Triple Play

I enjoyed my home game on Saturday night, a 20 person tournament outside under our new patio cover, and two tournaments at HPC the very next day!

I drew a dream table for my home game. 6 of the most tight/passive players I have ever had the pleasure of sitting down with. (Also some of the nicest people, so this in no way refers to them -rather to their poker skillz).

But I had to be careful as well, for their almost universal and unwavering proclivity to call, and call, and call, and call. This could be a beautiful thing. Wake up with a set and get paid, handsomely. Or flop the nuts, shove and get looked up. You know, the most beautiful phrase a poker player can hear - "I had to keep you honest." Love it.

Alas, my run was not deep; but overall I felt good about my play. Before I delve, let me reflect on a couple of players at the table.

The first is my brother-in-law Dave G. HW in C. Head Whiner in Charge. Dave is an incredibly smart fellow, a software engineer by trade and has a lot more brain power and ambition than I do - I look up to him for how he's been able to provide for his family and how he is very much a self made man.

But as far as poker goes, he is about as weak as it gets. First, he only likes to get involved with an incredibly narrow range. Face cards, a pair, or premiums. Occasionally if the price is right he will speculate with suited connectors, but even more disastrously - with whatever he does decide to play, he gives little or no consideration to position.

If the fold doesn't fit his hand, he check/folds. Which I love, but obviously is a monster leak.

An even bigger crack and ultimately more damaging flaw in his game, is that he has zero clue how to bet size properly after the flop.

100/200 with a 25 ante. I'm about 50 bigs deep. I am chip leader at the table by a small margin. I limp in the cutoff with pocket 8's. Limping was super profitable at this table - bear in mind the extreme passivity and the aforementioned calling-station afflictions.

Five players (all called) - big pot already. Flop comes Kh 6c Js. Dave G. leads out from the BB with 300 into a pot of 1175. Two callers and then it's to me. I have no draw and there are two over cards on the board. The pot is 2075, I have to put in 300. I'm getting almost 7 to 1 odds to call. Not a great price to hit a 2 outer that may already be drawing dead, but for a donk like me - irresistible.

The pot is now 2375. The turn comes an 8 of clubs. Dave G. bets out, the same amount. Now the pot is 2675. The two players between us, wait for it... wait for it...

wait for it...

...

...fold. Almost 10 to 1 odds are apparently no good although they called with 4 to 1 and 5 to 1 respectively on 3rd street. Okay.

I raise Dave up to 1500. He hems and haws, giant sigh, hemming and hawing. He's not acting. He reluctantly calls - over half of his stack is now in the pot. He is probably pot committed.

The river is a baby club. Dave silently checks.

Now the correct play here with most players is to check behind, as any flush draws got there and trip 8's has good enough show down value and I'm likely only to get called by a better hand, though king jack is a possibility.

But then I remember who I am playing. Would he call me down with KQ? (As this is what I had put him on - he would likely re-raise pre with AK). Would he have checked if he had made an unlikely back door flush? Don't think so. I shove. Like I said, probably not the best choice, but I really felt like I would get paid off with a second or even a third best hand, especially since (as I said) Dave was basically pot committed, having stuck almost 2/3 of his chips into the pot.

He hems and haws, and hems and haws, and mucks in disgust. His stack is crippled, and so is he - emotionally.

His shoulders sink, his head bows. I drag the sizable pot. I want to show, but I don't want to hurt my maniac image at the table. The fish around me think I'm being the bully, and I want them to continue to think that so that their calling station asses will pay me off when I four bet shove with Kings.

In hindsight, I should have shown Dave that he was beat - hopefully taking some of the sting out.

He didn't last much longer, getting it all in with AK after the flop blanked and someone else looking him up with middle pair.

Then he said a curt goodnight and stormed out.

Poker wins, Dave loses. It can truly be a brutal game - soul sucking even. This was not one of those instances. But the overreaction continued...

I got an abrupt e-mail the next morning. 'Please take me off the list. I'm tired of being first out and the dumbest at the table. Thanks, Dave.'

