proximity poker tour 2014....

[proximity]

happy new year!!

in this thread I will try and document my poker experiences for 2014.

my main poker interests are live low limit no limit cash games at the mid-atlantic area casinos and racinos.

for 2014 I will start over at the beginning and try to stick to some basic money management rules. buy ins will be the greater of the minimum buy in or 5% of my yearly winnings. with a two buy in maximum per game. lose two buy ins at the local racino and i'm done for the day. lose two on the road (in say, a.c.) then I must move to another casino if I want to keep playing.

background: I've been a steady horseplayer for almost 20 years and see myself as being like the track star andy beyer talks about (in my $50,000 year at the races) who can run a mile in 4:02 and wonders what he can do to break 4:00 and "join the elite." well i'm not totally sure and probably won't ever totally quit horses, but with my rebates being taken away in late 2013:mad: , future horse profits are no slam dunk guarantee.

anyhow I'm a relative poker novice, but find myself enjoying the local games as well as the trips to atlantic city and other casinos in the mid atlantic states.

so 2014 poker, here I come........:)

[proximity]

between holidays, work, family, and football... FINALLY... get out to the racino to play some cards!! (usually would play several times in this span)

first stop up in one of the casino's racing sections and have a brief visit with harness and radio legend frank cotolo. hadn't seen fc in awhile and it was good to see he's still at it and doing well!!

down in the card room for what would be a brief two and a half hour session.
folded almost every hand for the first dealer until I picked up queens in the small blind and reraised a $7 late position raise to $21. the original raiser put me all in for my remaining $30 and I stopped for a minute before deciding to make my first bad call of the year. the villain had aces, but I would end up getting lucky and hit my queen right on the flop. towards the end of 2013 I'd been starting to see "monster under the bed" and maybe being aware that I was starting to do this (despite the week+ layoff) drove me to call?? anyhow, I called, got in bad, got lucky, and we moved on...

later on the next dealer i'd hit a set of 6s on an ace high flop and got calls on the flop, turn, and river. this would move me to almost +$150 but in the last hour and a half I would go on to drop a little before ending 2014's first session at +105.

game +105
year +105

[lamboguy]

good for you!

i am not much of a poker player even though i used to play in a limit holdem game with Bill Robertie and Dan Harrington, long before Harrington became a world champion.

[proximity]

good for you!

i am not much of a poker player even though i used to play in a limit holdem game with Bill Robertie and Dan Harrington, long before Harrington became a world champion.

wow. a game like that can really callous a player.

[proximity]

back at the racino for more poker action and would get off to a bad start as I bet a pair of 6s on a 5-4-4 flop and got two callers. checked the turn (queen) and folded to a bet and a call, but woulda been tons the best as river showdown yielded hands of k-5 beating a-2. (no a,k, or 3)

shortly thereafter I flopped an open ended straight draw with k-q suited and hit the ace on the turn for broadway. a guy bets with a-q, gets raised (all-in) and I go all in for slightly more. original bettor calls and catches the king on the river to chop with me. :mad: at least we got the money of the other guy.... who had nothing.

later things take a turn for the better as I reraise a $12 pre flop raise with kings. the original raiser struggles but calls. on like a 6-4-4 flop I push all in for less than the pot. the o.r. struggles again, but folds 7s.

for awhile I would be sitting at between $40 and $70 to the good but would begin experiencing death by ace-king. raise, continuation bet, and lose to overpair..... three times. next I would lose with top pair to a set. somehow I still had money. :rolleyes:

finally one last hand. a-10 from the small blind. everyone limps. a-10 isn't my favorite hand to play up front, but I call for the $1. big blind checks the option. a-k-3 flops. I lead out for $15. fold, fold, all in for $18...... rest of the table folds. I call the $3 and (of course) lose to (if you can believe this) a set of kings. :faint:

game -91:(
year +14:rolleyes:

[lamboguy]

thanks for your trials and tribulations. last year when i went to Tampa, i sat in the poker room for a few hours. the only games they had were Omaha and no limit Texas Hold em. they had a game that was 1-2 and another one that was 2-4. i played in the larger game. the chop looked kind of high, it was 10% up to a certain amount. i was wondering if you are playing in games with similar rakes?

[sammy the sage]

thanks for your trials and tribulations. last year when i went to Tampa, i sat in the poker room for a few hours. the only games they had were Omaha and no limit Texas Hold em. they had a game that was 1-2 and another one that was 2-4. i played in the larger game. the chop looked kind of high, it was 10% up to a certain amount. i was wondering if you are playing in games with similar rakes?

the super HIGH rake allowed in Fla. forced me to quit CASH games...it's disgusting...

[wiffleball whizz]

thanks for your trials and tribulations. last year when i went to Tampa, i sat in the poker room for a few hours. the only games they had were Omaha and no limit Texas Hold em. they had a game that was 1-2 and another one that was 2-4. i played in the larger game. the chop looked kind of high, it was 10% up to a certain amount. i was wondering if you are playing in games with similar rakes?


Proximity is playing in a casino that has the highest rake around.......although with the bad beat drops there all pretty much the same

My apologies for the lack of posting so far this year as the gambling gods are ripping me to shreds and even I've been at a loss for words......

Landlord was supposed to stop by and pick up rent today 88.6 percent chance I go ship it in 2/5 at CT today...........but love a few hoops games today.....OU for starters

[lamboguy]

do yourself a favor, stay the ---- away from games, they are the ruination of mankind.

and that is coming from someone that beat NHL hockey in the mid 1970's. its impossible to do what i did back then today. if there was a way to get them, i would be in line way before you wake up in the morning.

[wiffleball whizz]

do yourself a favor, stay the ---- away from games, they are the ruination of mankind.

and that is coming from someone that beat NHL hockey in the mid 1970's. its impossible to do what i did back then today. if there was a way to get them, i would be in line way before you wake up in the morning.

Lololololo.......**** these games

[DJofSD]

OK, while not a poker virgin, I do not have any experience playing against strangers in any kind of card room. In my mind playing in a room at any level of play is not a friendly game.

I often wonder about poker etiquette. When you finally score big, either getting ahead or recouping some of your losses, is it considered bad form to take your winnings and leave? Or are you expected to stick around at least for a little while?

I ask, in part, because playing table games like BJ or craps, no one cares except the house. But we know poker is a different game, you are taking the money from the others at the table and I wonder if players resent some one scoring big then immediately leaving.

[DeltaLover]

buy ins will be the greater of the minimum buy in or 5% of my
yearly winnings. with a two buy in maximum per game. lose two buy ins at the
local racino and i'm done for the day. lose two on the road (in say, a.c.) then
I must move to another casino if I want to keep playing.

How you came up with these 'rules'? Do you really think you are gaining anything
by applying them? In my opinion both are completely useless. If not broke, the
only reason for you to leave a game, is if you think you are inferior to your
opponents having a negative EV. How many buy-ins you lost, either per game or
per casino is completely irrelative and a matter of short-termed luck.

[proximity]

How you came up with these 'rules'? Do you really think you are gaining anything
by applying them? In my opinion both are completely useless.

just some guidelines as to what will keep me in the zone where i'm playing solid poker. since discipline is probably my biggest strength you could be right that they will prove to be useless in the end.

[proximity]

I often wonder about poker etiquette. When you finally score big, either getting ahead or recouping some of your losses, is it considered bad form to take your winnings and leave? Or are you expected to stick around at least for a little while?



i've seen plenty of people do this, and there are worse things to do, but it is considered bad etiquette.

stay at least an orbit or two.

[proximity]

thanks for your trials and tribulations. last year when i went to Tampa, i sat in the poker room for a few hours. the only games they had were Omaha and no limit Texas Hold em. they had a game that was 1-2 and another one that was 2-4. i played in the larger game. the chop looked kind of high, it was 10% up to a certain amount. i was wondering if you are playing in games with similar rakes?

yes, as ww said hollywood casinos rake 10% up to $6 max + bad beat.

i think he is raking 10% up to $5 at mdlive!.

[proximity]

back at the racino for game #3 of 2014.

started off well in this one with kings moving me to +40 early, but then it was back to racino business as usual with donx calling my a-k raises with dominated hands and hitting the flop. facing the elimination of my first buy in I got lucky twice vs two of the better players in the game. almost down to the felt I raised with a-q and got two calls before a tough out of town visitor put me all in for the remainder of my dwindling stack. though fearing domination, I was pretty much priced in at this point and made the call. as feared, the villain had a-k but k-j-t ran out to give me broadway. later I would raise a pair of dimes to $11 preflop and get called by a fellow horseplayer and pretty solid card player. luckily (or unluckily as my $ was dwindling again) I hit my set of dimes on the flop because the villain had jacks. overall though, I was losing most of the way.

mid game I received a text from 2013 p.a. rookie and probably poster of the year wiffleball whizz, letting me know that golden nugget a.c. was going to be offering games with ZERO RAKE through the end of the month. unfortunately i'm pretty busy this month and won't be able to make it down to a.c. though.

back on the felt i'm behind and battling two tough out of towners and a couple questionable players. one complete donk in a Cleveland browns sweatshirt calls a big turn bet with a gut shot draw and hits on the river, lol. it's a 2014 resolution of mine not to see too many racino sunrises, but I can't leave yet. this proves to be a good call as I rally back to even and go on to win $85 for my troubles.:)

game +85 (2-1)
year +99

[thaskalos]

I found myself in a limit holdem game at the Horseshoe in Indiana...a game that I rarely play anymore. The table was full...and I didn't recognize any of the players. About an hour into the game, the guy seated to my right gets visited by a friend of his who stood behind him...and they started conversing in Greek. The guy who was playing started complaining to his friend that he had been getting good cards all night...but still couldn't win a hand. "They keep outdrawing me all the time"...he told him.

For the next two hours, this guy kept announcing his hole cards to his friend in Greek everytime he entered a pot, trying to prove how unlucky he was...without suspecting in the least that I might be Greek as well. "I got AQ in clubs"...or, "I got pocket sevens"...he would tell him.

I kept quiet throughout, and even managed to pick off a couple of his bluffs...when he tried to bet his way through with only high cards.

After about two hours of this, I received a phone call which necessitated my departure from the game...and I started gathering my belongings. As I rounded up my chips and got up...I glanced at my Greek neighbor. "Good night and good luck"...I told him, in Greek of course...which left him with his mouth open.

Poker is truly the cruelest game...

[proximity]

For the next two hours, this guy kept announcing his hole cards to his friend in Greek everytime he entered a pot, trying to prove how unlucky he was...without suspecting in the least that I might be Greek as well.


:D

I take it "worm" wasn't there to say "English only at the table!"

speaking of which, I saw some good news in the current edition of card player, page 10.

now, we've been teased with this before, but it appears they're closer than ever to coming out with ROUNDERS 2!!

there is even a plot where they begin at a game in paris, then go "off to the RACETRACK," before hitting vegas!!

please, please let this be a HORSE track, that would be great, lol!!!

[proximity]

game #4 (racino)

back at the racino for game #4 of our young poker season and would get off to a back and forth start at my assigned table. saw a couple familiar faces at the table but it seemed to be a rather loose table. one donkey beat me again with a dominated hand and there was another guy in the game who was playing almost every hand and calling almost any size of raise pre flop. I think he once folded to like a $40 reraise, but that was certainly an exception. couldn't really beat him out of a hand unfortunately, but I was at least up a couple $ as the table started to get short and eventually broke with me taking a humble $3 lead to my new table which I could quickly see was going to be the fishiest table I've sat at yet this year.

easy table, but I couldn't do anything and a raise and continuation bet with a-q of diamonds would end up cutting into my stack. two diamonds on the flop and called by a-j and a-8. a-8 would end up winning with middle pair when no queen or diamond came on the turn or river. a-j had NOTHING.

idk where he went, but a kid from the first game who didn't seem to be playing too many hands there suddenly jumped in the game and was making some very questionable plays. calling a $27 raise pre flop with k-9 offsuit??

anyhow, I was milking my dwindling stack, which I always try to build back up but was down to a paltry $16 when I got queens in the big blind. there was a raise to $12, a call, and I went all in and hit my set of queens on an ace high flop. good thing I tried to build my stack while fighting off tilt though because I would have been crushed on a rebuy as fish tabled pocket aces vs mr k-9 for the side pot they were contesting. I slammed my queens down on the table while pulling out cash for my rebuy. my racino set over set bad streak (I was like 0-5 in these situations last year at the racino) would continue into 2014, but on the other hand I was really lucky that I didn't have any serious money on the table.

this turn of events though seemed to flip a switch and I caught fire on the rebuy almost immediately. a-3 from the blinds and flop a-a-t vs mr k-9. I bet pot and he calls. "I have to be beat," i'm thinking but before I can even process the word "beat" the dealer slams down my 3 on the turn and I bet again and receive a call from mr k-9. then a nightmare 10 falls on the river and I bet out, and pound the table (expecting a chop) when mr k-9 calls. frustrated I flip over my turned boat, but I guess I forgot i'm at the racino and watch, eyes agape, as mr k-9 flips over a solitary dime and slides his other card face down toward the muck. :eek: :eek:

from that point on, only a flopped baby flush from the small blind would derail the proximity train at all. I bet out, big blind (rare solid player at this table) min raises, utg calls and everybody folds. I reraise and get calls from both players. turn is a blank and I bet again and get calls from both players. finally a 4th suited card falls on the river. I check, bb checks, utg goes all in. I have to fold and do. bb stews and folds a higher flush face up. utg slides his winner face down towards the muck. as unlucky as this hand, taken as a whole, would prove to be.... the river card was actually blessing for me because I wasn't going to bet enough to get the bb off his higher flush with just the three suited cards from the flop out there. to quote the great thaskalos: "poker is truly the cruelest game."

game +280
year +379 (3-1)

[PaceAdvantage]

After about two hours of this, I received a phone call which necessitated my departure from the game...and I started gathering my belongings. As I rounded up my chips and got up...I glanced at my Greek neighbor. "Good night and good luck"...I told him, in Greek of course...which left him with his mouth open.

Poker is truly the cruelest game...That was a great story!

[proximity]

back at the racino for a late night session.

despite the late hour, the room is packed and I must wait on a four player list before being assigned to a game with only one familiar racino face. this is almost always a good sign and this game would prove to be no exception, featuring clearly inexperienced no limit players. as good as this game is however i can't get anything even remotely resembling a poker hand and my first buy in finally survives when i raise with a-q and hit two queens on the flop. this is the only hand i win at the table however, and when the game breaks i move to a new table at -$18.

there are some big stacks at the new table, but no familiar faces and i clearly see that this game is even better than the last. however, i'm card dead again until i pick up a pot with ace-king that gets me back to even about four hours into the session. not bad since I've only won three hands between the two tables.

but if the first four hours were bad the final 30 minutes would be pure torture.

i finally make a preflop raise to $10 with pocket tens and get two callers. i have $50 behind and see a flop of 8-7-4. one novice player who is clearly new to the game and has been calling down to the river with hands like king high goes all in for like $32 and a player i'll call the golden donkey calls.
i pause. they aren't very good players and could basically be holding any two cards, but there are two of them. with $50 it's basically either fold or go all in. i opt for the latter and and get a call from the golden donkey who tables 6-5 offsuit for a flopped straight. a six come on the turn, but the nine doesn't fall on the river and i whip out $60 for a rebuy.

a couple orbits pass and i raise kings to $10 and receive a call from the golden donkey.

i hit a king right on the flop which does consist of three spades. i bet the flop and am all in on the turn where the golden donkey calls and tables j-9 of spades. don't pair the board on the river or anything dealer, lol. :rolleyes:

game -120
year +259 (3-2)

[proximity]

up and at 'em early thursday morning for my annual car inspection/ charles town trip. last year this trip went horrible after i was rear ended by an uninsured driver less than a mile from the gates of charles town... only an hour after putting $180 shocks on my car. this inspection would go better, spending only $68 for the inspection, oil change, tire rotation, and one minor repair. with that out of the way, hopefully i'd at least make it to the racino this time. :rolleyes:

anyhow, i roll out of the dealership and within a half hour i pass through the hometown of the famous p.a. horse bettor and moderator known as "the maryland whale" and see a big sign that says "welcome to west virginia. wild and wonderful!!" thirty minutes later i arrive safely at charles town!!

the poker room is dead with only a handful of 1-2 no limit games and one 3-6 limit game. maryland live really killed this room, but being a hollywood property with high rake and no comps, charles town was just asking for it.

there is a four person waiting list for 1-2, so i grab a seat at the 3-6 limit game which has always been good to me at charles town. there is a lot of bad play, with sometimes four or five people cold calling raises but i'm again card dead and struggle through the nine hours that i play. one cowboy is donking it up and the rest table is abusing his stack, but that doesn't stop him from cracking my aces and later queens. in the end i drop $29 in the game, but end up profitable as my number is called for a $100 full house bonus!!

the $100 bonus was both good luck and bad luck because the half hourly bonus would rise throughout the night. our table did really well with my early bonus and two of the better players in the game later hitting bonuses of $200 and $350!! unfortunately one regular player was called for a $150 bonus, but he was away from the table. two players unsuccessfully searched the casino for him, but after five minutes he was dq'd and another number was called for the $150. bad beat for him.

game -29 (limit)
year +230 (3-3)
bonus $100 ($100 year)

[lamboguy]

this sparks up a very dull day. i love hearing about your evenings at the poker tables.

i wish i knew how to play, i'd be right there with you!

[wiffleball whizz]

The set of 10s that went down along with the aces to 6s up was as bad as I ever seen

[proximity]

this sparks up a very dull day. i love hearing about your evenings at the poker tables.

i wish i knew how to play, i'd be right there with you!

given how long you've survived in racing, i'm sure you'd be real good..... if you already aren't. :)

and keep reading. the wv trip gets crazy as we later get a visit from a real live(!) ;) living and breathing p.a. member!!!!! :D

[proximity]

The set of 10s that went down along with the aces to 6s up was as bad as I ever seen

uh oh. the cat's out of the bag now. :D

i wasn't getting away from those dimes, but i played those aces like a complete donkey. my worst played hand of the year by far. :blush:

but we will get to all this and more in wild, but not so wonderful.... part 4.

[proximity]

and how does one end up at a poker table tucked in a corner of wva and praying for ANY hand other than jack rag or queen rag at 3:00 on a freezing winter morning??

charles town (two words) was founded by george washington's youngest brother charles.... so i blame him!! sorry charlie!!

charles town racing, part I:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1laVK8edLVs

[wiffleball whizz]

I'm dying to hear a trip report from the horror show that was that table last night........****in brain dead that hunts bears winning hands....... Wtf

[LottaKash]

the $100 bonus was both good luck and bad luck because the half hourly bonus would rise throughout the night.

Proximity, I always enjoy your featured play by plays at the tables....I look forward to them...:ThmbUp: ...Same wit da Wiz, when he posts dem...

I don't play in holdem kash games, so I don't understand the "full house Bonus thing"....How does that work...?

[wiffleball whizz]

Proximity, I always enjoy your featured play by plays at the tables....I look forward to them...:ThmbUp: ...Same wit da Wiz, when he posts dem...

I don't play in holdem kash games, so I don't understand the "full house Bonus thing"....How does that work...?

Proximity posts are epic.....it was painful to see him go down with monsters last night......

I was such dead weight there last night it was scary......

[proximity]

Proximity, I always enjoy your featured play by plays at the tables....I look forward to them...:ThmbUp: ...Same wit da Wiz, when he posts dem...

I don't play in holdem kash games, so I don't understand the "full house Bonus thing"....How does that work...?

thanks lottakash !! i'm trying my best to remember the important or unique hands and situations that come up in the games, but it is a little harder than I thought to recall all the details. it was impressive to me that manu918 did a great job at recalling all the hand details in his tournament thread.

apparently on Mondays and Thursdays ct was offering this full house bonus promotion where anybody who tabled a full house (win or lose) would get a raffle ticket to be entered in the drawings that were going off every 30 minutes. you had to be present to win though if your number was called. the floor somehow marked the tickets and maybe (?) checked with the eye in the sky for verification so when we saw the guy at our table had the winning number we couldn't just turn in the ticket and collect for him.

however, word was that the night I was there was going to be the last day/night (it ended at 10pm) of this promotion and that Charles town is going to start having a different promotion on sundays????????

as for "da wiz" brace yourself for part 4 of my west Virginia trip report!!!!!!:D :D

[proximity]

it had been a long day, but after the 3-6 game at ct broke it was still early for me (10:30ish) and i still felt like i had some poker energy to burn, so i took my seat at 1-2 nl.

this game was very, very lag (loose aggressive) with a lot of straddling and almost every pot being raised pre flop. after the limit game maybe i was getting a little impatient and possibly felt like i was under the gun to book a quick win and get over to the motel to at least get some sleep? who knows why, but i didn't play my best and felt like i made three mistakes in the game. maybe not huge mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless......

(1) there was one hand where i overplayed top pair from the big blind. a rare limped pot and i checked the option on j-7. j-t-9 flop. i bet and the player directly to my left called. i bet the turn about the same as the flop, maybe slightly more and he called. my 7 fell on the river, giving me two pair, but the card really could have hurt me more than it helped and i bet again a little smaller and folded to the villain's raise. looking back, maybe i was just overly excited to finally see a flop and actually hit something on it, but so much stuff was out there to beat me that i definitely could have waited for a better spot to fire on all three streets after the flop. not a huge loss, but a leak nonetheless.

(2) same villain as above raised to $14 preflop and i called out of position with ace-jack. his range was fairly wide and i think i used that as an excuse to "justify" my call, but again i could have picked a better spot. waste of $14.

(3) almost every hand one of the three players to my left would almost definitely raise. the third player was extremely loose aggressive and so when i picked up a-k of hearts on his button i limped and ended up calling his raise. i checked a flop with two hearts and called a flop bet from him that wasn't even as big as his pre flop raise. and when my heart hit on the turn, i bet my flush and he folded. just a very stupid play because if i checked he almost definitely would have bet and i could have won more on this hand. again maybe my anxiety to win a hand actually got the best of me??

finally, down to $30 in chips (half buy in) and i pick up queens. of course the pot is raised to $12 and i go all in for my $30. at this table, nobody folds and five of us see a flop. i end up 3rd in the hand behind ace-rag (two pair) and pocket 3s. (turned set of 3s) going back to the turf motel i was thinking that maybe i should have just called here and seen a flop with $18 still behind, but on the other hand i did get in with the best hand and a good chance at really multiplying my stack, so i probably did the right thing.

history of charles town gambling part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isVjaSIj3-g

game -60
year +170 (3-4)

[_______]

it had been a long day, but after the 3-6 game at ct broke it was still early for me (10:30ish) and i still felt like i had some poker energy to burn, so i took my seat at 1-2 nl.

this game was very, very lag (loose aggressive) with a lot of straddling and almost every pot being raised pre flop. after the limit game maybe i was getting a little impatient and possibly felt like i was under the gun to book a quick win and get over to the motel to at least get some sleep? who knows why, but i didn't play my best and felt like i made three mistakes in the game. maybe not huge mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless......

(1) there was one hand where i overplayed top pair from the big blind. a rare limped pot and i checked the option on j-7. j-t-9 flop. i bet and the player directly to my left called. i bet the turn about the same as the flop, maybe slightly more and he called. my 7 fell on the river, giving me two pair, but the card really could have hurt me more than it helped and i bet again a little smaller and folded to the villain's raise. looking back, maybe i was just overly excited to finally see a flop and actually hit something on it, but so much stuff was out there to beat me that i definitely could have waited for a better spot to fire on all three streets after the flop. not a huge loss, but a leak nonetheless.

(2) same villain as above raised to $14 preflop and i called out of position with ace-jack. his range was fairly wide and i think i used that as an excuse to "justify" my call, but again i could have picked a better spot. waste of $14.

(3) almost every hand one of the three players to my left would almost definitely raise. the third player was extremely loose aggressive and so when i picked up a-k of hearts on his button i limped and ended up calling his raise. i checked a flop with two hearts and called a flop bet from him that wasn't even as big as his pre flop raise. and when my heart hit on the turn, i bet my flush and he folded. just a very stupid play because if i checked he almost definitely would have bet and i could have won more on this hand. again maybe my anxiety to win a hand actually got the best of me??

finally, down to $30 in chips (half buy in) and i pick up queens. of course the pot is raised to $12 and i go all in for my $30. at this table, nobody folds and five of us see a flop. i end up 3rd in the hand behind ace-rag (two pair) and pocket 3s. (turned set of 3s) going back to the turf motel i was thinking that maybe i should have just called here and seen a flop with $18 still behind, but on the other hand i did get in with the best hand and a good chance at really multiplying my stack, so i probably did the right thing.

history of charles town gambling part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isVjaSIj3-g

game -60
year +170 (3-4)

You mentioned 3 consistent raisers on your left. Any thoughts about changing seats to put them on your right for most deals?

Loose aggressive players raise your beta. Nothing wrong with having a table like that but I'd look at seat selection once I'd id'd that style from that many players at a table.

[proximity]

You mentioned 3 consistent raisers on your left. Any thoughts about changing seats to put them on your right for most deals?

Loose aggressive players raise your beta. Nothing wrong with having a table like that but I'd look at seat selection once I'd id'd that style from that many players at a table.

this wasn't an option here, but you are right (pun intended) that when a choice is there I have to start seat selecting better. without much to go on maybe a good default play would be to pick the most remote (corner) seat available and then possibly move so I can "see the cards better", lol??

another thing I need to do better is scouting the whole room better late at night, so when my table breaks I can quickly get myself into the best spot. hopefully i'll improve at this as the year goes on.

thank you for your post!!

[proximity]

the turf motel may not be the best in Charles town anymore, but it goes back to the 1950s even before Shenandoah downs and imo is a must stay at least one time for any horseplayer who beyond cashing that big ticket, wants to soak in the history and nostalgia of Charles town racing. and who knows, maybe a young andy beyer or cj milkowski stayed in your room and burned the midnight oil at the desk in the corner inking figs into their racing forms?
http://www.turfmotel.com/about.php

anyhow after a cozy night of sleep at the turf, I beat my wake up call by a few hours and head over to the rib room to sample some continental breakfast. last time I was there they had a good breakfast with some good scrambled eggs and French toast, but this time it's cheese eggs and waffles. I hate cheese and opt for a bowl of frosted flakes.

before check out I take a walk behind the motel and down the freezing alley where I decide to turn around and retrace my path instead of heading out to the main street where i'll probably get splashed by dirty slush from the passing cars. just then I look up and see a sign on the tin can of an office in front of me that says, CHARLESTOWN HBPA, INC or something, lmfao. there is a paper taped to the door that says something about no live racing tonight, blah, blah, blah and I think about going back to my car and getting my flair pen to add "NOBODY CARES." instead I just walk back to the room wondering if it bothers these people that there are more of them roaming their very own grandstand today than there are fans? what other major sport is like this? it's been almost 15 years since slots. your local horseplayer(s):rolleyes: should have the best player rewards program in the country!! they should be getting better rebates than track collector!!

sorry for the rant, I know we're in the poker section of p.a. not general racing but seeing that hbpa building was part of the trip and just set me off!!

over at the poker room I take my seat immediately in a 1-2 nl game at table 1. but I might as well have stayed over at the turf and penned a long letter to the local hbpa because I don't win a single hand until I finally pick up a small pot an hour and 55 min into the game. i'm sooooo card dead that I eventually drop my max of two buy ins without a single memorable hand and then knowing there's no way i'm leaving Charles town before midnight reach into my pocket for buy in number 3..... breaking the two buy in rule for the first time of 2014. despite breaking this rule, i'm not playing bad at all and get back close to my total buy in of $180 several times. a couple times I lose hands that put me down towards $100 or even below but late in the afternoon the cheerful Asian princess apple comes in to deal and I catch fire winning probably four hands, including getting aces and queens on back to back hands!!

now earlier in the week i'd texted our very own wiffleball whizz and told him to shoot me a text if he was going to be playing at ct on Friday. sure enough mid afternoon I get a text that "da wiz" is on da way!!

whizz arrives around 7:00 and finds me over at table 1. I tell him i'm going to play these last final free hands and we can go grab something to eat. a good Samaritan to my right gets up too when the big blind comes to him, probably saving me from limping with aces from under the gun and donking away my humble "winnings."

