Lover of trading, tacos, 3D/AR/VR, cryptos, and most things Japanese

  
Last night marked the first time I have played a cash game in a casino in over a decade. I have been playing online for play chips all year, and have been playing tournaments quite a bit lately, but haven’t had the chance to sit down and just play regular poker until last night. I had a blast!

The down side to playing tournaments is the increasing blind structure. As time progresses, you are forced to put more chips into each pot and, as a result, you often get to a point where you have to gamble more and take more risk. In a cash game, the blinds never go up, and you can sit back and wait for cards and opportunities to come to you before acting. And, you can get up from the table at any time, securing any wins at whatever point you like.

I played $1-2-100 modified no limit hold ’em. Colorado doesn’t allow full no limit, the max bet one can make at any time is $100. With the blinds at 1/2, I can play an unraised pot for two dollars. I bought in for $300, with another $120 in my pocket in case things went badly, so at most I had $420 at risk.

I was excited to go, to put my skills to the test in a real situation, to see if I could perform as well live as I do online, in a non-tournament situation. As I drove the hour up to the Ameristar casino in Black Hawk, I reviewed my strategies. Naturally, I had dreams of winning big, but I was taking a very realistic approach. My primary goal was to play for a long time to see how my play would change over time, assess how the play changed based on time of day to determine if there was a more profitable time to play, and to make some money.

I arrived at the Ameristar at 4:15, got a parking spot right away, and walked in to the casino. I was greeted by the hospitality person, who directed me to the poker room and the players’ registration desk. I went to the desk and signed up for a player’s card, which the casinos use to log your activity at the casino, and ultimately award you various comps based on how much you spend. Poker players earn comp points based on the number of hours they play at the table, rather than by how much they spend. The main thing that separates poker from other casino games is that you are not trying to beat the casino in poker, you are up against the other players at the table. The casino takes a small amount from each pot that gets raised, called the rake, to cover their costs for the dealers. So, if a pot gets raised to about $20, the casino takes $2. If the pot gets big, the casino takes $7. I’d imagine the rake is percentage based, so the casinos make more money from those games. I was playing the smallest level at 1/2, but there were at least ten tables playing 2/5, so the Ameristar was making good money from poker players.

After registering for my card, I walked over to the poker room. There were about 50 tables available, with about 15 of them fully seated and playing. As I passed the tables, I many people with big stacks of red $5 chips in front of them – thousands of dollars in play. My first thought was, “Uh-oh. I don’t know if I want to sit down at a table with these guys and gals.” In no limit poker, the size of your stack determines your power at the table. I did not want to sit down as a total underdog at a table from the start. Fortunately, I realized these people were playing 2/5, so I probably wouldn’t be playing against them.

 

I checked in at the poker desk and got on the waiting list for 1/2. I found out where the closest bathroom was. I was ready to go. After a short wait, my name was called. I asked Daniel, the poker manager, what the max buy in for the table was. He said it was unlimited buy in, but that bets were capped at $100. I bought $300 worth of red chips, three stacks of 20 chips, and was escorted to the table by one of the suited attendants. As I took my seat, I scanned the table. There were seven men and two women, and nobody had more than $400 in chips in front of them. I had bought in for the right amount, and was evenly matched with my opponents. I saw that about half the players had drinks in front of them, which suggested that play might be loose, and I hoped this would be an easy game.

I started the timer on my phone so I could log my results after each hour. Today’s session was about gathering data. I wanted to see how my results varied over time and gather data to develop an optimal playing strategy going forward.

Play started out slow for me. I didn’t pick up any playable hands, and I used the time to start developing reads on the other players. My seat draw was less than great, as I had a LAG (Loose AGgressive player) two seats to my left. This meant he would act after me in the majority of hands. He was raising a lot of pots, with most of his hands, which made it tough to get an idea of what he was playing other than ATC (Any Two Cards). He was in a wheelchair, maybe mid-twenties, and I remember thinking how cool it was that he could play poker no problem. Across the table from me was a woman, mid-thirties, who was winning a lot of pots. She had this tendency to have a slight frown/scowl on her face for many of the hands. A bit of permanent bitchface, if you will. But between hands she was smiling and chatty, so it seemed to be a reverse tell – almost as if she didn’t like playing any of her hands, even her winners.