Like I said, he's a smart guy. Very perceptive of his surroundings and how he is perceived - but in this case I think he is wrong. I do classify him as a fish at my game, but he is nowhere near the top of that list. And if he would simply sit and read Harrington on Hold-Em volume 1, his game would improve leaps and bounds. Because he is playing without the fundamentals, he is handicapped. A simple foundation of no-limit basics would automatically make him better.

Now putting other people on hands, is simply something he has to work on through experience - but if he has the bedrock down, the house will follow.

Alas, I fear he has been stung too badly to recover any time soon - which is, a gross overreaction - but a genuine one. If I try to mention anything to him about how he might improve, I am likely only to make it worse. This is the curse us men are faced with - admitting vulnerability isn't exactly our forte'.

My second story has to do with the dude I consider to be my best friend - Cali.

I have begged and pleaded with him to get away from play chip poker online - I think it has really hurt his game. His idea of playing poker is four simple steps. Be patient, wake up with a monster, stick your chips in, get paid.

This approach, believe it or not, actually works to great effect when there is no real money involved. People are happy to call off with AJ pre-flop, when they have nothing to lose. I'm not sure exactly what their thought process is, but probably something like - "Huh? All-in? This guy hasn't played a hand in an hour, but my gut says he's just trying to bully me. I have a pair of sixes, I call!"

Yes, if people were as brain damaged in real money poker as they are with play chips I would fold my way to the money and then get all-in in a multi-way pot with Aces too. And I would be a millionaire, and so would Cali.

I'll concede that it can also be effective against a home game fish who is out for a few beers and some fun on a Saturday night, but my game in particular is seeing less and less of those players as the learning curve steepens.

But I digress.

Saturday night, I actually offered to pay him a dollar if he would show the aces he was about to muck. He continued his mucking motion - "A dollar if you show me your kings!" I added. He flipped over the cowboys.

He wasn't short stacked. It wasn't time to go big or go home. He just was playing scared and didn't want to raise the limpers for value. He wanted them all to fold so he could drag a pot of 500.

In table poker Cali's problem stems from his attachment to the money behind the chips. (Ironically he carries the same problem over into the play chip online arena by "Playing like it's real money", turns out it's profitable for him - so it reinforces this bad behavior).

One of the great things about tournament poker is that once your fee is paid, the money is gone. You don't have it any more. As an aside, this applies as well to poker in a general sense when your blinds are out or you've called on previous streets - that money is gone, it is in the pot, it doesn't belong to you anymore. In both cases, it shouldn't affect your decision making process. Make the right decision, don't try to hold onto cash that isn't even yours at the moment.

Chips are not money. Chips are tools, to be used in a variety of creative ways to extract value from your opponents.

Cali often reassures me that he does bluff and steal, but really I've only been dimly aware of this on a few occasions, and in all of those occasions Cali has been deep stacked, doubled or tripled up on a prior hand with aces or kings - or flush with chips after his passive set mining hit and got paid off by a resident calling station.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't fire a 3 bet or multiple barrels with air too often if I'm at or below 20 bigs, but if I've got 30 or more, meaning room to maneuver, I'm going to recognize that I absolutely cannot wait for a premium hand.
I must, must, MUST look for opportunities - targets - to steal chips and accumulate.

Likewise, if I'm at an aggressive table and not allowed to set mine or speculate, I'm going to have to play back at some point. The most aggressive maniac, the biggest bully, if he's not sitting on a monster or a monster draw - will back off if you play back effectively. He'll look for an easier target.

By the time it was time for Cali to go big or go home, he was whittled down so much that even when he did double up with pocket queens, he was still too short stacked to be any kind of a threat.

I busted out well before him, which Cali enjoyed gloating about, but if my hand had won at show down I would have been chip leader far and away at my table and perhaps for the whole three tables at the tournament.

My bust out, was not the greatest play of my life, but it certainly wasn't the worst. However, it was maybe the worst when you consider who I was in the hand with.

There was an aforementioned top tier fish on my right, who has in the four years she's been playing at my game finally recognized that sometimes it's correct to fold. I used this evolution in her poker brain against her mercilessly all night, as she tried to limp only to have me 3 bet large - often she would actually lay down her weak holdings.

Blinds were starting to grow, antes had kicked in.

I had Q10c . She limped, I popped it. Folded around to her, she complained bitterly about me always raising her limps, and called very reluctantly.

