初试Live Casino Poker里程.

(序)
想写一下自几第一次玩live poker的up and downs.  本来想全写中文, 不过我打得实
在太慢. 所以主要还是写英文加一些中文.  大家凑活着看把.

地点:  Caesars Palace, Atlantic City, NJ,
时间:  5pm 4-10-2010 until 3am 4-11-2010
主要人物:  我, 同胞A with yellow jacket, Russion LAG donk,  black guy who
look like Aikon,  Successful fultilt online player with ironman jacket, Old
and quiet Asian guy, Talkative black dude with freckles, aggressive white guy
次要人物: businessman lookalike, baby face white guy who look like underage,  Fish couple who plays next to each other, white dude with low pitch voice, 同胞B with blue shirt, 还有很多在这先不一一赘述.
Stake: 1-2 NL with minimum 60$ and maximum 300$ buy in.

(1) 征途中

   I didn't plan this trip to AC until the last minute. My wife's sister (my
sister-in-law) wanted to go to AC outlet mall for shopping with her husband
. Her husband Beta is a not very successful fultilt player (introduced by me
of course) but with a passion towards poker like each one of us on this
board. My wife was enticed immediately. She asked for my opinion and told me
I could play poker all day while she shops with her sister.

I always wanted to try out live poker, but never had a chance really.
Firstly, I wasn't doing well on on-line cash game for a long time. Secondly,
i was fear of the big difference between live poker and on-line poker that
I kept hearing about.  Since I had a breakthrough recently on rush poker
cash game, I was very eager to try it out on live cash game.  Beta
generously offered to show me around the poker room in AC. He is obviously
very familiar with the AC poker room even though he never played there. My
sister-in-law is a big Shopaholic, they go to AC almost every other month. I
remember Fryking said that he was going to be there too. I figured why not.
Maybe I could even bump into the poker legend of MITBBS--fryking--in person,
knowing that he would be going as well.  One more reason for me to go this weekend!

Fast forward,  we reached AC at 4pm on 4-10-2010. After quick dinner with
the family,  Beta and I head out to Caesers while the women off shopping.  I
was very exited as well as nervous. After all it was the first time I was
going to try this for real. I took out 400$ cash with me and made a promise
that this was all I could lose.  I also promise myself to at least say all
in and push all the chips in the middle once like those on TV.

Walking into Caesars straight to poker room. It was not very packed. On the
computer screen, it says 1-2$ opens seats. Great! I thought i was going to
wait forever to get a seat.  I went to the counter ask the floor man how to
get in the game. He told me that I had to go to the cashiers to get the
chips and then went to see him.  Oops, newbie mistake, I thought i could get
chips direct from the table like black jacks.. I also asked the buy-ins..
60-300$ buy in. Beta realized the minimum buy in was only 60. He decided to
play as well with the minimum. I went ahead and bought in 140$.  We sat down
on two different tables and there I started my 10 hour live poker journey.

(2) 第一手牌.
   Sitting down at the table and putting 140$ chips in front of me, I was
very nervous. My plan was very clear--try to stay out of the action until I
get familiar with the surroundings, opponents. Looking around the table, 8
different people were sitting. There is an old white guy sitting right to
the dealer, he had a diamond reward card in front of him. He must be a
regular. I have got to be careful. At the same time, I tried to hide my
pathetic gold reward card away from everyone's sight.  To the right of him,
it was a Chinese 同胞 in yellow jacket.  He was drinking a cup of coffee
looking very calm. (there will be plenty of battle between me and him in the
very near future). I sat down and told everyone it was my first time for me
plyaing this (not a lie, first time play poker in a casino).  A friendly
guy sitting left of the dealer replied "no worries, we will help you."  I
laughed and told myself that he must want to help me to lose my $$.  However
, I replied politely, "thank you".

   First hand, I was at MP and posted blinds 2$. My hands were a little
shaky when the cards were dealt.  Looking down, big slick AKo.  oops, the
whole goal of me staying out of action is out of window now. What do I do
now?  how much to raise?  one limper EP and everyone fold to me. I suddenly
remember someone have told me that the standard raise for live poker is 10$,
so I said raise. and put 2 5$ chips in the middle.  The Chinese guy called
at button, so as bb and the EP called. This is not good news to me. I didn't
isolate. What I heard was true, 5X raise and 3 callers?  This certainly doesn't
happen often online.

