Really epic, just read the whole thread there and I cant wait for my summer in LV this year.
Also you look exactly like one of my mates who is Irish, any Irish in your family?

I give it even odds. She didn't know who Peyton was from the get go.

Yes I have a lot of Irish in me in fact.

As far as the Peyton issue, I can't say with 100% conviction that the story is true without fabrication because it is a 2nd hand account. All I can say is that with my knowledge of the source and the story, I'm convinced it is true. I wouldn't have posted it if I wasn't. She's obviously looked up pictures of both quarterbacks and according to her there is no mistaking them.

Local's generally avoid the strip and the $55 for 2 shots and 2 waters priced places. There are enough locals degen enough to keep the local bars open 24/7 with the bartop video poker machines, something's always going on somewhere off strip.

My brother runs the upstairs bar at Half Shell on Eastern North of Horizon Ridge and I'd much rather drink there than on the strip, and even if I didn't have a brother working at a bar I'd still prefer most off strip places.

Hell even the local casinos are better than strip places after you've been here a while. Movie, bowling, $1 beers, degen after, late night Fatburger, awesome.

I just talked to peyton and he says he has no idea who that girl is and was never in the bahamas with eli. it was probably his brother cooper.

ok enough of peyton, lets get back to some poker trs plz.

read the thread...great stuff keep it up

what a great read. I grind 5/10 and have contemplated making the move to vegas for obvious reasons. I think this thread made me make my decision......

vegas here I come

lol thinly veiled brag in this post.

Fantastic Thread. Im absolutely hooked. Going to Vegas for the first time in May. Im now more excited than ever.

Matt - I wished I had been as switched on as you at 21 (7 years ago). I was watching episodes of Late Night Poker at 3am (the first real UK TV poker show) and reading Super System trying to learn how to play the game I love.

Must have watched those episodes of LNP about 100 times to teach myself the game.

Keep the thread going, Im intriged.

I will bear this in mind for my trip.

so i can hang out on the strip with normal everyday people who work, have money, and some class. Or i can hang out off the striip and get 1.00 beers with a bunch of degenerates who are sleazy, uneducated, and basically losers.

Isn't the point of the trip to throw away X amount of money etc.?

OP, I enjoy your storytelling skillz.

yo mooremoney, im a senior at miami as well. dont know any other poker players that go here. let me know if you wanna degen it up some time. im a pike if you happen to know any/been to our parties/etc.

OP, I hope you are collecting your stories for memoirs. Interesting and well crafted. Thank you for sharing. And to whoever asked if anyone cried when it was over. I felt a little misty, but I'm female, so it's allowed.

The Bob story is gold.

Also, somewhere back in the middle of this thing there was some discussion regarding whether the proper life line was to aim for a job where you could make comfortable money or whether to aim for a job you enjoyed. Your feelings towards being a pro poker player would suggest to me that you need to make sure you enjoy your work...or rather that you find the work that you do to be fullfilling. You do not strike me as the type who could be truly happy cranking out the bucks performing a job that you do not find personally rewarding. Elsewise, you would probably be more inclined to try the pro poker route as you clearly have a passion for the game and a skill set that is profitable.

Great thread.

OP, I got (back) into poker around the same time as you, but I'm older than you. Before I got into poker, I learned how to play blackjack. I devoted my time to learning basic strategy and counting cards. I look back and think that I should have come across poker instead, then I'd be further ahead today.

I know that gambling or playing poker can be like a drug to me, but I've been able to control it over the years (more or less). I find that my interest/skills in investing help to keep things in check. So, it's good to have other interests because I know just how much poker can be a drain mentally and physically when you're a winning player.

Great TR, enjoyed reading

Flipping Coins

Heads or tails. It’s a simple concept; universally accepted as the method for solving miniscule disputes. Growing up it determined first pick in gym class dodge ball, who got shotgun, and which guys got dibs on which girls. This weekend, however, the simple flipping of a coin would determine way more than a high school crush or a school yard game.

Back track to Friday morning. I wake up and check my phone to see 6 missed calls from my buddy Cap. Normally I’d be concerned that something was wrong. But Cap’s the kind of guy who will call the 4th, 5th, and 6th time expecting a different result from the first 3. At the poker table, we call his kind a fish. Apparently, the night before, I said I would make the trip to IU with him for the weekend. Thing is I don’t want to go to IU. I want to gamble damn it. Cap doesn’t understand, citing that I “gave him my word”. “Cap if I lived up to every empty promise I made when I was drunk, I would be broke and dating quite a few unfortunate looking females.”

He keeps bitching and finally challenges me to rock, paper, scissors for the final decision. “No.” Cap’s too experienced at RPS, definitely –EV for me. “Let’s flip a coin.” He reluctantly agrees. He’s got heads, I’ve got tails. No catching and flipping, simply the way it falls on to the floor. He flips and the quarter changes sides a few times before reaching its final resting spot. Tails does not fail. I’m going to the boat.

