Poker in…Gary, IN
Went to a bachelor party this Saturday in Chicago’s south suburbs. We went to a White Sox game (it was an unexciting 0-2 loss to Colorado). Then after, there was some time at a bar. After that the groom still wasn’t ready to quit. I offered to accompany him to any of the nearby casinos.
First we tried Empress Casino, which was about 5 minutes away in Joliet, IL. It was a nicer casino overall than I imagined. Poker-wise? They had 4 tables total. Only 2 running at 1:30 AM on a Saturday night. They were playing 1-3 limit and 2-5 no-limit. Both tables were full. I didn’t want to wait and I didn’t want to play limit and I didn’t want to play as high as 2-5. So we left and drove 30 minutes to Gary, IN.
The Majestic Star is one dock with two actual boats. I say actual boats because some of these “riverboat casinos” are just boats in an academic sense in that they are in the water. The Majestic Star looks as if you could actually undock them and take a voyage. I’m sure it would be very difficult to do so, though since the gangplanks and everything are very permanent. Either way, the casino layout is kind of strange. They are multi-floored, long and skinny. Most of every floor is filled with slot machines. On the main floor of both boats they seemed to be playing blackjack and craps. In the top of what they called Majestic Star II, on the fourth floor, was the poker room. After climbing the three levels of stairs, we came across around 30 tables. They were playing various games and probably had 25 tables running. They had multiple 1-2 NL games running.
We easily got into the games. I took my seat at a separate table from Doug and they didn’t even make me post the blind, I was dealt right in. I folded several hands and raised to $6 UTG with As Js. Everyone folded to the BB who called. The flop came Ks Qd 9c. He checked and I considered betting with my 4-outer, but thought the better of it and checked. The turn was a 7h and he checked. I couldn’t believe he was checking again, but I still had an ace-high hand so I checked too. The river was Ts–for the nut straight. He checked. I figured that I’d probably made as much as I could on the hand but I owed it to myself to take a shot so I bet $10…and he called. He mucked whatever crap he was playing.
That hand was about how things went the whole night. The opponents seemed weak to me in general. The decks were good to me in general. I played a good solid semi-loose aggressive game and won. We only played for 2ish hours (until the sun came up) because I had to be back for an early tee time with my dad for Father’s Day.
Either way, there was one amazing hand that came up.
I have a stack of $240ish and this pretty Asian girl across the table had a stack of around $500 (the table max buy-in was $300). I’d seen her play only 3 hands in the 25 or so hands since I sat down. She was playing tight. She’s UTG and she bets $8. It folds around to me in the CO with KK. I raise her to $25, the buttons and the blinds fold. She thinks for a long time looking agonized and calls. I wonder if this agony is a big act, because I can’t imagine any poker player allowing another to see that much emotion this early. I file it under Possibly Useful Information. The flop comes 2 4 7 rainbow. I assume we’re still fighting the my starting hand is better than your battle. She bets $40 with her head down and a look that says “I hate myself”. I re-raise to $85. She sinks her head into her hands and spends around 2 minutes thinking. She does not want to make this call. I figure this means that she doesn’t have aces and I’m loving my hand. I’ve got her on pocket queens or jacks. She finally calls. The turn comes T. She doesn’t seem to like her hand any better and bets a weak bet of $60. I figure that if she has aces and has just performed this well then I’ve already lost and I’m done wondering so I go all in for what must be about $130ish. She thinks for another minute whispering “shit, shit, shit” to herself. I know she’ll call, she’s pot committed. She doesn’t want to, but she does. The river comes J and I hope she didn’t just make a set…her demeanor says she didn’t. I look across at her as I flip my cards and say “show me your aces”. She sees them and jumps out of her seat to roll over…her kings. The dealer splits up the pot. My heart is still beating out of my chest and the whole table talks about the hand for the next two hands. I felt ill and tired all of a sudden and needed a nap.
