Michigan Hold 'Em

I invented another new poker game on Friday. It's called Michigan Hold 'Em. It's played much like Texas Hold 'Em, but there are a couple twists that make it interesting. The game goes like this:

1. Each player is dealt two cards face down, and then there is a betting round.
2. Three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table ("the flop") which are community cards. There is another betting round.
(Up to this point, it is exactly the same as Texas Hold 'Em).
3. A fourth card ("the turn") is dealt FACE DOWN to the middle of the table -- another community card, but nobody sees it. At the same time, all the players still in the hand turn over ONE of their two hole cards. Now, each player has one up, up down, and the community cards are three up, one down. There is a third betting round.
4. Finally, a fifth card ("the river") is dealt face up in the middle of the table. There is a final betting round. After that final betting round, the turn card is exposed and the best hand takes the pot.

So.. the only differences from Texas Hold 'Em are that you get to see one of your opponents personal cards, and that you don't see one of the community cards. Keep in mind that the hole card you get to see from your opponent is the one they WANT you to see. My goal was to create a hold 'em game that had a little more action (especially from bad players). With the possibility that the turn card could make someone's hand, some players will stay in even longer (calling river bets) than they would in Texas Hold 'Em.

We played it a few times, and I think it worked. But, it will take many more hands to discover any big flaws in the game.

It's been a long time

I haven't posted in awhile because I was pretty busy the last couple weeks.

Two weekendends ago, I went to Las Vegas (for the third time this year). I went for four days, and had a pretty good time. I lost a fair amount of money gambling, but it wasn't unexpected. I mostly just play poker when I go, and I usually win.. but this time I decided to play a bunch of different tournaments to see what kind of structures they had at different casinos. Unfortunately I did not win any of them, and that accounted for almost all of my losses. I came close in the Stratosphere tournament - I made it to the final six, but only the top three got paid. I think there were 31 entries or something. At the end, the blind structure was beyond ridiculous. I had an average stack with about 10k in chips and the blinds were 2/4k. Every hand was all-in. I got in with 99 against AK and he caught an ace on the flop. It kind of sucked because the hand right before that, I had the guy all-in. I had 36 offsuit in the BB and had to call his all-in because the odds were right. He had A7. I caught a six on the flop, and then he got a seven on the turn.

Anyway.. I did do some other fun things. On Saturday night I went to Rain in the Palms. They were having a special Halloween party with a costume contest and stuff. The cover was $25 and the line was around the casino to get in. I bought a VIP pass for $50 (which included cover), and some guy escorted me right in. It was the best $25 I've ever spent in Vegas. The club was very cool, and some of the costumes were incredible. I took a couple pictures on my cell phone, but I haven't downloaded them to my computer yet. The whole weekend people were dressed up in costumes (Sat-Mon was the 29-31), and it was a lot of fun just watching all the people. The most popular costumes for women were: slutty nurse, slutty cop, slutty angel, slutty athlete (they were all #69), slutty snow white, and slutty slut. Which was nice.

After four days, I took a $30 flight from Las Vegas to San Diego, where my girlfriend was. We stayed in a historic hotel in the Gaslamp district right downtown. That area of San Diego is a lot of fun because there are always lots of people, bars, live bands, etc. There is always something fun to do.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way (probably on the flight from LV to SD), I got the flu. It didn't manifest itself until Saturday morning, but then it got bad. I came home Sunday, and couldn't go to work Monday or Tuesday. I lost about 8 pounds because I couldn't eat at all. It was very unpleasant.

But.. I am finally caught up now. I still have to figure out how I am going to use three more weeks of vacation by the end of April. I know I will be going back to Vegas in March sometime for the NCAA Tournament, so maybe I can stretch that into a week. That leaves two more though, so I'll have to think about it.