I get up with $190, $10 to the good!!

game +10
year +180 (4-4)

[proximity]

while we await the details of my big game with the legendary wiffleball whizz, here is a link to part 3 of the history of charles town racing.

jay trump, barbara jo rubin, and shenandoah downs. probably my favorite part of the series!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IDvPfggM7Y

[wiffleball whizz]

Whizz put in the worst 2 hours of poker in my life

I'll be there Friday and going to put there lights out

[proximity]

Whizz put in the worst 2 hours of poker in my life

I'll be there Friday and going to put there lights out

when you were beside "bear" you should have tied your shoes to the rail under the table because eventually he donked off all his chips and more like i knew he would.

[wiffleball whizz]

when you were beside "bear" you should have tied your shoes to the rail under the table because eventually he donked off all his chips and more like i knew he would.


Bear had zero shot of walking out with money.......


The conditions of the cards were an embarrassment to legalized gambling

Taking $ :6: a pot get some new ****ing setups :bang: :bang: :bang: :ThmbDown: :ThmbDown:

[proximity]

The conditions of the cards were an embarrassment to legalized gambling


yes, you'd expect more from a casino. i think i had a better deck out in my car, lol.

[proximity]

finally have a winning session on the wv trip, grinding out a humble $10 profit in 8 hrs when i was greeted at table 1 by 2013 p.a. poster of the year WIFFLEBALL WHIZZ!!

i go cash in my chips and whiz and i take a stroll around charles town's casino section, making a pit stop at some baccarat tables on our way to the skybox for some supper. whizz is checking out the baccarat action and i'm looking for the next lucy liu or bai ling to drop a claim slip on this broken down sum yung guy wanna be and maybe retire me to the breeding shed, lol.

no such luck and me and da wiz hit skybox where, both of us having "no soda" 2014 resolutions order some waters while scoping out the menu.

a cute young waitress comes buy and asks for our orders and a little michael madsen voice inside of me is biting off "oh, i don't think what i want is on the menu sweetheart" but then perhaps remembering that i look like i just crawled out of a cave, i refrain from blurting this out and order a skybox special salmon salad. maybe whizz woulda had a chance with his $100 haircut and designer threads, but he ends up getting some boneless chicken.

over dinner whizz and i talk about how good looking stephanie beattie is and i babble on about penn national life and tell him about the best penn national man i know, tonyk@hsh. whizz is checking the basketball action on his phone and brings up an article that they caught the borgata tournament cheat.

after we eat, whizz and i head back over to the poker room where he joins a 1-2 game at table 20. i'm sent back to table 1 and opt to post $2 to enter the game from mid-late position. (you don't have to do this at my regular racino room) anyhow, this proves to be a good choice as it is checked around to me and i check the option on a q-9 hand that i probably would have folded without the post. we see a flop where i hit 2 pair and get action all the way to the river, picking up $80+ along the way!!

several minutes later the loudspeaker comes on and the floor announces "table change for ww. table 20 to table 1." LMFAO :lol:

next thing you know whizz is strutting up to the table and plops down in a great seat to the left of a big chip spewer we'll call "bear."

(poster ________ made a good point earlier about seat selection and this was a situation where i shoulda jumped up myself and grabbed this seat. this is something i'm going to have to get better at.)

whizz enters the game and the stuff he was saying during the game was so funny that i'm never going to do it all justice here. suffice it to say i was still laughing at some of it when i finally got home at 5:00am.

anyhow, whizz is in a great seat to the left of "bear" who's game is crazier than justin bieber and if he can just park himself there for five hours i sense he's gonna win a lot of chips. however, my read is that whizz (a great poker dealer at mdlive! casino) has maybe seen one too many flops this week and is really craving some baccarat action. but for here and now we're at poker.

everything is going good until i'm dealt aces under the gun and make my worst play of the year by limping and hoping for a raise behind me. this play would have been justified at thursday night's table and while bear was somewhat of a loose cannon, there was no real reason not to raise here. clearly my worst play of the year by far and i paid as i ended up beaten by 6-4 hitting two pair.

this was a terrible play and i hope i don't repeat it this year, but financially it wouldn't end up mattering too much as i'd later raise 10s vs the same villain and hit a set on an all diamond flop. i bet the flop and turn and was all in on the river (no more diamonds came, but the board didn't pair either) and would end up losing buy in number one when the villain tabled a flopped diamond flush. my second set losing to a flopped flush in recent play. (the golden donkey hit j-9 spades last week vs my set of kings.)

meanwhile, whizz is comedy central at the table, although i half of what he's saying is flying over the table's head. he's really razzing bear who was wearing what i thought was some kind of general "california" shirt in chicago bears colors. i think whizz thought it said chicago bears and was razzing the guy about aaron rodgers firing some rocket against them on 4th down or something. then it comes out that the guy is a bear hunter or something, lol and whizz is telling him about how he could see shooting deer or some other animals, "but what do bears do to you, they don't hurt anybody,'"whizz says. then one hand bear raises and whizz mucks his cards dramatically saying "helen keller could have seen the raise coming." lmfao. :lol:

a new dealer and mdlive! player donald enters the box and whizz tosses a red and a white high into the air, the chips landing flush on the table in front of his colleague. in goodfellas jimmy conway tipped the guy to keep the ice cubes cold and i think whizz tipped donald to keep the cards cold.

whizz exits the game (probably for baccarat) while i stay until 3:00am trying to give an alcoa fantastic finish to this charles town trip.. but it wasn't to be.

game -100
year +80 (4-5)

[wiffleball whizz]

finally have a winning session on the wv trip, grinding out a humble $10 profit in 8 hrs when i was greeted at table 1 by 2013 p.a. poster of the year WIFFLEBALL WHIZZ!!

i go cash in my chips and whiz and i take a stroll around charles town's casino section, making a pit stop at some baccarat tables on our way to the skybox for some supper. whizz is checking out the baccarat action and i'm looking for the next lucy liu or bai ling to drop a claim slip on this broken down sum yung guy wanna be and maybe retire me to the breeding shed, lol.

no such luck and me and da wiz hit skybox where, both of us having "no soda" 2014 resolutions order some waters while scoping out the menu.

a cute young waitress comes buy and asks for our orders and a little michael madsen voice inside of me is biting off "oh, i don't think what i want is on the menu sweetheart" but then perhaps remembering that i look like i just crawled out of a cave, i refrain from blurting this out and order a skybox special salmon salad. maybe whizz woulda had a chance with his $100 haircut and designer threads, but he ends up getting some boneless chicken.

over dinner whizz and i talk about how good looking stephanie beattie is and i babble on about penn national life and tell him about the best penn national man i know, tonyk@hsh. whizz is checking the basketball action on his phone and brings up an article that they caught the borgata tournament cheat.

after we eat, whizz and i head back over to the poker room where he joins a 1-2 game at table 20. i'm sent back to table 1 and opt to post $2 to enter the game from mid-late position. (you don't have to do this at my regular racino room) anyhow, this proves to be a good choice as it is checked around to me and i check the option on a q-9 hand that i probably would have folded without the post. we see a flop where i hit 2 pair and get action all the way to the river, picking up $80+ along the way!!

several minutes later the loudspeaker comes on and the floor announces "table change for ww. table 20 to table 1." LMFAO :lol:

next thing you know whizz is strutting up to the table and plops down in a great seat to the left of a big chip spewer we'll call "bear."

(poster ________ made a good point earlier about seat selection and this was a situation where i shoulda jumped up myself and grabbed this seat. this is something i'm going to have to get better at.)

whizz enters the game and the stuff he was saying during the game was so funny that i'm never going to do it all justice here. suffice it to say i was still laughing at some of it when i finally got home at 5:00am.

anyhow, whizz is in a great seat to the left of "bear" who's game is crazier than justin bieber and if he can just park himself there for five hours i sense he's gonna win a lot of chips. however, my read is that whizz (a great poker dealer at mdlive! casino) has maybe seen one too many flops this week and is really craving some baccarat action. but for here and now we're at poker.

everything is going good until i'm dealt aces under the gun and make my worst play of the year by limping and hoping for a raise behind me. this play would have been justified at thursday night's table and while bear was somewhat of a loose cannon, there was no real reason not to raise here. clearly my worst play of the year by far and i paid as i ended up beaten by 6-4 hitting two pair.

this was a terrible play and i hope i don't repeat it this year, but financially it wouldn't end up mattering too much as i'd later raise 10s vs the same villain and hit a set on an all diamond flop. i bet the flop and turn and was all in on the river (no more diamonds came, but the board didn't pair either) and would end up losing buy in number one when the villain tabled a flopped diamond flush. my second set losing to a flopped flush in recent play. (the golden donkey hit j-9 spades last week vs my set of kings.)

meanwhile, whizz is comedy central at the table, although i half of what he's saying is flying over the table's head. he's really razzing bear who was wearing what i thought was some kind of general "california" shirt in chicago bears colors. i think whizz thought it said chicago bears and was razzing the guy about aaron rodgers firing some rocket against them on 4th down or something. then it comes out that the guy is a bear hunter or something, lol and whizz is telling him about how he could see shooting deer or some other animals, "but what do bears do to you, they don't hurt anybody,'"whizz says. then one hand bear raises and whizz mucks his cards dramatically saying "helen keller could have seen the raise coming." lmfao. :lol:

a new dealer and mdlive! player donald enters the box and whizz tosses a red and a white high into the air, the chips landing flush on the table in front of his colleague. in goodfellas jimmy conway tipped the guy to keep the ice cubes cold and i think whizz tipped donald to keep the cards cold.

whizz exits the game (probably for baccarat) while i stay until 3:00am trying to give an alcoa fantastic finish to this charles town trip.. but it wasn't to be.

game -100
year +80 (4-5)



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I should be hung at sunrise for losing 143 in my session........

Fuming I didn't make it $75 with the AK pre flop and take down the 60 that was begging to be gotten!!!!!!


Something tells me the bear hunter has been playing cards since ct started hosting poker.......prob been getting his balls kicked in since them but prob has booked a few 1000 wins......(sad but true) but 90 percent of time only way he leaves place with money is if table breaks and it's 4:45am.......

Post script.....the guy who flopped the diamonds on proximity invaded maryland live today around the 11am time frame.....I saw him walking up the stairs I was gonna say I didn't appreciate you busting my friend with those diamonds.....but I just played it off


Was totally shocked the number of Charlestown dealers that shoot it in at live....and they tip great.....coolered the piss out of the dealer Caleb on Friday.....the whizz would rather tip $5s to degenerate dealers them tip 5s to mothers who have 2 kids at home........I'd rather my money that I'm tipping get gambled.......if u don't gamble you have zero business being a poker dealer...... It's for the sick at heart.......



Also what proximity didn't post was that for 2 hours I walked around like a zombie when I noticed CT canceled there card.....


In closing I walked right by the baccarat table without playing cuz I didn't think there was any attractive asian dealer I could have taken out to dinner.....prob saved me $200-450........

[proximity]

here is the final chapter in the series on charles town racing history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii_RYxkLEMU

i probably made my first trip for a mid week afternoon card in 94 or 95, but that is just a guess. in my career i at least got to see the old indoor paddock and hear costy caras. the place has really grown since then and i like the casino and the new route 9 coming in from the west, but i confess there's a part of me that misses the old days when there was pretty much nothing between martinsburg and the track but a dusty orchard and a strip club conveniently located halfway out old 9 right beside the elementary school, lol. most of all maybe i miss the adrenaline rush of being a young horseplayer, loaded with debt and not knowing if your car was going to make it the whole way back.

as for the poker, i remained pretty card dead for 2014 and couldn't pull out this victory on the felt. but i got to experience actually winning a bonus promotion and even played at the same table as the legendary wiffleball whizz!! so what's there to complain about??

[proximity]

I should be hung at sunrise for losing 143 in my session........


did you lose some at table 20, because there's almost no way you lost that much at my table??? :confused: it didn't seem like you played that many hands?

[proximity]

In closing I walked right by the baccarat table without playing cuz I didn't think there was any attractive asian dealer I could have taken out to dinner.....prob saved me $200-450........

take her over to the mountainview for some french toast. she luv u long time!!

[wiffleball whizz]

did you lose some at table 20, because there's almost no way you lost that much at my table??? :confused: it didn't seem like you played that many hands?


Yeah lost like around 100..... Got twelved to death....

In for 300 out for 157.....

Couldn't play with that rotten drive staring me at the face...

Will make a road trip to Pocono downs in a few weeks

[proximity]

back from charles town and return to the racino looking to get back on the winning track.

start out bad when i raise from late position with jacks and get four callers. decide to fold when a girl bets out on an 8-8-7 flop. she scoops the pot and then leaves the room. victim of a hit and run but it wouldn't be the worst accident of the night.

i'm going back and forth at the table and i'm down a few dollars when i raise with a-q from under the gun. a couple players call and the big blind calls. we see a flop of a-a-q!! i decide to check this flop and maybe let somebody pick up a straight or flush. j-t runs out so anybody holding a king now has a straight. i can't even remember how the river played out but a player in late position ends up going all in. the big blind goes all in and of course i call. the late position player hits the straight, but i can only shake my head as the big blind flips over a-q too for a chop of the main pot. :mad:

flopped flushes losing to higher flopped flushes, sets losing to flopped straights, chopping with flopped full houses???? just no luck here so far in 2014. :mad:

but it gets worse as the dealer pushes me the pot and i find that i only won like $2 on the hand. :confused: whoa....whoa... whoa.... i say and have to delay the dealing of the next hand several times as there was no way i only won $2 on the hand. finally we determine that the dealer gave all of the all in players chips to the big blind, instead of giving me my share. usually a good dealer, but things just aren't going well here. :bang:

i wish this was the only problem with the room, but in the short time i'm even at this first table i notice several. (1) one kid puts out only $1 for the big blind and a new dealer NEVER bothers to correct this. next hand the same kid puts out $2 for the small blind and finally i correct this by saying, "you were big blind last hand... you actually owe that guy down there $1." lol. (2) earlier we're playing six or seven handed but a guy that looks like si from duck dynasty just gets up and moves to a nine handed table. (3) playing short handed when another table breaks. we pick up only one player from the table with everyone else going to 8 or 9 handed tables. (4) one player moves six seats out of the big blind but it's ok because a new player entered the game on the big blind. nice.

all of this with only like 8 tables running, lol. :rolleyes:

anyhow, i'm down like $15 at this table when it breaks and i immediately flop a queen high flush from late position at my new table. i raise a guy from middle position and am preparing to stack off to a higher flopped flush when he mucks. nice to win a hand!!

it's getting late but i stick around and actually go 2 for 3 with ace-king, before losing one final hand on a flopped ace high flush draw.

before i leave in a thaskalosian moment, one supposedly greek man gets up to rack his chips and a player beside me utters something in greek. after the guy leaves the player tells me, "i don't think that guy is greek."

"why?" i asked.

"well, i just called him an azzwhole in greek, and he didn't even react at all!!" :lol:

shortly after this i'd rack up myself, $128 to the good, but the night would end up being a losing one.

heading home i'm not even going that fast but hit an unplowed section of road right in the middle of the highway. i avoid going down into the ditch in the center, but lose control of the car and it spins around 180 degrees and slams into the guard rail on the right shoulder facing the wrong direction. i'm pinned against the guard rail but climb out the passenger side and check the damage.
there is some damage to the back quarter panel but no broken glass or lights and the car drives fine so i pull away before getting run over by a truck. when the sun came up i could see that the damage wasn't too bad and (unlike last year when i was hit by the uninsured driver) i do have full coverage on this car, but there's a $500 deductible so i'll probably be paying the lion's share. :mad:

game +128
year +208 (5-5)

[thaskalos]

back from charles town and return to the racino looking to get back on the winning track.

start out bad when i raise from late position with jacks and get four callers. decide to fold when a girl bets out on an 8-8-7 flop. she scoops the pot and then leaves the room. victim of a hit and run but it wouldn't be the worst accident of the night.

i'm going back and forth at the table and i'm down a few dollars when i raise with a-q from under the gun. a couple players call and the big blind calls. we see a flop of a-a-q!! i decide to check this flop and maybe let somebody pick up a straight or flush. j-t runs out so anybody holding a king now has a straight. i can't even remember how the river played out but a player in late position ends up going all in. the big blind goes all in and of course i call. the late position player hits the straight, but i can only shake my head as the big blind flips over a-q too for a chop of the main pot. :mad:

flopped flushes losing to higher flopped flushes, sets losing to flopped straights, chopping with flopped full houses???? just no luck here so far in 2014. :mad:

but it gets worse as the dealer pushes me the pot and i find that i only won like $2 on the hand. :confused: whoa....whoa... whoa.... i say and have to delay the dealing of the next hand several times as there was no way i only won $2 on the hand. finally we determine that the dealer gave all of the all in players chips to the big blind, instead of giving me my share. usually a good dealer, but things just aren't going well here. :bang:

i wish this was the only problem with the room, but in the short time i'm even at this first table i notice several. (1) one kid puts out only $1 for the big blind and a new dealer NEVER bothers to correct this. next hand the same kid puts out $2 for the small blind and finally i correct this by saying, "you were big blind last hand... you actually owe that guy down there $1." lol. (2) earlier we're playing six or seven handed but a guy that looks like si from duck dynasty just gets up and moves to a nine handed table. (3) playing short handed when another table breaks. we pick up only one player from the table with everyone else going to 8 or 9 handed tables. (4) one player moves six seats out of the big blind but it's ok because a new player entered the game on the big blind. nice.

all of this with only like 8 tables running, lol. :rolleyes:

anyhow, i'm down like $15 at this table when it breaks and i immediately flop a queen high flush from late position at my new table. i raise a guy from middle position and am preparing to stack off to a higher flopped flush when he mucks. nice to win a hand!!

it's getting late but i stick around and actually go 2 for 3 with ace-king, before losing one final hand on a flopped ace high flush draw.

before i leave in a thaskalosian moment, one supposedly greek man gets up to rack his chips and a player beside me utters something in greek. after the guy leaves the player tells me, "i don't think that guy is greek."

"why?" i asked.

"well, i just called him an azzwhole in greek, and he didn't even react at all!!" :lol:

shortly after this i'd rack up myself, $128 to the good, but the night would end up being a losing one.

heading home i'm not even going that fast but hit an unplowed section of road right in the middle of the highway. i avoid going down into the ditch in the center, but lose control of the car and it spins around 180 degrees and slams into the guard rail on the right shoulder facing the wrong direction. i'm pinned against the guard rail but climb out the passenger side and check the damage.
there is some damage to the back quarter panel but no broken glass or lights and the car drives fine so i pull away before getting run over by a truck. when the sun came up i could see that the damage wasn't too bad and (unlike last year when i was hit by the uninsured driver) i do have full coverage on this car, but there's a $500 deductible so i'll probably be paying the lion's share. :mad:

game +128
year +208 (5-5)

I can almost guarantee that he called him "malaka"...which is the universal greeting among Greeks, in gambling establishments throughout the world. It means "jack off"...but it does so lovingly. Greeks don't hurl any stronger insults at each other, unless they know each other's names.

This is assuming that the guy who said it spoke English with a Greek accent. The "Americanized" Greeks don't understand our customs...and are likely to misbehave.

I'm just telling you this in case some Greek guy ever says this to YOU. :)

[proximity]

This is assuming that the guy who said it spoke English with a Greek accent.

no, it really surprised me because the guy could have been bruce Willis's twin brother.

everyone always thinks die hard, but I was thinking striking distance and almost blurt out "who's the best cop now tommy?" a couple times during the game. :D

[proximity]

back at the racino with my rental car while the dealership works on repairing the damage from the wreck.

first stop up in the track dining room and meet with the great p.a. poster and penn national mantonyk@hsh (tonyk@hsh). tony k has been described to me as a "legend" from his work as a public handicapper for the Harrisburg patriot news.
unfortunately a few years ago the paper decided to drop the penn national "graded selections" section but I remember tonyk going out with a bang that month. I think it was an October?

usually tony's table in the track dining room is packed and sometimes you have to wait like in the beginning of godfather 2 to speak with him but tonight it's just tony and his friend "snapper" a good trainer from the pa tracks.

I stay for a few races before heading down to the card room where I take an early lead at a short handed table by hitting a couple two pair hands from the button. i raise and c bet with pocket queens to move ahead almost $30 but that would be one of the final hands i'd win all night.

i note one or two players at the far end of the table are going to go broke if they keep playing like they are. unfortunately one of them racks up a winner, and i decide to apply the advice of poster_______ (did i spell that right?) and move seats to be to the left of the other player, who does end up losing most of his chips, but certainly not to me. hours later the table finally breaks and i go to a new table down about $90.

at the new table, it's more of the same and a wild older player sits down to my left. "granpappy's going to lose all of these chips," i think to myself and when the opportunity presents itself i move to his left.

great idea, but a great idea that backfires when hand after hand granpappy calls with dominated hands but hits the flop. i raise 10s, queens..... ace king flops on every flop. granpappy hits it all. i lose my second buy in and for the first time break the two buy in rule at the racino. immediately i get behind and try to pick up a pot from the blinds that is checked around on a jack high flop. a jack turns and you know nobody has a jack, but granpappy calls and i have to fold when a card comes that is about the worst card in the deck..... completes straights, flushes....... finally i hit top pair on a hand and raise the flop from the button. villain calls with middle pair, but hits two pair on the turn.

total nightmare of a session.:mad:

game -180
year +28 (5-6)

[proximity]

when we last left off I was hobbling out of the racino with my head hung low. the racino's resident aarp donkey granpappy was taking my chips and losing them to the rest of the table before another fish gutted me totally.

somehow I got up the guts to show back up there and of course things wouldn't start the best. I was losing small and finally got a good hand, pocket queens under the gun (first to act after the big blind). I raised to $12 and received a call from a casino neophyte to my left and several other players. stevie wonder can read a Russian physics text better than these racino donks can read a player's range. anyhow, I move all in on a flop of all low diamonds and receive a call only from the new casino player beside me. short stacked he calls a $12 raise from early position with ace deuce of diamonds. this loss, yet another in 2014 to a flopped flush, still leaves me with a quarter of my first buy in and I nurse this for probably two hours before reraising a $7 raise all in to $15 and getting called for $13 more by a limper with k-t. naturally a ten flops with no ace and I have to rebuy. :rolleyes:

for the most part, i'm card dead again but an hour or two after the rebuy I suddenly strike, winning two hands in a row. yes, back to back:eek: with ace king and a-7 suited from the button. I win nice on both hands and a win or two an hour with a bunch of folds in between puts me up near $300 to the good, flirting with my best game of the year.

then disaster strikes. I raise with ace-king and bet almost the pot on an ace high flop with two hearts. one player calls. a queen falls and i'm a little suspicious, but bet again with a call. finally a three of hearts comes on the river and I bet but am raised to about $100. I fold my ace king face up and the villain shows 5-4 hearts for a rivered straight flush.

a little time passes and I raise kings to $20 from under the gun. this may seem a little high for 1-2, but $10-$12 raises were getting called by half the table. the same villain reraises me to $40 from late position and I reraise him to $80 at which point he puts out about $200. for the first time ever I fold kings preflop and the villain flips over the aces. later i'd get one final chance with kings but every ace in the deck hits the flop and turn and I have to fold.

in the end I grind out $79 in a long session that most players would have lost in with my cards. but that is becoming a smaller and smaller consolation to me as I play this same broken record week after week.

I finish the month 6-6 in the 12 sessions with a humble $107 of winnings...
short of my recreational player goal of winning hundreds (plural) of dollars a month and being on pace to win thousands in a year. (this is not counting the $100 bonus from ct). on the other hand I got to go to casinos a lot of times and didn't lose any money and you have to start somewhere.

game +79
year +107 (6-6)

[thaskalos]

Proximity,

I hope you don't take what I have to say here the wrong way...but I am having a little trouble understanding your state of mind as far as the NL games are concerned.

You call yourself a relative beginner when it comes to poker...but you appear to me to be a sharp player, who has been going through more than his share of bad luck this year. This is mainly the reason why I am confused by your buy-in approach in the NL cash games. You buy in short with 30 bb to start...and then you are reluctant to reload when you suffer a quick bad beat. You lose $40 right off the bat...and you continue playing with the remaining $20, which is to me a very small amount with which to take advantage of a big hand that might come along afterwords.

You are a solid player...and you are willing to wait for a hand. This playing style probably gets you respect at the table...and you should be able to use that "respect" to push your opposition around a little bit when the situation demands it. But the problem is that you are often playing with such a small stack...it is not possible for you to mix up your play and exercise all of your options.

No-limit holdem isn't about showing down the best hand...even when you are playing at the $1-$2 blinds; it's about varying your play...and keeping the competition guessing. You ask subtle questions with your bets...and you set them up for the kill. But you can't "go for the kill", when you don't have enough bullets in play.

You have to have enough chips in front of you...because you can never know when the big hand will come. No-limit holdem is called "big bet poker" for a reason. You carry a big gun...and you use it.

This is just my opinion, of course...and you are welcomed to disagree.

[LottaKash]

I finish the month 6-6 in the 12 sessions with a humble $107 of winnings...
short of my recreational player goal of winning hundreds (plural) of dollars a month and being on pace to win thousands in a year. (this is not counting the $100 bonus from ct). on the other hand I got to go to casinos a lot of times and didn't lose any money and you have to start somewhere.

game +79
year +107 (6-6)

Please keep on Proximity, I am enjoying it all, still.......:jump:

[proximity]

[QUOTE=thaskalos]Proximity,

I hope you don't take what I have to say here the wrong way...but I am having a little trouble understanding your state of mind as far as the NL games are concerned.

You call yourself a relative beginner when it comes to poker...but you appear to me to be a sharp player, who has been going through more than his share of bad luck this year. QUOTE]

I definitely don't take what you say the wrong way and am thankful for comments and suggestions from you and everybody reading the thread. I can see some ways that trying to build up from "the beginning" with short buy ins is hurting me and one big one is that the threat of double and triple barrels with my continuation bets isn't there like it was when I was playing deeper.

the second bolded part is why I decided to start the year doing this though. I am a relative beginner and as such i'm not really sure how sharp of a player I am. hopefully the long term will show that i'm a good player or at least that I have the potential to become one. until then i'm not really sure I want to be losing hundreds of dollars a night at this until I get to a point where I've won thousands of dollars overall. I've seen too many kids burst onto the scene in this room with $300 buy ins and wrist bands from security that are never (or rarely) seen again after a week's play. you're right that I probably could chip up faster when I start bad though because although I feel bad inside taking some of these beats I really haven't been tilting hardly at all in my actual play so far.

thanks again for reading and your comments and suggestions!!

[proximity]

Please keep on Proximity, I am enjoying it all, still.......:jump:

I am idle today (actually slept like 18 hours, lol) and am actually working on my racing here a little tonight but I do plan on playing somewhere tomorrow. if it wasn't so late I could start a poll.... where should proximity play superbowl sunday?:

() racino
() sands
() ct
() mdlive!

:)

[wiffleball whizz]

[X] Maryland Live! (!)

[proximity]

[X] Maryland Live! (!)

Helen keller could have seen this post coming!!:lol:

did you go back to ct this weekend? give us a trip report!!

[proximity]

ok, after 18 hours of sleep on saturday i was up early on sunday and decided to head east to the sands casino in bethlehem, pa.

i arrived around noon and took an open seat in a 3-6 limit game, an often frustrating, but usually winning move at the sands.

after striking with ace-jack in one of my very first hands i don't win another hand until after 2:00 and find myself down over $60 in this humble game. i flop top pair a couple times but end up beaten on the turn by a pair below the board hanging in (for some reason) to hit a set on the turn (two outer) and another guy who never played before beating me on the river with a gutshot. at two o'clock though an attractive blonde dealer sits down and deals me two winners to put my stack back near its $100 starting point.

then 3:00 comes and joe sits down to deal.

and as cold as the cards had been they suddenly turn hot with joe who is looking to supplant wiffleball whizz as my favorite mid atlantic dealer.
i must win at least a half dozen hands during his shift. ace queen, ace king, and even aces from early position.... apparently cracked by a cold caller (and everybody had even folded before him, lol) with rags.... but joe drops running sevens to counterfeit him, lol. as joe gets up to move to his next table, i do my best whizz impersonation, tossing a redbird high into the air and landing flush on the table in front of him. "don't forget this joe."

i'm down before joe's shift, but just a short half hour later i'm up over $100 and starting to roll.

around 4:00 a new player named cc enters the game beside me. and at 4:10 cc and i catch each other checking out an emerald clad princess sashaying up the long hallway coming to the casino from the sands hotel.

"i don't know if i want to be playing with this guy," i joke. "he can read me like a book."

