High On Poker

This is going to be one of those rambling posts, but bear with me.

While on the subject of rambling, I might as well start off with a recap of NYRambler‘s HU Tournament held last night as part of a tournament series Rambler is hosting. Whenever I read about Rambler’s series, I think it’d be fun to play, but I always seem to miss it since it’s not on my usual poker-playing schedule. Last night, I got home early from a home game at Jamie’s place (more on that later) and decided to jump in to the event. I love heads-up poker and it seemed like a fun crowd.

There were 23 players, which meant that the first order of business was to wittle the crowd down to a bracket-able number, 16. Hence, 9 players received bye for the first round and 14 players had to “earn” their way into the Sweet Sixteen. I was one of the unlucky 14, but I thought that my luck turned around when my opponent Tony E. (I can’t remember the full screenname) was sitting out. I stole myself to a solid 1700-1300 lead or so when he finally showed up. Long story short, though, he caught me in a stupid bluff when I reasoned that he could not have the Ace (there were two on the board) and I tried to represent a strong hand. He was very passive, leading me to my conclusion, but as it turned out, he held a baby kicker (A2-A4) and called me down, leaving me at a chip disadvantage. Quite frankly, from there I just didn’t play that well. I wasn’t getting the cards and I hurt myself by pulling another ill timed bluff when a flop came down XXY (i.e., a pair and a blank), something akin to 774. I bet and he called. The turn was a blank and it went check-check. The river was another 4 (or whatever that card was), so I bet out with my Jack-high, hoping that he would fear a rivered full house. He called…with AA…and I was pretty much crippled. In the end, I just lost because of bad timing and bad play. When it was done, I typed “gg” into the chat box, followed by “wp.” So much for my HU run.

Prior to that, I had went out in 9th place out of 10 in a tourney at the Wall Street Game. I was once again overplaying my hands, trying to make magic where there was none. In one terrible hand, I sensed my opponent, a big Eastern European or Russian dude, was light when he checked it down to the river. I bet out at the end with jack squat and he called me with AJ, no pair. It was such an obvious ploy on my part to pick up the pot that his call was practically a given. I don’t know what I was thinking, but that seemed to be the theme for the night.

While I waited for the second game to start (and HOLY SHIT did it take a long time until the 8th place player busted), I started to get antsy. I hate waiting for just about anything, and poker is worst than most since my anxiousness leads to crappy play when the time does finally come. Fortunately (or not), a player called hoping to get into the second tourney, so I gave up my seat. Hence, I was home shortly before 9pm and able to join Rambler’s 10pm game. I also got to spend some time with wifey Kim, which was really the highlight of my night.

A weird thing is going on with me and poker, although it is nothing new. I feel the urge to play and yet I also feel trepidation. I have accepted that I am not a top online player, and yet all I’ve thought about all day was playing in tourneys online. It’s a confusing state to be in because I also feel that I should continue my efforts to curb online play. I mean, I’m literally internally debating a reload and a cashout at the same time.

I’m sure that most of this is due to outside stresses. With some changes at the firm, my job now has the potential for extra responsibilities and hours. I’ve already taken on more responsibility and I feel ready for every new step, but I am also faced with a general uncertainty about the future that seems to have permeated the office. In a perfect world scenario, I would continue doing what I do, that is, lawyering, without anything or anyone getting in my way. I love what I do for a living and I just want to do it. I know this may not be the first thing people think of when they hear I’m a lawyer (hell, it probably isn’t even in the top 10), but I actually get to help people, people who need it. Whether it be the infant who was injured because a doctor panicked and forgot his training, or the illegal immigrant who sawed off his hand because the saw he was using did not have the required safety guards, my clients by and large have serious injuries caused by the errors or omissions of other people (legally and literally). I like helping people, and the vast majority of my clients are good people. As it goes, I don’t even mind the idea of taking on a managerial role; I have more than enough ideas and I don’t mind speaking up. It’s just the uncertainty that is getting to me, as much everyone else’s uncertainty as mine. I’ve gone through a dozen scenarios in my head, but in the end, all I can do is sit back and watch it play out.

