Sun Cruzing

Spent an interesting weekend in Myrtle Beach...

Last Tuesday, my friend Ron calls and says he is going to Myrtle Beach to play poker all weekend. The Sun Cruz has 2 cruises a day out of Myrtle Beach and his plans are to play several sessions over the 3 day weekend... the gears start churning.. The wife has been wanting to go back to Myrtle Beach.. I want to play poker.. I could get this going. So I run it by my girl and she is game.. I play 1 session, if I make enough to cover expenses (about $400 for 3 day, 2 nights), then I will play again on Monday. I call Ron back, the trip is ON!

A fellow blogger (who is slacker about blogging than I am) JD Schellnutt, had told me about the soft tables and golfing gamblers on the Sun Cruz, so I was excited (either was going to shell the table or take some of the sickest beats on my life :-). Family and I arrive at the Ocean Reef (if you ever go to Myrtle Beach, stay here.. great rooms, excellent staff and fun lazy river for the kids.. also a JD Schellnutt recommendation). Ron and I meet about 6pm and head to the boat which leaves at 7. He is a very good player and confirms what JD had told me about the soft tables (he finished up about $600 on the 2/5 table). I get on the boat and am pleasantly surprised about the accommodations, had a nice little dinner, tons of slot machines, craps and 6 poker tables (4 of them were 2/5 NL and 2 were 10/20 Limit). I get a seat on the 2/5 NL and watch the DUKE game while chatting with some of the other players (I like to find out how much they play.. what sites they play, this way I can find out how experienced they are and maybe find out about the play at other casinos or poker sites).

The action gets started 10 handed. I usually play tight early to get reads. So pretty early on I figure out that a $25 raise will get about 5+ callers and a $40 raise will isolate.. I bought in for $300 ($400 was the max) and have about $1000 total. With this type of action, I felt I was going to need at least this much. After about 30 minutes, I realize that limping in the first 6 positions was useless as someone was going to raise. So I gave up on limping early and either raised to generated several callers, did an isolation raise (did this w AA and KK) or folded (did this alot as I only played about 15 hands during our 4 hours of play.

First hand starts out with the BTPH (Big tit possible hooker) raising to $25 with the hammer. 3 caller (for her hand, not the other thing). 2 heart flop and she bets, 2 callers (again, for the cards). She checks the turn, everyone else checks. River is a heart, she bets $50 more, gets called (on the hand) and turns over a flush.. the table goes crazy (some complimenting her ( cards that is, stay with me here) and some dogging her (cards again). So after this hand, she starts talking about how she and her girlfriend love rubbing peanut butter on themselves and playing twister (no lie). Half the guys at the table head for the bathroom.. jk.

I finally pick up a playable hand (A6 of spades... very playable at this table) on the button and make the standard $25 call... A108 (2 spades). UTG bets $25, another players call, so I call with top pair and nut flush draw (thought about reraising to see if I could take the pot but didnt see that working with this crowd plus I wanted as many players in the pot as possible with this draw). The turn in a blank, UTG check, next player checks and I bet $50 (As $25 was the bet everyone would call preflop, $50 was the bet everyone called on the flop.. you had to bet $75+ to get a fold). This bet enabled me to take the lead in the hand and sweeten the pot if I hit on the river. If I dont pick up my spade on the river, then I can just check it down (so I dont have to pay for/fold a pair of Aces with no kicker) or I can move all in and try to take the pot (which would have been a long shot with this table). River is a spade.. UTG checks, other player checks, I value bet $50 (this was callable, anything higher and they fold), UTG calls and other player folds.. I take down a nice first pot for the night. I won a couple more pots and left with a nice win ($400) for the night.. so I had covered the trip!

