Subject: Seattle/Vancouver Trip Report (very long)
From: asha34@aol.com (Asha34)
Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker
Date: Sat, Mar 15, 2003 4:27 AM
Message-ID: <20030315072754.16148.00000032@mb-mr.aol.com>

Who new that poker was so vibrant in the Pacific Northwest?  But I know it now,
having played at no fewer than TEN  poker venues in less than a week's time. 
If you're a Hold Em player, this is poker paradise.

I arrived at around midnight Sunday night, March 8th --after a tiring
cross-country flight.  Of course, being exhausted, the first thing I wanted to
do was go to sleep.  But I didn't.  I found the nearest room to the airport --
a weird place called Funsters -- with a tiny "roomette".  They said they had a
$3/6  and a $2/4 HE game.  A seat opened in the $3/6 game.  I sat down, wearing
my bi-filtered half-face respirator.  After about three hands, observant me
asked the dealer why the blinds were only $1 and $2.  He told me that they were
standard for the $2/4 game I was in.  The floor apologized and told me that
both tables were $2/4--there really was no $3/6 game.   $3 rake and $1 jackpot.
 Loose passive players.  Heavy cigarette smoke.  I left after about 30 minutes,
down $15 and eager for sleep.

15 minutes later I arrived at Diamond Lil's in Renton -- about 10 minutes south
-- at about 1:00 AM.   This was a room of about 12-14 tables in a small
restaurant/bar casino.  The place was well run, well lit, well ventilated and
full of Hold Em games.  I wore my gas mask intermittantly.   I played $4/8 with
a bunch of loose, aggressive players.  It was fun.  I won about $40 before
finally leaving at 3:00 AM.  They had the remnants of a buffet that I wouldn't
recommend.  But it was free for players.  I bought a nice baseball cap for only
$5.00.  I planned to return, but I never managed to.

Sunday: no poker during the day.I actually toured this great city.  Great place
for millions of reasons I won't bore you with.  After dinner I played at the
Hideaway "Shoreline" -- on the North side of the city.  It's the "old" Hideaway
as opposed to the "new" Hideaway in Federal Way.  The place was very smoky when
I was there, but the games were also very "live".  I played $10/20 I think. 
Rock that I am I only saw two showdowns in three hours and won them both.  I
left a $143 winner.  Though my sample size was very small, this would be my
regular room if I lived in
the area.  They are running some promotion and only raked $2.00 from the games.
 There were one or two serious players or pros at the table.  The rest were
very loose and, at times, very aggressive.  There was table service available
but I didn't eat.

Monday: I drove to Vancouver.  I checked out the Chinatown casino.  They spread
$4/8 but didn't get going until 6PM.  Very friendly staff from the casino
talked to me about the game.  Non-smoking room (as they all are in Vancouver). 
$3 rake with $1 jackpot.  No flop, no drop. I decided to get something to eat
while I figured out where else to play.  3 meals later I ended up driving to
the Holiday Inn on Broadway. 

6 tables or so in this casino in the lower level of a Holiday Inn.  There's
some bad blood between the hotel and the casino -- so they don't help each
other with reservations, information, parking or any other obvious "synergies".
 Even so, it's very convenient to stay -- so I did for only about $60 U.S.

They had three $10/20 games going, one with a kill.  The games were filled with
regulars -- most of whom didn't seem to know what they were doing most of the
time. Though there were at least a couple of excellent players in the mix at
all times.  A lot of 5 way flops with no raising.  Not your California ram and
jam slugfests.  And not quite the no foldem low stakes games either.  Somewhere
in between.  I just waited for super high quality hands and played them
aggressively -- like the book says.  I enjoyed myself and managed to win $100
or so.  People were enormously friendly.  One or two even seemed to know that I
was arriving (having read rgp).  They all recommended Tojo's sushi nearby.  $30
or so for dinner though and I was scared away by the price.  Other players were
eating at the table -- a Chinese restaurant on premises would supply you with
food provided you were willing to go upstairs and get it.  It seemed to be well
appreciated. By the way, they have the most beautiful chips I've seen,
especially the commemorative "Year of the Goat" $5 chip.

Tuesday I drove back to Seattle, stopping at two Indian reservation casinos en
route.  The first, Swinomish, is about 20 miles off the main superhighway --
right on the coast.  It is a beautiful full-featured casino with high ceiling
and beautiful decorations on the ceiling.  There is smoking and I wore my mask
-- but other less-sensitive folks would not have been very bothered.  There was
an Omaha tourney going when I got there at about 11:30 AM.  There were no live
games, though I was promised that one would open up soon.  One did.  And I
played in a moderately loose $3/6 Omaha8 game for about an hour, losing $35.  I
decided I didn't want to play a split-pot game with a $3 rake and $1 jackpot
drop.  So I left for points south.