This weekend, I’ll be in Florida for my cousin’s wedding. You best believe the idea of Florida casino poker has entered my head, but only for fleeting moments. Sadly, the schedule won’t allow it, nor would my keen sense of family loyalty. Now, if Grandma wanted to play, well, I’d just be spending quality time with her, so I suppose I can still work that angle.

I’m eyeing my Friday flight like it’s a freakin’ brass ring (old school carnival reference for my old skool homies out there). Until then, I’ll just keep treading water at poker, busting my hump at work, and losing at chess.

Oh, and on that note, anyone who wants to beat me in chess, look for me at ChessHere.com, screenname HighOnPoker.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Last night, I returned for a brief 2 hour session of poker at the Wall Street Game’s 1/2 NLHE cash game. The results were an easy $200+, over a full buy-in profit, thanks in large part to a couple of key hands.

I knew the game was overbooked, so I arrived at Jamie‘s apartment at about 6:35, a good 25 minutes before cards were supposed to be in the air. Thankfully, Jamie lives nearby, so when I realized I had all of my poker paraphenelia…except for my poker wallet with cash…I made a mad dash back home to get my dough. Back at Jamie’s about 10-15 minutes later, and his previously empty apartment had a good 8 people waiting around. I locked up my seat and once everyone got settled in, we began the poker.

The mix of players were a bit different from Jamie’s usual game. Apparently, some local suits arranged to use Jamie’s apartment once every few weeks for their running cash game. The suits were all non-regulars in Jamie’s weekday game and the stakes were slightly higher than Jamie’s usual low stakes (1/2 instead of .50/1 NLHE), so I looked forward to playing under new, more profitable conditions in a familiar environment.

I looked around the table and saw that the suits were really just a random assortment of dudes in their 20s or 30s. No one was wearing anything more than a buttoned-down dress shirt and slacks (read: no actual suits). I, for once, decided not to dress down in comfortable attire, arriving at the game wearing my work clothes, a light pink dress shirt and gray slacks. I wanted to blend in with the crowd, rather than stand out, and attire-wise, I was fairly successful. Still, once I got a feel for the table, that all went to the pisser. But we’ll get to that in a moment.

I surveyed the table and looked for the best open seat. The 1 seat was open, but Liezl, one of the few regulars, had taken the 10seat and while it would be nice to act after her, the 9s and 8s were empty and I was more concerned with getting position on the players that were new to me. Rumor had it, this was a big gambling crowd with some subpar players, so I wanted to take advantage of the fresh meat. I settled on the 9seat, since I knew Liezl well enough to feel comfortable playing her out of position. I considered the 8seat, since one of the “newbies” (new to me, not to this game, since it’s their regular game), an Asian guy, was in the 7seat and from experience, Asian players are usually skilled (or at least experienced) in the ways of gambling.*

I didn’t want to crowd the guy and I was willing to gamble a bit myself, so I took the 9seat, leaving a gap between me and the Asian in the 7seat. Eventually, the table filled up, and the 8seat was taken by WSG regular, Wendy, who then went on a 30 minute trek to find Starbucks. Chris (a chick) played Wendy’s seat for the first 45 minutes or so, which meant I had a bevy of chicks surrounding me at all times. It reminds me of that time I was locked up in the woman’s prison. It took a good 18 hours before the cops realized I was in drag.

Moving along, my first hand saw me limping with 34s, then calling a $10 raise with about four other people, and seeing a JXX flop with two spades. If memory serves correct, an early position player bet $10, I called, and then a player across the table raised to $75. I counted out the pot and when it folded to me, found myself in an odd predicament. My only real question was weather my flush draw was live. I had to at least assume that I was behind. Assuming it was live, I had 9 clean outs twice, or roughly a 36% chance to hit my hand. The pot held about $120, maybe a little less. Frankly, the odds weren’t that bad, but ultimately, it was the first (or one of the first) hands of the night, and I didn’t have enough information on the players to get a good enough grasp of the situation. I could be facing AKs, which would put me in a much worse situation. I folded. Later, the player claimed he held AA. It makes sense.

