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wiffleball whizz
11-15-2014, 05:59 AM
our tour resumes with another trip to the beautiful new horseshoe baltimore where we have another $40 of free slots play waiting and 1,000 free rewards credits ($10) just for showing up! and all of this in addition to the already generous comps given by horseshoe make this the best casino on the tour imo!!

while horseshoe is treating me great however, there is trouble in paradise.

I suddenly have ZERO total rewards "offers" for atlantic city rooms.

with a career high 7800 tier credits (despite not living anywhere near a Caesar's property) I didn't see this coming but I guess I should have. possibly some of my habits have done me in like for example the last trip where I checked in late at bally's on Wednesday night and then ate breakfast at Caesar's on Saturday morning? In my mind I was there gambling at bally's almost two full days (Thursday and Friday) but possibly Caesar's is saying I was there four days and this is hurting my average daily play?

i'm sure it's nothing personal but while it's fashionable to slam atlantic city these days, we've given this place a lot of good publicity here on the proximity poker tour and i do feel betrayed.

anyhow back at the table, we're at horseshoe Baltimore and after turning $40 of fsp into $36 we help open a new 3/6 limit hold em table. the casino is uncharacteristically dead on this Thursday afternoon and we start only five handed, hoping for more players to join us..... but the game stays short the whole time.

a girl hits a couple straights against me and i fall behind over $30 before rallying back with a turned full house with t6 from the big blind and later hitting a nut flush with aq diamonds. i surge to a $41 lead about 2:45 in but get crushed in the final 15 minutes and when the game breaks after about 3 hours i head to the cage with only $81. the $19 loss being only my second career defeat at horseshoe.

can't get a room in atlantic city. and now we can't get a game at horseshoe. :bang:

game -19 (3/6 limit)
year +525 (68-49)

Yeah sucks the free rooms in ac are being cut back but this was inevitable with the revel showboat plaza and atlantic club closing.....pretty much making the pool of free rooms smaller.....

BUT.......you can always go on rt 40 in absecon/Galloway and get 2 nights for 70-80 normally this time of year exempt sat nights the Indian family's that own these hotels will take anything instead of the rooms sitting empty

Just pay cash

proximity
11-15-2014, 05:23 PM
Yeah sucks the free rooms in ac are being cut back but this was inevitable with the revel showboat plaza and atlantic club closing.....pretty much making the pool of free rooms smaller.....

BUT.......you can always go on rt 40 in absecon/Galloway and get 2 nights for 70-80 normally this time of year exempt sat nights the Indian family's that own these hotels will take anything instead of the rooms sitting empty

Just pay cash

now they're saying taj might close on december 12th too??

congrats on the big seven card stud score at foxwoods, btw! :jump:

dilanesp
11-15-2014, 05:47 PM
I read this entire thread.

Comments:

1. You are a better no limit player than you are a limit player. If you do play limit, you need to play 8-16 or higher; lower limits are basically unbeatable long-term due to rake. Also, it's much better to concentrate on one form of poker-- despite seeming similarities, no limit and limit are two very different games.

2. If you do insist on playing limit, you need to make much thinner value bets and not make hero folds in big pots getting decent pot odds.

3. Everything Thaskalos says about short stacking in no limit is right. Personally I think you should buy in for 100bb, or the maximum buy-in if less, in any NL game. You should also top off your stack whenever it gets below half your buy-in.

If you do want to pursue a short stack strategy, however, you need to read the strat threads on 2+2 that discuss it. Essentially, if you are a short stack, you are looking for scenarios to push the action and commit your stack. It''s pointless to be betting $15 with $30 behind.

4. You have significant tilt and discipline issues. You should really never get into a situation where you are discussing with a fish whether they had odds to call. You shouldn't be playing hands differently because you are card dead. You have to dispassionately analyze people's ranges and make the exact same plays no matter how you are running.

Also, do not keep mental track of whether you are up or down for a session. Obviously at the very end you need to record your results. But you seem to be extremely concerned with whether a given hand got you even again. That's meaningless. As Sklansky says, "life is one long session". Get your money in good, don't worry about the results, and analyze hands dispassionately with respect to whether you had sufficient equity against your opponents' range to make the particular play. That is all that matters.

5. Never open-limp with good position. If you have JT suited in the cut-off and it folds to you, that's a raise. If you don't want to raise it, fold it. You just invite other players to raise and take control of hands when you play like this.

Continued good luck at the tables.

proximity
11-15-2014, 05:59 PM
after taking a break for some lunch and slots at the horseshoe we return to the poker room where an actual full 3/6 limit game has broken out.

we get off to a nice start in this one, flopping a straight with rags from the big blind and chopping another straight with ace-jack in a straddled pot.

things have rarely been easy on our tour but about 1:15 in we experience a horseshoe dream hand with jt from the button.

flop: 9-8-7 rainbow with one spade!!

i raise on both the flop and turn (a blank). and when another blank falls on the river my value bet gets called too.

this win puts me up over $100, but i would go ice cold for the next two hours.

from the big blind i flop top two with q-9 suited. i lead out on the both the flop and turn and get three calls. i check an ace on the river, utg checks, late position bets, the small blind calls and i call.

the small blind tables a-q for a rivered two pair, the button tables 99 for a set of 9s, and the utg player tables qq for a set of queens and i finish in 4th place in possibly the most passively played hand in poker history. :faint:

an amazing hand and things will get worse before they get better.

pocket tens lose to a runner-runner straight on a paired board and in the very next hand pocket kings lose on the river to trip queens. i was able to raise the pocket kings to $9 pre-flop but the villain called three bets cold with q-j off suit and rivered the winner. :faint:

i'd finally break a 2+ hour dry spell when i'd get pocket kings again and river a set, but i needed the board to pair on the river to beat a flopped straight.

unfortunately i'd go cold again and at the 4 1/2 hour mark i fall behind before rallying late with jt hitting another straight and pocket aces finishing the job in the final minutes of the game.

i believe the final count was a mere six wins and a chop in the game but the dream hand with jt would help us get back on the winning track at horseshoe baltimore!!

game +36 (3/6 lim)
year +561 (69-49)

wiffleball whizz
11-15-2014, 06:31 PM
I read this entire thread.

Comments:

1. You are a better no limit player than you are a limit player. If you do play limit, you need to play 8-16 or higher; lower limits are basically unbeatable long-term due to rake. Also, it's much better to concentrate on one form of poker-- despite seeming similarities, no limit and limit are two very different games.

2. If you do insist on playing limit, you need to make much thinner value bets and not make hero folds in big pots getting decent pot odds.

3. Everything Thaskalos says about short stacking in no limit is right. Personally I think you should buy in for 100bb, or the maximum buy-in if less, in any NL game. You should also top off your stack whenever it gets below half your buy-in.

If you do want to pursue a short stack strategy, however, you need to read the strat threads on 2+2 that discuss it. Essentially, if you are a short stack, you are looking for scenarios to push the action and commit your stack. It''s pointless to be betting $15 with $30 behind.

4. You have significant tilt and discipline issues. You should really never get into a situation where you are discussing with a fish whether they had odds to call. You shouldn't be playing hands differently because you are card dead. You have to dispassionately analyze people's ranges and make the exact same plays no matter how you are running.

Also, do not keep mental track of whether you are up or down for a session. Obviously at the very end you need to record your results. But you seem to be extremely concerned with whether a given hand got you even again. That's meaningless. As Sklansky says, "life is one long session". Get your money in good, don't worry about the results, and analyze hands dispassionately with respect to whether you had sufficient equity against your opponents' range to make the particular play. That is all that matters.

5. Never open-limp with good position. If you have JT suited in the cut-off and it folds to you, that's a raise. If you don't want to raise it, fold it. You just invite other players to raise and take control of hands when you play like this.

Continued good luck at the tables.


There's no 8-16 games in this area exept for a reg infested 10/20 game at the borgata.....

Also what people fail to realize here is myself and proximity aren't Made of money......easy to play aggressive when you got deep pockets or buy in for the max OR say "you really shouldn't play 3/6 cuz of the rake"

I'm sure in a perfect world myself and prox would be buying in deep at any and all games......but it's real easy to sit on other side of country and say play higher

dilanesp
11-15-2014, 06:52 PM
There's no 8-16 games in this area exept for a reg infested 10/20 game at the borgata.....

Also what people fail to realize here is myself and proximity aren't Made of money......easy to play aggressive when you got deep pockets or buy in for the max OR say "you really shouldn't play 3/6 cuz of the rake"

I'm sure in a perfect world myself and prox would be buying in deep at any and all games......but it's real easy to sit on other side of country and say play higher

Math is math and variance is built into the game. If you want a predictable income, poker's really not the way to go.

You should only be risking money you can afford to lose. If you can afford to lose it, then you should play whatever the mathematically correct strategy is. Not doing so may allow you to play longer, but doesn't eliminate your risk of ruin. It actually increases that risk over the long term.

proximity
11-15-2014, 07:27 PM
3. Everything Thaskalos says about short stacking in no limit is right. Personally I think you should buy in for 100bb, or the maximum buy-in if less, in any NL game. You should also top off your stack whenever it gets below half your buy-in.

If you do want to pursue a short stack strategy, however, you need to read the strat threads on 2+2 that discuss it. Essentially, if you are a short stack, you are looking for scenarios to push the action and commit your stack. It''s pointless to be betting $15 with $30 behind.



thaskalos is just a bigger and better player than me. he's beating 5-10 and up and while idk if he's facing borgata caliber 5-10 players he could definitely beat 1-2 there for a lot more than i am.

and 2+2 big dog, limon, routinely buys for "only" 70 bb...... way, way better than me.

these are established high level players and right now i'm just a novice with the potential to be some kind of winner...... and actually a lot of potential to be able to go to the casinos, have a good time, and not get hurt.

proximity
11-15-2014, 07:35 PM
There's no 8-16 games in this area exept for a reg infested 10/20 game at the borgata.....

Also what people fail to realize here is myself and proximity aren't Made of money......easy to play aggressive when you got deep pockets or buy in for the max OR say "you really shouldn't play 3/6 cuz of the rake"

I'm sure in a perfect world myself and prox would be buying in deep at any and all games......but it's real easy to sit on other side of country and say play higher

i'm beating limit games because i'm playing against horrible players..... period.

8/16 at parx or 10/20 at borgata..... you're right, i'm not going to hardly ever play in these games and i'm never going to establish myself as any kind of winner there.

wiffleball whizz
11-15-2014, 07:36 PM
Math is math and variance is built into the game. If you want a predictable income, poker's really not the way to go.

You should only be risking money you can afford to lose. If you can afford to lose it, then you should play whatever the mathematically correct strategy is. Not doing so may allow you to play longer, but doesn't eliminate your risk of ruin. It actually increases that risk over the long term.

Yeah not really trying to make a reliable income playing cards,....I keep seeing you trying to out debate Thaskalos but your not even in the same stratosphere as him....

Meanwhile dilanesp I'd like to bet whatever I could that proximity is up more then you in cards this year......

thaskalos
11-15-2014, 07:39 PM
thaskalos is just a bigger and better player than me. he's beating 5-10 and up and while idk if he's facing borgata caliber 5-10 players he could definitely beat 1-2 there for a lot more than i am.

and 2+2 big dog, limon, routinely buys for "only" 70 bb...... way, way better than me.

these are established high level players and right now i'm just a novice with the potential to be some kind of winner...... and actually a lot of potential to be able to go to the casinos, have a good time, and not get hurt.
Proximity...if I appear overly critical at times, then I apologize. I only want to help. I have paid an ENORMOUS price to get to where I am today...and I want other gamblers to have an easier, less painful journey than the one I have traveled.

wiffleball whizz
11-15-2014, 07:41 PM
Proximity...if I appear overly critical at times, then I apologize. I only want to help. I have paid an ENORMOUS price to get to where I am today...and I want other gamblers to have an easier, less painful journey than the one I have travelled.

I can tell you I've had numerous conversations with proximity and we both respect all your opinions..... And taking offense is never even a consideration

dilanesp
11-15-2014, 08:20 PM
Yeah not really trying to make a reliable income playing cards,....I keep seeing you trying to out debate Thaskalos but your not even in the same stratosphere as him....

Meanwhile dilanesp I'd like to bet whatever I could that proximity is up more then you in cards this year......

Wiff, you are quite wrong on all those statements. I am up $5350 for the year. I didn't know this-- I don't actually look at my results "for the year", because I don't care; I only care about improving my play. I looked it up on my tracking software because you asked. I can tell you that yeah, I'm one of the 4 percent of limit hold 'em players who makes a decent profit, and my winrate is established over several years of live play plus online pre-Black Friday.

I'm trying to shine some light on some aspects of poker you may not really understand that well. If you don't want to listen, that's up to you.

proximity
11-15-2014, 08:39 PM
Yeah not really trying to make a reliable income playing cards,....I keep seeing you trying to out debate Thaskalos but your not even in the same stratosphere as him....

Meanwhile dilanesp I'd like to bet whatever I could that proximity is up more then you in cards this year......


careful with that because if nothing else, the game reports are actually true and i am only up $561 for the tour/year and a good 10/20 player should be up more than that by this point.... if he's been playing. whether that's better than what thaskalos is doing, idk but obviously thaskalos's game is more portable because most places you have to be able to play no limit. i'd like to see more diversity in the types of games around here, but people want to play what they want to play and right now it's mostly 1-2 nl.

where do you think those stud players at taj will go, btw??? borgata?? :confused:

dilanesp
11-15-2014, 08:55 PM
careful with that because if nothing else, the game reports are actually true and i am only up $561 for the tour/year and a good 10/20 player should be up more than that by this point.... if he's been playing. whether that's better than what thaskalos is doing, idk but obviously thaskalos's game is more portable because most places you have to be able to play no limit. i'd like to see more diversity in the types of games around here, but people want to play what they want to play and right now it's mostly 1-2 nl.

where do you think those stud players at taj will go, btw??? borgata?? :confused:

Yeah, definitely if you travel a lot and want to play when you travel, skill in no limit is a distinct advantage, although there are pockets of limit around the country (NJ, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Las Vegas, Bay Area, LA, San Diego).

proximity
11-15-2014, 09:01 PM
Proximity...if I appear overly critical at times, then I apologize. I only want to help. I have paid an ENORMOUS price to get to where I am today...and I want other gamblers to have an easier, less painful journey than the one I have traveled.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

definitely no need to apologize for anything.

i just don't think that a player at my level should be taking 4 digits of buy ins out to the casinos at this point. i've played before this year..... but not much, while you and the other good players here have significant experience.

proximity
11-15-2014, 09:13 PM
I can tell you I've had numerous conversations with proximity and we both respect all your opinions..... And taking offense is never even a consideration

this.....

proximity
11-15-2014, 09:37 PM
Wiff, you are quite wrong on all those statements. I am up $5350 for the year. I didn't know this-- I don't actually look at my results "for the year", because I don't care; I only care about improving my play. I looked it up on my tracking software because you asked. I can tell you that yeah, I'm one of the 4 percent of limit hold 'em players who makes a decent profit, and my winrate is established over several years of live play plus online pre-Black Friday.

I'm trying to shine some light on some aspects of poker you may not really understand that well. If you don't want to listen, that's up to you.

whizz is a talented guy but idk if he's going to get the kind of games he wants around here? maybe he can consistently get 10/20 to 20/40 limit or mixed games on the weekends at national harbor when it opens?? :confused:

horseshoe had a 7.50-15 mix the other day but that rarely goes and right now (saturday) all bravo is showing is 1/3, 2/5, and 3/6 hold 'em. :confused:

wiffleball whizz
11-16-2014, 10:35 AM
careful with that because if nothing else, the game reports are actually true and i am only up $561 for the tour/year and a good 10/20 player should be up more than that by this point.... if he's been playing. whether that's better than what thaskalos is doing, idk but obviously thaskalos's game is more portable because most places you have to be able to play no limit. i'd like to see more diversity in the types of games around here, but people want to play what they want to play and right now it's mostly 1-2 nl.

where do you think those stud players at taj will go, btw??? borgata?? :confused:

I'm guessing the 1-5 stud game will go to either the ballys room or the trop....don't see the borgata spreading that game but I could be severally mistaken

As for the weekend collusion which was or is the taj 10/20 stud game that will in all likelihood be the end of 10/20 as we know it as far as stud goes

It was always a great time having rolled up kings and losing in a 3 way pot and have player b throw player c 2 greens across the table.....didn't even waste my time calling the floor as I knew it would only result in a "you can't give money across the table" and would then the player giving 50 out of his pocket outside


Have zero sympathy for any casino that closes as they did just fine burying people for 25 years

proximity
11-16-2014, 07:36 PM
unfortunately our trip horseshoe Baltimore ends up getting cut short when I wake up for day number two with a stomach ache, a bad headache, and actually feeling more tired than when I went to bed. there's been a lot of stress lately that's maybe starting to wear on me but the stomach part was possibly my own fault as I ignored the sage advice given to me on my first night at horseshoe about the "muddy river water" that the casino passes off as hot chocolate.

I make it home safely but the missed session will probably end up costing me $25 of rakeback as the game was definitely going to push me over 50 hours and into the $75 bracket instead of the $50 bracket.

anyhow our next game finds us back in the familiar 1-2 no limit waters at penn national racino. two uncontested raises with aq are paying my blinds at this tight racino table but eventually i'd drop a couple hands raising aj suited from late position. I miss the first flop completely and whiff on a diamond draw the second hand. shortly thereafter I raise pocket aces to $12 and shove the flop but j-9 of diamonds guns me down with a flush on the river.

my second buy in doesn't go much better. I avoid tapping out on a tropicanaesque hand from the big blind when I flop two pair with k-2 on a k-t-2 flop. middle pair hangs in with a-t and catches an ace on the turn. another raise with aj goes south when I turn trip aces on a board with three hearts but my shove gets called by an underpair to the board with one heart. the villain's 9 high flush draw misses but he ends up rivering a 9 for a full house.

a third buy in goes back and forth and in the end gains back $4 of the losses before the game breaks.

we had a pretty good month going until these last two games at penn national where it seems like I have a lot more bad games than good games although a check of the ppt stats showed this to be a myth. we've actually won $518 at pen (29-22) and $475 in no limit games (28-22). over 51 games the $6 rake here has been a silent killer on our tour and in 2015 we're going to have to get better to overcome this.

game -116 (1/2 nl)
year +445 (69-50)

tucker6
11-16-2014, 08:03 PM
I'm guessing the 1-5 stud game will go to either the ballys room or the trop....don't see the borgata spreading that game but I could be severally mistaken

As for the weekend collusion which was or is the taj 10/20 stud game that will in all likelihood be the end of 10/20 as we know it as far as stud goes

It was always a great time having rolled up kings and losing in a 3 way pot and have player b throw player c 2 greens across the table.....didn't even waste my time calling the floor as I knew it would only result in a "you can't give money across the table" and would then the player giving 50 out of his pocket outside


Have zero sympathy for any casino that closes as they did just fine burying people for 25 years
when does AC close up shop as a regional gambling center, or has that already occurred? They seem to be local south and central Jersey action now.

proximity
11-16-2014, 08:16 PM
when does AC close up shop as a regional gambling center, or has that already occurred? They seem to be local south and central Jersey action now.

probably when aqu (nyc) gets a room. there always seem to be several ny players at bally's when i'm there. Borgata may be the only survivor then?? :confused:

wiffleball whizz
11-16-2014, 09:21 PM
when does AC close up shop as a regional gambling center, or has that already occurred? They seem to be local south and central Jersey action now.

Take a peek on the bravo poker app and besides fri/sat all borgata is is a glorified regular room with 1 20/40 holdem game....

On a scale of 1/10 on ac being done it's about a 17.5

proximity
11-20-2014, 06:40 AM
happy birthday to thaskalos as "the blond greek" (post 17) turns 53 today!!

the deep stacked Midwesterner has been with us pretty much wire to wire and has contributed several outstanding posts on the thread!!

flop well my friend!! :)

tucker6
11-20-2014, 07:28 AM
happy birthday to thaskalos as "the blond greek" (post 17) turns 53 today!!

the deep stacked Midwesterner has been with us pretty much wire to wire and has contributed several outstanding posts on the thread!!

flop well my friend!! :)
blond greek?? Looks like an old Sicilian from his avatar.

Happy birthday Thask.

thaskalos
11-20-2014, 01:27 PM
Thanks guys...I appreciate the remembrance, and the good wishes. They say that the mirror doesn't lie...but they are wrong. I may be gray where I once was blond...but inside me still beats the heart of a WARRIOR. Gambling hasn't seen the best of me yet. :)

LottaKash
11-20-2014, 02:35 PM
Thanks guys...I appreciate the remembrance, and the good wishes. :)

And I will add my best wishes to you Gus, as well...Happy BD ! :jump: :jump: :jump:

wiffleball whizz
11-20-2014, 03:26 PM
Thanks guys...I appreciate the remembrance, and the good wishes. They say that the mirror doesn't lie...but they are wrong. I may be gray where I once was blond...but inside me still beats the heart of a WARRIOR. Gambling hasn't seen the best of me yet. :)

Still waiting for Thaskalos to come east and mix it up with the mid atlantics best....would be great theatre!!!

proximity
11-21-2014, 04:56 AM
after a disappointing loss at penn national last time out we are back on the road to the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore for another game of 3/6 limit hold 'em!!

but before we take our seat in the big game there's some casino business to take care of. I turn $50 of free slots play into $71 and collect $50 of rakeback based on my poker play from October 15-november 15!!

there is a lot of complaining on this forum about track and casino managements, and rightfully so. but I just want to say thank you to horseshoe Baltimore for these promotions and acknowledge a management team that is doing things right!! THANK YOU HORSESHOE!!!

fsp and rakeback collected, i'm ready to take my seat in today's game..... but maybe a little too ready as i'm at the table right in time to post the big blind. I could act like i'm tying my shoe or something and let the button pass (you don't have to post there) but instead of being a weasel I post the bb and my qt gets rewarded with a flop of 4tt and we're off to a good start!!

but after this quick score, things go ice cold.

between folding rags I lose with tt, jj, and aq twice. other than the opener I only win one other small pot in the first two hours of the game and fall behind. finally a win with pocket aces arrives and I close to within $15 of even. not long after this score I pull ahead when I raise a button straddle to $9 with ace-king from the small blind. three players call the $9 cold and the button calls for $3 more. fortunately no dimes are out there on a flop of a-t-t and our king kicker goes on to play over ace-rag.

about 15 minutes later I raise pocket queens and river a flush to beat (apparently a turned two pair 9-7?) a guy who reminded me of a character named elmo from the 1980s classic wrestling movie vision quest.

