Hollywood Casino Columbus - The Biggest & Best Casino in Ohio

Yesterday, March 7th, I went with my roommates' boyfriend to our local casino. I guess he wanted someone to go with him to pull him off the baccarat table after a certain amount of time (he told me he gets stuck there sometimes). Little did he know, I was going to be the worst person for that type of job because I was going to go find the poker room. We left at around 8 to arrive at the casino around 8:40, we set to leave at around 2 hours in.
First things first, we needed to stop at the bank across the street to withdraw from the atm. First, atm doesn't wanna spit out any money, it looks like we're running poorly already. Luckily there's a second one and after about 20 minutes we pull out some cash.
I tell him to pull out 300$ for me, because I know that's the max at the 1/2$ tables inside. We go across the street to the fabled Hollywood Casino Columbus. I recently turned 21 two months ago so I have my ID in hand and ready. While giving my ID to the door guy I asked him if I looked 15 and he laughed and said yeah.
After we're in, roommates boyfriend shows me where he'll be at, and then points me in the direction of the cashier as well as the poker room. I notice the place is super packed, probably typical of a Saturday night. I walk up to the cashier line having no idea what I'm doing, I sit in line for about 5 minutes and noticed nobody was getting any chips from these people, so I figured I was in the wrong line and awkwardly stepped out... I walk into the poker room looking even more lost and a desk lady puts on her customer service voice and says "hi sweetie what are you looking for". I tell her I'd like to get seated at a 1/2 game and she asks me for my players-card. Having absolutely no idea what she's talking about (yanno, first time here) I ask her what a players-card was and then she explains I have to go to the cashier's line to get one. (in the back of my head like, shit I was just in that line). So I walk back over to the line, sit in for another 10 minutes and then sign up for a players card. The cashiers were telling me about some type of first-time benefits and it felt like they were trying to sell me stuff so I started ignoring them. They gave me pamphlets with all the same information anyway.
After finally getting my players-card I'm now ready to play, but I decide to be a good person and go check on my buddy at the baccarat table before I actually go and get seated. He was down about $400 already after like a half-hour, the guy definitely gambles a lot though and he told me his limit was $1000 for the night. I leave him be and I go back to the poker room and the desk lady points me to the poker room cashier to get my chips and shows me which table I'm at. (Super helpful)
I get my 300$ in my rack and I'm ready to go. I'm not expecting too much from the session since it's my first one at a casino and I'm honestly expecting to punt off my entire stack. I sit down, however, optimistically because I know I have a decent chance. There are probably about 25 tables running all different stakes and I find out that there's a high-hand bonus every half-hour tonight that pays out $300. (Rooms packed, probably a lot of non-regular players). I sit at my table, the dealer asks me if I want in this hand and I told them I'll wait for the big blind. The guy to my immediate left seems very disgruntled and says "you're gonna be waitin' a while." I didn't realize but I sat down on my big blind, but I guess I had the option to wait for an entire orbit. (probably poor etiquette to wait for an entire orbit, my bad.)
After watching for the orbit, I notice all the stereo-types about 1/2 are spot on, I see the classic old-man coffee across the table and even an old-lady coffee. I think I sat at a great table because there's those two and a couple of people who just aren't topped off on their stacks. (about 3 people with 150$ stacks). I notice a lot of limping already and A lot of action post-flop on wet boards. I play for about 2 hours and pick up 3 memorable hands, all the rest we're just typical blind steals, C-bets after aggression pre, etc.
The most memorable hand goes like this;
I woke up with the pocket ladies in MP QsQh I raise pre to something like 8$ (small but there weren't a ton of pre-flop raises that I had seen yet, I didn't know what was their standard so I just went 4x)
Folds around to the button who "3" bets to exactly $20 Everyone else folds, heads-up, action back to me.
I elect to make it $60, I cover villain by about $40 (320ish to 280ish). Villain decides to flat call.
Flop comes;
10d 4x Qx (complete rainbow no flush draws) Obviously a dream flop for me, I decide his flatting range is pretty strong here and I decide to check it over to him.