After that, I slowed it down a bit, getting a feel for the table. I don’t remember the full timeline of events, but I eventually got into a hand against Darko, a player I mentioned recently when I questioned the use of checking dark. Darko is in my estimation a great poker player, particularly as it pertains to the mind game element of poker. After a bunch of limpers or perhaps callers for a small raise, Darko bet out something like $15 preflop and all the players folded to me. I held 45s and decided to call. I was out of position, but Darko is the type of player to make the squeeze raise with any two (he had already shown that propensity earlier in the evening when he squeeze pushed with a couple of rags), and I wanted to outplay him post-flop. Admittedly, I guess I was looking for a challenge.

The flop came down 224, but I had already dark checked, hoping to test the dark checking waters. It was not a coincidence that I chose to try the dark check against Darko himself, the guy who I’ve seen use it the most effectively. As Darko explained in a recent comment on HoP, there is one aspect of the dark check that is beneficial to the dark checker: you create more uncertainty. It’s not the same as hiding information…it actually adds an element of confusion to the game.

He checked as well, somewhat hesistantly, which frankly means nothing with Darko. He could be acting hesitant to try to trap me. The turn was a third duece, giving me an unlikely full house. I was only in trouble if I ran into a pocket pair higher than 4s. I bet out $20 and Darko called. The river was a King, filling a flush draw. It went check-check, since I figured that I held a decent chance of being behind. He announced, “Flush” to which I replied, “Full house” and tabled my hand. “Damn low cards!”

A little while later, I got a chance to try out the dark check again. Preflop, the player from the first hand, Mr. Aces, for lack of a better name, raised to $15. I think there may’ve been a straddle in effect for $6, so his raise wasn’t particularly huge. When it folded to me in one of the blinds, I looked down to see AKs. Since I wanted the straddler, Darko, out of the hand, I raised to $45. I already had a good feel for Mr. Aces, and he was willing to call and make big bets. I wouldn’t mind winning it pre-flop, but if I could win it post-flop, it could be a very profitable hand.

Everyone folded to Mr. Aces, who took his time before calling. As the flop was being dealt, I saw the top card Ten and announced as fast as possible “Dark check.” I didn’t mean to see the Ten, but there it was. The full flop was TT9, with two clubs, and Mr. Aces checked hesitantly. The turn was an Ace. I figured I was good unless he was slowplaying a Ten (unlikely, unless he had balls enough to call preflop $30 more with AT or JTs) or 99 (possible, but unlikely given the range). I bet out $65, which frankly was a large bet for the table, but not for the already $90+ pot. He called. The river was a blank, so I bet out once again, $80. I wanted to get paid by this guy, and I felt I was ahead. He took his time, so I started jabbering to tempt him to call. As I began to talk, he said aloud to himself, “Am I behind a King kicker, here?” At the same time, I was using one of my patented lines, which can confuse an opponent and gives away absolutely nothing in the text (although delivery should always be carefully performed): “I can only help you by telling you that whatever you think I have, you are wrong.” Now, we already knew that he was not wrong. He had me read perfectly, but our statements were nearly simultaneous, and I wasn’t about to change my statement after he correctly announced my cards. “You don’t have AK then?” “You are going to have to pay $80 to find out.” “Okay, then, I call.” I tabled my hand and said, “Your read was right, sorry.” He showed AJ. I apologized for my behavior. “Hey man, sorry about that. When I started talking, it was exactly when you guessed I had AK. I’m all about bluffing, but I don’t like to outright lie.” I was being serious. I’ll play mindgames, and probably be willing to lie more freely at a casino, but at Jamie’s apartment, it felt like a dirty move. To his credit, the guy replied, “Hey man, I would’ve lied to you in that spot. You’ve got nothing to apologize about. I was going to fold, too, until you started talking.”

Darko chimed in: “You think the dark check helped you there?” He and I both knew the answer. Yes. It created confusion. If I bet out on the flop, I take down a small pot. If I check, he bets, and I have to fold.

At about 8:30, I was texting with wifey Kim, who was out to dinner with the girls. She’s be home around 9pm. Wendy had replaced Chris in her seat, and Chris and one other guy were waiting around for a seat. I wanted to see the wife, so I told Jamie that I was out at 9pm. I told Chris as well, since she was next on the list. At 9pm, I racked up and headed home, $213 richer after two hours.

It felt good to be playing well. I curbed some of my natural bad impulses and had good results. The next live game for me is Monday, back to the WSG for two tournaments. Let’s hope we can keep this train chugging.

