Vegas Report – I Was There, and…Meh

In case you were wondering why so few posts lately, it’s because I’ve been out of town.  And one of the towns I was IN was Las Vegas!  I did not go there to gamble, but to celebrate my 38^th Anniversary with my lovely wife.

OK, full disclosure: I did gamble, but not much.  I lost maybe $15-20, but with the comps I came out ahead, though it didn’t feel like it.  I said I didn’t come to gamble, and…well, the “new Las Vegas” helped in keeping me away from the tables and the slots.  And that’s why the trip was a downer.  Let me explain…

I missed the glory days of the mob-era, when anything you needed could be had by guys named Artie or Vinnie, and the casino lost money everywhere BUT at the tables, as they knew that the money there was a sure thing. I came of age, gambling-wise, in the 80’s and 90’s, when the employers I worked for seemed to have a convention in Vegas every year or more often, and the suits were starting to take over the casinos.  It was the era of the themed resort – circuses, tropical paradise, New York, Paris…even a damn pyramid!  Rooms and meals were still cheap, but they casino also took your dough with the shows (Siegfried and Roy, the first Cirque de Soleil, etc.).  After all, there were investors to consider.

Flash forward to this trip – I haven’t been to Las Vegas in 13 years (most of my gambling now done online or at one of two nearby Indian casinos).  I had been told that things were different.

Boy, howdy.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no other place on earth like it.  Las Vegas always seems to be re-inventing itself, and trying to top itself.  Maybe they have…but I don’t like it, and I really don’t think they encourage you to gamble like in the old days.

Two things stand out that make me NOT want to play.  First off, the music.  Yes, I’m a child of Motown, and love jazz, classical, the disco era…just about any type of music…except today’s modern rave/dance/thump-thump-thump stuff.  This would be appropriate in the casino at night, when they’re trying to attract the younger set, but at 7:30am, when 90% of your buffet line is aged 55+…it’s not the right call.  It’s everywhere – casino, restaurants, lobby, and in the new City Center area, on the damn sidewalks. And it’s loud.  I mean really, really loud.  I sound like an old man I know, but it was hard to carry on a conversation at the table, hard to concentrate, and just not inviting.  I can’t believe management thinks this is a good move, and I only saw a fairly full casino floor one night (Saturday)…most other nights they were lucky to have 30% of the tables going, and half the slots.  Just didn’t seem as lively as in days of old.

The other negative thing?  Ads, everywhere.  Yes, Vegas has always been self-promotion crazy – billboards, busboards, taxi toppers, and some of the biggest electronic signs anywhere (I’m looking at YOU, Aria).  But…you know those little placards on the table that tell you what the high/low betting limits are?  They’re electronic now, and…they got ads.  Just about everywhere you look inside (and out) the casino, there’s an ad screaming at you to spend some money.  No, I mean EVERYWHERE.  See pic.

 

 

That’s just disgusting.

So yeah, Vegas is an exciting place, nowhere else like it on earth, and I think it might be another 13 years before I go back.  Unless they turn down the volume a bit.

Sponge Poker – Nice Idea, but…

Hey, I’m back!  Tourist season is over, and that means so is my hiatus.  I plan to be blogging on a semi-regular basis for the next few weeks, as there’s still some work to be done at the store (we went the last two weeks with a busted AC system, thank you) and I have a trip planned to a small town in Nevada for some R&R.  Still, I wanted to start the “writing” season with a bang, so here’s a short review of a new social network poker site – Sponge Poker.

I first read about Sponge Poker online at Poker News Daily this week.  I’ve also noticed that the site has received some other reviews, most glowing for the potential this site has.  Sponge Poker is a Facebook-type app (FB users – enter “Sponge Poker”). What they’ve done is changed the interface (it’s their own software) to provide a very realistic playing mode. 

Sure, there are the usual “POT” and “FOLD” button, but most betting is done by actually “handling” the chips.  Just like on the tables, this provides the opportunity to see the occasional “tell” prior to the actual bet (as players start counting their chips before it’s their turn just like on the table).  Of course, you can use this to send a “false tell” too (did it once).  There are some other aspects of the game that do indeed provide what they say is, “the most realistic online poker game ever created.”

Signing up is free, and, as a bonus, the site is giving any player who builds their $1500 starting stack to $10,000 actual money – well, $10 – and it’s put in your PayPal account.  Still, $10 is $10.

Still, Sponge Poker is a free site.  Although the site claims that they won’t be giving out free chips endlessly (you can buy them just like at Zynga Poker), so far my experience is that most player are playing like they will…when there are players.  The all-in disease so familiar at Zynga lives here, too.  J-3?  All-in.  10-4?  All in!  A pair of twos?  HELL YES, ALL IN.  It’s nauseating.