Villain ships it all in, without hesitation I snap it off. I put the guy on a strong hand either Aces Kings or maybe an unlucky set of 10s that set mined. We flip the cards over and he has 8d9d (wow this is a great table). Turn comes another 10, boating us up, and Villain is now drawing dead. This win puts our stack up to about 675ish and happens about 40 minutes into the session.
The second most memorable hand is a hand where I had JsTs.
I'm Early position (maybe seat 3 on a full table) and I elect to raise to $8, I get 5 callers and flop comes extremely dry, I decide to check it over because I just missed and I fold after MP makes something like a $24 bet.
This was the point in the session where I think that my raise sizing pre-flop hurt me a little bit, 4x didn't exactly feel standard for live poker. (stack after this probably down to about 590ish 1hr20m into the session)
The third and final hand is a hand where I woke up with the fabulous Ts2h! I'm in the small blind and button puts on a $5 straddle, Not knowing what's going on because I hadn't been next to a straddle yet I look at my cards and look around the table, dealer scares me a little bit and goes "4 more".
(I panic threw in $4 cuz I didn't know the action was on me)
folds around to LP middle-aged Asian women who calls and the straddle checks. (I've been pretty tight, great image at this point).
Flop comes;
Kh 2d 7s
First action I check, middle-aged Asian women bets $12, straddler folds, heads up. I elect to check-raise on this dry textured board hoping for a fold, I make it $25 to go. Villain starts muttering to herself and talking a whole bunch, very visibly upset and has a relatively shorter stack of about $100 left behind. She makes the call.
Turn comes 6c
I check it over to her (probably should continue my bluff but this is my first one live in a casino)
She checks back.
River is Ac
I decide to lead out small here (looks like a value bet on a weak opponent and throughout the night I've only shown down the nuts) I stick in 26$ she thinks for a while muttering to herself about what I could possibly have and makes a read that I had nothing on the flop. She ends up folding and I take it down. (PHEW)
This puts my stack up to about $630ish 1hr50m into the session.
After a few more orbits, and some preflop raises where I just miss the flop, my stack dwindles down to an even $600, and I look down at my phone and see a "Wya" (Where you at?) text from my roommates' boyfriend. I decide to start racking up at this point and then I go pull him off his table where he's still playing baccarat.
He books a winning session as Do I, We get some food with the credit he's built up from going to the casino so much. And we leave victorious.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps any first-time casino-goers in the future.

Hollywood has a reputation for producing blockbuster movies, but over the next couple of weeks another type of event is expected to take place here. Poker players are enthusiastic about the prospect of spending a couple of days participating in the Hollywood Poker Open. In 2014, the number of American players expected to attend this tournament is significantly higher than one year ago, which means that the competition will be more intense. Some of them have honed their skills over the Internet and poker rooms such as Sky Poker, but only those who reside within the borders of New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada can play legally. Things will probably change in 2015 and beyond, but for the time being live tournaments represent the highlight of the month for poker players. Season three will begin this November, in Indiana and players should jump on the bandwagon because the next stop is scheduled for February. Those who miss out on the opening event will have to wait three months, which is a long time for those who appreciate the thrills of live poker tournaments. Last season, the Hollywood Poker Open sent many players to the championship event, with a total of 200 competing for real money. Both amateurs and poker professionals are expected to attend the opening event and even more will probably participate in the tournaments scheduled for 2015. Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg in Indiana will be the gracious host for the first tournament and the registration has already begun. The number of players who announced their intention to participate is on par with the expectations, but their numbers will probably soar as kickoff draws near. There are a couple of professionals who signed up and Chris Moneymaker will be one of them, as a tournament ambassador for season three. To get a better idea about what awaits poker players in 2015 and to make sure that your schedule doesn't conflict with the tournament's program, check out the dates and locations below: Dates Location Nov. 13-23, 2014 Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg, IndianaFeb. 5-16, 2015 Hollywood Casino Toledo, OhioFeb. 26-March 8, 2015 Hollywood Casino Tunica, MississippiMarch 26-April 5, 2015 Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Grantville, PAApril 16-26, 2015 Hollywood Casino St. Louis, MissouriApril 30 - May 10, 2015 Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, West VirginiaMay 14-24, 2015 Hollywood Casino Columbus, OhioJune (TBD) Championship Event — M Resort Casino Spa, Las Vegas
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