"some things," cc says "are not that difficult." :D

from such incidents, new casino poker friendships are born.

going by the timeline of some of the many stories he tells, cc must be between 80 and 85 years old but didn't look a day over 70 and had the vigor of a much younger man. he says he's a recent hold 'em convert from seven cards stud where he said he had a lot of success, which i could believe as his hold 'em play seemed pretty solid.

between stories from his career as a nyc detective, his massive book collection, and his devotion to the poker methods of phil helmuth, cc asks me about iran, iraq, and israel.

but these are topics for the worldly and smart souls that occupy pace advantage off topic. i'm just a hayseed grantville gambler and think of a scene in the robert redford baseball movie the natural where barbara hersey asks redford's roy hobbs character, "roy, have you ever read homer?"

"uhh?? the only homer i know has four bases!!" the green ballplayer responds.

anyhow, cc's struggling, but folding strong and not tilting. finally one hand he raises under the gun and i know he's strong but i look down at q-j suited from my big blind and make the call. on a queen high flop with two hearts i can see cc readying to grab his chips so i let him bet and spring a check raise, planning on checking the turn and seeing if maybe he'll check back a better hand possibly saving me half a big bet. but i never find out though as another queen falls on the turn and i bet straight out getting a call from cc. the river though is a horrible ace of hearts, possibly giving cc a set of aces or the flush. i check this card and he checks back and mucks when i flip my queen jack. i never find out if he had the kings.

towards the end of the super bowl the game finally starts to break and instead of drawing cards to move to the other limit game or playing some no limit i decide to head home. cc's girlfriend ends up the big winner on the day taking down TWO huge slots wins of over $700 and $1400. i can't match her $2000 score but almost reach $200, just missing with a $181 win.

game +$181 (limit)
year +288 (7-6)

[proximity]

back at the racino for an afternoon 1-2 nl game.

not a lot to report here. was mostly card dead, winning only four hands over the four hour session.

got lucky in the big hand of the day when I limped with tens from middle position and was raised to $15 by a former racino dealer and present whizz colleague on the button. four of us see a flop of 9-7-6 and when it gets checked to me I bet $25 of my remaining $52 stack. the mdlive! dealer raises to like $75 and i'm pretty sure i'm beat but when the other players fold there's now over $130 in the pot and it's $27 back to me with two cards to come. i have six outs and decide to make the call. the villain had jacks but fortunately i hit a ten on the turn and held him off on the river. i later checked sklansky's original little yellow book and saw that i was a little better than 7/2 on the draw so the call was good although overall i could have played the hand more aggressively on the earlier streets. still though played pretty good overall and again showed good discipline from early position.

game +73
year +361 (8-6)

[Robert Goren]

I have question for you. Do you go back over your hands after you are finished while they are still fresh in your mind? I think that is very important. I think the key is continuing asking yourself how do I get more out of a winning pot and lose less out of a losing ones. My answers often changed for the same situation as I grew more experienced. I think that is when you know you are on the right track. I made a lot of really dumb moves that I thought was clever when I first started out.

[proximity]

I have question for you. Do you go back over your hands after you are finished while they are still fresh in your mind? I think that is very important. I think the key is continuing asking yourself how do I get more out of a winning pot and lose less out of a losing ones. My answers often changed for the same situation as I grew more experienced. I think that is when you know you are on the right track. I made a lot of really dumb moves that I thought was clever when I first started out.

thank you for reading and posting Robert!!

one of the purposes of the tour blog is to go over some of the tough situations that I encounter in the games. this hand with the tens, although it ended well, is an example of one of these tough situations that can come up. i'm not even sure i should have called the $13 from this villain out of position before the flop because even with a good flop for the hand it put me behind probably too high of a percentage of his range to commit my whole stack to. playing deeper i could have bet more on the flop to try to blow him out of the hand as my hand would have basically been one of the only hands his jacks beat at that point, except maybe 8s.

going off to the racino now for another game. last Friday's game was pretty tough for a weekend game. hopefully today's will be a little softer.

[proximity]

going off to the racino now for another game. last Friday's game was pretty tough for a weekend game. hopefully today's will be a little softer.

hoped that today's game would be a little softer than last Friday's game and I got my wish as several players in the game made "bear hunter" from the Charles town trip look like stu ungar. there were two younger guys that sat down back to back in the six seat and were calling down and stacking off light as a feather. the second kid to sit down in the seat at least played somewhat tight for about his first two orbits, lol.

for awhile everything was going as planned as I spurted out to about a $120 lead on this table but then had a horrendous 45 min where I was getting straight draws and nut flush draws and never connecting. soon the lead was blown and I was all in for my first buy in with ace rag and was outkicked. on the very first hand of the rebuy, however, I slightly more than doubled up with ace king and I was back in the game and heading in the right direction as we approached late afternoon.

around 5:30 I received a text from wiffleball whizz that he was going to be playing at Hollywood Perryville (md) and around this time I would hit probably my best hand of the year when I bet a set of eights both strong on the flop and when I filled up (88866) on the turn. for some reason though after my turn bet was called I started giving the villain too much credit for pocket 6s. however, I still bet the river strong and was min raised. I should have thought about this more before acting and maybe anxiety from all of the recent bad beats overtook me, but I just called this raise and the villain tabled a straight. I did good in betting the hand strongly the whole way through but left him with a bet on the end when I probably should have min raised him a back and got a crying call. this was a mistake and i'm going to have to learn from it and move on, remembering to take my time and think the whole hand and all of the villain's range through.

anyhow, last Friday I made a big laydown.... dropping kings pre flop for the first time ever when the villain had aces and sure enough this Friday I would get another chance when after flopping a set of 4s i faced an all in bet of over $300 from a very tight pre flop raiser. actually he bet so much that he kind of made it easy for(s) me pun intended. the villain did have top set (10s) and would go on to win over two small stacks with flush draws.

was working on my best game of the year again, but over the last couple hours i couldn't hit a hand and decided to pull the plug when i got down to only $200 profit.

game +200
year +561 (9-6)

[tucker6]

I enjoy reading your accounts very much. I intended to make commentary on your KK from last week, but I had a computer malfunction and didn't feel like writing it out again. :ThmbUp:

[tucker6]

Proximity, could you take a moment to discuss your playing style. Are you generally conservative pre-flop? What minimum cards do you usually play pre-flop? i.e., J-J or A-10? How often do you "bluff" bet pre-flop or don't you do it, or do you only do this in a blind position? Do you play differently (betting style, amounts) when you have a big stack or are you an even keel player? TIA

[DeltaLover]

anyhow, last Friday I made a big laydown.... dropping kings pre flop for the
first time ever when the villain had aces

sure enough this Friday I would get another chance when after flopping a set of
4s i faced an all in bet of over $300 from a very tight pre flop raiser.
actually he bet so much that he kind of made it easy for(s) me pun intended.
the villain did have top set (10s) and would go on to win over two small stacks
with flush draws.



Prox,

I have to say that I disagree with the way you decided to play both of this
hands and would like to hear your rationale behind your moves.

Dropping KK preflop in such a small and heavily raked game as the 1-2
is, seems a very extreme call. Given the small cost of a call, you need to be
able to put your opponent to a single specific hand with very high accuracy in
order to justify a muck something that is not realistic and possible.

As far as mucking a set into a T high flop, especially under a very tight
pre-flop opponent, again I think you are making a big mistake, as most of the
times he will be holding an overpair than a set, giving you a perfect spot to
punish his nitty style..

[Robert Goren]

Calling all in 3 bets preflop with KK is not a good idea. A better case can be made if it was a 4 bet, but that is another story. You do not want to encourage all in 3 bets preflop. They will kill the game if they become common and they will if rewarded. People do not like hard decisions. You want them to have a good time as you take their money. Always try to discourage the other players from putting his fellow players on hard decisions.

[proximity]

Prox,

I have to say that I disagree with the way you decided to play both of this
hands and would like to hear your rationale behind your moves.

Dropping KK preflop in such a small and heavily raked game as the 1-2
is, seems a very extreme call. Given the small cost of a call, you need to be
able to put your opponent to a single specific hand with very high accuracy in
order to justify a muck something that is not realistic and possible.

As far as mucking a set into a T high flop, especially under a very tight
pre-flop opponent, again I think you are making a big mistake, as most of the
times he will be holding an overpair than a set, giving you a perfect spot to
punish his nitty style..

well, so far I am 2-0 on the laydowns and being that it was the first time i'd ever made either play who knows if it'll even happen again for the rest of the year.

i'd say laying down the kings was the harder play for me and I don't have any concrete stats but it does seem to me through general observation that racino "old man coffee" types raising pre flop and coming over top of reraises do have aces a high percentage of the time. some stuff going through my mind at the time though: (1) out of the corner of my eye I could see that he seemed real anxious almost drooling and (2) there was a similar hand at the same (physical) table a game or two before where a girl who usually plays pretty well raised kk, got re raised by an "old man coffee" type but didn't re raise..... just flat called and saw a flop where she ended up stacking off and that time too I knew the guy had aces before he flipped the cards over.

some background about the set of 4s that I didn't include in the story was that the same kid had dropped middle set to a $200 all in flop bet about an hour earlier. I would have snap called this bet and won as the villain had top two pair but he told us how he had been beaten by a higher set in his last trip to the racino and wasn't going to fall for "the banana in the tailpipe" so to speak. soon after he was so nervous that he basically "hit and ran" maybe playing an orbit (if that) after the win.

both of these were extreme cases and although I made the winning play in both situations I definitely could be wrong about a lot of the hands I post and appreciate bigger and better players like yourself, thask, whizz, rg, _______, ........ ALL of you guys adding comments and suggestions. THANK YOU!!

[proximity]

Proximity, could you take a moment to discuss your playing style. Are you generally conservative pre-flop? What minimum cards do you usually play pre-flop? i.e., J-J or A-10? How often do you "bluff" bet pre-flop or don't you do it, or do you only do this in a blind position? Do you play differently (betting style, amounts) when you have a big stack or are you an even keel player? TIA

yes, i'd say i'm conservative pre flop.

there would have to be significant action for me to drop jacks and unlike kings (lol) I probably have never not seen a flop with them, but ace ten I could easily fold from earlier positions or to a raise. a lot of this is specific to both the general nature of the table and my position relative to specific players at the table.

in general I don't bluff a lot before the flop or otherwise. if it's limped to me I may open a smaller pair or an ace and c bet or but most of my bluffs would be river bluffs where i sense that the villain has missed a draw. sometimes i'll come over top of villain "feeler" bets too when the board is pretty dry.

as for the playing style and bet sizing, as i get deeper i'll tend to play more hands especially in position and if the villain is playing deep as well. unless a shorter stack is raising every other hand or something though a lot of times i won't "give him action" or "double him up" by calling his raises with dubious holdings (k-j, q-t,.....) like many deep stacked racino players seem to do.

btw thank you for reading and posting. do you play and where if i may ask?

we need more game reports on here and hope to hear about whizz's trip to Perryville!!

[proximity]

a general summary of my playing style would be that i'm a lot more iceman than maverick at this stage if that makes any sense.

also on the kk laydown we have to be honest and ask if it was easier for me to drop the hand because of the recent losing streak (@ ct and vs granpappy) and the fact that getting a winning session would have been good for me mentally? well maybe a little bit, but i definitely would have shoved all in vs many villians i've encountered so far like the golden donkey, granpappy, bear hunter....... and as unlucky as both of these big laydown hands were i was lucky in a way that the villains were so unique that they made they plays possible. i'm still waiting to actually win a hand set over set though. it's not like i'm shoving all in for $600 when i flop a set or anything so it isn't like people are folding sets against me??????? anyhow it has to eventually even out, not proximity holding the lower set in every single set over set situation??????????? :mad:

[Robert Goren]

a general summary of my playing style would be that i'm a lot more iceman than maverick at this stage if that makes any sense.

also on the kk laydown we have to be honest and ask if it was easier for me to drop the hand because of the recent losing streak (@ ct and vs granpappy) and the fact that getting a winning session would have been good for me mentally? well maybe a little bit, but i definitely would have shoved all in vs many villians i've encountered so far like the golden donkey, granpappy, bear hunter....... and as unlucky as both of these big laydown hands were i was lucky in a way that the villains were so unique that they made they plays possible. i'm still waiting to actually win a hand set over set though. it's not like i'm shoving all in for $600 when i flop a set or anything so it isn't like people are folding sets against me??????? anyhow it has to eventually even out, not proximity holding the lower set in every single set over set situation??????????? :mad:Welcome to the club. I have lost a lot money in that situation and its first cousin, the full house over the full house.

[wiffleball whizz]

Glancing at these posts while buried at the track(although making a huge brush) laying downs kings when the old mAn comes over the top is the correct play

THE OLD MAN HAS ACES IN THE BASEMENT 99 percent of the time.......

ITS NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER QUEENS

AND IT COULD BE KINGS


KINGS ARE VERY OVERATED

[proximity]

Glancing at these posts while buried at the track(although making a huge brush)

how's cj's dad doing? any winners?

[tucker6]

Glancing at these posts while buried at the track(although making a huge brush) laying downs kings when the old mAn comes over the top is the correct play

THE OLD MAN HAS ACES IN THE BASEMENT 99 percent of the time.......

ITS NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER QUEENS

AND IT COULD BE KINGS


KINGS ARE VERY OVERATED
agree that it was the correct call by Prox and that often times, you're up against AA. The old man is the one who made the most correct call. You have AA, don't try to slow play the hand for more pot and invite a set on the flop. Push everyone out of the hand pre-flop. AA is seriously overrated when hands play out at larger tables.

Proximity - To answer your previous question, I used to play Sands in Bethlehem when they first opened tables, but have since moved south to an area without casinos. :( I now play recreational (for money) with a bunch of like minded guys once a week. Quarter/dollar chips and buy-ins. But we play 6-10pm and get home before the wives scream too loudly. :D

My personal favorite game though is BJ.

[wiffleball whizz]

how's cj's dad doing? any winners?

Home watching the soccer triple header today........wish I was watching with him it would have been $251 cheaper

The beats and ways the robbed me today I would have had a better time at the local male review

[proximity]

I used to play Sands in Bethlehem when they first opened tables, but have since moved south to an area without casinos. :(

:( , indeed as this may be the single saddest post i've ever read on pace advantage. although i won't be too sad as you're probably filthy rich from playing those donkeys day and night. :)

just reading the word "sands" i can already start smelling that distinctive soapy sands smell as you fling open those parking garage doors to the elevators! :D

[tucker6]

:( , indeed as this may be the single saddest post i've ever read on pace advantage. although i won't be too sad as you're probably filthy rich from playing those donkeys day and night. :)

just reading the word "sands" i can already start smelling that distinctive soapy sands smell as you fling open those parking garage doors to the elevators! :DSounds like someone has the Sands in his near future. :D

[proximity]

Sounds like someone has the Sands in his near future. :D

lol, i was just thinking that the bathrooms at sands are possibly more tilting than getting beaten by a rivered gutshot. there are never any hand towels there so if you want to splash some water on your face after a 12 hour session it's either stick your entire head under the air dryer or you're sol. one time at sands a player told me that they removed the towels because "asian players were stuffing them in bags and taking them back to chinatown on the bus." :confused:

i'd think this asian hand towel stealing mafia would switch and start victimizing ac and other naive mid atlantic casinos too, but luckily so far this doesn't seem to be the case! :)

[proximity]

saw this on 2+2:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2014/01/sands_on_snakes_rumor_enough_i.html

thank god i survived the trip!! :lol:

[tucker6]

funny story. I guess we now know that with the casino denial of the story, what the casino calls its employees is not Snakes. Coulda fooled me. :D

[thaskalos]

Now that I've had some time to recover...I'd like to tell you about something that happened during my Wednesday night poker game.

As I've said before, I've been playing for quite a while now in a private poker game populated mainly by established Russian businessmen. The game is held every Wednesday and Friday at a hotel in a suburb a little north of Chicago...and it's a first-class operation all the way. We start at 6 pm, all the winners are obligated to play at least until midnight...and the game breaks up by 1:30 am the latest. Two professional dealers rotate doing the dealing...and the only rake is the money taken out to cover the dealer fees, the cost of the room, and the food that we order via room service. We play only no-limit holdem...the blinds are $5-$10...the initial buy-in is for a minimum of $1,000...and you can buy in for a minimum of $500 anytime after that. There is no maximum buy-in at any time...and there is one guy at the table who always buys in for $5,000 to start. He says he likes it that way. There are 9 people playing...and a couple of people are waiting in the wings, hoping to step in, in case there are any early fatalities. :)

I started off by encountering some bad luck early on...and I lost my first buy-in rather quickly. I bought in again for another thousand...and slowly managed to build it up to about $3,300 with the time closing in on midnight. In fact...I started thinking about declaring that I would be leaving at 12 o'clock sharp.

And then it happened! The hand I waiting all night for.

I get dealt pocket kings UTG...and I bring it in for $50 -- which was the amount that had become the habit at the table at that time. I get two callers...including the guy on the button -- who has over $6,000 in front of him (he is a Russian ophthalmologist).

With $165 in the pot...the flop comes Kh-Jh-3c.

The ophthalmologist is a pretty sharp player, and he will be suspicious if I don't make a continuation bet...so I lead with $100. The middle guy calls...and the button, after a little thought, raises it to $450. It comes to me...and I decide to call...hoping to draw in the middle player as well. The middle player calls too...and there is now $1,515 in the pot.

The turn is the 5 of clubs...and the board now reads Kh-Jh-3c-5c. With two possible flushes on the board, and with the size of the pot...I decided that slowplaying was out of the question. Again I led into the pot...this time for $1,000. To my great surprise, the middle guy goes all in with his remaining $1,400...and the action gets to the button. He stares at me...and asks me how much I got left. I tell him I have about $1,800.

"I put you all in"...he tells me, with a thick Russian accent -- and I move all in before he can even finish his phrase. With all the money in the pot...the dealer asks us if we want to show our cards. We agree to do so.

I show my pocket kings...and there is a gasp heard around the table. The eye-doctor on the button jumps to his feet...and angrily slams down pocket jacks. The middle player shyly turns over the Q-T of hearts...for a possible straight flush.

With almost $9,000 in the pot, and not a sound heard around the table...the dealer takes a pause before revealing the last card...and then deals out the ugliest jack of diamonds that I've ever seen in my life. The table erupts...and the fat eye-doctor is high-fiving his neigboring players, and shaking the dealer's hand -- while the dealer looks at me almost apologetically. I quietly gather my belongings...and stand on my slightly wobbling legs.

"Gentlemen...I must leave you"...I tell them with a fake smile...and I quietly walk out of the room...and into the cold night.

Such is the life some of us have chosen...

[proximity]

Now that I've had some time to recover...I'd like to tell you about something that happened during my Wednesday night poker game.........

not sure if it's as bad as tucker6 having to move hundreds of miles away from the sands, but that is just BRUTAL. :bang:

I know you'll get it back and then some though and hopefully sooner rather than later! :ThmbUp:

[proximity]

finally get all of the snow shoveled and can return to the racino for another session of America's game: 1-2 no limit hold em.

started pretty quiet for a few orbits until I picked up ace king and raised a straddle ($5 straddles at racino) to $17. there were only like 5 callers which is vintage racino. :rolleyes:

anyhow I miss the flop completely on a rather dry board of under cards. however a player to my left bets a massive $10 into this bloated pot and i'm forced to call but of course miss the turn. to my surprise though the turn gets checked around and I hit my ace on the river. one player bets $22 and I call for the $20 I have behind and take it down.

several orbits later I raise aces to $16 from early position and get called by the player to my left and watch in awe as i'm reraised to $41 and with a call behind the reraiser!! I shove all in and am snap called by the raiser who has ace king. I somehow avoid two kings falling or a flush and take this pot down too, putting me up almost $300.

however, that would be about the end of my run as I proceed to get beat hand after hand with only a check raise on a flopped set of nickels (buffalos in whizz speak) giving me any winnings for the last few hours of the game. big laydown Friday kinda continues as I drop jacks to a flop raise by kings on a board of all low cards.

in the end I quit $155 to the good, moving my record to 10-6 on the year.... not quite up to the coach pagano colts standard of 11-5 but still good enough to start to put the Charles town trip and the loss to granpappy in the rearview mirror.

game +155
year +716 (10-6)

[proximity]

back at the racino for yet another session of 1-2 no limit hold 'em!!

got down about $10 or so early after calling a straddle with a small pocket pair and paying some blinds but then picked up pocket kings and reraised a middle position raiser to $30. the original raiser inquired about the $20 remaining in my stack and i knew he was beat. "please put me all in," i thought and he obliged with queen-jack!!! :rolleyes: the kings held up and i was off to a decent start!!

overall i was at a typical weekend racino table of donkeys and when the opportunity presented itself i moved seats to get better position on them. i'm not superstitious but we should note that the move was at the exact same table and exact same seats as the granpappy incident from last month. and while this time things didn't go quite as badly as they did vs granpappy, i wasn't winning any hands and ended up falling behind chasing an ace high flush and straight draw that missed. finally after a few hours the table breaks and i take half my original buy in to a new table where things don't go much better until i pull out another $60 to add to my stack.

after pulling out my second buy in i finally start to catch fire. i pick up a small pot with pocket jacks and then a few orbits pass and i win a big pot with a set of tens. several hands later i strike again with another set of tens cracking pocket kings!! at this point i was up nearly $300 and working on my best game of the year.

however, adversity would strike late in the night as several new players would join the game, somewhat changing its flow. one younger blonde girl sat down with (and right beside) a guy who kinda reminded me of jerry springer and the nightly tournament winner also joined the fray. all three players were to my immediate left and things were getting kind of laggy ala game number two of the charles town trip. one hand i picked up jacks and jerry springer put a dent in my stack with aces but later the tournament champ moved to my right and i end up beating him with an ace high flush to put me ahead almost $350. finally this table started to break too and by this time i've had enough poker for one day/night. i continue my winning ways in february with a $330 score, my biggest so far of the year!!

game +330
year +1046 (11-6)

[thaskalos]

back at the racino for yet another session of 1-2 no limit hold 'em!!

got down about $10 or so early after calling a straddle with a small pocket pair and paying some blinds but then picked up pocket kings and reraised a middle position raiser to $30. the original raiser inquired about the $20 remaining in my stack and i knew he was beat. "please put me all in," i thought and he obliged with queen-jack!!! :rolleyes: the kings held up and i was off to a decent start!!

overall i was at a typical weekend racino table of donkeys and when the opportunity presented itself i moved seats to get better position on them. i'm not superstitious but we should note that the move was at the exact same table and exact same seats as the granpappy incident from last month. and while this time things didn't go quite as badly as they did vs granpappy, i wasn't winning any hands and ended up falling behind chasing an ace high flush and straight draw that missed. finally after a few hours the table breaks and i take half my original buy in to a new table where things don't go much better until i pull out another $60 to add to my stack.

after pulling out my second buy in i finally start to catch fire. i pick up a small pot with pocket jacks and then a few orbits pass and i win a big pot with a set of tens. several hands later i strike again with another set of tens cracking pocket kings!! at this point i was up nearly $300 and working on my best game of the year.

however, adversity would strike late in the night as several new players would join the game, somewhat changing its flow. one younger blonde girl sat down with (and right beside) a guy who kinda reminded me of jerry springer and the nightly tournament winner also joined the fray. all three players were to my immediate left and things were getting kind of laggy ala game number two of the charles town trip. one hand i picked up jacks and jerry springer put a dent in my stack with aces but later the tournament champ moved to my right and i end up beating him with an ace high flush to put me ahead almost $350. finally this table started to break too and by this time i've had enough poker for one day/night. i continue my winning ways in february with a $330 score, my biggest so far of the year!!

game +330
year +1046 (11-6)

Who needs the horses?! :ThmbUp:

[proximity]

[/B]

Who needs the horses?! :ThmbUp:

win, lose, or draw.... i'm enjoying it all!!

are you playing in that big 5-10 game again tonight???

[proximity]

was able to get out to the racino for a couple hours for another session of 1-2 nl hold em!!

followed a laggy 2-5 pro to the table and decided to set up shop to his left like has been discussed in some of the posts. this was good, but there would actually turn out to be some younger loose aggressive players who ended up being to my left. so maybe my seat selection wasn't the best after all but it could end up being a learning experience where sitting to the left of younger players when the option is available would be another potential "default" play in seat selection?

anyhow I was doing a lot of folding early in this loose aggressive game but eventually ended up calling a raise from the 2-5 player with a-q and winning with an ace high flush. other than that, this wasn't one of the more exciting games at least as far as my results were concerned. I end up grinding out $30 joey knish style in the brief two hour session and remain undefeated in the month of February. :)

game +30
year +1076 (12-6)

[tucker6]

was able to get out to the racino for a couple hours for another session of 1-2 nl hold em!!

followed a laggy 2-5 pro to the table and decided to set up shop to his left like has been discussed in some of the posts. this was good, but there would actually turn out to be some younger loose aggressive players who ended up being to my left. so maybe my seat selection wasn't the best after all but it could end up being a learning experience where sitting to the left of younger players when the option is available would be another potential "default" play in seat selection?

anyhow I was doing a lot of folding early in this loose aggressive game but eventually ended up calling a raise from the 2-5 player with a-q and winning with an ace high flush. other than that, this wasn't one of the more exciting games at least as far as my results were concerned. I end up grinding out $30 joey knish style in the brief two hour session and remain undefeated in the month of February. :)

game +30
year +1076 (12-6)
I think you're doing a great job. Only 10% of hands are playable (with acceptable odds leading to a call) in any given session, so limiting the "gambling" part of the game to the occasional bluff on the turn cards is key to walking away with cash in pocket. :ThmbUp:

I don't recall you ever mentioning this, but do you read up on "tells" and mathematical odds of winning in certain situations? How good do you feel you are on those two counts in relation to the average and/or good player at the tables? Obviously you're good enough to be undefeated this month. I am impressed.

[proximity]

I don't recall you ever mentioning this, but do you read up on "tells" and mathematical odds of winning in certain situations? How good do you feel you are on those two counts in relation to the average and/or good player at the tables? Obviously you're good enough to be undefeated this month. I am impressed.

this is kind of hard to answer, but I've probably only acted on a tell once so far this year. in one of the earlier games i was to the left of a player and was surprised to see this particular player's left hand trembling and got out of a hand i probably wasn't going to go too far with anyhow. (he did flop a set of jacks) recently I've noticed some older players breathing rather heavily when they have good hands (watch the chest) but really wasn't involved in these pots.

as for math, i did do some calculating vs the mdlive! dealer in post #59 (fortunate turn) but confessed to just "feeling" that i was getting the right odds to make the call. so overall i certainly wouldn't say i'm any better than the average 1-2 player in these categories.

again, thank you to everyone for reading and commenting!!