Until next time, make mine poker!

*Yes, stating that Asians are experienced in gambling may be a stereotype. However, it is also culturally and statistically accurate.

A 2008 Recap post sounds good on paper, but if you really want to know how 2008 went for the HoP, you can read my archives. It’s why I gots them!

All that said, I think it necessary to reflect a bit on the one goal I set for myself in 2008. The goal was simple: win $8,000. The results: FAIL!

This year was the first year in the four years I’ve been tracking such things that I failed to reach my goal. In 2005, the goal was to win $1,200, basically $100 per month. I succeeded. In 2006, my goal was to win $1,800, but when I saw that as doable, I increased the goal to $3,000 and beat that too. In 2007, the goal was to win $6,000, and I hit that mark by the skin of my nose. So, it would seem $8,000 was not an insurmountable task, but frankly, it just didn’t happen. My tally for 2008: a paltry $1,500 and change.

It’s not a good sign for HoP. Not only did I fail, but it was an epic fail. If there was a silver lining, it would be the fact that I am still profitable overall. I’ve breaken the 5-figure mark for lifetime earnings (actually did that in 2007) and for a hobby, poker pays a lot better than most. Still, the weak showing naturally leads to thoughts about what it means. From my perspective, though, I think it means little. Allow me to explain.

This is a long term game. Every year I experience that reality all over again, when I face a long period of bad cards, bad luck, or bad play. Whatever the case, I had my period of struggle this year followed by a period of break-even poker. This is discouraging, but the past is the past, and all I can do is look to the future. I know I’m profitable, I still love the game. That should be all that matters for the time being.

My goal for next year? Quite frankly, I don’t really want one. I’ll probably stick to $8,000 for the year, since I didn’t accomplish it this year. Realistically, though, I’ve come to realize that the artificial start/stop point of Jan 1 – Dec 31 is doing me no service. It might be more interesting to see how long it takes me to reach that $8k goal starting without wiping the slate clean. Rather than asking, “Can I win $8,000 in a year?” I’ll ask, “How long will it take me to win $8,000, starting from Jan. 2008?”

For those out there with daily swings of $8,000, well, I envy you. Unfortunately, my online game is very inconsistent and my live play is rarer than I’d like, although I have a nice game set for Thursday.

So, there you have it. A modest goal for 2009, a sad result for 2008, but silver linings. Poker is what we make of it, and for me, it is a lifelong pursuit. Short term or even year-long results only matter as much as you let them. Sure, if I hit or beat the $8k mark, I’d be singing my own praises right now, but that is the beauty of being a self-involved, narcissistic blogger. It’s just one of the perks.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I played poker last night. It wasn’t too exciting, though, and my loss was a typical bad-beat-like situation. I won’t call it officially a bad beat, mostly because the money went in when I was already behind, but the hand did get me to question one of my past statements.

The game was a $35 buy-in single table tournament at the Wall Street Game. We all started with 3,000 chips, and had reached the second level, 50/100, when my final hand ocurred. Until that hand, I had been mostly quiet. I was down to 2,400 because of some preflop calls that went nowhere. I was UTG or thereabouts when I was dealt black Aces.

My first goal was to bet enough to thin the herd without scaring off the whole lot. 300 would be standard, but I chose to go for 400, hoping that my loose reputation would aid me in getting a bad call. As it happened, it folded around to Darko, in the BB, who asked how much I had left. “You got 18 back there?”, he asked, referring to 1,800. “No,” I replied, “a bit more than that.” I counted it out and added, “okay, not much more. 2,000.”

Obviously, I wanted a raise. Obviously, Darko, who is a skilled talker, was trying to get information out of me by asking me about my stack size. I don’t remember specifically what I was doing, but I wanted to plant the seeds that I had a weak holding. Whatever the case, he opted to call and even checked blind before the flop came down, 77T.

In this spot, I figured I had only one move. “All in,” I announced. I figured that my push would actually look weak, since a solid hand would try to milk his opponent with a lesser bet. The All in was an attempt to look like I wanted a fold. Darko is a sharp one, and I figured he may even call me with AK in this situation. Certainly, he’d call with any pocket pair 88 or better.

