Dont you want K9 in there when you have KJ?

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I'm heading to the Mountains in North Carolina for a 5day family getaway and much reflection. Hopefully this will be gd therapy for the downswing.

-$1k today.
-$2,826 down in October.

You should play a session or two in Cherokee while you are there.

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"Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust, and when you're up, it's never as good as it seems, and when you're down, you never think you'll be up again, but life goes on." Fred Jung

Not when they hit and u don't. ...

I live in Asheville. Sometimes a break is what's needed, although the Mental Game of Poker disagrees.

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Finally got some free time, first of all it was great meeting you Ray. You're reputation on 2+2 and at the Horseshoe SI is well deserved. Sorry to hear the Circuit events didn't go your way. I too have such a love\hate relationship with tournaments. A nice break will definitely do some good. I'm sure you'll come back refreshed and ready to play at your best. I'm looking forward to playing more of the side action there at HSI, especially 2\5 and possibly 5\10, very nice group of action players. Take care, and I'm sure I'll see you soon.

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Used to visit grandparents that had a house in the Smokey Mountains in Waynesville..loved that place!

Hope you enjoyed the vacation Ray. Time to get back to the grind!!!

Advice taken. What surprised me the most about the Harrah's Cherokee was just 2 tables going at 12p on a Friday. BUT, BOTH were 2/5nl. What?! Sweet!! Nope, check it, they did have 1 digital 1/2nl game going. Strange to c both a 1/2nl digital, and the 2/5nl live w actual chips.
I arrived at noon yesterday, and signed up for 2/5nl. I was 2nd on the list, so I sat at this 1/2 digital game until I was called. The max at 1/2 was $500, so I set up an account at the cashier for the full buy in.
Then I head to this digital table w no dealer, slide my player's card into the slot, put in my 4digit password, and pray I have a clue what to do when the action is on me. First off, I see I'm utg, so I press the “wait for big bling button”...so far so gd. Then next hand & I'm dealt in. 5 limps, and back to me, I see the backs of 2 cards on my screen, but have no clue how to view my holdings. After 10 seconds of clueless thinking, I ask the table mates how I view my 2 cards on my screen. Then a mountain man in the hj says "tap on em bud". I tap on em w my finger, and mountain man says, "no, tap by using the corner of ur player's card bud." So I get my player's card out of my wallet again while wondering if "bud" reference is expressed w kindness or if mountain man is trying to big league me. I take it as an act of kindness, and proceed to tap on the backs of these digital cards. Oh looky there...after I tap the back of these cards, it peels up the corner, and I see a tiny K10 off in the corner. After a gd solid minute of looking like a digital rookie, I then feel confident tapping the "CHECK" option on the top of the screen. My very first digital hand, and the flop comes K10Q, I check/call an overbet from mountain man of $28. MM and I both check the 4 ott. River is 2, and I lead $25 otr, he calls/then mucks after seeing my 2 pair. Now of a sudden I feel like a digital poker wizard.
Just 2 hands pass...MM and I battle in another hand. MM makes it $13 after 1 preceded limp, 2 folds to me where I 3bet to $25 w AA..only because I didn't know how to make it $35 digitally . Screen options were: $1, $5, $25, $100, check, fold, all in. I didn't want to ask in the middle of a hand how to make it something different than the options given. Therefore, $25 was my 3bet choice. Flop was QJ4, he leads w $35, I call. Check/check the 7 ott. He shoves $80 after the meaningless 3 lands the river, and I call. He shows Q8 for top pair otb < AA. -After the hand, I ask the dude to my left how I make bets. He tells me take the corner of your card and just tap the chips 25+10+1+1+1 wd equal a $38 bet. After this information and quickly "digital" stack building, I feel even more like a digital poker wizard.
After 20 mins of "digital" madness they call me for the "live" 2/5nl, and I head to cashier for my $701 withdrawal. +$201.
Leave +$235 on 2 hrs. That's all the time I got while the girls went shopping downtown. #hallpass
I know 2 hrs is a small sample size, but I feel I cd crush it there. My read was it cd b long term very profitable w a mix of weak locals, and splashy tourists. I like. Thanks @Rawdawg for the recommendation.