Flop came Kc 6c 10h. She looked a little fearful, cocked her head and checked.

Okay, she could have a king, it makes sense for her in how she played it. KJ, KQ, even AK. She could be on a draw like me, the nut flush? I hope not. Or, weirdly enough, she could have a decent over pair. Not huge though. With aces or kings she would likely have min-raised pre and wouldn't have Hollywooded my 3 bet. (Though she probably would have just flatted.) She could have limp called queens I suppose, though a more sensible person would've four bet all in with queens or jacks. But she more than likely would have done exactly what she did with jacks, tens, nines, and maybe even with queens. She's limping and check calling just as she's done so far. Same as with a Kx. Really my gut was telling me she hit a king with a medium kicker or a big draw. I would just have to pray that my draw was bigger.

I shoved. She hemmed and hawed a bit (yay) and then finally in classic form said "Oh well, guess it's time to go home." before calling and turning up red queens. (yuk)

Sigh.

I had 11 outs - 9 clubs and 2 tens. 44%. Turn was a 9s. Now we both had 3 extra outs (jacks) for a chop.

River was a 7 of spades.

Two thirds of my hard earned chips fell away from me.

I was lightly steamed, but handled it pretty well.

"I was so afraid you had something." she said as she stacked her spoils. "Yeah well..." I intoned, that was the idea. She belly laughed at my tilt, oblivious that she had just flipped for her tournament life with an over card on a very wet board that had nothing to do with her premium pair that she had butchered pre-flop.

And that's why I mangled this hand horribly. If I could rewind the tape it would go something like this -

I three bet her limp, like I have all tournament - this time, instead of folding she calls.

Warning flag should go off. She has, something. Not likely aces or kings, but potentially a premium holding or jacks or tens.

Flop comes with my big flush draw and middle pair. She checks.

Time for me to take a free card - because if I hit, I can still bust her. Whatever she has, she's probably fallen in love with it and won't release it. My turn bet was a big mistake.

The river blanks. She checks.

I need to check behind and show my middle pair - it has a very small showdown value - but I'm not taking her off the hand.

She shows her queens. I have lost 3 big blinds total. Stack intact as well as my sanity.

Oh well.

I eventually got whittled down Cali style. With zero room to maneuver I was in push and pray mode, but found nothing to push until my big blind was half my stack. I got in live, but Robert A.'s ace held up.

Like I said, I wasn't too displeased with how I had played against a random poker player but it really was a cluster fuck when you look at it in the context of being up against a level 1 thinker that I've been playing with for years. Mainly I was disappointed to have accumulated so much and then let it get away from me when I didn't have a made hand (though the draw was pretty big) and I was up against a calling station that gave me very little fold equity on a terrifying board. Also, my image as a maniac bully didn't help my cause I'm sure.

But there was plenty to keep me busy that night, as running a 20 person tournament is no small task. It was fun, and I look forward to doing it again in 2 weeks.

Still, after cashing for three months in a row in my home tournament, I was hungry to hit the felt again. So I took the opportunity the next day, a lazy Sunday where it was 105 in the shade, to head out to fabulous Inglewood and the glamorous gambling palace known as Hollywood Park Casino.

I sat down a half hour late for the Sunday 10K guarantee - a fun $40 tournament that is in actuality a $150 -$200 buy in after you figure in rebuys and add-ons. I was happy to gamble it up early on, but couldn't catch any monsters to reap the benefits of the loosey goosey rebuy frenzied table of degenerates.

I did pay off a local when he craftily slow played me out of position with top pair middling kicker - he took me to value town on the river and I looked him up with a measly pair of eights.

After add-ons I had a decent stack to play with, but really couldn't get anything going. My run of cards was absolutely dreadful, which isn't usually enough to hold me back - but with under 30 bigs I wasn't comfortable telling a story that would see me pot committed by fourth street.

But, I was determined not to get blinded off - I refused to get even close to 10 big blinds. So I started pulling the trigger after the antes kicked in and I was just under 20 big blinds.

The move worked once with AJos UTG. Then again with pocket sixes in the hijack. Then finally I got looked up with the latter when I shoved with a suited version of the former. His sixes held, I was on the rail.

