My normal poker game has been the aces and kings cracked early morning promotion at the Imperial Palace. From 8AM-11AM they pay you a $50 or $100 bonus if someone cracks your kings or aces, respectively, so Anand, a whole bunch of grumpy old regulars, and I go most mornings and play 2/4 limit. The bonus is pretty hefty and goes a large way in making up for the proportionally larger rake in 2/4. My running stat line is 16/13/3: 16 three-hour morning sessions, 13 times dealt kings or aces, and 3 times having them cracked. I don’t have the memory to keep track of kings and aces individually, but all the times I’ve been cracked it’s been kings. The dealer yells “kings cracked” when it happens, hence this post’s title. That’s $150 of bonuses on what I would guess is less than average luck when it comes to getting hands cracked. One guy got aces cracked three times and kings cracked twice all in one three hour morning session. I’m waiting for that.
Speaking of waiting, the promotion is doubly entertaining in that it changes the strategy. When you get aces or kings you just limp in, and check/call through to the river. You only need $10 in the pot to qualify for the bonus, so you can just sit back ultra-passive and hope people hit their inside straight draws and runner-runner flushes. You’ll never see so many people get mad about winning with aces or kings.
Plus, and probably more importantly, though less exciting than winning free money, the old regular folks play tight, and I’ve been beating them fairly consistently. It’s easier to win and less crazy for the ol’ bankroll when you aren’t playing with maniacal, drunken tourists late at night. On top of all this, every morning is it’s own little drama, Grumpy Old Men style. Lots of yelling, and card throwing, and ridiculous poker advice. I’ll probably try to describe some of them individually on this blog’s counterpart, but it would be hard to do them any justice.