Appreciate the kind words @NineDollars. U played solid in the short time I played w u. I thought u played exceptionally well. U took some profitable lines, and I didn't see any leaks in ur game. GL in the grind.
@isteal and @blufforbbluffed agree. We actually drove through Waynesville's downtown area on the way home. Nice friendly town w beautiful views. We stayed in Topton, N.C., and had a great time. I strive to live my life in the zen zone, but sometimes it escapes me. This lil' getaway brought me back to the zen state. It was rejuvenating for the mind, body, and soul. Zen has been officially restored. Now that I feel reenergized, I'm ready to start stacking chips mountains high.
It's in this picture where I self reflect a lot on poker...I thought a lot about October's results, or lack there of. I thought about how my cash hourly has gone from $50/hr to $43/hr last few months, I thought about how my win % has dropped from 70% to 66% last few months. And I thought about these tourney disasters.
Just as the winds swayed me on top of this mountain, so did my thoughts... I realized, in the big picture of poker I'm still gd, and in life I'm holding the nuts.
Bumps in the roads just gives me better perspective, more motivation, and builds character. So thank you October.

Thanks Tswpoker1. U r right and I am most eager to get back. Matter of fact, game#2 of WSOP League is tonight. Hoping to be in the top 7 (out of 30) in chips when the finale comes in late Spring 2015. Top 3 in finale gets Las Vegas packages to various bracelet events. Grand prize $10K seat into the main + $1k travel.
I'm ready for tonight, and mayb Hammond???? oh oh.

Rayz

"in life I'm holding the nuts" rayz

lol well said. devils courthouse is a sick name btw. been reading this thread since the beginning and appreciate the epic live perspective.

ive really enjoyed digital poker the few times ive played it

nice TR

I have played digital poker a couple of times at Indiana Grand, but it if nothing that impressive to me. The best I recall, the reason Cherokee has some electronic and some regular tables had something to do with state, law. Up until a couple years ago, the whole casino was electronic. Sounds like you had fun overall though, so that is what counts. Sent from my SPH-D700 using 2+2 Forums

Was it a poker pro table by chance?

Back in 2004ish I had the luxury of being one of the very first players to ever play on one of these poker pro tables at the Seminole hard rock casino in Hollywood, Florida. Met the inventor, or president of the company, can't remember exactly but someone important, as they were being unveiled for the first time that day. He gave me a poker pro hat lol. Also busted the 9 man sng that we played in 5th, fun times.

Glad you're back at it Rayz, GLGLGL

Poker pro tables at cherokee can be hit or miss. Not unusual to have a full table with no stacks over $100. Live 2-5 is usually good, but the rake is $7 with virtually no comps. In general, the dealers and floors fail to meet customer service standards compared to casinos in Mississippi and Vegas.

Good perspective man, always nice to get out of town and get a little r&r. Have to recharge the batteries every once in a while.

@tswpoker1 not sure if it was a Poker Pro Table. I was only at the table for a short time, and most of my time was trying not to look like an utter idiot.

Last night WSOP League:

Had some pretty ugly run outs towards the middle-end stages.

Ugly run out #1): AIOF w set of 2s on K42 rainbow. 12bb short stack goes bonkers and open shoves w 85! I call, rest of players fold. It comes prefect perfect for him...Turn is 7. River is 6. set<straight
Ugly run out #2): AIPreF: short stack 2bets 2.2x w 11BBs, folded to me in late, I 3bet (to half his stack) w AK (40+BBs). He shoves remaining, I call the other half. AK vs AJ. Flop comes Q42. Turn is K. River 10. another perfect perfect run out for villain. AK<AJ.

My last hand I shove 7.5bbs w A3 from +2. folded to bb who calls w 77. I'm out in 7th place. Not too bad. It's actually the average I am shooting for. Looking to be top 7 in chips heading to the WSOP finale next Spring. WSOP League is a point system based on top 4 finishes out of 5 (drop lowest) tourneys. Points determine starting stack at finale tournament where WSOP bracelet event buyins are awarded.
Next WSOP League game (tourney 3) is Jan 10th. Off Nov & Dec.

Fantasy Football today and Fam time.
Cash games Monday at the shoe.

October: down -$2,756
Up to date 2014: +$25,673 2014 (cash & tourneys combined)
sidenote: post #1595 had incorrect tourney data (my poker app wasn't refreshed/updated, my bad). In post#1595 it said I was down -$5,685 in tournaments this year, but actually it's worse... -$6,850 down in tourneys(yesterday's wsop league included). These stats are now accurate and up to date. +$25,673 as of today overall.

Today's Tidbits:

+$435 playing 1/2nl on 4hrs 13mins.
now down -$2,321 in October.
11 more days this month to try manage the red.

Was approached by one of my gd friends today about a BBJ deal. Since it's up to $240k we made a deal that is ONLY gd while we were both playing/same time. Since we will be playing on different tables the deal is $2k to the other - if one of us hits a table share. $5k to the other - if one of us hits the big portion. Since it's only when we are BOTH present it makes it even more trustworthy of a deal.