But better to give myself a fighting chance, then to get shaved down into the dead zone where a double or triple up wouldn't have amounted to anything.

Disappointment hung over me yet again - not too much at my play this time, but definitely at my results.

Oh well, better luck next time. The sensible thing to do is to take a break. So naturally I registered for the afternoon tournament.

Unlike the morning 10K, where 20 tables are normal, the afternoon is a simple $100 freeze out that is lucky to see 4 tables. This afternoon the heat must have kept people at home - as only 14 players registered. Bummer.

Still, I took it as an opportunity to work on my live game and maybe experiment a bit. It was crucial that I not worry about dropping a couple of buy-ins on the day. Again, the money is already gone. Separating the cash from the chips is the only way to play level headed poker.

For the first two hours I hung in there. Catching some big cards here and there to keep me active and about average in chips. I did notice, the table was ridiculously passive, as compared to the morning aggro-fest.

We had a guy who basically sat down and wouldn't shut up, I couldn't peg his accent. I nicknamed him Borat.

He clearly fancied himself better than everyone else and a table captain. He donked off half of his stack to me when I flopped two pair and filled up on the river. He bet big into me - and I pushed, he let it go but he was damaged. All of the sudden Chatty Cathy wasn't so chatty anymore.

Shortly after, he was out. Play was uneventful into the third hour. Damn this table was weak. I was limping a lot, but not really accumulating, as my speculation failed to materialize. I had to pee.

Finally, a break. As I relieved myself (TMI?) I really pondered where I was at. I had room to breath at 35 bigs, but I was a bit below chip average. Everybody was pretty damn passive. As I shook myself off (definitely TMI) I resolved to change gears and go big or go home. It was time to get active, it was time to get involved, it was time to shove light if necessary - because if I didn't accumulate chips now, I wouldn't have a chance to later.

We had combined to a 9 handed final table. Yes! Final table in a tournament with 14 people. I got a few laughs when I said I was going to tweet this.

So we settled into play. At first my plan didn't take off - I really had a lot of garbage thrown at me. But no one else was raising. God dammit. I looked down at 104 suited spades in the cutoff. I raised it up. The big blind defended. Board came with 2 spades. The big blind led out with a less than half pot donk bet. The pot was not small at this point. I pondered for a moment. I shoved.

He tanked forever. Whatever his eventual decision, it was clear my move was correct. I brought maximum pressure down on one of the two bigger stacks at the table - who also happened to be a real poker player. This move would probably have been ill advised against most of my regulars back home.

He gave it up. I raked the pot.

I never looked back. Unless I had total trash I raised every hand that was open folded to me when I was on the button, cutoff or hijack. I had the good fortune of having a very tight passive to my immediate left, who let me become the button when he was there or pillage his big blind when I was small over and over again. I don't think he ever caught on.

The gentleman to his left was a bit more savvy, so I generally shut it down if he flatted and I blanked. Generally.

The one exception was this. On the button with pocket tens, folded to me, I pop it. Folded to him, the BB, he flats. Flop is 889. He checks. I c-bet almost half of the pot. He shoves, I beat him into the pot with a snap call. He flips over sevens. I had some of his running outs, and he blanked off. Big double up for me, he was crippled.

Looking back on the hand, it must have been some subconscious puzzle that I had put together about this guy, pulling similar moves on others and having them work. He liked to check raise, he liked to flat call with pocket pairs. And when that board hit I wasn't even watching it, I was watching him. He paused for just an instant - and stuck it in.

Think about it, with that board texture, if he has an 8 there is no way in hell he is leading out - he knows I'm firing hit or miss - he would let me hang myself. He's also probably putting me on two overs, not necessarily a bigger pocket pair than him. So he wants to apply "maximum" pressure on me, get me to go away and not chase my six outer.

But his stack is bigger than mine, no reason for him to blast away for a pot that's about a third of his stack, when he's risking everything. Unnecessary play - though on the other hand perhaps understandable, considering the entire table had done nothing but show weakness for most of the whole tournament, myself included.

No matter. I stacked 'em, stacked 'em, stacked 'em to the top.

Now I was in business. I bludgeoned that table, especially the player to my left and another fellow four to my left.
This guy was really nice, and clearly new to the game (unless it was some elaborate hoax). He literally brought Harrington on Hold-em Volume 2 as break reading material.

