This post and others can be read at my blog
www.livenolimit.blogspot.com

I am friggin sick of waiting around for the right hand in the right position so I decided to practice some short handed poker. I've been trolling around the PokerStars $25 NL game looking for short buy in players and bad players who are lucky enough to have a big stack. When you play short handed you must play more hands to stay ahead of the blinds and have to be willing to push small edges and bluff more often otherwise aggressive opponents will have their way with you. I have been applying a loose-aggressive strategy and have to admit it is extremelly fun. When you play at a 9 or 10 handed table it makes sense to wait for a hand but when playing 2-5 handed you are constantly in the action. One thing I am noticing is that the more hands you play, the luckier you get. Well, you dont get luckier in the sense that the cards favor you more than usual but when you are pushing hands that are often not the favorite you get more opportunities to get lucky and draw out. I have made a bunch of big hands with cards like 10 4 suited and King 4 offsuit, hands I normally wouldnt play unless I was getting a free ride in the blinds. It is also exciting to find a short handed table that is playing passively and start raising every pot. I'm good at following through with the bluff on the flop but can usually tell when it is time to slow down on the turn. I'm not fond of cultivating a loose image in the full ring game but when playing short handed the players notice you playing wildly and tend to take stands against you when they shouldnt. I already had one fella move in on me with A5 before the flop when I had AA and had raised the 10 previous flops. The key to this strategy is to raise with your big hands just like your crap hands and hope they play back at you.

Playing short also makes me realize how much of NL holdem is a money game and how important it is to play at a level you can afford. The $25 game feels like nothing to me so it is easy for me to push hard when I feel I have a small edge. I can tell there are players out there who buy in for $10 and nurse their stack like a cold beer and these are the opponents you can really exploit playing short handed.

I will be going to Vegas again this Thurs and Friday night to see if I can bust some tourists. Wish me luck!

see ya

YD

Hey Mecos, thanks for the post...

I was a regular at Commerce so I am aware of the great games. I put in about 200 hours in the $100 NL and beat it for $25 an hour and was pretty stoked about that. My problem with LA games is 2-fold

1) the people are fucking degenerate scumbags and are NOT fun to gamble with
2) the rake and blind strucktre for the level I play ($100/$200 NL) I find to be a total rip-off. I prefer to play in a game with a small blind structure and at least 100 big bets to start with

You are absolutely correct though, Commerce is the place to play - my win rate in Vegas at the assorted $1/2 blind games is only $15 an hour but I find the amount of money you need to risk to win is mimimal. Consider me one of the locals just sitting there busting tourists! Game selection in LV is important and I avoid the rock gardens...nowadays you can always find a live game since NLHE is getting so popular.

While I play all poker to build my BR I agree that Commerce may be a better place to play overall...I'll start going there again soon...

good flops

YD

"Yoga... I'm enjoying reading your journal, as I'm generally a live player, and am jealously living my life vicariously through you and your Vegas trips...

BUT... It's getting impossible to follow you, cause you now officially have like 4 different journals going... Just post a reply chief w/ your new entry... If for no other reason, do it for me"

Sorry bud, I didnt realize I was creating seperate journals each time I posted...I will continue posting under this thread only... I appreciate the fact that someone other than my parents is reading my crap...c ya

YD

Check out my old posts at www.livenolimit.blogspot.com


I booked a room at Ballys which cost me $175 for 2 nights. I flew Southwest and booked in advance for $89 round-trip which was a steal. Cabs cost me $20, food cost me $30, parking at the airport was $35. I didnt spend money on anything else and was never tempted to play any of the casino games. The casino games are for suckers. The players all looked like meat-heads. The flight both ways was under an hour which I loved. I find that by traveling early in the morning you get a good shot at being on a plane that is not fully booked so you can really spread out. The hotel room was nice and clean but nothing fancy. My expenses are $349 so I know I am fighting an uphill battle in order to show a profit. It's cool if I dont cover expenses, as long as I dont loose. I couldnt stomach loosing to the morons that populate these great games.

The game at Ballys is $100-$200 buy in with 1/2 blinds which I think is the perfect struture for me. Fairly good blind to buy in ratio with lots of players buying in short, gotta love it. I'm going to experiment with playing more hands this trip because it is getting pretty tedious just waiting for the best hands. They say that the best NL players play more hands than most. Can I become one of these players? We'll see. This is the perfect game to try it as I am comfortable if I piss off a few buy ins.