[proximity]

made it out to a busy penn national tonight for some 1-2 no limit hold em!!

i'm not a real loud talker and the casino is crazy busy and loud so I hand the girl my players card to jump on the 1-2 list. despite physically giving her the card she puts me on the list as "ben b":confused: ...... which isn't even within a furlong of what my name is, but "ben" is on the list 4 deep and behind a bunch of call ins. proximity takes a lap around the busy casino and finds that "ben" is still 4th on the list and he stops upstairs to see the great penn national man tonyk@hsh. in addition to betting, tonyk is also a jockey agent and (right now) that is singular.... he only has one jockey, so I joke about him bringing in the aqu newcomer Katie davis since another agent we know once brought in her older sister Jackie davis.

back downstairs, ben b is now sixth on the list.:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

anyhow, neither proximity or his "ben b" alter ego makes a big scene about this and eventually i'm sent to a table of unfamiliar racino faces...... almost always a good sign.

things would start fast with a turned straight holding off a slow played set of 8s and I sprinted to a $112 lead. but there are a lot of roller coasters at the nearby hersheypark and tonight's game would do its best impression of the super doper looper. a-j, a-q, a-k..... all beaten within one dealer, with ace jack falling to a limped ace king held by a mike caro (the mad genius of poker) lookalike. $112 was reduced to a single digit lead in no time at all, but a flopped top two pair on a j-9-7 board would give me hope. a fairly safe 3 falls on the turn and I go all in for $48 with a call from the mad genius who held a dominated 9-7, but hits the miracle 7 on the river for a full house.

beaten by a two outer on the river, the dealer is looking at the cards and not being the best loser I sarcastically say "just push the chips down there" while tossing the cash for my rebuy high into the air and landing it flush in the center of the table. things have been going better lately, but it's always important to remember that we are gambling and that it's just a bunch of cards being flipped over and bad beats are going to happen and it's important not to get too high or too low.

anyhow I move quickly on the rebuy with ace king. one guy is calling every raise I make and has burned through almost $300 and a small rebuy and I get him to bet a turned ace for me and I nearly double. later i'd get action on a flopped straight and then hit another straight where there's good action but I decided to shove the turn on a very wet board. in one remarkable hand I turn a flush on a jack high flop, but the turn card paired the jack and when the board pairs again on the river, I have to be beat. but the flop bettor checks and I flip over my flush which ends up somehow being good. only at the racino, but i'll take it!!

it was a roller coaster night. I started up, dropped way down, but was able to keep calm and rise back up again....getting off at the top!!

game +212
year +1288 (13-6)

[Mineshaft]

made it out to a busy penn national tonight for some 1-2 no limit hold em!!

i'm not a real loud talker and the casino is crazy busy and loud so I hand the girl my players card to jump on the 1-2 list. despite physically giving her the card she puts me on the list as "ben b":confused: ...... which isn't even within a furlong of what my name is, but "ben" is on the list 4 deep and behind a bunch of call ins. proximity takes a lap around the busy casino and finds that "ben" is still 4th on the list and he stops upstairs to see the great penn national man tonyk@hsh. in addition to betting, tonyk is also a jockey agent and (right now) that is singular.... he only has one jockey, so I joke about him bringing in the aqu newcomer Katie davis since another agent we know once brought in her older sister Jackie davis.

back downstairs, ben b is now sixth on the list.:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

anyhow, neither proximity or his "ben b" alter ego makes a big scene about this and eventually i'm sent to a table of unfamiliar racino faces...... almost always a good sign.

things would start fast with a turned straight holding off a slow played set of 8s and I sprinted to a $112 lead. but there are a lot of roller coasters at the nearby hersheypark and tonight's game would do its best impression of the super doper looper. a-j, a-q, a-k..... all beaten within one dealer, with ace jack falling to a limped ace king held by a mike caro (the mad genius of poker) lookalike. $112 was reduced to a single digit lead in no time at all, but a flopped top two pair on a j-9-7 board would give me hope. a fairly safe 3 falls on the turn and I go all in for $48 with a call from the mad genius who held a dominated 9-7, but hits the miracle 7 on the river for a full house.

beaten by a two outer on the river, the dealer is looking at the cards and not being the best loser I sarcastically say "just push the chips down there" while tossing the cash for my rebuy high into the air and landing it flush in the center of the table. things have been going better lately, but it's always important to remember that we are gambling and that it's just a bunch of cards being flipped over and bad beats are going to happen and it's important not to get too high or too low.

anyhow I move quickly on the rebuy with ace king. one guy is calling every raise I make and has burned through almost $300 and a small rebuy and I get him to bet a turned ace for me and I nearly double. later i'd get action on a flopped straight and then hit another straight where there's good action but I decided to shove the turn on a very wet board. in one remarkable hand I turn a flush on a jack high flop, but the turn card paired the jack and when the board pairs again on the river, I have to be beat. but the flop bettor checks and I flip over my flush which ends up somehow being good. only at the racino, but i'll take it!!

it was a roller coaster night. I started up, dropped way down, but was able to keep calm and rise back up again....getting off at the top!!

game +212
year +1288 (13-6)





did u bet that :5: horse in the 3rd race last nite? paid $12 to place

[proximity]

did u bet that :5: horse in the 3rd race last nite? paid $12 to place

i don't remember?

was the trainer an ed bain "automatics" play? :)

[Mineshaft]

i don't remember?

was the trainer an ed bain "automatics" play? :)





the :5: was a member of the best partnership at Penn

[PaceAdvantage]

the :5: was a member of the best partnership at Penn :lol:

ps. cj don't erase this...it's more than just an emoticon with the ps :lol: :lol:

[proximity]

the :5: was a member of the best partnership at Penn

only way the barn sniffs 4+30 status is if mr bain changes the "30" to itm %. :rolleyes:

[proximity]

year +1288 (13-6)

last Friday's big win at penn national would move me to a perfect 7-0 for the month of February and I took the weekend off to organize some personal business and do a little early spring cleaning.

it was also decision time.

2003 world champion chris moneymaker would be coming to penn national for this weekend's Hollywood poker open and the event and the surrounding publicity would surely bring some good opportunities at the cash tables. but I was also long overdue for a break from racino games and really had the itch to head to atlantic city to check out the grand opening of the new bally's room in the "wild west" section of the casino.

bally's offered me a free room on both Wednesday and Thursday but despite my platinum status I couldn't do better than like $185 on Friday at any of the four Caesar's properties in the city. however, I did find a relatively inexpensive room at a hotel across from bally's on mlk blvd called the baymont. $54 total on expedia so, figuring I could keep my car parked at bally's and just walk over to the baymont with my bag I decided to book this trip and head to ac!!

i arrived at bally's late Wednesday night but elected not to help them close out the old poker room and just settled in with some casual gambling on the slots. five minutes in a guy tries to sell me a fake diamond ring, lol. gotta love atlantic city, lol!!

anyhow chris moneymaker was in Grantville, but as paul newman said to tom cruise in "the color of money" i "was in atlantic city now with the big boys... not back in the stock room (racino) playing around with baby dolls!"

Thursday morning we would begin!!

[proximity]

like half this forum I fall asleep early Thursday morning dreaming of compound pace ratings and pop out of bed after only a few hours of sleep, anxious to check out the grand opening of the wild west poker room at bally's.

don't know how many p.a. members are familiar with bally's but if you take the walkway from the casino past the player rewards center and where you turn to go to the parking garage you'll come to an entrance for "wild west." when you get there you go down an escalator on your immediate right and see a few blackjack tables and a bunch of fake old-west themed buildings. to get to the new poker room you must keep walking all the way towards the back where you'll find it by the pacific avenue entrance and an escalator that connects bally's with Caesar's. (Caesar's room has closed and this room uses the bally's name but is supposed to be a combined bally's/Caesar's room.)

the new room(s) are nice with a world series of poker theme, but there's only like one game going and no bravo screen showing what that game is or any indication how new players are supposed to get in on the action. i'm a little underwhelmed and decide to take a cold walk on the boardwalk down to showboat to get some sun, fresh ocean air, a little lite exercise, and eventually some breakfast. when I reach showboat i walk all the way down to earl of sandwich and grab a holiday turkey sandwich to go, stopping at resorts on the way back where i sit down to eat my sandwich with a cup of coffee from the resorts dunkin donuts. it is my first cup of coffee in 2014, breaking a resolution... but at least i only order a small. while feeling guilty drinking my coffee i decide that i'll give bally's some time and start my play at ac's best poker room (and apparently now it's ONLY horse room): the borgata!

i'm in atlantic city now with the "big boys" but quickly note that these borgata players aren't really any better than those in my normal racino games. i'm about even when i flop top two pair with a-8 from late position and go all in for about $60 when one early position player calls a $20 bet from another. the first player shoves for like $180 and the second player who looks like "dr stone" from another tom cruise movie "a few good men" thinks about it for a few minutes but decides to call and hits a queen high flush on the turn. later dr stone explains that he "had the odds" to call an all in bet greater than the pot on his flush draw. really?:eek: great diagnosis "doctor." :rolleyes:

anyhow "that's poker" and i'd start on winning back my buy in on the rebuy but another loose player in the three seat is doing better and winning big pot after big pot when i call one of his hokey $5 blind raises with ace ten from late position and flop top pair. he leads out for another $5 and i raise to $20 and tank when he shoves. it's like $80 to call and he's been starting to make moves at people as his stack grows, but at the racino this is a pretty easy fold for me but for some reason i decide to call and although my back door flush draw picks up a chance on the turn i lose to a set of fives in one of my worst plays of the year.

i break an atlantic city single casino rule by throwing out a third buy in but collect myself quickly and start to play good poker again but get lucky on another hand where i bet a q-3-4 flop from late position with q-7 and am quite concerned when i receive two calls from early position players. another 7 hits on the turn and i can breathe a sigh of relief over my "kicker" concerns but with a pair of callers note that this 7 completes an open ended straight with 5-6 and i have to pause to call an all in bet from a good player with only like $44 left. i sense that i'm beaten here but can't lay the hand down. luckily i hit my 7 on the turn because he did have the straight and i would have busted. instead i pick up the pot and go on to win back my earlier buy ins and start the atlantic city trip on a positive note with a $67 win.

game +67
year +1355 (14-6)

[proximity]

luckily i hit my 7 on the turn because he did have the straight and i would have busted.

this word should have been "river" completing a q-3-4-7-7 board.

my apologies to blog readers for any confusion.:)

proximity

[proximity]

after surviving borgata i head back over to bally's to take a nap while kind of listening to the flyers game on comcast.
san jose destroys the flyers and it's time to head downstairs to the new world series of poker room in the wild west section of bally's.

i see people on what wiffleball whizz calls "that other site" claiming that this is somehow going to be a better location because it's right by the pacific avenue entrance or something, but the reality is that the new room is just another poker room tucked away in a remote section of a casino. when they said "wild west" with a better location i thought we were talking about over towards the main entrance by the boardwalk where people actually go, lol.

anyhow i take a seat at bally's 1-1 no limit game. yes $1 small blind and $1 big blind. it is however $2 to complete. i start out bad limping with a-8 suited from the button and getting one call when an ace high flop is checked around to me. the villain check calls the turn and checks again when the board pairs on the river. he's one of those vintage bally's "old man coffee" players that likes to limp with ace king and i think of shoving but just flip over my a-8 and indeed he takes down the pot with a-t. a few orbits later i pick up two pair with my own a-t but my small all in bet can't stop another old man coffee from drawing to a flush which he hits on the river.

extremely card dead i go on to lose a second buy in without playing a single memorable hand and for the second time of the day i throw out the cash for a third buy in. this worked at borgata and would start to work at bally's as i rallied back to get within $17 of my $180 total buy in. but from 3:30 am until 4:30 am things would go south as i'd lose hand after hand after hand...... finally flopping two pair with ace-queen and getting cute by just calling a $10 flop bet from a villain who bet into me on a wet board. he'd go on to hit his flush on the turn and truth be told with only like $40 behind i probably wasn't going to raise him off his draw anyhow. but still, i should have raised and note that it was my second terrible play of the day.

the $180 loss was my first of the month and tied the racino "granpappy" game for worst outing of the year. :mad:

game -180
year +1175 (14-7)

[tucker6]

All I can say is that you are a complete loser ... :p

Took over a month to be able to call you that. It seems that your short stacks before the second and third buy-ins limited your maneuvering and calls. What did you learn there, if anything?

[thaskalos]

after surviving borgata i head back over to bally's to take a nap while kind of listening to the flyers game on comcast.
san jose destroys the flyers and it's time to head downstairs to the new world series of poker room in the wild west section of bally's.

i see people on what wiffleball whizz calls "that other site" claiming that this is somehow going to be a better location because it's right by the pacific avenue entrance or something, but the reality is that the new room is just another poker room tucked away in a remote section of a casino. when they said "wild west" with a better location i thought we were talking about over towards the main entrance by the boardwalk where people actually go, lol.

anyhow i take a seat at bally's 1-1 no limit game. yes $1 small blind and $1 big blind. it is however $2 to complete. i start out bad limping with a-8 suited from the button and getting one call when an ace high flop is checked around to me. the villain check calls the turn and checks again when the board pairs on the river. he's one of those vintage bally's "old man coffee" players that likes to limp with ace king and i think of shoving but just flip over my a-8 and indeed he takes down the pot with a-t. a few orbits later i pick up two pair with my own a-t but my small all in bet can't stop another old man coffee from drawing to a flush which he hits on the river.

extremely card dead i go on to lose a second buy in without playing a single memorable hand and for the second time of the day i throw out the cash for a third buy in. this worked at borgata and would start to work at bally's as i rallied back to get within $17 of my $180 total buy in. but from 3:30 am until 4:30 am things would go south as i'd lose hand after hand after hand...... finally flopping two pair with ace-queen and getting cute by just calling a $10 flop bet from a villain who bet into me on a wet board. he'd go on to hit his flush on the turn and truth be told with only like $40 behind i probably wasn't going to raise him off his draw anyhow. but still, i should have raised and note that it was my second terrible play of the day.

the $180 loss was my first of the month and tied the racino "granpappy" game for worst outing of the year. :mad:

game -180
year +1175 (14-7)

Now that you have a profit of $1,175 as a cushion...how about increasing your buy-in amount to $100 instead of the $60 that you buy in for now?

I don't know what your main objective is in your current poker expedition, but my guess is that you want to become as good a poker player as you can possibly get. Good players get that way by playing good poker consistently...and I don't think you can play the right way consistently when you nurse a short stack so much of the time.

If I were you, I would slowly increase my buy-in amount in accordance with my increasing bankroll. Working with a short stack has its advantages...but it also has one very big disadvantage. It does not allow you to apply enough pressure on your opponents when the situation demands it.

Let's look at that hand where you flopped top two pair while your opponent was on a flush draw. You say that you called his $10 bet on a wet flop. The truth is that you didn't have enough money in front of you to force him into an expensive mistake...which is what no-limit holdem is all about. Even if you went all in with your remaining $40...the fact that you had no bullets left for the next round of betting would entice him to call your bet so he could see the remaining two cards.

But look how the dynamics of the game would have changed, if you had the average stack for this sort of game:

Let's say that you have $200 in front of you at the same point in the hand. He bets $10 into you with his flush draw...and -- considering the dangerous flop -- you raise it to $40. When you do this...your opponent's main focus won't be on your $40 bet; his main focus will be on your remaining $160 stack. He knows that he has less than a 20% chance to make his flush on the turn...and he also knows that, if he misses on the turn, he will probably face a $100 bet pre-river -- where he again will only have a 17% chance to fill his flush. THAT'S what pressure is about.

It isn't our CURRENT bet that get us respect in no-limit holdem. It's the fear of what our FUTURE bets will be, in the later rounds. But when you nurse a short stack...this sort of leverage is something that you cannot utilize -- and that's a big negative.

I know that you probably don't consider yourself to be a good enough player right now to handle a large stack...and that's okay. I am just trying to point out some of the disadvantages that present themselves when you choose to play a short stack.

Gradually increasing your buy-in amounts is the way to go, IMO...especially now that you have a little cushion. The gradual increase won't be so hard to get used to...and it will allow you to slowly take your game to the next level.

There is a mental side to this game that cannot be fully implemented with a short stack. When no-limit holdem is played right...it isn't about always showing down the best hand.

[proximity]

All I can say is that you are a complete loser ... :p

Took over a month to be able to call you that. It seems that your short stacks before the second and third buy-ins limited your maneuvering and calls. What did you learn there, if anything?

i think the "pressure" thaskalos is talking about did kind of hurt me in the beginning of the bally's game. at the end though if i was deep stacked the villain still would have called a raise to $40 due to "implied odds" just like "dr stone" did at Borgata even though the guy was all in and there were no implied odds there. i was leading the hand though and never should have given him a free card. several times during the trip i kind of got sucked into the "flow of the game" at bally's and that is disappointing.

[proximity]

I know that you probably don't consider yourself to be a good enough player right now to handle a large stack...and that's okay. I am just trying to point out some of the disadvantages that present themselves when you choose to play a short stack.

Gradually increasing your buy-in amounts is the way to go, IMO...especially now that you have a little cushion. The gradual increase won't be so hard to get used to...and it will allow you to slowly take your game to the next level.


buy ins will increase (hopefully) as stated in post #1.

and right now i don't consider myself to be a good enough player to handle any size stack. I've only won $1175 and some of that was at limit. if i could get up towards $3000 i might feel better about my chances although for here and now i am ahead of my recreational player goal of winning hundreds of dollars a month. it will be a long year.

[thaskalos]

buy ins will increase (hopefully) as stated in post #1.

and right now i don't consider myself to be a good enough player to handle any size stack. I've only won $1175 and some of that was at limit. if i could get up towards $3000 i might feel better about my chances although for here and now i am ahead of my recreational player goal of winning hundreds of dollars a month. it will be a long year.

Sorry...I had forgotten what was written in post #1.

I hope you didn't take my comment as any sort of criticism. Your 66.6 winning percentage is admirable...as is your winning rate of almost one buy-in per session. Above-average results to be sure...

[proximity]

after Thursday night's drubbing at the new wild west room, i got up late Friday morning and checked out of bally's. i took another long walk down the boardwalk and had another small coffee at resorts. figuring that i'd play at bally's Friday night and not wanting to drive anywhere i decided to walk all the way down to the other end of the boardwalk and check out the Tropicana. i'd been in the casino before, but had never played poker there though.

tropicana had 2-4 limit and 1-2 no limit going and i opted to buy in at 1-2 no limit. i was sent to a table with some real deep stacks and picked up kings after an orbit or two. i raised to $10 and must have gotten like 4 or 5 callers. the action was much bigger than at bally's. anyhow a player bet into me on the flop and i shoved the $45 i had left and the bettor called and hit a flush on the turn, a recurring theme so far on this atlantic city trip.

on the rebuy i was card dead for over and hour but eventually won the first pot of my Tropicana career and soon thereafter flopped quad queens but received no action. according to the dealer though i was eligible to win a $100 high hand bonus that would go on my Tropicana players card if the quad queens held up until 6:00am Saturday morning.

i was starting to work my way back into the game when i made a horrible mistake by misreading the board and thinking i turned a straight. i tabled my hand on the river and said "straight"..... very embarrassing. this loss probably cost me over $40 but i'd start coming back again with another (this time bigger) win with pocket queens. finally on victory's doorstep i raised with ace king and was reraised by a short stacked player beside me. i checked a flop with two aces and he shoved with 10s. i called and took down the pot and about a half hour later i retired to check into the baymont with a $70 win as a first time starter at the Tropicana!!

game +70
year +1245 (15-7)

[proximity]

Sorry...I had forgotten what was written in post #1.

I hope you didn't take my comment as any sort of criticism. Your 66.6 winning percentage is admirable...as is your winning rate of almost one buy-in per session. Above-average results to be sure...

no, your comments are gold and are definitely appreciated as was that story in the main forum about the quiet horseplayer suddenly flipping out. did the guy ever come back to the otb btw??

[thaskalos]

no, your comments are gold and are definitely appreciated as was that story in the main forum about the quiet horseplayer suddenly flipping out. did the guy ever come back to the otb btw??

No. Sadly, both he and Fred are no longer there.

The OTB is mostly empty now, except for some retirees...and some sickos who are there just to hustle the occasional $10 bill from some gullible patron who might be lucky enough to cash a decent ticket. The retirees only make minimum-type bets, and probably just go there because it's the cheapest place to go to hang out and escape the elements -- and who can blame them?

It's a tough game...and you can't expect players to keep on sending it in when the chances of success are so slim.

A sad state of affairs...

[proximity]

after my win at tropicana i grabbed my bag out of my car in the bally's parking garage and headed over to the baymont. baymont isn't revel or borgata but is a good choice for only $54 on a friday night. after checking into baymont i walk back over to bally's to try and at least win a hand or two at the new wild west poker room.

but winning at the wild west room is easier said than done as i'm extremely card dead again at the start of an atlantic city game and don't remember winning a hand while eventually losing my first buy in. however, on the rebuy i double up almost immediately all in with a turned ace high flush. but on the river the villain excitedly slams his cards down and says "two pair" (kings and 6s, lol) and tells the dealer to "ship it" or "push it" or something..... which the dealer starts to do.

"uhh? what's going on here?" i ask and other players chime in that i had the nut flush which the dealer should have seen anyhow after i flipped it over when the action was completed on the turn. but he's already pushed the pot and while we recreate it pretty accurately the villain doesn't want to part with the chips.

i will gladly fight the guy for my money but at this point i'm actually the calmest one at the table. i know bally's is going to award me the pot and at this point i'm elated to have actually won a hand at bally's. the other players aren't too happy though with this angle shooter delaying the game and one player actually does get up a couple times threatening to hit him. even the floor lady is pissed at him because she's going to have to go upstairs to watch the tapes and he "knows he lost."

bally's eventually gets things straightened out and the game continues with the angle shooter on a mission to donk off his chips. the guy that was going to beat him up has him beaten on an all in hand but the angle shooter hits a miracle 6 on the river for trips. two hands later though i finish the guy off myself, karma in action at bally's.

meanwhile another incredibly loose player has entered the game and he angers a good player on his left (who had raised a-q to $17 preflop) by calling with j-2 and sucking out. i'm winning but at midnight my carriage turns to a pumpkin as i hit another horrible run at bally's losing hand after hand, eventually tapping out and having to throw out a third buy in.

the loose player racked up and left but a-q is still talking about his play and notes that he saw his cards on several of his moves and he pretty much had "nothing" every time. meanwhile i'm continuing to struggle and eventually raise a-k and miss the flop completely with only like $15 left. when the flop is checked to me i toss the $15 in and get a fold and eventually a second fold from a player who claimed to have had a pair. had he called i would likely have been sent back to baymont with another $180 loss at bally's.

but the game goes on and i battle back. the loose player (mr j-2) re-enters the game and eventually we get in a pot where i raise ace-king and this time hit a king on the flop. i bet or raised (can't remember) and he reraised and i shoved all in. when he paused i knew i had him 100% but he called anyway with king-5. no nickel falls on the turn and river and i take it down. as 4:00 am approaches i rack up with a humble, but appreciated $38 win.

game +38
year +1283 (16-7)

[wiffleball whizz]

With all due respect to other posters in this thread proximity is smart only buying in for 60-100/table min.....

The more I deal these games the harder I think this game is hard to beat

Some of these 2/5 players are so sharp I sit there in awe at the game.....


One thing I'm starting to see in when the raiser preflop checks late in the hand somebody is betting whether they have it or not.....that's scary

The passive players are are capable of firing with air on the river

[davew]

?? The passive players are are capable of firing with air on the river ??

Maybe they are LAGs running a float -

Whiffleball, as a dealer you must see how many players leave with more than they bought in for. With a lower limit and low buy-ins, my thought is the only ones that always win are the table rake and dealer tips...

[proximity]

february proves to be a good month. i go 10-1 and win $1176 with a possible $100 bonus at tropicana.

as for the a.c. trip, so far i have a 3-1 record in the games but have lost $5 overall. easily could be down $500 though with the lucky 7 on the river at borgata and the lower pair folding to my a-k c-bet at bally's helping a lot.

one more day to go!!

[proximity]

Watch out for my very own handicapping book, titled...THE INNER GAME OF GAMBLING AT THE TRACK. Soon at a bookstore near you.

i know this isn't the proper section of p.a. for this, but is this for real????

can you give us any details???

[proximity]

With all due respect to other posters in this thread proximity is smart only buying in for 60-100/table min.....


you and the other posters here are certainly due much respect because you are established players. i'm a relative novice at poker with only two documented months in the books here and by no means should such a player be spending $900 a day on this.

[proximity]

Whiffleball, as a dealer you must see how many players leave with more than they bought in for. With a lower limit and low buy-ins, my thought is the only ones that always win are the table rake and dealer tips...

4-8 @ mdlive is probably beatable with any decent starting hand chart. especially with the comps.

[thaskalos]

Watch out for my very own handicapping book, titled...THE INNER GAME OF GAMBLING AT THE TRACK. Soon at a bookstore near you.

i know this isn't the proper section of p.a. for this, but is this for real????

can you give us any details???

Of course it's for real. It's been three years in the making...and it will be the first "complete" horseplayer gambling guide to roll off the presses. :cool:

Betting the horses is, above all, a gambling game...even though some of the participants are reluctant to admit that they are really "gambling". And in a gambling game, you need more than handicapping skills if you are to survive -- much less prosper; you need GAMBLING skills as well.

Other books endeavor to improve the player's "A" game...as if it's the lack of handicapping information that's the real reason why most people flounder at the track. My book offers handicapping instruction too...but it travels beyond where other handicapping authors are willing to go. My book also instructs the horseplayer on the all-important topic of playing our "A" game ALL THE TIME! Knowing how to play well is one thing; being able to always put our handicapping and betting knowledge to proper use in the hectic and pressure-packed environment of the racetrack is something else altogether.

It took me twenty years to realize that playing my "A" game all the time was the real key to profiting at the racetrack.

The readers of my book won't make the same mistake...

[proximity]

wow. the release date can't come soon enough!! :ThmbUp:

[proximity]

wake up late saturday morning to checkout of baymont and take my bag back over to the car at bally's.

i try some slots at bally's and get killed on a double diamond machine before walking back down to resorts for my morning dunkin donuts coffee fix. i think about playing at taj mahal but there are lists for all the games and i walk to showboat where i find open seats at 2-4 limit. i'm not sure i really want 2-4 limit to be part of the proximity poker tour but i buckle and approach the podium for a seat. but three younger players are in line before me and get the seats so i pass on the boat and start on the long walk back up the boardwalk to tropicana to see if my quad queens held up for the $100 bonus. i figured there was no way they would survive on a friday and i was right as some lucky player hit a royal flush.

"you weren't the one with the king high straight flush were you?" the floor guy asks. :D

i drop some more on slots at tropicana and have some lunch at the chickie's and pete's, later finding out that they just settled a huge lawsuit with waitresses they were stealing tips from. "pete's tax" or something the withheld tips were called. :rolleyes:

i start saturday's action at bally's new wild west room where things have not been going so well. i'm assigned to a table with mostly older players and a bravo system that isn't working. the floor clocks us me in at the podium and i pick up where i've pretty much left off at bally's..... folding rags. i'm staying in the game by folding both $1 blinds and one lady in the game even asks, "have you even played a hand yet?" after about 40+ minutes of this. eventually after maybe an hour and a half i win some kind of pot but i'm losing and eventually raise pocket tens in middle position and receive a call from late position. i shove the rest of my stack (maybe $25 at this point) on a k-k-x board and the villain tanks forever but eventually calls with pocket queens.

buyin number two doesn't go much better and after an eternity of folding i pull out $30 to add to my stack. meanwhile, the cards suck big time and so does the game. multiple people are taking extremely long breaks from the table and eventually we get short but the bravo system isn't connected to the podium and the floor's paying the game no mind. one guy has horrible dandruff and keeps moving seats, leaving a trail of flakes on the rail of about half the seats at the table. an overall miserable experience. i finally get in a pot with a player who has been making ridiculously small bets post flop like $2, $4, $5.... and call one of these bets with 8-7 on an a-7-x flop. when an 8 hits the turn i bet and he min raises. a 7 hits the river giving me 7s full of 8s but he stacks me with a-7 for 7s full of aces and i decide i'm done with bally's for the opening week of the wild west. :bang:

game -150
year +1133 (16-8)

[tucker6]

brutal beat at the end there. You were dead at the flop. As for buy-in amounts, there are two competing thoughts on it, and neither is wrong. From Whizz's POV, he believes that a larger buy-in can cause a looser, more reckless behavior in a player, and I can certainly see that. However, what Thas and myself were suggesting is also true from the other side of the coin. Not enough money in front of you is detrimental as well. Proximity will find the right balance over time. If a table appears ripe for over the top bets, then play larger buy-ins. If not, then stick to smaller limits. Just as sticking to one or two buy-ins per session is self limiting, so are buy-in amounts. Anytime you can get out from behind your own preconceived notions of how you'll play that night, the better you'll be. just my two pennies.

[thaskalos]

brutal beat at the end there. You were dead at the flop. As for buy-in amounts, there are two competing thoughts on it, and neither is wrong. From Whizz's POV, he believes that a larger buy-in can cause a looser, more reckless behavior in a player, and I can certainly see that. However, what Thas and myself were suggesting is also true from the other side of the coin. Not enough money in front of you is detrimental as well. Proximity will find the right balance over time. If a table appears ripe for over the top bets, then play larger buy-ins. If not, then stick to smaller limits. Just as sticking to one or two buy-ins per session is self limiting, so are buy-in amounts. Anytime you can get out from behind your own preconceived notions of how you'll play that night, the better you'll be. just my two pennies.

I don't think what Whizz is saying is that the larger buy-in would encourage more reckless behavior in the player. I think Whizz is saying that the games are pretty scary...and that a lesser buy-in limits the player's risk in these scary situations.

That is true, of course...but playing short does have its disadvantages as well.

At the 1/2 no-limit games that we have here, the players can buy in for $200...and some of the players at the table sometimes have stacks of $1,000 or more. Let's say I sit down with a $60 buy-in...and I lose half of that on my very first hand. What should I do now...sit there and nurse my $30 stack...or at least replenish my stack to its original $60 level? IMO...the short buy-in already provides the adequate safety factor that I am looking for. Why not replenish the stack to its original level...in order to properly take advantage of a profitable opportunity which may come along?

Safety is good...but we can't sit there and play "scared" either.

I understand Proximity's position...because he is not sure about where his skill-level rates in this game yet -- and he doesn't want his "education" to be expensive.