I mixed it up a little bit with him, with one hand in particular being particularly devastating. I had A10os and raised his limp from the cutoff, it folded around to him, he flatted. Flop came Axx two tone with hearts. He checked, I checked. Turn was a heart. He led out, a suspicous bet of less than a quarter of the pot. I went with my gut that it was a weak lead. I three bet him big, quadrupling his bet. He tanked a bit, I could read plainly that it was a painful bet for him. He cut out his chips and then called - but with the same lozenge sucking mannerism that I had seen him limp/check/call with for the whole tournament with marginal holdings. A tell? I wasn't really conscious of it at the time.

His call meant that he was pot committed. My instinct was to shut it down, but I was priced in to call his shove - I would be damaged but not severely hurt. But then the unexpected happened. With 2/3 of his chips already in the pot, he checked the river when it blanked.

This guy was a newbie. A simpleton. But not an idiot. He was reading Harrington. He could have a baby flush - but I really didn't think so. I think I was good - but I also wanted to give myself every chance to get him off of the hand just in case I wasn't. Like I said, if all his chips went in and I was on the losing end, it wouldn't be the end of the world - but if I checked behind and he had an ace with a better kicker, or bottom two pair, or a baby flush - I would have cost myself the only chance to take down the pot.

I shoved.

He shook his head and mucked. I showed him the ace (but not the kicker) and he nodded with a grimace. So my hand was good - he wasn't going to call. But if his hand had been slightly better I had given him a chance (though not really as he was pot committed) to get away, and he did - foolishly, though he probably had nothing. Not sure if this makes sense, but there it is.

So there were three guys that I handled pretty well at the table, the others stacked off in hands where I wasn't involved. But there was one that remained, the other big stack, I tangled with him a few times - he was the guy from the 10 4 suited hand - young, lip pierced, savvy, probably gay but doesn't know it - a ridiculous outfit, but he knew how to play. Except for the 10 4 hand, he came out the better in every confrontation, even when he was out of position. The good news was, I managed to get away from him unhurt except once and even then there were still enough fish left that I could pillage them to build back up. I avoided this guy from then on, until it was just me and him.

Our stacks were about even. I suggested a chop, which to my surprise he refused. Guess he wasn't that savvy when it came to long term EV. The blinds were monstro and I knew we would be flipping for it. He thought, correctly, that he was a better player than me, but he wasn't smart enough to realize his edge in skill here was meaningless. No worries.

Four hands in I flopped trip kings with an 8 kicker. All the chips went in and he had a king with a 10 kicker. There you go. Guess it worked out for him. Easy game.

Overall I was ecstatic at my play. Definitely the best I've played live. A few times my reads were off and I got lucky, but for the most part when I got the ammo I was an absolute rapist - plundering to my hearts content. I've only been a table captain once before in my life, and now that I've had another really good taste of it, I want it again even more.

One thing that has helped me a lot in becoming more robotic and consistent when I'm in bulldozer mode, is my baseball cap. Once I've made my bet, I lock in to the same spot just past the board and with a slight tilt down of my head I can shield my eyes with the bill. I like this much better than sunglasses, which I've tried twice. I bought some "poker shades" that were very light yet mirrored, and it was still way too dark. So much so that it hurt my head. I like the bill much better, it helps keep my movements consistent. Whether or not it actually shields any tells, who knows, but it definitely puts me in a comfort zone.

I'm going to try reeeally hard to get in another live session before Vegas, plus I have my home game on the 9th. Good for my brain to play both kinds of players - the degenerates who like to 4 bet light and the friendly faces who think bottom two pair is the nuts and will check/call to the death with it.

Coming up! Vegas 2010.2

Looks like I'm headed off to Vegas again, for what is now transforming before my very eyes into a TWICE a year tradition!

February, and now October. Sounds good to me.

Here is my tentative schedule.

-Thursday, October 21-

My super cheap flight arrives at 945am.

Pickup my super cheap rental car at 10am.