(to steal from the great whizz) Helen keller probably could have put me on a big pair pre flop, but I guess elmo just had to see that flop.

elmo: "it ain't the six dollars kid. it's what happens with that six dollars." :rolleyes:

moving on it seems like the game is repeating its earlier path when I lose with jj and tt again but then win with aa.

suddenly a new rival to Maryland poker greats aunt hortense and horshack enters the game.

the guy looks like a cross between luigi from the super Mario brothers video game and steve klein of the drf. he straddles a good 3/4 of the time (you can straddle from any position at horseshoe) and I decide to call him super Mario straddle.



this new shooter can really blow through the chips and when he straddles my big blind I take down a much nicer pot than I should have with a flopped top pair. eventually he taps out and I actually end up breaking the game to take a dinner break, giving the remaining players the option to move to open seats in the other limit game. what a nice guy I am!! :D

game +75 (3/6 lim)
year +520 (70-50)

tucker6
11-21-2014, 07:07 AM
elmo: "it ain't the six dollars kid. it's what happens with that six dollars."

What in the hell does that even mean? :D

proximity
11-21-2014, 05:52 PM
elmo: "it ain't the six dollars kid. it's what happens with that six dollars."

What in the hell does that even mean? :D

:D

I hear wiffleball whizz is going to horseshoe tonight?

hopefully we'll get a report??? :jump:

proximity
11-21-2014, 07:06 PM
after our dinner break we're back at horseshoe Baltimore for game number two of our trip just in time for Thursday night's chiefs-raiders kickoff.

in rainy Oakland the winless raiders would upset the favored chiefs and here in the shadows of Baltimore's m&t bank stadium the Maryland donkeys would seek to upset favored proximity. but would they succeed? let's find out....

we get off to a great start in this one when with a-t of hearts we see a flop of a-5h-xh!! blanks on the turn and river though and an early position limper with a-5 off drags the pot with his two pair. :bang:

I fail to win a hand in the first half hour of the game, but when an old atlantic city buddy of the whizz enters the dealer's box I catch fire turning a set with KK and surviving a 9-9-x flop with AA.

although I've only won these two hands, I've received enough action that i'm still nursing a $50-$60 lead when the chiefs and raiders come back out for the second half kickoff. meanwhile straddling steve klein (super Mario) the new shooter from the afternoon game has re-entered the fray and soon gets a seat change to my immediate left!! this is great news since his straddling habit will place me in late position pre-flop for almost every hand!!! :cool:

this is certainly good news but the bad news is that i'm not getting any cards. shortly after 10:00 though I suddenly erupt flopping two pair with j-3 from the bb and turning two pair with AT from the sb in back to back hands!!

these wins put me up over $100 for the game but I go cold for the next hour. things look good when I flop a flush with T9 of hearts and dodge red or board pairing cards on the turn and river, but sure enough mr a-5 off from the first hand of the game slow rolls me with A8 of hearts. :rolleyes:
In the very next hand though I come back with a set of jacks to regain my three digit lead!!

it's around 11:20 or so when the big Maryland donator leo enters the game setting up a grudge match against the new shooter straddling steve klein!!

carrying only the horseshoe "triple bug" chip rack of $30, leo runs from the cage like he's being chased by a pack of rabid wolves. despite the light weight, I suspect his effort may still earn the highest timeform usa rating in Maryland for 2014. of course we'll have to wait for cj to calculate the pace and final time variants of the poker room carpet before we get this final number. :)

after about another half hour of watching two extreme donkeys battle I wake up with KK in early position. I raise, don't get too many folds, and move ahead over $150 when they hold up. fifteen minutes later I flop set of fives and move ahead over $200.

unfortunately the game loses straddling steve and I whiff on two ace high flush draws. with jt I raise top pair from late position but leo hangs in with bottom pair and spikes a king on the turn for two pair to beat me in one bad final hand in what was an overall great day.

special thanks again to horseshoe Baltimore for the poker rakeback and free slots play!!

game +201 (3/6 lim)
year +721 (71-50)

proximity
11-22-2014, 04:57 PM
Still waiting for Thaskalos to come east and mix it up with the mid atlantics best....would be great theatre!!!

who do you think the best is? that kid with the backpack??

where should he go? see you guys have a 10-25 going and 9 on the list for a second game.

wiffleball whizz
11-23-2014, 08:02 AM
who do you think the best is? that kid with the backpack??

where should he go? see you guys have a 10-25 going and 9 on the list for a second game.

The backpack player is leathal.......everybody got pockets full of money over here!!

proximity
11-23-2014, 08:16 AM
The backpack player is leathal.......everybody got pockets full of money over here!!

send me a text if you're playing this morning. i'm heading down now....

proximity
11-24-2014, 12:24 AM
never hear from wiffleball whizz but head down to the horseshoe Baltimore anyhow on a pleasant mid-atlantic sunday morning.

I arrive around 10:30 and didn't have any free slots play so I headed straight for the poker room and got immediate seating in my normal horseshoe game of 3/6 limit hold 'em.

the timing of my arrival would prove to be bad for me, but lucky for two other horseshoe players. In my very first hand I flop an over pair and a gutshot with pocket 7s, but the hand doesn't even reach showdown. quad 4s ends up prevailing over kings full of 4s..... a "mini" bad beat jackpot at horseshoe Baltimore that pays the "loser" like $750!!!

so a bad start for proximity, but i'd make a quick comeback with pocket kings. there weren't a lot of folders to my raise so I was able to collect a nice pot and move ahead when they held up.

after this hand I was pretty card dead for the next hour, but around noon i'd flop trip 3s with A-3 from the big blind. unfortunately i'd get run down by a king high flush draw and was back to around even for the session.

for the next several hours, I didn't do much. i dragged a couple small pots but JJ, AK, AQ, AND AJ were all losing for me. finally around 3:30 or so i'd flop a straight with 6-5 of clubs. running clubs would improve my straight to a flush while giving a chaser a gutshot! the win would move me back ahead $1 for the session and about an hour later i'd win another big pot with AA!! from the big blind i'd flop top two with QT but a 5 on the turn would give trips to a chaser playing 45. another queen on the river though would give me a full house and build my lead to almost $100.

the game would turn south again though as i'd go card dead for the next three hours. one hand i'd flop a set of 8s but would lose to a gutshot on the turn. my big lead was down to single digits when i raised with a-k and got four calls. all five of us went to the river. i missed everything but would receive some help from behind me. last to act immediately mucked his hand in frustration when the river card hit and i could see the other player behind me getting ready to muck his cards. first to act bet out and the second player folded. i was probably beat here but i'd watched the bettor execute several bluffs so far in the game and ultimately calculated that total air made up enough of his range to warrant the call. AK was indeed good!!

this call seemed to turn the game back around for me. i finally won a pot with AJ and later would flop trips and turn 4 of a kind....getting action the whole way. i'd move ahead over $100 before losing one final hand with TT losing to QQ on a board of low cards.

another good day at horseshoe Baltimore though!!

game +80 (3/6 limit)
year +801 (72-50)

dilanesp
11-24-2014, 03:10 PM
It's really not healthy in limit to think about whether you are up or down for the session. We are talking about a game where a significant number of hands is 15,000 to 35,000. During a 3 hour session you are playing something like 100. Your session results are basically a random number.

What would be more interesting would be to talk about HOW you played those hands:

On your first hand with 77, what position were you in? Did you raise pre-flop? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

Flopping trips with A3 from the BB, was it a raised pot? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

On the hands where you lost with AK, AQ, and AJ, what did you do? How do you generally play missed overs? What boards do you bet and what boards do you check, and against how many opponents? When do you x/c and when do you x/f these hands on later streets?

Nice hand with the AK unimproved.

How many bets did you put in with the TT against QQ, and what streets did you put them in on?

To me, those are much more interesting questions than whether you were down or up at any point in a session. It's limit-- you will sometimes be down and sometimes be up, and it will tell you little.

ReplayRandall
11-24-2014, 03:37 PM
It's really not healthy in limit to think about whether you are up or down for the session. We are talking about a game where a significant number of hands is 15,000 to 35,000. During a 3 hour session you are playing something like 100. Your session results are basically a random number.

What would be more interesting would be to talk about HOW you played those hands:

On your first hand with 77, what position were you in? Did you raise pre-flop? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

Flopping trips with A3 from the BB, was it a raised pot? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

On the hands where you lost with AK, AQ, and AJ, what did you do? How do you generally play missed overs? What boards do you bet and what boards do you check, and against how many opponents? When do you x/c and when do you x/f these hands on later streets?

Nice hand with the AK unimproved.

How many bets did you put in with the TT against QQ, and what streets did you put them in on?

To me, those are much more interesting questions than whether you were down or up at any point in a session. It's limit-- you will sometimes be down and sometimes be up, and it will tell you little.

Dilanesp, 95% of all "players" in all aspects of gambling check where they stand for any given session. Proximity gives a realistic feel to his writing by giving the reader a constant update on his current buy-in status. If he omitted this info, it would come across as an endless list of outcomes with no true context, thus boring the reader, droning on and on with no beginning, middle or end of a contentious session of poker. The difference between yourself and Proximity is: Proximity is interesting, likeable and entertaining in his posts, and unfortunately, you're not..........end of story.

thaskalos
11-24-2014, 03:43 PM
Dilanesp, 95% of all "players" in all aspects of gambling check where they stand for any given session. Proximity gives a realistic feel to his writing by giving the reader a constant update on his current buy-in status. If he omitted this info, it would come across as an endless list of outcomes with no true context, thus boring the reader, droning on and on with no beginning, middle or end of a contentious session of poker. The difference between yourself and Proximity is: Proximity is interesting, likeable and entertaining in his posts, and unfortunately, you're not..........end of story.

:D Don't beat around the bush, Randall...tell us how you REALLY feel.

For what it's worth...I find Dilanesp "interesting, likable and entertaining" too. There is a PLACE for the cold, "analytical" approach in poker.

ReplayRandall
11-24-2014, 03:46 PM
:D Don't beat around the bush, Randall...tell us how you REALLY feel.

For what it's worth...I find Dilanesp "interesting, likable and entertaining" too. There is a PLACE for the cold, "analytical" approach in poker.

Yeah, in Siberia......:D

wiffleball whizz
11-24-2014, 04:28 PM
Proximity......

Can you confirm or deny a 2015 rendition of "proximity poker tour 2015"?!??

As good as it gets!!!!!!

dilanesp
11-24-2014, 04:48 PM
Dilanesp, 95% of all "players" in all aspects of gambling check where they stand for any given session. Proximity gives a realistic feel to his writing by giving the reader a constant update on his current buy-in status. If he omitted this info, it would come across as an endless list of outcomes with no true context, thus boring the reader, droning on and on with no beginning, middle or end of a contentious session of poker. The difference between yourself and Proximity is: Proximity is interesting, likeable and entertaining in his posts, and unfortunately, you're not..........end of story.

When I played online, 4 percent of the limit players were winning players (we had this information from Table Ratings).

And what you are telling me is that 95 percent of players check where they stand for any given session.

These two numbers may be related. :) (And by the way, I think I just made that point in an interesting, entertaining way.)

Further, I think it's possible to talk about gambling in an interesting, entertaining way while also not making fundamental mistakes. Plenty of people do it WRT poker on the 2 plus 2 forums, and plenty of people do it here WRT horse racing.

ReplayRandall
11-24-2014, 05:08 PM
When I played online, 4 percent of the limit players were winning players (we had this information from Table Ratings).

And what you are telling me is that 95 percent of players check where they stand for any given session.

These two numbers may be related. :) (And by the way, I think I just made that point in an interesting, entertaining way.)

Further, I think it's possible to talk about gambling in an interesting, entertaining way while also not making fundamental mistakes. Plenty of people do it WRT poker on the 2 plus 2 forums, and plenty of people do it here WRT horse racing.


Alright, Alright.....I may have been a bit too harsh, as this post is somewhat interesting and entertaining. However, you're still lacking likability..:cool:

dilanesp
11-24-2014, 05:55 PM
Alright, Alright.....I may have been a bit too harsh, as this post is somewhat interesting and entertaining. However, you're still lacking likability..:cool:

On likeability, I actually think it's good poker strategy to be the most likeable person at the tables, and I strive to do that when I play.

I mean, there are limits-- you can't let an angle-shooter run all over you just because you want to be "nice". But generally, you want people to like playing poker with you. People like playing poker with folks who engage in table talk, are generally humorous rather than serious, are nice to them when bad things happen (I know poker fora are replete with "don't educate the fish" mantras, but one of the best things you can possibly do is express sympathy when a bad player plays absolutely properly and suffers a bad beat-- they appreciate that).

I really think the players who sit there absolutely still, trying not to betray the slightest emotion, not talking to anyone, putting their chips out every time in some robotic motion, are harming their winrates, because they are denying the fish the thing they really come for-- to have fun.

proximity
11-24-2014, 09:52 PM
It's really not healthy in limit to think about whether you are up or down for the session. We are talking about a game where a significant number of hands is 15,000 to 35,000. During a 3 hour session you are playing something like 100. Your session results are basically a random number.

What would be more interesting would be to talk about HOW you played those hands:

On your first hand with 77, what position were you in? Did you raise pre-flop? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

mid-late position, unracking my chips. did i raise pre flop? no. how many opponents? almost the whole table. did i raise the flop? yes. turn? can't even remember, i may even have been blown off the hand by the time it got to me???? there are other factors too, like who i'm playing. for example, when the pre-flop raiser (kk) calls on the flop.... i'm beat.

Flopping trips with A3 from the BB, was it a raised pot? How many opponents? Did you raise the flop or wait for the turn?

this was a rare 3-4 handed limped pot. first to act, i led out the whole way. i didn't think a check raise would work with the paired board.

On the hands where you lost with AK, AQ, and AJ, what did you do? How do you generally play missed overs? What boards do you bet and what boards do you check, and against how many opponents? When do you x/c and when do you x/f these hands on later streets?

pre flop, i almost always raise these hands. especially AK. after the flop IN THE GAMES I PLAY IN, i almost never continue with these hands.

Nice hand with the AK unimproved.

How many bets did you put in with the TT against QQ, and what streets did you put them in on?

preflop raise. call from competitive player behind me. small blind reraises. i call. flop: small blind bets. i raise in attempt to fold out the player behind me (if she has over cards) and possibly slow down the small blind who just calls, but continues to lead out on the turn and river. i'm probably beat and maybe a stronger limit player like whizz can lay this down but i "have to see it" and call down. mistakes will be made.

To me, those are much more interesting questions than whether you were down or up at any point in a session. It's limit-- you will sometimes be down and sometimes be up, and it will tell you little.

i'm up late on saturday night and up early on sunday morning. i'm driving 92.5 miles to horseshoe, playing 10+ hours, and driving 92.5 miles home. after 121 reports people here are probably getting more than a little tired of me but i promised a year's worth of reports and i will keep that promise while trying my best to keep the attention of the majority of readers. i actually really enjoy the paceadvantage forum and don't want people here to have bad feelings about me. and i don't want YOU to have bad feelings about me.

i'm not a 99.9+ percentile limit player like you are. and while i'm a little jealous of your elite ability and extremely jealous of the selection of games you have available to you, i don't need to be that good to win AND ENJOY the low level games i'm currently playing in. (and they are the only live limit games pretty much consistently available to me) wiffleball whizz (an experienced bigger games player) seems to think i have some potential for 10/20+ games but (1) he's never played limit with me and (2) it's my opinion that the low limit games i'm playing are just different...... SKLANSKY himself even acknowledges this in the beginning of his low limit book.

anyhow the limit games are (usually) fun and good change of pace from the constant racino diet of 1-2 no limit.

dilanesp
11-24-2014, 10:05 PM
i'm up late on saturday night and up early on sunday morning. i'm driving 92.5 miles to horseshoe, playing 10+ hours, and driving 92.5 miles home. after 121 reports people here are probably getting more than a little tired of me but i promised a year's worth of reports and i will keep that promise while trying my best to keep the attention of the majority of readers. i actually really enjoy the paceadvantage forum and don't want people here to have bad feelings about me. and i don't want YOU to have bad feelings about me.

i'm not a 99.9+ percentile limit player like you are. and while i'm a little jealous of your elite ability and extremely jealous of the selection of games you have available to you, i don't need to be that good to win AND ENJOY the low level games i'm currently playing in. (and they are the only live limit games pretty much consistently available to me) wiffleball whizz (an experienced bigger games player) seems to think i have some potential for 10/20+ games but (1) he's never played limit with me and (2) it's my opinion that the low limit games i'm playing are just different...... SKLANSKY himself even acknowledges this in the beginning of his low limit book.

anyhow the limit games are (usually) fun and good change of pace from the constant racino diet of 1-2 no limit.

It sounds to me like your play is reasonable. You should consider raising 77 pre-, and c - betting your overs on the driest boards. But I generally like what you did. :)

proximity
11-24-2014, 10:05 PM
Dilanesp, 95% of all "players" in all aspects of gambling check where they stand for any given session. Proximity gives a realistic feel to his writing by giving the reader a constant update on his current buy-in status. If he omitted this info, it would come across as an endless list of outcomes with no true context, thus boring the reader, droning on and on with no beginning, middle or end of a contentious session of poker. The difference between yourself and Proximity is: Proximity is interesting, likeable and entertaining in his posts, and unfortunately, you're not..........end of story.

i really do worry about the posts rambling on too long and boring people. i try to cover the main hands of the game as well as other things that are unique about the game or casino i'm playing in. sometimes i fail to be as terse as i would have liked and i do apologize to the readers for that.

proximity
11-24-2014, 10:13 PM
Proximity......

Can you confirm or deny a 2015 rendition of "proximity poker tour 2015"?!??

As good as it gets!!!!!!

deny.

maybe i'll come back in 2016 though. "a year wiser" or something.

hopefully we can get someone to do it for 2015 though.

maybe track collector could have a "first full year" tour?

maybe dilanesp could have a cal-nev limit tour?

maybe manu918 will start another tournament tour?

ANY VOLUNTEERS????

proximity
11-24-2014, 11:00 PM
It sounds to me like your play is reasonable. You should consider raising 77 pre-, and c - betting your overs on the driest boards. But I generally like what you did. :)

in the 77 hand, once it gets to me at that point i'd prefer to have the maximum amount of players in the hand for the minimum amount of money. i can't remember the exact post but i'm pretty sure you covered a similar situation in one of the equity posts on your thread?

over cards are obviously one of the areas i'd have to get a lot better at to play better limit competition. in no-limit i feel i'm slowly getting better at continuing with these hands but i'm not sure this experience would have much carryover to bigger limit games? :confused:

thaskalos
11-24-2014, 11:15 PM
i'm up late on saturday night and up early on sunday morning. i'm driving 92.5 miles to horseshoe, playing 10+ hours, and driving 92.5 miles home. after 121 reports people here are probably getting more than a little tired of me but i promised a year's worth of reports and i will keep that promise while trying my best to keep the attention of the majority of readers. i actually really enjoy the paceadvantage forum and don't want people here to have bad feelings about me. and i don't want YOU to have bad feelings about me.

i'm not a 99.9+ percentile limit player like you are. and while i'm a little jealous of your elite ability and extremely jealous of the selection of games you have available to you, i don't need to be that good to win AND ENJOY the low level games i'm currently playing in. (and they are the only live limit games pretty much consistently available to me) wiffleball whizz (an experienced bigger games player) seems to think i have some potential for 10/20+ games but (1) he's never played limit with me and (2) it's my opinion that the low limit games i'm playing are just different...... SKLANSKY himself even acknowledges this in the beginning of his low limit book.

anyhow the limit games are (usually) fun and good change of pace from the constant racino diet of 1-2 no limit.

You've got to be kidding me. You really think that you are BORING us here with your reports? Can't you see that you, single-handedly, are the person who keeps this poker forum going? People come to this forum BECAUSE of your reports...and your narrative is the best entertainment to be found around here. Where else can we get the fact-filled analysis of a gambling venture, without the pretense, the fake bravado, and the outright lies that usually accompany reports of this type? How many people do you suppose would have the character to really tell it how it is...warts and all?

My friend...I've said it to you before, and others have told you this as well: Your reports are a DELIGHT...and the longer and more detailed they are...the better we like them. Keep them coming...and put an end to this crazy talk about "boring us". Your reports are what puts an END to our boredom.

ReplayRandall
11-24-2014, 11:18 PM
You've got to be kidding me. You really think that you are BORING us here with your reports? Can't you see that you, single-handedly, are the person who keeps this poker forum going? People come to this forum BECAUSE of your reports...and your narrative is the best entertainment to be found around here. Where else can we get the fact-filled analysis of a gambling venture, without the pretense, the fake bravado, and the outright lies that usually accompany reports of this type? How many people do you suppose would have the character to really tell it how it is...warts and all?

My friend...I've said it to you before, and others have told you this as well: Your reports are a DELIGHT...and the longer and more detailed they are...the better we like them. Keep them coming...and put and end to this crazy talk about "boring us". Your reports are what puts an END to our boredom.


:ThmbUp: :cool: :ThmbUp: :cool: :ThmbUp:

DeltaLover
11-24-2014, 11:45 PM
You've got to be kidding me. You really think that you are BORING us here with your reports? Can't you see that you, single-handedly, are the person who keeps this poker forum going? People come to this forum BECAUSE of your reports...and your narrative is the best entertainment to be found around here. Where else can we get the fact-filled analysis of a gambling venture, without the pretense, the fake bravado, and the outright lies that usually accompany reports of this type? How many people do you suppose would have the character to really tell it how it is...warts and all?

My friend...I've said it to you before, and others have told you this as well: Your reports are a DELIGHT...and the longer and more detailed they are...the better we like them. Keep them coming...and put an end to this crazy talk about "boring us". Your reports are what puts an END to our boredom.

:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:

LottaKash
11-25-2014, 12:16 AM
Proximity, I have said this before, but it still holds with me, the posts of your adventures are always as welcome to me, as a good gulp of clean air is.... I look forward to them, but if and when they stop, I will miss them..

As others have stated, no pretentions here, just honest reporting of your insights, perceptions and the feelings of your plays along with the results of them..

I am always rooting for you....."KEEP ON"... :jump:

Track Collector
11-25-2014, 02:02 AM
i really do worry about the posts rambling on too long and boring people. i try to cover the main hands of the game as well as other things that are unique about the game or casino i'm playing in. sometimes i fail to be as terse as i would have liked and i do apologize to the readers for that.

Nonsense!

Like many others, I too find your posts interesting and something to look forward to. Unless you are simply tired of posting these reports, please do continue!

Because of this thread (darn you :mad:, I ventured into my very first Texas Holdem game back in August, and now have about 34 sessions under my belt. This number is continuing to rise quickly as I now average 3-4 sessions a week at the Charles Town poker tables. :faint:


...

dilanesp
11-25-2014, 02:11 AM
in the 77 hand, once it gets to me at that point i'd prefer to have the maximum amount of players in the hand for the minimum amount of money. i can't remember the exact post but i'm pretty sure you covered a similar situation in one of the equity posts on your thread?

over cards are obviously one of the areas i'd have to get a lot better at to play better limit competition. in no-limit i feel i'm slowly getting better at continuing with these hands but i'm not sure this experience would have much carryover to bigger limit games? :confused:

77 can go either way. But it certainly isn't an automatic limp even in a 3-6 game full of calling stations. (I would definitely OPEN-raise it, for instance. Sometimes I might overlimp it, though.)