To his credit, when Darko called, he kindly said, “I won’t even make you wait.” He showed TT for a flopped boat. I showed my Aces and when the turn and river failed me, I made my exit.

So, here’s the question. In the past, I have opined that checking in the dark is just stupid. It gives up control of the hand, which is something I am loathe to do. But does Darko’s dark check show that there is a good use to the hand?

I still say thee nay. As it were, it worked out for Darko. However, anything that Darko did there would’ve worked. If he pushed, I probably call expecting that he is pushing weak to take down the pot or otherwise betting that I missed the paired flop. If he makes a small bet, I raise. If he sees the flop and checks, I bet or push. In this instance, checking dark looked effective, but as I said after the hand was done, the all-in would’ve happened anyway. The dark check definitely helped to speed things along, but time was not an issue in this hand.

I still don’t see the purpose of checking in the dark, even though the results were promising in this one hand. I’m tempted to try it myself, even, but I will temper that desire because ultimately, unless I see why it can be +EV, I just cannot make that play.

Whatever the case, losing sucks so I have plans to make my money back this Thursday at the WSG. The Thursday game occurs every other week and involves a bunch of suits. It’s a different group and slightly higher stakes than usual for the WSG (1/2 NL instead of .50/1), so I’m contemplating if I should change up my style. I can show up as my usual t-shirt wearing self, or I can suit it up to fit in with the rest of the crowd. It’s a minor decision, but an interesting one, since I’m essentially trying to predetermine the best image. Assuming that this group isn’t the most skilled but have expendable cash, I figure the donkey image might be best. It could get me the action I want, as long as I play tight. On the other hand, blending in may make me seem harmless, one of the guys, as opposed to the outsider tempting all the “locals” (“locals” as a reference to the tables that are filled with locals who know each other and really only want to take money from the rare tourist who sits down).

Not a bad problem to have.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I have registered to play in the Julius Goat Bad Bankroll Management Tournament!

This Julius Goat tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Donkeys.

Registration code: 123456FU

Ah, day 2. The night before, I had lost some late night cash playing 1/2 NLHE like a complete donkey. I finally went to sleep around 3 or 3:30 am with headphones playing in my ears. I prefer a little white noise when I sleep, like a loud fan or A/C unit, but there were no white noise appliances available, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep in AC without some distracting noise; after all, people are going to their rooms at all hours of the night, drunk, loud, and oblivious to their slumbering hallmates.

I woke up around 9:30, but when I rolled over to check the clock, it looked like 4:30 am, since I couldn’t see the top bar of the 9. I wondered why I was so awake, and decided to try to go back to sleep. I finally gave up when wifey Kim started moving. I looked back at the clock and realized my mistake. Since wifey Kim was getting up, 6 hours of sleep would do. Besides, when I’m in AC, sleep is the enemy.

When traveling with 12 people, it’s easy to make everything complicated. Rather than get wrapped up in the masses, wifey Kim and I decided to get dressed and find breakfast at our own pace. Since it was Christmas, most places were closed and we refused to wait in the long line for the overpriced buffet. Instead, we ended up getting some crappy looking bagels from an ice cream shoppe type place. Amazingly, the bagels tasted 100x better than they looked.

After breakfast, we stopped at the poker room. It was already a little past 11am and Roose, Hole and bro-in-law Marc were in the Tropicana’s morning tournament, a $65 buy-in, if memory serves. I was a bit envious of their opportunity to play, and made the best of it by jumping into some 1/2 NLHE. I don’t recall what wifey Kim was up to, but I got in several hours of play.

Marc had busted from the tourney already, but Robbie Hole was doing well and Roose was nursing a shortstack. I considered my options and put myself on a 1/2 list. I was finally seated at a table next to a guy who looked like a young Mark Curry. He was jocular, although his table chat revealed a lot about him. When a player (who was ironically at the table with me the night before when I played like crap) bet $10 on the flop and turn of the first hand, Curry said, “Oh, here’s the bully of the table.” All for $10 bets!? Shit.

I was card dead. I mean card dead, man. Just ridiculous. But I also wasn’t playing well. I lost a decent amount over several hours and decided to switch tables. I had already established a losing image and I was getting no traction.

At my new table, I won a pot on a sheer bluff. I fought back and won some money back, but ultimately got up from the table down $200 or so from the entire session. I just couldn’t hit a flop to save my life, and I wasn’t playing tight enough to weather the storm.

