A Buffet, Some Poker and A Movie

[tabs]

Let us start this little tale on Friday afternoon. While on the telephoneto a friend I started experienceing some intense pain in my Colon, as if a piece of cement were stuck in there...this was after consuming mass quanities of Chili and Hebrew National hotdogs...it was actually painfulll to walk and really only alleviated itself by mid day Saturday...and was bothersome till Monday..but all is well now....but let me tell ya I was concerned with a capital C.

Anyway today I decided to use a cupon for a 1/2 price Buffet...the buffet cost $6.48 and is just average fare....after stuffing myself as usual I decided to check out a movie...the new Travolta afair From Paris With Love...but the first show was an hour and a half away so I decided to play some low limit Holdem to pass the time.

I han't played cards in just over a year now. I basically quit because I would win a few hands get up by $30 or so and immmediatily crash and burn...this pattern repeated itself for about a year with no avail so I quit. In watching some of the Poker tournaments on TV I would notice that a guy who was way ahead invariably would hit a wall. Maybe it was a comment by another player that seemed to bother him and he would invariably crash and burn as his luck wuld change. I said ACHT ZOOO...so that was what it was, it was happening to others as well and was not unique to myself. For me it was gettingup by a few bucks eearly and feeling maybe I should just get up and go while I was ahead that changed the dynamics of the game for me.

Anyway i sat down and on my second had I got a pair of pocket 9's, which in a low limit game ain't so great as U are basically playing no fold em Holdem. So I raised the bet before the flop..A King and a coupla of lower card than a 9 hit. I decided tojust call the bet fully knowing the King had me beat, well on the river I hit the 9 for trips and won the hand...there was something about the 9's that told me to stick around... so I was up by about $40..I continued to play and was basically winning some small hands to stay at about that level. What I came to realize after a short time was that everybody at the table was a bad player. Now I did make a mistake and folded a nuts Flush which would have won the hand by mistake...I shoulda showed it and woulda won. It was a gift to that other player, but as things work out I hit another hand shortly after that so I recouped what I had lost an a bit. I felt a bit rattled by that mistake..but as things worked out by the time the movie was gona start I was up by $50 and walked...

What I walked away feeling from that experience is that I can eat these guys lunch, and that luck really doesn't have much to do with it...you are going to hit a certain percentage of your hands. Some days you might not hit very many and on others you might hit a greater percentage thats all. I have a much more clam feeling of taking whats there to be gotten and going with the flow attiude. It just seems to be a matter of fact attiude. So we shall see.

Anyway I went to see the new Travolta movie and in it the bodies were just racked up...I really was not impressed as it had such a causl attitude to mass mayhem..I would say pass on that one...

As usual I got home turned on the Tube to watch the movie Network and later Charlie...my lbig little dog Zoey climbed up and loves to snuggle with me while watching TV....what a sweet little dog she is...

[Moses]

I used to play a lot of poker. In Lake Tahoe, every poker table has one "pro". Generally retired people who are extremely good players and they "feed" on the tourists daily.

After winning about $400 at the table, I offered to buy an old man a beer as he was leaving at the same time. He was the "pro". He explained to me that if he had been dealt my cards that night, he would have made at least $1000. He remembered every hand and how I played it and how I could have played it differently to maximize my winnings. Given bad cards, a real player will lose less than he should. Given good cards, he will win more.

It was a great lesson, but it sort of killed my enthusiasm for the game.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by tabs

What I walked away feeling from that experience is that I can eat these guys lunch, and that luck really doesn't have much to do with it...you are going to hit a certain percentage of your hands. Some days you might not hit very many and on others you might hit a greater percentage thats all. I have a much more clam feeling of taking whats there to be gotten and going with the flow attiude. It just seems to be a matter of fact attiude. So we shall see.

.

Yes. I agree with this. The more poker you play the more "feel" you develop for those percentages.

If you play a few hands here and there, and you get a disproportionate number of good (or bad) ones, it's easy to say it was good (or bad) luck.

But cards are random and luck is random. The only thing that's constant is the math. This is what separates the good players from the dilettantes.

Kenny Rogers said it best: You gotta know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em; know when to walk away; know when to run...

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by Moses

I used to play a lot of poker. In Lake Tahoe, every poker table has one "pro". Generally retired people who are extremely good players and they "feed" on the tourists daily.

After winning about $400 at the table, I offered to buy an old man a beer as he was leaving at the same time. He was the "pro". He explained to me that if he had been dealt my cards that night, he would have made at least $1000. He remembered every hand and how I played it and how I could have played it differently to maximize my winnings. Given bad cards, a real player will lose less than he should. Given good cards, he will win more.

