Badger Poker...well, kinda

I went down to the Lava Bar and Grill last night for the first night of the Badger Poker Series. What can I say about it. I had a couple of beers (Riverfront White..quite tasty) and some wings (they sucked) before playing. Then I played cards.

So what would you do, early in a tournament. 2 limpers for 200, guy before the dealer raises to 500, each limper calls. Flop comes 8 8 3, two clubs. Check to raiser. He bet 1000. First limper folds, second limper raises to 3000. Turn is an ace of clubs. First limper goes all in. Raiser thinks, thinks, and calls. He shows A, 10. Limper showed 10 2 suited. That was my 15 minutes of non-fame.

One thing I remember from reading about poker online is that you cannot bluff a bad player. I should have remembered that at this time. For it is true. Whether this guy who called is truly a bad player or not, it is to be seen. Maybe I am the bad player for trying this bluff. Still, the flop misses you, and you get raised after the turn when there is a possibility of a set and a flush you call an all in bet? Makes no sense to me to call such a bet early in a tournament. Thought it was a good bluff. Guess I thought wrong.

But in the 7 hands I played in, it was strange. First hand, 5 players limped. After the flop, everyone folded to a bet. A couple of hands later, someone made their preflop bet, bet the flop and turn but checked the river. He folded when the one who stayed in bet out. Seemed if they had an ace, they were thinking it was theirs. People folded quickly to a raise.

I went with my strategy. Try and be aggressive and get some chips early. It didn't work apparently, but I got T-shirt, I think for being first out. Better yet, I talked to the organizer of it and he said he was going to a blind bet structure. He told me they use antes in Madison to keep the tourneys short. My comments were to go to blinds and use antes after an hour or so and jack them up as needed. His early feedback showed people preferred blinds. When it happens, who knows. Sad thing, is what happened to the Lava bar. People would come in, register and go across the street to Hooligans. Why would a bar host something like this if they do not get any business from it? They won't. And if word gets out to Rock Bottom or Gametime, they may drop it quickly if they have the same thing happen. Maybe it is just the east side. Crowd was predominantly college age kids. And from the short time I was there, it showed.

Maybe it will be different at Rock Bottom. Or maybe just the beer will be different. We shall see.