The players on this trip fell into 3 basic categories:

1) burned out good players who have been clearly booking a ton of hours and only playing premium hands - they are clearly not having fun and are easy to read because you know they are playing tight and they tend to show more physical displeasure when the flop hits them wrong - their emotions are clearly fried as the game is very stressful

2) young college aged man with a baseball hat on who watches a ton of TV poker, plays with friends, and 99% of the time, cant maintain their composure after a bad beat..a common trait of these young players is to put too much emphasis on one hand. They cheer and clap when they win but moan like little bitches when they loose. Why are so many guys wearing baseball caps anyhow? It's like they are perpetually ready to play first base.

3) absolute maniacs who will see every flop and play every hand...these people you usually have to make some kind of hand against, but not as much of a hand as you would need against a better player.

I played a total of 16 hours over 3 sessions. 8 hours thursday night, 4 hours friday afternoon and 4 hours that same night. Next time I play I will book 2 8-10 hour sessions because I found that after playing a daytime session it was hard to motivate to play again at night. The one long session was easier for me.

There were many exciting hands but I'm gonna give ya only a handful.

I call an $8 raise one off the button with 56 of spades. I see the flop with the SB, a burned out local. My first poker experiment, playing a hand I would normally muck. Flop comes 346, rainbow, one spade. Pre-flop raiser, young guy in a baseball cap bets out $10. My first instinct is to just smooth call as my hand really isnt that good. I cant make 2 pair and be happy and holding the top pair of 6's really isnt much. But then I remember what I am trying to do, play loose AGGRESSIVE poker. I raise it to $30 and am uphappy to get called by the burned out local behind me and the kid. I go from unhappy to elated when an offsuit 7 hits the board. The kid bets out $10 again. What the fuck, what a retard, what kind of hand can a preflop raiser possibly bet in this spot? The pot is big now, so I make it $100 to go. The local looks ultra pissed but calls this large raise. SO DOES THE PRE-FLOP RAISER! Pot is huge. River is an Ace and I can only loose to 58. Kid checks and I'm all in for $75, local folds ( I think he has a set or 2 small pair) and the kid calls. Kid shows 55! Argh, I split the pot with him but realize right away that I created this pot for the both of us. If we stuck to his plan, which was a $10 bet on the turn into a pot over $100 we wouldnt of gotten squat. My turn raise got us each and additional $50. This is the skill part of the game folks, knowing when to push when you are ahead. If you have a made hand on the turn that is not a full house or better you need to make all of your opponents pay for the river, especially when the pot has some meat in it.

I raise $8 with 810 of hearts under the gun. You heard that right, RAISE, in the worst position possible with a drawing hand. I get called by an absolute maniac who looks straight out of Commerce. Asian, blank-faced, seeing every flop. Flops is 7, 8, 10, all diamonds. I'm happy to be heads up with this hand. Wow, now I see how you can sometimes play marginal hands easier against a smaller field. I bet out $12, trying to keep the pot small if a bad card comes off on the turn. Maniac calls and the turn is an ugly Jack of hearts. 4 straight on the board and it goes check-check. River is a blank, not a diamond. I am not sure where I am at so I just bet $10. He calls and shows K diamonds 7 of clubs for one pair. Dam, that was fun as shit. If I would of been in a multi-way pot I am sure the turn card wouuld of killed me but being heads up against a maniac was positive EV.

I raise to $8 with 26 offsuit in MP and get called by a maniac. Flop comes A77, check to me, I bet $10. He folds. I show the table my cards and declare, "I'n not trying to rub it in buddy but I set a goal for myself this trip and that goal is to win as many pots as I can with 26 offsuit." He takes it in good humor. The next time I raise with 26 of diamonds I get re-raised by a baseball cap and fold. He shows A10 of diamonds. LOL.

