Getting It All-in Blind at Walker Hill

Blind All-in:  Betting all one's chips before any cards have been dealt.

I discovered two very good reasons not to move up to the higher-limit games at Walker Hill Poker Room Friday night.  First and foremost, I put in my third straight losing session since arriving in Seoul just about three weeks ago.  But more than that, it was witnessing the most reckless form of gambling known in poker - the blind all-in - at the $5/10 game that confirmed my lowly place on the $1/2 tables.

To be clear, this wasn't just someone's last $50 thrown casually into the pot at the end of a losing session.  No, this was a $4000 blind all-in - 4,000,000 won to be exact.  It was 3 am, the stacks were - as always - ungodly deep, and for no obvious reason, "The Gambler" decided to blindly shove all $4000 of his chips, showing no fear or concern about the outcome of his recklessness.

What could drive a player to such insanity?  Maybe this guy was an adreleline junky.  Maybe a millionaire.  Maybe a degenerate gambler hell-bent on making a big payday.  Who knows?  Two things are certain though.  One, he had absolutely no fear or respect for money.  And two, he didn't even flinch when he got called by AK...

The Ugly Truth

Much to my surprise, I've gotten quite a few e-mails regarding my original post "The Art of Poker," in which I vaguely describe my past experiences in Korea.  Most e-mails are questions resembling, "What the fuck are you talking about?" or "So you came the second time on a tourist visa?" or "What do you mean, check-raised by Korea?"

Yes, most of what I wrote there doesn't make much sense.  And it was never really meant to.  I was mainly curious if there was anyone else out there like me:  obsessed with poker and in Korea.  It seems there are quite a few of you out there.  My first post was 17 days ago and the site's gotten over 800 visitors.  A much better response than I expected.

For anyone who is curious, I will indulge myself and reveal the whole rotten truth of the matter, and hopefully make some sense out of my first post in the process.  Enjoy...

Getting Snapped Off at Walker Hill

Snapped Off:  Beat, in poker, when holding premium hole cards.

I made my way to the poker room at Walker Hill around 1am Friday night.  I like to go late when most players are tired, drunk, or stuck a bunch of money.   I expected to get a seat right away, but the room was packed.   Three $1/2NL tables and one very deep-stacked $5/10NL game were all full.  I made my way towards the poker pit to get on the list, but paused and looked up, hearing someone calling my name from the $5/10 game.

Alex. I knew this guy from my poker days at 7-Luck a couple years ago.  He was hyper-aggressive, loved big pots, and excelled at putting players on tilt with his banter.  He reminded me of a coked-up Antonio Esfandiari, in appearance and play.   He was the kind of player who either won a few thousand or lost a few. I don't think I ever saw him break even...

Rabbit Hunting?

Rabbit Hunting: Exposing the remaining undealt cards after a poker hand has concluded.  Generally requested by the losing player(s) to see what cards would have been dealt.

Is anyone else puzzled why Walker Hill Poker Room would have a you-can-rabbit-hunt-whenever-you-want-just-ask policy?

To me, frequent rabbit hunting can really kill the action on a table.  If players know they can see the river every time without having to pay for it, many will instead of paying to chase.  It also seems like plain-old bad business for the casino.  If fewer turns and rivers are paid for by players to see, pots are smaller, and thus the rake is smaller.  A lot of it seems to be weak, pandering dealers and lack of good management on the poker room floor.

Getting Greedy at Walker Hill

I made my way to the tables on Friday night around midnight.  The poker room at Walker Hill was full, but I got a seat at a make-shift table that was set up for overflow.  $5/10NL, $2/5NL and I think 3 $1/2NL games were running full.

I wasn't happy with the action at my table, so I asked for seat changes and table-hopped for a couple hours until I got into the "main" game, which was more deep stacked than the others.

I had originally bought in for $500 but was down to $300 after losing $200 in my first round of play at the overflow table.  I held 44 and the flop came 874 rainbow after I called a sizable under-the-gun raise in late position.  The original raiser led out for $40, and seeing that he only had a little over $100 left I raised him all in.  He gave a lengthy speech, bemoaning that he new I'd flopped the straight.  After a couple of minutes he finally called, showing 88 for top set.  Shocked that he hadn't insta-called, I doubled him up with no 4 on the turn or river.

But now, finally getting to the main game I played pretty tight.  I grinded my stack back up to a little over $500 with basic no-frills play.  My first major boost came when I was dealt KK in early position...

The Art of Poker

Check-raise: A deceptive poker play, considered unethical by some, in which a player checks early in a betting round with the intention of raising any bet made by another player.

The first time I came to Korea, I was the victim of a brutal, though well-executed check-raise by Korea. I didn't bother calling, I knew I was beat, folded, and went home. I never played a hand of poker on this trip. Everything took place in a shitty kindergarden in Busan.

The second time I'd studied up. Two years later, my goal was revenge. Not with the school, but with the bank. I set my sights on a quick hit-and-run style of play. I was going to get the money and get out. 15 million won was my goal, 7-Luck Casino poker room in Seoul was my venue, and tequilla was my fuel.  After a few months of play, I check-raised all-in, Korea called. 15 million in 3 months and I caught the next flight home.

Round 3 is about to begin. One of us will get fucked in the process, hopefully. 7-Luck poker room is closed now, I see. Walker Hill it will have to be.  See you soon.