But, with all due respect to the Whizz...I disagree with him on this one.

Short-stack play should be part of an overall playing strategy. It should not be employed strictly because we are intimidated by the "scary" competition.

[proximity]

if you're patient with a shorter stack you can get in with an overlay most of the time where your bet doesn't offer any implied odds for the villain to make a correct call. on the other hand it seems to hurt your image. so there are +s and -s. the more buy ins they pull out, the worse most players seem to play. so far I haven't really tilted or gotten too reckless when pulling out a third buy in so possibly what delta lover said back in the beginning of the thread has proven to be correct.

[proximity]

enough bally's I decide if i'm going to lose in atlantic city i'm going to do it in pleasant surroundings. so on the way out of town I stop over at the Borgata
and sit down at 3-6 limit, hoping to maybe win a pot.

but my strategy of only playing big cards doesn't work at all. ace-king gets beaten twice by an old lady who wins every other hand but eventually taps. again in a.c. it takes over an hour to win a hand and i'm down almost $100 when I finally hit a set of 4s from the big blind. late into the night, my stack is going up and down as the perfect 10s sashay past the room with painted on dresses. eagles wr riley cooper is the big celebrity in town and he seems to be having a better time than ray rice did.

as night begins to give way to morning i'm battling to win at a short handed limit table. not the atlantic city ending I was hoping for. I get in some tough hands with a bigger guy in an even bigger electric wheelchair. short handed I call his raise with a-9 suited from the button and end up beating him with a full house. later I flop a straight but he turns a higher straight. I call another raise with a-k and get strung along in the hand, eventually catching a king on the river to win it. I've forged to a lead when I turn a set of kings on him but he hits a flush. a couple orbits later I head out into the atlantic city sunrise with a $19 profit at Borgata. could have been better, but it could have been worse.

game +19 (limit)
year +1152 (17-8)

[proximity]

go 4-2 but lose $136 overall against the "big boys" in atlantic city and return to the "baby dolls in the stock room" (racino) with my head hung low.

after starting pretty much every game in recent memory by being incredibly card dead it would be nice to get off to a good start at the racino but it doesn't happen. there are two incredibly loose aggressive kids in the game and when the opportunity presents itself I move to their left like ______ recommended earlier in the thread. still card dead though getting j-2, j-4 or j-5/6 almost every hand. eventually I get k-q and call a straddle from one of the loose younger players. he raises like I knew he was going to and k-q isn't some great no limit hand but I know i'm (way) ahead of his range and I make the call. a guy who's been playing pretty good behind me though reraises and now I have to decide to call with my remaining $24, probably behind in the hand.

I make the call but note that I've wasted $44 on king-queen. like I thought I turn out to be ahead of the kid (q-6:rolleyes: ) but behind the solid player's ace-king. only a 6 flops though and the kid takes it down. :rolleyes:

later I'm still card dead and losing again but pick up jacks and win another one of these straddled pots that puts me back in the game. I zig zag back and forth around the dead even point before moving tables and picking up a couple small pots to give me a $22 lead. still recovering from the ac trip I decide to call it, my racino win streak still alive.

game +22
year +1174 (18-8)

[proximity]

My book also instructs the horseplayer on the all-important topic of playing our "A" game ALL THE TIME! Knowing how to play well is one thing; being able to always put our handicapping and betting knowledge to proper use in the hectic and pressure-packed environment of the racetrack is something else altogether..

I can't wait for this book from thaskalos and truth be told I think what he's saying about playing our "A" game all the time is just as important for poker as it is for racing. lately I've started to crack a little. stacking off for $80 with top pair and top kicker at Borgata and getting all in for $44 pre flop with king queen at the racino. there are going to be PLENTY of tough times at the tables where you're card dead for hours if not days and how you perform during these downswings is just as important as maximizing your good days.

I haven't always handled adversity the best in my life but today when times get tough I watch this video to straighten myself out:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxj1zo_ric-flair-real-men-stay-up_sport

it may seem silly but keep in mind even coach jim harbaugh brought this man in to motivate the 49ers before their icy playoff game at green bay. maybe the 49ers had a much better record than green bay and didn't deserve to have to go on the road to beat an inferior team in horrible weather. but when you're a man, you don't cry about it!!

[Robert Goren]

Playing Your "A" game in poker is probably more important than it is handicapping. A mistake at NL poker cost you your stack and as we all know things snow ball from there. It is hard to leave a live table before you planned because you put in so much effort to get there. But you must do it. The nice thing about net poker was it easier to stop because there was always a game waiting for you just by turning on your computer.

[proximity]

bally's killed a good overall winning streak, but I still had a good streak going at the racino, being undefeated there since the nightmarish "granpappy" game.

lately I've been breaking from the gate slower than silky Sullivan and hoped to change that sooner rather than later. today i'd get kings 2x early to take a humble $26 lead..... a testament to the combined deleterious influence of high rake, bad beat, and dealer tip since I got double digit action pre flop on both hands. later i'd hit a hand from the blinds to move up almost $55 but that was short lived. motivated by the ric flair video, I played strong all night but probably didn't get out of a hand soon enough where I raised preflop with ace queen and saw an ace high flop of all diamonds. one player called a raise with king rag of diamonds but slow played it until the end. I think I had the bettor beat but he didn't see the showdown. you have to be able to shift gears fast in no limit hold 'em and I probably shouldn't have called the turn for $20 here but overall my play was solid for the eight hour session.

after this hand I drop a hand with kings on an ace high flop and soon enough i'm forced to rebuy. over the next several hours I fold strong but eventually lose the rebuy too and throw out the $ for a third buy in...... a recurring theme happening all too much lately.

on the third buy in though I continue to show patience and eventually hit a couple full houses to put me back in contention. I suffer a small blow when I raise a ten high flop with ace ten but fold to a reraise with a set. i'm still alive, but getting tired when I pull out one final full house on a river from early position to move $35 ahead. I see almost two more orbits before retiring $32 ahead for the long session. no great profits, but the racino win streak continues nonetheless.

game +32
year +1206 (19-8)

[proximity]

lately I've been breaking from the gate slower than silky Sullivan and hoped to change that sooner rather than later.

was hoping for once not have to come from the clouds in a game, but if i didn't already know how bad things can go at poker, hopefully i do now as i don't win a single hand for the first three hours and fifteen minutes of the game. i lose three buy ins and throw out a record fourth buy in. i'm staying in contention with the fourth buy in when i raise kings to $13 from early position and receive calls from only the blinds. on a flop of rags i go all in for $40 and both players call with a-9 and 9-7, :rolleyes: 9-7 hitting a gutshot on the river. :rolleyes:

i now throw out a FIFTH buy in and get down to $15 when i river broadway (ace high straight) to keep me in the game. it's getting late and i'm flirting with "only" losing a record $200 when the table breaks. at the new table my fortunes start to change when i win some smaller pots as well as two decent ones with pocket aces (finally) and another nut straight. a table drunk reraises my aces with 6s and gets a call behind but i can't get either of them to go along with me when i shove. this probably proves to be the difference between victory and defeat because it's approaching 3:00 am as the second table starts to break and i've closed to within $49 of even..... although the way things were going one of them probably would have flopped quads. :rolleyes:

tonight, there won't be any third table for me. i rack up my $251 and head to the cage. the racino winning streak is history.

game -49
year +1157 (19-9)

[_______]

Went to the Players Club in beautiful Ventura, California this afternoon and played some 1/2. Most of my play is on line but you need some human contact once in a while.

My first hand (dealt in after the button) was KK. Had 2 limpers in front before I made it 7. Was called by the button and one of the limpers. The blinds folded.

The board flopped AA7. The limper checked. I bet 7 and was quickly raised to 21 by the button. No info on any of the players at this point and chose to muck. In hindsight, the odds that I folded a winner are probably higher than I thought at the time.

The most interesting hand of the day (spoiler alert, this means I won) was when I was dealt 44 in the small blind. 4 players had limped before me. I put in $1 and the big blind (same player as button above) checked.

The board flopped 449, 2 spades. I thought to myself "The good news is I just won a small pot. The bad news is there is no way in hell it gets any bigger". I checked and to my shock the big blind bet $10. Even more shocking the button called. $20 free dollars! Woohoo! I called.

The turn was a 3rd spade. I don't remember it's rank but it wasn't a face. I checked and another $10 bet from the the big blind along with another call from the button. At this point I feel unbeatable and want to just call and then bet the river.

A perfect 9 falls. They have a bad beat jackpot at this casino that pays AAAJJ or better beaten by 4 of a kind or better. I'm hoping someone else just hit quads. The big blind had $24 left. I have my chips in $25 stacks and bet one of those. He calls. The button finally folds. I assume he must have had the flush. The big blind was betting A9.

I would up with an extra $59 (after the egregious $5 drop on any hand over $19) on a hand that you never get paid well on.

This table was fantastic. A couple of super aggressive players who didn't appear to notice I played few hands and who kept betting into made hands. I'm sure I folded a few winners but I literally flopped a set and turned a full house and the only raise I made was $3 to go all in after getting an $80 bet in front of me on the turn.

Makes me want to play live more often but I'm sure I got luck in both the cards and table selection.

[proximity]

when we left off things were going bad as I was nearly down a record five buy ins at the racino before rallying to get within $49. after a few hours of sleep i'd return to the room for a free roll tournament i'd qualified for. of course it wasn't totally free, there was a $10 dealer add on for 2x the chips. $10 isn't a lot but I hate tournaments and paid this time but decided this would be my last "free" roll. I ended up busting out shortly before the first break, the $10 fee dropping my "bonus" winnings to $90 for the year.

would finally get into a game this week, but not without more bad news as my car needs a new transmission. not a big deal for your average p.a. member with a great life but a lot of money for me.

maybe i'd finally get a game to start better for once?

dream on. :rolleyes:

within 25 minutes I turn an ace high flush on after a k-k-7 flop. I bet, get a call and toss my last $20 in when a seemingly innocent 4 falls on the river. villain has k-4. :rolleyes:

thirty more minutes pass when I get queens and against my better judgement, min raise a $17 raise from a player in early position. he comes over top and I know i'm beat but call for my last $20. I flop a queen, but he has aces and turns an ace. best hand won, but another set over set loss.

over the hours I finally lose a the third buyin and throw out $100 which I eventually add $20 to as it begins to dwindle for a total of $300 in the game. around the 7 hour mark I hold off two players who don't like to fold with pocket jacks and get back into the game.

finally i'm down a little over $100 when I limp with k-j from the big blind and flop top two pair. a good player bets $10 and I raise to $25. a guy who's seeing a ton of rivers with little and has probably bluffed me off three pots already calls as does the bettor. a ten falls on the turn and I bet $50 and the loose player goes all in for $160. i'm (way) ahead of his range so I throw in the $110 to see that this time he does indeed have the a-q, turning basically a gutshot (4 outer). of course the river doesn't pair the board and moments later I lose my final $7 for a season record of $300 for the 9 hour session.

worst game of the year and worst day of the year for proximity, but i'm going to have to take the advice of ric flair and put it all behind me.

game -300
year +857 (19-10)
bonus -10 year ( +90)

[proximity]

up and at them again, driving my car (at slow speed, it won't go over 44mph) to the racino.

FINALLY start a game fast, flat calling a preflop raise with a-k and watching 2 kiings flop. one donkey called the raise with 8c6c and hits a flush on the turn but my ace comes on the river to give me the win. soon thereafter I pick up aces from the small blind and raise a straddled pot with multiple callers to like $40. everyone folds except late position who takes some time but calls and calls with queens when I shove the flop. no queen comes and i'm up about $245 early!!

but that was it.

for the next FIVE hours I can't remember winning a single hand. _______, mentioned his lack of success with a-q in another post here today and between folding rags and small/middle pocket pairs after flops of all big cards I lose with this hand like SEVEN times. one donkey calls a raise out of position with ace-nine and hits two pair on me. rinse and repeat as this would happen for the rest of the night.

around 4 1/2 hours in I tell a friend that i'm "fighting the fog" and predict that i'm going to lose. it is a helpless feeling. at this point I've folded like 50 hands in a row, but what am I supposed to do with j-6 and 8-5????

finally about 6 hours and 15 min into the game I win the blinds by raising with ace-king. one kid who is winning and playing and raising a lot of hands almost calls and then asks if ace-jack "was good."

"only against me," I tell him. :rolleyes:

I go from being up $245 an hour into the game to being down $165 about 6 1/2 hours into the game. another nightmare. I buy for another $100, now 280 total on the session and pick up kings in the big blind. a kid raises to $14 under the gun and gets a caller. I reraise to $50 and have to be beat when the kid comes over top of me all in for slightly more than the $50. I call and hold off his 9s. :rolleyes:

later I finally win a hand with ace -queen!!.... but that is it. with ace ten from the blinds in a limped pot I bet the pot on a flop of a-2-4. I bet 2/3 on a turn card of a 9. mr a-9 calls again and I bet $20 on a river card of 3, and mr a-9 raises to $60. maybe i'm a donkey now but I have to call a guy who is playing almost every pot. a-9 again????? no, he hangs in the whole way with pocket 5s for a rivered gutshot against a guy with $80 behind.

not long after he calls a straddle from early position with k-t off suit. the straddler's to my left and has raised 2 out of 3 straddles but I take a chance for $3 with king-jack. he checks the option but mr a-9 felts me with his king-ten by hitting two pair. I guess I played that hand badly but at that point I was getting short stacked and felt that I had to take a chance for $3.

anyhow, my life is going terrible and the poker's going terrible too. keep in mind it isn't like i'm playing every pot or tilting. this game lasted almost 8 hours and between these hands I blog about here i'm sometimes folding dozens of hands in a row. and this may be sick, but I actually feel like i'm on the way to becoming one of the better players in the region at this 1-2 level.

for here and now though the donkeys are just crushing me and so is life.

game -280
year +577 (19-11)

[proximity]

continuing a horrible week on and off the tables I begin playing bad at tonight's game. I limp late with a pair of 6s and overplay them when a loose big blind player raises. of course he loses the hand but takes about half of the remainder of my small blind down with him. my fault, I should have just folded.

I call a straddle with 87 suited from the big blind and see an 865 flop. the flop is suited, but obviously not my suit. running out of chips I bet this flop and receive several calls. my top pair and open ended straight draw is actually good at this point but overcards come on the turn and river to give another player the pot. again, not my best hand.

I lose buy in number two by raising with queens and shoving on a low flop. villain called with aces.

i'm building back with buy in number three when I finally hit a set of 8s on a a98 flop with two spades. I bet the pot and get two calls. a ten comes on the turn and the player beside me folds but another player shoves for $4 more with 67 for a straight. I call and watch as the board doesn't pair. another set..... that i'd waited seemingly forever to come..... beaten.

finally I check a big blind, holding 85 suited. In against two loose players I raise a flop of 984, with the 94 being my suit. both player call. a jack that I don't need hits the turn and I check behind the small blind and have to consider calling a shove from the button. given his range, I almost have to call for $60 here and do to find him holding t7 for a turned straight. of course this time he actually has something and i'm frustrated because my flop raised didn't even give him close to implied odds to call a draw with six outs. I watch with no great surprise as my flush of course misses the river and I head for the exit content to at least not lose to a gutshot straight on the night.:faint:

game -180
year +397 (19-12)

[RunForTheRoses]

continuing a horrible week on and off the tables I begin playing bad at tonight's game. I limp late with a pair of 6s and overplay them when a loose big blind player raises. of course he loses the hand but takes about half of the remainder of my small blind down with him. my fault, I should have just folded.

I call a straddle with 87 suited from the big blind and see an 865 flop. the flop is suited, but obviously not my suit. running out of chips I bet this flop and receive several calls. my top pair and open ended straight draw is actually good at this point but overcards come on the turn and river to give another player the pot. again, not my best hand.

I lose buy in number two by raising with queens and shoving on a low flop. villain called with aces.

i'm building back with buy in number three when I finally hit a set of 8s on a a98 flop with two spades. I bet the pot and get two calls. a ten comes on the turn and the player beside me folds but another player shoves for $4 more with 67 for a straight. I call and watch as the board doesn't pair. another set..... that i'd waited seemingly forever to come..... beaten.

finally I check a big blind, holding 85 suited. In against two loose players I raise a flop of 984, with the 94 being my suit. both player call. a jack that I don't need hits the turn and I check behind the small blind and have to consider calling a shove from the button. given his range, I almost have to call for $60 here and do to find him holding t7 for a turned straight. of course this time he actually has something and i'm frustrated because my flop raised didn't even give him close to implied odds to call a draw with six outs. I watch with no great surprise as my flush of course misses the river and I head for the exit content to at least not lose to a gutshot straight on the night.:faint:

game -180
year +397 (19-12)

Hey, I hope you turn it around. I think a lot of us enjoy your posts and wish you the best.

[LottaKash]

Hey, I hope you turn it around. I think a lot of us enjoy your posts and wish you the best.

Same here...

Take a break Proximity...Freshen up...:jump: You'll be just fine...

[thaskalos]

continuing a horrible week on and off the tables I begin playing bad at tonight's game. I limp late with a pair of 6s and overplay them when a loose big blind player raises. of course he loses the hand but takes about half of the remainder of my small blind down with him. my fault, I should have just folded.

I call a straddle with 87 suited from the big blind and see an 865 flop. the flop is suited, but obviously not my suit. running out of chips I bet this flop and receive several calls. my top pair and open ended straight draw is actually good at this point but overcards come on the turn and river to give another player the pot. again, not my best hand.

I lose buy in number two by raising with queens and shoving on a low flop. villain called with aces.

i'm building back with buy in number three when I finally hit a set of 8s on a a98 flop with two spades. I bet the pot and get two calls. a ten comes on the turn and the player beside me folds but another player shoves for $4 more with 67 for a straight. I call and watch as the board doesn't pair. another set..... that i'd waited seemingly forever to come..... beaten.

finally I check a big blind, holding 85 suited. In against two loose players I raise a flop of 984, with the 94 being my suit. both player call. a jack that I don't need hits the turn and I check behind the small blind and have to consider calling a shove from the button. given his range, I almost have to call for $60 here and do to find him holding t7 for a turned straight. of course this time he actually has something and i'm frustrated because my flop raised didn't even give him close to implied odds to call a draw with six outs. I watch with no great surprise as my flush of course misses the river and I head for the exit content to at least not lose to a gutshot straight on the night.:faint:

game -180
year +397 (19-12)

My friend...I find your commentary very entertaining...and your honesty very refreshing. THESE are the ups and downs that have made NL holdem the heart-pounding game that it is...and we ALL go through similar trials and tribulations around the green baize.

There is nothing atypical about what you are experiencing...and my only advice to you is to make sure that the circumstances of your "normal" life do not become an obstacle to your work at the table.

[proximity]

really running bad since atlantic city and recent events with the car are probably going to put a march and possibly april road trip on the back burner.

arrived at the table tonight to see a pot being pushed to a k-9 played under the gun. I see straddles and goofy raises to $5. you're really going to re open the betting for $3? how do the donkeys do it?

anyhow, fall behind a little before picking up jacks from (I guess?) under the gun. first to act after a straddle. for some reason I raise to "only" $16 (I like to raise at least $10 + the size of the pot at the racino) and everyone folds except of course for the straddler. we see a flop of kkk and I go all in after he bets $15. he calls with 8s and somehow he fails to catch running 8s :rolleyes: giving me a rare early lead.

it would last kinda long, but not real long as between losing with ace-king (and maybe ace-queen once?) i'm folding rags and paying blinds. a couple hours pass and i'm behind but pick up aces and get what I want with a raise to $7 and a caller or two before the action gets to me. i'm now down $8 and decide to just shove all in for $52 and see if I can get a caller.

I get two..... both with queen-jack :rolleyes: and somehow hold off this powerful hand to basically triple up after the rake, dealer tip, and bad beat.

that would be the end of my run though as I soon make a bad mistake with ace king of hearts. I raise small again (only $11) and receive only a call from a good player beside me. on a beautiful flop of k-t-rag with the ten-rag being hearts I check to the villain who bets $11. apparently, not yet learning my lesson from the bally's ace-queen incident I just call this bet and check the turn as the turn and river run out jack-jack..... and of course not the jack of hearts. I bet my top pair, top kicker small on the river and curse my luck as the villain raises $45 more. I know i'm beat and even call his hand of ace-queen but throw the $45 in anyhow.

and that's the way it's been. whatever card they need..... they get. still bad river play to give away $45 after my atrocious flop play. two wrongs don't make a right, proximity.

anyhow I continue the game pretty much card dead until the end with the exception of one hand where I flop quads. yes, quads..... which i check like a donkey until the river and receive no action despite about every spade in the deck and like a 4straight coming out on the board.

in the end, playing short handed I raise a-j from late position and get a call. on an ace high flop, i'm check raised by a loose player in the blinds and know he has a flush draw. I call, planning on shoving my final $35 when clubs miss on the turn, but of course they don't miss. having the ace of clubs I call his bet anyhow and watch him flip over queen rag suited for a turned flush. consistent with the rest of my week, I certainly don't hit my club on the river.

some bad plays by me, but again villains hitting the exact cards they need. bottom line: another drubbing.

game -200
year +197 (19-13)

[proximity]

I would like to give special thanks to runfortheroses, lottakash, and thaskalos for the recent comments and encouragement and ________ for his entertaining trip report from the player's club in California and again wish to thank everyone who is reading and posting!!

despite the recent horrible run, I remain ahead $197 but have fallen below my recreational player goal of winning hundreds of dollars a month. hopefully things will turn around soon. if I lose the $197 i may need to take a short break from poker because this transmission job is going to set me back some.

in the end though, it is a long year and we're not even out of the first quarter yet. a lot of the hands i'm getting in way ahead and sooner or later these hands will hold up more often than not..... hopefully sooner. :)

[PaceAdvantage]

My friend...I find your commentary very entertaining...and your honesty very refreshing. THESE are the ups and downs that have made NL holdem the heart-pounding game that it is...and we ALL go through similar trials and tribulations around the green baize.

There is nothing atypical about what you are experiencing...and my only advice to you is to make sure that the circumstances of your "normal" life do not become an obstacle to your work at the table.I think they call this variance, correct?

It's a killer for those whose bankrolls aren't sufficient to weather these valleys.

[thaskalos]

I think they call this variance, correct?

It's a killer for those whose bankrolls aren't sufficient to weather these valleys.

Yes, they call it "variance"...and it can get a lot worse than most players think. Sometimes, it's a killer even for those who DO have a sufficient bankroll to weather the storm. It takes a lot of self-control to keep your head, and avoid chasing your losses.

[proximity]

had a few days to reflect here on some things and although I've been getting in ahead for the most part and taking away overlays, looking back from a.c. until now I could be playing tighter and more aggressively in some spots.

I was also looking back at some horse results from last year and although (after my old friends the rebates) the bottom line was positive, actually living the experience day to day wasn't easy. I remember losing streaks, tons of passes. pass 18 races in a row, lose, and then pass some more. steely discipline.

here is another motivational video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwPb7g_BlXQ

a reminder that there's no easy way out. there's no short cut home. hopefully it will bring me better luck than the ric flair video. :lol:

as I watched this video, I thought "well, at least mr balboa had a nice car to drive around Pennsylvania and think about his problems in," lol. but, alas, my car is finally done and it's now time to head back to the tables. I just have to remember to stay true to my game, keep my discipline, and above all remember that gambling isn't easy.....

[DeltaLover]

had a few days to reflect here on some things and although I've been getting in ahead for the most part and taking away overlays, looking back from a.c. until now I could be playing tighter and more aggressively in some spots.

I was also looking back at some horse results from last year and although (after my old friends the rebates) the bottom line was positive, actually living the experience day to day wasn't easy. I remember losing streaks, tons of passes. pass 18 races in a row, lose, and then pass some more. steely discipline.

here is another motivational video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwPb7g_BlXQ

a reminder that there's no easy way out. there's no short cut home. hopefully it will bring me better luck than the ric flair video. :lol:

as I watched this video, I thought "well, at least mr balboa had a nice car to drive around Pennsylvania and think about his problems in," lol. but, alas, my car is finally done and it's now time to head back to the tables. I just have to remember to stay true to my game, keep my discipline, and above all remember that gambling isn't easy.....

You seem to work hard trying to become good at poker and also willing to put the
needed thinking and work. I have no doubt that if you continue, you eventually
will become capable of beating the 1-2 NL (if you are not already there) and
even a bit higher. The problem with poker is that as you are climbing up the
ladder you will quickly reach a plateau that it will be very difficult to
penetrate, as you will be competing against players of similar ability.

Darwin's theory applies very well to poker classifications, as fish is
substituted by sharks, as games become more serious. As you move up to larger
games, you will realize that the most important skill is the ability to find the
games with the weaker players while the more technical aspects of the game will
be falling to secondary roles.

Horse racing on the other hand, represents a far superior betting game than
poker or any other form of gambling known today.

It is true that horse betting is extremely difficult, but this is exactly why it
is so rewarding as a game.

The easier a game is, the less margin for profit it leaves.

Think for example of a very easy game, such as baccarat, where it is impossible
to make a bad decision (at least when selecting between player or banker), the
easiness of the game converts it to an impossible to beat proposition. Although
your 'ROI' in such a game will be pretty 'high' by most horse bettors standards
(in the neighborhood of 0.98) still is impossible to overcome and is guaranteed
to bankrupt any bankroll no matter how big or small.

In contrary to an easy game, horse betting leaves a lot of room for decisions to
the player than can easily convert it to an extremely negative betting
proposition. Think for a second how easy it is betting horses to loose any
imaginable amount of money... It is very difficult to do the same thing in
roulette for example, where although it exists it is trivial to realize the only
way to have a guaranteed lose and avoid it, keeping your results within a tiny
disadvantage (that can never be turned over though!). This is exactly what
converts horse betting to the most interesting and rewarding game there is.

You should think hard about the game realizing things you are doing wrong,
slowly improving your game, covering holes in your betting execution until you
reach a level where you will enjoy an advantage against the betting crowd.

Once you get there, your edge will never be eliminating in similar fashion as it
does in poker when you step up in competition. Although it is of course true
that the game changes as time goes by, it is also true that the meta-game
aspects of it never change, making it easy for the expert to adjust his
handicapping and betting style according to the crowd's behavior.

For example you are mentioning passing 18 races in row, seeking for the 'spot'
play as one of the parts of your strategy. I assure you that this is not the way
the game is supposed to be played and you need to rethink about it, trying to
loosen up your standards. This change alone will bring a huge difference in your
bottom line, although it requires very deep thinking and dedication in order to
do it successfully.

Although you can beat poker in its lower levels, it tends to become more of a
random game as you start betting for more serious amounts, while horse betting
as a way more sophisticated form of gambling, offers a more constant and
certainly larger reward for your efforts as a gambler.

[_______]

I'm going to disagree with a portion of your argument here. I actually think proximity has it right when he talks about passing 18 races in a row to find a spot he believes is favorable.

One huge advantage poker has over horse racing is that I, as a gambler, get to choose who I play against. There have been occasions where I felt outgunned at a table. The mistake I think gets made in those situations is when my ego won't allow me to stand up and find the softer game.

You make a valid point that, on average, skills increase with betting levels. But there remains variance in the players you face at any level. I like tables with a few loose aggressive players. If I'm seated with a bunch of nits, I'll move to find something better. If I don't see an obvious fish, it's also time to go.

You don't have that option in racing other than choosing NOT to bet into certain situations. One of the toughest adjustments I had to make was combatting the urge to form a bettable opinion on every race I looked at.

Anyway, I also wanted to say I enjoy reading everyone's posts here. Thanks to proximity for his entertaining accounts.

[thaskalos]

There is one perplexing truth that I have encountered in my life-long adventure with gambling; the gambler's profits will not come forth when he needs them the most.

Resolve your car situation first, Proximity...and take care of any other pressing financial matters as well. Only by putting yourself in the proper frame of mind can you possibly expect to gamble the "right" way.

[DeltaLover]

I'm going to disagree with a portion of your argument here. I actually think proximity has it right when he talks about passing 18 races in a row to find a spot he believes is favorable.



This is a technical issue reflecting our fundamental understanding of the game.

I understand what you say here, but I still believe it represents an antiquated
approach.

Although getting involved indiscriminately with all the races is definitely
wrong the same applies to a very tide strategy focusing on rare to identify
'spots'.

One of the many myths regarding horse racing, has to do with magnifying the
value of patience which surely is needed to some level, which when surpassed it
reveals scariness rather than self control..