I raise a limper with AK in middle position. Get called by a young guy in a baseball cap and and the limper is a new player so I have no read. At this point, players are saying to me, "Are you raising again?" and I say, "Hey, any 2 will do!". I get the miracle flop of AKK. Check to me, hmmm, yeah, I check, it gets checked around. Turn is the case King. Sweet, been a while since I made quads and I am hoping one of these guys has an Ace they cant let go of. Limper bets $10 and I call, player behind me folds. River is a blank, limper bets $20 and before his chips hit the felt I raise him all-in for his last $80. . I am trying to look like I am bluffing. He insta-calls, says, "Probably a split pot." I tell him "Nope" and rake the pot. That was fun. Hmm, money from good hands and bad. This is starting to feel like something new. Hey, it's fucking fun not folding every hand. Now I am getting into the mind of the loose-aggresive player. They play this way because it is more fun. More hands = more action.

I call a $10 raise with AJ suited against another burned out local. Yes, I know he has me beat pre-flop, but no good loose aggressive player could fold AJ suited with position. Flop comes J45, 2 diamonds, Local bets out $15. Ahh, yeah, keep dreaming. I raise to $45, he folds and says he only had 3 outs against Ace Jack. Shit, he guessed my hand but I didnt show it. I assume that means he had AK or AQ. I actually think I made a mistake this hand. I should of just smooth called as only 8 cards in the deck will look bad for me on the turn (K or Q) and I should have realized that this rock would not give me action. He will re-raise me with a better hand and fold all worse hands. Maybe next time I will try to smooth call here and then raise the turn. Jeez, if I has AQ or AK and an Ace falls off on the turn I could make a big pot.

I'm not exactly sure and this is probably my ego speaking but I am starting to feel that I am becoming a "Player" instead of "Grinder". It is clear to me that there are many ways for inexperienced players to make mistakes beyond the flop that I can capitalize on by being in there with them, taking my chances with hands that would not stand up against better players. I am trying to add up all of the elements of the game, taking into account my opponents style, my position and my read, instead of just waiting for the nuts. To be fair, I probably threw away $150 making plays that didnt work but I think I made this much or more with my marginal hands that won. I guess the key is to make as much as you can with the premium hands and all of the other hands are considered the icing on the cake, if you are inclined to indulge in icing.

This was the first time in a long time that I enjoyed playing poker. I'm gonna continue to play this style, looking for short handed games online at smaller than my usual stakes, and see what comes of it. Bring on the variance baby, I am no longer afraid.

I fly out 7:55 AM Saturday and get home in time to teach my 10:30 AM yoga class. Oh yeah, +$525 so I showed a fair profit for the trip. Nothing like a paid vacation.

good flops and no bad beats

yogadude

YD-

Good stuff. .Its true that the biggest winning players are not 'grinders' at all...they are somewhat LAGgy, and some are more than 'somewhat' LAGgy.

But remember winning LAGs still have to make solid decisions pretty often, i.e. folding AJs against a rock preflop (ill fold that every time against a solid player, especially in the cutoff)

ANyways, glad you feel your games evolving. Its nice to look down at a marginal holding, and know that you can still net positive from it, aint it? Theres a link in the reading stuff section to a Ray Zee article that I post to people from time to time, because i think its so true-- i know it was/probly still is for me...and is for most players, i think.

http://www.twoplustwo.com/zee2.html


[/quote]

check out my blog at www.livenolimit.blogspot.com

Random stuff

Things are going well here in LaLa land. The first day of summer was beautiful and reminded me of why I moved here in the first place.

I'm feeling optimistic about my game this month. I've been trying to play 4 hours of internet poker and 4 hours of live poker daily. My internet play has been lack-luster but I recently started playing the night shift at Commerce (8PM-12midnite) and am starting to get back into the swing of the live game. As usual the games at Commere are awesome. I've been opening up my game a little bit and trying to gamble more with the loose players and it seems to be working out well. One thing I notice about playing more hands is that you definitely make more mistakes. When you play super tightly the only way you usually lose a pot is by being out-drawn but playing more hands can definitely lead to you making a strategy mistake or simply getting out-played by a loose player who is more willing to gamble than you. Playing more hands is way more fun than playing only the premium hands and I'm trying to balance my desire to gamble with my desire to make money.