The first night I played I won a few play bucks and had fun.  Since then it’s either been

a)    All in Circus, or

b)    No one there.

Seriously – go there now, sign up, and see if anyone is there.  It’s too bad that the site is so sparsely played, as the layout is one of the best I’ve played at.  But no one seems to know but the All-In-A**holes, so…I’ll check back at the site once the dust clears and the AIAs go somewhere else.

This and That, and a “Brief Hiatus”

Posting has been sporadic of late, and unless something unforeseen happens, this might be the last post until September.  It’s always difficult to explain our situation here, as we work in a seasonal tourism environment that means we are 24/7 (little exaggeration) until Labor Day, and we STILL have to fit in our regular life cycle patterns around the adventures at the ice cream parlor (like eating, laundry, etc.).  Playing poker and writing about it are far down the list…so with that, let me clear my system of a few things I’ve been wanting to discuss…
 

OREGON IS SAFE FOR POKER…FOR NOW

I posted information previously about the attack on Oregon Card Rooms.  Word is that the bill has been tabled and will not come up for a vote this year, after a raucus hearing where the only “pro” (read: anti card room) speakers were folks who ran card rooms…in Washington.  Nothing subtle here.  Many players spoke out against this nonsense at the hearing and in the press, and for now, the card rooms survive (though some of the rules may be re-written, which many believe is OK).  Me too, even though I’ve yet to set foot in any of these rooms.  Yet.  Someday, when I live closer to Portland.  And have more time.  Soon.

YOU CANNOT WIN BIG IF YOU DO NOT BET SOME

In what limited play I’ve been involved in, I see more and more trapping where players refuse to make even the smallest bet while holding the nuts, waiting for others to bet and then re-raising them.  In small stakes affairs, only the super aggressive (and foolish) are going to toss money out there, and if you haven’t identified them yet, you’re losing money.  Sure, if you have two of these guys at the table who will overbet the pot on a small pair or ace-high, check.  But if you have Meekrats who only bet with the goods, you can’t trap in this fashion.  You think:  If I bet now, they’ll fold and I can’t win a big pot.  I say:  But if you don’t BUILD the pot now, you won’t win a big pot either, AND you give everyone a chance to catch up to your hand (few hands are always the nuts from flop to river).  Yes, you’ll get outdrawn sometimes, but you’ll know when to fold if that happens. But having a great hand and not betting is costing you money.  Stop that.

YOU CANNOT WIN AT ALL IF YOU DO NOT BET AT ALL

If you’re in a hand where it seems as if no one has anything, and the only way you could win the small pot is to act as if you caught the last card…why aren’t you betting?  Unless you’re last to act, that is.  This is when such a play nets nothing – either you have the best hand or you don’t, and you’ll know which when everyone either (a) folds or (b) you get raised.  But if you’re in any other position, and no one shows interest in the pot, toss some money out there – sometimes.  If nothing else, you’ll learn who likes to trap by not betting anything (see above), and you know how to deal with those monkeys.

FINALLY, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO BOUGHT MY BOOKS

Sales seem to be in an upturn in two areas – foreign purchases of the poker book (because it’s legal there), and purchases from all over of the blackjack book.  I will make an effort to include more blackjack posts in the future, but for now…I found a great new place to practice – “The Blackjack Casino” on Facebook.  Fairly realistic, different casinos with different rules, and if you’re my friend I can send you chips (and visa versa).  Link here:  https://apps.facebook.com/blackjack-casino/

That’s all for now – have a great (and profitable) summer.

Fear the Re-Raise – Not Always

Usually, when someone at the table comes over you with a raise on top of your bet, it sends off warning signals.  A raise (or a re-raise) usually means that the bettor has quality holdings, and you should proceed with caution, if you proceed at all.

In the small-stakes affairs I find myself in, a raise or re-raise is also a great bluffing tool, used by the unscrupulous when scary cards find their way on the board. “I’ve got it” their chips seem to be saying…but how can you tell when they have the goods, and how can you tell when they’re holding J-squat?

Well, you never can be sure, but you can get a feel for walking a mile in their moccasins by remembering the old adage: Monkey See, Monkey Do.

What I mean by this is simple…I tend to give a player credit for “having it” the first time he raises me (if we don’t have a prior history).  I then watch how he plays – no so much how he raises, but how he REACTS to OTHERS’ raises.  You see, if he thinks you’ve got the goods, chances are that’s how he makes his raises.  If he constantly calls you (or fires back at you), he thinks you’re bluffing because HE is regularly bluffing.  See how this works?

It’s not foolproof (nothing is), but it’s another way to gain information about a player’s tendencies.  The old way was to call his raise (or re-raise) and see if he has it…that can get expensive if you’re wrong.  This way, you let others do your dirty work.