On to Monday, sent the family to the Aquarium at Ripley's (if you go to Myrtle Beach, this is must see.. just watching them feed the rays and petting the rays is worth the price of admission (especially if you have kids) and Ron I headed for the day trip on the Sun Cruz. Paid the $10 boat fee, loaded up on some breakfast and hit the $2/5 table. There was only one $2/5 table and one $10/20 limit table going. The action at my table began just like the table on Saturday.. $25 to see the flop and $25/$50 for every bet afterwards. One lady was keep the action going by raising every other pot and then leading out for $80 on the flop.. she won/stole several pots and chipped up about $300 early. Some of the guys were dogging here play... personally, I liked it.. she kept the action going and she bet whether she had it or not.. she could sense the players that were timid and she pounded on them. One hand in particular, she played very well. The player on my right led out w QQ, she reraised w AKs (clubs) and QQ called (bad play by him.. he should have reraised to find out where he was at.. you might be thinking he is trapping here but...)
Flop comes out 10 5 8 with two clubs. She fires out $50, QQ calls and another player calls behind. Turn brings a blank, she checks, QQ checks and player behind checks. River is a spade, she bets $80, QQ calls and player behind folds. She shows the flush and takes down the pot... QQ turns to me and starts to bitch that she is going to go broke chasing flushes. I just nod my head in agreement while thinking to myself that he played that hand so passively that he pretty much deserved what he got (Also, she wasnt chasing the flush, she was betting it.. big difference).
First, he should have reraised preflop or at least reraised the flop to find out where he was at (did she have AA or KK.. she had raised alot of pots so this was doubtful). OK.. so you call preflop and then call on the flop, she checks the turn, so you check?? Have to bet here.. you put her on a draw, so make her pay. She was a maniac but not stupid. She wasnt moving all her money in on a one card draw. So by her betting the flop, she got a free card on the turn (good play by her, bad play by the QQ). River is the spade, you put her on the flush draw, you let her get there, she gets there and then you pay her off.. as the Guinness people say, brilliant, just brilliant.. Then you top it off be bitching.
So with it being $25 to play a hand, I decide to raise with position instead of calling.
AK, 3 callers, nothing
KQ, 3 callers, nothing,
66, 3 callers, nothing,
AQ, I call big raise, nothing (thankfully, QQ guy had AA and finally found his nuts and bet something)
So next thing I know, I am down $250. I buy back up to the max ($400) and begin grinding my way back (had to grind at this table as people were now stuck and were not going to fold to a big raise and then a continuation bet.. you had better hit the flop if you were going to bet it because someone was going to call you or move all in).

Got about $200 back when the following hand happened:
I picked up Q9s and decided to call as the table had settled down somewhat from the raise fest it was at the beginning (you could actually limp with position to see a flop). The AK lady from earlier pops it to $25, 2 calls in front of me, I call and one calls behind. Flop is J95 rainbow. She bets $25 again, fold, fold, I call (she usually comes out alot stronger than this so I wanted to see how she played the turn), fold behind. It is now just her and I. Turn is a J, she bets $40 (very weak bet from her.. standard here is $80 or $100 from her).. I cant just call her or she will put me a tough spot with a large river bet, so I reraise to $90 so I can her to fold or at least find out where I am in the hand (she reraises and I fold) and get a show down for cheap if she calls (I didnt think she would make a big river bet with me reraising the turn). She flat calls (I have seen her do this when she was beat.. she does not slow play once the turn gets there if she has something). River is a J, she checks and I check behind (she is not going to call if she is beat and she is tricky so if I value bet $50, she is going read it as weak and push in for her remaining $300 which I would have a tough time calling with that board). I show the 9 ( Jacks full of 9s), she mucks and I take down a nice pot.
This hand enabled me to turn a loss into a decent win ($150).

Overall, I would highly recommend the Sun Cruz. It is a fun trip (especially in the day time as during the ride out, you can check out the scenery. You have to wait until the ship is 3 miles out to play so it is about a hour ride out), great staff, excellent dealers and good food. About the dealers, I had a very good, knowledgeable and fast dealer both sessions. When I went to the Borgata, the dealers changed every 30 minutes, some were good, some were horrible and some I could not even understand and this slowed the game down. So the dealers alone made the trip worth the time.

Hopefully, JD and I are will be heading down there this Friday to play in the $100 NL tourny and to grind the cash tables on the night cruise.