Flops comes out

K J 10 rainbow,

Not a great flop for 4 way pot but I did get TPTK. all checked to me and I
can't slow down this. 20$. a little weak but still a good half pot bet. My
hands were shaking badly when I was deciding what to bet and counting the 4
chips. The Chinese guy called and 2 folds.  I relieved a little, at least it
was HU now. But I certainly didn't like the call.  The flop was scary and I
was not ready to lose my whole stack.

turn was a 5.  

I tanked for a while, trying to figure out how much was in the pot. The
helpful guy early on joked "he is trying to figure out his math". I didn't
reply but was not happy with his help at the spot. I put out second barrel
35$.  My hands were shaking so badly that I bet everyone can see it that I
was very nervous. The Chinese guy thought for a while and folded. "his math
worked" I heard the same guy continued. I didn't care anymore because at least I won
my first pot live, and it was decent size.

(3) Big slick AGAIN!
    I started collecting my chips after winning the pot.  I was very
relieved and started to calm down. What about the poker face I prepared for
live poker?  If I keep shaking my hand, i would give them all the tells. (
later someone actually mentioned this on the table) The winning hand helped
me greatly. I started to acting normal and didn't shake my hand anymore. I
also trying to remember what the poker book says "always remember how the
table observes you". I raised the first hand and fired 2 barrel. Everyone
must think I am a very aggressive guy. I need to use this to my advantage.  
Mental notes taken.

    I was back to myself and wanted to stay out of action to observe more
especially after I just won a pot. 2 hands later i was utg, the bb didn't
even come around yet to me.  I looked down, damn AKo again!  My position was
even worse this time. Didn't think I was going to do anything different. I
raised 10$ again. Why try anything different when it worked last time right?
  4 caller AGAIN!  the guy sat left to me--a black guy with freckles called
too almost instantly.  I was utg. Do they even notice?  Or do they just
think I was a maniac that raise 2 hands as soon as I sat down at a table?

FLOP:
QJ9 rainbow.  

I had 2 over card and a gut shot for nut straight.  I didn't want to lead
when I was on a draw. Plus my semi-bluff probably wouldn't work now that I was
raising and betting as soon as I sat down.  The freckled guy put in 15$
quickly. everyone folded. I had a draw to the nuts and the bet was smallish.
I might even have 6 outs for the over card. So i called and tried to get
lucky.  

Turn was a 7 again.

I checked he bet 25$.  I folded quickly.  

Second attempt of AK was a lost cause. I lost 25$. With the position I had
and the cards were dealt. I didn't think i could do anything different. I
really didn't want to start bluffing against unknowns.  The good thing was
that I was still up with my stacks.

After this hand, I started to loosen up and chat up with the black dude to my left.  I asked him what he had. He said he couldn't remember.  No surprise there that he did not want to tell me.  We actually made some quite good conversation and became quite good friends on the table.  I am a very chatty person on the poker table. I think it helps me to stay calm and distract others. I learned this at our home poker game.

(4) LAG Russian
      With the game progressing, I started to fit in the game. There is no
big difference between live lows-stake and on-line micro-stake poker after
all, except maybe a little softer.  The raising size pre-flop also varies
between 3X to 6X. There are plenty of family pots with 4-5 people limping in
, but after flop there are usually minimum actions.  I start to limp in a
few hands here and there with position like suited connector or suited 1
gaper 86s 97s etc and of course my favorite small pocket pairs, sometimes
even 89o if I am on button.  On the other hand, I threw away hands like A2o
in early position without a hesitation.  I hate to play this type of hands
in a multi-way limped pot out of position.

      After a while, I started to notice a player sitting left to the "
helpful" white guy.  He was holding a medium stack a little over 100$. He
played a lot of pots and loved action after flop.  When he led on flop, it
was usually pot size bets. I also saw him firing 2 3 barrels on several
occasions.  Then this hand came up:

     5 people limp in and the action man was at small blind and limped too.
Big blind popped to 8X, the freckled guy to my left called as one of the
limpers and the rest folded. And all of a sudden he raised back to 25$. Big
blind called and the black guy folded.  

Flop comes
K54 rainbow,
The aggressive guy bets 30$, bb called.
Turn and rivers are blank, and no more bets were fired.

He flips over 105 o and bb had a K so he took the pot.  Someone commented "
Damn Russians," oh, so he is a Russian. Hmm they are aggressive as
advertized. I will call him LAG Russian from now on.  I heard the freckled
black guy grumped at my side "I knew it!" I looked at him and asked: "what
did you have?" He said "I would have flopped 2 pair."  I looked at the board
. "K5!" he continued.  I laughed and told myself. "oh, he is not very good."

(5) LAG Russian (Part 2)
      I always feel it is very hard to differentiate the agro-donks and the
LAG sharks. It is true online and it appears to be true live as well.  

