gambling in Niagara

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I went to Seneca Niagara casino over the weekend and lost over $600.

We left after work Friday, arriving around 11pm. I played a few hours that night, with most of my winnings coming from an AA hand and a super bluff I managed to pull over some poor fellow. Around an hour in I had doubled my $100. Unfortunately, I lost $200 over the next two hours. I decided at that point that I was more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner when it came to poker, a decision that would haunt me the following day. Again I would start well, and about 2 hours in Saturday I was up $450 over my initial $100 investment... and during the next 4 hours I would lose it all. My theory is that I get tired if I win too much, that I lose my instinct to protect my money while at the same time being hungry for more. I just lost my desire to keep playing and to keep winning, and my game got dull and predictable.

So, the first night I was $100 down, and the next night I was $30 down. It's not TOO bad when I consider that I had totally expected to lose $200 over both days, my self-imposed limit. But I was burned SO badly when I think that I could've walked away with $550 or so. Rather, I am STILL bummed about it -- those bad hands taunt me tirelessly, agonizingly. My killing mistakes on both days were mis-timed bluffs against opponents I couldn't read. I remember the second one well because the woman I was heads up against was a pure beginner, unsure of the rules of the game itself let alone of playing in a casino. I still shake my head on entering an expensive bluff with her.

That's really the problem; I don't mind losing my investment (I had already steeled myself to them disappearing) so much as I mind losing my winnings! It's maddening, it really is. So disheartening, I don't know if I could go back to playing in a casino. I certainly feel that what I experienced was primarily beginner's luck and that I'd be hard-pressed to repeat such a performance.

Oh yeah, while we stayed on the Canadian side the casino itself was on the American, necessitating a couple walks across the Rainbow Bridge. Interestingly, it costs $0.50 to travel from the Canadian to American side, but is free the other way around. Despite the cold weather, I walked around the area, still in a lamentful daze. Apart from the casino itself, the surrounding area is well depressed -- boarded up houses, run down, dingy looking businesses, nary any pedestrians.

That's about it, really. Next time I'll bring a book.

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