Archive for April, 2008
Bellagio Sucks
I don’t know why the Bellagio is considered the preeminent poker room in Vegas. It is true that it has the best game selection, but the floor in general sucks, especially the day shift.
I’ve been playing there pretty regularly in the $2/5 game the past couple of weeks, and it is ridiculous how much differently they treat their regulars compared to the tourists or other randoms in the game. First of all, they give all of their regs hidden food comps, which you have to ask the floor for in the secret back office. If they don’t recognize you, they’ll tell you that they’re all out but if they know you’re a regular, they’ll write one right up. Bellagio is the only room I know of that doesn’t offer an hourly comp rate for food but rather just hands them out completely randomly based on who they like.
April Foolishness
That didn’t last long. Busto already.
Of Course I was never really doing any of that anyway. My vein attempt at an April Fool’s post was apparently very convincing as I heard from many well wishers. I thought it was absurd to think that I’d never run bad for more than a month (ever) and that I could support my family playing $6.50 SNG’s. You all must think I’m a lot better player than I really am. I’m not even sure it would be possible for the best SNG player who ever lived to accomplish that feat. I even used the username slooflirpa which is april fools backwards as my Cake Poker moniker.
The week that was, and a SNG conundrum
I was able to get in a ton of poker during Spring Break. My cash game sessions were capped off when I played at possibly the nittiest 6-max table ever. We must have set a world record for walks. I probably should have ditched that table and found another juicier game (game selection has never been my specialty), but it was actually kind of fun to be at a table with a bunch of grinders. In fact, three of them were 9-tabling. I came out a small winner for the session when I flopped top-two and value bet all the way down. I ended up a big winner for the week. Too bad school starts back up again this week.
The Hard-Boiled Poker Radio Show
I must have a secret, unconscious urge to seek out situations where I risk extreme embarrassment. Yesterday I posted a picture of my two-year-old self on the blog dressed as a cowboy (with tiny holster, toy gun, and unbelievable striped pants). Today I’ve launched a new poker podcast. When will it end?
This podcast thing has been in the works for awhile, actually. Thought I’d pass along the info here, in case anyone is interested. The main idea for the show is to present old time radio shows that feature poker and/or gambling as a primary concern. Will include other short subjects as well, which lead up to the feature presentation (the old radio show).
Big Time Suck Outs
I’ve been getting sucked out on pretty badly in my home game, so in an effort to console and convince myself that things aren’t always going against me, I’d like to share two suck out stories. Both occurred in a live $2/$5 no limit hold’em games at a casino outside of Chicago.
Hand 1
Trying a Sit N Go Challenge:
I have been reading on some sight or another about building a bankroll through playing multiple Sit N Go’s at a time. The theory is start one every 10 minutes until you reach whatever maximum you feel comfortable playing. I am going to play up to 4. I am going to try this for a few days to see how it goes.
Since I am going to play so many at a time and my poker tracker only picks up NLHE, I am going to stick to that game and see how it goes. I will adjust the number of games as needed. I need to avoid being heads up on more then one table at a time. (Hopefully I get heads up).
Ups and Downs.. a few days of poker
I’ve been playing live poker a lot lately- which is great. Of course, this is coming with some ups and downs. I played a NLHE 1/2 game on Wednesday and posted about my success. I went back to Commerce again on Friday and had another winning session. Friday night was filled with a lot of calling stations and players there “just for fun!”. I hit a lot of flops early on and was up $100 after the first hour. It was easy extracting the most amount from the weak players at the table (ah, I’m missing that hour of play)… Here’s an example of a hand from that night where I felt I dodged a huge bullet…
Going Pro
After 18 years of servitude to the Man I’ve reached a turning point in my life. With my 40th birthday approaching it has become high time that I follow my heart and do something that I love. Because of that I have quit my job and decided to “go pro”.
With the current economic situation in the US I’ve been able to refinance my home for a very low rate and with the money I’ll save in gas my poker income should be enough. I know that 6 months living expenses is preferred but considering my past results 3 months should be plenty. I’ve never had more than one losing month in a row ever so I should be able to play through any down swing.