Last night I made a mistake that cost me a huge pot. The pot was 3 handed and I was in middle position. I raised the pot with AQ offsuit and flopped a gut-shot straight draw. The player in front of me bet the size of the pot and I immediately folded . The gut-shot got there on the turn. This card made the first player top 2 pair and the player behind me the second nut. Now, normally folding to a decent bet for a weak draw is the best play but in this case I had about $250 in front of me and was up against 2 very bad/loose players, each with over $600 in front of them. There was huge implied odds and if I would of called the flop bet I would of tripled up my $250 because I am pretty sure I could of gotten all of the money in on the turn. This hand kept me up most of the night but I am trying to let it go.

I found another way to gamble more with the loose players when I flopped a set of dueces on the button. It was a limped pot with 5 of us seeing the flop. The flop came 2 5 6 with 2 spades and a loose player in the big blind bet out $25 into this $12 pot. Normally this would be a mandatory raise for me because any spade,3 or 4 would make the board look very dangerous. Then I remembered flopping a set of 5's with a similiar board, raising the flop bettor who showed me a 6 and folded. I realized that I raised him off of a hand that was pretty much drawing dead and should of simply called and take the gamble that he didnt have a legit draw. When I hit the set of dueces this time I opted to smooth call. On the turn, the 5 paired and the BB led out again for $25. I doubled the bet to $50, he called, and then I got my last few bucks in on the river winnning the pot with my mini-full house. It felt great to get action on a hand that I may of missed if I raised too early.

I got to go see a man about a horse. take it easy

My blog is at www.livenolimit.blogspot.com

Most poker players will tell you stories about their huge pots or big bluffs. Personally, I would rather hear a story about a player laying down a hand in a tough situation.

Last night at Commerce I am in the big blind with 10-3 offsuit and throw in the buck to see the flop. I will pay $1 out of the 3 in the small blind with any 2 cards because I feel I can play them well after the flop. 5 of us see the flop and it comes 10 4 3, all different suits. I flopped top and bottom pair and bet out $15 into this $11 pot. I get a call only from the big blind. The turn is a Queen and I fire out a $30 bet. The big blind raises me $45 more. What do I do with top and bottom pair?

Here's what I know about my opponent: I have seen him raise pre-flop 2-3X with big cards like Q10 suited or KJ. He's not playing every pot and is playing somewhat conservatively. He seems to fold on the flop if his hand misses so it dosent feel like he is doing any unnecessary chasing. My instinct tells me that he is not playing poker to throw his money away haphazardly.

What do I do with my 2 pair? I start asking myself, what can I beat? I can beat AQ or a slow played AA or KK. I can beat bottom 2 pair. The question I then ask to myself is wether or not this player would call a pot sized plus bet on the flop with just overcards containing a Queen. I think the answer is no. I figure him for a hand like Q10 which he didnt raise pre-flop with because he was out of position and seemed savy enough to understand this idea.

I look over to him and he looks relaxed. "Tough decision" I say. He says, "Well, this is my last hand of the night, I have to get going." He's words imply weakness. In poker, weak usually means strong.

Finally I look at my chips and see that I will have about $100 in front of me left if I call the raise. If I do call the raise I may be faced with a river bet for the rest of my chips. Do I want to risk $145 on top and bottom pair in an unraised pot?

I fold. He shows 10-4. He flopped top 2 pair. He says to me, " I just called on the flop to let some players in behind me since the board is so uncoordinated." I dig my cards out of the much to show my big laydown. My ego takes over me and I say, "Sometimes I play so good it's fucking sick!" A little out of line, but I was excited. A big laydown pumps me up just as much as a big pot.

yogadude_165@hotmail.com

My flight landed about 8AM in Vegas and by 8:30 I was able to get an early check-in at Ballys. They tell you the check -in is 3PM, but if you get there and they have available rooms they can hook you up early. Since I woke up at 6AM to catch my flight I was still tired so I immediately cranked up the rooms AC and took a nice 2 hour nap. Refreshed I headed out to the pool which was just starting to get busy. I probably spent 2 hours in their oversized jacuzzi, trying to rest my mind as much as possible. It's hard to not think about poker when you know there is a long session in your future but part of my game plan is to be as mentally rested as possible when I play. Spent some time drying off in the blazing sun and then went back to my ice-box of a room and took yet another nap. I woke by 4PM and by 4:20 I was sitting in Ballys' $200 buy-in 1/2 blind game. The mix of players was typical, college aged kids, middle aged men, and a few older rocks. The game varies from very loose to simply loose and hardly ever becomes tight. The first table I was at was actually a bad game. I thought I've been at bad tables before but this table really showed me what I want to avoid when playing in Vegas. What made this game bad was the combination of looseness and aggression. I prefer a game that is loose but passive, so I can see flops cheap and play from there. There were 2 players with big stacks (around $500-800) making it $15-20 to see the flop on almost every deal. One player in particular was not only raising pre-flop often but then he was way overbetting the pot on the flop making it very difficult to call him down with marginal hands. My first 3 hours of play was a nightmare and I found myself stuck $300. Table change!

