This is a great thread. I read alot on 2plus2 but need to get in a better habit of actually posting as well. I have played a fair share live in vegas as well as LA. I was at foxwoods last weekend....in my small sample size....I would have to say the play is way worse then LA and Vegas....super juicy.

Have you thought about playing on Cake or Merge....i know the pay out can take up too 2 months but it still seems better then live IMO...also where are you from if you dont mind me asking.

I just had an interview in Boston, and I love the area...I may be seeing you at Foxwoods a lot more

Thanks!

Np, I'm from Bridgeport CT, which is about an hour from mohegan, and like an hour and a half from foxwoods.

I refuse to play online post BF. I'm waiting for regulation as I flat out do not feel my money is safe there. I also had my staker offer to stake me for merge and even then I declined.

Nice thread man, I'm thinking of starting one, tonight I got oversetted 3 times which was only for -200 each time.

I absolutley wish I could run good like some of there complete donks who luckbox 1k + wins like tonight. I just couldn't get traction.

My roll is down to 2k, should I just keep playing 1-2?

Yes. with 2k allocatted towards poker I would suggest playing 1-2. 10 buyins in pretty comfortable for live imo, provided your not a pro obviously.

2-5 would be way too high...

Random Gambol

Quick update after a two day stint at foxwoods/mohegan. Lost 300$ playing craps on my friend's birthday which sucks, but it was also pretty fun to gamble it up a bit. Spending so much time in casinos over the past 3 or 4 months has really caused the allure of playing craps/roulette/bj to a minimum as I'm often playing 20$ a spin in roullete or 50$ a roll in craps which really has minimal effect by itself. I supposes its a good thing that gambling is just more of a social thing then me really caring whether I win or lose.

This mentality was highlighted this weekend when I was teaching one of my friends how to play craps, I had a 10$ pass line bet and 50$ in odds (max odds) on a point 4. My friend who was trying to learn was asking me how much I would win if the shooter rolled a 4. I responded 110$. The look on his face was pretty funny and then proceeded to sweat the rolls really hard (saying "four four four" as the dice tumbled) until the shooter eventually 7'ed out. His look was almost as if the pit boss was going to take us out back and shoot us all in the head if a 7 came.

To be honest I kind of miss that feeling as I was more just gambling just to gamble and have fun with my friends as opposed to actually caring about winning/losing. I was just there to enjoy my free room from Foxwoods and dropping 300$ in craps probably looks good at my chances of getting another one where I'll be by myself and strictly play poker.

The idioms you hear from people at a table game >>>>>>> the nonsense you hear at a poker table in terms of hilarity value as well, so that 300$ was spent well. I also maximized my drink/hr EV imo, so factor that in.

Poker. What the hell do I do for a living?
Here's some pokerjournal pics. All 1/2 I think as I haven't played 2/5 in a while (getting nitty with my BR again).




Been doing really well, mix of both Foxwoods and Mohegan. Probably going to play 2/5 exclusively at foxwoods as there are much more people and I think the 2/5 regs get really solid room offers from my perusing the foxwoods thread. The games are also much softer.

Really looking forward to having success in 2/5 and making 40$+ an hour. Ship the nickels.

Just to close out my post here's a picture I took of what I do with my roll every night when I get back from the casino. A hollowed out history book. My high school history teacher would be proud of me, I'm sure.

Thinly veiled dos equis brag

I am the most paranoid person you will ever meet, keeping that much in cash in possession definitely needs to be hidden well. John Duhamel recently got jacked for his WSOP main event bracelet. Be aware when your walking to your car after a 500+ win, you don't know who you just pissed off.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...tolen-1142767/

I'm in my fantasy football championship and the games are on now (wtf nfl saturday?), gonna sweat that out now. Go Brady, Larry fitzgerald, Frank Gore and Marshawn Lynch. Ship it, holla.

Just read whole thread, great read. I'm a 19 year old BF refugee. Play at turning stone when I can, thinking of getting a fake to play at Foxwoods since I go to school in Boston. Keep up with the thread and gl!

Haha I know the Indian kid you're talking about. If his nod was serious. Just an absolute drinker and terrible overall player. Wondering if I know you also.

Wasn't really a kid, I'de peg him at 30... Stocky frame too.

If you play at MS when any regularity I'm sure you've seen me, I see you post in the MS thread all the time.

I'm a young bearded kid that always wears a blue nike track jacket lol... Almost always play 1/2, have only played 2/5 a handful, you are?