Left work early for a 4p tennis match. It was a ridiculous 2.5hr battle. I usually play best of 3 (or 5) sets with a couple different players, but this player guy usually likes to play a 3rd tiebreak if it goes 3. The first set he won 7-5 after he fought off 1 set point. It was little discouraging, but the level of tennis was so strong I was def digging the competition. That first set lasted a little over an 1hr w many multiple deuce games. 2nd set was another hr long battle, and at one point he/Villain was up 5-3;30-5 trying to serve it out. I ended up breaking serve, and winning the 2nd set 5-7. So 3rd set tiebreak, and I came up w sm timely huge serves. win 2-7 in the 3rd set tiebreak.
We both talk a lot of friendly trash via texts leading up to matches, but during play we r both professional/cordial. The 2 of us hv a lot of mutual respect for each other's play, and r both hate to lose. He played D2 in college, and I play a similar level in USTA so it's always a grudge match. It's all in gd fun, but I know he is tilting right now.

Came home to some awesome chili w the fam. Btw, we don't do noodles in chili here. dat **** for da birds.

An overall great Monday.

Gonna try to book another solid tomo.

Thanks for the motivation u guys provide! I honestly can't believe it.

How would you rate the competition at your local casino compared to other casinos you have played?

Gl this week.

@yster I was actually talking about this w a poker buddy today in the room. He mentioned he really enjoyed playing at Cheerokee too the time he visited, and we both agreed that their r way more profitable card rooms than HSI. Honestly, I feel HSI is tougher comparable to others. But still way profitable.
If I was single w no kids I wd def move elsewhere to play. Mayb FL, CA, or abroad ??? I wd hv to research

Thanks

noodles in chili? WTF!! I like your table share deal, may try that here in Cinci once the BB starts to climb. I think it's at 90k right now...

I have played in a lot of places and I agree there are overall softer games in other casinos but it's hard to match the earning potential from HSI. In my opinion the game structure, straddle from anywhere, any amount, games not having a "hard" cap, etc. more than makes up for "tougher" games. People just make bigger or more costly mistakes in deeper games.

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@rawdawg_7 gd point.

Another solid session on 5hrs 30mins.

One Huge Bluff & One Huge Nut

The bluff…Stacks on this hand range from $200-$700, but really all that matters is the well timed bluff that got through. $10 straddle from a LAG young manic ($600 stack) in utg+2, 2 folds and I decide to raise to $22 w 56, the guy to my immediate left then 3 bets very small to $42 ($700 stack), surprisingly 2 others call $42. Straddle calls the $32 more before it gets back to me. Now roughly $200 in the pot, and my first thought was damn that’s a small 3bet. This bet sizing tell led me to believe he didn’t have Aces or Kings. This thinking player wd never 3bet this small w Aces or Kings. Plus he is on lock down after being up a few hundred. My next thought/concern was the $200 stack player cold calling $42, and now I’m wondering if I get him to fold a superior hand to a 4bet w $160 behind? I’m ($500 stack) up a couple hundred at this point saw an opportunity to pull off a big bluff. To me, it felt like a lot of dead money out there, and worst case scenario is 20% ish dog if called. Therefore, I need this bluff to b successful at least 80% of the time for it to be profitable play. I felt this was one of those times it cd b successful. Also, if I can get it through the big stack, then really I’m only risking $200. W $200 stack calling the money odds go up for me a bit but still not +ev for me.
So before I stuck $400 in the middle of the pot, I dug deep in the bag of tricks to better my chances of getting this bluff through. Right before I put the 4betting chips in the middle I said, “I can’t play this hand 5way, I raise to $400.” Action now back to my neighbor on my left, the 3 bettor. He thought about briefly then folded. The rest of the players followed suit. I take a deep breath. 3bettor said he folded QQ.

Nut Hand…
Short of a family $2 limp pot. Flop is AK4. I check utg+1 w J10, mp bets $7, 2 calls of $7 before I call $7. With the players involved and stacks deep, the implied odds to hit the gutter was in my favor. Boom Q ott, I check again, original flop bettor checks, other guy bets $35, I smooth call. Heads up, and I dark check the river 7 . He bets $75 w $300 behind. *Worth noting, I play w this villain all the time, and I know when he bets big he has a big hand. Knowing this, I thought about shoving thinking I could get all of it, but decided on smthing smaller instead. I wanted to make sure I got paid on this hand, so went w $200. He snap called. Nuts > set. Said he had a set (prob set of 4s since it wasn’t raised pre).

+$464 today. Closing the gap, but still down -$1,857 in October.

October’s graph with Tourneys and Cash combined:

This thread has always been full access/full transparency.
So why not share another lame video...

Inground Trampoline Finished Product

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m3fjmBmBuf0

Enjoy, and start the needles .

Turn that phone sideways!!