Eight Years in Las Vegas
My eighth year in Las Vegas was unique compared to recent years. It was mostly uneventful and not very stressful. Basically, I played poker for twelve months and won a few dollars. Looking back, I don’t think my game improved as much as it should have in some areas, especially no-limit hold ‘em. But, in others, it improved notably. The end result, though, is good. Today, I believe I’m +EV in a more diverse number of medium stakes games than ever before, but I rarely made any effort to beat games for bigger stakes than I had played a year ago.
As my eighth year started, the World Series of Poker was getting under way, bringing with it a flood of cash games at the Rio and on the Strip. For the first time since I arrived in Las Vegas, I decided to make the host casino of the WSOP my home base while the tournaments ran. During my first four years in Las Vegas when the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe, it was too inconvenient for me to make the trip downtown. I stuck to the rooms on the Strip. When the WSOP moved to the Rio, a combination of playing online and nearly going broke kept me busy or unable to play. So, in many real ways, the 2008 WSOP was the first one in which I experienced the unique atmosphere the event provides.
I thought I might play the Rio SnGs to earn my way into a few WSOP tournaments cheaply. But, after playing one, I decided I didn’t care for the structure and stuck to the cash games which I was very motivated for.
As expected, the cash games at the Rio were very good. They were also more diverse at the medium stakes than you could typically find in Las Vegas. A 20-40 mixed game ran almost every day and I played in it regularly. It was often B.O.T.E. - badugi, Omaha 8 or better, triple draw 2 to 7, and stud 8 or better. I had never played either badugi or triple draw 2-7 in a casino and had only small stakes stud 8 or better experience from H.O.R.S.E. games. So, it was an unusual step for me to jump right into these stakes with relatively little experience. Then again, there aren’t any smaller stakes for those games available regularly.
It seemed my opponents thought I could handle myself in these games right away. On either my first or second time in the B.O.T.E. game, I was sitting next to 2+2 poster *TT* for most of the night. When we got up together to grab something to eat with Mason Malmuth, an opponent commented that he was happy we were leaving. I was surprised to hear that since it was a friendly table, so I asked him why he said it. Apparently, he thought the two of us were the best two players at the table. Since *TT* is a regular mixed games player at higher stakes (especially badugi and triple draw 2 to 7), I thought I was off to a good start in these games.
When I wasn’t in the mixed game, I would typically be in medium stakes limit games. The 20-40 limit hold ‘em game was routinely excellent and I could easily beat it on autopilot. Occasionally it could get over-aggressive, but otherwise a straight-forward TAG strategy would win the money. I also played a fair amount of 10-20 Omaha 8 or better and a little 20-40 Omaha 8 or better. Not including the B.O.T.E. game, this was the first time I had played Omaha 8 or better for these stakes. Previously, I had played only as high as the 5-10 game at the Mirage. The 10-20 game was great and easily beatable. The 20-40 varied. If it was filled with the Rio regulars, I was better off avoiding it. There were better games available.
I also played a little 2-5 Pot Limit Omaha for the first time at the Rio. PLO hasn’t had much success in Las Vegas, but there were plenty of games during the WSOP. I wasn’t too happy with my play in PLO. Unlike other games, PLO didn’t feel natural to me and I was making mistakes which could be avoided (such as getting all-in with bottom set of deuces when I should have known I was beat by a higher set). I was buying-in small for the PLO games and left the WSOP thinking I should probably find a good PLO book before I played again.
My time at the Rio ended with me getting a job- but only for four days. Two Plus Two Publishing had a booth at the 2008 Gaming Life Expo and Mason asked me to work there. The work was relatively easy. I carried some boxes around, made sure the books on our table were well stocked, and kept the lines for autographs reasonably well organized. However, it was often slow which allowed me to talk to Ray Zee, Dan Harrington, or whoever else from the 2+2 forums was hanging out at the booth.
I took a short break when the WSOP was over. Las Vegas poker is dead in the weeks that follow the Main Event, so it’s a good time not to play. During this time, I pondered some things which would come up again late in the year and while I was writing this update.
What games should I be playing? Is it more important/valuable to play a diverse number of games? Or, should I be trying to play as high as possible at whatever individual game I think I’m best at? How do I find the right mix between playing different games and higher stakes?
I hadn’t played no-limit hold ’em for nearly three months. Instead, I played mostly limit poker and only occasionally was it limit hold ‘em. But, no-limit hold ‘em was still the dominate game and I couldn’t ignore it. So, when I started playing again in late July, I went back to 2-5 no-limit.
