my 1st day

[Beck]

Went to vegas last weekend for a bachler party, and of coarse I had to play p0ker and figured I share my experience here. 1st off I made sure not o play drunk, or hung over. second, this was my 1st time in a B&M table. and the blinds were $1/$3. online I play 50NL or 100NL. so this was way outside of my bankroll. I actually only brought $900 for poker.

I have played with friends in home games for $20-$50 but never before in a casino, On day 1, frankly I was so nervous. I was fumbling the chips, It took forever to count, I had butterflies in my stomach, and for the life of me I could not pay enough attention to make any reads. I did not play horrible cause I only lost $130 that day. it was insane people calling $20 raises with crap and you find yourself seeing the flop with 4 other people.

Day #2 still nervous but a bit better, started to pay more attention, but lost about $100. really not playing my A game, and the only reason why I only lost $100 is because mid session I put on my headphones and listened to music like I do at home online started getting more at ease, and actually won back what I lost earlier.

Day #3 I am now comfortable, still a bit nervous because I am outside my bankroll, but atleast I am paying better attention. that day I stacked 2 players got myuself up $500 lost another $100 and ended the day exactly +ve $400.

What I learned. Bankroll is so key, very tough to try and not play with scared money when you are playing with scared money. comfort is very important, need to feel at easy so that I can pay close attention to the players. having a HUD while playing online really hurts when you are at a B&M cause now you have more things to think about, things you are not used to thinking about.

What I still have not learned how to limit the field when you raise. How to pick up who I am playing against quicker, cause you are seeing maybe 20 hands an hour and I find it a bit harder to get a read without the HUD. gotta practice playing without the HUD.

please comment away
-beck

[jameseyb]

I'd say you did well, really well if you came away not just with money, but with the pointers you need to improve your B&M casino game.

I know what you mean about being nervous too. The first time I played live in a casino, I did exactly the same things: dropped chips, drank too much coffee, started smoking again, all because I was nervous as hell to be playing for "real" money in a "real" casino.

Well done.

[Beck]

its amazing to see how many players say how often they play online and how they are profitable multitabling. its seams like atleast 1/3 of the players I have enconountered admitted to playing chronically online.

[Senator7]

You mean the casino wouldn't let you use Poker Tracker at the table?

[vster]

it was insane people calling $20 raises with crap and you find yourself seeing the flop with 4 other people.

Thats the trouble with playing the $1/$3 tables. Its one of the cheapest tables to sit at and is always full of donks trying out the game. Consider moving up to the higher stakes tables where they take the game a little more seriously and you will find less tourists.

[lolzzz_321]

but I want them to call?

[pgil]

I was in vegas recently and had a good time at the tables. I played 1-2 NL and loved that there were so many bad players making bad calls. It was a bit of an adjustment to move to a FR game as I am used to 6-max, but it wasnt bad.

My gf and I were there for two days. On day 1 we entered a 30 person tournament and won it all (took 1st and 2nd) which was nice because that staked us to play at the cash tables.

I noticed any pair would call a flop bet, TP wasnt going anywhere. Draws would call regardless of what you bet. except then there were the players that called everything pf but then folded just as much postflop. It really seemed to be about adjusting to the players more than anything. and it didnt seem to take much to know who was folding all the time and who wouldnt let go. about the only thing that really got any respect in terms of preflop betting was the 3bet. people dropped fast, except the original raiser. that was the only (almost) surefire way to get HU I found.

i think we played about 7 hours straight on day 2. I was at the same table for the whole time and finished up about 150.