It was 37 minutes before I won my first hand – a small one. That broke the ice a bit, and I started getting a few more playable hands. My chip stack had dwindled – I was down about $100 before winning my first big hand.

It would have been a bigger win if I had more chips, if I had bought in for more, but I was happy to double up what I had. This underscores why the amount you buy in for has a direct relation to what you win – you’re looking to win one big pot an hour, and the more chips you have when that opportunity comes, the more you win. I briefly rued not buying in for more, but let that go quickly and appreciated winning my first big pot.

Play continued to go well for the next two hours. I steadily increased my stack, chipping up, and winning a few hands. I wasn’t getting great cards, didn’t have many opportunities, and the other players at the table were tough opponents. For a while, every hand was being raised to at least 3.5 big blinds and I wasn’t getting many playable hands in the raised pots.

Around hour five, I was dealt pocket kings for the second time. The first time I got them, I was in early position in a raised pot with several other players, and an ace flopped. With full tables, the odds that somebody has an ace are pretty high, so when there was a raise and a reraise after the flop, I knew my kings were no good and had to let them go. The next time I got kings, I was in late position, and raised. I got a few callers, and the flop came ace king three, rainbow (multi-suited). Perfect! The aggro player at the opposite end of the table raised, as he always did, and it was called around to me. I wanted to get maximum value for my trips, so I just called, not wanting to scare other players off. The turn came a harmless seven. The aggro guy bet out, everyone folded around to me, and I raised a bit over minimum, hoping he would come over the top at me and let me get it all in. He only called though, and the river brought another ace – the worst card that could come. Now if he had AK, A3, or A6, he had a bigger full house than mine, and I was beat. He was playing a ton of hands, so I couldn’t assume he didn’t have one of those. He leads out and bets, and I’m put to a big decision: do I simply call, or do I put the rest of my chips in? I went into the tank for a bit, and decided just to call. He triumphantly turns over pocket threes, for threes full of aces. I grin and turn over my pocket kings, for kings full of aces, and scoop the biggest pot of my night.

As I was scooping and stacking my winnings, I peeked at my cards and picked up queen ten of hearts – a decent starting hand. I make a standard raise, get a few callers, notably the new guy to my immediate left, who was a very tight, aggressive player. The flop comes Qxx and I check, he bets, two other players call, and I make it 2.5x his raise. He calls, the other players fold out. The turn comes another queen, and I have a strong hand again – trips two hands in a row. I check, he bets 25 and I raise to 50. He tanks a bit, then calls me. Now I figure he’s got a queen too, but I just saw him play K4 offsuit in another hand, so I’m thinking he’s got a weaker kicker than me. But, given the other cards on the table, he might have hit a full house, and I’m hoping for a ten on the river to secure my hand. The river is a seven, no luck for me, and I check. He bets 60 and I instacall, figuring I had him beat. He turns over queen jack, one pip better than my queen ten, and I end up giving back everything I’d won on the previous hand. Sigh.

I was card dead most of the remaining night. Every time I’d get a playable hand, I’d be out of position or the maniac to my right would massively overbet the pot. I had KJ and was planning on playing, but he raised to $36 in a $10 pot. He had taken a few bad beats and wasn’t handling them well. He was lashing out, overbetting, trying to win everything he’d lost back in one hand. Not smart play, and I was eager to take advantage of it, should I get good enough cards. No such luck for me tho. At six hours, I was ready to give up, having gradually given back most of the night’s winnings. Then I won a decent pot and decided to stick around for one more hour. The game had loosened up, the maniac to my right had settled down, and the nemesis to my right had left the table. Conditions were good to continue, but unfortunately my cards didn’t improve.

