him referred to by a very ordinary name — Greg or some such.
Soon afterward, I played Q♥️8♥️ from middle position. I bet $8 on a flop of jack-seven-five that included two hearts. I then bet $11 on a turn of a 4. The river was a 3 and was checked by both me and the player in seat one. The villain’s 6-5 was the winner with a pair of fives. I missed my inside straight draw — I needed a six — as well as my heart flush draw — I needed any of up to nine remaining hearts to be dealt on the turn or river.
As the big blind, I went heads-up in a pot against seat five (initial position 2). I folded 9-6 off-suit on a turn bet of $10 into a $10 pot on a board of ace-queen-jack-10.
I subsequently won a pot of around $75 after placing a turn bet of $55 against two players, both of whom folded. The board was 8-9-10-6 and my pocket sevens gave me a straight.
I carry a rack of $416 in chips earned earned from a $330 buy-in at a $1-$3 no limit Texas holdem cash table at Philadelphia Live casino shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. 
I cashed out for $415 after making a $330 buy-in at a $1-$3 no limit Texas holdem cash table at Philadelphia Live casino shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. 
I cashed out for $415 after making a $330 buy-in at a $1-$3 no limit Texas holdem cash table at Philadelphia Live casino shortly after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022.
I cashed out for $416 around 6:05 p.m. Subtracting $2 in tips and my $330 buy-in, that made for an $84 profit in just about 60 minutes of play. Accounting for my $130 tournament entry, I was down $46 on the day — a number I hoped to move into the black with a strong tournament run.
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