Prague: Poker

I stayed for poker.

Casinos are alllll over Prague. It seems like every major street has at least one, and with the rise of Texas Hold 'Em, many offer poker. I would have played earlier in the week, but I was going out a lot at night, and poker games don't begin until 9 or 10 at night in the city. No casino has more than one table going at any given time, and the games last into the night. By 12 or 1 the Big Stacks at the table are able to push people around. As a result, I made sure to get there as early as possible.

The first night Kelby left for Vienna I took part in Praha Casino's 25-50 Koruna (about $1.5-3) No Limit game. I sat down with about $200 and found myself playing more nervously than ever before. When I play poker at home, I tend to sit down with anywhere from $300-500 and think nothing of it. I have been so conscious of money on this trip though, it was hard to play freely. For the past six weeks, I have attempted to allocate a certain amount of money each day, and the unpredictability of poker turned that allocation upside down. Every time I entered a pot, I was more nervous that I would lose my entire stack on that hand. After a few hands though, I realized I was one of the best players at the table, so my nerves calmed, if only a little. The night was fairly uneventful – I played tight, but fairly aggressive and walked away with $60 in the black.

The next night I decided to play in the same casino's No Limit Tournament. The 500 koruna buy-in yielded 40-something players. I noticed from the beginning of the tournament I was a lot more relaxed than the night before. I think the newfound relaxation stemmed from the fact that I didn't feel like I was playing with real money; I had already made my 30 dollar-ish investment, and now I was freerolling it. This new attitude paid strong dividends early on, as I picked up a few big pots and managed to knock off a couple players in the process. By the break, I was one of the largest stacks, and felt comfortable with where I stood. I picked up a few good hands and kept out of harm's way, hoping to clear a path for myself to the final table.

Then I picked up AA. Playing 300-600, I was on the button. There was one call from middle position, then the guy on my right (who was stupidly aggressive) bumped it up to an even 2000. I figured he was trying to make a play to steal the button, so I assumed he didn't have a great hand. Enticing a call, I only raised 3x his amount. The blinds and the original caller folded, the guy on my right thought for about 30 seconds and finally called. There was now 13,500 chips in the middle of the table.

The flop came K-Q-10, rainbowed. This definitely was not the best flop for Aces because he easily could have hit a set and there was a legitimate straight possibility on the board. He bet out 8000. Even before the flop I sensed he was going to bet out. I had been playing pretty tight, and I think he wanted to put the pressure on me. If I didn't hit the flop, I would have a hard time calling his bet.

I raised to 2000. I realized that I was committed at this point. I figured I had the best hand and I wanted to get all the money in now. My heart dropped when he pushed all-in, and I unhappily called. He turned over Q-10. I needed one of the following to suckout: A, K, J or runner runner. No dice. Tournament over. Hopes and dreams of paying for the rest of my trip gone.

Two notes from poker, Prague style:

Despite the fact that everyone was a local and speaking Czech, EVERYONE said the poker actions in English. I would hear them talking in a language I don't understand, then all of a sudden, "Check." "Bet." "Raise." Even the dealer spoke in English when moderating the game. I found this amazing.

Also, anything goes while playing poker in Prague. You are allowed to listen to music, eat, speak in multiple languages, smoke and even use the computer while at the table. A Czech 20-something was playing, when all of a sudden he pulled a laptop from a bag. Within 5 minutes, a number of people were huddled around the computer, watching the screen intently. I couldn't see the screen, but I didn't really need to to know he was playing online poker. Playing online poker while playing poker at a casino. I had never seen that before and felt somewhere between impressed and a little sad for the boy.