As my seventh hour reached it’s end, I vowed to play the two last hands I could see the cards for free, then call it a night. I was hoping to win one more pot. The first hand went into the muck, and on the last hand I was dealt Q8 of diamonds. I was in first position and normally wouldn’t play this hand from that position, but decided it was worth $2 to try and play. If the pot got raised, I’d fold and call it a night. Luckily, the pot was limped in to by everyone, and I got to see the flop. The flop was the ten of clubs, seven of diamonds, and three of diamonds. I bet my remaining profit of $12 into the $10 pot, and everyone folded except this one older Asian gentleman to my right, who had been playing quite well. The turn came the jack of diamonds, making my flush. I lead out into the $34 pot with a bet of $20, and he called me. The river came a blank, and I bet $30. The gentleman went into the tank for a long time before eventually folding to me. If I had made the bet a bit smaller, I might have gotten paid off. It was my last hand, so I flipped over my cards and showed him the flush, and he smiled and thanked me for showing him. I announced that was my last hand, bid good night and good luck to everyone at the table, racked up my chips and headed to the cashier.

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to cash out your chips for more than you bought in for. Part of the reason I wasn’t more aggressive as the evening progressed and my chip stack dwindled was that I was determined not to go home a loser – especially after having been up significantly. One of the worst feelings is getting up big, giving it all back, and then losing more – going home a net loser on the session. When that happens, you can be racked with the eternal question, “Why didn’t I cash out when I was up big?” I didn’t want to think that, so I was determined to go home even at worst.

I ended up the night a small winner, and learned a lot about live poker play in the process. I learned to sit back and wait for the right hands, the right situations, the right opportunities. I learned not to bluff so much, that live players will call down almost anything as long as they have a piece of the board. I learned that people will play weak aces from any position, just because they have an ace. I learned that I am too concerned with the dollar amounts, still. To be a great poker player, you can’t think about how much you’re betting, what it means, you have to think of it as part of the game. It doesn’t matter what you do during the session, what only matters is where you end up. I learned that, due to new gaming regulations, the casinos are open 24/7 now – before they used to close at 2am. I learned that people don’t often make $100 bets at the 1/2 level. (I had worried that people would be betting the max a lot, and thus my meager stack would be severely disadvantaged.) I learned that, contrary to what I had heard, there are not teams of players colluding against you at the table. That was a big rumor I’d heard several times, about why people don’t go play up there. Clearly fear based, or maybe a ploy to keep other players out of the action. Can’t believe I had considered that a possibility. 🙂 And, perhaps most importantly, I learned the need to properly size value bets when I have the best hand. I had a tendency to make them too big, try to win too much, rather than make a bet that could be called. That’s a huge difference between live and online poker – live players will fold more often than online at the river.

What did I learn about my game? I learned that I do great for about four hours, then I start to get tired. Particularly if I’m not catching cards. Next time, I will plan to play for four hours and then take a break to get some food or get away from the table for about 30 minutes before returning. Maybe I will go up around eight and play until one. The tables got kind of dead between 5-7, then picked up again later. I will tighten up my play, bluff less, and commit to my plays more firmly. Many times I’d take a stab at the pot, get called, and give up on my bluff. That’s a great strategy at a tighter table, but at loose tables like mine, continuation bets were so common that they were practically ignored. That means that, if I’m going to play a hand, I have to be willing to call two bets with it – the initial bet, and the bet that will surely come on the flop, regardless of what hits. I also realized that I tend to do less well when concerned about tracking my results every hour. I found my play would change as the end of the hour approached if I hadn’t won much, as I’d play more pots trying to keep my hourly earn rate up – not good.

