Poker on the Caribbean

I've just spend an amazing week on the Explorer of the Seas! They have an onboard casino, complete with matching poker tables... well they're ex-blackjack tables converted to "poker tables." As an aside, the poker tables/limits were the ONLY underwhelming feature of the Explorer; all else was out of this world!

So, as any usual blackjack table, there were 7 available seats per table. Explorer designates 2 tables for poker. The only available game is a 5-10 limit hold'em game. One table was full, and there was nobody on their waiting list. So, I joined the waiting list, and in no time, we filled a table. Sweet. Most people sat, as I did, with around $100. One guy sat with $700, and another guy, the guy to my left, sat with $300.

And then came the obligatory trash talking and limit dropping before the cards were dealt. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. I usually try to make a little small talk... this time I said "You guys play alot?" I got a lot of "I play a lot online, won about $X hundred dollars... yada yada yada." To me, this translates to "I've never/rarely played live poker, and I'm really not that great." Then you get the one guy who looks at everyone and seems to get intimidated by all of the talk. Not trying to make it sound like Rounders, but this is how I find the donks.

My rule of thumb held up again today.

Now, some were newbies who knew they were newbies and introduced themselves as/and warned the table of there presence as newbies. No problem. I have a lot of sympathy for newbies, as it was not too long ago that I was a total n00b. As usual, they were better than the trash-talkers :)

Ok, so this is the usual lowest-limit-possible-no-foldem-holdem game. The guy who sat with $700 is trying to muscle people with his big stack, which is what you're supposed to do. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that it's no-foldem-holdem, and consequently gets thumped a few times and now is playing very conservatively. Everyone is playing I-have-the-goods-and-bet or I-don't-have-the-goods-and fold poker, which would make it particularly easy bluff EXCEPT for the fellow sitting to my left who plays LITERALLY every hand. In 50ish hands, he played EVERY SINGLE hand, even if it was raised, and ALWAYS paid to see the turn. Yeah, one of those; and he begged for them to raise the limits to $10-20. I was like "Yea raise the limits and I'll take your money more quickly."

So, I'll tell you about the hand that defined the night in my eyes. First, the villain is the guy to my left who plays every hand.

- Players and Stacks -
BB - $85
Villain/SB - $115
Hero/Button - $80

SB has been "beating up" on the n00bs and I guess is feeling pretty good about himself. The past few hands, though, he'd been playing donk cards, not catching cards, and trying to represent it. This behavior is fine except he also doesn't realize that this is no-foldem-holdem, and gets thumped.

Anyway, SB and BB post. 4 folds. Action is to me/hero and I look down at AKspades. I raise to $10, SB reraises to $15, BB and Hero call. Pot is now $45.

Flop comes: J 4 5, 1 spade

SB checks to me, which is strange, because SB bets/raises EVERY street. I bet $5, he calls. Pot is $55.

Turn comes 3, giving me a gutshot. SB checks, I bet $10. SB calls. I start to think "Is he slowplaying me?"

River comes: 2

SB checks again, I bet $10, he calls. Shows KJos and says "I missed my straight." I show the big slick, rake the pot and he goes on tilt. He's like, you called me with an ace high? How the hell can you make that call with ace high? And consequently he busted out soon after. And I wanted to be the one to take his money :P

Introductions

Hi all!

Let me introduce myself. My name is JP, and I'm an amateur poker player ever striving to become "pro." I've always found it funny that some of the self-proclaimed "pros" in the casino still have day jobs and only come into the poker room to make spending money. Others that I've come across do not have the bankroll to legitimately call themselves "pro" in my eyes. I'll explain in a minute, just let me finish my introduction.

I live in Louisville, KY, and play 3-5 days a week at Caesars Indiana. I also play on FullTilt and Poker Stars. I'm one of the "Moneymaker-boomers," meaning that I didn't start playing poker 'til I saw the 2003 WSOP on ESPN. I did, however, start playing soon after that aired, mostly in home games and freerolls (both live and Internet). I started playing for real money about a year ago online, and started playing in casinos about 4-5 months ago. Started at the $4-8 limit holdem game, then jumped to the $1-2NL holdem table. Recently, I've been frequenting the $2-5NL holdem, though they only run that a few times a week (while I'm there, that is). $2-5NL is the biggest regular game we have, and where the best NL players play. Sometimes, when the "crazy Russians" come to the casino, they start up a $5-10NL game, but that's not too often. Consequently, I've never played that game. I've also sat on the $1-2 and the $1-2-5 PLO. We have a huge PLO game ($30-60 I think Edit: AA said it is $25-50 with a $100 mandatory straddle) that I'll sit on one day... just not today.

I'm starting this blog for a number of reasons. First, I think it'd be a great log/journal/whatever for me in the event that I do turn pro, I can look back and say "Man, remember when I couldn't beat Caesar's $2-5 game?" Next, for all the players that are in my position right now, this blog may play a role in their/your transition to the big leagues. If so, then I'll gladly advertise your sponsors... for a nominal fee of course :) And finally (at least for the purposes of this article), to help me remember my mistakes so I don't make them again!!!

So, about these "pro" players who don't have a bankroll. My friend, AA (I'll be referring to AA a lot throughout the whole blog) and I met a really nice guy at our recent WSOP Circuit event who had allegedly just turned pro a few months before and was wearing a WSOP Circuit ring. He said that he had been to a few events before this one and so I asked him "Hey, I'd like to go pro one day, how much of a bankroll did you start out with when you made the jump?" He said that all he had $900. This struck me as odd, but whatever. So AA asked him "What limits do you play?" referring to cash games. He told us "Oh, I don't play cash games." I chimed in "Oh, just satellites?" "No," he said, "I just buy-in to the tournaments straight. Yeah it was kinda hard until I won the $500NL event because the room is $70/night and I've been here for like 15 days. If I didn't hit that, I would have just gone home."

Wow. After a few calculations, AA and I figured out that he had spent at least $140 of his $900 bankroll on the hotel room. He said that he played the first event, which was $200 (since he doesn't play satellites), leaving him with $560. The next day was the $500, which he won. Had he not won, he would have an amazing $60 to get back home to wherever home was. That's assuming that he didn't eat, though he may have been living on comps.

How many "pros" are like that? Most pros use the "6 months expenses" benchmark as the necessary bankroll to become pro. I would say that you'd need to have the 6 months expenses PLUS additional bank to actually play your table games. My definition of being "pro" is that poker is your primary source of income, and that you have enough bankroll that you can survive a long stretch without a win. That guy didn't even have enough to make it through two tournaments if he lost. He may be a good poker player, but I don't think he's a pro just yet (winning the $500 did add about $50K to his bankroll though). Crazy? Yes.

Maybe he's just not good at bankroll management.. or maybe he's filthy rich outside of poker. :)

...but he has a WSOP ring.. and I don't!