Missing the flop after a raise- it's not THAT different from no limit except you opponents have more fold equity, so you should c-bet narrower in NL.

4-handed in limit, you can still c-bet the driest boards like 933. You are just often ahead. 3-handed you can c-bet somewhat wetter boards like KT5 with two of one suit.

Heads up, c - betting 100 percent is fine.

And 5 handed or more, it's fine to just check unless you have additional outs.

proximity
11-25-2014, 03:18 AM
You've got to be kidding me. You really think that you are BORING us here with your reports? Can't you see that you, single-handedly, are the person who keeps this poker forum going? People come to this forum BECAUSE of your reports...and your narrative is the best entertainment to be found around here. Where else can we get the fact-filled analysis of a gambling venture, without the pretense, the fake bravado, and the outright lies that usually accompany reports of this type? How many people do you suppose would have the character to really tell it how it is...warts and all?

My friend...I've said it to you before, and others have told you this as well: Your reports are a DELIGHT...and the longer and more detailed they are...the better we like them. Keep them coming...and put an end to this crazy talk about "boring us". Your reports are what puts an END to our boredom.

on 2+2 there are threads like this that i'll follow and some of them are really good threads but even within those threads from time to time i'll see an individual post that is just so huge that i'll just say FRAT. and if I do this with my already high level of interest in the thread, more casual followers are certainly skipping over the post as well. so here I like to try and keep the posts "manageable" so most followers will read them and possibly have a hunger for the next report when they're done.

another note about 2+2 threads is that some of the players get good advice and seem defensive about it. I've received a lot of good advice here and I realize that a lot of the time I probably seem defensive about it BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU GUYS FROM POSTING ANY TIPS, ADVICE, OR COMMENTS THAT YOU FEEL ARE VALUABLE. sometimes I may be slow (or seem slow) to apply your good advice to MY game but I am taking it all in and even if it NEVER resonates with me, OTHERS will probably certainly find it valuable and be able to apply it to their games.

proximity

proximity
11-25-2014, 04:15 AM
on 2+2 there are threads like this that i'll follow and some of them are really good threads but even within those threads from time to time i'll see an individual post that is just so huge that i'll just say FRAT. and if I do this with my already high level of interest in the thread, more casual followers are certainly skipping over the post as well. so here I like to try and keep the posts "manageable" so most followers will read them and possibly have a hunger for the next report when they're done.

another note about 2+2 threads is that some of the players get good advice and seem defensive about it. I've received a lot of good advice here and I realize that a lot of the time I probably seem defensive about it BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU GUYS FROM POSTING ANY TIPS, ADVICE, OR COMMENTS THAT YOU FEEL ARE VALUABLE. sometimes I may be slow (or seem slow) to apply your good advice to MY game but I am taking it all in and even if it NEVER resonates with me, OTHERS will probably certainly find it valuable and be able to apply it to their games.

proximity

although I certainly can't keep up with some of those kids winning five figures a month on 2+2, I do prefer the way that I construct the thread with a separate post for each individual game that includes "bottom line" results for the game and "to date" results for the entire tour as well.....with the monthly recaps providing a cliffsnotes for readers who get behind or find too many FRAT posts for their liking.

also, although "it's all one big session" I provide the running win-loss record because most people seem to want to know not just how much you win (or lose) but how often. and I know i'm interested in that as well.

proximity

proximity
11-25-2014, 04:28 AM
Proximity, I have said this before, but it still holds with me, the posts of your adventures are always as welcome to me, as a good gulp of clean air is.... I look forward to them, but if and when they stop, I will miss them..

As others have stated, no pretentions here, just honest reporting of your insights, perceptions and the feelings of your plays along with the results of them..

I am always rooting for you....."KEEP ON"... :jump:

thank you for the support lottakash. it really does mean a lot.

we are close enough to the end that i'm already thinking about where I should play the final game on new year's eve?

but right now there's still a lot of poker to be played. i'm quietly putting together a decent November and creeping back into the range where reaching my $2000 goal is at least a possibility, albeit remote.

thanks again!!

proximity

proximity
11-25-2014, 04:30 AM
Nonsense!

Like many others, I too find your posts interesting and something to look forward to. Unless you are simply tired of posting these reports, please do continue!

Because of this thread (darn you :mad:, I ventured into my very first Texas Holdem game back in August, and now have about 34 sessions under my belt. This number is continuing to rise quickly as I now average 3-4 sessions a week at the Charles Town poker tables. :faint:


...

when you're facing a tough decision at the wsop main event final table, pause for a second, take a deep breath, and remember this night:

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1692618&postcount=405

my favorite post in the entire thread!! :)

proximity
11-25-2014, 04:46 AM
77 can go either way. But it certainly isn't an automatic limp even in a 3-6 game full of calling stations. (I would definitely OPEN-raise it, for instance. Sometimes I might overlimp it, though.)

Missing the flop after a raise- it's not THAT different from no limit except you opponents have more fold equity, so you should c-bet narrower in NL.

4-handed in limit, you can still c-bet the driest boards like 933. You are just often ahead. 3-handed you can c-bet somewhat wetter boards like KT5 with two of one suit.

Heads up, c - betting 100 percent is fine.

And 5 handed or more, it's fine to just check unless you have additional outs.

thanks for limit insights dilanesp.

when I first saw poker at the racino and got curious about it, I decided to start "at the beginning" and ordered sklansky's original little yellow book (hold 'em poker) which of course was about limit. not the best choice for a novice, lol, but after reading the book I saw a 3/6 limit game going one late afternoon at penn national and decided to stick my toe in the water.

the feeling you get when they push you that first pot..... WHAT A RUSH!!

anyhow although limit pretty much died at penn national, I still enjoy playing the game at some of the casinos that routinely offer it.

as it seems to be mostly no-limit players here, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

proximity

Red Knave
11-25-2014, 01:15 PM
People come to this forum BECAUSE of your reports
...
Your reports are a DELIGHT...and the longer and more detailed they are...the better we like them. Keep them coming...and put an end to this crazy talk about "boring us". Your reports are what puts an END to our boredom.

+1000

DeltaLover
11-25-2014, 01:19 PM
I nominate this one, as the thread of the year...

thaskalos
11-25-2014, 01:45 PM
I nominate this one, as the thread of the year...
And the original poster, the Poster of the Year!

I know that I wouldn't be able to accurately and honestly describe the details of some of my disastrous sessions at the table. Proximity gets in a losing streak...and comes here and tells us all about it...mistakes and all. That's character, folks...and it should be acknowledged. :ThmbUp:

LottaKash
11-25-2014, 03:09 PM
And the original poster, the Poster of the Year!

I know that I wouldn't be able to accurately and honestly describe the details of some of my disastrous sessions at the table. Proximity gets in a losing streak...and comes here and tells us all about it...mistakes and all. That's character, folks...and it should be acknowledged. :ThmbUp:

A big "yes", on both counts !... :jump: :jump: :jump:

Fwizard
11-25-2014, 09:20 PM
A big "yes", on both counts !... :jump: :jump: :jump:


Ditto here---if u come to Florida let me know --Prox--we will hook up and toss some cards.. :jump: :jump:

proximity
11-26-2014, 12:11 AM
lol, i'm certainly not poster of the year but WE might be thread of the year and if this is thread of the year it is due not only to my reports but to the many outstanding posts and civil discussions that you have all contributed. thank you!!

proximity

Track Collector
11-26-2014, 04:56 PM
Well, here is an updated report of my progress. I hope to make the teacher proximity proud of his student!

I have much more that I need to learn. My current level of poker education has stood me well, but can not be rested upon.

Warning.......those looking for the usual interesting narratives coined by proximity are going to be greatly disappointed.

Sessions played to date: 39
Average session length: 5 hrs
Game Type: 1/2 no-limit (exclusively)
Session Win/Loss Record: 23-16
Largest Win: $405
Largest Loss: $198
Most Consecutive Winning Sessions: 5
Most Consecutive Losing Sessions: 3
Current Year-to-Date Profit/Loss: $1600

I hope the above is not seen as an attempt to "out shine" proximity, but to track the progress of one who now feels he can supplement his income thru poker. Just like proximity, I have decided to set a modest goal, and for me that would be to average a profit of $10/hr. Whether I can increase that goal, or it turns out to be unattainable at any $/hr figure, remains to be seen. At the very least, poker sure has a much better return for me than the horses. :blush::)

I of interest, I'll be glad to share more about what has worked for me.

Thanks again proximity for all your help. As I improve, I continue to consult/re-read your book suggestions like Ho-Limit Hold'em Hand By Hand (by Neil D. Myers). What a benefit for about a $5 total investment. :ThmbUp:

wiffleball whizz
11-26-2014, 05:56 PM
Well, here is an updated report of my progress. I hope to make the teacher proximity proud of his student!

I have much more that I need to learn. My current level of poker education has stood me well, but can not be rested upon.

Warning.......those looking for the usual interesting narratives coined by proximity are going to be greatly disappointed.

Sessions played to date: 39
Average session length: 5 hrs
Game Type: 1/2 no-limit (exclusively)
Session Win/Loss Record: 23-16
Largest Win: $405
Largest Loss: $198
Most Consecutive Winning Sessions: 5
Most Consecutive Losing Sessions: 3
Current Year-to-Date Profit/Loss: $1600

I hope the above is not seen as an attempt to "out shine" proximity, but to track the progress of one who now feels he can supplement his income thru poker. Just like proximity, I have decided to set a modest goal, and for me that would be to average a profit of $10/hr. Whether I can increase that goal, or it turns out to be unattainable at any $/hr figure, remains to be seen. At the very least, poker sure has a much better return for me than the horses. :blush::)

I of interest, I'll be glad to share more about what has worked for me.

Thanks again proximity for all your help. As I improve, I continue to consult/re-read your book suggestions like Ho-Limit Hold'em Hand By Hand (by Neil D. Myers). What a benefit for about a $5 total investment. :ThmbUp:


Good for you track collector in starting to play cards.....a 23-16 record is awesome!!!! To be honest I remember us 3 sitting in the CT Racebook talking cards and I think at the time you only has a few sessions under your belt...too be plus after 39 sessions with $6 rake $1 bad beat jackpot and tip it's not easy to do......

This isn't about me but I spend 40 hours of work strictly dealing no limit holdem with a 4/8 limit game here and there and beside a 20/40 stud session my last 17 sessions in no limit is 1-16......can't win and it's getting aggravating


Also another "perk" to your new poker hobby is you can do "quasi" trips now to local racinos with poker......

You can play 1/2nl at tracks like....

Harrington
Dover
Meadows (pa)
Pocono downs
Harrahs philly


That's and easy way to get 5 new tracks and play some cards "after the card"

Best of luck in your future poker endeavors!!

Trip to CT will be in the works soon!!

wiffleball whizz
11-26-2014, 06:00 PM
lol, i'm certainly not poster of the year but WE might be thread of the year and if this is thread of the year it is due not only to my reports but to the many outstanding posts and civil discussions that you have all contributed. thank you!!

proximity

Poster of the year!!!!!!!

There has to be a 2015 thread!!

Thread of the year!!!!


I remember before I met proximity getting a PM saying he would be at revel.....never forget the "your wiffleball whizz"?

Nothing but great times when hanging with proximity


And again amazing how you beat these 3/6 games

proximity
11-26-2014, 11:09 PM
Well, here is an updated report of my progress.....

:lol: :( :) :D :) :cool: :jump: :ThmbUp:

every emoticon that there is my friend. :)

i'll never forget that first game you were in, lol.

really salvaged that whole "vacation" for me. :D

lol, you walk into the room and immediately see me with those 7s full.... :D you musta thought this was the easiest game in the world. :D

then when you get in the game. :faint:

i'm stretching my neck to try and see what's going on, lol. track collector's there at a table with an exotic dancer, a drug dealer, a coal miner or two, maybe a horseman, kids wearing sunglasses indoors at 11pm..... vintage. :D

i'm losing every day (and night :rolleyes: ) on the trip and look over at this scene and just get a warm feeling that it's all gonna be ok. :)

good times!!

proximity
11-26-2014, 11:18 PM
I remember before I met proximity getting a PM saying he would be at revel.....never forget the "your wiffleball whizz"?



i'm still upset with that dealer for not completing that diamond draw for me. :lol:

proximity
11-29-2014, 02:28 AM
happy thanksgiving everybody!!

we are back with a black Friday trip to the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore!

in today's game we will be playing to help p.a. forum member pktruckdriver (Patrick kane) who is stuck sick in an Arizona hospital this thanksgiving weekend. we will be donating the greater of 1/2 of our free slots play returns (we have $55) or 1/2 of our poker game winnings. there is also a rumor that forum legend wiffleball whizz will show up at horseshoe.... although his attendance is about as reliable as lucy holding a field goal for Charlie brown. smart money says somewhere between 8/5 and 9/5. :D

we arrive at the horseshoe around noon and unfortunately free slots luck isn't with us as our $55 returns only $40.50. I grab some brunch in the Baltimore marketplace and then it's off to the poker room for another 3/6 limit battle at the shoe!!

I strike early in this one with A4 flopping top pair in my first big blind. there aren't a lot of folders though and i'm a little nervous despite running twos, but the hand is good and we take a $35 lead.

unfortunately this is the last hand we'd win for awhile and when I lose with pocket jacks (about 90 min in) we're back to even. after the hand there's a dealer change and the button actually moves twice...... of course the player to my left wins with "my cards" .... although the hand didn't go to showdown so we can't say that I would have even seen a flop but it's still frustrating.

half an hour later pocket queens lose to a girl playing t6 when she hits two pair on the river and we've fallen behind although we wouldn't stay down for long as I turn trip kings and river a full house with KT suited. unfortunately I don't get full value out of the hand as the dealer mucks the hand of a kid who called my turn bet and the floor rules that he can have his $6 back.

I don't protest, but it isn't looking like my day here so far.

I've won only two hands in the first three hours of the game, but then I strike suddenly with QT suited dragging a pot with top pair and QJ suited turning a flush. i'm knocking on the door of another three digit win at horseshoe but (again) i go ice cold for the next two hours.

finally i make a tough river call playing K9 suited from the big blind. i bet the flop (k63) and got several calls behind me. i checked a queen on the turn.... which checked around. i checked another queen on the river and there was a bet and a call behind me. something seemed a little off here but in the end it was another hand for the "i have to see it" category and this one would have a better ending with my 9 kicker playing over villain b's K8. villain A was no factor.

around 7:00 i win with pocket aces to move up slightly over $100 but for the next 90 minutes i couldn't hit a hand. defying the odds, wiffleball whizz showed up and generously offered to buy me dinner with his total rewards diamond card. ww broke his 1-3 losing streak with a $112 win and i was down to my final orbit as a bat was flying loose through the poker room and casino. :rolleyes:

chips in rack it looked like i was going to have to settle for a $50-$60 win as i was down to my final hand, but incredibly i looked down at KK!!

k-j-8 flop but i couldn't lose the player to my immediate right or left.

8 on the turn. still there.

8 on the river. player on my right leads out. oh no!

i call and the player on my left calls. no 8 anywhere!!! :cool:

downstairs wiffleball whizz treats me to a real good crab sandwich at guy fieri's (?) when suddenly the poker room bat comes flying through the restaurant!! casino security can't catch the bat but whizz is trying to focus on his football bets and has had enough. he gives the bat an angry alpha glare with his bloodshot nightshift eyes and the bat just drops down on the floor behind a door. when somebody opens the door the bat flies off towards m&t bank stadium, never to be seen or heard from again. :D

our $106 poker win exceeded our $40.50 fsp return so we will donate $53 rounded up to $60 to help pktruckdriver. thanks again to horseshoe Baltimore for the free slots play and wiffleball whizz for a great dinner!!

game +106 (3/6 limit)
year +907 (73-50)

proximity
12-02-2014, 01:18 AM
after breaking a two month losing streak with a late charge in October we would start November strong with a pair of wins at penn national. unfortunately a pair of three digit penn national losses would follow and we'd carry only a slim lead into the final half of the month.

meanwhile our atlantic city comps completely vanished but horseshoe Baltimore would continue to embrace us with $50 of rakeback and free slots play on almost every visit.

like October we would again close strong at horseshoe in November and would even win the month's final hand with kings full of 8s before relaxing over a delectable plate of Maryland crab compliments of paceadvantage legend wiffleball whizz.

one final month to go!!

month +496 (7-3)
year +907 (73-50)
nov rakeback +50
bonus ytd +140 (2)

proximity
12-02-2014, 01:21 AM
jan. 6-6. +107
feb. 10-1. +1176
mar. 5-6. -677
apr. 3-7. -496
may. 9-3. +415
jun. 9-4. +563
jul. 8-5. +41
aug. 4-9. -607
sep. 3-2 -139
oct. 9-4 +28
nov. 7-3 +496

tucker6
12-02-2014, 09:15 AM
jan. 6-6. +107
feb. 10-1. +1176
mar. 5-6. -677
apr. 3-7. -496
may. 9-3. +415
jun. 9-4. +563
jul. 8-5. +41
aug. 4-9. -607
sep. 3-2 -139
oct. 9-4 +28
nov. 7-3 +496
That tells me you should avoid playing in the spring and fall.

Track Collector
12-02-2014, 03:42 PM
......but horseshoe Baltimore would continue to embrace us with $50 of rakeback and free slots play on almost every visit.

Tell me more regarding their rewards program, along with tips for parking, etc.. :)

The comps at Charles Town are virtually non-existent, unless one is "lucky".

Although a MUCH longer drive, it might be worth my while to branch out my visit destinations.

Maybe I can meet up with you and wiffleball whizz! :jump:

proximity
12-02-2014, 07:38 PM
Tell me more regarding their rewards program, along with tips for parking, etc.. :)


horseshoe is a caesar's casino and uses total rewards cards that can be used at caesar's casinos everywhere. www.totalrewards.com

the rakeback is a separate monthly promotion and details on www.bravopokerlive.com under horseshoe baltimore.

from your place i'd take 70e to 695s (?) to 95n, exit 52 russell st to get to horseshoe. basically right off the exit by holiday inn. there is a free parking garage except for ravens home games which can be expensive although they usually email me a free pass for those.

you could also play at maryland live! which is one of the top poker rooms in the northeast, maybe the top. maryland live! has more games and lower rake than horseshoe, although i prefer horseshoe because i have a lot of total rewards points which i can use at bally's and harrah's in atlantic city.

md live!: 70 e to 29 s to 100 e exit 10a arundel mills mall. around back to the right. easy to find.

proximity
12-04-2014, 12:17 PM
after a successful November we kickoff the final month of our tour with a game of 1-2 no limit hold em at Hollywood penn national.

just kind of a stick my toe back in the water game to start what should be a good week of poker. there are some aggressive young chip shufflers in my game including a chronic straddler and re-opener to my left so I fold everything until I come to my first raising situation. eventually I look down at AJ off suit from the button and raise several limpers. almost all of them call my raise and i'm bet off the hand when I miss the flop.

later i'll raise pocket 10s and this time the ace comes on the flop and we're 0-2 to start the month. at the 90 minute mark though I shove the rest of my buy in with pocket jacks. this time two aces come out on the board, but I prevail over t-9 and q-4 to drag my first pot of the game.

eventually though i'll tap out after a raise and c-bet with AQ. guy calls with 8-7 and sticks around with middle pair. overall I like what i'm seeing though and decide to stay for one more buy in. eventually I get AK of hearts in late position and re-raise a $10 raise to $25. two players call and this time I hit the ace on the flop. I shove, mr 8-7 from the AQ loss calls and the original raiser mucks pocket 8s. this time I prevail over mr 8-7's middle pair and move ahead for the game.

with pocket 9s from the big blind I have a decision to make. several players call the straddle of mr chronic straddle and ultimately I too decide to just call. when he raises, everyone calls and I call and the 9s miss the ace high flop by a mile. mr chronic straddle and a reg known as "the poet" chop with their ace-rags. :rolleyes:

so I've fallen behind again and most hands i'm getting 6-j, 6-q, 6-t, 6...... you get the point. but on one big blind mr chronic straddle suddenly forgets to straddle and with 2-3 off I see an incredible flop of A45!! mr 8-7 and the poet come along with me on the flop but unfortunately drop out on the turn.

it's been another overall card dead night at the racino but on one of the final hands I actually flop a set of aces from late position. unfortunately only the poet would call my pre flop raise and he'd again drop out on the turn so I wouldn't get too much out of this great hand.

a bad start to the night and not a lot of good hands, but thanks to the ace-king suited I was able to come back and book a small $8 win and get a good warm up session in for what should be an exciting week of cards.

game +8 (1/2 nl)
year +915 (74-50)

Track Collector
12-05-2014, 12:05 AM
Today I had a car exchange job that took me to Morgantown, WV. Out of curiosity I stopped in to look around the Rocky Gap Resort and Casino located just outside of Cumberland, MD. It was predictably tiny compared to the that giant casino called the Hollywood Slots at Charles Town Races. The outside scenery was very nice and the inside was, well, typical casino.

I looked around, and having not spotted them, I asked for assistance in finding the poker tables. This quantity description of tables was technically correct, as there were 2 of them! It was around 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, so my thinking is there "might" be a game going on, albeit a lightly-attended one. What I found was roped-off area with no players or dealers. (Unlike the Craps table, which had 4 workers just standing there waiting for someone to stop by and try their luck. :). No monitors with players waiting to play....nothing. I followed the railing covered with holly and located a gate which I proceeded to open and slip through. One of the tables was designated for 1/2 no-limit. The other table was missing any game-type placard, so maybe it was used as a giant tray table. :rolleyes: It did not take long to look around so I headed for the casino exit. A young security person politely advised me that what I did was highly frowned-upon. "I won't do it again" was my response, knowing that it was not out of the realm of possibility that I might never set foot in the Rocky Gap Resort and Casino again. On second thought, I was able to take advantage of a complimentary soda station, thus saving me a future trip expense. :) The cups looked to be about 3x the size of those miserly containers called "cups" found at the Charles Town Races and Slots. :ThmbUp:
I know they play poker at this place sometime :confused:, they were mentioned in one of proximity's trip reports! :D

proximity
12-05-2014, 12:44 AM
Today I had a car exchange job that took me to Morgantown, WV. Out of curiosity I stopped in to look around the Rocky Gap Resort and Casino located just outside of Cumberland, MD.....

beautiful drive through that section of western maryland!!

