My History in Chips
The second time I ever played live I started a sort of tradition. When I play in a new room I take a $1 chip with me. I love it, because each chip represents a few memories of a night. Some are good memories and some are bad. Many of them I’ve posted on the blog. Here are each of the chips I’ve collected in chronological order from the first time I played the room.
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MixersBozeman, MT Where this whole poker thing started for me. I didn’t get a chip from them when they were still Mixers, now they are called Spades. |
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Cat’s PawBozeman, MT This used to be the poker room in Bozeman. In 2008/9 they removed the poker room and made it into a liquor store. They put one of the poker tables in the bar. They still offer 10% buy-in bonus on Tuesdays (up to $5000). They changed their chips too from the “Legends of the Wild West” (which you could buy online cheap) to their own new chips. |
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BorgataAtlantic City, NJ The nicest room I’ve been to outside of Vegas. One of my earliest experiences where I got lucky and sucked out against several players that were a lot better than me and left with a profit. Post(s): 1 |
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Taj MahalAtlantic City, NJ Played a tourney and some cash there from around 7 pm to 5 am and went to work the next day. Post(s): 1 |
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Majestic StarGary, IN Played here for my friends’ bachelor party. Had my pocket kings run into pocket kings. Post(s): 1 |
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Stampede CasinoCalgary, AB They had just renovated this casino and the poker room was brand new (hence the shiny chip). I was ill-equipped at the time for the aggressive poker I played here. Post(s): 1 |
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Cash CasinoCalgary, AB Pretty ghetto casino. Again, I was not prepared to play as aggressive as they were playing this night. Post(s): 1 |
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Casino CalgaryCalgary, AB Played here too long and missed my flight (which led to the Danny Gomez incident). Post(s): 1 |
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Lion’s DenBozeman, MT Dark little poker room in a caged room off of a seedy college bar. A good place to get sucked out on. |
Molly BrownBozeman, MT The one chip I’m missing. This is the crappiest table in town. Tucked into a little corner of a smoky bar, the actual table is coming apart. The chips are nothing to write home about, but I owe it to myself to get the last chip for the collection next time I’m out there. |
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Lake of the Torches CasinoLac Du Flambeau, WI One of my favorite places to play, thanks to friends like Phyllis and the tournament my brother-in-law, Mr. Pink, almost took down. |
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Rockford Charitable GamesRolling Meadows, IL Probably my least favorite poker night. Post(s): 1 |
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Horseshoe Casino – HammondHammond, IN My favorite semi-local place to play. Beautiful room and well-run. There’s always a game. |
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Saloon #10Deadwood, SD On business in South Dakota, played where Jack McCall gunned down Wild Bill Hickock. Post(s): 1 |
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Horseshoe Casino – TunicaTunica, MS With friends in Mississippi, played $1/3 NLHE with the Mississippi straddle in full effect. Post(s): 1 |
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Canterbury ParkShakopee, MN On business in Minneapolis, came to Canterbury and played hours of limit poker for a small loss. Post(s): 1 |
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Spirit Mountain CasinoGrand Ronde, MN On business outside Portland, played somewhere near the coast. Post(s): 1 |
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Seminole CasinoImmokalee, FL As is often the case, this casino is in a terribly depressed little city. I was on vacation and decided to play. Florida poker was stupid then, playing $2/5 with a max buy-in of $100. I’ve heard that the state increased the buy-in to $1000 or is going to soon. This is my losing-est night of poker so far. Post(s): 1 |
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Grand Victoria CasinoElgin, IL In early 2009 they opened this room only 20 minutes from my house. So far I’ve had a good run there. Post(s): 1 |
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HarrahsLas Vegas, NV Started off my trip to Vegas killing some time in Harrah’s Poker room. Great start to the 4-day trip booking a $300ish win. Played there again right before I left and booked a similar sized win. In the end, this was the most profitable room for me and served as a great set of bookends for the trip. Post(s): 1 |
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ExcaliburLas Vegas, NV Went to Excalibur to play the small-buy-in tourneys they offer. Played there a lot in both tournament and cash games. Took fourth in one tourney, took first in the next, busted out early in the third. They only have the PokerPro tables, so had to go play blackjack for 20 minutes to get this chip (won about $25 doing it too). Post(s): 1 |
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ParisLas Vegas, NV OK, there is no Paris poker room, so I actually got this chip playing War. I won $15 playing 20 “hands” of war and then got a coupon for the buffet (which was delicious). |
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Hard RockLas Vegas, NV Love the atmosphere of this room. Played there one morning in cash games and then a freeroll. I love the Hard Rock Straddle. Did terrible in the freeroll. Ate at Pink Taco. Post(s): 1 |
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MGMLas Vegas, NV Played a bunch at MGM. I had mixed success. Saw some amazingly good and bad play. Post(s): 1 |
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VenetianLas Vegas, NV Wish I could play here all the time. There were tons of people in this room. The chairs are very comfortable. They brought me a Macallan 18 in a lowball filled to the brim at the table for free. Only bad part is that the players at my table were very very good and I was probably -EV to be sitting there, except I won. Post(s): 1 |
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FlamingoLas Vegas, NV As I said in my post, “the nicer the room, the better the players”. The Flamingo is a seriously crappy room, so it was fun to play there with all the crappy players. Played from 11 PM to like 4 AM and made my biggest Vegas mistake–I ordered a Red Bull. Post(s): 1 |
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Caesar’s PalaceLas Vegas, NV A very nice room where I was definitely outgunned by the other players at the table. I grabbed a rack and started collecting my chips as soon as one of the players from the table left. The pro to my right asked “leaving?” and I said “I wasn’t sure if that guy or I was the worst player at the table. Now that he’s gone, I’m sure it’s me.” Post(s): 1 |
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Tripper’sEast Lansing, MI Some tournament play and some cash games. It felt good because it was for charity. Post(s): 1 |
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Four Winds CasinoNew Buffalo, MI A very nice all electronic room. Played $.50/$1 with the regulars and booked a profit. Since the tables were all electronic, I had to just ask for a chip at the cage when I cashed out. Post(s): 1 |
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Korner KlubFour Corners, MT A nice poker room for Montana, but the chips are a bit “used”. Upstairs in a bar and they still have free drinks and candy and stuff. Played $2/5 with the regulars and booked a nice $250 profit to start my Montana trip off right. Also played at Spades (formerly Mixers) and Cat’s Paw again this trip. Post(s): 1 |
Nice collection BB. Funny you had the Taj Mahal chip, usually they are so grimy I need to wash my hands after playing there….lol.
Lastly, how was your trip to Brooklyn? I hope you found that game, and if so I’d like to hear about it.
Catch ya around…
My trip to Brooklyn was boring. I didn’t land until after midnight after my flight was delayed. I didn’t have it in me to play in a strange game at that point and I had a little anxiety about whether it was a good game to get into so I just went to the hotel and wentto bed. I was on a plane headed home by 3 pm he next day. Thanks much for the info. If I end up back there I probably will go play there if I can. You should come with me so that if we don’t like it we can just leave and get a slice or something.
Sorry you didn’t play in that game. I used to play with some of the guys who play that game (but I don’t play them a lot anymore) so it’ll probably be new and strange to me also.
The next time you’re in the neighborhood we should do something. I’m sorry but that Tuesday was not a good day for me but the next time we will definitely do something.
Additionally, your turn around flight was so early. I agree with you that playing in a cash game with total strangers after a long flight with a fairly early flight the next day is not playing optimally. Good luck and continued success!