I arrive early to see the PLO game running short handed. The lineup’s got Batman, 3 other okay regulars and one new guy we will refer to as “Self-made.” Self made is a biker looking guy, who proves to be just as reckless and aggressive with his poker as he is with his body art. Covered in tattoos, the most recognizable being the S-E-L-F M-A-D-E staring at me from across the table on the knuckles of his fingers. Anyways he’s raising about 75% of his hands from any position at the table, and in for quite a bit.

Not really wanting to risk 1K in this game versus that type of player I only buy in for 500. After building my stack up to about 650 it’s not long before me and Self Made get into a pot. He straddles to 10 and I raise UTG to 40 with AA86. Folds to him and he re-Pots it. I shove and he calls without much hesitation. He’s got 5678 rainbow. Flop brings J103. The turn is a 4. And of course the river is a deuce. All black. On to my next 500. We get it in again pre flop. My KKQJ against his 88T5. I lose again, this time to a boat. I can’t help but think of what ugly tattoo my money will be funding.

I turn my music up loud and vow to “relax” before I enter another big pot. I Start chipping up, playing smart poker. The table begins to fill up, resulting in SM’s strategy becoming more vulnerable. He’s bleeding my chips away, when he gets in a big pot with Batman. They get it all in on a draw heavy flop and Batman’s top 2 holds up in the 2k pot. SM shakes his head and leaves for the day. God damnit Batman.

Like a bunch of little girls we gossip for a few minutes after he leaves. Apparently he’s a “self made” business man from Arizona, here for the WPT. The WPT doesn’t start for 3 weeks, and for those of you who’ve never been to Lawrenceburg Indiana, the surrounding 30 miles doesn’t have much outside of discount liquor stores and broke down strip clubs.

For the next few hours I play good solid, well-positioned, aggressive poker as my stack slowly rises. After free rolling a short stack’s flopped straight with my straight and a flush draw I’m back up to 1500. With the table completely full I pick up AAKT in the BB. The whole table calls to me. I check, fearing a big pot out of position. Flop comes AJ3 and everyone checks to the BTN who bets 40. Gets back to me and I make it 160. He announces raise immediately when it reaches him as he sits and thinks about the amount. He decides on “pot” and I’ve got a decision. With the current nuts, I can’t do anything but shove. He calls and we’ve officially built a 3k pot. I wait for him to turn his hand over, praying to see JJ. I’m dead wrong. K5QT. Before the dealer can flip over the turn I ask the guy if he wants to run it a few times. The dealer interrupts me, letting me know that’s not allowed.

It’s right then that it hits me. I’ve gotten into the situation that I vowed I would avoid. Not just today, not just in poker, but in every facet of my life. I’d often gotten defensive when friends would introduce me as “a gambler”. The term gambler implies recklessness. I’m not a gambler, I’m a risk-taker. A calculated risk-taker. But right now, at this moment, I’m everything I claimed I wasn’t. I’ve voluntarily put 1500 of my own dollars, into a pot to be determined by the simple flipping of a coin.

I’m resigned to my fate before the cards come up. Hoping for an instant death, I’m surprised as the 2 is the first bullet out of the barrel. Trying to remain calm, but staring at the dealer as if my life is in her hands, I see the burn card as she puts it into the muck. The 9. Phew. She flips the river. It’s red. 7. Stacks upon stacks of chips are pushed my way as I stare blankly in awe. I don’t celebrate; I don’t even think I moved. I rack up my 3k in chips a few rounds later, heart still pounding, pledging to avoid those kind of life changing coin flips for a little while.

Yet come Saturday morning I was back. I’m relieved to find the 2/5NL game running. I sit down in the 1 seat next to a very talkative mid-aged gentleman. Without even saying hello, he dives right into conversation. “You know it’s funny, when you’re trying to find one, they want nothing to do with you, but when you just sit back and say I really don’t give a ****, that’s when the women come in flocks. Took me 5 years to realize that after my divorce.” It’s as if he knows before even meeting me that the only woman who will be calling me their Valentine this year is my mom. Am I that easy to read? Hours pass. He does a lot of chatting; I do a lot of nodding.

I can’t get anything going. With a $700 stack I get involved with the 10 seat, an aggressive player with a big stack. He makes it 20 pre flop and I call on the BTN with 89. Flop comes 348 and he leads for 45. I peel one off. The turn is a K and again he leads big, this time for 100. At this point I think he’s beating me, but not that confidant in his hand, or else he’d be betting smaller to keep me in. I raise to 270. He thinks and shoves in for my final 400. F***. He tells me save my money, unless I’ve got a straight. I sheepishly fold and he proudly flips over his 78.

I reload to $1,000 and hours later get involved with an older gentleman who has raised for the first time in 6 hours. Obviously huge hand. I call 20 bucks in the SB with 67. Flop comes K89 and I lead for 40 trying to build a pot. He makes in 150. At this point I’m confidant he has AK or AA. Not wanting to hit one of my 5,678,943 outs and not get paid off I raise to 400 and he immediately shoves. So much for fold equity. I call. It’s a $1600 pot. He’s got 88. Turn is the 4. Whiff number one. The river pairs the 9 and all of a sudden I’m on the losing end of a monster coin flip.

Down 1200 for the day, I stare up at the TV in amazement. NASCAR’s on. The dumbest sport in America. A bunch of guys driving around for hours on end, only to finish up exactly where they started. That sounds all too familiar. My post Vegas poker game is starting to resemble one big NASCAR race. Hundreds and hundreds of circles, minimal progress.

The 45 minute drive home from the boat supplies plenty of time for thought and reflection. I like to play feel good music after a loss. Bob Marley or the Beach Boys. Today it’s the Zac Brown Band. With lyrics about the simple things in life like chicken fried, pecan pie, and cold beer, it helps ease my mind. Poker, as in life, is filled with “break-even stretches”. Times when it feels like you can’t take a step forward that isn’t followed by a step backwards. I’m starting to realize the importance of enjoying the ride, and refraining from sweating the ups and downs. After all, sometimes you’ll end up right where you began with nothing but the journey to look back on.

Miami Matt

Wow ... gamble much???

Hey Miami Matt, I've enjoyed your thread quite alot. Just wondering though, why do you consider 1.5 to 1 odds a coin flip?

I assume you're talking about the 67 vs 88 hand. I was so sure (obviously incorrectly) that he had AA or AK that my hand would've been a flip (actually I'm a little bit ahead in those scenarios). As it turns out he had a set which, you're right, gives me about a 40 percent chance to scoop the pot. In position I would've just called his flop reraise, but out of position I felt maximum value was in playing the hand fast.

[ ] coinflip
[x] 60/40
[x] scared money

Just kidding. Great thread and great stories, but you shouldn't feel that getting into coinflip spots makes you some sort of degen. It's part of the game.

Yeah, I still think you played it correctly. You made a move based on your estimation of his range, so raising has enough FE against that range to make taking the "gamble" a good bet. And even if you can somehow put him on the set, your equity against it makes calling the shove +EV.

I've just had pretty decent players tell me they thought they were in a coinflip or even a favorite against me with straight/flush combo draw when I held a set (I always nod in agreement, of course), and I wanted to make sure you weren't in that boat.

Im up for a rematch of RPS any time. Your lucky Rainman doesn't read your blog, or else he might not be coming to Vegas with us. BTW I watched 7 straight hours of NASCAR yesterday (including 3 renditions of the National Anthem), but missed the final 30 laps.

Im up for a rematch of RPS any time. Maybe for a trip to IU on 3/5? KC said she would take me though if you would rather wake up at 330 am. Also, youre lucky Rainman doesn't read your blog, or else he might not be coming to Vegas with us. BTW I watched 7 straight hours of NASCAR yesterday (including 3 renditions of the National Anthem - one on tape), but missed the final 30 laps.

Spent the last couple of days addicted to this thread. It's so well written and much better than most of the trash out there by so called poker writers. I will be visiting the City of Lights with The Crafty Cockney (posted above) in May, and reading this has got me drooling with anticipation.

We'll be staying at the MGM and consequently probably playing much of our poker there. However the 2/5 game you frequented at the Venetian sounds right up my street and I may well have to give it the once-over.

You kidding? That was a 100% standard play and not a "gamble". At worst, he's either 50/50 (against AA/AK/sets, 40/60 vs exclusively sets, which is still fine) with loads of dead money in the pot, or his 3bet folds 1pr hands that beat him such as QQ/JJ and sometimes AK/AA.


Matt - In your last post you seem to be worried about taking these "gambles", but part of being a successful poker player is taking marginal edges wherever possible. Something I have noticed as I have moved up the online stakes from .01/.02 to $2/$4 is that to succeed at each successive level, you have to be aggressive with thinner and thinner edges and this is the main reason be behind good bankroll management. If you are playing scared money and not able to take these marginal opportunities when they become available, then you will be leaving money on the table. If you can reach into your back pocket an instantly pull out another buy-in without breaking sweat, then you'll be much better placed to push these edges and consequently be a more profitable player. You do seem to be doing ok with regards to actually making the right plays, however you need to get into the mindset that it's not "flipping a coin" or degeneracy, but about making +EV moves while accepting that fact that often, despite making the correct move, you will lose a buy-in, and that calling your stack off when the odds dictate it is a big part of the game which you should be comfortable with and prepared for before even sitting down at the table. In fact, playing slightly scared, and not being good enough to push razor thin edges while the regulars all around me were doing just that, was probably a big factor in my recent failed shot at 400NL and the reason for returning to my happy home of 200NL.