Ah turning stone... Wondering if I will ever be there again.

I remember buying in for 200$, (40 red chips) and wondering how the hell am I supposed to post my big blind if I dont have any white chips.

Good times. I also remember thinking that casino was awesome, and how much better can foxwoods or mohegan REALLYYYYYYY be. A lot better lol.

Also playing craps for the first time and throwing the dice directly infront of me. Pit Boss had a wtf look on his face.

Had a ton of fun there the times I went there

I'm 27 always in a blue Yankee and grey jacket. 2/5 almost exclusively unless the games are awful. Also a lot of weekday play. I live far and never get weekend rooms.

I'll look for you next time I'm up there (thursday probably), doesn't ring any bells as I've only played 15 hrs of 2/5

I wont be around for a while I busted my roll in the pits. I perform magic tricks. I can make 15k disappear right before your eyes. Lol. I'll keep following the thread and give you a shout when I'm back on my feet.

Playing Professionally?

Here's the thing. My life is essentially sideways at the moment because I have no real things to accomplish right now. I am a recently a turned 21 year old with an attitude that causes to me do crazy things some times. Noone depends on me to feed them/nurture them/comfort them. The only real responsibility I have is that I coach baseball for a premier program in my area, that I absolutely love to do, but I get paid peanuts for it.

At 21 years old, I would not be ashamed to fail at my poker shot and move back in with my parents. I live here now and it just seems really counter-productive for both of us.

My casino is 1hr 15 minutes away (mohegan sun ct), I have contemplated making a move up there for the time being. I just want change in my life and I like to do things that most people don't have the fortitude to do.

Financially, I think I would be setting myself up for failure as I have about 6k to my name right now (all from poker winnings). So that would be a bad situation as I do not want to play underrolled. I am considering taking this much more seriously when I get to 10k+. I absolutely do have what it takes to be a legitimate pro, I am incredibly endurant, I don't let ego influence my decisions, I understand the variance, I keep fish happy, I take a walk when I feel a bit of tilt, I don't drink when I play.

I have earned this much by playing 20 hours a week here and there, and this is after my driving/eating expenses. The only thing I get sick of is driving, and even that I push through because I know it takes endurance to make money in poker. I once drove by myself for 5 hours to turning stone because I wanted to prep myself for live poker. I played for a full day and made about 800$

My cost of living would be very low. Single, don't drink too much anymore after college, don't smoke, don't blow money on girls, etc. I also think that it would motivate me in my other parts of my life as well.

I look at other threads of people deciding whether or not they want to chase the dream and it make me wonder whether I should or not, because of my future.

I have completed 2years of college, dropped out to work full time for AT&T, hated it, played poker throughout, and always been successfull. If I played for 40+hrs a week I know I would make a killing, also when internet poker comes back it should help me out as well.

The problem is the future. If I am 26 years old, poker falls to the ground, I have no job history, I will be screwed. I suppose that is a risk everyone takes with their employer though, isn't it?

This post was just a way for me to exert what I have been thinking after the holidays where I just felt like another dude blending in.

I wanna shine baby.



Sick upswing bro
1.5k upswing right now. Not looking forward to entering a red session. Been really killing it lately, playing 2/5 when I see a good game as well. I see alot of posts in the goals forum regarding "How much do I need to play X limit etc.." I was wondering this myself, as I recently decided I want to take shots at 2/5 when I see spots.

This is a post from dgiharris in LLSNL
"I think the mistake a lot of players make is that they "move up" as if its a ceremonial event. Like there should be a parade and a grand ceremony in which you declare yourself a 2/5NL player and then Princess Peach places a reef around your neck...

No. You should still be playing 1/2NL while you are moving up to 2/5NL.

The best transition to the next level is a gradual transition.

Your transition should be something like:

Month 1: 1/2NL 80% and 2/5NL 20%
Month 2: 1/2NL 60% and 2/5NL 40%
Month 3: 2/5NL 80% and 1/2NL 20%
Month 4: 2/5NL 100%

My point. Try to just think of the game as "poker" and get over the mystique of one level of poker being "better" than another level. I think as players, we get a bit snoobish about levels which makes us lose sight of the true nature of poker. Conversly, the snoobish viewpoint can actually hinder you mentally (anxiety, stress) as you try to move up. "

Completely agree with this. I think players (myself included), get the mentality that the quicker we move up, the better we are, the more money we make.