The next table on day one was much better. This game had a group of four 20-something guys who were all friends from some midwestern state and they were all playing pretty bad. One of them was raising every pot but then not doing anything when the flop hit, missing his steal opportunities. The other 3 played somewhat tight but you could tell after an hour or so they were getting impatient waiting for good hands. There were also a couple of drunks in the game who were friendly but playing every pot, willing to call raises with 45 offsuit just to take a peek at the flop. I got bluffed out of a $150 pot by one of the young kids when I couldnt get myself to call $70 with middle pair. I would of called because I was pretty sure I had him but there were 2 other players behind me who I was worried about. We all folded and he showed bottom pair while cheering for himself. I was a little steamed but I tried not to show it. If I think a guy is bluffing but know I cant call him anyway I fold somewhat quickly. I dont want to take a long time to make the decision because then the guy will absolutely know for sure that he bluffed me and be more inclined to rub it in. Things really turned around for me in one monster pot. I called an early position raise to $10 with 44 and it got called in 5 spots. The flop comes 7 7 4 rainbow (2 different suits). This is a monster hand but it is vulnerable if a card 8 or higher hits so I know I am going to fast-play the hand. The pre-flop raiser bets a novice $10 into this $50 pot. It gets called by the guy on my right and I make it $30 to go, hoping to get re-raised by a player holding a 7. I get smooth-called by the drunk on my left who I am pretty sure has a 7 in his hand, and the other players fold. The turn is a miracle 4, giving me quad 4's and a board of 7 7 4 4 . I check, he checks. Now I know he has a 7 because he would of tried a bluff on the turn if he didnt. The river is a 6. I bet out $50 hoping to get at least called and praying to get raised. I dont have to wait long as I watch the drunk put his fingers to the base of his chip stack and push in all of his $300 in chips. I have him covered, call right away and he shows 7 6 offsuit for the nut full-house. I jump out of my chair and scream "Yes"! The next words out of my mouth are an apology for celebrating but I dont feel bad about celebrating the biggest pot I have ever won in a live NL cash game. The pot was around $850 and I went from being down $300 to up $500. My heart was pounding and it was a major thrill. I swear I dont play poker for the action but this was action-overload. I tried to push the table around with my big stack for a couple of hours but I realized that I am an inexperienced big-stack player and I was losing a bunch of small bets and not really getting anywhere. Finally I picked up QQ up front, made it $10 to go, got re-raised to $40 by the button, a decent playing middle aged player. The $40 gets called by a tight player on my right whe really had a hard time deciding wether or not to call so when the action gets back to me I put the $40 in the pot and declare that I am all in. The guy on the button has $120 more and I figure if he has AA or KK, so be it, lets at least get the middle position player out of here. Older player folds but unfortunately for me the button has AA, the flop comes 333 7 8 and I figure I would of been all in on the flop anyway so I dont feel too bad about losing this hand. I cash out after 8 hours up around $360. I slept well that night:)