I have to admit, it is a load of fun to pick off the bluffers in this regard.  You either get them going all-in the next hand (because they’re pissy little people) or you get Phil Hellmuth-like comments like, “How could you call me like that?”

Either way, you come out ahead and can (a) know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, and (b) use the info to create your own timely bluffs.  Just don’t get pissy when you get caught.  I hate that.

I Found ONE Good Thing About Zynga Poker

Faithful readers of this blog (both of you) know that I have little good to say about the folks at Zynga.  Their ideas of being a “real money site” are laughable, as they are first and foremost (and only) a social gaming site, albeit the largest one.  Still, as a USA poker player not living in Nevada, my online playing options are limited, and since I must play for free for now, Zynga is always an option.

Since I have a weird schedule, with business and other issues, my playing time is limited.  I can’t always go into Portland or down the coast to the Indian casinos to play live poker, and that same schedule keeps me from forming a regular “poker night” with friends and/or work colleagues. So I hop online to PokerStars, Attack Poker, GoldenNugget.com, or, if I’m in a social mood, Zynga.

Zynga has helped replace the social aspect of gaming for me, in that I can actually play at the same table as other people I know.  That’s damn near impossible at the casinos or card rooms, and as I mentioned above, the friendly poker night with the boys (and the girls when I lived in Idaho) isn’t a reality.  Just today I played with an old high school buddy, a former student, and one other FB buddy that I’ve never met in person (and most likely never will, since the Atlantic Ocean separates us).  I LIKE playing with people I know, partly for fun, and partly for the challenge (my old high school friend has been of a tear lately, and I wanted to watch his action – fun stuff, even when I was losing).  And it’s so easy on Zynga to find friends and play.  Yes, I know PokerStars has their “Home Games” setup, and I’ve used it with some chip-collecting friends, but their weekly tournament doesn’t fit my schedule, so Zynga it is.

And here’s the plus in playing online there – no cheating.  Sad to say, while my Idaho and Louisiana home games were friendly, spirited, and fair-played games, my original home poker game experiences in Michigan were anything but.  It was a regular weekly event-filled day of golf and poker for about six of us (college guys and one actually employed adult who had a very flexible schedule).  I was new to poker, so while I won on the course the best I could do was break even at the table, but it was fun.  For about a year or so, and then some new players were introduced into our game.

Now I’m not saying that I think the new guys were cheating – I KNOW they were.  I caught them at it, more than once (and that makes a great story in itself – I’ll save it for later).  It ruined my taste for home games for a long time, and it wasn’t until I started playing poker again in Louisiana that I felt comfortable with a guy I knew being the dealer, if you get my drift.

Poker for dough has its place in my life, but so does a more relaxed social poker game.  Zynga seems to fit the bill for now.  So, if you’ve read this and haven’t friended me there yet, do so, and let’s play.

And no cheating!

A Tale of Poker in Two States

Oregon and Nevada share a border, and in both, you can play poker, but there the similarity ends.  Two events last week prove this in spades.

First, if you haven’t heard, you can play poker online LEGALLY in America again.  In Nevada, exclusively (for now).  Ultrimate.com went live last Tuesday.  This site should not to be confused with the old Ultimate Bet site, as this is from Palace Stations Casinos in Vegas, owned by the same folks that bring you Ultimate Fighting. According to Poker News, the site has 243 players in action on Friday.  That’s not too bad for a 4-day old site…in one state.  Compare that to the old PokerStars site where there might be 33,000 players at one time – that’s tiny.  Compare that to, say, Wednesday night at Spirit Mountain Casino’s poker room in Grand Ronde, OR where 8 players sat on one table (I was there – net loss for the whole trip was $6, thank you) – that’s huge.

Now you begin to understand why online poker is seen as the Holy Grail by so many – the potential is tremendous.

And as for Oregon…as in the last week there were legislative rumblings about poker, but not for expansion (and certainly not for anything online – perish the thought).  A new bill – LC3928 – would amend the laws in Oregon regarding “social gaming” in cards rooms across the state.  There are about a dozen in all, mostly in the Portland metro area, and they serve maybe 50-300 poker players depending on the time and day.  Social gaming players pay a fee to play, and the house takes no rake.

Why the bill?  Good question.  In an article in The Oregonian, the two legislators pushing the bill cite the rooms’ proliferation.  Apparently, when they pass the original laws they didn’t think anyone would do this?  Really?

But look at these quotes:

"These things have exploded," says Rep. Julie Parrish. "It's kind of like hookah lounges."  

"Apparently, if you go into them, you would think you were in Las Vegas," says House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland.