[ronsmac]

Proximity writing about Poker is starting to remind me of Beyer writing about horses. My 50k yr and the winning horse player.

[proximity]

Proximity writing about Poker is starting to remind me of Beyer writing about horses. My 50k yr and the winning horse player.

i'm not at mr beyer's level in poker and probably never will be although I certainly feel I have to potential to meet my recreational player goals of winning hundreds (plural) of dollars a month and having a lot of fun going to racinos and casinos along the way. this may seem insignificant, but the VAST MAJORITY of people going to casinos a dozen plus times a month are going to lose.

as for racing, i'm not in the league of some of these world class players here but am underrated on p.a. (as are you). remember, for every guy like me who goes 0.98 (pre rebate) there needs to be a shadow that goes 0.62..... and these are a dying breed.

one might ask if instead there couldn't be a bunch of 0.77-0.79s for each 0.98 but that denies the existence of 0.81-0.83 players. i'm sure there is a "good will hunting" type player or two out there, but I certainly wouldn't say horse betting is an easy game for your typical top one percent (top gun) level horseplayer.

back to poker: I took off tonight, but hope to squeeze a game in sometime this weekend.

good luck to everyone!!

[proximity]

been getting crushed at poker and life and planned to get back at it this past weekend but never made it out to the racino. finally got there tonight but stopped in the clubhouse for a bite to eat first. pen and ct were the only two t-bred tracks going and when I get back into racing in april i'm actually thinking of eliminating Charles town. watched a classic six horser at pen where a cody beattie (the next generation) horse opened up the favorite and began to get some separation from a horse to his outside in the lane. but the other horse kept after it and nailed the young beattie charge on the wire. "he finally switched" (leads) some guys were saying.

I noticed some signs in the "bleacher" section of the track saying "reserved" with price listings of $10 for Wednesday and Thursday, $15 for Friday, $20 for Saturday. only like three of these seats were occupied though with no indication of whether or not the fans had paid. vintage penn national. :rolleyes:

down in the card room I fell right into place with my folding before finally hitting top pair with kt from the blinds. I bet the flop and turn, getting calls from a younger player who i'd notice make a small river fold I wasn't sure he should have made on an earlier hand. and when I checked the river and he fired another $20 I said "i'm running out of hands I can beat here?" while thinking "what would he limp with from early position that beats me here?"

it was time for curiosity to kill the cat but when I called and flipped my top pair, the pot was mine. after some time i'd make a raise with aq and bet out $25 on a queen high flop. the same villain would shove over top of me (putting one of us all in, I think me, but can't remember for sure) leaving me like sixty some dollars to call. this one is usually a fold, probably like 80% here overall, but for some reason I tanked before deciding to call and rake another pot when the villain flipped a qj that wouldn't improve.

i'd finish 3-0 vs this kid with 7s3s from the blinds. I hit a 7 for middle pair and a back door flush draw and made a small bet on a turn card of 9s after the flop was checked around. the kid called and shoved over (for $50-60) a small bet I made when a 10s hit on the river. these weren't easy calls at all, but this one was probably the easiest. I called with my baby flush beating his rivered straight.

later i'd limp with tens and flop quads, and perhaps finally learning from my last "score" with quads, actually bet the turn and river this time.

this was a good hand, but bad luck would soon follow when I raised kings to $15 pre flop and was called in two places. I bet a queen high flop and received a call from a player who was all in with q8 (who calls a raise with this?) and of course goes on to hit his 8 on the turn. :rolleyes:

I take a deep breath and finally hit another good hand, flopping a set of 9s from the button. there's a lot of action before me and I raise to $100, only getting an all in call from the short stacked small blind who indeed flopped a straight with j8. however, this time lady luck is on my side as the board immediately pairs on the turn, giving me a full house.

in the end i'm working on my best game of the year, but ahead $303.... an amount that puts me back up an even $500 for the year.... I decide to not get greedy and call it a night.

sometimes you just need to book a win and this was one of those times.

game +303
year +500 (20-13)

[LottaKash]

He's Baaaack....!....:jump: ...good Prox..good...:cool:

[Fwizard]

about time..good going...glad to see you back

[proximity]

finally got to return to the felt in our last post and finally got some much needed good cards.

the donkeys started march like lions and I was hoping they would go out like the lambs. but in the month's final game I would revert to the slow starts that had plagued me for the bulk of the month. in almost two hours at my first table I didn't win a single hand, and hardly played one. when the table broke I quickly moved to a table of donkeys that I was able to size up lightning quick.

almost immediately I lost a hand with pocket 8s that I bet out on a 7 high flop. a $7 pre flop raiser was all in for not quite 2x my bet and I planned to call, hoping he was on a diamond draw and curious to see what kind of hand someone raises to $7 with at the racino. however, before the betting got back to me there was a pair of callers WITH THE SECOND CALLER ACTUALLY EXPOSING HIS HAND TO MY HALF OF THE TABLE. still not getting 23-1 odds (probably more since I don't remember having a diamond) to hit another 8 to beat his POCKET KINGS:rolleyes: i end up folding only to watch the kings stack off $200+ on the turn to the first raise caller :rolleyes: who had flopped a set.

donkey A just flat calling $7 with kings so he could wait until the turn to bet hundreds of dollars into the flopped set of donkey B who did nothing to protect his hand on the flop. i definitely at the right table as you'd see these head scratching plays over and over again...... but i did note that i was now down $96 and still hadn't won a hand despite playing over 2 hours.

but that would change shortly thereafter when i flopped a set of 9s and check raised a flop that folded out everybody except the incredibly lucky donkey B. however, i again pounded the turn and donkey B waved the white flag, giving me my first winning hand of the night!!

"i was going for the straight," he told me, and i nodded sympathetically, amazed that he didn't hit the GUT SHOT.... that was his only straight possibility. :faint:

after finally winning a hand i would climb back into the plus column with a rivered ace high flush. incredibly i got donkey B and another player to bet into me on the river but equally incredibly couldn't get a bite on my min raise.

despite the two wins, overall i was pretty card dead over the hours and would end up falling behind again and raised a straddle to $18 with pocket jacks. i received calls from donkey B on the button and the straddle and checked a queen high suited flop (i didn't have this suit) to donkey B.... who bet out at the pot. the straddle folded and i stopped for a second, but decided to fold prompting donkey B to flip over 9-3 off for a flopped bottom two pair. :faint:

but later i'd comeback with another flopped ace high flush draw. i considered raising a flop bet of $10 but just called and watched none other than donkey B reopen the betting with a late position raise to $20. :rolleyes: everybody called and in an event as rare as halley's comet flying over the racino i watched with awe as i'd actually hit my flush right on the turn. i checked to the raiser, donkey B and he obliged me by betting as did a player in the blinds. not wanting to give anymore free cards in the month of march, i raised but again couldn't get any bites..... even from donkey B. maybe i should have just called here and let him bet again on the river, but it seems that every free card i give comes back to kill me.

anyhow i would have LOVED to have played this one out to the end but facing a long couple days of "driving knish's truck" before another planned ATLANTIC CITY trip i retired to get some non poker stuff done and a little rest.

in march the donkeys came in like lions, and they went out like lambs. but it was too little, too late.

game +106
year +606 (21-13)

[proximity]

march would prove to go about as bad as February went good. i go 5-6 in games and drop $677. also, i didn't think this was possible, but i drop $10 in the BONUS category by paying the dealer add on for the free roll. :rolleyes:

fortunately i rally in the end to maintain the recreational player standard I've set of winning hundreds of dollars a month on average..... although i'm only $2 a month ahead of that goal.

hopefully in april i can keep my car on the road and get in a rhythm of stringing together some good games!! :)

month -677 (5-6)
year +606 (21-13)
bonus +90 (ytd)

[proximity]

the carnage of march in the rearview mirror and "knish's truck" parked in the garage it was time for proximity to take another break from racino life and head for the beaches of atlantic city.

after ending my first two road trips in the red I was hoping to finally settle in and maybe get a big win or two out of town. when going to atlantic city, i prefer to stay at bally's, but for some reason this time they were the only Caesar's property that didn't offer me a free room, so for this trip i decided to stay at showboat on Wednesday and Thursday before moving into another cheap room at baymont on Friday.

i take off late enough Wednesday night that i can cruise through center city philly and the only stress is avoiding the deer along the ac expressway. i do see several deer on this road, but fortunately they're just grazing along the side and i arrive at showboat safely.

Thursday morning i grab some a donut and small coffee down at resorts dunkin donuts and it's back to showboat to kick off april.

let the games begin!!

[proximity]

not much action at the showboat poker room, but i settle in at a 1-2 super no limit table. "super" nl games in atlantic city typically have buy ins from $100 to $500 with "regular" 1-2s usually at $60 to $300 and 1-1s at $50-$150.

anyhow, i buy in for $100 and i need it because i'm card dead for over three hours. meanwhile a very talkative player in a Caesar's t-shirt is winning like every other pot and building a very impressive stack. maybe the caffeine from my dunkin donuts hasn't kicked in yet because i can't tell if he's the best player I've ever seen or just another donkey on a rush.

NOTE: usually when you see a really big stack at a table it's just a donkey on a rush getting lucky by playing way too many hands and having the deck hit them every other hand. maybe WHIZZ could chime in with a better opinion since he sees a ton of tables in his dealing???

anyhow, maybe i'm just jealous of the guy because i'm not winning ANY hands, but every dog has his day and i finally hit a queen high flop with k-q and get action on the flop. i spike a king on the turn for top two pair, but i didn't need it as i had the villain dominated with q-j. if it was march, he would have turned his jack, but fortunately we've flipped our calendars to april now.

not long after the win with k-q gets me back in the game i pick up pocket jacks and get two callers of my preflop raise. i shove on a flop of all low cards and pick up the pot.

eventually i forge to a massive $21 lead and decide to retire to my ocean view deluxe (?) to crash and kinda semi watch/listen to the flyers on Comcast but not before i notice our hero mr Caesar's palace starting to donk off his stack. eventually he calls huge bets on a turn and river vs a pair of opponents who eventually chop the nut straight vs mr Caesar's palace's lower straight. mr Caesar's palace loses $500+ on this hand that should have been an easy fold against TWO opponents who were both betting big. maybe mr Caesar's will turn out to be the next phil ivey, but for here and now..... uh..... no.

game +21
year + 627 (22-13)

[tucker6]

You should have talked Caesar up more and found out his playing schedule. Sounds like a good fish for you. You see guys all the time tilting with what I call large stack syndrome. They think they can push anything and anyone off the table with a large stack. But, if a guy has the goods, you aren't moving them anywhere. I see this at the BJ tables too. You get on a run and then start betting bigger on hands rather than sticking to your playing/betting philosophy.

[wiffleball whizz]

As for people having tons of chips at a table I usually say if u have more then 1200 in 1/2 or more then 2500 in a 2/5 game your not a good player....I may be in the minority but u "can't win this much" in 1/2....


To share a quick story(been away for a while as working and changing shifts it's totally killed all my motivation to post and even log into this site....but I got everything all figured out with sleeping gambling and whatnot...(huge pimlico trip report coming within 2 days)


I saw something I couldn't believe.....a guy in a 10-10 pot limit Omaha game have 60,000 in orange in front of him.....beyond comprehension.....



Back to stack sizes there was a Russian guy in Connecticut who on more then 5 occasions had 10,000 in front of him......he constantly got his money in bad and got there.....

In my opinion big stacks equal bad play....

[PaceAdvantage]

I was wondering about you Mr. Whizz...glad to see you back posting and look forward to the Pimlico trip report! :ThmbUp:

[proximity]

after posting a small comeback win at showboat, wanting to experience more of atlantic city on this trip i went over to taj mahal to grab a sub at the world famous white house which i read a lot of good things about on what whizz calls "that other site." my tuna sub wasn't bad, but wasn't anything special either. maybe next time i'll give the white house another shot though and try a hot sub?

anyhow after sleeping through the flyers loss i decide to give the taj poker room a try for my night session. maybe i'd get lucky and bluff johnny chan in a limit hold em game?

mr chan isn't in the room tonight, but i'm sent to almost the very seat he was in for his famous rounders appearance vs mikey mc d. (and probably the exact same filthy chair too. :rolleyes: )

we're playing 1-2 nl and i'm pretty card dead at this tight, tight table. eventually i surge to an imposing $11 lead after flopping a set of fives and getting zero action on my flop bet into a limped family pot. but the $11 doesn't last as i get 7-3 an amazing number of times. when i'm not getting 7-3 it's queen or jack rag.

down $41 deep into the night i decide to rack up and head back to my ocean deluxe at da boat. tomorrow would be another day.

game -41
year +586 (22-14)
ac trip -20 (1-1)

[proximity]

after some downtown ac shopping at the puma outlet, i decide to start day 2 of my trip at tropicana.

i get a good start by winning some pots against a player obviously new to hold em who is staying in too long with too little. he really should have started with 2-4 limit to get his feet wet.

but maybe i should have started in 2-4 myself as i soon make a mistake by limping with a-q suited from early position. a horrible turn card gives me top two pair, but the villain a flush. after calling the turn, i have to fold the river.

this error is followed by just terrible luck from the blinds all game long. with 9-2 suited from the big blind i flop a pair of 9s and a flush draw. a "4" falls on the turn and the small blind makes a small check raise which i call. i miss my flush, but hit a "2" on the river for two pair...... but is this good vs the turn raiser??? well, probably not..... but i called a $20 bet anyhow only to have the small blind flip over k-4 for a higher two pair. this should have been a fold. :bang:

running out of chips i finally get in good with aq but tap vs aj when the villain hits his jack. on the rebuy i battle back with two ace high flush draws, which i miss but hit an ace for top pair on one hand and end up with a straight on the other.

the phillies/cubs game is winding down and it's almost time to head over to check in at baymont when disaster strikes. from the blinds i lose to a donkey playing t-7 off from middle position. i flop top and bottom (k-8) on a k-j-8 flop with two diamonds and bet the pot but he hits a 9 on the turn for a gutshot straight draw...... and really only a three outer on a board with two diamonds. :bang: i guess i "value own" myself by betting the turn and river..... without him raising. :rolleyes:

finally, one more bad play for the road, i call a $7 early position raise with a-k from the blinds and check raise a flop of a-t-5 all in only to fall to an early limper playing a-5 despite his "coach" just lecturing him about playing ace rag out of position only minutes before the hand. :rolleyes: no king, ten, or runner runner cards higher than five and i toss my ace king into the muck in frustration and head for the windy boardwalk.

not my best game. :mad:

game -120
year +466 (22-15)
ac trip -140 (1-2)

[tucker6]

That was brutal to read. Sometimes our brains aren't into playing that night. You seem to have better "luck" at the racinos. What do you attribute this to?

[proximity]

That was brutal to read. Sometimes our brains aren't into playing that night. You seem to have better "luck" at the racinos. What do you attribute this to?

i'm probably a little less anxious at the racino because it's "just another game" while i'm more "invested" in these a.c. trips.

did you get to a.c. much when you lived by the sands??

[proximity]

SPOILER: possible details of whizz pimlico trip could be revealed...

after suffering my first career loss at tropicana i go settle in at baymont before heading over to bally's for a night session. i stop upstairs first at the 6ix bistro for some chocolate cake and a milkshake complements of caesar's total rewards. while relaxing over my cake i receive some good news that our own wiffleball whizz has struck at pimlico at odds of over 7,000-1!!! and with his talent, i know it won't be the last time. congratulations whizz!! :ThmbUp:

after inhaling my cake, downstairs i take a seat at a 1-1 nl table in the new bally's wild west poker room.

and i begin losing with incredible speed.

in no time at all i'm down almost three buy ins ($180) and add another $100 onto my stack. i think maybe things will take a turn when i look down at ace king from the big blind. there's a middle position raise to $10 with a call from an older asian woman and not wanting to repeat my earlier tropicana experience i raise and get a call from the original raiser before the old asian lady re-pops it to $70. i fold and the original raiser calls. i can't tell if he's all in or they're just "checking it down" :mad: but her pocket aces hold up after a flop of t-t-rag. i think the guy might have had kings and i'm STEAMING :mad: mad at this point.

you're welcome..... next time i'll just call behind too and let every limping ten stay in the hand for $8!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

anyhow, i'm now down about $200 and over $300 on the day, but i begin to rally back with a couple small pots and a nice win with a turned nut straight. i forge to a $20 lead about 1:30 am but then go ice cold for the next two hours and when my stack gets down to $200 i decide to call it a night.

another terrible game in the bally's wild west. :faint:

game -80
year +386 (22-16)
ac trip -220 (1-3) :mad:

[proximity]

woke up at baymont to a freezing cold shower after a restless couple hours of sleep. i'd fallen behind again in atlantic city and was down to my final day and night sessions.

after lugging my stuff back over to my car at bally's i hit up the puma outlet again and grabbed a coffee and donut on the boardwalk before heading back to the bally's wild west poker room for my daily flogging.

but this game (1-2 super nl) would start differently as i exploded out of the gate to a $106 lead within the first dealer and a half.

but then another bally's slow period would come. fold, fold, fold..... rinse and repeat until suddenly out of the blue i get pocket queens and pocket tens on back to back hands. to nobody's surprise i lose both hands. i'm still ahead but the hours continue to pass and despite my incredibly disciplined play i finally blow my early lead and fall behind by a few dollars.

the table has been pretty tough with a bunch of grinders but some new blood is starting to loosen things up. a very loose aggressive asian kid takes an open seat to my immediate left and another asian player across from me has been starting to raise a lot as his stack began to grow. when i finally get dealt pocket aces i decide to take a chance and throw out a smaller than usual raise, hoping for a reraise.

it doesn't happen and i pretty much end up heads up vs an older asian woman who's been playing pretty tight. on a j-6-x flop, though i sense she has ace-jack and bet every street for value. she mucks when i flip my aces after she calls my river bet and i'm back ahead.

shortly thereafter i raise with jacks and get a call from the aggressive asian player to my left. on a flop of all low cards i bet the flop, turn, and river and pick up another good win.

it's now after 5:00 and i'd love to stay but have to go back to showboat to pick up a special coupon book they're giving to total rewards platinum members.

it was another back and forth battle at bally's. fortunately this time, more forth than back. :)

game +157
year +543 (23-16)
ac trip -63 (2-3)

[Mineshaft]

damn Proximity do you play every day?

[proximity]

damn Proximity do you play every day?

40 games so far this year....

[proximity]

after finally having a decent game at bally's I head down pacific ave to a packed showboat and actually can't find a space in the garage and have to park across the street. I grab a holiday turkey sandwich from earl of sandwich on the way in and head upstairs to get my special total rewards platinum coupon book. for some reason I expect a big line, but when I get there I'm able to just walk right up to the table sans wait. outside the diamond room they're preparing for a buckcherry concert. think songs like lit up and crazy bitch if you're not real familiar with buckcherry.

I go outside to eat my sandwich on a boardwalk bench and hear donna summer's last dance for like the tenth time on the trip. this is about average for an atlantic city trip. and inside at the showboat poker room it will indeed be my last dance and last chance to book a winning trip.

before settling in at the poker room though I take a lap around the casino and as I approach a roulette table I spy a girl in a short skirt leaning forward to place her bet, her skirt rising higher and higher, ultimately revealing the entirety of her bare bottom. and on my way back past the table i'm wondering if i'll catch another glimpse of these glorious glutes when I notice a guy sitting at a slot across from the table not even feigning any appearance that he's playing the slots.....instead he's just consumed with this captivating caboose. the distraction probably easily saved him $20 of slots losses. :D

anyhow, I eventually take a seat in a 1-2 super nl game at the boat and notch a small early win with pocket 8s. there are two big stacks in this game, one aggressive player to my immediate left and donkey across the table playing almost every hand and doing strange things like re opening the betting from the blinds by raising to $5. :confused: finally I get ace king from the big blind and after several people call the very aggressive player's $4 straddle, I raise to $17, getting several callers and butcher the hand by checking and calling a small flop bet and bluffing at the river after the turn was checked around. it folded to donkey who tanked but ended up calling with pocket 8s of his own.

after folding like 50 hands in a row I get ace king again and raise to $10, with the aggressive player beside me raising to $20 and a kid beside him raising to $60. I have like $25 left and throw it in and watch in disgust as mr aggressive raises and the kid goes all in. mr aggressive has kings and the kid has aces but q-j falls right on the flop. I point to the turn and say TEN and BAM the dealer slams down a ten giving me the straight to scoop the main pot and put me back ahead!! I guess sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

i'd moved back into the black for the game, but was still bleeding red for the trip. after a card change though we'd loose both big stacks and i'd raise king queen of diamonds after several orbits. despite folding almost every hand, I got like 4-5 callers of the raise and checked a flop of all low cards that was checked to me. the turn saw a second diamond fall, but also completed some straights. there was a bet of $15 with a call and I called and hit my backdoor flush on the river. the turn bettor bet out and something didn't feel right to me and I just called, taking down the pot with my second nut flush. on the drive home I cursed myself for not raising here, I guess the recent run of horrible luck just overtaking my reasoning.

after one final small win i'd retire with a win of $75 at the showboat, evening my record to 3-3 for the trip and giving me a humble overall profit of $12. it wasn't a lot, but after the disasters of day 2...... i'd take it.

game +75
year +618 (24-16)
ac trip +12 (3-3)

[tucker6]

good for you Proximity. You should have tipped the girl though. :D

[proximity]

good for you Proximity. You should have tipped the girl though. :D

lol, i'm surprised nobody swiped their total rewards cards for 5x rewards credits. :D

btw, I am considering going down again in a couple weeks for the opening two days (thurs and fri) of the race meet. if anyone is going feel free to drop me a pm. always great to meet up with p.a. members!!

[proximity]

took off for the sands (bethlehem,pa) for another exciting day/night session and got almost immediate seating in a 3-6 limit game. at the sands this is donkeyland. and indeed few players with any clue would join our game during the nearly 12 hour session. but this wouldn't stop me from having one of my worst games of the year and one of my worst limit outings EVER. :mad:

things start bad when i have to post to get in the game and hit top pair with 9-6 on a 9-8-5 board. i bet the flop. i bet the turn. i check the 6 that gives me two pair, but completes the GUTSHOT on the river for another player. to my credit i did fold, saving $6.

shortly after this i'd actually spring to a lead with unimproved pocket queens somehow holding off both flush and straight draws on a board of all low cards. it was so bad that i fold the river if somebody bets, but nobody does and the queens take it down. what are these droolers staying in with would be a question i'd ask on almost every hand.

i play tight and pretty much only big cards (that add up to 20+) and pocket pairs. although i don't get too many pocket pairs at all. raise ak.... flop 678. raise aq.... flop king high. limp with kj.... flop queen high. fold, fold, fold. rinse and repeat. from 7:00 to 11:00 i don't win a single hand.

throughout the game i save a million dollars by folding rags in the small blind and ugly big blinds to raises. finally toward the end.... after nearly 12 hours i crack and throw in $2 on k-2 clubs from the small blind. the big blind raises, a king flops, a 4th club turns,..... BREAK JUST ONE TIME AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. :mad:

anyhow, my discipline has cracked and i vow this is my final orbit. but i don't even make it that far. a couple hands later with aj i raise a jack high flop with two hearts, but this big move doesn't even price out a drooler that draws to a gutshot that's essentially a three outer with the two hearts on the board. no mas. :mad:

game -294 (limit)
year +324 (24-17)

[proximity]

when we last left off, after months of EVERYTHING going wrong on and off the felt I tried to relax with some limit hold 'em at the sands...... where (of course) whatever could go wrong....went wrong.

for my next game i'd finally return to the racino for some 1-2 nl hold 'em vs a table of donkeys. goofballs playing every hand, straddling, raising to $5......

of course, i'd be card dead before finally picking up ace king suited and raising. three players call, despite this being the very first hand I've played in almost an hour at the table. a flop of all rags gets checked to me and I guess I played like a donkey by not c-betting but I take a free card to see if I can hit an ace or king or possibly improve on the two backdoor draws I've flopped. I turn a gut shot and check again and miss the river. I just flip over my ace king instead of betting and a donkey we'll call "the candlestick maker" takes it down by calling my raise with 4-3 and hitting a 4. i guess i deserve some criticism for not c-betting the hand, but i will say that the candlestick maker is the kind of player that would have called with his pair of 4s and i would have lost my whole $60 buy in instead of still having almost $40 left. indeed while i'm folding hand after hand the candlestick maker's been playing almost every hand and calling down ridiculously light. he buys in for at least $600 while i'm at the table. $200 at a time.

anyhow, i eventually play another hand, flat calling a straddle with ace jack suited from a mid late position and totally miss the flop. later i raise ace king suited again to $13, getting a call from the candlestick maker from the small blind with the big blind going all in for like $30. i too shove all in for $36 and the candlestick maker calls. he misses completely with queen-9 :rolleyes: but the big blinds dominated ace jack of course flops a jack to beat my ace king. :rolleyes: i do pick up the side pot of $12 and add another $40 i have in my pocket.

later, still not playing ANY hands i get ace queen from late position. a player in front of me raises the straddle to $10 and i call like a donkey. four of us see a flop of a-q-x with two hearts. i toss in my final $36 and i guess the donkey candlestick maker actually has odds to call here with his j-4 hearts? there's now 69 in the pot and 36 to call so he's getting about 1.9-1 with about a 1.8-1 chance to hit his heart? but of course there are still two players behind him to act including the pre flop raiser....... another donkey who just calls with ace jack instead of raising the candlestick maker. the other player folds and long story short the candlestick maker hits his heart on the river. i say "F THIS" and storm out after collecting one lousy side pot in almost three hours.

meanwhile off the felt another problem has come up and might cause me to miss the a.c. trip next week. aside from the straight with ace-king at showboat nothing has gone right in a long time. this is a 2014 tour and i don't want to quit but i can't be losing thousands of dollars at this.

delta, whizz, t-los, rg, _______, t6....... i don't know how you guys do it. you have my total respect.

game -100
year +224 (24-18)

[tucker6]

You're not losing thousands of dollars. You're up on the year. Maybe take a couple weeks off to refresh. Looks like you had too many donkeys at the table, as they have terrific luck on the river. You are right in your early comment that some cannot be shaken from their faith in a pair of 4's. With too many donkeys, poker becomes a game of pure luck and survival. I've yet to understand the mindset of a donkey who bets every 7-2 hand.

[_______]

Bad beats are the necessary tax you pay as a winning player. If there weren't occasional rewards for bad play, every table would eventually be a nightmare of competing sharps.

Although you have to look at your long term +/- (which is positive) as an unbiased evaluation of your skill, the bottom line for any single day isn't important. Did you get the villains money in the pot as a favorite? You played well if the answer is yes. Even if the villain hit a ridiculous 3 outer.

Repeated bad beats can make you doubt your abilities. I get it. But as long as you weren't putting your money in the pot as an underdog, you should be able to shrug off the bad days knowing that the law of large numbers remains on your side.

It'll turn and you'll be thanking your lucky stars you sat at a table where people were routinely calling with dominated hands.

[DeltaLover]

Poker is not as simple as it seems to be and most of the times we tend to overestimate our edge.

Luck is very significant and the most dominant factor for short to mid term results. What makes it even more frustrating is the fact that, the few hands where a dominated opponent hits his miracle card in the river can change dramatically the bottom line of any player. Take out also is very high, especially in low limits and in conjunction with tips and bad beat costs the game is transformed to a very marginal proposition even for a relatively good player.

The new breed of players, those attracted to the game in the post Moneymaker and got their poker experience on-line, are way more sophisticated than the previous generations, making it difficult for older players who learned the game in the pre-internet era to compete with them. For example, what at fist glance might seem like a typical donkey move, can very well be part of a part of a sophisticated strategy trying to impose a certain table image for deception purposes.

ABC poker does not cut it anymore, except in the few cases where you are competing against very weak novices. As the average understanding of the game gets deeper and deeper the winning margin becomes narrower while the optimal playing style should constantly change to take advantage of the possible errors committed by our opponents. If you have studied the related literature you can certainly notice this trend in the writing of the various authors. As an example take Bob Ciaffone's books: his proposed ultra conservative approach is a guaranteed looser against the vast majority of today's games. Concepts like minimum opening hand requirements and conservative preflop maneuvers have far lesser impact to the winning style as what really counts today, is the later streets decisions where the bulk of the money is hitting the felt.

[thaskalos]

You're not losing thousands of dollars. You're up on the year. Maybe take a couple weeks off to refresh. Looks like you had too many donkeys at the table, as they have terrific luck on the river. You are right in your early comment that some cannot be shaken from their faith in a pair of 4's. With too many donkeys, poker becomes a game of pure luck and survival. I've yet to understand the mindset of a donkey who bets every 7-2 hand.