I know, I know, why rent a car in Vegas? Simple, do the math - a cab ride, if you're lucky and they don't take the tunnel is $20 minimum. That's $40 roundtrip. I booked a car that comes to just over twice that amount for four days. So I get complete freedom to go when and where I want - without relying on the time consuming, and potentially smelly hassle of cabs or shuttles. If I get the urge to play in Binion's downtown, it's a snap. If I'm at the Venetian and need to get to the MGM quickly, it's a done deal. I can still take long walks on the strip, in fact I plan to, but after the sun goes down there's no reason to risk life and limb anywhere off the strip - or for that matter risk getting puked on or punched out anywhere on the strip.

Arrive at the super cheap (less than $200 for four days) Orleans and sign up for the $75 NLHE nooner with time to spare.

The Orleans is my dump of choice - slightly nicer than the Imperial Palace or Tropicana, but still easy on the wallet. The poker room itself is run really well and has fantastic tournaments, probably the best structured for a low entry in all of Vegas. The room's downfall is it's clientele - a grumpy mix of swarthy blingers and crusty old codgers that have been around as long as the increasingly worn out furniture. I'm not saying this gang isn't beatable - but in the half dozen or so tournaments I've played at the Orleans, I've never cashed once. Still, this trip is not about making money first and foremost - it's about having fun!

After I stack off with bottom set in the third hour, my room will likely be ready. I'll check out the pron and take a nap (in that order) before heading back down to register for the Omaha/8 tournament. That's right, an Omaha/8 tournament!

This is the main reason I picked the Orleans - nowhere else in town spreads fixed limit tournaments. Again, as with the NLHE crowd here, I'm basically dead money. But it is a thrill to splash around in Omaha land! Plus I can take it easy and not worry about going anywhere - the food at the Orleans is pretty decent and not too painfully expensive as I recall.

I should get about 4 hours of play, and probably not be anywhere near the money when I get blinded off - but I'm so excited to be in an Omaha tournament. I'll likely grab some ice cream, hopefully nothing too calorically disastrous, before heading off to bed.

-Friday, October 22-

The next morning - it's off campus - to the Friday Nooner at Venetian! $150 brings me the best structured regular tournament in all of Vegas. Again - the competition is a bit stiffer, lots of locals (though not as incestuous as the Orleans) but the room is first rate. Here is my first real chance to cash - tight ABC will actually do the job (or at least get me close to the bubble) barring any massive coolers - if I get lucky and get hit with the deck I need to hunker down and play for first place; bet, raise, re-raise!

Hopefully I won't get felted early on - but if I do I must stay disciplined and refrain from rushing off to register for another tournament right away. I need to take a walk, maybe grab a bite, enjoy myself and not beat myself up too bad if I misplayed a hand or two, or six or seven.

Need to stay strong and hold out until 7pm, when I'll stroll on over to the Mirage for some boisterous bounty action! At $150, the Friday night tournament is quite a bit steeper than their usual $80 donk fest, but it is sooooo much fun! Plus as a bounty event, you only need to bust 1 player to get back $50. It makes for a lot of action and is very fun to play.

The Mirage is by far the softest poker room I have ever played in. It is typically full of tourists. It is the site of the one tournament I ever played in where I was a truly dominating table captain. I will always love playing at the Mirage.

Hopefully I'll be tired and exhilarated from chopping final table money - so I can head back to bed. More than likely though, on a Friday night in Vegas - I'll be ready to stroll on over to Treasure Island and sign up for their spectacularly bad structured $50 turbo tournament at 10pm.

This room is an absolute blast to play in. Truly smoke free, fantastic dealers and even the locals (which are outnumbered at least 4 to 1 by tourists) are about as fishy as they come. Believe it or not, I've won two tournaments here (chopped for first with the chip lead) - though I really believe the structure makes this virtually a "no skill required" event. The main reason I keep coming back, is because this is probably the most fun room in Vegas.

-Saturday, October 23-

Saturday morning - I will awake to either the comforting thought that I've cashed at least once, or the slightly melancholy realization that I've dropped $450 in entry fees with no return on my investment.

Either way - I will do the same on this trip that I have on the others - REFUSE to let my results, which are over a teeny tiny sample of hands, color my trip enjoyment level beyond a very small amount. People run hot, people run cold - when I'm only playing 10 tournaments in 4 days, I can't get hung up on the showdown. I need to relax and enjoy 3rd and 4th street - because that's where the major fun is. Besides, I always play better and win more when I try my best not to worry about results.

