PokerPalozza!

We had a light crowd at the Duck Blind last night, with only five of us seated around the felt. Dealer Larry and Ollie the Accountant were in Laughlin, supporting the local casinos. Bobby Dee had business to attend to in Dallas, so that left Stamps, J-Dawg, Ray-Ray, Farmer Harry and myself.

Harry picked up pizza on the way, including a bacon pizza. Mmmm. It came with a 20% off your next bypass coupon from one of the local heart surgeons :)

Ray-Ray locked up the High Hand Jackpot early in our dealer's choice $20 buy in limit game, when he hit a straight flush to the 9 in a hand of Omaha. Even with the jackpot, he went home down a dollar for the evening.

J-Dawg took the biggest hit, dropping around $30, with Harry and Stamps both breaking even. I walked away $30+ to the good.

We play a hybrid form of Pai Gow at our PokerPalooza. As you may know, when playing Pai Gow in a casino, you are dealt seven cards. From those seven cards you have to make two hands, a five card hand and a two card hand. Your five card hand must be higher than your two card hand. You are playing against the dealer, and to win, both your hands must beat both dealer hands. To lose your bet, both dealer hands must beat both your hands. If one wins and one loses, it's a push, which happens a lot.

In our game everyone is dealt six cards and you are playing against all the other players at the table, not just the dealer. Each player makes two hands,using three card poker rules. In our game you can play your stronger hand either up front or behind, which adds another level of strategy. The hand begins with two cards dealt to each player, then a round of betting. Two more cards are dealt and a second round of betting. Then one card, bet, and the last card and a final round of betting. The pot usually gets split between two players, but it's big enough to make it worthwhile even when chopping.

I can't believe they're not dealing this game at the WSOP!

In one six card Pai Gow hand last night, I was dealt 4 ducks, but couldn't play my quads because I had to split the hand into a couple of three card hands. So I played trips on one hand and crapola on my other hand and won half the pot.

Another fun evening with friends pitching cards. And I won a few bucks. Not a bad night.

Till next time, win the flips.