My g/f and I just spent the night in Niagara Falls, and what else are you going to do in Niagara Falls in February besides lounge around and gamble. 

So, we headed off to Fallsview for some gambling.  She only plays slots (sigh), so my objective is generally to try to get her to play the smallest-denomination machines possible.  This is because (obviously) the longer she can make her money last, the longer I get to play poker.  I'd pretend that it's because I care about her slot machine bankroll (there isn't one) but that would be transparent to her, and to you dear reader.

ANYWAY while she was off gamboooooooooooling at the slots, I played some poker.  Given the choice, I always want to play Limit Hold'em in a casino.  Ideally $30/$60, but failing that, $50/$100, and failing that, $20/$40.  Why do I like LHE so much?  Well, I started playing casino poker quite a while before the "boom" happened, and NLHE wasn't offered in casinos back then.  (I say "back then" like it's 40 years ago when in actual fact I'm talking about 7 or 8 years ago...)  So, it's what I'm most comfortable with, and it's what I built my bankroll playing.  But alas, no mid- or high-stakes LHE at Fallsview, so I played $5/$5 NLHE instead.

About 3 minutes after I sat down, the guy next to me says: "Don't you host a poker show or something?".  I said yes.  He said: "Did you not want me to say that here?".  I told him that it didn't matter to me.  As an aside, the show (Poker Night Live) has been cancelled but the repeats, oh the repeats, they are going and going and going.  So, I feel like I'm kind of freerolling on the fame thing because I don't actually have to do anything anymore, but my stupid mug keeps showing up on the TV night after night.  Every single time I go to a casino, someone asks me if I host a poker show or something.  And it happens in bars sometimes too.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.  I do.  It makes my feel special.  I'm not.  But it makes me feel like I am, so that's cool and all.

3 interesting hands.  (The last one is CONTROVERSIAL which is why I'm putting it last.  Suspense... suspense.  Also, it happened last, so it should be last anyway.)

First hand I'm dealt AQo, but it's raised to $20 and re-raised to $60 by the time it gets to me... easy fold.  The flop comes queen-high, and I'm thinking "damn" or "thank God", depending on what my would-be opponents were holding.  As it turned out, one of them had pocket kings, so my (fairly easy) preflop laydown saved me some $$$.

Very next hand (second hand of the night) I'm dealt AQo AGAIN.  Crazy.  Not really.  This time, there's a raise to $20, and I just call along with a couple of others.  Four of us see a ten-high flop.  Someone bets, I fold, as does one other player.  Heads-up to the turn, and it's a queen!  Again, I'm thinking "damn" or "thank God" etc. etc. etc.  Turns out, someone had pocket kings again, and I would have lost some chips if I'd seen that queen, again.

I guess I was dodging bullets, but they were pretty easy to dodge.

This next (CONTROVERSIAL) hand happened quite a while later.  I limp in LP after a number of limpers with 5h7h.  Flop comes 457 rainbow, I have top two but it's vulnerable.  Checked to me, I bet $25.  The button makes it $70 total.  Folded back to me, and I make it $120 total.  (I know that it's a weird re-raise, but the stacks (his in particular) actually weren't all that deep, so it was effective enough.  Anyway, the point here isn't whether or not it was a good re-raise, the point is that if you do the math, it was a LEGAL re-raise).  I put out the $120 total, and the dealer starts pushing me some chips and then he flips over the turn card immediately (an ace FWIW). 

I ask: "Why are you giving me chips?"  He tells me that it wasn't a legal re-raise... it wasn't enough.  I told him that it was a legal re-raise (being as much or more than the previous bet or raise) and the rest of the table told him the same thing.  My opponent more or less shrugged. 

I asked the dealer why he didn't think it was worth telling me that (he thought) it wasn't a legal re-raise BEFORE flipping over the turn card, so that I might offer my own point of view on the situation while the integrity of the action can still be maintained.  He shrugged.

The floor was called, the situation was explained (a number of times) and the floorman more or less shrugged.  My opponent then decided that all this craziness was too much, and he mucked his cards and awarded me the pot.  I mucked my cards (because that's what I normally do when I win a pot) and I guess this is some kind of bad etiquette here, because the guys at the other end of the table said to me: "The guy is giving you the pot!  The least you can do is show him your cards..."

I suppose they're right.  I don't know... I'm used to dealers who know the rules of NLHE so I've never been in this awkward situation before.  It was too late to SHOW him my hand (and I think those guys at the other end of the table just wanted to pick up some extra info. about me and didn't actually care about "etiquette") but I told him the truth about what I had.  I then asked if he would have called another $50 on the flop (which is what I had re-raised.)  He told me that he would have called the extra $50 on the flop, but would have folded the turn to a bet.  And there would have been a bet on the turn.  So, the dealer cost me $50, is what it comes down to.  And, he didn't even apologize... sigh... online poker.  That's where it's at.  Tell your friends.

Other interesting (to some, maybe) moments:

Every vending machine in the hotel (The Radisson) was offering only expired juices, pops, and snacks.  After spending $4 on a bottle of juice and a bottle of lemonade (only to discover that they had both expired), I took the elevator down 15 floors to the main desk to ask for my $4 back. 

If you know me at all, you will probably know that I didn't care about the $4.  It was the principle of the thing.  They told me that they don't actually own the machines, and as such, they wouldn't be able to refund my $4.  I told them that the machines are in their hotel, and are therefore their responsibility.  They more or less shrugged, and I gave up.

I played a bit of blackjack, and one of the dealers arrived with a little sign that said: "This dealer is deaf".  It seemed odd to me that the dealer was effectively referencing herself in the third person.  Good dealer, but calling the pit boss for colour-up's and saying the player's totals wasn't happening.

The only other thing I'd like to tell you about this brief trip is that if you're ever wondering where to go for dinner at Fallsview Casino, go to the Asian Pearl.  You won't be disappointed.