The problem is that moving up is difficult. If your playing underrolled, if your playing in a game harder than your used to, if the game has different nuances, etc etc.

I am using his method to move up to 2/5 and it is going very well right now.

Thanks guys. Peace.

this has been my favourite thread so far im looking to do what youre doing now bein 18 i hope you continue to do well gl uve given this fish hope. if ur ever on skype id def like the chance to ask you some questions!

Skype is robfarha

So I wrote probably my longest entry and then misclicked on another webpage before I saved my article.

This really sucks.

I'll just write the cliffs version

Casino for 3 days.

Day 1- Misplay huge hand, run bad. stuck 800. Take half hour break, come back, win 600. (-200)

Day 2- Play 1/2 12 hours. Incredibly card dead. I lost a huge pot to a fish. I smiled at him and joked around about it. He verbally said that he was having a ton of fun (as he was stacking my !@#$%^ing 600$ you !@$%^ing moron). It made me happy. I wrote about how important it is to keep fish happy even when it seems to not be going your way. End day down 500 (-700)
Day 3- Win 200 in 3hours. Leave because I was there with my parents who hooked me up with a room.

I also had dinner with my parents while -800 and it didn't affect me. So I was happy with that.

Here's the threadsavers that costed me that 15minutes of writing.

Blackjack Pro

Just got back from Atlantic City yesterday. One of my close friends had his 21st down there and I went down with him. Was my first time there in about a decade, and my first time there being 21.

Stayed at the Tropicana which was pretty meh imo, but I had a ton of fun. As soon as we walked into the casino/hotel, my friends (who are not big gamblers) were like "wow, look how nice this is, look how big all this is" which was wierd to me. I didn't say anything (just nodded in agreement) as to avoid looking like a dbag, but Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are about 10x bigger and nicer than any casino I played in down there.

One thing I will say is that Atlantic City has a good feel to it. I liked the boardwalk and I enjoyed being out of CT for a while. For one, I can drink Yuengling down there (isn't sold in CT) and I can drink free casino drinks all night long. I didn't check out any of the poker rooms (stayed at the trop and the Borgata is apparantley a 10min drive my friends didn't want to make).

Ended up making like 450$ profit (after dinner/drinks/random expenses), which I will put away from my poker bankroll. Crushed blackjack all weekend and I broke even throwing the dice which is a huge accomplishment.

The pit dealers there were horrendous at every casino I gambled at, including the Trop/Trump/Caesers.

There was one BJ dealer at the Tropicana that actually pumped out hands pretty quickly and didn't say a word, my type of dealer. There was a time where I was hammered drunk playing 3 spots of 10$ blackjack and crushing her.

Obviously I am not a blackjack connoisseur or anything, but I know basic strategy to a T and don't ever do stupid stuff based on feel.

It was the most fun I ever had in a casino environment. Considering the majority of the time I am sitting in a chair for 8+ hours listening to some old degenrate complaining about how his 9 outer missed and how it's "so sick", this was a nice change of pace.

Poker
I will be at foxwoods tommorow morning until Friday night. I have two rooms comped, WED and THURS. Will play all day wednesday, all day thursday, then drive home late friday night. So 3 solid days of play. Looking forward to it.

Would love to book a 1k+ trip, and that is my goal. I will be the first to admit that setting monetary goals in poker is pretty stupid because you can't control the cards, but I know in 3 days I am capable of it if I run good. Just hoping to be focused and play well throughout.

I have done this several times before and endurance should not be an issue. Just hoping I don't double barrel in stupid spots and pay people off when I'm beat.

I've stated several times ITT that the elements of live poker that are challenging are not outwitting your opponents. Your opponents don't read 2p2, they don't balance their ranges, they don't understand inelastic calling ranges, they like to drink and get away from their wife.

The challenges are staying focused/thinking straight/staying away from the pits and just playing solid ABC poker. I have no experience at 5/10+, but imo that would be the game where the actual poker becomes challenging, as the winning players should consist of a lot of pros.

I recently had a hand where I faced a river raise on a board of j 3 5 5 2.

My opponent bets the flop, checks the turn and bombs my river lead. I held 45.

This sort of spot is where you are supposed to exploit the hell out of these guys because they never raise rivers as bluffs. Of course I paid him and he showed me 46. The only hand that made sense because he is betting the turn with his fullhouses/TP hands. Hand cost me 80$.

Online this hand would be a snapfold vs this type of passive unbalanced opponent. Live when I've been card and make trips it's tough to fold.

