Louisiana Trip Report, part 2

The break was just what I needed to mentally re-group and regain my focus. It is now after midnight and my birthday is over. I have not won and I am not winning but I have several more hours to play. I get 8-8 twice, 7-7, A-J, 4-4, and see a straddled flop with each one but never improve. I get Q-Js and win a small pot after flopping 2 pair. I also win small pots with A-Ko, once on a K high flop and once on a whiff that I continuation bet. I win a medium sized pot with Q-Q but nothing major. Around 2am, I get 9-9 on the button. The pot is straddled and then raised to me, $100 to go from an older player in middle position. My read was he had A-K or A-Q so I moved in. I had a tight image and had moved in previously with A-A and K-K pre-flop with him at the table. I figured he would probably fold. He didn’t. He called and tabled his A-Ko. I table my 9-9 and he seems confident. He never improved and I double through him. Sweet! I am up to about $580 on the table. I bleed off some chips trying to see straddled flops in position but get nothing until around 3:45am. I have about $370 in chips and I look down to see I have been dealt pocket Aces. I open bet to $50 since I am in early position and the pot is straddled. I get two callers when all of a sudden an older guy in late position says he is all in. It is folded to me and I call since I did not have enough to re-raise. The players behind me fold since the old guy has been pretty tight. I table my Aces and he tables his Kings. My Aces stand up again and I scoop a massive pot. Not long after that, around 4am, my buddy says let’s grab some food and I agree. I rack out with about $830 after tipping the dealer. I played about 9 hours and cashed out with $430 profit after subtracting the $400 I bought in for. I am sure I also gave out at least $60 in tips to waitresses and dealers. I estimate to have been dealt about 25 hands per hour (approx. 225 total) by the highly competent dealers I encountered. Heck, they even still shuffle by hand instead of using the automatic shufflers like I saw everywhere in Vegas. So, $430 divided by 9 = $48 dollars per hour. I think I could have won more but overall I am not too disappointed.
The trip back home was uneventful but relaxed. We scored some frozen boudain to enjoy later on the way out of Kinder, LA. Coming back winners makes the trip much less onerous although all the road construction still makes for an unpleasant ride. If there was anything good about the trip back, it was that we stopped and ate at Burr’s Smokehouse on I-10 in or around Vidor, TX. If you are ever passing through that area, do yourself a favor and stop at Burr’s. Their smoked sausage is exceptionally good. They even have cool shirts that say, “Burr’s, still smokin the good stuff”. I meant to get one but by the time I finished my meal, I was so full and satisfied, I forgot to. Anyway, we brought back a bunch of sausages so we could regale the homegame gang with food and tales from our experience in Louisiana.