It was a great lesson, but it sort of killed my enthusiasm for the game.

seems like for some folks like that poker is as structured as blackjack. i just don't understand how you account for players of different ability who will not 'hit when they're supposed to'.

you can definitely win some hands by betting hard on certain cards in the center and bluffing a very particular hand. flushes are fun to do this with.

the game is pretty neat to learn and play.

[daepp]

Go see Crazy Heart - you will not be disappointed

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Moses

I used to play a lot of poker. In Lake Tahoe, every poker table has one "pro". Generally retired people who are extremely good players and they "feed" on the tourists daily.

After winning about $400 at the table, I offered to buy an old man a beer as he was leaving at the same time. He was the "pro". He explained to me that if he had been dealt my cards that night, he would have made at least $1000. He remembered every hand and how I played it and how I could have played it differently to maximize my winnings. Given bad cards, a real player will lose less than he should. Given good cards, he will win more.

It was a great lesson, but it sort of killed my enthusiasm for the game.

A good friend of mine in So CA is one of those that is a consistant winner...he tells me he can't remember shyte, as he has CRS.

The question I have is what limit were you playing? If you were playing in a lower limit game you must have been really lucky that night as evertyhing was coming your way...

Problem in the lower limit games is that there are so many dingbats that don't have the common sense to fold when a seasoned player makes a move..If you have 4 dingbats going all the way to the river with you on every hand..one of them is going to hit his inside straight...

[jshape]

In the early 80's I was in Las Vegas and decided to play a few hands of poker. I figured that it would be better to go downtown and play in one of the smaller casinos rather than in one on the strip. I went to a number of places and watched for a while before settling in to a table with five other players. I got $400 in chips and played for about 40 minutes, then tokk my remaining chips and cashed in for $20 feeling stupid. An older guy came up to me and said something like 'Boy, you didn't play your cards wrong - you just played with the wrong people. The bulk of the people at that table play here every night and just hope for somebody like you to come along. There's almost no way you can win unless you have phenomenal luck. Your best bet is to stay on the strip and play against the tourists - at least there you might have a chance." Lesson learned the hard way.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by jshape

In the early 80's I was in Las Vegas and decided to play a few hands of poker. I figured that it would be better to go downtown and play in one of the smaller casinos rather than in one on the strip. I went to a number of places and watched for a while before settling in to a table with five other players. I got $400 in chips and played for about 40 minutes, then tokk my remaining chips and cashed in for $20 feeling stupid. An older guy came up to me and said something like 'Boy, you didn't play your cards wrong - you just played with the wrong people. The bulk of the people at that table play here every night and just hope for somebody like you to come along. There's almost no way you can win unless you have phenomenal luck. Your best bet is to stay on the strip and play against the tourists - at least there you might have a chance." Lesson learned the hard way.

U think so? Your still going to be somebodys Huckleberry. The real secret is that a good player has the patience of a vulture sitting on a wire waitng for U to die...

[legion]

Poker in the front. Liquor in the rear. Casinos are sick places...

[tabs]

Originally Posted by legion

Poker in the front. Liquor in the rear. Casinos are sick places...

Your moral intolerance is showing. May I fix your statement for U...Casinos are CARNIVELS all designed to seperate U from your money. When an average person read that as rube goes into a Casino there is an entertainement value to be had. So one is getting something for their money.

One just has to understand that the Casino is not gambling..in other words every game in the casino the player has the deck stacked against them.

Poker is about the only game in a casino where the player has a chance. But to make it one has to have a skill set.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

i am relieved that your colon problem has passed. I was thinking that you were getting ready to feed us a line of s**t.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

that was supposed to be all green letters, lol

[legion]

Originally Posted by tabs

Your moral intolerance is showing. May I fix your statement for U...Casinos are CARNIVELS all designed to seperate U from your money. When an average person read that as rube goes into a Casino there is an entertainement value to be had. So one is getting something for their money.

One just has to understand that the Casino is not gambling..in other words every game in the casino the player has the deck stacked against them.

Poker is about the only game in a casino where the player has a chance. But to make it one has to have a skill set.

You do realize I was making a pun?

[tabs]

Originally Posted by TSNAPCRACKLEPOP

i am relieved that your colon problem has passed. I was thinking that you were getting ready to feed us a line of s**t.

They have these new seats in the movie theaters that are sipposed to make you feel the action. What the vibration really does is liquify whatever is inside you at the time....

[tabs]

Originally Posted by legion

You do realize I was making a pun?

U got me, I missed that one...

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

next they'll be making inflatable dolls for....