I don't think the game hardly ever goes on Thursdays but the action is hot at both tables on fri-sun. when I went they played 1-3 nl with a $50-$300 (?) buy in.

I have another free room there for December but don't know if i'll make it back.

great report, btw!!

proximity
12-05-2014, 01:09 AM
after yesterday's massive $8 win at the racino, i'm back today for another game of 1-2 no limit hold 'em.

early on I raise with AQ and face a reraise from an older player on the button. I take a second before flashing my cards to the dealer in disgust and mucking. villain tabled queens.

with pocket 9s from the blinds I call a raise ($8?) and four of us see a flop of AQ9!! great flop and I silently curse myself for not being deeper. I know someone has the ace and check instead of leading out. one player bets $15 and I go all in. she pauses, but calls and surprisingly my short stack may have helped here because there is no ace. she has like 9-8 and I drag my first pot of the game.

later I would raise pocket jacks from early position. three of us see a flop of QJX.... but all clubs. I bet $20 and both players fold. this win moved me ahead about $50 but there was trouble ahead when I raised AK from early position and got several callers.

A-J-9 flop. I bet and got one caller who shoved when I bet a queen on the turn. I folded and was back to even but wouldn't stay down for long. with TT I raised and three players called. I bet a flop of all low cards and everybody mucked.

it's getting towards the end of the bears-cowboys game and i'm fighting a headache. I call a raise to $6 with 44 from the button. four of us see a kk7 flop that gets checked to me. I bet and get one caller who leads out strong when a queen comes on the turn. I fold and rack up with another huge Hollywood profit of $10, a slight improvement over yesterday's $8 score. :sleeping:

game +10 (1/2 nl)
year +925 (75-50)

thaskalos
12-05-2014, 03:27 AM
after yesterday's massive $8 win at the racino, i'm back today for another game of 1-2 no limit hold 'em.

early on I raise with AQ and face a reraise from an older player on the button. I take a second before flashing my cards to the dealer in disgust and mucking. villain tabled queens.

with pocket 9s from the blinds I call a raise ($8?) and four of us see a flop of AQ9!! great flop and I silently curse myself for not being deeper. I know someone has the ace and check instead of leading out. one player bets $15 and I go all in. she pauses, but calls and surprisingly my short stack may have helped here because there is no ace. she has like 9-8 and I drag my first pot of the game.

later I would raise pocket jacks from early position. three of us see a flop of QJX.... but all clubs. I bet $20 and both players fold. this win moved me ahead about $50 but there was trouble ahead when I raised AK from early position and got several callers.

A-J-9 flop. I bet and got one caller who shoved when I bet a queen on the turn. I folded and was back to even but wouldn't stay down for long. with TT I raised and three players called. I bet a flop of all low cards and everybody mucked.

it's getting towards the end of the bears-cowboys game and i'm fighting a headache. I call a raise to $6 with 44 from the button. four of us see a kk7 flop that gets checked to me. I bet and get one caller who leads out strong when a queen comes on the turn. I fold and rack up with another huge Hollywood profit of $10, a slight improvement over yesterday's $8 score. :sleeping:

game +10 (1/2 nl)
year +925 (75-50)

A year's worth of poker-playing experience...a thousand dollar profit...and a solid foundation to a successful writing career. What more can a poker player ask for? :ThmbUp:

proximity
12-05-2014, 12:56 PM
A year's worth of poker-playing experience...a thousand dollar profit...and a solid foundation to a successful writing career. What more can a poker player ask for? :ThmbUp:

good players win thousands of dollars in a year. plural.

we are running out of time in 2014 and the odds are against me but since there was a month (February) where I won $1176, my task isn't impossible. there is a chance.

I am taking off now for historic Charles town, wva for what is probably my final appearance there for our tour. I hear there is a real good player there and I could be tested for class if I go up against this monster. I will do my best. :)

Red Knave
12-05-2014, 04:33 PM
I hear there is a real good player there and I could be tested for class if I go up against this monster. I will do my best. :)
I wonder what lurks beneath that monster exterior? ;)

Luck to you both.

proximity
12-06-2014, 05:01 AM
I wonder what lurks beneath that monster exterior? ;)

Luck to you both.

he let me leave with my car..... but not much money for gas. :(

proximity
12-06-2014, 05:48 AM
as promised above in post #582 I took off for historic Charles town, wv and arrived safely around 3:00. after taking a walk around the casino and getting a new players card I take an open seat in 3/6 limit.

3:30 I fold everything until my first big blind. I look down at Q8 and the flop of J9X checks around. ten on the turn giving me a straight. I bet and a woman who regularly plays in the game calls. 9 on the river pairs the board but I bet again. she raises. I call. she tables KQ for a higher straight.

4:30 I finally strike, winning a small pot on a semi bluff with KJ suited. the game is struggling to survive. -$45

5:00 I flop a set of 5s. (9-5-x) nine on the river. ace-nine raises me. I reraise to $18 and the win pulls me to within $6 of even.

5:30 the elegant ann comes in to deal. she is the prettiest dealer with the ugliest cards. 7-6 flops two pair and loses to a turned straight. next I miss an open ended straight draw of my own. and the game is getting short handed yet again. back to -$48

6:15 the game closes for like two minutes, but re-opens. with 9-3 from the bb I flop two pair. A9 turns a higher two pair. -$80

7:00 I tap out my $100 buy in but immediately launch a comeback with a flopped full house on the very first hand of my rebuy. when J3 flops top pair from the bb and holds on to win i'm back to "only" -$38

7:30 I think gator gone wild is the horse to beat here in the second and salivate over the ridiculous 15-1 morning line. of course she goes off at 5-2 and i'm "saved by the odds" when she runs second. nice exacta under ml 2nd choice my reward though.

7:45 well, I've done it!! I come all the way back to actually take a slim lead in this perpetually short handed affair!! and when the game goes 4 handed I toss in my big blind and announce that this is my final four handed lap. I carry a $9 lead to the final hand....and look down at AK. I raise. flop: AQT. blanks on the turn and river. I lose to QT. :mad: I can't go out like this. I stay. I raise AQ suited. I lose again. I lose one more hand. game goes to three players. no mas.

i cash out at the poker room cage and on my way over to the racing section i spot a ct 3/6 legend named john at the 1-2 tables. a definite sign that the game is pretty much dead at Charles town. looks like it is the end of an era. but it was fun while it lasted. :)

game -27 (3/6 limit)
year +898 (75-51)

Red Knave
12-06-2014, 10:54 AM
he let me leave with my car
Small mercies ...

;)

proximity
12-06-2014, 01:54 PM
after the heartbreaking limit loss I stop in the racing section to visit a friend from penn national before sitting down to an expensive but tasty general tso's at zen noodle in the casino food court. I handicap the rest of the live card and actually come up with a play that grinds out a few dollars.

just before 10:00 I meet up with track collector by the poker room where we take 1-2 no limit seats at adjoining tables. I strike early with pocket kings in one of my first hands. I shove a flop of AAT and the kings prove best. a few hands later a seat opens to my left and track collector joins the game!!

I make another $15 raise with QQ, get a call from the same villain that called KK and see another ace high flop. I don't shove all in, but I do bet and move to 2-0 for the game when he mucks again. from the small blind I complete with A2 and after a flop that gets checked around I go runner-runner A-2 for my third tally of the contest.

with pocket jacks though, i'd make a bad play. I raise from middle position getting calls from same guy that always calls me and the small blind. flop of K-5-5 checks around and I call a $15 turn bet from the small blind who shoves $47 out on the river. knowing he's the kind of player that can limp and/or "just" call with a hand like AK I should have just folded here on the turn. I ask if he can beat jacks before mucking. he tables KQ suited.

eventually a loss with 99 moves me back to exactly even but I move back ahead with a pre flop raise and continuation bet bluff with AQ suited.

around midnight I raise again with KK and again we see an over card on the flop. if nothing else though, i'm doing a good job sniffing out the flops and I lead out again representing an ace and take down the pot. a half hour later though when I lose with AK my lead is down to $20.

at around 1:00 i make my bad play of the game when i complete a small blind with J8 suited and lead out on an 863 flop. six on the turn and i should have checked and folded but i bet again and ultimately lose to a guy playing 63 who has turned a full house. overall I've been doing a good job of folding these hands and staying out of trouble but this lapse in judgement has caused me to fall behind for the game. when i look down at AA on the very next hand i hope that my reraise of a $5 early position raise to $15 is seen as a steam raise but everyone folds.

i'm only down like $8 at this point but the two bad plays have made the difference over these three hours.

meanwhile the monster to my left is on cruise control. in one big hand he flops top pair and a gutshot with KJ suited. queen on the turn, blank on the river and he said he feared AK (unlikely the way the hand was played) but still made just the right size value bet on the river.

the moment reminds me of a scene from the movie top gun where viper first flies against iceman.

"damn.....this kid's good."-- viper (top gun)

we're dealing with a very smooth new player here friends and i'm wondering what he's up to when i raise with AQ suited and he calls along with a couple other players. i believe there was a bet on the flop or turn and i end up dropping out but track collector stays and spikes the ace on the river with AK suited. fortunately for me the board didn't come out in reverse, lol but this new shooter would eventually tap me out when i miss an open ended straight draw against his tepidly played queens. i think he should have raised this hand (and some jacks later) before the flop but really this guy has poker instincts that i'm not sure can be taught. it's amazing that just months ago he probably didn't know that a flush beats a straight.

anyhow, on the rebuy i'd strike with some pocket queens of my own. the player on the right of me can't let go of 77 and calls all the way down. i'm almost back to even when i raise pocket aces from late position. but a guy defends his small blind with 87 suited and flops a straight flush. when he takes plenty of time checking and calling $20 bets on the flop and turn i start to get the message that we're dealing with some kind of made hand here. he checks the river and i flip over the aces. i'm now down $69 and that's where i'll end up 15 minutes later when the game breaks at 2:20 am.

it's going to be a long ride home through a cold drizzle so it's time for me to leave. track collector, with an imposing stack of red and green that could easily be mistaken for the poker room Christmas tree, sticks around for more though.

i recently read a mark twain quote on one of the Michael gill videos:

"the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."-- mark twain

and on this night a star was born.

2014 west Virginia poker rookie of the year. no doubt about it. :ThmbUp:

game -69 (1-2 nl)
year +829 (75-52)

proximity
12-06-2014, 02:49 PM
the moment reminds me of a scene from the movie top gun where viper first flies against iceman.

"damn.....this kid's good."-- viper (top gun)



error in this last game report.

it was actually maverick vs viper.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC976fuQm4E

proximity
12-07-2014, 07:52 PM
after going 0-2 on Charles town trip we return to the racino for a Saturday night clash. a rare limit game is going there and sounds like a good spot for just a relaxing night to escape the worries of life. the game is running ten handed when I arrive so I jump on the list and take a couple laps around the casino. along the way I spot some people I know from non-gambling life and break what I call the rule of roxy roxborough: never talk to squares.

what should have been a walking wave, smile, and "happy holidays" instead turns into me listening to this lunatic drone on for ten plus minutes while my name is flashing on the list. eventually I make my way back to the card room though and we're underway.

I strike quickly in this humble 2/4 contest with T3 on one of my first big blinds. flop: 333.

with 77 from the button, flop: 5-6-8 and I raise, going for a free card play that isn't necessary when a four comes right on the turn. unfortunately I chop with k7, but it's still a winning hand overall.

with AT from my next big blind I flop top pair and the nut flush draw when three clubs fall. top pair holds and i'm at about +27 when i'm dealt QT suited. flop: QQT!!

fortunately there's not a lot of folding on this hand and I end up winning over $70 in the first hour of the game. I wouldn't lose my first showdown until about 15 minutes later when my flopped top pair with KQ loses to tepidly played AA.

more trouble would follow though when I flop top two with 98 suited but running straight cards come. a bet and a call on the river make this an easy fold for me although only one player actually had the straight. next i'd flop top pair with J9 suited and get run down by T4 when running dimes come on the turn and river.

my game profits sink into the $40s when I flop a flush and redraw to a straight flush with T9 of clubs. (flop: 8c7cXc) another player though has the 6 of clubs and unfortunately also the queen. no jack comes, lol, but at least my turn raise put the villain all in so I couldn't drop another bet on the river.

JJ from the small blind would turn the whole game back around though. there's a raise and I just call instead of reopening the betting. a big field sees a flop of QT7 and i opt to hang in for the two dollars. another queen falls and the turn checks around. blank on the river and JJ proves best at showdown!!

this win would move me almost $80 ahead again. i'd go through another downswing over the game's final four hours but would strike back with 44 flopping a set and turning a full house and TT doing the same. short handed late, my kicker would play in a couple top pair hands.

about seven hours in i'd move over $100 ahead and the game would break. i'd take a couple laps around the casino again to get the blood flowing before the drive home, this time keeping the rule of roxy roxborough in mind in case i encountered any squares on my travels. ;)

game +107 (2/4 lim)
year +936 (76-52)

proximity
12-13-2014, 09:09 PM
it's a snowy but peaceful morning as i make my way through the rolling hills and countryside of northern maryland. it's cold outside but i've gotten off to a scorching hot start in my poker "career" at the beautiful new horseshoe baltimore. and that hot start is going to need to continue because it's late in the game and we're way behind pace to make our poker tour dreams a reality.

the stakes are low, but the pressure is high. we can't afford a loss today at horseshoe but i can only show up and do my best. will i be stayin' alive.... or drawin' dead? let's find out...

we kickoff today's game of 3/6 hold 'em about 12:40 and i'm ice cold for the first hour. i'm getting a lot of experience folding j-7. i must have had this hand at least six times. eventually i break through and drag my first pot of the contest with pocket queens but then suffer a setback with j-t when i flop bottom two pair. (AJT) fortunately an ace comes on the turn and i'm forced to drop out. yes, fortunately because the small blind had flopped top and bottom with AT and i would have paid him off otherwise.

around 2:00 though i strike quickly, moving ahead with a set of 3s and then padding my lead with a set of 9s!!

then at 4:00 i win a big pot with AJ when my big blind gets straddled. the score moves me ahead over $100 for the game (and back over $1000 ahead for the year) but my three digit lead is short lived when AA gets cracked by a rivered flush.

the sun has set over horseshoe and i go cold for hours before i suddenly erupt with QJ flopping top pair and holding off the draws. next with Q4 from the big blind i see a flop of AQ4. things are looking good until i get raised after an 8 falls on the turn. i'm thinking A8, but this could just as easily be 84 at horseshoe and i call and fire out a bet when a lucky queen comes on the river. A8 makes the call and we're now up over $160!!

shortly after the start of the rams-cardinals game i hit back to back flushes with suited connectors to move up almost $190 and around halftime i get pocket aces again. this time they hold up and i'm up over $200.

unfortunately for the second half of the game i'm as dead as the two offenses. i get a few promising draws but miss every one. just before midnight i get up with a $150 score. a disappointing end for sure, but overall another great game at the horseshoe baltimore!! :)

game +150 (3/6 lim)
year +1086 (77-52)

proximity
12-14-2014, 02:42 AM
after finally cracking the thousand dollar profit level again I return to the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore for another 12:40 pm start.

to say that i'm pleased to see Maryland poker legend aunt hortense at the table would be a mild understatement. :cool:

It doesn't take long to notch a win in this one as I flop top pair with Q3 from my first big blind and turn a 3. the queen was good by itself but about a half hour into the game aunt hortense's KQ outkicks my QT suited and I fall behind.

about an hour in though I notch win number two when I raise pocket queens and flop a full house. flop:Q77. aunt hortense called two cold pre flop with q6 and when another 6 turns, she probably thought it played. i'm sure most of you don't believe me, and hey.... I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't at the table. she is that crazy!!

this great hand would move me back ahead for the game but unfortunately I don't win a single hand for over two more hours and fall behind.

meanwhile aunt hortense is on fire. she's hitting gutshots or boats on literally every other hand and one player at the table actually counted that she won 11 out of 14 hands during a single dealer shift.

her stack is rising while mine is slowly shrinking but that would change just before 4:00 when i'd flop a flush with Ac9c from the button. i get a lot of action here and the win moves me ahead over $40 despite winning less than one pot an hour.

around 6:00 i turn a queen high flush and add to my lead. with KJ though i'm getting some pressue from aunt hortense following a flop of KQJ.
king on the river and aunt hortense is still applying pressure.

"KQ again?" i query before calling her raise.

but this time we chop as she too tables KJ with another player correctly reminding me that i actually wanted her to have KQ because of the $750 bad beat at horseshoe.

moving on, around six hours into the game i flop middle pair with T9 from the big blind and bet another low card on the turn after the flop checks around. i get a lot of calls on this bet but the hand is good at showdown and I've moved $100 ahead.

around 7:00 though the fog starts to roll in.

i raise AK and get a lot of calls.

"i get more calls than at&t," i joke.

AK misses by a mile.

around 9:00 with AJ i run into a set of kings on a flop of AKx. ace on the turn and it's a $2500 bad beat if i river a jack here, but a ten falls and my lead is down to only $30. and shortly after 11:00 aunt hortense (who over the hours has lost her big lead and a rebuy or two) turns a queen to overtake my flopped top pair with T9 suited and i fall behind for the game. :bang:

at about 11:30 paceadvantage legend wiffleball whizz enters the room. he's wearing about half a bottle of high class cologne and the women in the room in the room are just going crazy. first he's talking to the girl from poltergeist and making his rounds from table to table. large denomination bills are being passed back and forth. when he finally sits down at a 1-3 game one cougar jumps half way across the freaking table.

but whizz plays it cool the whole time. the guy makes fonz from happy days or ponch from chips look like raj from the big bang theory. the most interesting man in the world seems like Cameron from ferris bueller's day off in comparison.

whizz is living the life while i'm dying at the table.

almost 12 hours of playing aunt hortense and i'm down $4 when she gets up to leave. whizz comes into the game for 10 minutes and wins $6. it's like the third game he's been in already, lol and then he leaves our game for yet another 1-3 game where he takes a seat beside an incredibly perky young lady. then another high rolling cougar comes into the poker room and is all over the whizz and knows this girl and is telling her about the whizz...... rinse and repeat...

anyhow i raise pocket tens.

flop: T46. 4 turn, 6 river and we move back ahead.

i raise AK.

flop: J72 rainbow.

there's a bet and several calls on the flop before the action gets to me so this is a rare overcard situation that i do draw to.

king on the turn and i move ahead over $80.

about 1:15 i flop a set of jacks and hold off an aggressive villain drawing to a straight on a J98 flop. just like that i'm back ahead $134. i'll gain $3 more dollars before closing out just before 4:00 am.

i look for whizz on my way out of the casino but he's probably in the diamond lounge with stanky poo, Michael phelps, frank stronach :D , and the raven's cheerleading team.

it's whizz's world.... :cool:

game +137 (3/6 limit)
year +1223 (78-52)

wiffleball whizz
12-14-2014, 07:15 AM
after finally cracking the thousand dollar profit level again I return to the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore for another 12:40 pm start.

to say that i'm pleased to see Maryland poker legend aunt hortense at the table would be a mild understatement. :cool:

It doesn't take long to notch a win in this one as I flop top pair with Q3 from my first big blind and turn a 3. the queen was good by itself but about a half hour into the game aunt hortense's KQ outkicks my QT suited and I fall behind.

about an hour in though I notch win number two when I raise pocket queens and flop a full house. flop:Q77. aunt hortense called two cold pre flop with q6 and when another 6 turns, she probably thought it played. i'm sure most of you don't believe me, and hey.... I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't at the table. she is that crazy!!

this great hand would move me back ahead for the game but unfortunately I don't win a single hand for over two more hours and fall behind.

meanwhile aunt hortense is on fire. she's hitting gutshots or boats on literally every other hand and one player at the table actually counted that she won 11 out of 14 hands during a single dealer shift.

her stack is rising while mine is slowly shrinking but that would change just before 4:00 when i'd flop a flush with Ac9c from the button. i get a lot of action here and the win moves me ahead over $40 despite winning less than one pot an hour.

around 6:00 i turn a queen high flush and add to my lead. with KJ though i'm getting some pressue from aunt hortense following a flop of KQJ.
king on the river and aunt hortense is still applying pressure.

"KQ again?" i query before calling her raise.

but this time we chop as she too tables KJ with another player correctly reminding me that i actually wanted her to have KQ because of the $750 bad beat at horseshoe.

moving on, around six hours into the game i flop middle pair with T9 from the big blind and bet another low card on the turn after the flop checks around. i get a lot of calls on this bet but the hand is good at showdown and I've moved $100 ahead.

around 7:00 though the fog starts to roll in.

i raise AK and get a lot of calls.

"i get more calls than at&t," i joke.

AK misses by a mile.

around 9:00 with AJ i run into a set of kings on a flop of AKx. ace on the turn and it's a $2500 bad beat if i river a jack here, but a ten falls and my lead is down to only $30. and shortly after 11:00 aunt hortense (who over the hours has lost her big lead and a rebuy or two) turns a queen to overtake my flopped top pair with T9 suited and i fall behind for the game. :bang:

at about 11:30 paceadvantage legend wiffleball whizz enters the room. he's wearing about half a bottle of high class cologne and the women in the room in the room are just going crazy. first he's talking to the girl from poltergeist and making his rounds from table to table. large denomination bills are being passed back and forth. when he finally sits down at a 1-3 game one cougar jumps half way across the freaking table.

but whizz plays it cool the whole time. the guy makes fonz from happy days or ponch from chips look like raj from the big bang theory. the most interesting man in the world seems like Cameron from ferris bueller's day off in comparison.

whizz is living the life while i'm dying at the table.

almost 12 hours of playing aunt hortense and i'm down $4 when she gets up to leave. whizz comes into the game for 10 minutes and wins $6. it's like the third game he's been in already, lol and then he leaves our game for yet another 1-3 game where he takes a seat beside an incredibly perky young lady. then another high rolling cougar comes into the poker room and is all over the whizz and knows this girl and is telling her about the whizz...... rinse and repeat...

anyhow i raise pocket tens.

flop: T46. 4 turn, 6 river and we move back ahead.

i raise AK.

flop: J72 rainbow.

there's a bet and several calls on the flop before the action gets to me so this is a rare overcard situation that i do draw to.

king on the turn and i move ahead over $80.

about 1:15 i flop a set of jacks and hold off an aggressive villain drawing to a straight on a J98 flop. just like that i'm back ahead $134. i'll gain $3 more dollars before closing out just before 4:00 am.

i look for whizz on my way out of the casino but he's probably in the diamond lounge with stanky poo, Michael phelps, frank stronach :D , and the raven's cheerleading team.

it's whizz's world.... :cool:

game +137 (3/6 limit)
year +1223 (78-52)


HAHAHAHAHA.....after I leave your game...