     LAG Russian continued his aggression. But I was totally lost whether he
was a shark or a donk. I did find out that he loved to show his hand.  4
limpers and he was at button, he raised to 12$. Everyone fold and he flips
over AQs proudly.  He also made a  2 barrel bluff and flipped over with high
card.  Something did not add up that he was a shark. His stack size swings
dramatically from extremely large stack to extremely short stack.

     Soon he got tangled with a black guy sitting 2 seats to my left who was
holding a pretty big stack.  The first hand, black guy raised prefop, and
Russian called.  After flop Russian led 2 barrel and black guy folded on
turn. The Russian flipped over high card. The black guy was not happy and
mumbled "I knew it."  Shortly after that, black guy raised again 12X preflop
. Russian called.  After flop, black guy check raised the Russian guy's big
bets and Russian folded quickly.  Not for long the black guy left with his
big stack.  

     Then another hand came up. It was a limped pot and the Russian had
position. 同胞A with yellow jacket was in the pot as well with 3 others.

Flop A56 rainbow.  
Everyone checked and Russian fired pot size 12$.
Everyone folded and同胞A called.  
Turn was a small cards that I don't remember.
同胞A check, Russian bets 20$, 同胞A called again.
River Q
同胞A led 25$, Russian called.
同胞A showed AJ and Russian mucked quickly.

同胞A won the pot with minimum contest and told the guy on his side "you don
't need a very good hand to beat him."  Wow, I was impressed. Obviously
someone was observing. I looked at him in admire.  He was just collecting
chips while drinking his star bucks coffee calmly.  Isn't that a sign of a
good player?  This hand was played beautifully. well... maybe except the preflop limp, but hey no one was perfect and that played into LAG Russian's style perfectly.

(6)  "I am ALL-IN."
          The game continued and I played my regular tight game.  I usually
play rush 25 on-line with vpip of 12 7. I was probably pretty close on the raise rate but
with a little more on the limp rate.  I even limped under the gun a few
times with suited connectors because I had my big plan in the future.

Soon another hand came up with 1 limp ahead, the Russian raised to 12$ LP
and Cutoff called. I looked down and saw one black and one red rocket.
Pocket As!  No need to slow play here to get in trouble like what we have
learned on-line.  I started counting my chips and calmly declare a raise. "
40$" everyone folded. No action but it was probably for the best. I
collected close to 30$ without even seeing the flop.  I gave dealer 1$ for
tip. My plan for tipping was 1$ for every pot if it goes to flop. Nothing if
it folded pre-flop. This was an exception because it was a decent sized pot
even though it didn't see flop.  Dealer accepted happily.  "Treat poker
like business right?" There is no need to go nuts on tips. I saw people
taking down a 10$ pot and giving dealer 5$.  I am obviously not that type of
player. I play poker to maximize my profit.

Shortly, the big blind came up to me again. The "helpful" guy limped at MP,
button limped as well. I looked down A10o. I think I was ahead and it was
time to try my squeeze play using my tight image.  I declared "Raise!"
Dealer repeated it to the table.  I put 2 red 5$ chips in the pot and
brought back my blinds. "10$."  Surprised and not surprised at the same time
, they both called.  Guess my image didn't work or they just didn't pay
attention.  I was out of position but at least I have a decent hand.

Flop 10 3 4 with a flush draw.

Top pair and top kicker flop was not bad at all for me. I thought for a
while and looked down and put in a 15$ bets. "helpful" guy called. TO MY
SURPRISE, button said "all in!"  Dealer quickly took his chips, counted and
said "25$ on top."  Oh he only had 35$ left.  I looked at him, I guess with
that price I can't fold this hand. But I was worried about the helpful guy.
This was a pretty drawy board. He flatted my call. "robably a draw?"  I
looked at his stack, he probably had 70-80$ more left. I had him covered. If
I called here, I would be committed anyway.  Why wait?  I thought for quite
a while and said the thing I have planned all day.  "I AM ALL IN!"  The
helpful guy tanked and looked like trying to make a very difficult decision.
He even showed his hand to the Russian guy beside him.  After a short while
, he said "I call" and asked the short stack "do you have a set."  Oops,
that didn't sound like something I like to hear. Was he only afraid of a
set?  