I stopped by to check on Roose. He made it to the final 4, so I ran some calculations to help him propose a chop. One player refused, so I told Roose good luck and beat feet. I had wifey Kim on the phone and I wanted to see her for a bit.

As it turned out, my brother Dave and his girlfriend Andrea were looking to find some cheaper table games. We decided on the Hilton, which is right next door to the Trop. The Hilton is usually reliable for lower stakes because its a piss poor casino/hotel and its the last casino/hotel on the Trop side of the Boardwalk. Since it’s the last on the strip, it gets less foot traffic. Hence, lower stakes.

The four of us headed over. It was surprisingly nice out as we made the short walk. At the Hilton, Dave and Andrea immediately found a $10 blackjack table and went to work. I wanted to play some with wifey Kim, so I just followed her as she chose her game. We ended up at the Wheel of Fortune slots. It was a $1 slot machine, and while we usually don’t play slot and very rarely play over .25 slots, since wifey Kim was in the mood, I played along.

The first machine she sat at had an odd Wheel Spin option. On most WoF machines, to spin the bonus wheel, you only need to hit one Spin symbol, which is located on the third wheel. For the machine we sat at, you needed to hit three symbols in a row. I considered this as I checked the wall of machines. They all required the three symbols except for one of the machines, suspiciously at the end. Once I eyed the prize, we cashed out and headed over to the one Spin symbol machine. We were down about $60 when we hit the Spin…and hit for $250. A dozen spins later and we hit again for an additional $25. Two dozen spins later and we hit for another $200.

When we cashed out, we had $500 for a $400 profit. We split the cash and I convinced wifey Kim to join me for $5 min bet craps. We played for an hour or so, both of us breaking even. Wifey Kim then went for some roulette, where she won $50 by playing $25 bets on the outside. We returned to the slots and found a Jeopardy machine with a function much like the WoF’s wheel spin. Instead of spinning a wheel, you can hit Double Jeopardy, at which point lights on the Jeopardy board go out until one remains with your bonus prize. In the end, we lost the $50, but felt satiated. We found Dave and Andrea, still playing blackjack, so we bid them farewell and returned to the Trop.

A quick note on the Hilton poker room. The Hilton used to have a big open poker room. Not anymore. They now have about 4 tables right in the middle of the casino floor, with no dividers of any kind. It’s like walking down a row and seeing: blackjack, blackjack, blackjack, Spanish 21, roulette, roulette, craps, craps, poker, poker…” It just looks and feels all wrong, since you have all these table games followed by 10 dudes squeezed around a table trying to make actual decisions. I don’t think they had anything other than 2/4 Limit running at the time. Frankly, it just disgusted me.*

Returning to the Trop, I had already received a call from Roose that he had chopped the tourney heads-up with the dude who refused to chop earlier. Roose’s take was north of $800 profit, which was great news. He was with the other guys playing Pai Gow, so I convinced wifey Kim to stop by with me. Once there, I grabbed a seat and wifey Kim excused herself to freshen up before dinner.

Pai Gow is awesome. The four of us (me, Roose, Hole, and Marc) all won money. I don’t think I lost once and ended up $186. The dealer and pit boss were having fun and so were we. The only reason we got up was to meet everyone at Ri Ra, an Irish pub restaurant in the Trop for dinner.

Everyone grumbled as we cashed out of the table, but I was happy. “This is a great excuse to lock in a win, guys,” to which most agreed begrudgingly. Upstairs at Ri Ra, we were the first of our party to arrive. We grabbed seats in a side room where a cute waitress was slumped over a lazyboy. The small room was like a private party room, so we all spread out on the comfy couches while some of the single guys started chatting with the waitress. The exchange of the night went to this conversation, about 15 minutes after the four of us and the waitress (who was mostly texting on her iPhone as she sat slumped in a chair) had been sitting around waiting:

Marc: So, is it busy tonight?
Waitress: Nah, not really. I have a few tables.
Marc: Really? And how are those tables doing?
Waitress: Um, I’ve got to go. (at which point she got up and actually began doing her goddamn job).