Loan my friend 140 (in the same game) buy in for 300 down to about 170 I look down at 99.....I call a 22 preflop raise

Flop A94.......rainbow bright guy bets 35 I call my friend calls turn is a 4....guy bets 60 friend goes all in for 122 guy foods a ace friend says "why didn't you just fold"......river comes the case ace I get counterfeited and just blow out of there and into video poker land where the results were anything but good!!!


And did you see famous Maryland donator Augusto at the adjecent 3/6 game? Can't be a worse player in the world

dilanesp
12-14-2014, 03:25 PM
with 77 from the button, flop: 5-6-8 and I raise, going for a free card play that isn't necessary when a four comes right on the turn. unfortunately I chop with k7, but it's still a winning hand overall.

This is a good hand to think about. If someone has an 8 other than 87, 89, or 84, you have a ten out straight and set draw, which is about 40 percent to get there by the river. Which means that a free card play is going to be +EV against 2 opponents but not against one.

If someone has a stronger hand than a pair of 8's, you are going to get 3-bet a fair amount of the time, which could put you heads up and at an equity disadvantage. At the same time, if someone is betting a draw, weaker pair, or ace high, you could be ahead and raising for value.

There's probably nothing wrong with your play, but it's worth thinking seriously about this situation because against different opponents, it can be correct to (1) do what you did, (2) raise and barrel brick turns (against players who have a wide range of hands that you beat, where you might be able to protect your hand or get value with a raise), or (3) just call (against nits who actually are likely to have hands stronger than a pair of 8's).

more trouble would follow though when I flop top two with 98 suited but running straight cards come. a bet and a call on the river make this an easy fold for me although only one player actually had the straight.

Against unknowns in a big pot, this can often be a call, especially if the running straight cards were below your 9 and your 8 (meaning that your opponents could have formed WEAKER two pair). The fact that only one of them actually had the straight should give you pause about folding in such a big pot and getting big odds on your call.

JJ from the small blind would turn the whole game back around though. there's a raise and I just call instead of reopening the betting. a big field sees a flop of QT7 and i opt to hang in for the two dollars. another queen falls and the turn checks around. blank on the river and JJ proves best at showdown!!

I think you almost certainly messed this hand up. Against all but the nittiest opponents, JJ is an automatic 3-bet in limit, especially in the small blind where you can fold out Ax, Kx, and Qx type hands in the big blind and thus protect your hand. (To be clear, that's not even the main reason for 3-betting it. The main reason is value. You are usually ahead, and especially far ahead of anyone in the pot OTHER than the original raiser. When you 3-bet a hand like this in a big field, you force everyone else in the pot to put in additional bets when you hold the best chance of winning the hand. Those additional bets are pure +EV profit over the long run.)

On the flop, it depends on how big the pot is and how often the original bettor has a queen or an overpair. That's a range/pokerstove question. It's actually sometimes correct to fold, though.

On the river, I hope you bet your JJ for value. Nobody ever has a queen there.

proximity
12-14-2014, 05:23 PM
HAHAHAHAHA.....after I leave your game...

Loan my friend 140 (in the same game) buy in for 300 down to about 170 I look down at 99.....I call a 22 preflop raise

Flop A94.......rainbow bright guy bets 35 I call my friend calls turn is a 4....guy bets 60 friend goes all in for 122 guy foods a ace friend says "why didn't you just fold"......river comes the case ace I get counterfeited and just blow out of there and into video poker land where the results were anything but good!!!


And did you see famous Maryland donator Augusto at the adjecent 3/6 game? Can't be a worse player in the world

tough beat there, at least your friend has the money to pay you back though. :rolleyes: and I did see augusto. at 4:00 am he has more energy than probably the rest of the room combined so he's hard to miss, lol.

on paceadvantage it seems like everyone's a winner and I don't just mean a gambling winner. but a winner with a great job, relationships, life.... I know it's the internet but of course this contradicts real gambling life where MOST people who start frequenting the tracks and casinos DO NOT have great lives, myself included. it doesn't mean we're bad people but there's usually some kind of deficiency or something we're missing that we're hoping to find in gambling.

personally I don't form relationships quickly and this is a bad flaw to have in life. so never take for granted the gifts god gave you with your natural charisma and the ability to easily make people like you. this is a great thing to have.

proximity
12-14-2014, 05:45 PM
I think you almost certainly messed this hand up. Against all but the nittiest opponents, JJ is an automatic 3-bet in limit, especially in the small blind where you can fold out Ax, Kx, and Qx type hands in the big blind and thus protect your hand. (To be clear, that's not even the main reason for 3-betting it. The main reason is value. You are usually ahead, and especially far ahead of anyone in the pot OTHER than the original raiser. When you 3-bet a hand like this in a big field, you force everyone else in the pot to put in additional bets when you hold the best chance of winning the hand. Those additional bets are pure +EV profit over the long run.)

On the flop, it depends on how big the pot is and how often the original bettor has a queen or an overpair. That's a range/pokerstove question. It's actually sometimes correct to fold, though.

On the river, I hope you bet your JJ for value. Nobody ever has a queen there.

this particular game is a 2/4 game at the racino that rarely goes. one man who likes to play 2/4 tries to start the game like once a month. he does not like pre flop raises so i'm going to be very picky about making pre flop raises in his game.

what i'm trying to say is that sometimes to get along.... you have to go along.

proximity
12-14-2014, 06:08 PM
Against unknowns in a big pot, this can often be a call, especially if the running straight cards were below your 9 and your 8 (meaning that your opponents could have formed WEAKER two pair). The fact that only one of them actually had the straight should give you pause about folding in such a big pot and getting big odds on your call.


against these particular opponents I was almost definitely beat but I confess to messing up a similar hand at horseshoe.

with 93 off suit from the bb I river a nine high flush. obviously it wasn't a big pot if I made it to the river but I do fold this winner to a bet and a call. a difference in this hand is that aunt hortense was the caller..... and you pretty much have to ignore that she's in most hands.

(six high flush beat aunt h's five high flush for anyone who is curious)

proximity
12-14-2014, 06:35 PM
This is a good hand to think about. If someone has an 8 other than 87, 89, or 84, you have a ten out straight and set draw, which is about 40 percent to get there by the river. Which means that a free card play is going to be +EV against 2 opponents but not against one.


in this hand (and the game in general) we're going up against almost the entire table. only a made straight (against which I have two blocking cards) is going to reraise me here on the flop and (also in this game) the turn is almost definitely going to get checked to me.

this game doesn't have the unbelievably bad players that some of the Maryland games feature, but still... we're worlds away from the big roy cooke games in card player magazine. :)

dilanesp
12-15-2014, 12:50 AM
in this hand (and the game in general) we're going up against almost the entire table. only a made straight (against which I have two blocking cards) is going to reraise me here on the flop and (also in this game) the turn is almost definitely going to get checked to me.

this game doesn't have the unbelievably bad players that some of the Maryland games feature, but still... we're worlds away from the big roy cooke games in card player magazine. :)

Roy Cooke is not that good, by the way. He's stealing money to write that column.

But obviously if game conditions are as you say, you can definitely make a lot of free card plays in position.

dilanesp
12-15-2014, 12:52 AM
against these particular opponents I was almost definitely beat but I confess to messing up a similar hand at horseshoe.

with 93 off suit from the bb I river a nine high flush. obviously it wasn't a big pot if I made it to the river but I do fold this winner to a bet and a call. a difference in this hand is that aunt hortense was the caller..... and you pretty much have to ignore that she's in most hands.

(six high flush beat aunt h's five high flush for anyone who is curious)

"Almost definitely beat" is often a call in limit if the pot is big enough.

Fur coats and all:

http://www.fekali.com/pwf/miscellanea/furcoat.html

Track Collector
12-15-2014, 01:08 AM
2014 west Virginia poker rookie of the year. no doubt about it. :ThmbUp:


Thanks for the flattering words!

On the other hand, the voting members went home before the complete body of work could be seen and evaluated. When you left the game I was up about $250. Having lost about $300 in the previous two sessions, I decided that I wanted to increase that day's winnings enough to offset the aforementioned loss amount. Over the next 3-hour period I was relatively card-dead, and then failed to notice that I started doing what one should not do, and that is to chase. I was playing many more speculative pre-flop hands. Mix in staying one bet too long, and you have a great recipe for bankroll disappearance. Normally I am disciplined enough to to let the cards run their course and wait, or come back another night, but on this night, I failed to notice my bleeding stack until it was too late.

When I found myself with pocket Queens, I decided to make this my last hand. Five players were dealt hands and the flop came up dry, so I then committed the balance of my $65 starting hand stack to the pot. The turn and river were blanks, and I was run down by the villain who had pocket Aces. I think I played this hand correctly, and if so, it means +EV in the longer term.

The net result, I turned +$250 to +$28. :blush:

Another "rookie mistake" occurs the very next night. The net was a nice positive, but final numbers don't tell the full story. In one of the hands I end up with position in a heads up. I have Adxd and the flop contains 2 more diamonds. My opponent bets $40 and I call. He was bluffing and was disgusted when I called and won with Ace high. A brilliant read on my part? No, I mistakenly called thinking there was another card to be turned over. :blush: Thus, much of my winnings from the entire session were undeserved.

I do agree with you that I am much too passive when it comes to raising with high pairs (other than AA or KK), or pretty good starting hands when with position. These current weaknesses get covered up when playing in games with a lot of donkeys, but would be exploited by tougher competition. Given the position and hand type, what size raise would you recommend pre-flop for AA/KK/QQ/JJ/AKs/AKx ? Any other hands too?

BTW, to say that it was only a few months ago that I probably learned that a flush beats a straight is a slight exaggeration. You were only off by about 47 years. ;)

Great seeing you though and thanks as always for your help! What a bonus to be in the same game!

proximity
12-15-2014, 02:02 AM
"Almost definitely beat" is often a call in limit if the pot is big enough.

Fur coats and all:

http://www.fekali.com/pwf/miscellanea/furcoat.html

don't worry, I won't be laying down kings full anytime soon. :)

sklansky loved that cocktail waitress fantasy but omg if he'd see the girls when the whizz walks into horseshoe.... :faint:

proximity
12-15-2014, 02:17 AM
Thus, much of my winnings from the entire session were undeserved.


at least you're not living a lie like roy cooke. :D

seriously, you don't want to be complacent but i basically "write it how i see it" in my game descriptions. and what i saw was a guy that you wouldn't think was a novice player. what i saw were some good poker instincts. what i saw was a game with tremendous potential for plenty of future fun and profits.

what would i raise those hands to? it depends on a lot of stuff but i'm still going to give a general Charles town answer.... $9 plus the size of the pot.

thaskalos
12-15-2014, 02:20 AM
"Almost definitely beat" is often a call in limit if the pot is big enough.

Fur coats and all:

http://www.fekali.com/pwf/miscellanea/furcoat.html

:D You gotta love those Albanians. :ThmbUp:

wiffleball whizz
12-15-2014, 10:49 AM
don't worry, I won't be laying down kings full anytime soon. :)

sklansky loved that cocktail waitress fantasy but omg if he'd see the girls when the whizz walks into horseshoe.... :faint:

Yeah sure..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

dilanesp
12-15-2014, 11:09 AM
at least you're not living a lie like roy cooke. :D

it isn't that he's living a lie. It's just that he advocates strategies that were found in poker books in the 1990's. It's as if online poker, all the math, and the strategies of brilliant young players never happened. Against typical mid stakes online players, he'd be a TAGfish.

There are much better players out there who should have that column if CardPlayer cared about its readership.

wiffleball whizz
12-15-2014, 01:05 PM
it isn't that he's living a lie. It's just that he advocates strategies that were found in poker books in the 1990's. It's as if online poker, all the math, and the strategies of brilliant young players never happened. Against typical mid stakes online players, he'd be a TAGfish.

There are much better players out there who should have that column if CardPlayer cared about its readership.


**** Roy Cooke and his ancient 30/60 column.....guy is from the Stone Age with his 1998 articles.....

If you need real estate give him or his wife misty a call.....there always available to help.......had that same photo in card players for 20 years!!!

proximity
12-15-2014, 05:25 PM
it isn't that he's living a lie. It's just that he advocates strategies that were found in poker books in the 1990's. It's as if online poker, all the math, and the strategies of brilliant young players never happened. Against typical mid stakes online players, he'd be a TAGfish.

There are much better players out there who should have that column if CardPlayer cared about its readership.

well, it's all over now as he's moved to 2/5 no limit.

cardplayer has lost its limit ambassador.

proximity
12-15-2014, 05:31 PM
If you need real estate give him or his wife misty a call.....there always available to help.......had that same photo in card players for 20 years!!!

i need 3610 tier credits to make diamond.

but it looks like the only extra benefits i get are a $100 dinner, access to the diamond lounge, and the ability to jump up in the poker line (which is just rude)?

what exactly goes on in the horseshoe diamond room?

thaskalos
12-15-2014, 06:11 PM
it isn't that he's living a lie. It's just that he advocates strategies that were found in poker books in the 1990's. It's as if online poker, all the math, and the strategies of brilliant young players never happened. Against typical mid stakes online players, he'd be a TAGfish.

There are much better players out there who should have that column if CardPlayer cared about its readership.

I have read much worse poker literature than Roy Cooke's columns. And another thing: Being a great player is one thing; but being able to clearly present your thinking process on paper is something altogether different.

Cooke has played a positive role in this game...and I'm not ready to criticize him.

dilanesp
12-15-2014, 06:18 PM
I have read much worse poker literature than Roy Cooke's columns. And another thing: Being a great player is one thing; but being able to clearly present your thinking process on paper is something altogether different.

Cooke has played a positive role in this game...and I'm not ready to criticize him.

Cooke is a decent writer. I'm not saying that they should hire a bad writer to replace him.

But you know, it isn't as though Phil Newall doesn't exist, to pick one example. Heck, there are some semi-anonymous posters on 2+2, like Death Donkey and DougL, who write very well and would crush Cooke at limit hold 'em.

The problem with Cooke isn't that he can't clearly present his thoughts-- it's that his thoughts on limit hold 'em are dead wrong and players who follow them will play the game badly.

thaskalos
12-15-2014, 06:35 PM
Cooke is a decent writer. I'm not saying that they should hire a bad writer to replace him.

But you know, it isn't as though Phil Newall doesn't exist, to pick one example. Heck, there are some semi-anonymous posters on 2+2, like Death Donkey and DougL, who write very well and would crush Cooke at limit hold 'em.

The problem with Cooke isn't that he can't clearly present his thoughts-- it's that his thoughts on limit hold 'em are dead wrong and players who follow them will play the game badly.

There is no "right or wrong" advice in poker. What is right today can easily become wrong tomorrow...because the nature of the game is in a constant state of flux. Cooke's advice is wrong today...and Newall's advice will likely be proven wrong tomorrow.

PS...I have read Newall's first book...and his writing skills didn't impress me enough to read his second one.

proximity
12-15-2014, 09:07 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn26NOoV_lQ

roy: i just don't want it no more.

misty: if your 40-80 limit hold'em career is over because you want it to be over, i'm glad.

roy: i do.

misty: it's just... you never quit anything since i've known you.

roy: i mean why couldn't the shulmans tell me my articles weren't that good right from the start?

misty: we have everything roy. real estate, casino comps, everything but the truth! WHAT'S THE TRUTH DAMN IT!!!

roy: I'M AFRAID!

misty: i'm afraid too!! death donkey? newall? doug l? aunt hortense?
YOU CAN'T WIN ROY!!!

:D

dilanesp
12-15-2014, 09:32 PM
There is no "right or wrong" advice in poker. What is right today can easily become wrong tomorrow...because the nature of the game is in a constant state of flux. Cooke's advice is wrong today...and Newall's advice will likely be proven wrong tomorrow.

PS...I have read Newall's first book...and his writing skills didn't impress me enough to read his second one.

It isn't an issue of the game changing, although that has happened to some extent. Rather, the math has gotten more advanced.

But also, Cooke has always, as long as I have read him, gotten some pretty fundamental things wrong about limit hold 'em. For instance, limit is a pre-flop game and he spends almost no time writing about pre-flop, and further sometimes makes some awful pre-flop plays based on his description of hands.

If you read his columns, you'd think that the route to being a winning limit hold 'em player is to make some specific exploitative plays on the turn and the river against particular players, and that's just totally wrong.

thaskalos
12-15-2014, 09:52 PM
It isn't an issue of the game changing, although that has happened to some extent. Rather, the math has gotten more advanced.

But also, Cooke has always, as long as I have read him, gotten some pretty fundamental things wrong about limit hold 'em. For instance, limit is a pre-flop game and he spends almost no time writing about pre-flop, and further sometimes makes some awful pre-flop plays based on his description of hands.

If you read his columns, you'd think that the route to being a winning limit hold 'em player is to make some specific exploitative plays on the turn and the river against particular players, and that's just totally wrong.

I don't read his columns, but I read his books, which are comprised of his columns. Yes...he doesn't talk much about pre-flop play, because pre-flop play does not make for interesting reading. Would YOU be able to write column after column about pre-flop play?

Making value bets in the latter stages of the hand -- or saving a bet here and there -- through experience and guile, may not appeal to the "modern" player...but they have a positive effect on the long-term bottom line -- and they make for interesting reading. I don't know the man, and I can't be sure if his achievements in poker are what he has reported them to be...but I have enjoyed his books...and have benefited from his advice -- in and out of the game. The fact that much of his advice has been proven wrong by the advancement of the math of the game doesn't concern me much...because I don't need the poker author to hold my hand throughout my gambling career. All I need is a little guidance and motivation at the start...and I can usually figure out the rest on my own.

wiffleball whizz
12-15-2014, 10:45 PM
Happy holidays from the cookes

proximity
12-15-2014, 10:57 PM
Happy holidays from the cookes

even though it was when the colts won a division title, i'm going to regret the day i casually mentioned the name roy cooke on this forum. :D

let's not mention that i spent some of the evening reading an ashley adams book.... ;)

thaskalos
12-15-2014, 11:06 PM
even though it was when the colts won a division title, i'm going to regret the day i casually mentioned the name roy cooke on this forum. :D

let's not mention that i spent some of the evening reading an ashley adams book.... ;)

Forget the Ashley Adams book...here's the book you want. Get a kindle and I'll lend it to you...plus the other 50 poker books that I have on there.

http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Poker-Derric-Haynie-ebook/dp/B009SE1Z9E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418702631&sr=1-1&keywords=quantum+poker

proximity
12-15-2014, 11:39 PM
my sincere apologies to roy cooke and ashley adams. :)

moving on, i log on 2+2 and pm a question to newall, death donkey, doug l, and sklansky.

q: i'm approaching the table for a brand new game of 3/6 limit hold 'em at horseshoe baltimore. where should i sit relative to aunt hortense?

one expert says to sit to her left. but another expert says to sit to her right. yet another expert says to sit straight across from her.

i'm greatly anticipating sklansky's tie breaking vote but remain as confused as ever when he replies: on her lap.... :eek:

wiffleball whizz
12-16-2014, 01:21 AM
Proximity enough of the platinum status let's get you that diamond card!!!!!!!! To close not to get to the promised land now!!!!

proximity
12-16-2014, 02:46 AM
Proximity enough of the platinum status let's get you that diamond card!!!!!!!! To close not to get to the promised land now!!!!

see, I knew another pa member could come up with a better joke. not that I set the bar very high.

really, it could come down to that final big game on new year's eve.

being a poker winner, a total rewards diamond.... it could ALL be on the line.

I had a good week last week, but I have to put it in the rearview mirror and go back and fight my guts out again this week. I have got to focus.

sigh....

dilanesp
12-16-2014, 10:58 AM
I don't read his columns, but I read his books, which are comprised of his columns. Yes...he doesn't talk much about pre-flop play, because pre-flop play does not make for interesting reading. Would YOU be able to write column after column about pre-flop play?

Making value bets in the latter stages of the hand -- or saving a bet here and there -- through experience and guile, may not appeal to the "modern" player...but they have a positive effect on the long-term bottom line -- and they make for interesting reading. I don't know the man, and I can't be sure if his achievements in poker are what he has reported them to be...but I have enjoyed his books...and have benefited from his advice -- in and out of the game. The fact that much of his advice has been proven wrong by the advancement of the math of the game doesn't concern me much...because I don't need the poker author to hold my hand throughout my gambling career. All I need is a little guidance and motivation at the start...and I can usually figure out the rest on my own.

The fact that something is more fun to write about doesn't mean it's the route to the winning player.

Indeed, more generally, the reason so many poker players lose is that they focus their efforts entirely on the "fun" parts of the game (making specific exploitative plays against specific players on the turn and river) and ignore the less "fun" parts (discipline, pre-flop play, bankroll management).

So he's doing his readers a disservice-- even if it is a disservice intended to make the column more readable.

wiffleball whizz
12-16-2014, 12:27 PM
see, I knew another pa member could come up with a better joke. not that I set the bar very high.

really, it could come down to that final big game on new year's eve.

being a poker winner, a total rewards diamond.... it could ALL be on the line.

I had a good week last week, but I have to put it in the rearview mirror and go back and fight my guts out again this week. I have got to focus.

sigh....


I'm putting it on the line myself.....not working Friday at 2am.....means I'll be gambling thur night

thaskalos
12-16-2014, 08:12 PM
The fact that something is more fun to write about doesn't mean it's the route to the winning player.

Indeed, more generally, the reason so many poker players lose is that they focus their efforts entirely on the "fun" parts of the game (making specific exploitative plays against specific players on the turn and river) and ignore the less "fun" parts (discipline, pre-flop play, bankroll management).

So he's doing his readers a disservice-- even if it is a disservice intended to make the column more readable.
Is there even a single serious poker player out there who doesn't know the importance of discipline and bankroll management? Do you suppose that there are many players out there who are still confused about the pre-flop aspect of limit hold'em? What is there about discipline, bankroll management and pre-flop play that hasn't already been written about ad nauseam?

Here is what I think:

To know how to play a gambling game is one thing...but to go out and actually put this knowledge to proper use is something else entirely. Scores of players know how to play poker properly...and a great many of them are out there talking a great game on 2+2. I, myself, was talking a great game even as I was blowing $100K+ every year at the track...for more years than I care to admit. EVERYBODY who is serious about gambling knows how to play properly...but they can't sit down and play properly when they are put under pressure. Knowing what to do, and doing what you know, aren't the same thing.

Gamblers have accumulated enough knowledge; what they now need to do is acquire some wisdom to go along with it. All the poker players that I know are out there reading every single book that they can get their hands on, hoping to stumble on the latest poker strategy which promises to take them to the promised land...as if the accumulation of more knowledge is the pathway to ultimate gambling riches. It's a dead end...IMO. Gambling isn't really a game of "information"; it's mainly a game of self-discovery. The poker player's worst enemy is HIMSELF...but he knows very little about himself -- choosing instead to spend all his time studying the cards in his hand...or his opponents around him. And yet...the damage that others do to him pales in comparison to the damage that HE does to himself. WE are the ones who ultimately defeat ourselves...and we all know that. But we don't know enough about ourselves to ascertain what makes us tick...and why we do what we do.