Having said that - my Saturday schedule is actually dependent on my results.

First things first, no matter if I am up or down, I will start with the $50 9am tournament at the fabulous Monte Carlo.

The tournament here is another $50 donkament - with an even worse structure than T.I. But I absolutely love the vibe of this room at 9am. With an unbeatable house entry fee, this tournament is populated on any given morning by 80 to 100 percent tourists. The dealers are slow, but super friendly, they explain the rules thoroughly before we start as there are truly people sitting around the table who have literally never played poker before - this is my kind of place. The structure is terrible - but this has to be even softer than the Mirage.

Afterwards, if I am up at all (even a few dollars) I'll head on down to the 2pm $225 big weekend event at Caesar's.

I really, really, really want to play in this one. 15,000 chips, 30 minute levels - very nice. My poker compatriots have long told me that this room is soft - in the few times I've played here, I found that to be anything but true. Still, I look forward to stumbling across that miracle table someday. Even if I don't, it would be a great privilege to play in the third best weekly in Vegas (the better two being the Venetian and Bellagio, which at $330 and $540 apiece respectively, are a bit much for me even if I've happened to cash).

If I haven't made any profit - meaning I haven't cashed, or have cashed and not booked more than $450 - then I'll wander on down to the 1pm tournament at Aria.

For only $125, this is a fantastically structured event with 30 minute levels. Plus, unlike Venetian or Orleans, the room is typically loaded with tourists - and these are the best kind of tourists! Moderate to serious recreational players like me, who have been known to think through a hand and are actually capable of folding a fairly strong cards once in awhile. There are some locals to watch out for of the maniac (or is it manic) kind - but easily detectable and avoidable.

For the 7pm tournament - it's a toss up. Depending on how soft the Mirage was on Friday night, I'll either head there again (for their $80 version of a bounty tournament) or head on over to the $125 Venetian for it's superb structure and starting stack.

If I started the day at Aria I'm unlikely to remain there for the 7pm tournament, only because I'm going to need a change of scenery. However, if I played at Caesar's at 2pm - then I'll make a bee-line for the Aria.

Finally, if I'm winning a lot - I'll likely crash into T.I. for the 10pm push and pray. Or, if I'm 0 for 7 at this point - I'll... likely crash into T.I. for the 10pm push and pray. Only if I've cashed a bit, and am exhausted, will I pass on the late night merriment and head back to the ranch.

-Sunday, October 24-

Sunday - will be the 11am $80 bounty at Mirage. Gotta love these tourist-aments.

After, I may hit an afternoon turbo at Planet Hollywood or T.I. if I have time or inclination.

At 7pm I will be back home at Orleans, for what is sure to be a highlight - a $75 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Dead money. Good times.

Because I'll already be back in my hotel, I will have already gassed up the rental and can go straight to bed so I can be up and out for an early morning departure. Very nice.

By the way, this entire schedule is subject to change - it is potentially very hypothetical, but as of now it's where I'm inclined to play. Like I alluded to, I might get the impulse to go downtown - I've never played at Binion's or the Nugget, so that has always been in the back of my mind.

In any event, as if you couldn't tell - I am SUPER excited about this trip.


-Objective-

My main goal, believe it or not - is not to make money.

My main goal is to push myself poker-wise. To really focus and play my hardest, expanding my game and losing my fear of the dollars attached to the chips. In my mind, the money is already spent - I'm not counting on it coming back. I don't care about the cash. I care about bringing my A-game and leaving my anxiety at the door. The biggest component this equation will be having fun.

I still plan to play "mum" poker at the table - but at the same time, I'll be eager to socialize about any other subject. I'm here to get loaded on diet cokes, and maybe enjoy a table massage or two. I plan to show a busted bluff - and get paid later. I hit quads last trip - and checked to the better, who checked behind with a full house! This time if I get quads and it's 5th street - I'm a shovin'.

I want very much to talk poker - away from the tables and with my traveling companions. The venerable Dr. Dave (my brother) and good friend Fishman, who is anything but.

I am also very much looking forward to some good ass meals. I don't need to stuff myself till I'm sick - but I definitely want to savor some culinary goodness. Long walks through City Center should help alleviate some of this indulgence.