When everyone arrived, we prayed we wouldn’t be at the lazy waitress’s table. We lucked out. The food at Ri Ra was actually great. I highly recommend the creamed spinach, which everyone thought was great. It has a bit of cheesiness to it that works well. Everything else was fantastic too, including the patty melt I had ordered.

Full and satisfied, I joined wifey Kim up to the room. It was probably 9:30 or so, maybe later, and she eventually fell asleep around 11pm. I must admit, I was facing an internal crisis. I knew the guys were playing poker. In fact, we had plans to play 2/4 drunken limit hold’em that evening. But I was comfortable in bed with wifey Kim and tired. I decided to call it a night…until I got a text at about midnight from Roose: “I’m at 2/4 and there’s a seat open. Hurry up.”

I made a split-second decision and threw on my clothes. I was down at the room in 5 minutes…at which point I saw the list for 2/4 limit had 4 names. I was pissed. I guess Roose didn’t know about the list, but obviously the seat at his table was already taken. “That guy’s about to leave. Just take his seat.” “I can’t, man. I can’t just cut the list.” Man, I am way too much of a good two-shoes, but somehow, cutting the line felt like cheating and I am very conscious of my reputation in the gambling community. I knew that no one at 2/4 limit mattered in the big sense of the word, but I try to conduct myself in a reasonable and fair way.

I strolled the floor to check out my other buddies and saw the young Marc Curry sitting at a table. He was motioning for me to come over, so I walked over when he hit me with a proverbial kick to the sack. “Man, after you left, the guy who took your seat went on a tear. He had Aces and Kings so many times, we had to start making him show.” I was livid upon hearing this, but I felt on some level that Curry was just intentionally trying to get me upset, so I didn’t give it up. I laughed about how funny that was, full on laughing, as a sorta way to stop myself from going all HULK SMASH on him and the table. It was then I realized that my gambling night was over. That dousche rubbed salt in a still open wound and I knew that any poker would be bad for me.

As I returned to the slumbering wifey Kim, I thought back about what Curry had to say. Ironically, as I left the poker room before the Hilton trip, I stopped by my old table and took a peak at the guy sitting in my old seat. He had less than $200 in front of him. That meant one of two things: (1) Curry was straight lying to me and was trying to tilt me, or (2) the run of great cards for my replacement happened after I left for the Hilton, in which case moving tables didn’t matter. Realistically, a million different things would’ve changed if I had stayed in the seat next to Curry, so I didn’t lose anything at all. If anything, I saw this all as a learning experience. Curry tilted me with words and I wouldn’t play tilted. At least I could be proud of that decision.

I returned upstairs to bed where I easily fell asleep. The next morning, wifey Kim and I woke up to the sound of her brother Marc talking in the hallway as he walked to my parents’ room. We got up and joined them. The crew was figuring out breakfast. The parents all went out on their own, leaving the younger generation to go to breakfast at the Seaside Cafe in the Trop. The meal was decent and the company was great. We all got along well. Wifey Kim, me, my little brother and his girfriend, Roose and his wife, Robbie Hole and bro-in-law Marc. We prop bet through the meal and all left satisfied.

My bro, his girlfriend, wifey Kim and I loaded up the car. The parking garage was pretty far from our room, so once there, we gave up on returning for more partying. We were all pretty exhausted and we headed home.

Overall, I was down about $120. I lost about $550 playing poker and won a decent amount back on table games. I learned that 1/2 NLHE poker should not be played during Xmas anymore. It seems every year that I lose playing 1/2 NLHE during these trips. My mind is on wifey Kim and my time feels short so I push the action. Distraction and desperation are never good for one’s game. In the future, I will concentrate on tourneys and 2/4 Drunken Limit Hold’em. With tourneys, the finite chips and life will cap my losses and also help me focus. With drunken 2/4 limit, it’s about socializing and, well, getting drunk for cheap. Getting drunk works well with distractions and desperation, like a little trifecta of degeneracy.

For the year, I did not come close to reaching my goal of $8,000 profit. We’ll discuss that further in another post. In the end, though, as disappointing as that is, it is merely a blip on my overall poker career. It’s one long session until you are dead, and I hope to have many more years in me.

Until next time, make mine poker!

*If the games there were soft and profitable, disgust or no disgust, I’d still play.