All in all, I had a great time. I got to do what I usually do in my spare time, play poker, but this time I was doing it for real in a situation with real, meaningful results. I can have a great night and win 3M online, but those are just play chips, and even a small cash win feels so much more worthwhile. As I continue, I expect my results to improve, and now that I’ve identified a few leaks in my game, I hope to return to Ameristar and do much better next time. It was really fun sitting at the table, trying to figure out who was playing how, picking up on some tells, getting reads confirmed or denied, sitting at the table and doing what I love to do. It is said that you cannot focus on results in poker, only on how you played. Except for a few mistakes, I played pretty well, and have learned a lot in the process. Here’s looking forward to next time! 🙂

 

  
Session Two, Game Three

I made my first league final table last week, finishing in eighth, and scoring my first point of the season. My goal for this game was not just to make the final table again, but to come in with enough chips to be able to play. Last week I was handicapped, limping in to the final table with only enough chips to pick two cards and hope to double up a few times to survive.

In preparation for better league play, I started playing higher limits and six-handed on Full Tilt over the weekend. My win rate skyrocketed from a typical 13% to 36%, and I was cleaning up. It wasn’t just getting good cards – it was taking advantage of perceived weakness, being aggressive, taking more time to think before acting, and making good decisions. I decided to use the same approach with league play this week.

I was dealt ladies the very first hand and took it down without much resistance, despite an ace flopping. I proceeded to bet and raise my good hands, even pulled off a bluff or two, and built a decent stack.

Then things changed. I had a run of bad beats that crippled me. I was down to one $500 chip. Fortunately, I tripled up and then pentupled up before the rebuy period ended, and I saved myself some cash. The second catch put me in great shape, and I was chip leader at the table heading in to the break.

After the break, we were down to 13 players from the original 20. Blinds were getting bigger, and play was tightening up as we approached the final table bubble. Points are only awarded at the final table – 11 for first, down to one for eighth and ninth places.

After a few more bust outs, we were down to the final nine. We moved to the fina table, drew for seats, and sat down to play. There were a couple short stacks who had eked their way in, and at least three others with comparable stacks to mine.

Play got more aggressive as the short stacks busted out, and soon the blinds were 1500/3000. I had Q-10 in the cutoff, made a standard raise, and was only called by the big bling. The flop came K-J-3 and the BB checks. Normally I would have made a continuation bet, as I had been successfully doing all night, but I had a strong draw and opted to take a free card. The turn comes a nine, making my straight, and the BB goes all-in in front of me for 14k. I check my cards to make sure I have the straight, call, and knock him out. Now I am definitely the big stack at the table, and were down to five players.

My big chip lead allowed me to sit back and wait for premium hands as the others battled it out. I called two all-ins, won the hands, and eliminated players from the table. When we got down to three, I sat back and let the two short stacks battle it out, until only one remained.

Wow! Not only did I make it further than ever before in league play, but now I’m heads-up for the game. My opponent showed that he was looking to double up or go out quickly, going all-in in the first three hands, regardless of whether I called or raised him first. Fourth hand, I get A-9, and he is first to act, changing it up and making a standard raise. I shove all-in over his raise, and he calls with two undercards. The flop comes J-4-4 missing him, and then I turn a 9 – securing the win and scooping all the chips! 😀

Not only did I play well, I got good cards, and got lucky a few times. However, I was only ever all-in when I was down to my last $500, I wasn’t at risk of busting the whole night. I started strong, kept playing well, making smart decisions, and dragging many pots. A great night!

I had trouble falling asleep last night. I think it was because I was too stimulated going to bed and just needed some down time between my activities and going to sleep. It’s probably not realistic to think that I’ll fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillow, though historically that holds pretty true for me.

I awoke naturally at 6:11 this morning, but thought that was “too early” to get up and get started on the day, so I slept in until my alarm went off at 7:30. This was a mistake, as I’m in a bit of a funk because of it. I also didn’t go straight to the gym this morning. I’m meeting my sister for coffee this afternoon and will go when I do that. Plus, today I’m doing cleans, which requires my full body to be awake and warmed up. For those who don’t know, cleans are a barbell exercise. You start with the barbell on the floor, squat down, pull it up to your shoulders in one move, then stand up. It is a full-body exercise, using some pretty heavy weights. I’ll be starting with 95 pounds and see how that feels.

