ElSapo
07-07-2003, 12:51 PM
So I was at the Taj Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning, playing 2/4 hold'em with a friend who had never played poker in a casino before. He's a good player in my home game, but this was his first time playing live. For me, it was only my third trip to play live though the second stint was 4 days in Vegas which amounted to, well, more time at the table than I'd like to admit.
Anyways, so we left D.C. around 10 a.m. and were sitting down at the table by 2 p.m. (He's got a radar detector and a heavy foot)...
I was excited to play, because this was going to be my first time playing live and really, really understanding anything. First time was a year ago, and I didn't know anything. Then came four days in Vegas, when I thought I knew something but was wrong. Then came four months of internet poker, going from quickly losing a lot to slowly winning a little. And then I'm sitting at the Taj and understanding what I'm seeing. Revelations all around.
Loose, all the time. Agressive at night. This seems to be the way casino low limits go. This weekend was no exception - it was exactly like playing an agressive .5/1 Party game, where a raised flop gets seen by 7 or 8 players.
More than that, many times it was like there were two different games going on. A bunch of LAGs slugging it out, raising on bottom and middle pair, bluff raising and re-raising. And then once in a while their party would get crashed by one of the tighter players.
Really, it was fascinating. Because the better of the loose players could spot what was happening. They'd play this loose agressive style against certain action players, and tighten down against the tighter players, and bluff the weaker players off hands.
All around, the play was weak. The better players who played a lot online would eventually crack and play hands out of boredom. The action players would cap with J4o. The rocks would tilt, righten and re-tilt. Money passed from stack to stack and never found a real home.
Anyways, it wasn't a winning session for me. What big hands I got were cracked (in 13 hours, I never saw a pair higher than Qs, and AKs/o flopped top pair only once or twice). But I flopped the nut flush twice, got paid once, and more importantly, for this trip, just had a blast talking to everyone and joking around. You do see all kinds at the poker table.
I think learning to play in this kind of environment is almost a different skill set in and of itself. Anyways. On to the most memorable hand of the night...
My friend and I have been talking to a guy from Jersey who claims to not have slept in 30 hours, and to have been playing for something like 18 hours straight. I believed him - he looked like he was in bad shape. Loose, agressive, but thinking, he went on a run amassing chips through a series of bluffs and real hands, and the table was crazy for a while (if, by 'a while,' you mean all the time)...
So the cards come out. Sleepless Jersey Guy (SJG) is on the button and My Friend Jon (MFJ) is in the CO. I get 74o and muck, but the other eight people at the table find playable hands and put in their $2. Action gets to MFJ, who raises, and then SJG re-raises. The re-raise from SJG signified that he has the button and was indeed dealt the required two cards.
All call.
Flop comes with a couple of spades and a face card. Doesn't matter b/c it's checked to MFJ, who bets, and then gets raised by SJG. Five see the turn, which was most definitely one of the remaining cards in the deck. Same action - bunch of checks, MFJ bets, SJG raises, and only three see the river. The river comes a previously undealt card. Also a spade. The board now has a couple of face cards, a possible flush and a possible straight.
The one remaining player who may be playing sensibly checks. MFJ checks his cards and he checks. SJG bets, implying that the dealer did not accidentally take his cards. The one remaining, sensible guy folds. MFJ checks to make sure his cards are still there, looks at SJG, gives him that "I've got this one" look, and raises. SJG looks at the board, looks at MFJ, and re-raises. MFJ calls. Dealer says "turn 'em up."
Long pause. Long, rather embaressed pause.
MFJ - "I called you."
SJG - "Good call."
He flips up J2o, for no pair, no straight, no draw and most certainly no flush. MFJ smiles and somehow manages to say "that's what I thought." He flips up 55.
I love this game. MFJ's response later - "I just didn't know if my crap beat his crap. I didn't know if I should cap it."
Anyways, so we left D.C. around 10 a.m. and were sitting down at the table by 2 p.m. (He's got a radar detector and a heavy foot)...
I was excited to play, because this was going to be my first time playing live and really, really understanding anything. First time was a year ago, and I didn't know anything. Then came four days in Vegas, when I thought I knew something but was wrong. Then came four months of internet poker, going from quickly losing a lot to slowly winning a little. And then I'm sitting at the Taj and understanding what I'm seeing. Revelations all around.
Loose, all the time. Agressive at night. This seems to be the way casino low limits go. This weekend was no exception - it was exactly like playing an agressive .5/1 Party game, where a raised flop gets seen by 7 or 8 players.
More than that, many times it was like there were two different games going on. A bunch of LAGs slugging it out, raising on bottom and middle pair, bluff raising and re-raising. And then once in a while their party would get crashed by one of the tighter players.
Really, it was fascinating. Because the better of the loose players could spot what was happening. They'd play this loose agressive style against certain action players, and tighten down against the tighter players, and bluff the weaker players off hands.
All around, the play was weak. The better players who played a lot online would eventually crack and play hands out of boredom. The action players would cap with J4o. The rocks would tilt, righten and re-tilt. Money passed from stack to stack and never found a real home.
Anyways, it wasn't a winning session for me. What big hands I got were cracked (in 13 hours, I never saw a pair higher than Qs, and AKs/o flopped top pair only once or twice). But I flopped the nut flush twice, got paid once, and more importantly, for this trip, just had a blast talking to everyone and joking around. You do see all kinds at the poker table.
I think learning to play in this kind of environment is almost a different skill set in and of itself. Anyways. On to the most memorable hand of the night...
My friend and I have been talking to a guy from Jersey who claims to not have slept in 30 hours, and to have been playing for something like 18 hours straight. I believed him - he looked like he was in bad shape. Loose, agressive, but thinking, he went on a run amassing chips through a series of bluffs and real hands, and the table was crazy for a while (if, by 'a while,' you mean all the time)...
So the cards come out. Sleepless Jersey Guy (SJG) is on the button and My Friend Jon (MFJ) is in the CO. I get 74o and muck, but the other eight people at the table find playable hands and put in their $2. Action gets to MFJ, who raises, and then SJG re-raises. The re-raise from SJG signified that he has the button and was indeed dealt the required two cards.
All call.
Flop comes with a couple of spades and a face card. Doesn't matter b/c it's checked to MFJ, who bets, and then gets raised by SJG. Five see the turn, which was most definitely one of the remaining cards in the deck. Same action - bunch of checks, MFJ bets, SJG raises, and only three see the river. The river comes a previously undealt card. Also a spade. The board now has a couple of face cards, a possible flush and a possible straight.
The one remaining player who may be playing sensibly checks. MFJ checks his cards and he checks. SJG bets, implying that the dealer did not accidentally take his cards. The one remaining, sensible guy folds. MFJ checks to make sure his cards are still there, looks at SJG, gives him that "I've got this one" look, and raises. SJG looks at the board, looks at MFJ, and re-raises. MFJ calls. Dealer says "turn 'em up."
Long pause. Long, rather embaressed pause.
MFJ - "I called you."
SJG - "Good call."
He flips up J2o, for no pair, no straight, no draw and most certainly no flush. MFJ smiles and somehow manages to say "that's what I thought." He flips up 55.
I love this game. MFJ's response later - "I just didn't know if my crap beat his crap. I didn't know if I should cap it."