I hope I can convince more folks to come between now and then - until then, I'll be biding my time, pre-visualizing my chip splashing and river hitting.

Can't.

Wait.

Enlightened

Great cash game last Friday night at my house. Two medium sized fish, five decent players and one shark. I was in the middle group.

Ordinarily, there are some uber-fish that show up for cash game night, alas none could make it. I would have to make due with a fairly tough table, save for the two minor minnows.

I don't have a draw for seats at my cash game, people are free to sit where they like as they arrive - and naturally the two weaker players plopped down to my right while the tougher ones basically queued up to my left.

I was hoping at best with this bunch to turn a small profit - at the very least break even, a small loss was a possibility. So was getting stacked.

I don't know if there was a full moon out or what - but I proceeded to read everyone at that table about as well as I ever have in my entire life.

I actually called out hands on three separate occasions, and was spot on before the cards were flipped.

At least 4 times, I bluffed just the right amount to get the better hand to lay down. There's something to be said for a slightly better, and not God awful player - someone who can actually use their brain and put you on a hand (albeit the wrong one) as opposed to someone who only knows that the two cards in front of him must be good.

I am certain that 2 of my biggest bluffs worked effectively, because each time the mucking player conceded the pot, they showed me their hand before mucking!

In return, I would show the bluff. Overall, I showed a lot - which I know I've said many times, on this blog and elsewhere, is a generally a bad idea. I've also ranted and raved recently in this forum about how much I've tried to stay "mum" about poker when I'm at the table. Well Friday night, I definitely had a change of heart about this and even a little enlightenment.

Marc F., one of the aforementioned decent players at the table, made an offhand remark that struck me as pretty profound. To paraphrase - "I don't mind talking poker here, because we're all friends, this is low stakes and I always learn something about the game when I do."

What a beautiful thing!

It is true - my home game is a "safe" place for poker players. It's low stakes, not so low as to be meaningless, but well low enough to avert hard feelings and losing mortgage money. And we all know each other and like each other. Really, it's what every home poker experience should be.

So what are the downsides of talking poker at the table in such an environment?

I might give too much away and affect my results. But how much? Really?

Honestly, I think I'm as good as the best in my game - and better than the rest. Whatever I give away in information and results, I suspect I gain back much more by what is revealed to me. Both in the hands that other players show, and in the hands that they talk about.

I gave away a ton of info on Friday night, and still managed to book a win. The previously mentioned shark gave away zero information - but finished down for the night. The same can be said for another good player at the table, who kept mum on the hands, but still got tilted and ultimately felted.

But even more important than potentially affecting my results - talking poker is fun. Yes, fun. Ultimately, if all I cared about in poker was money, I wouldn't bother to host a home game, or even play in one for that matter. Nope, my first priority at the table is to have FUN. True, a part of this fun is being successful = making money. But only a part. Conversely, I play my best when I am able to disassociate chips from cash -and not fret over making the bubble or losing a buy-in. I play best, when I have fun.

So I think it's okay, and possibly even beneficial - to talk poker at the poker table. Not in a card room, where I don't know the people and they don't know me and the buy-in is $100 and up. But in my garage, or in someone else's living room - why not showski once in awhile, or speculate out loud? It's fun! I enjoyed myself immensely the other night, chatting it up about hands, showing my nastiest bluffs and not worrying about concealing and not revealing. Plus I finished up over $50 in profit, not too shabby for a game with fixed limits and a $40 buy in!

So I guess the ground rules for me will be - in a cash game at home I can yuck it up and talk all I want about teh pokerz. Especially when it's a table full of people I respect AND also has people that I really like. On Friday night, the two big fish are two really great guys; I honestly take pleasure in opening up a bit with them; and they aren't so terrible that it would be a dreadful mistake to educate them a bit.

In my tournaments, I'll have to be a bit more tight lipped - too many calling stations and uber-donks, I don't want to be educating them more than is necessary. It's simply far too profitable to smile and stay silent with them. But if I slip, and say out loud "well I'm getting 7 to 1, I have to call" or some such innocuous but ultimately illuminating remark, I'm not going to beat myself up. I'm going - to have fun.