Let’s get together this week and snap that picture

Side by side, we would make two interesting silhouettes imo.

pics or gtfo.

You could call yourself "Phall Hellmuth".

I'm still running poorly--one of the better players at the table last night commiserated by noting that "This is the 4th time you've been ****ed over tonight." There's nothing I can do about it in the short term. I need only to keep studying, putting in the hours and trying to get a little better every day.

The Flamingo game has been soft lately; much softer than Harrah's. For several months I have been mystified by the extreme differences between game conditions at two rooms owned by the same company, rooms offering similar limits and promos and located nearly next to each other on the Strip. But I've finally developed a working hypothesis as to why they're so different: Flamingo almost always runs a low fixed-limit game, formerly $2/$4 LHE but recently changed to $3/$6. Harrah's rarely runs a fixed limit game.

There is a fair amount of player overlap at the Flamingo between the LHE and NLHE games, and after months of observation I can posit that the regs who play both LHE and NLHE there are not the best no limit players--there are exceptions, but we're talking means, medians and modes here--whereas the Harrah's regs are more likely to be no limit players only, and they're better at it on average.

It's more complicated than that, of course, as there's a fair amount of overlap between Flamingo and Harrah's regs. The only reason I can see why the Harrah's regs continue to play the bad games over there is that they're trying to hit both the Harrah's and the Flamingo freerolls (not to mention the Bally's and others). I've been guilty of that myself.

Flamingo: 6 hours:
(-$294)

Flamingo and Flamingo "freeroll" (-$10): 6 hours:
(-$494)

I know exactly what that feeling at the Flamingo is like, my friend. BARF.

Thanks brother!

I took yesterday off to get my mindset back on track. I'll play on Monday instead of taking it off. I butchered a big hand on Thursday and put myself on tilt. I'll post the hand later if I have time. Mistake tilt is one of my biggest leaks, particularly during a downswing. As the game gets tougher, the players making the least number of mistakes will be the ones who are bringing home the money.

Objectively, I know that once I make the mistake, there's no way of going back and fixing it. I can only go forward with the resolution of trying to be more thoughtful and careful in the future, but knowing that still doesn't help me to stop castigating myself for throwing out a huge chunk of EV.

I know that feeling all to well. Even if I make a mistake and get away with it by sucking out on a later street, I beat myself up about it.

It's good that you're not results-oriented, Sheep. I will admit that I'm more willing to forgive myself for a mistake when I'm sorting and stacking chips. Last night, for example, I picked off two fairly large river bluffs. I was holding bluffcatchers both times at least, but the math wasn't quite there in either case. I just "felt" like they were bluffing, and I put my thumb on the scale. I would have been pretty rough on myself if I'd been wrong both times.

Here's my butchered hand from Thursday, though after ranging it I found that my equity on the flop was higher than I'd estimated.

Loose gambler with $105 in his stack straddles for $5 UTG. I pick up KK in UTG+1 and raise to $20. I don't believe that I'd played a single hand for the last 45 minutes. I get 5 callers, including the blinds and the straddler.

(Pot $120) - 6 Players.

Flop A96

With this many $20 callers, there is no way that I'm dodging an ace here. But I have the nut flush redraw with my K. It's checked to me and I make a big $90 bet. Am I going to fold out a reasonable number of better hands here? Not a chance!

Folds to BTN, who is a tight straightforward player. She pushes all in for $225. Folds around to the gamblor UTG, who calls for his last $85, then back to me.

(Pot $460) - 3 Players. 2 are all-in.

I need 23% equity. I knew that I had it, but I didn't know that I had so much of it. Hand 2 is the tight, straightforward player with a nuttish range, and Hand 3 is the straddle defender, to whom I gave a very wide preflop range, as they tend to defend even wider than your average loose BB defender. This gave him all the aces, sets and two pairs and lot of baby flushes on the flop, but it still didn't boost his equity much.

Most of his loss is from BTN having only the good aces in her range and from him having all the aces in his range. Think about that the next time you want to make a loose call pre with Axo.



There's a temptation to note that it's an easy call for me, but I was the one who put myself in this spot by betting $90. If you opened $99 with 72o and someone shoved their $100 stack with AA, your call for $1 extra would be a very good one, but wouldn't excuse the original $99 bet.

I call.

(Pot $595) - 3 Players. All in effective

Turn and river both brick.

UTG shows J4 and wins the main pot
BTN shows AT and wins the side pot.

Last night's results.
Flamingo: 6 hours:
+$306

I don't play $3/$6 limit, but I appreciate the young man at that table, who's wearing sunglasses and a hoodie. If he's having fun, then good on him.

Subbed, been browsing and I love the thread!

The first week I played live poker I did this at 2/4 limit and I took it VERY seriously and never spoke. Last week I played 8/16 because I couldn't get in the 20/40 and I was practically announcing my cards/how bad I am at the game and getting lots of action. Funny how things change but I'm still awful at poker.

Thanks Vertigo Spiral!

It's a big boost for me to know that there are some people out there following along on this adventure. I appreciate you!

When I first started playing live I posted about "poker cosplayers," and I was patronizing about them. The game has taught me some humility, and I've since come around on my opinion of them.

I think it's good for the game to have some folks out there dressed like stereotypical pros. First of all, they feel good about it, and they don't deserve any more mockery than someone wearing their favorite quarterback's game jersey. Secondly, some rec players soon realize that they're better at the game than the sunglasses and hoodie guy; and "I can outplay that guy," is an incentive to come back and play again.

In any case, it's hard for me to look down on anyone when I'm almost on the bottom rung. I get occasional snide remarks about my backpack along the likes of "What, do you think you're a pro?" Depending on my feel for the player, my stock answer varies between: "You got me, man. I'm a complete poseur." and "There are no pros at $1/$2."

This is a personal favorite

I'm about to put in my two hours of study tonight, then head out to play for 6 hours, and that will make 30+10 work/study hours for per week for two weeks running. I'm going to remove the onus of penalty volunteer hours next week and see what happens. If I take the whole week off, then the penalty is going back on.

If anyone's curious about tonight's routine, I'll be watching this:



Edit: HFS, you have to check out seat 2. He's dressed like an executioner from one of the Dragonquest games.

then probably something short from Splitsuit, like this:



On the bus ride I'll read a section of Verbal Poker Tells by Zach Elwood.

Flamingo: 6 hours:
+$229

You should use a manbag!

For some reason, I just can't get with the single strap. There's an asymmetricality about it that bothers me.

Flamingo: 6 hours:
(-$72)

Those 1/3 games at Stones are so much bigger than 1/2 here in Vegas. It’s a really nice room with great beer and food. If your ever in the Sacramento area you have to spend a night there playing poker.

I watched a few hours of their $5/$5 game tonight on YouTube and it was super splashy. Bart Hanson was at the table, owning souls.

I made a very late start last night, and two hours into the session the Flamingo game broke on me, which is unusual for a Saturday night. Rather than get up and head next door to Bally's--who were running a rare and always-juicy $2/$3 NL table, I decided that I would nit it up and try, just for fun, the Flamingo's $3/$6 limit game.

I assume that with the $7 max rake I'll probably lose $4-$7/hr at that level, but the freeroll ostensibly pays more than that per hour, though I've been on a long losing streak at the freerolls.

I sat down at the limit game and got torched for two straight hours, finding myself priced in with any number of low percentage high-yield draws on the flop and turn, and with no fold equity to semibluff the 4-6 other players out of the hand. Live and Learn: there will be no more limit games for me.

Flamingo: 4 hours:
(-$103)

You've really learned to LIMIT yourself, Mr. suitedjustice. How's the studying coming?