One of those situations where I know I'm beat but OMGZ I has trips.

These are the spots that are holding me back. If I can avoid this type of stuff, I'll be smooth sailing baby.

Good luck.

Confidence

Pretty much got killed in my 3 days at foxwoods. I lost every 600+ pot I played at 1/2. I was a favorite 3 times and lost all 3.

The worst was 77 on 7c8c8x flop where me and a fish get 800 in and he goes running 3's to beat my 7's full. So frustrating.

Ended up winning 500$ this morning but was too tired to play friday night as some of my friends came up and we went out drinking on thursday.

Again- I think it's very important to balance your "poker life" with your social life as it is very easy to become consumed with poker.

My original plan was to just grind all night and let my friends stay in my room after there done with BJ/craps whatever but I decided to go out and get hammered as well (was stuck 900 at this point). Won 200$ playing BJ too so I guess it worked out

Woke up on friday and played for about 5 hrs and made 500ish so it wasn't so bad. Still had plenty of confidence in my game and didn't feel pressed. Like I had to win.

Another thing is that I can come up with a laundry list of complaints for the foxwoods poker room, I like Mohegan's so much better but foxwoods keeps shipping me these free rooms.

1. The felt is like rubber. I hate it.
2. The tables are too tight for ten handed.
3. I heard a floorwomen tell me she applied for a job as a drinklady, got rejected and now she floors there
4. The chips stick together too much. can't shuffle as well.
5. Why do they let these old morons ask for a wash? It slows the game down/annoying/costs the dealers money.

Little things bother me. Good luck,

+700 in blackjack my last two times playing (money separate from poker BR).

Threw a small bet on the broncos and 49ers in a teaser, love the bet.

ship it one time.

Bankroll Ballin

Bankroll is 5k+ now (50 Hundo's looks pretty sick imo). Taking a 3 buyin shot at 2/5 this week at Foxwoods. I will continue to play 2/5 until I lose 1500.

How I got to 5k

This week went well. I got invited into a 200 person frerrol for being a top 100 cash game player at Mohegan Sun, ended up cashing for 485$ which was nice. Also crushed the cash games that day for another 300ish so I made 700 yesterday.

Feels really good to reach a milestone after all the runbad/playbad (I am so far under AIEV its ridiculous).

I folded AK on a board on K 10 9 6 to a double barrel from a nit in a MW pot, was right and felt good.

Looking forward to foxwoods sushi and making a killing at the 100bb max 2/5 game over there.

The reason I choose to go there is the 2/5 at mohegan is incredibly regfilled, and not that they are that sharky, but they are incredibly bad for the game.

For those of you not familiar with Mohegan Sun, the 2/5+ cash games are played on a stage (lol). The regulars in that game constantly berate fish, check it down vs each other, share bankrolls and other stuff that is terrible for the game imo. The only redeeming quality is that mohegan allows you to buy in for 160bb so it plays deep.

Foxwoods will get nearly all my play at 2/5 and above for this reason.

+1600 2/5 session the other day

Been doing more in my personal life and it has prohibited me from playing as much as I would like.

The good news - free rooms every wednesday and thursday next month at foxwoods so my poker schedule is going to be awesomely filled. If I am not at 10k+ at the end of Feb I suck as a player.

should be about 10 full days of grinding next month, which I love. Playing much more 2/5 now that my bankroll is in the neighborhood of 6k.

5. SERIOUSLY so annoying

You can't lose what you don't put in the middle, but you can't win much either.

Yes that's a cliche rounders quote.

Finished up my 3 day stint at foxwoods a few days ago, ended up about -200 for the trip after close to 30 hours of play.

I misplayed some big hands, ran terrible, lost every flip.

My losses came from hands like qj on j98hh and not improving.
Lost a bunch of 1k flips, probably 0/3. Had AJ on J56cc vs aqcc and lost. Aside from that I played pretty well I think, except this hand.

I recently table changed cause my game was dying and I can immediately tell that my new game is about 1000x better. Bunch of older gambly guys sitting incredibly deep, 2 young internet kids with 1500-2kish stacks.

I have about 800 from my other table.

Straddle pot, hero overcalls LP with 89. Do not want to raise because the straddle is on making stacks less deep and my IO are not as good and inflating the pot with 9hi, even in position is a bad idea, opponents probably arent L/F enough to make it profitable.