"Know thyself", proclaimed the world's wisest man...who is reputed to have won many millions of drachmas in the illegal poker games of ancient Athens.

The morbidly obese man who wobbles down the street isn't in that state because he doesn't know how to lose weight. He is in that state because he doesn't know enough about himself to understand why he still overeats, in spite of his condition...and his better judgement.

ReplayRandall
12-16-2014, 08:31 PM
I, myself, was talking a great game even as I was blowing $100K+ every year at the track...for more years than I care to admit.

Thask, you didn't "blow" $100K a year and talked a great game. You were on the threshold of beating the races, but never quite getting over the hump, so to speak. I will venture to estimate that you put through the windows per year anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million a year. That made your $100K loss only a minus 5-7.5% loser to the vig. When you're betting that much and that often, it takes only one decent outlier to put you over the top. Anyone who can play everyday at that level, reducing the vig from 18% blended, down to 5% is one heck of a handicapper. Too bad you couldn't get today's rebates back in those high-rolling days of the past.........Been there, done that.....

thaskalos
12-16-2014, 08:37 PM
Thask, you didn't "blow" $100K a year and talked a great game. You were on the threshold of beating the races, but never quite getting over the hump, so to speak. I will venture to estimate that you put through the windows per year anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million a year. That made your $100K loss only a minus 5-7.5% loser to the vig. When you're betting that much and that often, it takes only one decent outlier to put you over the top. Anyone who can play everyday at that level, reducing the vig from 18% blended, down to 5% is one heck of a handicapper. Too bad you couldn't get today's rebates back in those high-rolling days of the past.........Been there, done that.....

Yes, I agree...but that's not the point that I was trying to make. Dilanesp talked about those smart players on 2+2, who could destroy Roy Cooke in limit hold'em...and the point I was trying to make is that you can't tell what kind of poker player someone is by what comes out of his keyboard. TALKING a great game is much easier than PLAYING a great game...and no one knows this better than I.

ReplayRandall
12-16-2014, 08:57 PM
Yes, I agree...but that's not the point that I was trying to make. Dilanesp talked about those smart players on 2+2, who could destroy Roy Cooke in limit hold'em...and the point I was trying to make is that you can't tell what kind of poker player someone is by what comes out of his keyboard. TALKING a great game is much easier than PLAYING a great game...and no one knows this better than I.


2+2 may have "legit" unknown pokerstars and gamblers that post their talented exploits, but I find "holes" in many of their stories that deflate their authenticity. Therefore, I don't read 2+2 any longer, choosing to read a more honest site like PA. Don't get me wrong, as you've said yourself many times, anyone on this site can pose themselves to be whoever and whatever they fantasize to be. In the end, there are many more "real deal" horse players, gamblers and investors on this site, bar none..........Kudos to Mike for creating, cultivating and monitoring such a great website. He deserves what he earns...:ThmbUp:

proximity
12-17-2014, 04:23 AM
.... Gambling isn't really a game of "information"; it's mainly a game of self-discovery. The poker player's worst enemy is HIMSELF...but he knows very little about himself -- choosing instead to spend all his time studying the cards in his hand...or his opponents around him......

the heart of maybe the best post in paceadvantage history.

we know very little about ourselves.... and many times we're driven to gambling in the first place because we're afraid of what we might find out.

great post thaskalos. :ThmbUp:

dilanesp
12-17-2014, 11:18 AM
2+2 may have "legit" unknown pokerstars and gamblers that post their talented exploits, but I find "holes" in many of their stories that deflate their authenticity. Therefore, I don't read 2+2 any longer, choosing to read a more honest site like PA. Don't get me wrong, as you've said yourself many times, anyone on this site can pose themselves to be whoever and whatever they fantasize to be. In the end, there are many more "real deal" horse players, gamblers and investors on this site, bar none..........Kudos to Mike for creating, cultivating and monitoring such a great website. He deserves what he earns...:ThmbUp:

The people I was referring to played online, and their winrates were recorded by Table Ratings to the last dollar.

And I have seen some of them play.

dilanesp
12-17-2014, 11:22 AM
Thas:

Come to Commerce Casino sometime and I will identify at least 25 full time players who know all about postflop strategy and lose or win less due to discipline, bankroll management, and preflop leaks.

So yes, players don't know that, partly because people with platforms like Roy Cooke don't say it.

ReplayRandall
12-17-2014, 11:27 AM
The people I was referring to played online, and their winrates were recorded by Table Ratings to the last dollar.

And I have seen some of them play.

Thanks for your explanation....BTW, were those winrates before the US online shutdown in 2011, or are they current?

thaskalos
12-17-2014, 12:32 PM
Thas:

Come to Commerce Casino sometime and I will identify at least 25 full time players who know all about postflop strategy and lose or win less due to discipline, bankroll management, and preflop leaks.

So yes, players don't know that, partly because people with platforms like Roy Cooke don't say it.

Cooke has written plenty about discipline, bankroll management and preflop leaks...so let's not blame him for the undisciplined play of the full-time players at the Commerce Casino. You can take a gambler to the discipline fountain...but you can't make him drink.

dilanesp
12-17-2014, 02:27 PM
Thanks for your explanation....BTW, were those winrates before the US online shutdown in 2011, or are they current?

Prior. There just isn't enough online poker on the sites open to US players nowadays to track and get statistically significant winrates.

dilanesp
12-17-2014, 02:32 PM
Cooke has written plenty about discipline, bankroll management and preflop leaks...so let's not blame him for the undisciplined play of the full-time players at the Commerce Casino. You can take a gambler to the discipline fountain...but you can't make him drink.

I have read his column every issue for a long time, (I guess I am a glutton for punishment. I also read Joe Hirsch's dreck in the Racing Form back in the day.)

The vast, vast majority of his writing is about specific post-flop exploitation. And when he (rarely) writes about pre-flop, he's often written things that are dead wrong (like "don't re-raise ace-king, because you are often up against a pocket pair"-- LOL).

I do agree that ultimately, many poker players have huge discipline problems that are beyond Roy Cooke's power to cure. But I do think that people who write about poker contribute to the problem, because they tend to find these subjects uninteresting (and have leaks in them themselves).

Cooke has a very big platform, and he uses it to spread a lot of fundamentally bad ideas about limit hold 'em. I thought it was the best possible news when he announced he was switching to no limit. I really hope that they find someone from the new generation of good, mathematically sound and disciplined players to write about the subject. The people I mentioned upthread could do a lot better than Cooke did.

thaskalos
12-17-2014, 04:27 PM
I have read his column every issue for a long time, (I guess I am a glutton for punishment. I also read Joe Hirsch's dreck in the Racing Form back in the day.)

The vast, vast majority of his writing is about specific post-flop exploitation. And when he (rarely) writes about pre-flop, he's often written things that are dead wrong (like "don't re-raise ace-king, because you are often up against a pocket pair"-- LOL).

I do agree that ultimately, many poker players have huge discipline problems that are beyond Roy Cooke's power to cure. But I do think that people who write about poker contribute to the problem, because they tend to find these subjects uninteresting (and have leaks in them themselves).

Cooke has a very big platform, and he uses it to spread a lot of fundamentally bad ideas about limit hold 'em. I thought it was the best possible news when he announced he was switching to no limit. I really hope that they find someone from the new generation of good, mathematically sound and disciplined players to write about the subject. The people I mentioned upthread could do a lot better than Cooke did.

I can't agree with you. Cooke never claimed to be the "perfect player". All he says is that he is a consistent winner, who has built a good life out of playing poker...and if this is true -- then this qualifies him to write a poker column. As a columnist, Cooke is free to write about anything that he WANTS to write about. His main objective is to supply an interesting column...which he has obviously succeeded in doing...since his column is the longer-running poker column in the history of the game. Even YOU have admitted to being a regular reader...even though you generally disagree with the advice that he disperses.

A columnist's main job isn't to create winning players; it's to build a sizable reading audience...and to keep them agreeably entertained. In that regard...Cooke has succeeded admirably.

proximity
12-17-2014, 08:32 PM
I thought it was the best possible news when he announced he was switching to no limit. I really hope that they find someone from the new generation of good, mathematically sound and disciplined players to write about the subject. The people I mentioned upthread could do a lot better than Cooke did.

again, i'm a relative newcomer to poker so I could be wrong but my read is that cardplayer sees this as "roy's column" rather than a column specifically about limit hold 'em.

and if that's the case then your game has lost an ambassador and much needed exposure.

proximity
12-17-2014, 08:54 PM
I can't agree with you. Cooke never claimed to be the "perfect player". All he says is that he is a consistent winner, who has built a good life out of playing poker...and if this is true -- then this qualifies him to write a poker column.....

a little bit ago I logged into bravo and there was one 100-200 and four 40-80s at commerce, two 40-80s at parx and one 40-80 (roy's game?) at Bellagio.

so up to the end rc was playing in one of the biggest live games anywhere that consistently runs. even if it was true that death donkey and the online elite came into Nevada and ultimately drove him out of the game, it was still a good and long run.

thaskalos
12-17-2014, 09:21 PM
a little bit ago I logged into bravo and there was one 100-200 and four 40-80s at commerce, two 40-80s at parx and one 40-80 (roy's game?) at Bellagio.

so up to the end rc was playing in one of the biggest live games anywhere that consistently runs. even if it was true that death donkey and the online elite came into Nevada and ultimately drove him out of the game, it was still a good and long run.
The odds are that we will all eventually be driven out of the game at some point. You seldom maintain your edge for a lifetime. Hopefully we'll be smart enough to leave the game with a little coin in our pockets. :)

dilanesp
12-18-2014, 04:50 PM
again, i'm a relative newcomer to poker so I could be wrong but my read is that cardplayer sees this as "roy's column" rather than a column specifically about limit hold 'em.

and if that's the case then your game has lost an ambassador and much needed exposure.

One thing that may be shaping my views on this is that last night at Commerce Casino, there were 6 tables of 20/40 limit going, 11 tables of 8/16, and 4 tables of 40/80. At Hustler there was 1 table of 25/50 and 3 tables of 8/16. At Hawaiian Gardens there were 7 tables of 8/16 and 3 tables of 20/40. And at the Bike there were 2 tables of 8/16 and 1 table of 20/40.

So I don't think Limit Hold 'Em needs any ambassadors. It's a hugely popular game here. What it needs is people writing intelligently about strategy.

thaskalos
12-18-2014, 05:11 PM
One thing that may be shaping my views on this is that last night at Commerce Casino, there were 6 tables of 20/40 limit going, 11 tables of 8/16, and 4 tables of 40/80. At Hustler there was 1 table of 25/50 and 3 tables of 8/16. At Hawaiian Gardens there were 7 tables of 8/16 and 3 tables of 20/40. And at the Bike there were 2 tables of 8/16 and 1 table of 20/40.

So I don't think Limit Hold 'Em needs any ambassadors. It's a hugely popular game here. What it needs is people writing intelligently about strategy.

What...the players can afford to play 20/40 limit...but they can't spring for a good book on poker strategy?

tucker6
12-18-2014, 09:36 PM
What...the players can afford to play 20/40 limit...but they can't spring for a good book on poker strategy?
not what he said.

thaskalos
12-18-2014, 09:48 PM
not what he said.

What did he say?

He is holding Roy Cooke responsible for the bad habits of the limit players...and he says that he was ecstatic to see Cooke move on to no-limit, because there is a need for magazine columnists who dispense accurate advice on limit hold'em strategy. The bookshelves are FILLED with books containing sound advice on limit hold em...and yet, the majority of the poker players still hold on to their undisciplined ways. ROY COOKE is to be blamed for the bad play that we see at the tables?

thaskalos
12-18-2014, 09:54 PM
Dilanesp is up $5,000 this year playing limit...and he thinks this gives him licence to ridicule Roy Cooke. :rolleyes:

proximity
12-19-2014, 02:10 AM
So I don't think Limit Hold 'Em needs any ambassadors. It's a hugely popular game here. What it needs is people writing intelligently about strategy.

too bad it's not popular anywhere else.......

proximity
12-19-2014, 02:51 AM
we've been on quite a roll at the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore and look to continue that run in today's game of 3/6 limit hold 'em.

note: this is just a small stakes game that is world's removed from (for example) the big 40/80 games in vegas that roy cooke used to write about in cardplayer magazine. :)

we're flirting with total rewards diamond status for 2015 but unfortunately today's late start won't do us any favors in that regard. in some good horseshoe news our marathon session last out pushed me into the $75 rakeback bracket for this period, bringing our ytd "bonus" total to $215!!

thank you horseshoe!!

I again get off to a slow start at the horseshoe, winning only two pots and falling behind nearly $50 in the first three hours of the game. i'm getting a headache and when I return from a trip to the gift shop for some advil I catch fire rivering a lucky ace to fill up against trip nines and then raising AQ and outkicking A7 after flopping top pair.

facing a raise with pocket queens I reraise to $9 and survive a king high flop to move ahead about $60.

unfortunately i'm dealt pocket queens again and lose and a loss with AK on the very next hand drops my profits below $40.

around 11:00 I raise with pocket jacks and win another pot to move to +$60 again. over the last two hours I add $13 to close at +$73 for the session.

hope to be back tomorrow with another marathon session!!

game +73 (3/6 lim)
year +1296 (79-52)
rakeback +75
ytd rakeback +125
ytd bonus total +215

dilanesp
12-19-2014, 01:41 PM
Dilanesp is up $5,000 this year playing limit...and he thinks this gives him licence to ridicule Roy Cooke. :rolleyes:

1. Playing part time. When I played close to full time my results were quite good. :)

2. I have no idea Cooke's actual winrate. I do know he stopped playing limit, which along with his bad advice makes me suspect that it is not very good. Online, Table Ratings kept us honest.

3. The game got tougher. There's actually a lot of people who crushed in 2004 who are TAGfish now.

proximity
12-20-2014, 06:23 PM
well another win at the beautiful new horseshoe baltimore where we've been on quite a roll with wins in 14 of our first 16 games!!

for today's game we're back at horseshoe for another session of 3/6 limit hold em but first i'd like to apologize for the recent direction the thread has taken with the whole roy cooke tangent. we had a good thread going for 11 1/2 months so i hope we can put this little hiccup behind us and finish with dignity.

after having a nice lunch at horseshoe's asian restaurant i enter the game about 1:30 and immediately notice two live! dealers who are basically tag teaming the table. i'm not an expert on 2+2 dot com so i don't know if it's technically collusion but it's obvious there is some kind of pre-arranged agreement.

dealer A button straddles and dealer B raises.... every time??? :rolleyes:

in one sick hand dealer B bets the turn and a 90 year old man calls between dealers B and A. dealer A check raises, dealer B reraises to $18. the victim calls but dealer A folds. seriously??

this is just one example and i hear these guys both lost significant money in the game but it's still not a fair game and it's troubling that the horseshoe staff doesn't seem overly concerned about this. maybe i'm wrong and they are talking about this behind closed doors?

anyhow, at one point in the game i actually flop a straight and hold on to win. unfortunately one of the dealers wasn't at the table when it happened so the flop and turn didn't get capped, lol.

after about an hour i'm up $11 after paying my big blind. of course dealer B raises and dealer A reraises and the hand takes awhile to play out. when it ends the guy to my right leaves, dealer A takes his seat and a new player takes the seat to the right of dealer A. the horseshoe dealer (usually a real good dealer) assigns the small blind to the new player and the big blind to dealer A which doesn't seem right, but i'm not a professional dealer, i'm just worried about the game, especially now that i'm right between dealer B and dealer A and my big blind is going to repeatedly get straddled by dealer B and reraised by dealer A.

after this hand the dealer asks for my big blind... which i just paid the hand before. i'll put up with a lot of crap, but i'm not paying two big blinds in three hands in a game that's 9-10 handed and features (at least) two players who are playing together. then dealer A says that i had to say something before the hand?

well (1) i'm not dealing the game and what if i got up during the incredibly long hand during what was my big blind and then came back? do i still have to pay two big blinds? ridiculous. and (2) you don't know me, so watch your tone.

the game dealer insists it's my big blind (again) and i don't want to call the floor on him so i just decide to leave and enter another game when it starts.

so far i've had great experiences with this casino and the staff so like the roy cooke thread drift here i'll just excuse this wacky game as a hiccup and judge horseshoe on their overall positive body of work.

game +11 (3/6 lim)
year +1307 (80-52)

wiffleball whizz
12-20-2014, 07:01 PM
Horseshoe is a cesspool.......as unorganized as a casino can be

I made a bet with somebody last night and I have go honor it...

I'm laying $600 to win 5 cents I don't go there till march 31, 2015

And proximity I wouldn't pay the big blind either and will try my best to get to the bottom of this 3/6 dealer episode......personally besides a select few I can't stand any of them

Red Knave
12-20-2014, 07:41 PM
... i hope we can put this little hiccup behind us and finish with dignity.
I know that for you that will be easy.

Also, imho, His Dealership, The Whizz, is correct. It's worth going after that diamond status. You still have a week and a half. You don't want to be kicking your own butt all next year for missing it by a few bucks.

As my mentor Red Green says, "We're all in this together". :)

proximity
12-20-2014, 08:05 PM
I know that for you that will be easy.

Also, imho, His Dealership, The Whizz, is correct. It's worth going after that diamond status. You still have a week and a half. You don't want to be kicking your own butt all next year for missing it by a few bucks.

As my mentor Red Green says, "We're all in this together". :)

idk, showboat's shuttered and horseshoe's gonna be pretty boring with no whizz until april fool's day..... although even the taggiest of vegas fish would probably make that five cent call for a $600 pot. :D

wiffleball whizz
12-20-2014, 09:31 PM
idk, showboat's shuttered and horseshoe's gonna be pretty boring with no whizz until april fool's day..... although even the taggiest of vegas fish would probably make that five cent call for a $600 pot. :D

A little diamond card insight....

I'm a diamond card holder my room rates at ballys in ac was Friday $99 and Saturday $219....

My friend who hasn't gambled at at CET property outside of playing 2/4 at harrahs was $12 and $12 respectively......

At the end of the day the diamond card gets you nothing.com


Very much looking forward next Time I play cards seeing the track collector at CT


In all honesty only thing I'll miss about horseshoe is giving the dealers there some play but at the end of the day I'm better off not going

Don't worry proximity well do the Black-eyed Susan horseshoe double header lololo

proximity
12-20-2014, 09:55 PM
In all honesty only thing I'll miss about horseshoe is giving the dealers there some play....


not even the dealers are safe now. :D

proximity
12-21-2014, 11:26 PM
after leaving the crooked main game I take a couple laps around the horseshoe before returning to the poker room to charge my phone. it's only been 30 minutes since I left the first game but the floor calls a new 3/6 game and allows me to join the action.

but there's not much action for me as i'm getting a lot of practice folding rags and i'm missing flops by a mile when I do see one. about an hour in, I get aces cracked and it takes over another hour before I finally drag my first pot.

i'm down nearly $70 as we approach the three hour mark (6:00) but I strike quickly with AA and KK on back to back hands. despite my horrible start these wins move me ahead about $20 and i'd stay slightly ahead until about 8:00 when I get aces cracked again and fall behind.

for the next 90 minutes I can't win a hand and fall behind almost $50 before striking quickly again with a set of 3s and then another set of 3s just 15 minutes later. the second set was overtaken by a straight on the turn but the board paired on the river to give me a full house and move me ahead again for the game!!

for long stretches of the game though i'm completely card dead and am not much of a factor at the table. I'm hanging tough, but finally fall behind around 11:30 when I raise and lose with AQ suited.

finally at midnight I raise with KK, get several callers and bet the whole way on a board that runs out xxx33. i table the kings and half the table tells me i'm good until about two minutes later when redskins quarterback rg3 finally (and i do mean finally) flips over what is most likely the slowest and most tepidly played AA in poker history. :faint:

this puts us down $57 and around 12:30 i'd raise JJ and lead out on a 735 flop. the board runs out 2-x and i bet both streets with no resistance. this time i'm gunned down by a turned set of 2s. if it wasn't for the hand towels in the bathrooms i'd swear i was at the sands. :rolleyes:

at this point on the tour i'm long out of tears but apparently one of the dealers at the next table is crying for me and wiping his runny nose with his hands and rubbing them on the cards "with an attitude!!"

a big fight breaks out about this and the guy who was complaining ends up leaving..... or did he get kicked out for the night?

"he got kicked out? he's lucky!" i sarcastically joke in the wake of these two brutal defeats. :rolleyes:

apparently the poker gods don't appreciate my attempt at humor because i'm again card dead for hours in this nightmare of a session.

finally about 4:20 am i flop two pair with AJ and win a nice pot to cut my deficit to only $127.

that should have ended it, but of course i stay and try to get back in contention. eventually two pair goes down to a straight though and i have to get back across the Mason-Dixon line before the sun comes up.

with just days remaining in our tour, i had to keep winning. but on this night it just wasn't meant to be.

game -178 (3/6 lim)
year +1129 (80-53)

Track Collector
12-25-2014, 07:37 PM
I am visiting in-laws in FL over the Christmas holidays as has been the case for the past 25+ years. On one of the days I am able to sneak away by myself for a day trip to Tampa Bay Downs to enjoy the live horseracing card.

This year looks like I'll be checking out their CARD ROOM both before and after the races. :)

davew
12-25-2014, 11:11 PM
Horseshoe is a cesspool.......as unorganized as a casino can be

I made a bet with somebody last night and I have go honor it...

I'm laying $600 to win 5 cents I don't go there till march 31, 2015

And proximity I wouldn't pay the big blind either and will try my best to get to the bottom of this 3/6 dealer episode......personally besides a select few I can't stand any of them


If you need more incentive, I'll take that bet for a quarter.

proximity
12-26-2014, 11:45 AM
If you need more incentive, I'll take that bet for a quarter.

lol, the odds of that bet could have been reversed and i'm still not sure it would be fair for the whizz. :)

wiffleball whizz
12-26-2014, 02:20 PM
I am visiting in-laws in FL over the Christmas holidays as has been the case for the past 25+ years. On one of the days I am able to sneak away by myself for a day trip to Tampa Bay Downs to enjoy the live horseracing card.