I spend the next day pretty much the same as the first. Slept till noon (the best part of playing poker professionally), spent a couple of hours floating around the jacuzzi, drinking coffee and checking out the girls. By 4PM I was back in action. Again I find myself stuck after a few hours, down around $200. Nothing really bad is happening but I'm not picking up any cards and I am missing the flop with the cards I do get. I am definitely opening up my game and if the game is passive I limp from middle position on with any hand as good as 78 offsuit. I'm in a good loose/passive game, limp a ton, but miss every flop. Finally I pick up AJ of spades under-the-gun (first position) and make it $10 to go. Not too long ago I would limp with AJ in early position but I decided that I am going to raise with even my semi-premium hands if the game is not too aggressive. Unfortunately for me I get called in 6 spots. I'm usually a fun guy to be at the table with and holler over to the other table, "Anybody over there want to call my raise too?". People laugh and we see the flop of A K 3, the King and 3 are spades so I have top-pair/good kicker and the nut flush draw. Problem with this hand is that I am way out of position on a large field but I know I have to bet. I bet $40 into this $55 pot, hoping to take it down on the flop but I get called in one spot, a decent player who is not too loose. I put him on either A10 or AQ. The turn is a 5, putting another flush draw on the board. To tell the truth I really didnt know what the fuck to do at this point. If I bet $80 and he raises me another $250 more (we both had about $350 in front of us to start) I would actually consider folding the hand. Since I am kind of lost-and-confused at this point I decide to check and see what he wants to do. He fires out a $75 bet without hesitation. Since he bet so fast I decide that he is reading me for weak, possibly thinking that I hold KK. I have to call this bet since my draw is so good but my problem is, what do I do on the river if he moves in on me for $250 more? Will I call this bet with just one pair if I miss my draw? The pot has $220 in it by now and I decide to end the decision making process and declare all-in and say, "It's about $250 more, let me know if you if you want an exact count." My opponent turns blue, green, purple, and then starts crying. Well, he didnt really cry and didnt turn any color other than a pale shade of green, but I know I made the right play. He shakes his head for making his bet and takes a long time to make his decision. If he calls I know I am drawing but since he is taking so much time I know he dosent have 2 pair or a set. He takes about a minute to decide but it felt like a week, my heart was pounding in my chest more than it ever has in this game. I've put this much money in the pot before but I usually have close to the nuts when I do it, this is the first time I am betting over $300 with just one pair. Finally he folds and I realize I just made one of the biggest plays of my short NL cash game life. He didnt show but I think he folded AQ or A10 with a heart draw.

By hour 5 of my 2nd day my friend Dan from LA shows up. Dan is a great guy, obsessed with poker like me, and a ton of fun to hang out with. He's kind of a typical looking jewish guy in his 40's but he has what they called on Seinfeld "The Kevorka" and has a way with the ladies. His cell phone camera is filled with pics of girls he's banged. We play together for a short while, I watch him nicely slow-play top set against a single opponent and extract $125 out of a player with a weak hand and am glad he won a nice pot. To tell the truth, I dont really like playing with my friends at the table because I get emotionally involved when they lose. The game is so-so an I leave Dan for a new table. Not much happens in this game and after 8 hours of play I find myself up $160 and decide to call it a night, locking up a $510 win for the trip. Normally I leave my vices at home when I got to Vegas (the opposite of what most do I think) but Dan had a funny cigarette so we went outside and smoked up. Walking around Vegas stoned was great. The men are such fucking losers, doing anything they can to find a piece of tail for the night and in my slightly altered state I really feel like I am in a large den of depravity. The girls are mostly blurry eyed and drunk but are fun to watch. I feel like I can clearly see all of the insecurities of our culture when I got to Vegas. Most of the men are highly muscled, definitely over-compensating for a small brain/penis and the girls are dressed as skimpily as possible. I fear for our future, but at least I know the games will always be good!

good flops friends

"I calculated my odds of ever getting together with a portugese waitress. Mathematically I had to do it."

George

My last 8 sessions (30 hours) at Commerce have found me down $250 and I find myself sort of frustrated. So I started 3 tabling the $100 game on Stars and have been doing well, up $260 for 4 days/16 hours played. Playing 3 tables is not as diffucult as I previously thought. I'm playing 99% ABC poker and the players at this level kind of walk on into you. I've been getting 750 hands during my 4 hour sessions and it's cool to see the numbers build up on my Poker Tracker. There's no kidding yourself when you use PT for all of your online poker as it keeps record of every single action you take. Analyzing a session after I play is always interesting especially with the replay function. In the $100 buy-in game I'm at 16,000 hands holding steady at 8.15 BB/100 hands. I've got 4765 hands at the $200 level and a dissapointing .73 bb/100 hands. I'm gonna stay away from the $200 and grind it out at the $100. The internet provides a steady earn for me and I think I'm gonna put in as many hours as I can and use that money to play a little higher when I go to Las Vegas.

