Tao of Poker

Vegas Poker Play... Day 1

Day 1 (Saturday): + $5 (10 hours)

On Saturday, Derek and I wandered down to the poker room at the Excalibur to play some hold'em. Derek has never played in a casino before, so he was a little nervous. In the last 2 months, the Excalibur added a $1-3 hold'em game (in addition to their normal $2-6). We both got seated at the same $1-3 table, which was perfect place for Derek to learn to play in casino. He's been reading some of the books I gave him and was eager to play for real.

I had Seat 1. Derek had Seat 6. When we first sat down, in Seat 2 was a "drunk guy" from Detroit. Seat 3 was a guy from Boston, who I called "Nomah" all night. They were important as I'll expand later.

Derek was UTG on the first hand, and he held A-J suited. I suggested that he muck a lot of hands for the first hour to get a feel for the game. Anyway, he played his very first hand in a casino. He ended up flopping the nut flush. He didn't win a huge hand, but it was about $15. Then three hands later he made his first rookie mistake. He held top two pair. He didn't see the guy next to him call his bet, so he thought he folded. My brother threw his cards at the dealer, and the dealer pushed the pot to the guy to his right. My brother was confused and he forgot one of the first things I told him... Don't give the dealer your hand until you have the pot pushed to you. It was a nice size pot ($30) and that rattled him for the first hour. Overall, he played very well for his first time in a live casino game. He only lost $50 in 10 hours, which I told him was very good.

Over the first half hour, I was down $40. I held A-K and lost a big pot. Then a few hands later, I got another A-K suited and won a smaller pot. The very next hand, I caught pocket aces!! I raised and a few people called me. I ended up winning a big pot and started my run!! Two hands later, I got Q-Q, flopped a Q and lost to a flush on the river. Later on, when I was the blind, I got my second A-A. I raised and everyone folded. I won on A-A twice... they held up! When I got pocket 9-9, I raised pre-flop and got seven callers. I ended up winning a $60 pot on a full house 9 over 10s. A few hands later, I played K-10 on the button, and won a nice size pot with Kings up. I looked at the time... ninety minutes in. Derek was down $35 and I was up $60.

By the second hour was completed, I won a straight with a J-10 suited and I was up $80.

By the third hour, I got my third pocket aces, which held up!! And I won a nice size pot. A few hands later, I got a A-K suited and lost to pocket 10s. I was up $75 at that point.

In Seat 4, there was an old lady, a local. She had a Frosty the Snowman pin on her jacket. She flopped 4 aces!! She held pocket aces and the flop was: A-A-Q. Another Q fell on the turn and a King fell on the river. There was alot of action from the guy next to me.... drunk guy from Detroit. He was calling a lot of pots all night. They went back and forth with re-raises. In the end they turned over their cards. He had a full house K over Aces. But the old lady had four aces!!! I asked her if she had ever gotten that before (I assumed she'd been playing longer than I have been alive!)... alas, that was her first four Aces!

By the fourth hour, I won a huge pot playing 9-10 suited. I was up $100 at that point. Then I had the bad beat of the night. I flopped a nut flush with A-K!! And of course, the drunk guy from Detroit (he was the blind and played 3-5) called me all the way down to the river, and he caught a full fucking house!! I was pissed off for sure. I looked at my chips and he took two stacks from me. I wa snow only up $60.

By the fifth hour, I won a lot of small pots. I was jamming the pot and re-rasiing anyone who raised pre-flop. I won the biggest pots of the night on J-10 and another 9-10. And I lost my biggest pots on A-K. I lost a nice size hand to one of the locals. He had K-K and I got my fourth pocket aces! Of course he flopped a King and I lost. Man, oh man!!

Anyway, by the mid-point of my session, I was up $120. I stack my $1 chips in a series of 20. I had 11 stacks and I looked around at the table. I held the most chips, and I realized that I was the best player at the table for the first part of the session. I was thrilled with my play, and staisfied with Derek's play.

It was all downhill from there!!! I won't blog the sordid deatils of my demise. I ended up with cold cards the rest of the night and lost a lot of pots to drunks who pulled shit out of their asses on the river. One kid was so drunk, he almost spilled his beer. He had no clue what was going on. I was calling him every time. I won a few pots, but lost a big one when he held 5-5 and there was a 5 on the board, with a pair of 8s. Anyway, I lost $140 in the next four hours, and won a few pots in the last half hour to pull even, and I realized I was up $5!

OK, I have to run, we're running late this morning, so I have to end this blog... I'll finish it up later!!! Going to the Mandalay Bay to gamble on today's pro football games. Will return to the poker room later tonight. Tomorrow, I hope to play in a limit hold'em tourney at the Luxor.

Let me apologize for the bad grammar and the spelling mistakes, I'm typing and writing as fast as I can... to update everyone. When I have time, I'll fix it up. Anyway... I'll be back!!!

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