This year looks like I'll be checking out their CARD ROOM both before and after the races. :)

SILKSSSSSSS poker room!!!!!

dilanesp
12-26-2014, 04:19 PM
well another win at the beautiful new horseshoe baltimore where we've been on quite a roll with wins in 14 of our first 16 games!!

for today's game we're back at horseshoe for another session of 3/6 limit hold em but first i'd like to apologize for the recent direction the thread has taken with the whole roy cooke tangent. we had a good thread going for 11 1/2 months so i hope we can put this little hiccup behind us and finish with dignity.

after having a nice lunch at horseshoe's asian restaurant i enter the game about 1:30 and immediately notice two live! dealers who are basically tag teaming the table. i'm not an expert on 2+2 dot com so i don't know if it's technically collusion but it's obvious there is some kind of pre-arranged agreement.

dealer A button straddles and dealer B raises.... every time??? :rolleyes:

in one sick hand dealer B bets the turn and a 90 year old man calls between dealers B and A. dealer A check raises, dealer B reraises to $18. the victim calls but dealer A folds. seriously??

this is just one example and i hear these guys both lost significant money in the game but it's still not a fair game and it's troubling that the horseshoe staff doesn't seem overly concerned about this. maybe i'm wrong and they are talking about this behind closed doors?

anyhow, at one point in the game i actually flop a straight and hold on to win. unfortunately one of the dealers wasn't at the table when it happened so the flop and turn didn't get capped, lol.

after about an hour i'm up $11 after paying my big blind. of course dealer B raises and dealer A reraises and the hand takes awhile to play out. when it ends the guy to my right leaves, dealer A takes his seat and a new player takes the seat to the right of dealer A. the horseshoe dealer (usually a real good dealer) assigns the small blind to the new player and the big blind to dealer A which doesn't seem right, but i'm not a professional dealer, i'm just worried about the game, especially now that i'm right between dealer B and dealer A and my big blind is going to repeatedly get straddled by dealer B and reraised by dealer A.

after this hand the dealer asks for my big blind... which i just paid the hand before. i'll put up with a lot of crap, but i'm not paying two big blinds in three hands in a game that's 9-10 handed and features (at least) two players who are playing together. then dealer A says that i had to say something before the hand?

well (1) i'm not dealing the game and what if i got up during the incredibly long hand during what was my big blind and then came back? do i still have to pay two big blinds? ridiculous. and (2) you don't know me, so watch your tone.

the game dealer insists it's my big blind (again) and i don't want to call the floor on him so i just decide to leave and enter another game when it starts.

so far i've had great experiences with this casino and the staff so like the roy cooke thread drift here i'll just excuse this wacky game as a hiccup and judge horseshoe on their overall positive body of work.

game +11 (3/6 lim)
year +1307 (80-52)

On my recent Vegas vacation, I encountered two regular players at the 20-40 game at the Bellagio who claim they were not colluding (and both of them seem to be very nice people), but played a couple of hands as follows:

I raise-4-bet KK with Kd pre-flop, flop 987 all diamonds, one of them has 97, the other has T2 no diamond, and the T2 person raise-caps the turn.

I have J8 off in the big blind in a 6 way pot, one of them has KJ, the other has no pair and no draw and raise-caps a jack high flop.

Those hands were played consecutively, just after I got there.

Who knows?

wiffleball whizz
12-26-2014, 04:56 PM
well another win at the beautiful new horseshoe baltimore where we've been on quite a roll with wins in 14 of our first 16 games!!

for today's game we're back at horseshoe for another session of 3/6 limit hold em but first i'd like to apologize for the recent direction the thread has taken with the whole roy cooke tangent. we had a good thread going for 11 1/2 months so i hope we can put this little hiccup behind us and finish with dignity.

after having a nice lunch at horseshoe's asian restaurant i enter the game about 1:30 and immediately notice two live! dealers who are basically tag teaming the table. i'm not an expert on 2+2 dot com so i don't know if it's technically collusion but it's obvious there is some kind of pre-arranged agreement.

dealer A button straddles and dealer B raises.... every time??? :rolleyes:

in one sick hand dealer B bets the turn and a 90 year old man calls between dealers B and A. dealer A check raises, dealer B reraises to $18. the victim calls but dealer A folds. seriously??

this is just one example and i hear these guys both lost significant money in the game but it's still not a fair game and it's troubling that the horseshoe staff doesn't seem overly concerned about this. maybe i'm wrong and they are talking about this behind closed doors?

anyhow, at one point in the game i actually flop a straight and hold on to win. unfortunately one of the dealers wasn't at the table when it happened so the flop and turn didn't get capped, lol.

after about an hour i'm up $11 after paying my big blind. of course dealer B raises and dealer A reraises and the hand takes awhile to play out. when it ends the guy to my right leaves, dealer A takes his seat and a new player takes the seat to the right of dealer A. the horseshoe dealer (usually a real good dealer) assigns the small blind to the new player and the big blind to dealer A which doesn't seem right, but i'm not a professional dealer, i'm just worried about the game, especially now that i'm right between dealer B and dealer A and my big blind is going to repeatedly get straddled by dealer B and reraised by dealer A.

after this hand the dealer asks for my big blind... which i just paid the hand before. i'll put up with a lot of crap, but i'm not paying two big blinds in three hands in a game that's 9-10 handed and features (at least) two players who are playing together. then dealer A says that i had to say something before the hand?

well (1) i'm not dealing the game and what if i got up during the incredibly long hand during what was my big blind and then came back? do i still have to pay two big blinds? ridiculous. and (2) you don't know me, so watch your tone.

the game dealer insists it's my big blind (again) and i don't want to call the floor on him so i just decide to leave and enter another game when it starts.

so far i've had great experiences with this casino and the staff so like the roy cooke thread drift here i'll just excuse this wacky game as a hiccup and judge horseshoe on their overall positive body of work.

game +11 (3/6 lim)
year +1307 (80-52)


After pondering this I'm gonna say the live dealers were not colluding.....we don't like each other there.... There's no comrodery(spelling?) just trying to look cool buying in for 600 in 3/6 and always raising

wiffleball whizz
12-26-2014, 05:04 PM
On my recent Vegas vacation, I encountered two regular players at the 20-40 game at the Bellagio who claim they were not colluding (and both of them seem to be very nice people), but played a couple of hands as follows:

I raise-4-bet KK with Kd pre-flop, flop 987 all diamonds, one of them has 97, the other has T2 no diamond, and the T2 person raise-caps the turn.

I have J8 off in the big blind in a 6 way pot, one of them has KJ, the other has no pair and no draw and raise-caps a jack high flop.

Those hands were played consecutively, just after I got there.

Who knows?

Dilanesp a friend of mine and a few dealers at the other casino are organizing a trip to commerce for the big tourney at end of January....

I'm pondering this trip only thing is my gf is planning on coming down from ct around that time and taking her isn't an option....

I see on the bravo app there is a 4/8 with kill and other limits with half kill are these games good? Looking to play in the 10/20 vacinity and maybe dabble in 20/40 stud...


Other questions.....don't mean to be pain in the ass...


How far is commerce from Santa Anita as I "have to go there if I'm there"

Another thing I have to do as lame as it sounds is go to the rose bowl....always wanted to check it out..

Flight from baltimore to lax is about 320....but I just hate flying---not scared but just so boring it's like a 6.5 hour flight non stop I just dread it

Just dying to go to this place and this is the perfect excuse to go.....


Last question....what do they play these 8-16 games with $2 chips? $4 chips?


Again any input greatly appreciated as I have about 8 days to make a move

dilanesp
12-26-2014, 05:41 PM
Dilanesp a friend of mine and a few dealers at the other casino are organizing a trip to commerce for the big tourney at end of January....

I'm pondering this trip only thing is my gf is planning on coming down from ct around that time and taking her isn't an option....

I see on the bravo app there is a 4/8 with kill and other limits with half kill are these games good? Looking to play in the 10/20 vacinity and maybe dabble in 20/40 stud...


Other questions.....don't mean to be pain in the ass...


How far is commerce from Santa Anita as I "have to go there if I'm there"

Another thing I have to do as lame as it sounds is go to the rose bowl....always wanted to check it out..

Flight from baltimore to lax is about 320....but I just hate flying---not scared but just so boring it's like a 6.5 hour flight non stop I just dread it

Just dying to go to this place and this is the perfect excuse to go.....


Last question....what do they play these 8-16 games with $2 chips? $4 chips?


Again any input greatly appreciated as I have about 8 days to make a move

4/8 with a half-kill is unbeatable due to the rake ($7 per hand). But if you just want to have fun, these games are huge limpfests with 7 or 8 people in every hand and very few pre-flop raises.

8/16 with a half-kill also has a $7 rake, and plays like 8/16 just about everywhere. A handful of players aren't terrible and will play reasonably tight and aggressive. But pots are still massively multi-way and most of the players are awful.

20/40 (no kill) has a $7 rake as well, and is quite beatable (I am a pretty big net lifetime winner in the game). The regular player pool is a mix of a few extremely good pros, some decent amateurs, and a lot of whales and fish. Pots are often 3 to 5-way, though you can definitely get into tough games, so some seat and table selection is important in that game.

I haven't been to Commerce in a few months (I prefer other local rooms), but when I played there they used to have a 20/40 stud game and a 30/60 stud game, and there was usually one table of each. A lot of regulars, so I am not sure the game is going to be very easy, though I don't know that much about stud so that should not be taken as gospel.

Commerce is on the same side of town as Santa Anita. Absent traffic, it's about 20 minutes away. On weekdays there will be traffic, however; on a Friday afternoon, it could be more like 75 minutes.

The Rose Bowl is one of LA's great events, truly. Tickets will be very expensive this year with a battle of the last 2 Heisman winners, Florida State's huge fanbase (which travels-- in the 1990's, they sent 40,000 people to a regular season game against USC at the Coliseum), and a berth in the National Championship game on the line. But if you can get in, it will take up your full January 1 but the pageantry is absolutely amazing, including a flyover, the Rose Queen and her court, the Grand Marshal (which this year will be a memorial as Lou Zamperini unfortunately died this year after being named), the bands, and of course a great football game in a picturesque setting.

One warning-- the Rose Bowl stadium is very old and uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend it for claustrophobes or very big people.

8/16 in Southern California is always played with $2 chips, which are almost always green. It's ubiquitous-- you can find games at Hollywood Park (check out the old racetrack next door-- it's still standing), Hustler, Hawaiian Gardens (in a Quonset Hut!), the Bicycle, and Ocean's Eleven.

wiffleball whizz
12-26-2014, 05:56 PM
4/8 with a half-kill is unbeatable due to the rake ($7 per hand). But if you just want to have fun, these games are huge limpfests with 7 or 8 people in every hand and very few pre-flop raises.

8/16 with a half-kill also has a $7 rake, and plays like 8/16 just about everywhere. A handful of players aren't terrible and will play reasonably tight and aggressive. But pots are still massively multi-way and most of the players are awful.

20/40 (no kill) has a $7 rake as well, and is quite beatable (I am a pretty big net lifetime winner in the game). The regular player pool is a mix of a few extremely good pros, some decent amateurs, and a lot of whales and fish. Pots are often 3 to 5-way, though you can definitely get into tough games, so some seat and table selection is important in that game.

I haven't been to Commerce in a few months (I prefer other local rooms), but when I played there they used to have a 20/40 stud game and a 30/60 stud game, and there was usually one table of each. A lot of regulars, so I am not sure the game is going to be very easy, though I don't know that much about stud so that should not be taken as gospel.

Commerce is on the same side of town as Santa Anita. Absent traffic, it's about 20 minutes away. On weekdays there will be traffic, however; on a Friday afternoon, it could be more like 75 minutes.

The Rose Bowl is one of LA's great events, truly. Tickets will be very expensive this year with a battle of the last 2 Heisman winners, Florida State's huge fanbase (which travels-- in the 1990's, they sent 40,000 people to a regular season game against USC at the Coliseum), and a berth in the National Championship game on the line. But if you can get in, it will take up your full January 1 but the pageantry is absolutely amazing, including a flyover, the Rose Queen and her court, the Grand Marshal (which this year will be a memorial as Lou Zamperini unfortunately died this year after being named), the bands, and of course a great football game in a picturesque setting.

One warning-- the Rose Bowl stadium is very old and uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend it for claustrophobes or very big people.

8/16 in Southern California is always played with $2 chips, which are almost always green. It's ubiquitous-- you can find games at Hollywood Park (check out the old racetrack next door-- it's still standing), Hustler, Hawaiian Gardens (in a Quonset Hut!), the Bicycle, and Ocean's Eleven.


Thank you for the response.....will discuss more when I get home tonight....the rose bowl trip is in late January and just wanted to check it out maybe do the tour of the place....


$7 rake isn't terrible and is one of there best kept secrets as anybody I know out on east coast has zero clue what it is lollll


$8-16 is a great game and $7 rake isn't the end of the world....really hoping I get up the nerve to go on this trip....will def make this trip sometime next year maybe take my father for a bday present less the 20/40 buy in

dilanesp
12-26-2014, 06:09 PM
Thank you for the response.....will discuss more when I get home tonight....the rose bowl trip is in late January and just wanted to check it out maybe do the tour of the place....


$7 rake isn't terrible and is one of there best kept secrets as anybody I know out on east coast has zero clue what it is lollll


$8-16 is a great game and $7 rake isn't the end of the world....really hoping I get up the nerve to go on this trip....will def make this trip sometime next year maybe take my father for a bday present less the 20/40 buy in

It's likely the Rose Bowl does tours in late January. They don't use the stadium for very much except UCLA football and the New Year's Day game. They hold a swap meet in the parking lot on Sundays.

You should definitely go. If you go in late January, the LA Poker Classic will be going on at Commerce, which means the games will be full of tilting fish from the tournaments who have just lost their buy-ins and are trying to make the money back.

proximity
12-27-2014, 01:53 AM
merry Christmas to everyone here in the paceadvantage poker forum!!

we last left off at the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore where I needed to book a win to stay in contention to reach our tour goal of winning thousands of dollars. i'd won like 15 of my first 17 starts at horseshoe, but was never able to find a rhythm in this game and the $178 loss would drop my game profits to only $1129 for the year with just days remaining in the proximity poker tour.

my plan was to get up today and grind a loooooong session of slots and poker at horseshoe to try to get 1,000 tier credits and trigger an additional 1,000 tier credit bonus with hopes of getting to Caesar's total rewards diamond status. unfortunately though i was too tired from Christmas to answer the horseshoe bell. i do make it out to penn national though for a game of 1-2 no limit hold 'em as we start to play out the string on our poker tour.

another slow start but i finally strike about an hour and a half into the game with a set of 6s. i bet the flop but didn't get a call at a table that was pretty tight for a racino Friday night.

the win moved me back close to even but i'd start getting blinded down again before waking up with KK in the big blind. i raised a field of several limpers to $17 and got a call from KJ in early position. the villain bit on a jack high flop and i was in the lead to stay!!

later i'd reraise a $7 raise to $17 with JJ on the button. three players called and we see an ace high flop that gets checked to me. the dealer was about to deal the turn card but i announced that i didn't act yet and threw out a quarter which got everyone to fold. on the very next hand though i'd raise and lose with TT and this was about all the action i got for the game.

it's been a long ride friends and we're now down to our final two sessions. :(

thanks for reading!!

game +42 (1/2 nl)
year +1171 (81-53)

tucker6
12-27-2014, 07:56 AM
Is there a Poker Tour 2015 in the cards? Is PA renewing your contract?? :D

proximity
12-27-2014, 10:15 PM
Is there a Poker Tour 2015 in the cards? Is PA renewing your contract?? :D

no, but maybe i'll come back in 2016 if there's interest.

maybe some other poster(s) will launch 2015 tours?

right now i've been feeling awful all day and i'm just hoping that i get up in time for tomorrow's game. i have 12,900 tier credits out of 15,000 needed for diamond so even if i go to horseshoe both days i'll have to get 1,000 credits on one of the days to trigger the bonus. (i want to go somewhere else for my final game on new year's eve) so i'm going to have to get up early and get down there and grind some slots..... probably more than i'm comfortable with.

proximity
12-29-2014, 10:05 PM
PREGAME

it's a nice morning in central pennsylvania. i'm up early and heading south for my final 2014 appearance at the beautiful new horseshoe casino in baltimore, md!! there's a big ravens-browns game beside the casino and it's $40 to park but the horseshoe generously gives me a free pass. the hometown team needs a win (and some help) to secure a playoff berth and proximity needs a big win too to climb back into contention as we prepare for a final big game.

but first my play at horseshoe, showboat ac (rip), harrah's ac, and bally's ac has gained me 12,904 total rewards tier credits. 15,000 are needed for diamond but there is apparently a 1,000 tier credit bonus if you gain over 1,000 in a day. it's a lot for me, but an 1,100 tier credit day at horseshoe should get the job done!!

i arrive around 9:40 and spend the next three hours getting crushed on the slots as ravens and browns fans circle the casino. as the clock approaches 1:00 they head for the stadium and i head for the poker room. it's time for kickoff...

KICKOFF

at 1:00 we begin our final 3/6 hold em game of the year at horseshoe. i'm red hot in the first hour. with AQ from the small blind i lead out on an ace high flop and the rest of the way when another ace comes on the turn. when a donkey raises pre flop i reraise with JJ which proves best despite an ace high flop. 22 flops a set and turns a full house!! as the football game approaches halftime we're up $91 and an hour later we're still up around $80 when we come to possibly the hand of the year....

HAND OF THE YEAR??

with another 6-2 hand in the big blind i see a flop of QJ8 and drop out on a flop that features intense action between two players we'll call general tso and chalkie. the general has KT and chalkie has J8 and they start raising each other back and forth. the general asks if they can go all in and the dealer allows it even though i don't think that's right since the hand didn't begin heads up? (whizz?) anyhow both players agree and the general stacks off at least a dozen big bets when the draw misses. amazing hand, though you would have swore they both had T9! :faint: :faint: :faint:

ONE ART

the art of losing isn't hard to master;
these cards seem so filled with the intent
to be mucked that there loss is no disaster...

one thing i'm not sure i'm getting across in the reports is how long some of these games are. you're losing and folding hour after hour. the only thing keeping you going is the anticipation of finally getting that good hand which seems to miss the flop completely when you need it the most.

and after the first hour, that's the kind of game we're having today at horseshoe.

QT suited flops top pair but goes down to JJ. fortunately the villain is all in pre flop but AK goes down to K9. a turned queen of spades gives me an ace high flush but another queen on the river fills up pocket 6s. TT can't raise out K9 and we lose again to this cruddy hand after a J99 flop. shortly after 5:00 i finally fall behind and about a half hour later chalkie makes a dramatic departure....

CHALKIE'S DRAMATIC DEPARTURE

things don't always run smoothly at the casinos and the horseshoe gets hostile when chalkie's hand accidentally gets mucked after he makes a pre flop raise to $6. you'd think he'd chalk (pun intended) this up to just random bad luck and still be in good spirits after taking that huge all in limit hand off general tso, but chalkie isn't happy with the dealer and wants to see the floor. the floor lady apologizes but rules that his hand is indeed dead and chalkie erupts and gets ejected after dropping some f-bombs.

"don't log him out," the floor lady instructs the dealer. "i want his information."

idk if she's going to get chalkie's address and burn his house down or just give him a long suspension from the horseshoe? maybe both? all over $6. :D

DOWNEY'S NO NOVICE

after chalkie gets shown the door, his all in rival general tso rejoins the game around 6:00. a new player we'll call pfc downey joins also joins the game with his buddy lance cpl dawson sitting behind him.

as dawson watches the game and the cocktail waitresses, downey raises eyebrows early by calling down against tight "old man coffee" type players with hands as weak as ten and queen high. there's some kind of comment about him being a "beginner" but downey tells the table he's only new to the casino. he's been playing the game since he was six years old!! :faint:

in his hour at the table downey has been giving his chips a code red and it's (finally) my turn win some of them when i raise first in with 99. downey and the big blind call and when we check an AJ6 flop to downey he fires out $3 of his $8 stack. the big blind folds, but i'm ahead of downey's range and make the call. 2 on the turn and i check and call downey's $5 all in shove and table my 99. the hand is good for the moment until the dealer flips over another heart which completes a flush for downey's 9-5 suited. the loss puts me behind about $40 and i'm approaching $70 of losses when i get a text from ronsmac about printing drf in windows 8.1.....

RONSMAC TO THE RESCUE

when i get the text from ronsmac i need a break and get up from the table to call him so i can understand his problem. unfortunately i'm not much help to him but the break ends up doing me some good when i post missed blinds to re-enter the game and get dealt an 87 off suit hand that i otherwise would have mucked before the flop. 87 turns the nut straight and i win a big pot that gets me back to within $10 of even!! for the next hour i go back to being card dead until 8:30 when i flop a straight...

FLOPPING STRAIGHTS AIN'T THAT GREAT

the lucky post after the ronsmac call keeps me alive in the game but overall i've been extremely card dead since about 2:00. shortly after 8:30 though i actually flop a straight with 48 from the big blind. flop: 567!!

unfortunately another four falls on the turn. then a seven comes on the river. another player can't check and call with his 8 and we get stuck paying two bets when a guy raises 66 from late position. :mad: :bang: :mad:

then just minutes later with 98 suited from late position.... i flop another straight. flop 765!! being sarcastic, i try to shove all in on the flop, lol but when 4h5h hangs around to see running hearts the joke's on me as my second flopped straight of the orbit goes down to a backdoor flush. :bang:

AH, DISTINCTLY I REMEMBER IT WAS IN THE BLEAK DECEMBER

once upon a midnight dreary, i was card dead, weak and weary,
big suited red cards and low black flops
one by one my chips would drop...

after the two losses with flopped straights, my misery continues until after 10:00 when i flop top set with 99. i actually manage to win this hand and get back to within $40 of even again. unfortunately i continue to fold rags until after 11:30 when i flop a full house with 66. flop k6k!!

but this win only gets me to back with in fifty dollars of even. i finally start getting some good hands but miss the flop by a mile every time. as the clock approaches 1:00 am i'm all in for my $100 buy in with KJ but lose to a dominated K9 for the third time in the game. :faint:

HORSESHOE POSTSCRIPT

out in the casino i grind some more slots on a double diamond machine. eventually i stop to check my account and find that i've reached 14,019 and gone over 1100 for the day which should make me diamond for 2015 if the 1000 tier credit bonus is applied. if....

on the drive home though i was disappointed that i couldn't close out the horseshoe baltimore chapter of our tour with a win. overall though it was a great poker experience at horseshoe. unofficially i went 15-4 in games there and won $979. i also received $125 in rakeback as well as free slots play and generous comps in the form of total rewards reward credits. thank you to the horseshoe players, staff, and management!!

friends, we are now down to our FINAL game.

thank you for reading!!

game -100 (3/6 lim)
year +1071 (81-54)

proximity
12-30-2014, 05:49 PM
DIAMOND!!!!