Anyway. Flop comes Q 10 8

Solid internet kid leads for about 55 into 80. I elect to call. Looking back idk if this correct as it set me up in a bad spot for future streets, even though I am IP. My thinking is that he is not leading anything that will fold to my flop raise so I'de rather just call and keep the pot smallish. We are about 150bb deep.

Turn 4 - He leads 115

Such a bad spot. I call which is the typical passive moron line.

river 10

He leads again for 160.

What the hell do I beat and why the hell did I call his river bet. Just fyi he shows KJcc and got 100% max value out of me. I felt so terrible after that call because I know I played the hand horrendously. Kept playing and made a few hundred back from the fish but everytime I looked at my stack I kept thinking how much more I would have if I didn't completely butcher that hand vs that kid. ie my stack is 800 (could be 1100 if you didn't pay that kid).

Oh well. Leaks gonna leak. I learned a lot though from this trip. One is that I'm bolder at 2/5 because I know its more likely the younger regularly are clicking it back on me with less than premium holdings, also these kids tilt like crazy.

One hand- kid has 800 and I cover, very late at night probably 3:30ish, kid is steaming as well cause his set of aces got beat by a gutshot.

Straddle on, kid limps 10 utg+1

I iso to 45 with AQ. He calls.

Flop is Q 8 2x.

I cbet 65 he makes it 165. I pop it back and he shoves.

4 OTT makes me cringe.

He ended up saying he had 72 and just verbally saying "you win" with a dejected tone at showdown. didn't see his hand.

Felt really good to see his face because when he shoved I snapped it off so he probably though I flopped a set or something.

Why am I so scary?
Enough HHs.

One thing I think is incredibly important to your poker game is to make sure your opponents are unaware of how adept you are.

Essentially when I play I want to seem like a recreational gambler who is just as clueless as everyone else.

Sometimes people (i.e antisocial 2p2 idiots) who can tell I have a clue by my betsizing/lines, ask me about strategy at the table.

This is incredibly frustrating for me because no matter what I do, it's bad. My standard response is just playing ignorant like, "I don't know what that means", when I obviously do, then they think im a jerk. Obviously answering the question seriously is bad because the fish hear that I know things about the game and the better regs get a peak into my thought process. All bad.

For example at foxwoods I played a hand where I opened with JJ got 3 callers and a young, pretty good foxwoods 2/5 reg 3 bet me to about 125 out of the BB. I called and we were heads up to a flop of like 2 6 8 or something. All blanks.

He cbet 165, I called (were deep) and the rest of the hand went c/c c/c.. He says "your pairs good" I show and scoop and thats it.

After the hand he says something about his awkward stack size being unprofitable to double barrel and how he should of c/r to represent more strength against my middle pair.

I responded "your thinking too much about it, I had a pair I had to call". I didn't really want to tilt the kid but I also don't want to talk strategy across the table either.


Another thing that happened to me this weekend was a comment by an older gentleman to my immediate right after this hand. It's funny because he has no idea how much his comment bothered me.

Young kid opening light raised to 15. Old dude OTB 3bet to 50, I cold 4bet out of the sb with AKdd and he folds.

He says something like "I don't want to mess with you". Not that I had been playing particularly tight or anything, had actually put in a 4bet before (with qq I think vs an aggro fish).

I responded "whys that? haha"... He says because I can tell you know this game inside out.

This post is not meant to toot my own horn, old guy has absolutely no idea how wrong he is. If I knew the game inside out me and durrrr would be slamming hookers in Macau ontop of stacks of money.

The point is that I struggle to give off a recreational vibe sometimes. Especially since I recently moved to 2/5 and the money is very real in this deep stacked games. I asked him what I do to give off that type of vibe and he says "its just your aura, can tell from sitting next to you".

This comment bothered me for a little bit because I try my best to not be "that guy", I'm certainly not but the fact some random old dude can tell I study the game is not a good situation for me to be in. The fact he is scared to play pots with me because I am better then him is bad.

Certainly I can use that to my advantage but i'de rather have him l/c 68dd OOP "because were gambling" if that makes any sense.

Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but it did bother me.

-Until next time.

the 89cc hand, if im reading that right you lost the minimum, really theres not a whole lot you can do about getting overflushed, atleast you didnt get stacked.

Fold river.

He leads flop into 6 people. Left out that it was a big MW pot. He just wouldn't do that with anything like 56cc, and all his sets filled up on river. I beat nothing. His river range 100% beats me.