Still don't know what's more impressive / crazy / sad (?, lol): your results (congrats!) or you volume (wow!).

Ggoodluck!G

Thanks!

Heading to MD Live tonight to protest the unsanitary bathrooms at MGMNH. Will be a nice change of pace for the start of the month. Plus, I'm a little tired of seeing the same faces.

Happy Law Day!

"We educated, privileged lawyers have a professional and moral duty to represent the underrepresented in our society, to ensure that justice exists for all, both legal and economic justice."

- Sonia Sotomayor (taken from brainyquotes.com)

Congrats, complete beastmode this month.

The bathrooms at MGMNH are an embarrassment at best.

Tonight at MD Live went well. The bathrooms were spotless as always. Very refreshing. Not just cleanliness, but spaciousness. Nice not having just two stalls for an entire poker room. Also, the regs are chill. Some 2/5 regs at MGM are a little too full of themselves for my liking.

Anyway, started at 2/5, got onto 5/10 which went well until the table started a mandatory straddle so I was playing 5/10/25 with 30 BB. LOL. I left pretty quickly. I felt unwelcome to say the least. I think they started the straddle with me in mind.

Was at a most-move 2/5 four-handed for half an hour and it sucked. Flopped top set HU against BU open with 99 and he likely turned a straight because he overbet pot ott on 9-6-5-8 and jammed $250 on an A river. I folded. Must move was crap four-handed so I played 1/3. Thankfully, I was able to keep my seat on the 2/5 list. 1/3 ran well, flopped set of 22 on 2-9-Tcc and donked multiway, two callers, pfr raises to $105, I jam $280, two calls including pfr and I hold on 5-5 runout. (Pfr had KTo. Omg how soft are these games?!)

Then make top two in limped pot in SB on K-J-4 and get raised by EP OMC limper. I call. He barrels $50 on Q turn, I call. I donk $75 on 2 river and he calls. MHIG (somehow). I guess he had AA or AK? Finally, raise JThh, SB calls. Flop gin: Kh-Qd-3h. I double barrel and get donked into for $50 on Qh river and I just call it. V had QJo and I scoop another one. By the time I was called for 2/5 I'd made a cool $800 at 1/3.

2/5 was just l/rr AA UTG (SB) in BTN straddle, CO $75, BTN call, I jam $290, pfr calls, BTN folds, I announce aces and he groans. I make top boat and win. That's pretty much it. Up almost $1,200 tonight. Good start to May.

After last night's run at MD Live, I likely will be playing there regularly for the time being. The action at MGMNH's 1/3 games is what kept me there last year for so long, but that reason just no longer carries enough weight for me to justify putting up with the poor service at MGM and, more importantly, total lack of management interest in players' feedback (see https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1.../index233.html) (quoting MGMNH's poker room director Johnny Grooms) ("this forum has degenerated into a never ending stream of insults and complaints. Talk amongst yourselves. Done here."). Plus, I have been unhappy with the overbearing police/security presence in the poker room. Once this led to police brutality occurring feet from the poker table (cops taking down and tasering a drunk). And although I'd prefer NO smells in my casino, MD Live smells better than that suffocating vanilla scent at MGM.

Now that I play higher and have improved, I feel like I'd do well at most tables at most venues anyway. Plus, the action last night at Live was fine. MGM has a Starbucks, but I haven't been using it at all lately. The main thing I will miss is the Shake Shack, but again, haven't been there much recently. MGM's poker room is also prettier and better lit than MD Live's. Still, I could use a change of scenery. There are several regs at the MGM 2/5 who think they are God's gift to Earth and/or take themselves way too seriously. It can be off-putting and not a fun environment for a newcomer just trying to fit in. The usual donors/whales are what keep me there putting up with the other schmucks. The 2/5 regs at MD Live seem down to earth/normal human beings without superiority complexes. And there were definitely some whales at the 2/5 there too.

In short, MGM is where the so-called "cool kids" play. I was never a cool kid anyway. F*ck 'em.

If I see a noticeable difference in game conditions at Live over the next several sessions I will go back to MGM. But if last night was any guide, the games should be good enough.

How are the 2/5 regs stuck up? Examples? It sounds to me like the MGM regs weren't nice to you because you weren't good for the game? It'll only be a matter of time before Live regs see what's going on and do the same, so I'd be prepared. Looks like the Live 5/10 players figured you out right away when they bumped the game up to 5/10/25.

You're doing well though, so you do you, and make that dough. Don't let those rude regs run you off the game. They just mad cause you're stealing pieces from their already shrinking pie.

Just to be clear, only SOME of the MGM 2/5 regs act this way. There are plenty who are chill and I get along great with, and I am very thankful for their table presence despite the fact that they are winners. But there are bad apples in every bunch, and they tend to stick out. For example, hair girl (who constantly calls out my strategy to the entire table - which happens to be hers as well - and has at various times called me "cheap" and "weak"), this other pro who won't even address me when I talk to him, a third arrogant bastard who talks about how he is "crushing" 2/5 and shows others his stats at the table (and then punts $1k in 30 minutes after getting a full double AA v. KK AI pre), another who calls me out for "only playing AA."

Like you said, they're all haters who want to put a dent in my winrate for their own gain and perhaps drive me away. Plus I am the ONLY reg who buys in short every session and they may target me for this too. But the temporary move to Live isn't just because of these regs, it's also to take a stand against poor management at MGM's poker room. See above post.

I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but I just posted this in mine that echos some of your sentiment with MGM NH:

"MGMNH or Maryland Live

I have a comped room this weekend at MGMNH, however, after reading some of the statements from JohnnyGrooms from the MGMNH thread, I think I'll spend a majority of my hours at Maryland Live. He would rather categorize people as complainers/trolls rather than providing solutions to the very people that have helped steer improvements to the poker-room since the beginning. I'm reminded why I decided to shift a majority of my play to private games. Say what you want, but with the amount of competition (at least in my area), if your @#$@# isn't on point, players will vote with their feet.

Anyway, I'm done offering advice. If they think their broken comp system, nasty restrooms, slow servers, bonus deception and inconsistent dealers are at a premium level, I can't help them."

I want to hear more about hair girls play. I wonder if she has ever read this thread.

Same here!

The player I want to hear about the most is hello kitty.. I find HK intriguing. The hello kitty gear, the long fingernails, the usual check motion he makes, crazy long marathon sessions, the aggressive play, the monster stacks he sometimes has in front of him, That fact that he chooses to play 1/3 over 2/5 or 5/10. He seems to buy in short at 1/3 as well. Which I find interesting.

Justin aka HK is an usual man. I find him fascinating

I think it’s great you wrote that. Maybe Johnny will get back on board with the MGMNH thread. He is a manager after all. One of their tasks is handling complaints.

Hair girl just plays aces kings and sets. I’m sure she wins, but she lets it get to her head and treats other players and the floor like dirt. (I had a long conversation with one dealer about hairgirl wherein she confirmed all this.) She’s been playing there for a long time so she gets away with it unfortunately. I did see her get stacked a couple hands the other night which was nice because it took her down a notch. Everyone needs a good dose of humility once in a while.

Hello Kitty has posted a music video on YouTube. You should check it out! He’s a good player and I am perplexed at why he plays 1/3. There are a handful of winners in the room at 1/3 who for whatever reason haven’t moved up yet.

I’m sorry you had to deal with that negativity man. If I were you I would grind extra hours at mgm 2/5 and play even tighter just to piss off those regs even more. But I’m a stubborn a-hole. There’s really no reason to be hostile to someone just because they’re bad for your winrate. I’ve experienced that plenty myself.

Calling out your strategy to the table? That hair lady sounds like a petty and miserable human, but a lot of regs get that way after years wasting away at the poker tables.

I like to picture the table full of 1st graders. People get overly emotional, I chalk it up to needing a nap or possible some time outside to play on the swings. I don't give it a second thought when some kid calls me a poopy pants. It's never hostile to me, it's freaking funny. Until they pay my bills, they can politely stfu and continue to donate. Life is really great.. not Twitter fake great, but great.. nobody at a poker table is going to influence that aspect.

Anyway, that's how I personally handle it. Mileage will very.

IDK, in the areas I primarily play in (Maryland/Philly/AC/NY) the players are generally well behaved. Maybe also because I put a lot of volume in home games and 5/10+ where people are generally less destitute so they don't lose their shht when they lose a few buy in.

I have little tolerance for the toxic nit regs at the casinos. If someone called out my strategy at the table, there will be a huge target on their back. I see this as being similar to the "One player to a hand rule". You don't call out people's strategies at the table, poker is every man for himself. Doing that is out of line. And of top of that, Dumbo says the hair lady treats the staff like dirt? What does she do, abuse the dealer and make 5+ table changes per session without tipping a single dollar for all that extra work she's making the floor do? Those people don't deserve the patience and tolerance first graders get because they are grown ass adults and should know better than to act like a piece of trash, and I will call them out on their crap and try to give them a hard time every time.

Yeah she calls the floor names and insults them a lot. Her overall demeanor is totally unacceptable. But she’s a cute chick so she gets away with it.

At MD Live again tonight. No such issues. Big drawback I noticed is this place only runs one 2/5 weekenights. So it may be off to MGM this weekend. We’ll see.

I'm primarily a private game player and rarely EVER deal with the crap I see on my occasional trip to the casino. Especially in my market with a lot of competition, hosts generally don't take any bs.

I hear what you are saying and understand calling people out. For me, unless they are actually breaking a rule or angleshooting, I just don't waste my energy. If the floor allows poor behavior toward their dealers, that says a lot of about the pokerroom itself. I'm not the moral police, that's Shaun Deeb. If they choose to be a crappy human and not tip, they're probably that same person that stiffs their local servers outside of the poker room.

Tonight was a wash. Down just under $400 in 2/5 and up a little in 1/3, but I won a $400 high hand promo (not that I count this towards my hourly, just nice not to lose any money on the day).

I got snarled in 2/5 trying to aggressively isolate this HUGE maniac/whale to my right. He was dying to bluff his chips off. A couple folks may have picked up on this and 3! me. I actually had hands - TT both times - but I was too short to call the 3!. Later, whale raises $10, I 3! $40 with K6hh, sticky V to my left cold calls, flop A-6-7dd. Whale donks $35, we both call. Turn: A. It checks through. River: K. Whale bets $95, I snap, other V folds, I just immediately table it so whale doesn't feel bad and MHIG. I later iso him with A5o to $35, but this same sticky dude to my left in SB cold calls yet again, getting between me and my target. So frustrating! Flop is 5-2-3c. Whale donks $15, I raise $55, cold callers calls, whale calls. I bet $80 on Qc turn, whale calls, SB c/r $400, we fold. Plan ruined.

Raise TT yet again UTG, one caller, MP1 3! $80, I have added on to $800 to stack whale, we both call. Fop 8-high. 3-bettor cbets $100, we both call. Turn: Jh bringing in front door flush. We all check. River: brick. 3-bettor bets $300, I tank fold and so does the other V.

Whale is soon thereafter stacked by a pro for 200bb with his OP against a set and leaves. Boo!

I later iso ATdd UTG+1 over UTG limp and get value owned over three streets of 1/3 pot betting by UTG on AQ894 against his AJs. Made up some of this from other players before the table broke and I decided to play 1/3.

Biggest hand at 1/3 was limped pot, I have A9 in BB, flop A94r. I'd rather c/r this, but no one bets. Turn: A. Now I have this on lockdown. It checks through again. River: 8c (no flush possible). SB leads $17. His donk into the entire field seems pretty strong, so I raise to $70. He says "I have a boat, I call," and tables A4. R U F*CKING SERIOUS!? We both flopped 2p and turned aces full. Taking the sting out of not stacking him (we were $350 effective) was that I qualified for (and won) the high hand promo with this hand. That's pretty much it.

Mentioned to this pro at the 2/5 that Thursdays are my worst days. He said I should take Thursdays off. Might do that. Also overheard some talk of the new Wynn in Boston taking business from the mid-Atlantic casinos. Will see.

Another great report. Yeah, it's always frustrating trying to harpoon the whale and someone else gets there first.

At MDL again tonight. Gonna see how the weekend crowd is here. So far lots of punting going on.

2/5 was fine. In must move, raised JJ over a short stack limp, one caller, shorty l/rr AI $150, I re-jam and hold against his AKo. Then raise T9ss, four callers. Flop AK9. Checks through. Turn: 2. I bet $50, one caller. River: 9. I bet $125, he calls and MHIG. Move to main game where I am extremely card dead most of the remainder of the session. Get AA and limp UTG, three others in the hand (limps around). Flop: A-J-4r. I check/call EP limper's $15. Rest fold. Turn is a brick and checks through. River: 9. I check, he pots it $60, I c/r $185, he calls and MHIG. He said he rivered a set of 9s.

Can't take how card dead I am at 2/5 so I leave when this other reg leaves but realize I still have a good amount of steam so I sit in a 1/3. Run JJ into AA against a shorty AI pre for $55, shrug it off. In BB with 98ss in limped pot, flop 8d-Ts-Js (oesfd plus bottom pair for me), I cupcake bet $5 into $15, limper fish raises $15, I jam for his $140, he calls with QJo and I "improve" to two pair, giving him a straight. I'll take getting it in as a 56/44 favorite. Too bad I didn't get there. Then HU against same fish I raise AKhh, he calls and donks into me on Q-J-4h. I call. Turn: 6h, giving me many outs to the mortal nuts. He bets $30, I call. River: Q. He bombs, I fold. He had Q6dd. Meh. Lastly, call raise with 22, flop A-2-6sss multiway. Pfr jams $90, BTN calls, I call. Turn: Qs. We check. River: 9c. We check and pfr has AcKs for the nut flush. BTN had 35ss for flopped flush plus redraw to straight flush. At least I had enough equity to call. Can't complain with how I played at 1/3, just didn't get there when it counted.

Ended up $400 in 2/5 and down $320 in 1/3, so up $80 on the day.

Gonna stick with MD Live tonight as well. Friend Dennis will likely join. Will be nice to see a familiar/friendly face.

It's been a good run so far back at my old haunt where I started "grinding" 1/2 over a year ago as a clueless noob. I've noticed a few differences between MDL and MGM.

While MD Live doesn't have the same game selection as MGM, the players are less high-strung. I had a brief chat with an MGM reg who was at MDL last night for the high hand promos and he confirmed that the MGM regs tend to be quite full of themselves. It's also a more cutthroat environment. Table changes are rampant. (I actually feel bad for the floor at MGM now. I was one of those people. At least I occasionally tipped and bought the brush coffee from Sbux.) People at MD Live rarely if ever table change. There is no berating play or name calling by entitled regs either.

Other points of comparison: The decks at Live are actually in better shape than MGM's. The chips are a bit sticky though. I've accidentally raised to $55 and $15 when I intended neither. The lighting could be a bit brighter, but you get used to it after a while. The floor is really on point. I also don't have to wait for a game to open up which is nice. Comps can be used without receiving permission from the floor first, as it should be (and I can buy a beer with my comps at MDL too). Food options are limited, however. I ordered a crab and corn chowder last night that was really salty and goopy. The men's room by the poker room is refreshingly spacious and well-maintained. There a poker room rate at the new hotel ($60/night). But I doubt I'll use it since I'm only a 40-minute drive from home.

So far the jury's out on level of action. I have seen a good number of whales/donors in these games, just not sure yet if they play/donate as much as those at MGM. I'll give it a few more days. Regardless, it's been a nice change of pace. Happy to have options.

Also, I realized yesterday I don't have to pay for PioSolver when people have posted tons of Pio content on YouTube.

Brought my best friend (who doesn’t play poker) to MDL to hang. Gave him $200 to play 1/3 and a quick rundown of easy-to-implement strat for a noob. Then left for 2/5 where I ended up $90. No big hands to speak of. Met friend Dennis there which was cool. We were at the same table too.

Had to drive friend home so couldn’t stay as long as I would have liked. He lives in DC so I made a quick stop by MGM for another short session and made another $320. My friend lost only $50 at 1/3 so up shy of $400 on the day.

Gonna see Avengers tomorrow!

I thought hair lady was Ashley this wholetime but I guess not.

Sidebar, I cant stand Ashley and she is a toxic whiny losing reg. Lol.

It’s her. She actually started a conversation with me tonight. Asked if I just woke up. Maybe she’s coming around.

I guess I haven’t played with her enough to know she’s a losing reg. She often has big stacks.