TR
MY OFFERS
PROFILE
RESERVATIONS
PRICE ALERTS
WIN/LOSS STATEMENT
TR STATEMENT
Give Us Feedback
MY TR
MY CURRENT TIER
DIAMOND
UNTIL March 31, 2015
MY TIER SCORE
15,019

Enjoy even more benefits now with your Diamond status. Access to Diamond Lounges and priority lines at hotel check-in, restaurants and casino cages.
Reaching the different Diamond Aspiration levels unlocks additional complimentary hotel stays, dinners and even airfare.
134,981 Tier Credits needed this calendar year to be eligible for Seven Stars Status

Red Knave
12-30-2014, 06:54 PM
134,981 Tier Credits needed this calendar year to be eligible for Seven Stars Status
Next year I'll be able to say, "I knew him when he was only diamond" :)

tucker6
12-30-2014, 07:08 PM
Next year I'll be able to say, "I knew him when he was only diamond" :)
please address him as Sir or don't address him at all. :)

proximity
12-30-2014, 07:26 PM
please address him as Sir or don't address him at all. :)

bingo!!

as a total rewards DIAMOND member i demand to be accorded the proper fredo corleone level of RESPECT!! :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X9E9n6GHC8

Track Collector
12-30-2014, 10:10 PM
bingo!!

as a total rewards DIAMOND member i demand to be accorded the proper fredo corleone level of RESPECT!! :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X9E9n6GHC8

Congratulations! You have worked extremely hard to achieve this status!

I guess I will no longer be allowed to sit at the same poker table when you play at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. :(

Probably won't join us at the "gang" table at Timonium either. :(:(

proximity
12-30-2014, 10:37 PM
I guess I will no longer be allowed to sit at the same poker table when you play at the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. :(


that last beating you put on me was TOO brutal.

you can shear a sheep many times....but skin him only once. :)

proximity
12-31-2014, 01:13 PM
way back in February i was getting crushed in a game at the Borgata. facing the loss of my third buy in i'd river a lucky seven and would ultimately comeback to win. i'd exit the casino that day with profits of $1355 for the year.

i never expected that to be my peak.

but it was.

finally a hundred and twelve games later i'm charging my phone at horseshoe and waiting for a (fair) 3/6 limit game to start. with $1307 of profits I've crossed $1300 for the second time on the tour. and with a 15-2 record in 3/6 games at the horseshoe a new peak is within my sights.

but the horseshoe conqueror would become the conquered.

i close out with two frustrating losses at the horseshoe. losses that needed to be wins to put me in contention for today's game. the final stop on our poker tour.

it's not totally impossible that i'll win $929 and make my goal. but it's a longshot at best. i probably won't make it. but i don't want today to be sad. i guess what i really want is to fight my guts out. to battle. to compete. to play. and, for one final time, to get up from a poker table with more chips than i sat down with.

thank YOU for reading and happy new year!! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcJ-wNmazHQ

thaskalos
12-31-2014, 02:05 PM
Take the profit and sit in a 5/10 limit game. Heck...we only live once.

wiffleball whizz
12-31-2014, 04:20 PM
Congrats at proximity on booking a win for the 2014 wagering year....as somebody that spends 43 hours a week in this setting what proximity did at the 3/6 level and 1/2nl level only about 4 percent could turn that profit at those stakes.......

Getting diamond isn't easy and proximity doesn't live close to any CET properties nor is he a degenerate slot or TG player which makes it even more impressive....

Since proximity not gonna be doing a 2015 thread I may start a "2015 gambling trip report thread" where we can share poker stories, live track stories, and just any side action one comes across.....I may share my golf action tales,...

Looking forward to turning the page to a clean slate......

Good luck to all players out there

tucker6
12-31-2014, 06:15 PM
Congrats at proximity on booking a win for the 2014 wagering year....as somebody that spends 43 hours a week in this setting what proximity did at the 3/6 level and 1/2nl level only about 4 percent could turn that profit at those stakes.......

Getting diamond isn't easy and proximity doesn't live close to any CET properties nor is he a degenerate slot or TG player which makes it even more impressive....

Since proximity not gonna be doing a 2015 thread I may start a "2015 gambling trip report thread" where we can share poker stories, live track stories, and just any side action one comes across.....I may share my golf action tales,...

Looking forward to turning the page to a clean slate......

Good luck to all players out there
I hate your writing style already. :p

Red Knave
12-31-2014, 08:58 PM
I hate your writing style already. :p
Everybody's a critic. ;)

Red Knave
12-31-2014, 09:01 PM
And let me just say this now because I'm sure I'll be asleep by 10:30 as usual ...

Thank You Proximity for this in-depth look at your trials and tribulations over this past 12 months. Whatever happens today, you are heroic.

All the best in 2015.

wiffleball whizz
01-01-2015, 01:46 AM
I hate your writing style already. :p

Thank you......just be thankful you don't have to hear me talk

Track Collector
01-01-2015, 09:01 AM
Add me to the chorus of "thank you's" proximity!

(I'll be peeking regularly to see if you change your mind and start a "proximity poker tour 2015"). -- Fingers crossed! The reason for not doing so is if you are burned out, but certainly NOT for lack of interest.

You have certainly been MY inspiration for getting into poker, and I confess that your poker thread has often been the first thread I check when signing on to the PaceAdvantage forum. My racing friends think I have already crossed over to "the dark side". ;)

Congratulations too for a successful (profitable) year. You may not have achieved you initial goal, but the final result is clearly worthy of only a very small percentage of players! :ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp:

Happy New Year my friend. :jump:

thaskalos
01-01-2015, 09:27 AM
A happy and healthy New Year to all the warriors of the green baize battlefield...and a big thank you to Proximity, who delighted us with the commentary of his poker odyssey over the past year. He may not have won as much as he expected...but he showed tons of integrity and class. And that's almost as good. :)

dilanesp
01-01-2015, 09:32 PM
with another 6-2 hand in the big blind i see a flop of QJ8 and drop out on a flop that features intense action between two players we'll call general tso and chalkie. the general has KT and chalkie has J8 and they start raising each other back and forth. the general asks if they can go all in and the dealer allows it even though i don't think that's right since the hand didn't begin heads up? (whizz?)

"Unlimited raising is allowed in heads-up play. This applies any time the action becomes heads-up before the raising has been capped. Once the raising is capped on a betting round, it cannot be uncapped by a subsequent fold that leaves two players heads-up."

http://www.pokercoach.us/robspkrrules4.htm

One of the most misunderstood rules of live poker, in my experience, by the way.

dilanesp
01-01-2015, 09:39 PM
in his hour at the table downey has been giving his chips a code red and it's (finally) my turn win some of them when i raise first in with 99. downey and the big blind call and when we check an AJ6 flop to downey he fires out $3 of his $8 stack. the big blind folds, but i'm ahead of downey's range and make the call. 2 on the turn and i check and call downey's $5 all in shove and table my 99. the hand is good for the moment until the dealer flips over another heart which completes a flush for downey's 9-5 suited. the loss puts me behind about $40 and i'm approaching $70 of losses when i get a text from ronsmac about printing drf in windows 8.1.....

It's a big mistake to check this flop.

i post missed blinds to re-enter the game and get dealt an 87 off suit hand that i otherwise would have mucked before the flop. 87 turns the nut straight and i win a big pot that gets me back to within $10 of even!! for the next hour i go back to being card dead until 8:30 when i flop a straight...

Posting BB+SB behind the button in limit is seriously -EV. We are talking about a game where 2BB (4 big blinds) per 100 hands is a gigantic winrate; 1 1/2 or 1 1/3 big blinds is thus a huge amount of money in limit. Be patient. Wait until the big blind comes around (unless you can buy the button).

as the clock approaches 1:00 am i'm all in for my $100 buy in with KJ but lose to a dominated K9 for the third time in the game. :faint:

Never go all in in limit. Even if you have a stop loss, buy in for more than your stop loss and then stop if you hit it. Shortstack limit strategy is both (a) very different than full stack strategy and (b) not very profitable. In fact, I suspect with live rakes, it's impossible to make money long term playing a short stack.

year +1071 (81-54)

It's a huge accomplishment to make a profit over a year's play in these low stakes games. Congratulations.

proximity
01-02-2015, 01:43 AM
Congrats at proximity on booking a win for the 2014 wagering year....as somebody that spends 43 hours a week in this setting what proximity did at the 3/6 level and 1/2nl level only about 4 percent could turn that profit at those stakes.......

Getting diamond isn't easy and proximity doesn't live close to any CET properties nor is he a degenerate slot or TG player which makes it even more impressive....

Since proximity not gonna be doing a 2015 thread I may start a "2015 gambling trip report thread" where we can share poker stories, live track stories, and just any side action one comes across.....I may share my golf action tales,...

Looking forward to turning the page to a clean slate......

Good luck to all players out there

thank you for the kind words. got to meet up with you several times on the tour as well as at pimlico, Timonium, and Charles town for racing. it is always great to see you. fun times.

also special proximity poker tour thanks to you and all of the mid atlantic dealers for running the show so well.

only one can be the best though:

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1692569&postcount=402

look forward to reading your 2015 thread and hope the poker forum here still gets a lot of posts without my tour. we have some great people here!!

happy new year and good luck in 2015!! :)

proximity
01-02-2015, 02:10 AM
And let me just say this now because I'm sure I'll be asleep by 10:30 as usual ...

Thank You Proximity for this in-depth look at your trials and tribulations over this past 12 months. Whatever happens today, you are heroic.

All the best in 2015.

you're certainly welcome red knave and thank you for reading and posting.

in 2013 I'd been putting away money from winning poker sessions which I was able to use for a car down payment after being hit by an uninsured driver just outside the gates of Charles town. I seemed to be doing well in the games but never kept an official count. so for 2014 I decided to keep an official count to see if I could actually have a winning year.

it's a lot of fun going to the casinos but there are tribulations too as you mentioned. but they say that a smooth sea never made a skillful mariner and I am thankful for both the mistakes I made and the hard times I went through. the mistakes will give me a chance to learn and the experience of actually living through the hard times will callous me for future downswings.

happy new year and best of luck in 2015!!

proximity

proximity
01-02-2015, 02:37 AM
Add me to the chorus of "thank you's" proximity!

(I'll be peeking regularly to see if you change your mind and start a "proximity poker tour 2015"). -- Fingers crossed! The reason for not doing so is if you are burned out, but certainly NOT for lack of interest.

You have certainly been MY inspiration for getting into poker, and I confess that your poker thread has often been the first thread I check when signing on to the PaceAdvantage forum. My racing friends think I have already crossed over to "the dark side". ;)

Congratulations too for a successful (profitable) year. You may not have achieved you initial goal, but the final result is clearly worthy of only a very small percentage of players! :ThmbUp::ThmbUp::ThmbUp:

Happy New Year my friend. :jump:

i won't be doing a 2015 thread but may do one for 2016 if the interest is still there. if you or any of our other posters want to do a thread in any capacity though, i'd love to read it.

i'm proud that i was able to inspire you to get into poker. you seem to have the potential to be a great player and you already are a great man. i appreciate the friendship.

posters like thaskalos, delta, ______, whizz, dilane, and several others on the thread have shown that there is room for both racing and poker. i'm not pleased with the direction that a lot of things in racing are heading but i still think about new handicapping ideas almost every week. i guess old habits are hard to break?

anyhow congratulations on a great rookie year and best of luck in 2015!!

proximity

proximity
01-02-2015, 03:13 AM
A happy and healthy New Year to all the warriors of the green baize battlefield...and a big thank you to Proximity, who delighted us with the commentary of his poker odyssey over the past year. He may not have won as much as he expected...but he showed tons of integrity and class. And that's almost as good. :)

throughout the thread you've been entertaining, educational, and (most importantly) encouraging. thank you thaskalos for sharing all of your thoughts, knowledge, and ideas. happy new year and best of luck in racing, poker, and life!!

proximity

proximity
01-02-2015, 03:44 AM
It's a big mistake to check this flop.

you're right. downey was gonna be all in for sure but i did potentially give a free card to the other player in the hand. it was a bad check on my part.



Posting BB+SB behind the button in limit is seriously -EV. We are talking about a game where 2BB (4 big blinds) per 100 hands is a gigantic winrate; 1 1/2 or 1 1/3 big blinds is thus a huge amount of money in limit. Be patient. Wait until the big blind comes around (unless you can buy the button).

two things. (1) on this particular day i needed to be logged in every possible second to help me get to the 1100 tier credits. and (2) i'm concerned about how sitting around waiting more than half the table affects my image in the eyes of the other players in this casino.


Never go all in in limit. Even if you have a stop loss, buy in for more than your stop loss and then stop if you hit it. Shortstack limit strategy is both (a) very different than full stack strategy and (b) not very profitable. In fact, I suspect with live rakes, it's impossible to make money long term playing a short stack.

again on this particular occasion i had limited time and was going to have to use some of my limited money out in the casino before getting back to Pennsylvania. so 1:00 am or the $100 at poker was my limit and the rest was going to be slots. i actually didn't know i could measure my daily progress on the machines until after i left the poker room and was screwing around with "my account" on a double diamond machine. luckily my calculations were good enough although it was close.... after all that gambling for the day only 19 tier credits over what i needed.



It's a huge accomplishment to make a profit over a year's play in these low stakes games. Congratulations.

thanks for reading and posting dilanesp. it's great to read your limit insights. best of luck at the tables in 2015 and be sure to drop us a trip report if you ever meet up with mr cooke on the felt!!

proximity
01-02-2015, 05:07 AM
our poker tour ends where it began when i buy into a 1-2 no limit game at penn national racino on new year's eve.

i sit down at 2:30 with a $100 buy in. given multiple options, i thought i seat selected well for this game but the cards didn't agree.

4-2, 5-2, 6-2, 8-2, 9-2, t-2, j-2, q-2, q-4, j-4..... and unbelievable three hours of rags. finally around 5:30 i'm dealt pocket 3s. they miss the flop by a mile.

my eyes see bad play after bad play. but there's nothing i can do about it. except fold.

finally at 6:13 i raise several limpers with AK. amazingly they all fold and i win my first pot of the game!! the 3 hrs and 43 min to win a single hand may be a tour record but i'm only down about $60 since I've folded almost every single hand.

unfortunately this miserable parade of rags resumes after the AK hand and i eventually have to rebuy.

around 8:15 though i suddenly strike with AT from late position. AKQ flop and i bet my two pair and gutshot when a ten on the turn is checked to me. one caller who bets big when another dime falls on the river. i shove and get a call with my AT prevailing over the villain's KT.

despite the hours of miserable folding i'm now down only $10 for the game and at 9:30 i flop to pair with AQ to get within $4 of even at the seven hour mark.

i call a raise with TT though and bet the flop and turn when an eight high flop is checked to me. but when another eight falls on the river a novice player leads out into me. i know he has the eight and fold the dimes face up. he flips over 8-2.

with the new year's countdown approaching though QQ holds off two players who are all in with AK and 33. this time i get back to within $1 of even and when my KK gets lucky against a short stacked AA i move ahead for the first time in the game!!

but the lead doesn't last. five minutes before 2015 i get aces cracked and fall behind again. an hour and a half later i flop two pair with T6 from the big blind. i bet the flop and then the turn when another 6 falls to give me a full house. but the lone remaining villain raises me when an ace falls on the river. i take so long on this hand that i almost called the clock on myself. almost certain that the villain has A6 i finally announce "i'm just going to call."

the villain did table A6 and i'm now behind $184.

an hour later though the table breaks and at table #2 a set of sevens holds off some heart draws before Q5 from the big blind turns two pair.

the second table then breaks around 3:30 and i come in on the big blind at table number three and flop top pair with Q9. another queen on the turn gives me trips and a rivered nine a full house. two players call down and i'm back to within $14 of even!!

but the next two big blinds i'm not as lucky. i again flop top pair with a queen but lose both hands. and other than the blinds i'm not doing much.

at 5:30 the game breaks and i move to my final table down $114 for the session.

two more miserable hours of folding in a game that is moving slower than a lazy turtle. i raise AK and lose. one final hand. i limp JT hoping to see a final flop but fold to a raise from the blinds. after seventeen hours I've had enough.

game -160 (1/2 nl)
year +911 (81-55)

proximity
01-02-2015, 05:00 PM
after gaining some momentum in late October and November my hopes were high for the tour's final month.

after booking a pair of mini wins at pen I suffer a heartbreaking limit loss at ct before getting outshined at no limit by Charles town's poker rookie of the year.

but then I go on a limit hold em run. after breaking the rule of roxy roxborough I notch a three digit 2/4 win at pen before reeling off four straight wins at horseshoe.

but the end of the month sees me extremely card dead for long periods. redskins quarterback rg3 slowrolls my KK with AA at horseshoe. I book a small no limit win at pen, but i'm card dead again in a final frustrating loss at horseshoe, although I do earn total rewards diamond status in the process.

we started the tour at pen, and I finish there. It takes an amazing 3 hours and 43 minutes to win a pot and I can never really gain any momentum in a losing seventeen hour session although I do hang on to win a humble (very humble) four dollars for the month.

month +4 (8-5)
year +911 (81-55)
dec rakeback +75
bonus ytd +215 (3-1)

dilanesp
01-02-2015, 06:21 PM
thanks for reading and posting dilanesp. it's great to read your limit insights. best of luck at the tables in 2015 and be sure to drop us a trip report if you ever meet up with mr cooke on the felt!!

I played at Bellagio Christmas week he wasn't there. The 40 game they spread was easier than a typical 20 table at Commerce.

proximity
01-02-2015, 07:23 PM
I played at Bellagio Christmas week he wasn't there. The 40 game they spread was easier than a typical 20 table at Commerce.

dilane, (or anybody) what did you think of his x-mas eve article? I woulda folded that 4s3s preflop. throughout my tour the big blind gave me a lot of trouble in no limit (especially at tropicana :bang: ) but maybe i'm too tight of a player?

also (dilanesp) do you know or have you ever met or played 2+2 legend limon at the commerce?? i really enjoyed his a lot of his live poker posts over there!!

proximity
01-02-2015, 09:07 PM
jan. 6-6. +107
feb. 10-1. +1176
mar. 5-6. -677
apr. 3-7. -496
may. 9-3. +415
jun. 9-4. +563
jul. 8-5. +41
aug. 4-9. -607
sep. 3-2 -139
oct. 9-4 +28
nov. 7-3 +496
dec 8-5 +4

dilanesp
01-02-2015, 09:49 PM
dilane, (or anybody) what did you think of his x-mas eve article? I woulda folded that 4s3s preflop. throughout my tour the big blind gave me a lot of trouble in no limit (especially at tropicana :bang: ) but maybe i'm too tight of a player?

also (dilanesp) do you know or have you ever met or played 2+2 legend limon at the commerce?? i really enjoyed his a lot of his live poker posts over there!!

I'm definitely not the person to advise on no limit strategy; I only know the rudiments. But yes, 3 handed, getting only 3 to 1, 43 suited is a fold from either blind unless it is deep stacked and you are an expert. Position is ridiculously important to implied odds in no limit. (In limit it is a call.)

I don't remember limon. I do personally know several of the regulars in the SS and MS limit forums at 2 plus 2.

EDIT: Cooke is quite right about everything he says about that hand, btw. His friend should have gotten all in with his hand.

proximity
01-02-2015, 10:25 PM
well our 2014 poker tour has come to an end.

overall i was able to play in 136 games at 14 casinos in four states (pa, md, wv, and nj). along the way i was able to meet up with great paceadvantage members like wiffleball whizz, manu918, and track collector. it's ALWAYS a pleasure to meet up with paceadvantage members and special thanks to these guys for coming out to the casinos!!

things didn't always go smoothly on the tour. i lost $532 at sands (2-3), $392 at Charles town (6-11), $226 at Tropicana ac (2-2), $179 at Maryland live! (1-3), $69 at bally's ac (6-4), and $30 at taj mahal (2-1).

on a more positive note i was able to win $21 at golden nugget ac (1-0), $91 at Borgata (3-1), $125 at parx (2-0), $201 at harrah's ac (2-2), $206 at rocky gap (1-0), $311 at showboat ac (rip) (5-0), $405 at penn national (33-24), and $979 at the beautiful new horseshoe Baltimore (15-4)!!

in the end i fell short of my goal of winning thousands of dollars but did post an overall win of $911 while winning 81 games against 55 losses.

in addition to my game winnings i was able to win $100 full house bonus at Charles town and get $125 in rakeback from horseshoe. i paid a $10 dealer add on to get in a penn national free roll that i didn't cash in. $215 net bonus total.

i also enter 2015 with hundreds of dollars of Caesar's total reward comps as well as total rewards diamond status!!

i'm no roy cooke, dilanesp, or death donkey but overall i feel i'm a good natural limit player at least for the level and i was able to post a 31-15 record and win $890 in limit games. i won $19.35 in my average limit game and $21.50 in my median limit game.

i didn't do as well in no limit. i won just $21 for the year despite posting 50 wins against 40 losses. i won only 23 cents in my average no limit game and $14 in my median no limit game. despite this i thought i played pretty well overall and had more than my share of bad luck. a lot of the posters here want me to play deeper and i have to admit they are probably right and this is something i will gradually look to do in 2015 and beyond.

there were a lot of ups and downs on the tour. i experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. in February i won $1176 and lost only one game. but march greeted me with the other extreme as i dropped $677. in November i won $496 but was saddened when my mom (who had just got over lung cancer) went to the hospital for brain cancer. a lot of the posters here offered prayers and support and i am forever grateful to you all.


so that is my 2014 poker tale. i can't believe it's over. it is truly humbling that so many people followed and posted on the thread. happy new year and best of luck in 2015. hope to see you on the felt!! :)

proximity

Rookies
01-04-2015, 10:44 PM
Let me say this Proximity. I caught up here on New Year's Day and would echo most here, by saying that your marathon tour was highly entertaining, informative, funny and never, ever boring. :ThmbUp: :)

I started playing Poker about 50 years ago and am not up to the snuff of many here, since I hardly play more than once a year now. But, you have rekindled my interest in the game and sometime in the near future, I may take a shot at the same tables. Going to Ft. Myers in Feb- March again and they have the game at the Dog Track. May join in. :ThmbUp:

Thanks for your year long adventures here.

proximity
01-08-2015, 06:55 PM
Let me say this Proximity. I caught up here on New Year's Day and would echo most here, by saying that your marathon tour was highly entertaining, informative, funny and never, ever boring. :ThmbUp: :)

I started playing Poker about 50 years ago and am not up to the snuff of many here, since I hardly play more than once a year now. But, you have rekindled my interest in the game and sometime in the near future, I may take a shot at the same tables. Going to Ft. Myers in Feb- March again and they have the game at the Dog Track. May join in. :ThmbUp:

Thanks for your year long adventures here.

two months in florida, you've already won without a single card being dealt! :)

good luck!!

proximity
03-05-2015, 12:37 AM
After pondering this I'm gonna say the live dealers were not colluding.....we don't like each other there.... There's no comrodery(spelling?) just trying to look cool buying in for 600 in 3/6 and always raising

more limit collusion @ horseshoe:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=46282123&postcount=1021

i'm stunned!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: