The Poker Chronicles Entry 6
The night I learned my lesson.
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005.
Foxwoods-
10:00 pm. " I have nothing, just Ace High.. I only had 12 bucks left, wanted to make something happen.."
Yeah. That was me. I Sat down at a fun table of 2-4 limit , my normal game at 8 PM. I posted as I normally do, and received 3-7 off suit.. UGH! I thought.. that’s what I get for posting. Well people call, and we see a flop. I laugh to myself as I flopped a straight a few raises later and I rake in a 34 $ pot. everyone chuckles as I say ' 3-7 off suit a Post special'. Meaning I only played the 3-7 off because I had to pay the big blind to sit at the table, so playing the 3-7 wasn’t a bad move at that point. Well. it was to be the only pot I won for the next two hours. I didn’t catch a hand, and I mean really cold cards, nothing above a 6. I finally get AA in the hole, I lose to a straight. I catch QQ, and the guy I was chatting with to my left has AA. ha-ha. All in all I had a great time, cuz we laughed and joked for two hours. Though, I don’t think Id like to spend 100 bucks to laugh and joke with people I don’t even know...
Several Times while playing Nate visited me at the table and gave me updates on how he was doing.. "down 100.." " Now down...200!" I told him he should just go home. He didn’t think that was a good idea. What he did think was a good Idea was playing at the No limit table.. I wished him luck. Just as I was finishing up my elevator ride to the bottom at the 2-4 limit table Nate arrived back at my table to see me make the quote above. I thought 10 pm was an ok time to go home.. though I would have liked to have made money, I was glad I had the pre thought to only bring 100 with me. 'Dude' he said " I am never playing limit ever again.." he continued as we walked to his 1-2 No limit table. " every game we have been playing for the last 18 months every article we have read, show we watched instructional video, is about No limit, so why the fuck have we been playing that coin flip 2-4 limit.. cuz we were scared.. I’m telling you be scared no more.. I have made back all my money, in 1 hour at this table.." He showed me his stack of reds ($5 chips), he wasn’t lying he had made back the entire 250 he was down.. I was amazed. He handed me 100 bucks he said " do it... this is your game, man.." I was reluctant for I hadn’t caught cards all night. But shit if someone’s gunna stake me.. Ill play.. :)
10:30 PM I sit down at the 1-2 No limit for the first time at a casino. I look around. The stacks in front of some of these guys are pretty big. I imagine the reds add up pretty quick. I Post, and am scared as the raises go around the table. it gets to me and I decide that I will fold and lose my 2 bucks.. For the next 30 minutes I study my opponents, see who plays what and how, betting patterns mood swings and body language. I make my donations every once in a while, but studying these guys is easy cuz, I still hadn’t caught a hand, so I aint playing a single thing,I am just watching.. Bad night for me I think to myself. Through blinds, Table dues ( $5/ half hour) and a few attempts to play marginal hands, I am whittled down to 40 bucks. The Damn cards were just not fallin my way at all. I catch a break, and split an 80 dollar pot with a guy who has the exact same hand as I do. "That’s at least something" I console myself. Another small-ish pot has me up to about 90 bucks. I start to think how I like this game.. the 1-2 No limit. I can use my skills unlike the 2-4 limit, which I now compare to Roulette as being the same game. The problem i have is that I'm still not catching any cards. Until.. Bam. K-K. I place out my 2 bucks and wait to see what the rest of the table is gunna do. I did this because of my position on the table. Everyone else limps in to the button who throws in 15 more to make it 17 to go. The two players to my right fold and I smooth call, not raising him, cuz I don’t think he has AA. One other player calls. The flop comes down Q-5-3. I bet out 10 bucks to test the waters. The other guy calls and the button raises all in, which is only another 40 or so. I looked at my stack which at this point was about 100. I saw that the 'other guys' stack was about the same. "I'm all in" I said. To which the other guy folded. I pulled back my 60 over bet and we flipped. He had Q-10. My Kings held up and I won the pot. I was commended on my play as the Young man reached into his pocket to re buy in. The only other win I had was against a loose aggressive player, I had flopped almost the nut flush. I had QJ of spades the A 5 9 of S dropped. On the river, the loose aggressive player bets out 25 bucks. I look at him and kinda frown, and I look at him like 'im trying to figure him out'. I know I’m already gunna raise it, but this is just an act to get him to call. He smiles at me. I shake my head. ' No way.' I said ' I raise you.' I throw in the 25 and put out another 50. He nods and says ' ok..' and tosses in the raise. I flip my Queen high flush confident that he didn’t have the one card in the deck that would beat me.. He looks at my cards at the board , wraps the table says ' Nice hand' as he mucks. Indeed it was a nice hand. hehe That made my stack bigger, and allowed me to leave the table about 20 minutes later, having made my 100 back, nates 100 back and 100 profit and I only played four hands. I think I’m gunna like this no limit thing at the casino. Bring em on and may I make the cash to buy crap frivolously ;)
I certainly learned that i was playing the wrong tables and win or lose from now on I should be at the no limit table.... its where I can use the skills I have worked so hard to hone.
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2005.
Foxwoods-
10:00 pm. " I have nothing, just Ace High.. I only had 12 bucks left, wanted to make something happen.."
Yeah. That was me. I Sat down at a fun table of 2-4 limit , my normal game at 8 PM. I posted as I normally do, and received 3-7 off suit.. UGH! I thought.. that’s what I get for posting. Well people call, and we see a flop. I laugh to myself as I flopped a straight a few raises later and I rake in a 34 $ pot. everyone chuckles as I say ' 3-7 off suit a Post special'. Meaning I only played the 3-7 off because I had to pay the big blind to sit at the table, so playing the 3-7 wasn’t a bad move at that point. Well. it was to be the only pot I won for the next two hours. I didn’t catch a hand, and I mean really cold cards, nothing above a 6. I finally get AA in the hole, I lose to a straight. I catch QQ, and the guy I was chatting with to my left has AA. ha-ha. All in all I had a great time, cuz we laughed and joked for two hours. Though, I don’t think Id like to spend 100 bucks to laugh and joke with people I don’t even know...
Several Times while playing Nate visited me at the table and gave me updates on how he was doing.. "down 100.." " Now down...200!" I told him he should just go home. He didn’t think that was a good idea. What he did think was a good Idea was playing at the No limit table.. I wished him luck. Just as I was finishing up my elevator ride to the bottom at the 2-4 limit table Nate arrived back at my table to see me make the quote above. I thought 10 pm was an ok time to go home.. though I would have liked to have made money, I was glad I had the pre thought to only bring 100 with me. 'Dude' he said " I am never playing limit ever again.." he continued as we walked to his 1-2 No limit table. " every game we have been playing for the last 18 months every article we have read, show we watched instructional video, is about No limit, so why the fuck have we been playing that coin flip 2-4 limit.. cuz we were scared.. I’m telling you be scared no more.. I have made back all my money, in 1 hour at this table.." He showed me his stack of reds ($5 chips), he wasn’t lying he had made back the entire 250 he was down.. I was amazed. He handed me 100 bucks he said " do it... this is your game, man.." I was reluctant for I hadn’t caught cards all night. But shit if someone’s gunna stake me.. Ill play.. :)
10:30 PM I sit down at the 1-2 No limit for the first time at a casino. I look around. The stacks in front of some of these guys are pretty big. I imagine the reds add up pretty quick. I Post, and am scared as the raises go around the table. it gets to me and I decide that I will fold and lose my 2 bucks.. For the next 30 minutes I study my opponents, see who plays what and how, betting patterns mood swings and body language. I make my donations every once in a while, but studying these guys is easy cuz, I still hadn’t caught a hand, so I aint playing a single thing,I am just watching.. Bad night for me I think to myself. Through blinds, Table dues ( $5/ half hour) and a few attempts to play marginal hands, I am whittled down to 40 bucks. The Damn cards were just not fallin my way at all. I catch a break, and split an 80 dollar pot with a guy who has the exact same hand as I do. "That’s at least something" I console myself. Another small-ish pot has me up to about 90 bucks. I start to think how I like this game.. the 1-2 No limit. I can use my skills unlike the 2-4 limit, which I now compare to Roulette as being the same game. The problem i have is that I'm still not catching any cards. Until.. Bam. K-K. I place out my 2 bucks and wait to see what the rest of the table is gunna do. I did this because of my position on the table. Everyone else limps in to the button who throws in 15 more to make it 17 to go. The two players to my right fold and I smooth call, not raising him, cuz I don’t think he has AA. One other player calls. The flop comes down Q-5-3. I bet out 10 bucks to test the waters. The other guy calls and the button raises all in, which is only another 40 or so. I looked at my stack which at this point was about 100. I saw that the 'other guys' stack was about the same. "I'm all in" I said. To which the other guy folded. I pulled back my 60 over bet and we flipped. He had Q-10. My Kings held up and I won the pot. I was commended on my play as the Young man reached into his pocket to re buy in. The only other win I had was against a loose aggressive player, I had flopped almost the nut flush. I had QJ of spades the A 5 9 of S dropped. On the river, the loose aggressive player bets out 25 bucks. I look at him and kinda frown, and I look at him like 'im trying to figure him out'. I know I’m already gunna raise it, but this is just an act to get him to call. He smiles at me. I shake my head. ' No way.' I said ' I raise you.' I throw in the 25 and put out another 50. He nods and says ' ok..' and tosses in the raise. I flip my Queen high flush confident that he didn’t have the one card in the deck that would beat me.. He looks at my cards at the board , wraps the table says ' Nice hand' as he mucks. Indeed it was a nice hand. hehe That made my stack bigger, and allowed me to leave the table about 20 minutes later, having made my 100 back, nates 100 back and 100 profit and I only played four hands. I think I’m gunna like this no limit thing at the casino. Bring em on and may I make the cash to buy crap frivolously ;)
I certainly learned that i was playing the wrong tables and win or lose from now on I should be at the no limit table.... its where I can use the skills I have worked so hard to hone.