Normally, people do not show up their hand until the turn and river comes
out. I wasn't experienced and flipped over first A10o which I should anyway
after river since I was the last raise.  They both did as well.  SURPRISE ah
SURPRISE ah.  Helpful guy had 103o, button had 34o. Both had 2 pair.  I was
behind but actually was not in too bad a shape. I analyzed this hand after
the game, realizing that I actually had a lot of outs.  Any As of course
plus any bigger pair of turn and river >4.  In a 3 way pot with so many
outs, it was really not that bad. During that time, I was just in a blur
and thought I was terribly behind.  I didn't even look at the board until both
card came out. Turn A, river K.  haha.. I sucked out.  Dealer declared my 2
pair was the winner and pushed the chips in front of me. I was still in
shock. I busted 2 guys in one hand on my first all in hand in a very ugly
suck out fashion. Being a jerk I am, I asked the helpful guy mockingly "why
did you call my raise with 103o?" Seriously, 10% of his stack pre-flop with
103o?  I really didn't feel that bad for the suck out.

非常精彩。楼主文采飞扬，胆气冲天。盼续。。。

This was originally for the poker forum on mitbbs. I wanted to post it here as well for the experience i had. It might read like a novel but it is 99% real including the table talk.  The minor deviation is some of the non-significatn cards in card detail.  But all the major hand are 100% accurate including the bet sizing.

(7) Pot control or Missing values?

        I counted my chips and it was more than 300$.  I was feeling pretty lucky. The table became short handed after 2 guy had left.  A black guy who looked like Aikon joined and sat 2 seats to my right. Another old Oriental Asian guy sat on his right. I was unsure about his real nationality.  I took a break during hands and checked my brother in-law Beta on the other table.  He bought in short and was doing ok. He said he was mostly watching the action. Later, he told me he lost 10$ total after double up his remaining 25$ through pocket 2s on a preflop all in with AQ. He left around 9pm.

        My battle continued.  On the table, The Russian LAG were still swinging with his chips.  He showed some quality hand after all. He was fairly short stacked and went all in on turn with the Diamond reward guy.  Both hold flushes, but the Russian got the edge with K high flush versus a small flush.  He doubled up and got back to his regular stack.

        Soon I had a chance to play against him.  He limps EP. I raised button with A10o to 8$.  Everyone folds and he calls.

FLOP 1056 rainbow.

He checks. I quickly put in 15$.  He calls.

Turn Q,

He checks.  I thought for a while and decided to check.  This was a routine play for me normally.  I know he might be on a draw. But I would like to controll the pot size especially when an over card comes alive.  This is probably arguable play for some people. But it has worked for me.  

River is a 2.  No flush made

He quickly led 25$.  I instantly called. I checked turn because I wanted to call river. Unless he was willing to bet at it pot size or something. I was going to call it for the show down. He flipped over 67o.  No surprise there. I turned over my A10 and claimed winner. 同胞A took a look at me while I was collecting chips.  Was he happy for me to take a bite at the Russian donk's chip like he did?  

         Not for long, I also got involved with Aikon.  The guy sat next to me walked away for a while. We ended up sb and bb. Everyone folded to him and he limped. I looked down KQo. No need to slow down when I have position.  8$ in the pot.  He called. Flop 733 with flush draws. He checked and I bet 10$. He checked raise me to 30$. I looked at him. He could be bluffing or had a 3 but I couldn't call that bet no matter what.  One thing I have learned recently in cash game was that you did not need to catch every bluff or win every pot.  If someone was making a big bluff, it was ok to lay down before you get too deep and pick a better spot. This new improvement had saved a lot of $$ in a losing pot. He showed me an 8 before he mucked the hand. That 8 meant nothing to me.  
         I got my revenge very soon.  Another hand I had A 10 yet again.  I raise preflop with vs a few limpers. Everyone folded and he called and someone else. I hit my top pair again on the flop. All checked to me and I led 20$. He called. The other guy folded. Turn was a blank but I still had my top pair.  He checked and I checked too. I always control pot size and gave the weaker hand a chance to bluff.  River was another blank. He lead 35$ instantly.  I quickly called. He turned over Q6 high. Oops.  Maybe he thought he could bluff me off the pot again?  But I was not ready to be bluffed.

        I think my play might be arguable for some. But I really liked it. I checked turn for both hand for pot control purpose and for the aggressive guys to have a chance to bluff at me. Had I bet on turn, I could not find any weaker hand that I could get value from for my top pair.  If they indeed call turn, I would be beat probably already or if they bluffed at river with a larger pot, it would be very difficult for me to call it because after all I only had a top pair.  To check turn, I opened up their range to bet river. Even if they check river, I could bet it safely with my better hand and open their calling range just a bit with the checked turn to get one extra betting value. More importantly, I controlled pot size to avoid someone slow playing me with their flopped sets. So in a long run, I do not think I miss much value from this play.