I arrived at the Tulalip Casino, about 30 miles North of Seattle on Route 5 --
about 35 mintues or so South on Route 5 from Swinomish.  This is another Indian
Reservation.  The tribe is building a new casino up the road, scheduled to open
soon.  The old place is a smokey pit compared to Swinomish.  They're all eager
to move to the nicer, newer, fancier digs.  There were two games going when I
got there, a 3-6? Stud8 game and a $4/8 HE game.  I played HE.  There were some
strong aggressive players and a couple of clueless regular losers.  There was
some tension and some arguments about bad beats and suck outs.  The room was
very smoky.  I arrived at about 3PM, stayed about 4 hours and lost $220.

I drove to Muckeshoot at 7:30 PM, after I thought traffic would have died down.
 By the way, rush hour traffic is horrible.  If you can help it, don't try to
get around the Seattle area between 7AM-9:30 AM or 3PM--7PM.

Muckeshoot is generally thought of as the serious poker room in the area.  It
is the largest, with 30 or so tables, and seems to have the highest
concentration of the $10/20 games.  They also had some low stakes Stud, but I
wouldn't recommend those games to anyone.  $1-4 with a $3 rake and $1 jackpot
drop.

I played $10/20 Hold Em.  There were some very good and very aggressive players
at each of the two tables I played at.  The place was well ventilated -- but
there were many smokers so I wore my mask.  After a couple of long stares I
seemed to blend into the background. Of course, the fact that I played
super-tight might have accounted for my not being noticed.  I stayed about 4
hours and won $55.00  I didn't try the food but had some free coffee that was
good.  Seattle has very high coffee standards.  The locals probably didn't
think much of this stuff but it was fine with me.  Other drinks cost $.  There
didn't seem to be any table service for food, but I know there were restaurants
in the place.  A couple of very hot arguments went on at the table.  There are
definitely a couple of guys who are trying to make a living playing poker
there.  I don't know if they're succeeding.

On Wednesday, after work, I played at the Hideaway in Federal Way.  This was by
far the friendliest room I've ever been to.  They have great food (so I was
told by other players), charge only a $2 rake with a $1 jackpot drop, have
generous jackpots and high hand promotions and the games were great.  There
were two games when I was there: a $10/20 and a $4/8 HE.  I wore my mask but
the room seemed well ventilated.  I played $4/8 and won about $110.  I then
went on a late-night drive and stumbled into the Player's Club in Federal Way. 
This place was a pit.  Dark, low ceiling, dirty, smokey.  There are two tables
crammed into the back of this bar.  The players were all passive and loose. 
I'd come back.  $4/8 HE, but I was told they get a $10/20 Omaha8 game on the
weekends.  I left after 1 hour, without winning  a pot, down $40 or so.  I
found a marked card, believe it or not.  A half moon indentation (from a thumb
nail it looked like)  on the Jack of Diamonds.   No one seemed surprised or
even particularly interested when I pointed it out.  I left before the next
hand was dealt.

On Thursday I worked, attending the conference that brought me to Seattle in
the first place.  But, joy of joys, North Shore Mike came through with a
special home game in Vancouver.  So I drove up for dinner and play.

We met at a great sports bar type place on Broadway in Vancouver called
Martinis.  They had already eaten when I arrived.  They were all impressed by
my willingness to drive up for the game.  I didn't think it was such a big
deal. I mean, I'd drive a lot farther to meet up and play with nice guys like
this.  However, I was surprised when I asked each of them what they did for a
living.  The conversation went something like this (names changed to protect
the innocent).

ME: "So, what do you do?"
WAYNE: "Oh, not much -- I play poker"
HORACE: "Oh, well, I'm not really working -- I play poker"
STAN: "Um, well, nothing really except play poker"
BOB: "I'm a full time poker player"

Not exactly the easy lineup I was looking for!

We went to one of their houses -- very nearby -- and played a NL Hold Em
tourney $40 with a $40 rebuy/add on. .  I made it to the final table and
finished a respectable 4th -- just 2 off the money.  Of course, the fact that
there were only 6 players probably had something to do with my fine finish.

When I busted out I played in a NLHE $20 freeze out with two other guys.  And
this Stud player CRUSHED THEM!!!!!  The fact that I got hit with the deck
helped.  But I showed great skill in the following hand.  I was dealt a pair of
Jacks.  My opponent went all in.  I went into what I call a huddle.  I decided
that the odds of his being ahead of me were slim since it was heads up and this
type of play was common with hands of lower value than Jacks.  So I called him.
 The board didn't help any of us.  He revealed A-K.  I won. Roy Cooke would
have been proud. Similarly, I won the tournament on a very dramatic hand.  I
was dealt Aces.  I raised the pot, as I understand this is a powerful hand in
Hold Em,  and put my opponent all in when he called.  He had K-Q suited.  My
Aces held up and I won.  Can I play this game or what?

We then played about 4 hours of $1/2 Pot Limit.  We all played as tight as
(fill in the blank).  I was tired and not even a little imaginative.  I rocked
around for the whole time and ended up winning about $100.  It felt like a
major triumph considering that I was playing against four Vancouver poker
professionals.  The fact that they were all drinking like fish and I was sober
probably helped.  Thank God for Jameson Irish whiskey.

All in all an incredible trip to a great area.  There are actually more poker
rooms here than in any other area of the country including Southern California
or Vegas.  And you can't beat the area for food, scenery and friendly natives!

Ashley Adams