Here’s the bill’s ONE change to the law (in BOLD):

(21b)  If authorized pursuant to ORS 167.121, a game, other than a lottery, between players in [a private business, private club or place of public accommodation] premises operated and controlled by a charitable, fraternal or religious organization where no house player, house bank or house odds exist and there is no house income from the operation of the social game.

I don’t mean to cast aspersions, but I’ll bet a dollar neither rep has set foot inside one of these places.  Why on earth would you have a law, watch people follow the law, and then say, “Oh, wait, we decided we don’t like the law we thought was OK because people are actually following the law, so, we’re gonna change the law”? 

It’s hard to believe that in 2013, we still have that “icky” reaction to gambling.  I think THAT is what this is all about.  I could be wrong, but PEOPLE ARE GOING TO PLAY POKER NO MATTER WHAT.  Been doing it for 150 years.  Not gonna stop – might go underground (that’ll make things safe for America), but don’t waste time creating laws to stop people from doing things that are harmless (as well as fun). 

For now, it’s one giant leap for forward for Nevada, and as for Oregon…well, I’m not planning on moving, but this isn’t a trend that makes me want to stay put.

The Oregonian article is here: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/portland_poker_rooms_face_shut.html

Comments?

Staying Alive While Card Dead

I haven’t been playing poker much…and obviously, writing about it even less.  We’ve been extremely busy at work (Spring Break, equipment repair, new staff prep) and I’ve been trying to get over a nasty cold.  Last week, though we had some time off, who felt like playing much poker?  There was so much going on about the world, it was a little distracting, needless to say.

But I confess there was another reason I’ve been reluctant to spend much time on the virtual felt.  I am currently going through my semi-annual bout of being extremely card dead.  And while playing poker is naturally fun, winning is even more fun, and getting a constant stream of 3-8 offsuit hands is not fun.

OK, it’s not quite like that.  It’s worse.  One Sit ‘n’ Go I never got a card higher than a ten in three straight rounds, with my best hand a 10-7 offsuit.  One tournament had me with pocket rockets in the big blind, and everyone folded…and next round, pocket kings…and everyone folded…and I never saw a pair the rest of the tournament.  Stuff like that.

So, how does one pull oneself out of a funk like this?  Back in the old days I’d wait for a decent hand (or wait, and wait, and wait for a decent hand), and when I got it, I’d bump it up 3x and depending on whether I had position or not, I’d make a play for the pot.  This wasn’t terribly successful, as any player with a decent chip stack would hang around with squat just to see the flop and try to steal my raise…which they often did.  And if I was able to hit the flop with my holdings, they’d never contribute to the pot, so the play was not a worthy one.  I chalked it up to the nature of playing small stakes poker:  live with the fishes, and get eaten like one.

And then it dawned on me – as long as I’m hanging around some real donkeys, why not make a play like I’m one of them…or at least, it looks like I am?  And so began my practice of picking a decent spot, and…yup, you guessed it – ALL IN!

The play works when everyone folds, of course, and fold equity can help your through those periods when playable hands just aren’t coming your way.  And if you do get called…unless they have a monster, you stand a 50-50 (or better) chance of pulling ion the pot and lasting a bit longer.  I’m usually not a fan of coin flips, but if you restrict your hands to the top 10% or 20%, you should be 60-40 or better.

I tried this three times earlier this week, and met with success twice.  First time out there were three of us left in a 9-seat SnG, and I had already made the money but was well in third, way behind the chip leader.  After three rounds of folding, I picked up K-10 suited and pushed, was called by the second-place player who had a few more chips than I.  Why he called with 3-5 is a mystery, but I nailed him and he went out the very next hand, so while I didn’t win the tournament, I did move up in cash.

The second time was similar, except I was a distant fourth, one out of the money, and way behind after a series of meager hands.  I had played exactly 2 of 26 hands, and everyone else beat each other up, so I still had most of my starting stack except for a few blinds.  Pocket jacks became mine on the button, and after the first player limped in, I pushed.  Both blinds folded and the limper called me with A-3.  My jacks held up and he felt compelled to push all-in himself his next hand while in the big blind (with pocket fours), was called by the chip leader with A-K, and both Ace and King fell on the board, and I made the money again (didn’t last much longer than that, unfortunately). 

The third time I pushed after being card dead was another time I had made the money but languished in a distant third place thanks to a string of puny pips.  I found pocket Queens on the button and pushed only to be called by the chip leader with 8-7 suited.  Despite being a nearly 4-1 favorite, when the flop came with an A-5-6 I knew my goose would soon be cooked.  The turn brought the dreaded 9 for a straight and I headed for the rail.

Still, I had to marvel at the quick turnaround this seemingly silly play netted me.  I’d rather have some decent hands and make quality strategic moves, but failed that, it’s ALL IN for me.  For now, anyway.