It's alot easier to notice when your playing badly and losing than playing good and winning...When you're playing bad and losing....you see alot of the image above..Lots of FELT and not ENOUGH CHIPS or none at all..
My Friday session at the Mirage was a disaster from the very start...I opened a new game and lost $200 without completing an orbit. Not sure why I lost, all I know I played badly...REALLY BADLY!!! Here's how I lost the majority of my chips...I limped after 2 limpers with 6-2 offsuit...MISTAKE #1....Blinds check..Flop comes 4-3-2...So I flop a pair and gutshot straight draw. Big blind lets for $15...One caller...I also call...Everyone else folds....3 to the turn which brings a 3. Both opponents checks to me...I fire $30..MISTAKE #2...Big blind check raise all in for another $95....Third player folds..Its ups to me. I ask for a count...Of course, I should have mucked my hand long ago...but I had my stupid-hat home...I was just being a donk sitting there as I shoved the $95 needed for the call in the middle...MISTAKE #3 (Not the obscure Culture Club song...lol)...I don't get the miracle river card...My opponent turns over a 5-6 for a nut straight and just like that I'm down $200....
So I spend the rest of the session trying to catch up....which was working out as I settled down, played solid poker and after a couple of hours, I was only stuck $75....Then disaster struck again.....I limp on the button behind another limper with 7-4 clubs...Four to the flop which comes Q Q 9 two clubs...Checked to me..I bet $10...Folded to the limper (A middle-aged, who was just pissed she lost a huge pot as soon as she sat down)...who calls...Turn is a 3....The lady meekly bets out $10...This was an odd bet...In situations like this, in my experience..someone who check-calls a flop bet then leads the turn small is a sign of weakness...maybe she had a flush draw...I decided to see if my read was right...I cut-off $50 chips and put in a raise, hoping she had a flush draw and shrivel to the pressure..LOL!! She hesitated...then reached for a big stack of chips and raised another $125....OOPS!!!! I asked if she filled up (Slang for full house), knowing all along I was going to fold...The lady nodded...I said, "Nice hand" and quietly mucked my 7-high flush draw...She flips over Q-9 for a flopped boat..
After that hand I decided, enough was enough...I cashed out down $200, licked my wounds, but still had money to fight another day...which turned out to be this past Monday....
Took an Early Out from work and walked next door for a session at Planet Hollywood...Planet Hollywood used to be one of my favorite poker rooms until Ceasars Entertainment took it over...Even though it's a separate poker room it's run the same way as Ballys, so sometimes some of the Ballys' regular players play at Planet Hollywood and vice versa. So I cut my playing time there significantly, because of my personal preference of not "Playing with the customers" Today was different as my laziness to drive to another poker room made my decision to play at PH easier..
Before I sat down, I decided to tighten up my game after taking a beaten a few days before at Mirage. Not so much my post flop play, but I wanted to tighten up my preflop and stop playing junk hands that'll get me in trouble like 6-2 or 7-4...Post flop, I was still gonna play aggressively, but I wanted to better starting hand to fight my battles.
I opened a new game and instantly knew half of the table didn't have a fucking clue how to play...They were fumbling and mumbling their cards, their chips, their seats...lol!! They didn't know how to bet, acted out of turn...shitty amateur stuff!! Also they all bought in for the minimum....I decided the best way to approach this table is strictly A-B-C...no fancy plays...just get the hands...Bet them if I had...I wasn't going to stick a dime in the pot if I wasn't ahead, plus I would make them pay dearly for draws...
The plan worked to perfection...In two hours...despite the table having no chips, i manage to squeak a nice win! A welcome site after my disaster at the Mirage....Here's the most notable hand I played:
3 Limpers...I'm in the Big blind with 6-2 Suited..I check my option...Flop comes 8 6 6...Checked to me..I bet $10....Folded to one of the total amateurs at the table...who calls...Everyone else folds...turn is a 9...I bet $15...my opponent nearly string-raises me to $30...I call...River is a 2...I bet 50...he calls...I win with a full house...he had 10-7 for a straight...
The hand seems inconsequential, but it shows how to approach a hand against a player who doesn't seems to know what's going on!! When you play amateurs..you NEVER NEVER NEVER pull fancy moves against them, because unlike good players, players like this don't understand why you're making a "fancy" move..They look at their cards and the board..that's it!!!
It felt good to have a bounce-back session at Planet Hollywood after playing awful at Mirage. I believe the Mirage session was an aberration, not indicative of how I truly play poker...On the other hand...I'm not an A-B-C type player as I was in Planet Hollywood..as I like to play a lot of hands and play post flop...but sometimes you have to adjust your game according to the table, the chips, and more importantly..your mindset....
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