The skilled player cannot find a better place than a table-full of donkeys. His variance will be high...but he will make the donkeys suffer in the end. When you say that too many donkeys turn poker into a game of pure luck...then what are you really suggesting? Would it be better to sit down with only ONE donkey at the table...or with no donkeys at the table at all?

Donkeys or not...all games have a rhythm. Identify the rhythm, and adjust to it...that's the game.

[thaskalos]

when we last left off, after months of EVERYTHING going wrong on and off the felt I tried to relax with some limit hold 'em at the sands...... where (of course) whatever could go wrong....went wrong.

for my next game i'd finally return to the racino for some 1-2 nl hold 'em vs a table of donkeys. goofballs playing every hand, straddling, raising to $5......

of course, i'd be card dead before finally picking up ace king suited and raising. three players call, despite this being the very first hand I've played in almost an hour at the table. a flop of all rags gets checked to me and I guess I played like a donkey by not c-betting but I take a free card to see if I can hit an ace or king or possibly improve on the two backdoor draws I've flopped. I turn a gut shot and check again and miss the river. I just flip over my ace king instead of betting and a donkey we'll call "the candlestick maker" takes it down by calling my raise with 4-3 and hitting a 4. i guess i deserve some criticism for not c-betting the hand, but i will say that the candlestick maker is the kind of player that would have called with his pair of 4s and i would have lost my whole $60 buy in instead of still having almost $40 left. indeed while i'm folding hand after hand the candlestick maker's been playing almost every hand and calling down ridiculously light. he buys in for at least $600 while i'm at the table. $200 at a time.

anyhow, i eventually play another hand, flat calling a straddle with ace jack suited from a mid late position and totally miss the flop. later i raise ace king suited again to $13, getting a call from the candlestick maker from the small blind with the big blind going all in for like $30. i too shove all in for $36 and the candlestick maker calls. he misses completely with queen-9 :rolleyes: but the big blinds dominated ace jack of course flops a jack to beat my ace king. :rolleyes: i do pick up the side pot of $12 and add another $40 i have in my pocket.

later, still not playing ANY hands i get ace queen from late position. a player in front of me raises the straddle to $10 and i call like a donkey. four of us see a flop of a-q-x with two hearts. i toss in my final $36 and i guess the donkey candlestick maker actually has odds to call here with his j-4 hearts? there's now 69 in the pot and 36 to call so he's getting about 1.9-1 with about a 1.8-1 chance to hit his heart? but of course there are still two players behind him to act including the pre flop raiser....... another donkey who just calls with ace jack instead of raising the candlestick maker. the other player folds and long story short the candlestick maker hits his heart on the river. i say "F THIS" and storm out after collecting one lousy side pot in almost three hours.

meanwhile off the felt another problem has come up and might cause me to miss the a.c. trip next week. aside from the straight with ace-king at showboat nothing has gone right in a long time. this is a 2014 tour and i don't want to quit but i can't be losing thousands of dollars at this.

delta, whizz, t-los, rg, _______, t6....... i don't know how you guys do it. you have my total respect.

game -100
year +224 (24-18)

You are losing heart before you have lost any money, proximity. Even the best players have to deal with the adversity of losing money...and sometimes the money they lose is their own. At least you are still playing with profit.

I would offer you some advice...but it might be more helpful to heed the advice of perhaps the greatest cash-game poker player to ever sit around the green baize.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVsgBACaJgQ

[tucker6]

The skilled player cannot find a better place than a table-full of donkeys. His variance will be high...but he will make the donkeys suffer in the end. When you say that too many donkeys turn poker into a game of pure luck...then what are you really suggesting? Would it be better to sit down with only ONE donkey at the table...or with no donkeys at the table at all?

Donkeys or not...all games have a rhythm. Identify the rhythm, and adjust to it...that's the game.
All I'm saying with those comments is that with multiple risk takers at the table, one needs to recognize this and bet and understand the game accordingly. If you see early on that guys that are beaten still bet and raise for a river card, you need to play accordingly and not assume you can raise them out of the game or that your pair of whatever will hold through the last card. Unfortunately, sometimes those guys hit the river when they should have folded. It's a frustrating element when facing multiple donkeys. I used the word luck when in fact it's the law of averages that they will hit some of their cards on the river.

[thaskalos]

All I'm saying with those comments is that with multiple risk takers at the table, one needs to recognize this and bet and understand the game accordingly. If you see early on that guys that are beaten still bet and raise for a river card, you need to play accordingly and not assume you can raise them out of the game or that your pair of whatever will hold through the last card. Unfortunately, sometimes those guys hit the river when they should have folded. It's a frustrating element when facing multiple donkeys. I used the word luck when in fact it's the law of averages that they will hit some of their cards on the river.
This is what the donkeys that I play with try to do most of the time: They are overly aggressive pre-flop...because they are afraid to be aggressive post-flop -- when the aggression gets more expensive. They are afraid of making major decisions in the latter rounds...so they show off in the early rounds.

So...what do I to combat this?

I buy in for the maximum...so the donkeys know that any mistake they might make against me is liable to be an expensive one. I play the tight, boring type of poker that everyone else plays when I am out of position...but I will open up considerably when I am IN position. And when I think that I have the edge in a hand, my money goes in pre-river...when the sucker still has a chance of improving his hand. Ideally...I want all the money to go in on the turn, not on the river...because on the river, I might not get paid off. If the donkey is to make an expensive mistake...this mistake is not likely to come on the river.

And getting outdrawn on the river doesn't bother me...because I did what I had to do. I got my money in with the best of it...and that's the best that I could do. The better players get outdrawn more often...because they have the best of it more often.

They wouldn't be the "better players", if THEY were doing the outdrawing...

[proximity]

from leaving Borgata +1355 to +224 now. to steal from the great wiffleball whizz, even Helen keller could see where this thing is going.

to win (even $12, lol) over that six game span in a.c. and then come back and lose to pathetic donkeys at sands and penn national. demoralizing and embarrassing. :blush:

now have to decide where to play tomorrow? :rolleyes:

[proximity]

now have to decide where to play tomorrow? :rolleyes:

ended up cancelling this game. tried to stay home and watch the phillies.... but couldn't even do that right. :rolleyes: i thought they started at 10:30 and of course when i turned the tv on they were already underway and losing by like seven runs. :rolleyes:

anyhow, since the last tropicana game i've really been thinking about the dangers of limping and was wondering if i was even right to call for the $10 from the small blind with a-q in that final hand vs the candlestick maker? there was a $5 straddle and the guy who raised to $10 didn't seem like that good of a player to me and i didn't put him on a better hand. (he had a-j)

i sensed that i had the best hand here but i was out of position. with $46 total i decided to do what i'm trying to get away from and just call. what do you guys do here with the $46? if you're in for the $300 max like thaskalos??

[proximity]

anyhow, since the last tropicana game i've really been thinking about the dangers of limping and was wondering if i was even right to call for the $10 from the small blind with a-q in that final hand vs the candlestick maker? there was a $5 straddle and the guy who raised to $10 didn't seem like that good of a player to me and i didn't put him on a better hand. (he had a-j)

i sensed that i had the best hand here but i was out of position. with $46 total i decided to do what i'm trying to get away from and just call. what do you guys do here with the $46? if you're in for the $300 max like thaskalos??

no comments on this, I guess? it's a tough situation. I have an actual good hand in a-q (finally), but there's a hokey straddle and a guy who has raised more times in his 15 min at the table than I have all game bumps it from $5 to $10. I can fold a-q out of the blinds to a legitimate raise, but is this really a REAL raise or just a blocker bet to stop the straddle raise?

tough situation, but I end up reading it right as the "raiser" (again $5 to $10.... is this really a raise?) has a-j and I have him DOMINATED without even needing to flop the two pair. of course I don't reraise but i'm presenting this as a tough situation for a strict raise or fold player. I don't think it's an easy fold at all but didn't feel comfortable raising from this position. I guess I probably should have raised?

anyhow, just babbling about some of my in-game thoughts from a definite dark period in the middle of the tour.

[proximity]

finally made my way out to the racino with another buy in for some 1-2 no limit hold em.

i'd stay around even for several hours in this game before getting a-k from late position and making another mistake by just calling a $8 raise. jumping ahead, I actually read this guy for a-q, a-j, a-t, maybe a-9 or a-8 suited.... but he had pocket fours which he checked to me on a jack high flop with two other cards greater than four. I bet $11 and he called. a ten came on the turn, giving me a gutshot and when he checked to me I checked back to get a free card but I guess I should have fired another barrel? after missing the river I had another chance to bet but just flipped over my ace-king and he took it down. i'm not sure why he raised from early- mid position with pocket 4s or called my flop bet out of position, but I guess I played the hand even worse.

anyhow, we move on another 30 min to an hour and I raise pocket 10s to $10 from late position and two early limpers call. I toss my last $20 in on a 9 high flop with two clubs and both players call. the board runs out q-7 and they check it down. caller a flips over ace jack and I flip my dimes. it looked like I was good, but after a brief but completely unnecessary delay, caller b (who didn't seem like that bad of a guy or player) flips over q-9 for a turned two pair.

JUST FLIP THEM OVER WHEN YOU HAVE THEM.

you know I might have better places to be than getting slow rolled by donkeys calling raises out of position with queen f'ing nine. :rolleyes:

driving home I curse myself for not raising to at least $10 plus the pot pre flop. of course I get in good again on the flop, but leave again a loser.

game -60
year +164 (24-19)

[thaskalos]

no comments on this, I guess? it's a tough situation. I have an actual good hand in a-q (finally), but there's a hokey straddle and a guy who has raised more times in his 15 min at the table than I have all game bumps it from $5 to $10. I can fold a-q out of the blinds to a legitimate raise, but is this really a REAL raise or just a blocker bet to stop the straddle raise?

tough situation, but I end up reading it right as the "raiser" (again $5 to $10.... is this really a raise?) has a-j and I have him DOMINATED without even needing to flop the two pair. of course I don't reraise but i'm presenting this as a tough situation for a strict raise or fold player. I don't think it's an easy fold at all but didn't feel comfortable raising from this position. I guess I probably should have raised?

anyhow, just babbling about some of my in-game thoughts from a definite dark period in the middle of the tour.
AQ is a trouble hand out of position...but in this case, it's a no-brainer. There is a straddle, a loose raiser, and a minimum raise. Put them all together...and they spell dubious holding. You put in the $46, and look to take the pot down right there. Of course, in this case you'll probably get called and lose...but going all in is the right play anyway.

[thaskalos]

finally made my way out to the racino with another buy in for some 1-2 no limit hold em.

i'd stay around even for several hours in this game before getting a-k from late position and making another mistake by just calling a $8 raise. jumping ahead, I actually read this guy for a-q, a-j, a-t, maybe a-9 or a-8 suited.... but he had pocket fours which he checked to me on a jack high flop with two other cards greater than four. I bet $11 and he called. a ten came on the turn, giving me a gutshot and when he checked to me I checked back to get a free card but I guess I should have fired another barrel? after missing the river I had another chance to bet but just flipped over my ace-king and he took it down. i'm not sure why he raised from early- mid position with pocket 4s or called my flop bet out of position, but I guess I played the hand even worse.

anyhow, we move on another 30 min to an hour and I raise pocket 10s to $10 from late position and two early limpers call. I toss my last $20 in on a 9 high flop with two clubs and both players call. the board runs out q-7 and they check it down. caller a flips over ace jack and I flip my dimes. it looked like I was good, but after a brief but completely unnecessary delay, caller b (who didn't seem like that bad of a guy or player) flips over q-9 for a turned two pair.

JUST FLIP THEM OVER WHEN YOU HAVE THEM.

you know I might have better places to be than getting slow rolled by donkeys calling raises out of position with queen f'ing nine. :rolleyes:

driving home I curse myself for not raising to at least $10 plus the pot pre flop. of course I get in good again on the flop, but leave again a loser.

game -60
year +164 (24-19)

Proximity...forgive me if I am too blunt here, but I respect you too much to tell you anything but what's really on my mind. You are severely undercapitalized for this venture...and it's obviously affecting your play. When you go to the racino with only a partial buy-in in your pocket...then you've already lost before you've even sat down at the table. How can you possibly play right when you know that all it takes is a single misstep, and you are on your way home?

[proximity]

i am undercapitalized (I am just a recreational player) but I just took a single buy in out for this particular game because I didn't want this particular session to turn into an all-nighter.

feel free to post ANY thoughts (good or bad). I do see where having a bigger stack would have possibly helped vs the candlestick maker because I could have pounded the turn when the blank hit. but he might have been getting close enough to the felt at that point that he would have called anyhow and I would have lost even more money. in the last game I thought I made a respectable bet on the flop (although I was all in and there was no threat of a turn bet) by betting about 2/3 of the pot after rake and I don't know if betting pot with any amount of money behind would have stopped the q-9 from calling and when he turns top two pair he's not getting off the hand and i'm going to lose more money.

again, i'm just a novice relative to the big guns on here (you, _____,rg, delta, whizz, t6,.......) but I do see myself (maybe too slowly) heading somewhat in a better direction although recently i'm just getting drubbed with the cards where a villain gets almost whatever card they need..... frequently even 3 or 4 outers. and as we all know from racing, when the rest of your life is running terrible this can be completely demoralizing.

[proximity]

note for blog readers: I've cancelled this week's trip to atlantic city for poker and the race meet. may return to the jersey shore next week, however....

[Robert Goren]

Definition of a Donkey. A player who I think is not very good who keeps taking my stack.:rolleyes:

[proximity]

Definition of a Donkey. A player who I think is not very good who keeps taking my stack.:rolleyes:

I guess I deserve this rg, but to be fair I've talked about PLENTY of donkeys who I've hardly been involved in a hand with. the two showboat games come to mind as a recent example. also this word "keeps" .... it's plural. where are these individual donkeys that are taking multiple stacks off me?

[proximity]

ok, sorry I did find one, the golden donkey from post #21. I guess he's a good player calling raises with 6-5 off and j-9 suited? i guess i'll have to start limping and calling raises with these hands too? i can't believe i don't see him at mid atlantic poker rooms all the time. i apologize.

[wiffleball whizz]

I know the answer but I'll ask it here anyways.....

If it's showdown on a 9775A board and I say I have two pair and throw down A9 would u be hot?

It's my beliefs aces up aren't two pair.......in my opinion it's a slow roll

Any opinions?

[Robert Goren]

I guess I deserve this rg, but to be fair I've talked about PLENTY of donkeys who I've hardly been involved in a hand with. the two showboat games come to mind as a recent example. also this word "keeps" .... it's plural. where are these individual donkeys that are taking multiple stacks off me?If you are taking money from them regularly, then they aren't donkeys, they are FISH.

[dannyhill]

I know the answer but I'll ask it here anyways.....

If it's showdown on a 9775A board and I say I have two pair and throw down A9 would u be hot?

It's my beliefs aces up aren't two pair.......in my opinion it's a slow roll

Any opinions?
If aces up aren't 2 pair what are they then?

[wiffleball whizz]

If aces up aren't 2 pair what are they then?

I'm am absolutely floored by the amount of these responses...

I'm banking on when Thaskalos reads this he will know what I'm saying

[Robert Goren]

A-9 most certainly makes at least two pair. It could make a flush. The question whether it is Aces up or not. There are some old timers from certain parts of the country say you have to a pocket AA with a pair on the board for it to be Aces up. In a game, it doesn't matter what it is called. Both hands counts as two pair and win or lose the same.
I might be hot, but probably not, over a slow roll. They are so common place these days. Most games I played in a slow roll is not illegal. You should know whether they are or not before the first hand. If you flashed the nine first but not the ace until after the other guy show his better hand that would be a slow roll. If he laid them down both at same time, then it is not. Things change a bit if you are not playing cards speak and he declares Aces up not showing the nine. That is the way knife fights break out at poker games. Generally I think if you think slow rolls should be illegal , then you ought to play with the girls on Tuesday night where they don't allow check raises either. But not everybody agrees with me on that.

[dannyhill]

I'm am absolutely floored by the amount of these responses...

I'm banking on when Thaskalos reads this he will know what I'm saying
I understand what you're saying. Just think in the situation it is not a blatant slow roll or attempt to piss a player off. You want him to call nut 2 pair?

[wiffleball whizz]

I understand what you're saying. Just think in the situation it is not a blatant slow roll or attempt to piss a player off. You want him to call nut 2 pair?

Aces up is aces up....not 2 pair....

I just have to accept the fact that poker etiquette isn't what it was 7+ years ago...

And congrats to proximity for making this thread the go-to thread for poker inquiries

[dannyhill]

Aces up is aces up....not 2 pair....

I just have to accept the fact that poker etiquette isn't what it was 7+ years ago...

And congrats to proximity for making this thread the go-to thread for poker inquiries
I was having fun with ya. You are correct. Since the boom and so many younger players things have changed.

[wiffleball whizz]

A-9 most certainly makes at least two pair. It could make a flush. The question whether it is Aces up or not. There are some old timers from certain parts of the country say you have to a pocket AA with a pair on the board for it to be Aces up. In a game, it doesn't matter what it is called. Both hands counts as two pair and win or lose the same.
I might be hot, but probably not, over a slow roll. They are so common place these days. Most games I played in a slow roll is not illegal. You should know whether they are or not before the first hand. If you flashed the nine first but not the ace until after the other guy show his better hand that would be a slow roll. If he laid them down both at same time, then it is not. Things change a bit if you are not playing cards speak and he declares Aces up not showing the nine. That is the way knife fights break out at poker games. Generally I think if you think slow rolls should be illegal , then you ought to play with the girls on Tuesday night where don't allow check raises either. But not everybody agrees with me on that.


I think the paired 9775A bored is drawing some confusion as to what I'm talking about so let's explain it this way and robert g made some good points...

If we are playing 7stud and at showdown I say I have 2 pair (aces ands sixes) and u have king and queens your telling me you won't be steaming?!???

Saying two pair when u have aces up is top 5 bad poker etiquette situations

[wiffleball whizz]

I was having fun with ya. You are correct. Since the boom and so many younger players things have changed.

Thank you lolololol

And the other thing I hate is when somebody BEATS YOU in a pot and THEY tap the table.......tapping the table used to be mean "you win" or nice hand when you lost.....

And here's another stink bomb.....

When somebody beats u out of a monster hand they say "hey nice hand man".....what the **** is that?!?!?

[DeltaLover]

Saying two pair when u have aces up is top 5 bad poker etiquette situations

The whizz has it right here :ThmbUp:

[dannyhill]

Thank you lolololol

And the other thing I hate is when somebody BEATS YOU in a pot and THEY tap the table.......tapping the table used to be mean "you win" or nice hand when you lost.....

And here's another stink bomb.....

When somebody beats u out of a monster hand they say "hey nice hand man".....what the **** is that?!?!?
Absolutely. Poker used to contain a lot of class and sportsmanship. Not so much since the boom. But it does make trapping that much more enjoyable nowadays.

[Tee]

If I somehow have a 7 in my hand, no I wouldn't be hot. :)

Let's say I have pocket 10's J's Q's K's somehow & you stuck with me with A9 the whole way & at showdown you say I have two pair & table A9.

I might be a bit hot.

Some idiots/donkeys of the poker world fail to realize on a 9775A board everyone in the hand has a pair - a pair of 7's.

A9 is aces up or aces and 9's not your average ordinary two pair.

Enough rambling from this donkey. ;)



I know the answer but I'll ask it here anyways.....

If it's showdown on a 9775A board and I say I have two pair and throw down A9 would u be hot?

It's my beliefs aces up aren't two pair.......in my opinion it's a slow roll

Any opinions?

[proximity]

Enough rambling from this donkey. ;)

are you sure you're not a fish? :rolleyes:

[Tee]

While I'm somewhat in the mood to talk poker, I have a story to tell from last evening.

Heads up & at a 3/1 chip disadvantage, I'm dealt JQ of spades with the button. Flop comes 10d, 3s, Ks, I move my last 180 in the pot. My opponent calls, tables 10s, 9h. Turn is the Qd & the river a 9 of spades.

He/she calls me lucky stupid. These are the types of players everyone wants to play with all day long every day.

I win 5 of the next 6 hands off this tilting opponent to end the match.

[Tee]

Not 100% sure, no skillz at all, total atm. :D

are you sure you're not a fish? :rolleyes:

[proximity]

i never said slow rolling should be illegal..... although the hand in question should almost raise suspicions of collusion. mr q-9 turns top two pair and ace high still sees a showdown????????????????

and i'm not "steaming" but all-in on the hand i am at least mildly annoyed. there's no action on the turn or river..... is it unreasonable to think my overpair to the flop is good against ace high and another hand that takes 20+ seconds to flip over?

no promises but i am going to try and get back at it this week with another trip to a.c.. still trying to recover from the $2,000 i've spent on the car but could use some time away....

[proximity]

While I'm somewhat in the mood to talk poker, I have a story to tell from last evening.

Heads up & at a 3/1 chip disadvantage, I'm dealt JQ of spades with the button. Flop comes 10d, 3s, Ks, I move my last 180 in the pot. My opponent calls, tables 10s, 9h. Turn is the Qd & the river a 9 of spades.

He/she calls me lucky stupid. These are the types of players everyone wants to play with all day long every day.

I win 5 of the next 6 hands off this tilting opponent to end the match.

nice.

where were you playing tee?

[Tee]

This instance was just for play chips @ PokerStars. Not many places to play where I live, unless I want to be miserable(bad sinuses) from cigarette smoke.

Guess I could drive up to Black Hawk one of these days.

nice.

where were you playing tee?

[proximity]

first off, happy birthday to wiffleball whizz!!

33 years old, but 333 years of gambling knowledge in that boy's brain!! earlier in the tour i met up with the whizz in a game at charles town and the one liners were rolling off the kid's tongue so fast my head was spinning! a few games back i was able to employ his famous "helen keller" line and was quite proud of myself!! :D

happy birthday whizz!!

second, it's on.... the trip is on!!

maybe not the best timing for a player struggling through a 24-19 and +$164 campaign, but as mikey mc d said to worm:

"fvkk it.... let's play some cards!!"

so tomorrow night it's off to where the sand turns to gold!!

back to ATLANTIC CITY!!

[proximity]

again, struggling through life and a once promising poker season that's gone south, it maybe isn't the best move..... but I jump in my car and head for the place where the sand turns to gold: ATLANTIC CITY.

first though on my way out of town I hear some good news that a friend and fellow horseplayer took that idiot the candlestick maker for a hundred and change down in the card room!! certainly not that mouth-breathing moron's biggest loss..... but still good to hear he dropped some to a friend!!

anyhow since i'm an addicted gambler who likes to take the occasional trip to a.c. I finally break down and sign up for ez pass so I can speed through all the tolls and get to the gambling faster!! of course when I go out to my car though the damn thing has fallen off my windshield. life is going so bad that I can't even attach a simple transponder properly. nonetheless I clean and dry the windshield and get the silly thing attached properly and the trip is underway!!

it's a horrible drive down, especially through Pennsylvania, where it's raining mercilessly and I wonder if noah had ezpass for the ark. eventually though I arrive at harrah's a.c. only to find that they don't have my king room in the marina tower (?) but that I can get two queen beds in the bayview tower. I don't really care about the tower and check into harrah's for three nights.

instead of warming up with some slots, this trip I head right to the harrah's poker room and get seated in a humble 2-4 limit game. indeed, I have hit rock bottom.

big shocker: I fall behind early.....

finally I flop top pair/top kicker with a-7 but a guy playing king rag stays in with bottom pair and turns his king. later I raise 8-7 on a 6-5-x flop to get a free card and turn a seven. for some reason though a lady stays in trying to go runner-runner (?) with j-7 and outkicks me when my straight misses and we go to showdown. i'm almost down $100 in this little game but rally somewhat going 5-0 with kk, qq, qq, jj, and jj..... getting lucky once by raising jacks and flopping a set after a girl just called cold behind me with qq. I have no idea why she didn't reraise me preflop?????

I arrived at harrah's after midnight, so technically it's may.... but in my world it's still Wednesday so I count the game as april for my standings.

game -54 (2/4 limit):(
year +110 (24-20)
ac trip -54 (0-1)

[proximity]

finish april with a 3-7 record and $496 of losses.

along the way I lose to idiots at the racino, horrible limit players at the sands, and close the month out with a $54 loss in a humble 2/4 game at harrah's ac. :blush:

hopefully these april showers will bring some may flowers!! :rolleyes:

month -496 (3-7)
year +110 (24-20)
bonus +90 (ytd)

[proximity]

after wasting half the night trying to catch up at a 2/4 limit table I finally head up to my bed in the bayview tower at harrah's a.c..

I wake up after just an hour or two and crave some breakfast but know that my sleep schedule is just going to be screwed up. I do three trisets of the karl gotch (hindu pushups, hindu squats, and back bridges) and then go for a walk around harrah's for some exercise. around back I walk down the little "boardwalk" outside of harrah's poker room and follow the path all the way over to the golden nugget. I've never been to the nugget before so I go inside and i'm not really impressed. nothing is going on in the small poker room and the casino seems small and dark. I head back to harrah's and use one of my $25 food coupons for the breakfast buffet which isn't very good but I will thank Caesar's entertainment for treating me really well. whizz and other east coast grinders will probably roll their eyes at that but remember I come from penn national where I get next to nothing in comps. in addition to the 100s of comp dollars I already have Caesar's gave me a "platinum" book on my last trip which has 2 $25 food comps and two free buffet comps for harrah's alone. I do have to pay $116 for my room on Friday for this trip, but i'm in for free on Wednesday and Thursday. in addition to the harrah's coupons my platinum book has similar coupons for the other three Caesar's properties: Caesar's, bally's, and showboat.

after breakfast I fall asleep again and try to get up in the afternoon but can't until after 4:00. eventually I head back down to the harrah's poker room and take a seat in a 1-2 super no limit game. i'm holding my own in the game before raising one hand with queens. I get a call from an older player to my right and we see a flop of j-j-t which he checks to me. I bet and he calls. rinse and repeat on the turn. does he really have a jack??? well, yet another jack falls on the river.... lowering the odds of this.... and he bets into me on the river. with not a lot left I make a crying call expecting this drooler to have called my raise with a-j or something out of position but he flips over.... drumroll please.... POCKET FIVES:rolleyes: and I take it down.

not long after I'm in with k-5 from the big blind and see a flop of j-5-5 with two of a suit on the flop. I bet right out and get a call from a younger player across the table. the turn is an innocent 7 and I bet $50 and get raised to $75..... this particular villain's second raise that wasn't big enough in like the last half hour.... which the dealer makes him bump up to $100 since he said "raise" before putting in the chips. at this point on the proximity poker tour i'm like an abused pet that always shies away when a loving hand reaches out to pet it. the worst thing happening over and over and over and over again. I just beat the old man for a good pot and now i'm going to stack off with king -five out from out of the blinds to a player that doesn't even know how to min raise. did he really not raise the flop with ace-five or did he already hit his full house with jack-five? i'm really going to lose it all to a guy playing j-5 or 7-5 from middle position? i'm really going to be up only $10 in game profits for the tour after leaving the mighty Borgata at over +$1300 at one point? :bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

"i'm all in."

I expect a snap call but don't get it. eventually though the villain does make the call and I say "do you have the ace?" while flipping over my k-5. but the villain doesn't have the ace, or the jack, or the seven or the flush draw and flips over queen five!! no queen, jack, or seven on the river and we're home free and finally for the first time in a what seems like forever the laws of probability hold up and I actually dodge these cards on the river, taking down another good pot at harrah's!!

