Jena Delk’s Blog

The field was comprised of 38 players.  It was nice seeing from Ante Up magazine.  There were four or five females in the field.  The field seemed comprised of either beginners like me or more adept players.  I overheard someone say they drove in from Gainesville.  Tampa was represented by my friend, Chris Cosenza, Publisher, Ante Up magazine.  Oh by the way, be on the lookout for their magazine in your favorite poker room.  Ante up is considered THE resource for Florida poker. 

My friend Sue drove me tonight.  It was her first time to watch any poker tournament.  On the drive home, she was full of questions.  She wondered why a person got a penalty for talking on the phone but no one received a penalty for texting on the phone.  Good point, Sue!  I do wish the rules were equally enforced whatever they may be.

For some reason the cocktail waitress failed to make a last call to the tournament area. Heck, I didn’t see any server for the last two hours.  I was unable to get a cold bottle of water to help calm my recurrent hot flashes.  Hot flashes are not something you really understand until it happens to you. I thought cramps were bad—but this sucks more! 

This was a very enjoyable evening.  I took great pleasure in playing something besides NHL.  This was my first Live razz tournament.  This experience makes me realize it is time for me to learn the game of razz.  To facilitate this goal, I will be holding razz tournaments at my poker room beginning in mid-December.  Sign up now to play freerolls and play money as we complete testing of the site.  Here’s the link:  www.pokerprosnetwork.net/jenadelk.html.

What’s next?

I will be at Daytona Beach Kennel Club on Thursday, November 12^th, to play in the inaugural Daytona Beach International Poker Tournament, Championship Event (day1A).   This is the first multiday tournament ever being hosted at DBKC.  The poker room management has worked hard to fill the field by holding tons of sit-n-go’s and satellites.  There are already over 60 registered.  A good turnout is expected.  Here are the specks of the event:

Thur. Nov. 12 (Day 1A)

Fri. Nov. 13 (Day 1B)

Sun. Nov. 15 (Finals)

2pm Start time

$650 Buy-in

Starting chips 10,000

Starting blinds 25/50

45 Minute Blind Levels

Jack is driving me  I’m laying down in the back seat  We are on our way to play poker on the Suncruz casino.

The Suncruz is where I first played live poker in 2006.  This was before the Pari-Mutuel facilities in Florida were allowed to spread no limit. These casino boats were the only place to play. The boat heads out to international waters for about 4 hours of play. And there were a lot of people who wanted to play.  The games were rich and pockets were deep.

When Fl changed their law in July of 2006, the boat was adversely affected. While the card rooms had a max buy in of $100, people were drawn away from the casino boat for various reasons. Some people no longer had to travel far to find a game. Others enjoyed being able to come and go at will.  No sea sickness  was a plus as well.

The numbers on the boat dwindled as players scattered about the state. 

This caused me to seek alternative venues to play tournament poker.  I hit the WSOP and WPT circuit events to get my fix.

So three years later I am going to go see what’s happening in my old stomping grounds.

It takes about 30 minutes to reach the three mile line. Everyone waits to hear the captain say the casino is now open for gaming. As cards get in the air, I look around the table. Our table is comprised of all players known to me.  They are older gentlemen– “Rocks” with weathered skin from years of Florida sun.  I am not in a talkative mood.

Mark and Jack both just had aces. The four aces get felted without money entering the pot. Mark says, “I don’t want to get a flush on you.”  These two will go out of their way to avoid playing pots together for the rest of the cruise.

A new player with bourbon on his breath strolls over to take the empty seat next to me. He starts splashing money around the table. He just stole a pot and showed the table his queen ten off suit for top pair. And says, “I had you, right?” to the player who had just folded.  Bourbon continues to drink and push the Rocks around.  I wonder how long the table will let him continue?

One of Bourbon’s buddies joins the table.  As Buddy sits down, Bourbon leans over to me and slurs, “Do you think he’s hot?  I flash Bourbon my best “don’t fuck with me” look and he responds with, “You’d do him, right?”.  Buddy chimes in, “Dude, shut up, she’s married”  Luckily, the cocktail waitress shows up just in time to distract Bourbon from further inappropriateness.   A couple of hands later, Bourbon is busted from the game.  

I ended up down $93 when gaming ended for the night.