I’m feeling tired and lazy this morning, but I’m not letting that stop me. I’m chugging and plugging away, reading emails, posting to Twitter, sharing on Facebook, and doing my daily writing practice here.

My interview with the placement firm went well yesterday. Josh and I seemed to hit it off, and he offered some suggestions on how to improve my resume and make it more SEO friendly. Interestingly, now that resumes are digital, their length isn’t such a big deal. This is a good thing, because mine is 2.5 pages long right now, and he wanted me to flush it out some more, add more skills and keywords, things that will show up in the scanning software they (and other firms) use. When he asked me about my time in Pueblo, I panicked a bit and said I was in school. This was part of what kept me up last night. How does one encapsulate what I’ve been through these past three years? What do I share, what do I keep private? After reflecting, I recognized that transparency is the best policy, and I will be calling him this morning to explain that I’ve been in the hospital. It’s a weird space to be in, knowing I have all these skills to offer a company, wanting to get back to “real” work again, and having this specter of mental disorder hanging over my head. I don’t usually have a problem sharing what’s happened, but I think I wanted to impress him and that’s why I didn’t mention it. I was also caught up in the moment, things were progressing nicely, and hey, I’d just met the guy too. Still, it doesn’t feel right that I wasn’t completely forthcoming about my situation, and telling him is the right thing to do, so I will make that call.

Deb and I are having tea and coffee this afternoon, and it will be good to get some brother/sister time in. We haven’t had that one on one time since she took me out to lunch maybe a month ago. It will be good to have some alone time with her, catch up, and just chat while we sip on our beverages.

Much of yesterday was spent in meetings and waiting for my client, so I played a lot of poker. Talk about some wild swings! At one point I was down almost two million on the day, before rallying back in the evening session. The downswings came from losing some big pots that I got rivered on – there had to be at least 10 times that I had the best hand, was ahead all the way, only to lose it when that river card came. I went on tilt a little bit in the middle of the day, losing pot after pot for some time, before getting away and taking a break. After regrouping and coming back fresh, I went on a massive win streak and had my best session yet, getting up 1.8 million before cashing out with over a million in chips. These sound like big swings, and they are to some extent, but that’s the nature of the game. It’s also why bankroll management is so critical – you have to have the bankroll behind you to be able to ride out the tough times, the unlucky times, and not be crippled going forward. Arguably, I’m playing at just the right level for my bankroll. I never dropped below 1.2 million in my account, but if I had hit my stop at one million left, I would have stepped down to a lower limit game to build it back up again. I was also multi-tabling and I did great on one table and the other one was a constant loser, so I closed the loser and focused on the winner. I’m really enjoying the challenge of playing at the 1000/2000 level. I buy in for 200,000 and work at building it up. The players are much better at this level, it’s harder to get reads on them, and there are a few regulars that I see night after night, and the table chat is starting to get more frequent – which makes the whole game more social and fun. I can hang with these guys. I’m good enough to play at this level. I’m learning every time I do. Sure, you still get some clowns – like “ezmony555” – who go all in almost every pot. He was my nemesis yesterday. I picked my spots, and always called him with the best hand, but over and over he kept hitting something to end up winning. After about six losers like that, I just stopped playing pots he was in because I didn’t want to put that much at risk any more. He was running hot, had no fear, didn’t place any value on his chips, and therefore was very difficult to play. I try to play as if I was playing with real money. I take the game seriously, work hard to improve, and expect that this practice will serve me well when I finally get to the real tables. I’ve seen thousands and thousands of hands, seen just about every possible outcome happen, and have no illusions about the game. It’s funny to me when people whine or moan about how “unfair” it is or how it “must be rigged” because they lost a hand. The simple fact is that any two cards are going to win some percentage of the time and that, even if it’s only a one percent chance, if you see enough hands you’ll see it happen eventually. It’s all about mindset, perspective, and keeping focused.

Speaking of focus, I’ve rambled on enough for now. Gotta get focused on kicking some butt today, so off I go. See you tomorrow! 🙂