I stay in the game until a little after 8:00 and head back to the waterfront buffet to use another one of my free buffet coupons. I win $260 in the game and am now up $206 for the trip. it feels good to be ahead!!

game +260
year +370 (25-20)
ac trip +206 (1-1)

[proximity]

after booking a nice win at harrah's poker room i head over to their waterfront buffet to use another platinum coupon. i relax over a plate of mostly chinese food with a meatball and piece of garlic toast while reading an antonio esfandiari article about making poker fun and young poker "wizards" ruining the games by taking too long to act on too many decisions.

back upstairs i crash for a few hours before heading back down to the poker room. i get a seat in a short handed 2/4 game. i'm losing at first but launch a rally to get ahead before quitting this boring game with an impressive $7 win. i head back to the bayview tower and fall asleep watching an episode of american greed about the evil tran organization cheating casinos across north america. i wonder if they'd ever been to harrah's ac?

game +7
year +377 (26-20)
trip +213 (2-1)

[proximity]

wake up friday morning after some "normal" human sleeping hours. i've designated today as "boardwalk" day so i jump in my car and head over to the parking garage at showboat. i want to check out the scene over at revel where they're going to be holding bellator 118 later that night. it's at least $52 for bellator and given my compulsive gambling i don't even know if i'll make it back to this end of the boardwalk by fight time so i decide to pass and head down to the dunkin donuts at resorts for breakfast before embarking on the long walk down to tropicana.

i sit down at a 1-2 nl game at tropicana where i'm stuck to the left of a talkative poker "wizard" with a loud nasally voice and horrible breath. i watch this genius get in behind for hundreds of dollars against a loose player on the other side of him but he hits the river. just two donkeys passing in the night.

as for me i'm folding rags, but eventually lose my first two buy ins yet again (see post #155 blind rage) at tropicana by flopping good hands from the blinds. this tropicana trend is becoming very frustrating.

after some more folding i lose a small chunk of buy in number three by betting a turned top pair against some slow played trip threes. eventually i tap all in pre flop with ace-king against two donkeyfish who call with low cards and go on to catch the high and low end of a straight on the river.

another miserable game and a miserable poker experience at tropicana. :mad:

game -180
year +197 (26-21)
trip +33 (2-2)

[proximity]

after yet another crushing session of bad beats from the Tropicana blinds i storm out of the casino and head back up the boardwalk to continue my tour at bally's.

i'm off to a rocky start in the new world series of poker room at bally's here so far in 2014 but i do like this poker room and casino. in this game i get off to another slow start including yet another loss from the blinds. (i'm flopping top pair plus that i would have folded for $2 preflop and losing) before long though i hit a hand or two and surge to like a $54 lead when i get a phone message from my dad that my cousin andy suddenly died of a heart attack at the ripe old age of 36. i go outside to call my dad back and try to make some sense of this. but that isn't going to happen. while we weren't really close, i did like my cousin and would always get updates from my stepmom and sister tracking him and my other cousins on facebook. funny a few days later i'd see on the internet guest book that a friend mentioned that the annual atlantic city trip wasn't going to be the same. guess i wasn't the only a.c. fan in the family?

back inside i badly misplay ace-queen again from the blinds and fall behind. this wasn't bad luck. it was my fault. I've got to get my head in the game and i do. almost down $100 i add a $100 after the blinds and slowly begin a comeback in an enjoyable but tough game. a group of what seemed like old college friends (?) comes in and out of the game and they're pretty cool guys and fairly solid players. one guy has a little of that quick wiffleball whizz wit and was talking about poker pro tj cloutier (?) giving ace-king the name "walking back to Houston." later when one of his friends plays (and wins) with j-9 he repeatedly jabs his pal about his lucky hand and labels j-9 "walking back to Worcester (ma)" .... the second largest city in new England.

i stay through the Phillies 5-3 loss to the Washington nationals and eventually get up a little more than $100 in this tight battle before losing one final hand and finishing at +$76. so i won't be walking back to Houston or Worcester...... only taj mahal.

game +76
year +273 (27-21)
trip +109 (3-2)

[tucker6]

I didn't go back and check, but have you ever started off any game strongly? It seems like you're always playing catch up. If true, just wondering what you attribute that to? The law of averages should give you a better blend of starts than I believe my memory is indicating.

Glad you're still winning though.

[proximity]

I didn't go back and check, but have you ever started off any game strongly? It seems like you're always playing catch up. If true, just wondering what you attribute that to? The law of averages should give you a better blend of starts than I believe my memory is indicating.

Glad you're still winning though.

you're right, I do seem to start bad a lot. hopefully someday my luck will change but for here and now we soldier on up the boardwalk to taj....

note: forgot to mention bally's game was 1-2 super nl. (tend to play 1-1 nl a lot at bally's but not this trip)

[proximity]

after leaving bally's I take a cool walk up the ac boardwalk to taj mahal where I take an open seat in a 2-4-6 limit hold em game. this game features $2 bets preflop and on the flop, a round of $4 bets on the turn, and a $6 bet on the river. maybe johnny chan will sit down for these nosebleed stakes?:rolleyes:

I pick up an early win with "walking back to Worcester" (j-9 if you missed our last game report) from the blinds, turning a full house but perhaps intimidated by (joey) knishesque aura (lol) players begin dropping out of the game and the table starts to get short in both number of players and fuse. one older player even gets kicked out of the room for crumpling up a card..... apparently his second incident of the night.

"f*** you" he's repeatedly saying to the floor man in some kind of European accent. but the floor has no more time for this vintage taj poker patron.

anyhow, it's getting late, i'm paying blinds faster and can see where this is headed. still $5 to the good I pick up my chips and head to the cage. still one boardwalk casino to go!!

game +5 (2/4/6 limit)
year +278 (28-21)
ac trip +114 (4-2)

[thaskalos]

Proximity,

It has always been a habit of mine to assess my play whenever I leave the table. I go through the day's game in some detail in my mind...and I try to learn from whatever mistakes I may have made -- while also noting whatever peculiarities I might have seen. I carry a mini-recorder with me...and I dictate these things to myself during the drive home...while my memory of them is still vivid.

I am wondering if you analyze your play in detail when you are away from the tables...and what conclusions about your experience so far you might have reached. What surprises have you encountered on your poker playing journey...and what lessons have you learned along the way?

[proximity]

I am wondering if you analyze your play in detail when you are away from the tables...and what conclusions about your experience so far you might have reached. What surprises have you encountered on your poker playing journey...and what lessons have you learned along the way?

the only thing I write/record are these posts. I do think about certain hands but prefer to let some time pass so I can view them without the passion.

the number one surprise, and this can't be over emphasized, is that there is even a proximity poker tour at all. 3-5 years ago I knew NOTHING about cards and would laugh in your face if you told me i'd be routinely going to atlantic city like mikey and worm, be getting free rooms and food, invitations to rocky gap, md....... it is just crazy.

as for the four months in the books so far, i'm disappointed of course that I haven't met my modest goals and i'm a little surprised by some of the variance and that i'm down at venues like Charles town and sands while as we head to showboat for my next game i'm only down $10 in atlantic city.

what have I learned? well, i'm not sure I want to draw too many conclusions yet. the thing I want most from this is to be able to look back at the ebbs and flows of a whole year's worth of play and we're only about 1/3 through.

there are certainly many exceptions but one thing I've learned that surprises me is the amount of profits that come from younger players in the no limit games. maybe this was different when online poker was in full swing?

thank you again to everyone for reading and hope to meet many of you someday. I think whizz is the only poker player I've met so far here from paceadvantage??

[wiffleball whizz]

the only thing I write/record are these posts. I do think about certain hands but prefer to let some time pass so I can view them without the passion.

the number one surprise, and this can't be over emphasized, is that there is even a proximity poker tour at all. 3-5 years ago I knew NOTHING about cards and would laugh in your face if you told me i'd be routinely going to atlantic city like mikey and worm, be getting free rooms and food, invitations to rocky gap, md....... it is just crazy.

as for the four months in the books so far, i'm disappointed of course that I haven't met my modest goals and i'm a little surprised by some of the variance and that i'm down at venues like Charles town and sands while as we head to showboat for my next game i'm only down $10 in atlantic city.

what have I learned? well, i'm not sure I want to draw too many conclusions yet. the thing I want most from this is to be able to look back at the ebbs and flows of a whole year's worth of play and we're only about 1/3 through.

there are certainly many exceptions but one thing I've learned that surprises me is the amount of profits that come from younger players in the no limit games. maybe this was different when online poker was in full swing?

thank you again to everyone for reading and hope to meet many of you someday. I think whizz is the only poker player I've met so far here from paceadvantage??

Last time I played cards was with you that day.....

I wanna say it was in February but I vaguely remember telling u a bad beat I took betting football so it may have been earlier then that!!!!

I do remember pulling into the grounds and seeing the lights off as racing was cancelled that night

[proximity]

I complete my Friday a.c. boardwalk tour with a win in a 2/4 limit game at showboat.

a drunk lady two seats to my right tries to bluff me off a turned ace but I hang in and take down the pot. she's raising a lot (good) and later I reraise her with pocket 10s and supposedly bluff her off a-j after a queen turns following a jack high flop.

note: I LOVE to make people call three bets cold in these limit games. if someone raises before me it's almost raise or fold. and I hate when I raise and other players with "good" hands just call and let limpers see a flop for only one more bet. it's tough to beat the rake, tip, and bad beat in these games but there are MANY bad players.

example: there was one hand in this game where I reraised the drunk lady's raise and a guy with pocket jacks just called behind. the bb called two bets with ace-rag suited and eventually sucked out after the pockets jacks flopped a set. RAISE TO EIGHT AND MAKE THE BLINDS CALL THREE BETS. :bang:

anyhow I build about a $60 lead in this little game but drop a few hands late to finish at +33. on this Friday I was able to play in every poker room on the boardwalk and went in every casino except Caesar's. the bad start at Tropicana kept it from being a profitable day but the late win at showboat moved me into the black for 2014 in atlantic city!!

game +33 (2/4 lim)
year +311 (29-21)
trip +147 (5-2)

[tucker6]

The good thing is that your sitting at the table for hours and hours gaining experience without it costing you anything. Remember that. Your take home pay will increase over time.

[Rookies]

[QUOTE=proximity]as for the four months in the books so far, i'm disappointed of course that I haven't met my modest goals

what have I learned? well, i'm not sure I want to draw too many conclusions yet. the thing I want most from this is to be able to look back at the ebbs and flows of a whole year's worth of play and we're only about 1/3 through.
QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy this blog and the stuff I DON'T know about Poker, despite playing off and on for 40 years.

However, from your own accounts, this is clearly not a viable life in terms of paying the various nuts. I do have an acquaintance, an old bugger, who plays the game that this Forum is devoted to. He's a funny dude, looks like an old bag man (I mean the unemployed type) who carries in plastic bags of the Form and the 'Book' of prior results. Doesn't use a computer, lives simply and occupies 2 carrels for the season at my local Woodbine sponsored OTB.

One day, I ask him how he's doing.
"Not bad" he says.
"How not bad?" I says?"

"Well, I have this part time warehouse job for cover, but really this is what I do. Haven't had a losing year in 30, ranging from 10k- 250k!!" :eek: :jump: :ThmbUp:

Is that your goal Proximity or is this just a sidelight?

BTW, saw the same guy last week... in the carrels...

[proximity]

The good thing is that your sitting at the table for hours and hours gaining experience without it costing you anything. Remember that. Your take home pay will increase over time.

the great steelers coach chuck noll had a quote:

"before you can win a game, you have to not lose it."

[proximity]

Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy this blog and the stuff I DON'T know about Poker, despite playing off and on for 40 years.

However, from your own accounts, this is clearly not a viable life in terms of paying the various nuts. I do have an acquaintance, an old bugger, who plays the game that this Forum is devoted to. He's a funny dude, looks like an old bag man (I mean the unemployed type) who carries in plastic bags of the Form and the 'Book' of prior results. Doesn't use a computer, lives simply and occupies 2 carrels for the season at my local Woodbine sponsored OTB.

One day, I ask him how he's doing.
"Not bad" he says.
"How not bad?" I says?"

"Well, I have this part time warehouse job for cover, but really this is what I do. Haven't had a losing year in 30, ranging from 10k- 250k!!" :eek: :jump: :ThmbUp:

Is that your goal Proximity or is this just a sidelight?

BTW, saw the same guy last week... in the carrels...

thank you for reading and following the blog!!

despite reading many tales of wild success on what whizz calls "that other site" my goals for this venture are (I believe) fairly modest. financially i'd like to win hundreds (plural) of dollars a month, which leads to winnings of thousands (plural) of dollars a year..... with which one could eventually pay (or get close to paying) for a new car to drive to the tracks, casinos, racinos..... rinse and repeat.

this may not seem glamorous, but the VAST MAJORITY..... BY FAR.... of people who go to casinos hundreds of times over this same period are going to lose money and most doing this are going to lose BIG.

so in that regard maybe my goal isn't that modest..... since meeting it will probably place me in the top one percent of ALL casino gamblers?

to me, the whole blog is a journey into the unknown. I don't know how the tour is going to end up, but the one thing you can count on is that I will be completely HONEST with you...... ie i'm not some casino shill posting random stories on the internet about how easy gambling is and how i'm raking in 1000s a week, winning almost every single time I play, and so on.....

as for this gentleman at woodbine, there are some good players out there and as great as this forum is it can be refreshing to talk with smart players who share our passion face to face. he should, however, use a computer because placing the bets via computer can usually get a player at least 1/2 to 1 percent more in rebates...... WHICH CAN HAVE A PROFOUND EFFECT ON YOUR PROFITS.

[proximity]

three nights down in atlantic city and we're down to "marina" Saturday where I plan to hit the remaining two poker rooms in the city!

after checking out of harrah's i walk back over to the golden nugget.

not much going on at the nugget and i put my name on a list for 1-1 nl and wait patiently on some couches in the front of the room. meanwhile some players are trying to get a 2-4-6 limit game going and not wanting to sit around the nugget all day i throw my hat in the ring to help them start the game.

there's a great promotion at the nugget on Saturdays: $500 high hand every hour (i believe quads or better that go to showdown w/ >$20 in the pot) AND THERE WERE MAYBE A HANDFUL OF CASH GAMES GOING ON WHILE I WAS THERE.

when the game begins though, i don't have a golden nugget player's card.... which causes some old ladies to absolutely PANIC: because without a golden nugget player's card i won't be eligible for the HIGH HAND!! :eek:

so i get a golden nugget player's card to activate my "high hand" eligibility and calm down the table. of course the nugget COMPLETELY butchers my name despite me handing them my driver's license. :rolleyes: fast forward a few days and my new Vietnamese name does get a golden nugget promotions flyer in the mail at my correct address. :rolleyes:

anyhow, this game has a nice flow with most of the field only sitting around waiting for the high hand. unlike a lot of small limit games, people that don't flop strong aren't staying around praying to go runner-runner. i play around three and a half hours and win $21. i never get close to any high hands, but one of the older ladies did connect on quad 3s one hour and took down $500!!

overall a good place to play on Saturdays. :ThmbUp:

game +21
year +332 (30-21)
trip +168 (6-2)

[dannyhill]

thank you for reading and following the blog!!

despite reading many tales of wild success on what whizz calls "that other site" my goals for this venture are (I believe) fairly modest. financially i'd like to win hundreds (plural) of dollars a month, which leads to winnings of thousands (plural) of dollars a year..... with which one could eventually pay (or get close to paying) for a new car to drive to the tracks, casinos, racinos..... rinse and repeat.
Since you're keeping track of you're daily wins and losses attempting to win hundreds monthly don't forget to include gas,tolls, and all other expenses. Depending upon where you live they can be numerous.
Best of Luck.

[wiffleball whizz]

Since you're keeping track of you're daily wins and losses attempting to win hundreds monthly don't forget to include gas,tolls, and all other expenses. Depending upon where you live they can be numerous.
Best of Luck.

Can't factor that stuff into equasion when he gets free rooms and whatnot....

If I'm logging W/L at pimlico do I have to factor in tips for the waitress and maître d?!?!

[RunForTheRoses]

three nights down in atlantic city and we're down to "marina" Saturday where I plan to hit the remaining two poker rooms in the city!

after checking out of harrah's i walk back over to the golden nugget.

not much going on at the nugget and i put my name on a list for 1-1 nl and wait patiently on some couches in the front of the room. meanwhile some players are trying to get a 2-4-6 limit game going and not wanting to sit around the nugget all day i throw my hat in the ring to help them start the game.

there's a great promotion at the nugget on Saturdays: $500 high hand every hour (i believe quads or better that go to showdown w/ >$20 in the pot) AND THERE WERE MAYBE A HANDFUL OF CASH GAMES GOING ON WHILE I WAS THERE.

when the game begins though, i don't have a golden nugget player's card.... which causes some old ladies to absolutely PANIC: because without a golden nugget player's card i won't be eligible for the HIGH HAND!! :eek:

so i get a golden nugget player's card to activate my "high hand" eligibility and calm down the table. of course the nugget COMPLETELY butchers my name despite me handing them my driver's license. :rolleyes: fast forward a few days ande d my new Vietnamese namoes get a golden nugget promotions flyer in the mail at my correct address. :rolleyes:

anyhow, this game has a nice flow with most of the field only sitting around waiting for the high hand. unlike a lot of small limit games, people that don't flop strong aren't staying around praying to go runner-runner. i play around three and a half hours and win $21. i never get close to any high hands, but one of the older ladies did connect on quad 3s one hour and took down $500!!

overall a good place to play on Saturdays. :ThmbUp:

game +21
year +332 (30-21)
trip +168 (6-2)

my new Vietnamese names:

Pho Ximity? Pho Sho?

[dannyhill]

Can't factor that stuff into equasion when he gets free rooms and whatnot....

If I'm logging W/L at pimlico do I have to factor in tips for the waitress and maître d?!?!
If he makes $200 Saturday night playing poker but spent $40 in gas and tolls how much did he actually make. Getting the free rooms is great and saves him that cash but money is still spent on gas and tolls.
Just saying this cause i get the impression he drives a far distance when he plays. These expenses can eat a small bankroll up.

[proximity]

my new Vietnamese names:

Pho Ximity? Pho Sho?

pretty close.... and you didn't even have my driver's license. :D

[proximity]

If he makes $200 Saturday night playing poker but spent $40 in gas and tolls how much did he actually make. Getting the free rooms is great and saves him that cash but money is still spent on gas and tolls.
Just saying this cause i get the impression he drives a far distance when he plays. These expenses can eat a small bankroll up.

dannyhill,

I play the most and win the most at penn national..... which I can basically walk to. it's a racino with decidedly fishier opposition than i'll typically face in atlantic city. so if pure money was my motive I'd sell my car and just walk over there every day. i'd also stop tipping the dealers.

while I do pay for gas and tolls to go to atlantic city I also get free rooms as whizz mentioned as well as a lot of free food and comp dollars that usually run between $1 and $1.50 an hour for the games I play. and now I've been invited to the resort at rocky gap, md for two free nights, free golf, and $40 of free slots play....

next week I could make more money staying home and playing horses but i'm considering driving down to pimlico for a day. why? because I place more value in the trip than the money I may win or lose at the windows.

hope this answer is sufficient and thanks for reading and posting!!

proximity

[wiffleball whizz]

dannyhill,

I play the most and win the most at penn national..... which I can basically walk to. it's a racino with decidedly fishier opposition than i'll typically face in atlantic city. so if pure money was my motive I'd sell my car and just walk over there every day. i'd also stop tipping the dealers.

while I do pay for gas and tolls to go to atlantic city I also get free rooms as whizz mentioned as well as a lot of free food and comp dollars that usually run between $1 and $1.50 an hour for the games I play. and now I've been invited to the resort at rocky gap, md for two free nights, free golf, and $40 of free slots play....

next week I could make more money staying home and playing horses but i'm considering driving down to pimlico for a day. why? because I place more value in the trip than the money I may win or lose at the windows.

hope this answer is sufficient and thanks for reading and posting!!

proximity

There is a table reserved on Thursday with a buffet....Friday will be fun

Oh.....and there's a pretty good poker room close.....75 percent chance of a card game breaking out at my house thur-sat....

[dannyhill]

dannyhill,

I play the most and win the most at penn national..... which I can basically walk to. it's a racino with decidedly fishier opposition than i'll typically face in atlantic city. so if pure money was my motive I'd sell my car and just walk over there every day. i'd also stop tipping the dealers.

while I do pay for gas and tolls to go to atlantic city I also get free rooms as whizz mentioned as well as a lot of free food and comp dollars that usually run between $1 and $1.50 an hour for the games I play. and now I've been invited to the resort at rocky gap, md for two free nights, free golf, and $40 of free slots play....

next week I could make more money staying home and playing horses but i'm considering driving down to pimlico for a day. why? because I place more value in the trip than the money I may win or lose at the windows.

hope this answer is sufficient and thanks for reading and posting!!

proximity
Most definitely sufficient. Since there is mention of the free room and hourly rebate again, i see that we look to attain different bottom lines, and that's okay.
Continued success with getting what you want from poker. It's a great game.

[wiffleball whizz]

Most definitely sufficient. Since there is mention of the free room and hourly rebate again, i see that we look to attain different bottom lines, and that's okay.
Continued success with getting what you want from poker. It's a great game.

It's a terrible game...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

It's getting harder and harder by the day...

People's first time playing and there firing 60 every street whether they have it or not.....dangerous

[dannyhill]

It's a terrible game...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

It's getting harder and harder by the day...

People's first time playing and there firing 60 every street whether they have it or not.....dangerous
I would much rather play with those types than a table full of rocks.
Certainly those hyper aggressive types are challenging but in the long run they are wonderful players to have at a table if you can handle the emotional and financial swings.

[wiffleball whizz]

I would much rather play with those types than a table full of rocks.
Certainly those hyper aggressive types are challenging but in the long run they are wonderful players to have at a table if you can handle the emotional and financial swings.


Obviously myself and proximity are the 2 people here that don't have pockets full of money....

Anytime u see the whizz in action it's usually case money in play....not totally case money but case enough

Poker dangerous to play on short money and luckily I'm immune to it now HAHAHAHAHA

[dannyhill]

Obviously myself and proximity are the 2 people here that don't have pockets full of money....

Anytime u see the whizz in action it's usually case money in play....not totally case money but case enough

Poker dangerous to play on short money and luckily I'm immune to it now HAHAHAHAHA
Most players at different times in their gambling careers are playing with short or case cash. No doubt playing properly on short money is very difficult to do. Especially with hyper aggressive players at the table. Different strategy needed with those types.
Should be you're signature line....... Not totally case money but case enough:lol:

[thaskalos]

Obviously myself and proximity are the 2 people here that don't have pockets full of money....

Anytime u see the whizz in action it's usually case money in play....not totally case money but case enough

Poker dangerous to play on short money and luckily I'm immune to it now HAHAHAHAHA
If you are short of money...then play limit, and wait for the nuts. No-limit is a different animal...in my opinion.

[proximity]

There is a table reserved on Thursday with a buffet....Friday will be fun

Oh.....and there's a pretty good poker room close.....75 percent chance of a card game breaking out at my house thur-sat....

i'm going to try and go friday. will probably just go in general admission.

what's the roster looking like so far?

[proximity]

If you are short of money...then play limit, and wait for the nuts. No-limit is a different animal...in my opinion.

if i recall correctly he is a pretty tough limit player with bigger limit game experience in both conn and nj.

[wiffleball whizz]

if i recall correctly he is a pretty tough limit player with bigger limit game experience in both conn and nj.

10/20 or 20/40......but those days are gonnnnnne

Limit is a dead game and it's filled with collusion now....


After the pimlico stand I'm gonna start playing cards again....

[wiffleball whizz]

i'm going to try and go friday. will probably just go in general admission.

what's the roster looking like so far?

Gonna start one up......we can figure out a way to scam pimlico into you sitting in my seats.....maybe I'll walk by the usher 6 times with my badge then I'll hand it off to you.....got 2 friends coming from nj and we can talk poker war stories ....

More then enough room if u wanna stay here

Are u sure u remember anything about horse racing after this poker odyssey?!?

[dannyhill]

Gonna start one up......we can figure out a way to scam pimlico into you sitting in my seats.....maybe I'll walk by the usher 6 times with my badge then I'll hand it off to you.....got 2 friends coming from nj and we can talk poker war stories ....
Strike up a conversation with the usher and offer to bring him a soda or such. Should help him remember ya.

[wiffleball whizz]

Strike up a conversation with the usher and offer to bring him a soda or such. Should help him remember ya.

I agree......

Total derailment of this thread HAHAHAHAHA

[proximity]

after leaving the golden nugget I take the walking path back over to harrah's and keep going, and going, and going..... eventually winding up at atlantic city's biggest and best poker room: THE BORGATA.

I grab 100 red and take a seat in a 1-2 nl game. it's derby Saturday and usually I find the competition at Borgata to be a little fishier than on the boardwalk but today i'm stuck at a table of sharks. I start off bad again running a-k into kings and a-q into aces. hoping third time is a charm I raise again with a-k and run into multiple players holding a-q.... you guessed it: queen high flop. :faint:

with my stack dwindling I rush to the bathroom during the derby which is playing on a tv high overhead. i'm facing some tough competition at this table and having horrible luck with the rare playable hands I do get. I decide to stick it out for another hour, saving some daylight for the walk back to harrah's. eventually I get ace-queen again and take a chance with a small raise. I miss on a raggy flop that doesn't look too imposing and take another chance by c-betting after the action gets checked to me with only a player or two behind. i do get a call or two and get lucky by hitting my queen on the turn and taking down the pot.

i got enough action on this hand to put me back to within 3 or 4 dollars of getting even. if i can comeback to win here i'll have beaten every room in the city except Tropicana.... but we're running out of daylight and time. i stay for a couple more orbits but don't connect on anything.

had i won at Borgata i would have driven over to the boardwalk to try and beat Tropicana but truth be told i really didn't want to do that. it would have been great to have booked a win at every poker room in the city but for this trip, just the experience of playing in all of ac's rooms will have to suffice.

game -9
year +323 (30-22)
trip +159 (6-3)

[davew]

You went in the bathroom to watch the Derby?

[dannyhill]

You went in the bathroom to watch the Derby?
For some reason the bathroom scene from let it Ride just ran through my head.

[proximity]

didn't watch the derby. just used its distraction to miss the fewest hands possible at the table. still might go to tomorrow's black eyed susan? doesn't look like there's going to be too much of a p.a. turnout though?

[wiffleball whizz]

didn't watch the derby. just used its distraction to miss the fewest hands possible at the table. still might go to tomorrow's black eyed susan? doesn't look like there's going to be too much of a p.a. turnout though?

Get down here....you got free tix both days

[proximity]

lose $9 at Borgata and take a short cut across the big empty field between casinos to get back to harrah's.

i use another free food coupon to grab a late supper at Sammy d's. merle haggard will be the main attraction tonight at harrah's and i wonder about our poker tour and if we (will) make it through December? we've lost so much money recently that i wonder "are the good times really over?" it is sad to think about, but everybody's had the blues. after passing the derby i guess i'm no Kentucky gambler? i could be movin' on to the boardwalk but decide that i think i'll just stay here and drink. maybe yesterday's wine? we're ahead so far in atlantic city, but hopefully this won't be my favorite memory in my poker career.

enough merle, i decide to stay at harrah's and finish out the trip by taking an open seat in a miserable 2-4 limit game. i jump out to an early $26 lead but begin losing it back, starting with "aces up" losing to a turned straight. i can't say i feel to welcomed in the game but one woman eventually enters the game and starts tapping the tank HARD. she is basically calling these players donkeys to their faces and one older player first "qualifies" himself as just being a slots player out for some fun before leaving the game totally. eventually the game starts getting short and i drop out down $12, putting me back to exactly even for the day. i do win for the trip though, making me 2 for 3 overall on a.c. trips this year and up like $23 in this tough venue.

game -12 (2/4 lim)
year +311 (30-23)
ac trip +147 (6-4)

[proximity]

Get down here....you got free tix both days

what time are you going to go on Friday?

I might try and go tonight. I actually got my printer out and dusted it off, lol.

one good thing about poker is that while I will think about hands and concepts away from the felt, I basically just show up and play. whereas in racing i'm always looking to chop and change my game often delaying the start of a year or season until I think things are now "perfect" .... which they never are and never will be.

[wiffleball whizz]

what time are you going to go on Friday?

I might try and go tonight. I actually got my printer out and dusted it off, lol.

one good thing about poker is that while I will think about hands and concepts away from the felt, I basically just show up and play. whereas in racing i'm always looking to chop and change my game often delaying the start of a year or season until I think things are now "perfect" .... which they never are and never will be.

When I get outta work....I got 2 tix on wire and parking pass.... Saturday is out as I sold Saturday tix couldn't pass up the cheese

[proximity]

finally got to return to the racino for a game of 1-2 nl.

there were some wild hands in this game with hundreds of dollars exchanging hands over some very dubious holdings. big money (for 1-2) getting pushed over the line with over pairs, draws, and even middle pair. if you didn't know better you'd think the object of the game was just to sit there for awhile, order a drink or two, and then suddenly just give your chips to another random player.

unfortunately I can't seem to get involved in any of these pots and only flop one decent hand in the game. I do win that hand however and a couple other hands. eventually I win back the $21 I lost at Borgata and harrah's and head for the door, having to get up early the next morning to drive to pimlico for the black eyed susan.

game +21
year +332 (31-23)