In early August I was on a trip to Rhode Island with my wife and daughter. While trying to figure out things to do, I noticed Foxwoods was only about 45 minutes away from where I was staying, so I made a point of it to try to make a trip there. I was able to find a chance on a Wednesday night, so I made the drive, leaving about 9pm or so. I didn't have the call ahead number and I didn't feel like researching it, so I knew I may have a wait on my hands.
The resort wasn't exactly how I envisioned it, as I expected it to be a sprawling resort cut out of the middle of the forest. In fact, I was slightly confused when I missed my turnoff and saw MGM Foxwoods, which I didn't even know existed. I aimed for the original Foxwoods, assuming the poker room would be there somewhere. After parking in the garage and entering the casino, I was able to find the poker room fairly easily due to the signs, and it was down an escalator at basically the ground floor or slightly below the ground (I think, I was a little disoriented from going up the garage, and then up and down escalators and elevators).
I entered the poker room and put my name on both the 1/2 and 2/5 lists (which was dangerous, as I had only about 650 with me). I was about 15th on the 2/5 list, and about 25th on the 1/2 list. The lists ran through semi-quickly, and after about 20 minutes I got called to the 1/2 game. You can buy-in for 300, and I bought in for the max. The table however, didn't have much money, and I covered everybody. There were several 100-150 stacks. The first hand had a bunch of limps, and I took it down with a raise pre-flop with something like ATx. I was immediately called for the 2/5 game, and after observing another limp happy, tightly played post flop hand, I decided to take the seat in the 2/5 game.
The 2/5 was in another area of the room, but the way they run things with multiple floor people, responsible for their own section, and walkie talkies makes it run fairly smoothly. This table had a lot of decent sized stacks, however, the table only had 4 players on it as everyone else had ran to piss/smoke/eat/etc....I treaded water for a while, winning a few pots, losing a few pots. There were what I consider 2-3 tough players, a few average players, and one clear mark. There was more than your average amount of 3 betting from a few players in particular, who I had position on.
The first hand I tangled in, I opened in EP to 20 with 9h6h (very loose, I know, but that tends to be my preflop game, and it helps classify me as a bit of maniac, without a big cost generally). I was called in 3 places, and the flop came down Td9d6d. One of the blinds checked to me, and I led 55 into 80, and wasn't quite sure what I was going to do the rest of the hand if I encountered resistance. The player after me, who I considered the clear mark, almost immediately shoved for 350, and the other players folded. That left me to call about 295, into a pot a little less than 500. This was a tough spot, as I stated earlier, I was underfunded for the game on this trip, and basically only had one bullet with me. Generally in this spot I try to get a physical read on my opponent, so I started staring at him. He was initially leaning back, and when he noticed me looking at him, he immediately leaned forward in his chair and struck a very strong posture. Everything I was picking up off of him said "strong means weak", so I started weighing his range more strongly to weak made hands like AT with no diamonds, and hands with a bare Ad. Made flushes, made straights, and sets comprised a much smaller part of his range. As I continued to look at him he began to look uncomfortable, so I announced call and slid the chips across the line. After I slid them I knew I was correct by his reaction, we kept the cards turned down, the turn was a 2x, and the river was a terrible 8d. He took a few seconds to roll over Ad6x, to scoop the pot. It turned out I was 56% on the call against his actual holdings.
That hand hurt, as it knocked me down to about 250. I continued to play but my heart really wasn't in it, and I dusted off another 100 or so before deciding to leave.
An interesting note which I wasn't prepared for. I ordered a bloody mary, and about 15 minutes later it arrived. What was surprising was that the drink was comped. I'm very accustomed to that in Vegas, but haven't run into it elsewhere.
An interesting hand occurred earlier in the night in which I was not involved. The bottom line is that on the turn the board was unpaired and king high, with 3 diamonds, the 3rd diamond hitting on the turn. A guy who someone said used to be a professional boxer who seemed like a solid player bet something like 80, and an Asian who looked like he lacked experience shoved for what amounted to 300 more. The boxer looked pained when this move was made. The pot was heads-up, so without saying anything, he turned his cards over, exposing a 9 high flush. The Asian guy, apparently thinking this constituted a fold, turned over his cards, showing a set of Kings. The boxer looked confused for a second, and then said call. The board ran out a blank, and the boxer shipped the pot. The Asian guy looked real confused, not realizing what had happened. Eventually the floor was called, and the Asian was made aware that in a heads-up pot, you can expose your cards. He left the table immediately. I felt bad for him for a multitude of reasons, but it definitely goes to show that you need to understand the rules of the cardroom you are playing in.
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