I'm a little shell-shocked from having 8 mediocre days at Commerce and I dont feel like playing there much right now. I've been trying to comit myself to playing 5 nights a week but the moment things dont run well for me all of the drawbacks of playing at Commerce become clear. The people are generally in a depressed state, the rake is $4/pot the second the flop hits the table and you can only buy $100 in a game with $2/3 blinds. I like playing with happy tourists , a rake of 5% max up to $4 with a buy in of 100X the big blind. There are actually more good players in Vegas but there are so many fish out there it is nice to have a couple of readable players at the table to minimize the craziness of the game. Its' clear that I can not make any real money playing the $200 in Vegas (due to trip expense) so I have to set a goal of playing the $200-500 with 2/5 blinds in order to be able to show a decent profit for the trip. Hopefully soon I'll be able to write a blog report about making a killing the first time I play in a game with a $500 buy-in. I'm sure I'll play at Commerce again soon because my good friend Vlady keeps calling me to remind me of all the good action there. They are truly the softest games in the world.

Not much else going on. Made some money in June but I aint saying how much. The numbers for the middle of the year look good..I am on track to reach the goal I set for myself as far as poker winnings but I think I set the goal too low. I need to book more hours, somewhere close to 40/week if I want to keep building the bankroll. To tell the truth it's all a fucking grind. The only time I really enjoy playing is when I am in Vegas. There is something so special about playing poker with people who are on vacation. I booked a cheap ticket on Southwest for a single night this week. I'm leaving Burbank around 3PM and coming home the next morning at 6Am, aiming for a 10 hour session. I'm not currently in a state to play the $200-500 game yet but I hope to book a nice win at my regular game.

I quit too soon. When I get ahead more than 2 buy-ins I usually want to call it a day. This is sabotaging my chance at making big scores. I'm trying to stick to a plan of playing 1000 hands a day (3 tables) , not stopping play unless I get to my loss limit for the day.

I just need to say this shit out loud so I can fix these holes in my game. Thanks for listening.

www.livenolimit.blogspot.com
yogadude_165@hotmail.com

Nightmare in Vegas/ A lesson learned

I had such a sick trip to Vegas a couple of weeks ago. The events were so painful that I couldnt write about it until I got the negative mojo out of my system by winning back all of the money that I lost.

I dont usually believe in omens when it comes to gambling but I should of known this was going to be a shitty trip when my plane got stuck on the tarmac in Burbank for nearly 4 hours. Sitting on the plane with nothing to do was absolutely terrible. I got to LV by 9pm but couldnt get a seat until 11PM. Since I was up since early that morning I didnt feel good about my chances of winning while slightly fatigued. I ended up playing just 5 hours in my typical $200 buy-in $1/2 blind game at Ballys, losing only $100. We were 5 handed for a couple of hours which was fun but nobody was really giving their money away.

Slept until 2PM the next day, spend some time at the pool, had some crappy pizza, and then headed back to the game. Within the first hour of play I made a very stupid play when I called a $15 raise with AQ in the blind, hit a Queen-high flop against 2 players and managed to get all of my money in against a set and a flush draw. Ugh, stupid amateur mistake. I felt bad for the guy with the set when the flush draw got there. I was going to buy in for another $200 but in that moment I felt that I could not sit there all night trying to grind out a win just so I could beat my expenses. Fuck it, I got $1500 in my pocket, lets go play the $500 buy in $2/5 blind game at the Mirage! I cab it over to my favorite poker room (I used to play stud at the Mirage 5 days a week) and quickly get a seat in the big game. Immediately I notice the texture of the game is different than the smaller Ballys game. First off, nobody is sitting there with a short buy in, almost eveybody has at least $500 in front of them. Second, the players are talking much less. The $200 game is more like a home game where people are drinking, talking,laughing and generally having a good time. This game was way different. Nearly everyone was sitting there as quiet as you could imagine. There was a very pretty woman (not a girl for sure) who was sitting with about $800, her neck dripping with big diamonds and her fingers heavy with some serious jewelry. She was the picture of class, just the opposite of the few girls I have played with who are usually some type of low-limit degerate gamblers. The rest of the table was a mixture of older men and guys in their 30's . This game was big enough that there wasnt any of the typical college-aged kids you see in the smaller games. This was my first real poker game! I only wished it lasted longer. Here's the long and short of it.

