First time in a public cardroom

Hey everyone. Been lurking here a while and reading a lot of books. Today is my birthday and I'm planning on treating myself this weekend to my first shot at a public cardroom. I live in Colorado so I plan to head up to Blackhawk hopefully this weekend.


Just curious if anyone has any advice that they don't necessarily teach you in the books about your first time sitting down in a public cardroom.


Any thoughts or even humorous stories that I can try not to repeat would be appreciated.

1) Don't fold in the big blind when the pot is unraised. The nice dealer pushed my cards back and said "you might get lucky" - to the amusement of the local rock on my left.


2) Don't say "raise" when the hand has been checked around to you. Though, that did win me the blinds when everyone chuckled and folded.


3) Don't be intimidated.


Regards,


Troy

1st thing i tend to notice on newbies, is the glazed look. mainly because of the speed of the game. they dont expect it. then they play very timidly. id watch for a while to get used to the speed, then play. and **dont forget to bet**.


i had a bud so nervous once on his first time, he folded top pair to my mid pair at showdown. the guy next to him told him after he mucked. he ws kindof a deer in the headlights.


have fun...


b

Hey Dodgemn,


Like you I am a total rook as well. My first time was about two weeks ago and I was nervous as all heck. At first I just walked around the card room, went to have a smoke, threw some water on my face, (I was really a headcase about this), then I just went in.


I am assuming you have gambled before, so once you sit down (after a few hands) you will feel perfectly at ease. On my third hand I got pocket AA, floped and A, and I was on my way.


Just look at it this way, you are currently paying for lessons, if something good happens great, but don't have any illusions. Also if you feel yourself drifting one bit, get out! I would play very tight, but if you have something big, come out with guns blazing so to speak!


Making my second go around tonight at the Taj, looking forward to it!


What books have you read so far?

I played real tight, probably just a little bit tighter than optimal, and avoided having to make any tough decisions. At low limit you'll be surprised at what gets shown down, don't let it loosen you up. Just relax and have fun. I was a bit glazed over, but it kept me from tilting. Don't slow-roll, don't comment on others play, and stack some of your chips in bet-sized stacks. Don't act out of turn. I kept flipping my hands up while some slug was agonizing over whether to call or not. Watch the action. It's fast.

Check out this thread on the Holdem small stakes forum:


http://www.twoplustwo.com/cgi-bin/newforums/smallholdem.pl?read=16592


First time I played holdem 3-6. I was in the big blind and placed 3 chips on the felt in front of me, and then quickly tried to snatch them back. I realized that I could not retract my bet. The guy behind me re-raised. 8 of us saw the flop for 3 bets. I had Q8o and caught bottom pair and it held up!!! The social security recipients at the table went berserk.


I'll be at the Taj Saturday nite. Look for me at the 5-10 holdem (I'll be the one folding the blind when its free to call)


good luck.


BillD

And since we're passing out threads and you asked for humorous stories (at least me and my buddy thought it was humorous /images/wink.gif ):


http://www.twoplustwo.com/cgi-bin/newforums/begin.1.pl?read=2839


I'm a newbie too and regretfully live pretty far from the nearest live poker room. The above thread is my trip report from my first public card room visit showing that the first experience can be fairly kickass. I was fairly nervous at first, but after about 20-30 minutes, it all felt normal.


Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't be afraid to apply your new knowledge.


Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! If I get there this weekend, I'll let everyone know how it went. My current library is as follows (in no particular order):


Winning Low Limit Holdem (Jones)

Theory of Poker (Sklansky)

HPFAP (Malmuth)

Hold em Excellence (Krieger)

Inside the Poker Mind (Feeney)

Holdem Poker (Sklansky)


I may have missed a title, but that's close. I've also played a ton of hands on Wilson's Turbo Texas Holdem software.


Think its time to get out of the library and into the real world.


Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions!

Ripdog,


I read your reply again after my session. Your points were right on. I was surprised and hands that were shown (i.e K2o, Q6o) and no, they weren't from the blinds /images/smile.gif. Watching someone else go on tilt made me keep playing tight, but aggressive. It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to my next session.