From late July until mid-November, I played almost exclusively 2-5 no-limit hold ’em. It’s a comfortable game for me in which the competition is relatively easy to beat and when losing days happen, they’re easy to handle. The problems I thought I had with my no-limit game a year earlier were no longer there. But, for reasons that I don’t have, I never played any 5-10 no-limit during this time. My primary place to play no-limit hold ‘em is the Venetian which has 5-10 games running every day. So, it’s not as if I couldn’t simply get on a list and wait to get called. I guess I was just in a comfort zone and not particularly motivated to press myself at 5-10, which I had only a little experience in.
When I wrote my update last year, I had played some 5-10 at the Bellagio and faired well. My basic assessment of the game was that I was +EV against a mix of reasonably good and obviously bad but aggressive opponents. But, I wasn’t motivated to play 5-10 at this time.
How important is it for a player to continue moving up in stakes if he’s comfortable and winning a decent amount at his current stakes? For all but a handful of the world’s best players, anybody who continued to move up in stakes would eventually reach a game in which they were simply –EV in. The Peter Principle applies in poker and it can be costly. I’m certain my ceiling is not the Las Vegas 5-10 no-limit games. But, maybe it’s the 10-20 games which I’ve only observed (and often look super juicy). Whatever it is, should I be pressing to find out what it is? And, should I be doing it in all games and not just no-limit hold ‘em?
Anyway, I was playing 2-5 no-limit hold ‘em until mid-November when I switched games again. At that time, I made a very big effort to improve my Omaha 8 or better game. I really enjoy playing it and knew a regular 10-20 (with a half-kill) game was running at the Wynn. So, for the next couple months, Omaha 8 or better became my primary game. Whether it was correct strategy or not, I was quickly the most aggressive player in the Wynn 10-20 game. My pre-flop raising range seemed to be wider than everybody else’s and I was more likely to jam pots post-flop than others. The difference between my aggressiveness and others was much more noticeable in Omaha 8 or better than any game I had played before. It struck me as odd that I probably had a LAG image in this game when I was probably viewed as Tighty McWhitey in just about any other game I played. However, I was sure I was actually playing tight-aggressive. I was never the guy showing down Sevens full of Eights to take down a pot.
I was doing so well in the Wynn 10-20 game that I picked up and moved over to the Bellagio where a 30-60 game runs regularly. In that game, my aggressiveness was matched by quite a few others. Also, the competition is naturally tougher. The Bellagio 30-60 game can be great at times. It can be a big action game in which you can sit back, wait for a hand, and get paid off when it hits. With a 1/3 kill to 40-80, pots greater than $1,000 are scooped somewhat regularly. But, it can also be a game filled with competent opponents which I can’t expect to have much of an edge over. When the game was good, I continued playing. When it was bad, I took advantage of the Bellagio’s game selection and played limit hold ‘em or stud instead.
So, until about early March, I was usually at the Bellagio playing 30-60 Omaha 8 or better, 15-30 limit hold ‘em, 30-60 limit hold ‘em, and occasionally 20-40 stud. For what it’s worth, I’m starting to think the gap between the 15-30 and 30-60 limit hold ‘em games is bigger now than it’s ever been. The 15-30 game is simply an autopilot TAG game. The 30-60 game has quite a few decent players since the limit games have dried up and limit hold ‘em games at higher stakes are erratic. The 30-60 game is where the good, but not great, limit hold ‘em grinders often end up. Sadly, I think the 20-40 stud game is getting worse because of a shrinking population of players. It’s not going to survive many more years.
I took a lot of March off and I’m blaming the newly created Chess forum on 2+2. Chess is my old love and I spent considerable time studying and playing online. Diversions can be useful, though.
When April came around, I got back to playing and back to thinking about what I should be playing. Again, I had spent a big chunk of time, four and a half months, without playing no-limit hold ‘em.
Like I asked above:
What games should I be playing? Is it more important/valuable to play a diverse number of games? Or, should I be trying to play as high as possible at whatever individual game I think I’m best at? How do I find the right mix between playing different games and higher stakes?
In my eighth year in Las Vegas, I regularly played my personal highest takes in Omaha 8 or better and occasionally played my personal highest stakes in stud 8 or better, badugi, and triple draw 2 to 7 (during mixed games). But, in no-limit hold ‘em, I was just holding steady in the 2-5 game which is what I spent playing right up until this post.
Often, my decisions on what games I would play weren’t logically thought out. I wasn’t deciding to play Omaha 8 or better instead of no-limit hold ‘em because of an EV calculation. I picked the game I played because I was motivated to play it. Though, it could be argued that playing the game you are motivated at is a logical choice.
My ninth year should start much like my eight year did. The WSOP is underway, the cash games are plentiful, and I’ve got lots of options on what table to sit at.