On my very first hand I get AK offsuit and raise 5 limpers to $25, 2 players call. . Flop comes King, 9, 7 all different suits. Check to me and I bet $50. I get one caller, an Asian player who I find out too late is really the only soft spot in the game. The turn is a 10, he checks to me. I see he has $150 left so I just move it all-in. He quickly calls and shows me 1010 for a set of 10's and I am drawing dead. Ugh, stuck nearly $250 on my very first hand, rebuy! I play a couple of small pots in the next 30 minutes, losing about $150 just by missing with my small pocket pairs or getting called when I am trying to steal some small pots. On my last hand I call $25 from an early position raiser with 99. 3 of us see the flop. The first card off the deck is a 9 and my heart nearly jumps out of my throat. The flop is 10 9 7, rainbow. A perfect flop for me unless the pre-flop rasier has 1010. The pre-flop raiser bets out a strong $75, I put him on a definite overpair. The loose playing Asian, who now has a full buy in thanks to me, smooth-calls the $75. Only a total fag would smooth call here with a set of 9's so for the first time in my life I say, "Raise it, make it $300 to go." The pre-flop raiser instantly folds but just as quickly the Asian players says he's all-in. I call right away only to see his 78 offsuit for the nut straight. The board dosent pair and within just 30 minutes of play I find myself stuck $930. I stand up from the table, making the effort not to seem like I want to run away ( I do), say "Nice hand, good luck everybody" and stumble away from the game.

Pretty much shell-shocked I find myself walking back to Ballys. No cab for me, after that loss I need to walk it off. I head up to my room and talk to myself for a little while. "No, you didnt do anything wrong. You simply took a shot and it didnt work out. You are still a great poker player and a good gambler. Everybody fails every once in a while" No matter how much pep-talk I gave myself I couldnt muster up the energy to grind it out for the next 10 hours in the $200 game. I make a decision to really enjoy my night in Vegas and decide not to play poker. Screw it, I'm gonna play some of the house games and see if I can actually have some fun. I have not played craps for about 14 years and decided to put $200 into play. I play for an hour and lose just $100. Playing craps reminded me of why I got into gambling in the first place, it is fun! The difference between playing craps and playing poker is immense. In poker you are hardly ever in the action and have to wait hours to find a situation to gamble in but in craps you are in action on every single roll of the dice. I knew the exact odds against me every time I placed a hard-ways bet but I didnt care! For the first time in a million years I was having fun gambling. $100 down I decide to try my Moms' game, blackjack. Playing $10 a hand I find myself stuck $50 after 30 minutes. Starting to get bored I put my remaining $50 on one hand. I get dealt an 8 and a 3. It felt funny reaching into my pocket for another $50 (you cant go into your pocket during a hand at the poker table) but I did and doubled down. The stupid dealer gives me a 4 and then deals herself a 6 card 21. Fuck.

Numb at this point, I put another $200 into a craps game at Ballys. This time things start going my way. I think I played for about 3 hours (a long time for craps) and ended up winning about $280. It was really exciting. A couple of times I hit hard 10's and hard 8's when they were also the point for some $100 pay-outs. Once this session was over I realized I got whatever I needed out of my system out of there. Up $30 overall in the house games I decide to take another 14 year break from them and head back to the poker tables. I play for an hour in the $200, win an easy $100 when I make a small flush, and then head to the airport. Overall I lost about a grand, the most I ever lost on these trips to Las Vegas.

Home from Vegas I find myself totally inspired to continue playing and win my loss back. I start playing my regular $100 buy-in g

ame on PokerStars, playing 4 tables at once. I decide to force myself to play 1000 hands a day, not qutting no matter how far ahead or behind I am. Somehow losing a grand has made my regular game seem very small and this time when I am up a couple of buy-ins I continue to play. I have earned over $1500 since I have been back from Vegas on July 31st. I made my single biggest online score (excluding tournament wins) yesterday and booked a cool $480 winner in 1000 hands. Even though I am a pessimistic/generally negative person, when it comes to poker I can usually find the good in the bad. Losing that grand has me more focused than ever before. It is clear to me that the online games are the easiest money around and I plan on sticking with it. Next month I am going to take a shot at 4-tabling the $200 games. Things are good and getting better.