初试Live Casino Poker里程.

(15)  Battles with 同胞 A continued.
     
    After 同胞 A took 2 pots from me, he probably felt that he had the upper
hand against me, but I would not be so sure yet if I were him. I thought I
made 2 good lay down. Do not need to win every pot right? Soon another hand
came, and I had pocket Js at MP.  I raised it up to 8$. All folded and 同胞
A called at button.

FLOP Q J 7 rainbow

I was not going to slow play this. "16$." I led the action. He just called.

Turn K

A dangerous card, but I couldn't slow this down 25$. "Raise" he put a stack
of chips in the middle. Dealer counted the chips and declared "35$ on top."
I did not like this raise. I know he liked to play connected card. 9 10, A
10 could both be in his range which made him the straight. I did not think
he had pocket Qs or Ks from the action so far. So I just called and want to
see another card.  Raise here was possible. But I felt that I was behind and
didn't want to go into a raising war when I was behind.

River 7

    Another beautiful river, I instantly felt I had the nuts. Pocket 7s and
Ks Qs were all unlikely based on the action so far.  I was very confident
with my hand.  I led the action immediately.  "$100!" I put in 2 stacks of
chips. I wanted to get paid off by his straight. I thought it would be an
easy call for him with the straight, but I obviously miscalculated it again!
He pondered for a long time, mumbling "sick, this is so sick."  Oops, I
played my card too obviously towards a person who could lay it down. This
might have worked on the aggressive white guy, but not him. He thought for a
long time and folded his hand. Damn, terrible terrible bet. I lost my value
once again. When I looked back, I should probably check raised river.
Because if he had straight, he would want to get paid off from my 2 pair or
paired hand, he would for sure put in a decent sized bet, all in need to do
was mini-raise it, it would be a sure pay off. Or I could put in a blocking
sized bet like 30$ and hoping he would come out and raise me up. Either way,
they should work better than my 100$ donk bet.  

    I collected what could have been a much larger pot in disappointment.

(16) Welcome new players.

     I kept my momentum and building my stacks. I was close to 400$ again.
Not long, there was a 3 way all in on turn with the short stack to my left,
同胞B and a fairly competent guy to my right. On the turn the board was 5QJK
.  Short stack had pocket Js, 同胞B had A10 and the guy to my right had KQ.
What a hand! Unfortunately I left the table for a while and missed the
action. River was a blank.  同胞B tripled up.

      After that hand, 同胞B and short stacker both left the table. It only
left me 同胞A, diamond reward guy who barely played a hand, old Asian guy,
and the guy lost with KQ who appeared to be decent. On a short handed table
without an apparent fish, I did not like it at all!  I told the floor man
that I want to switch to another table. He told me that he would put me on a
waiting list. He couldn't do this until more people came and joined the
table. what a crook! He never came back to switch me for the whole night.

      Fortunately, a few people joined. A businessman looking guy came and
sat to the dealers right. For some reason, the diamond reward guy switched
form dealer's right to the left earlier. Then a couple joined. They each
bought in 60$ minimum and was sitting side by side. The wife was sitting to
my left.  Being a friendly guy that I am, I started to chat with her. When
she told me that they were married, I told her that she should sat to his
husband's left and raise him every time when he put in a bet to let him know who is the boss. She laughed
happily. Very soon I realized that this couple just wanted to come here and
have a good time.
      
      Not long after the couple sat down, a hand was dealt with a few limpers. The wife was at bb and checked her option.

Flop is 2 5 7

The wife led 2$ into a 10$ pot. The diamond reward guy raised it to 10$ and everyone folded and she called.

Turn is a 3.

She checked. That guy watched her for a little while through his sun glasses and put in another 20$. She called again.

River was a 5.

She checked again. That guy put in 25$ which put her all in. She called with little hesitation. The diamond reward guy turned over pocket Js and she showed 76o. I was totally lost on this hand. Kudos for the excellent plays for both players! She was not happy but re-bought in another 60$.

(17)  "Why didn't you call my river bet?"

    The couple clearly was very bad at poker. The husband quickly shipped
most of his chips to others and was holding only less than 20$. I was anxiously
waiting for a hand to get paid off.  My opportunity came knocking very soon. Another
hand was dealt with a few limpers and I called sb with 910o. The wife checked
behind as bb.

FLOP Q J 4 rainbow.

I checked. The wife put in 5$ and everyone fold. I just had a straight draw.
I knew she had something she liked. It was a 5$ bet which were much larger
than the 2$ with her pair of 7. Knowing that I would get paid off if I hit
my draws, I called very casually and glanced at her remaining 45$.

Turn was a magical 8.

I had the nut straight. I checked. She put in $5 again. I can't slow play
this if I wanted her whole stack. I raised it to 20$. She smiled at me and
called. I think she liked me, but I only liked her chips.

River 7

    Nothing changed here. I put in another 25$ which put her all in. To my
surprise, she hesitated suddenly. What was so hard of a decision here?  You
called 25$ river bet with a pair of 7. You had to have something better than
this. She thought for a long time and folded in the end!  Miscalculation
for me again!!! I mucked my hand.
She asked: "what did you have?"
"J 10" I replied with a smile.
"No. you did not!"
"What did you have?"
"KQ."
I actually believed her on this, so I asked "nice hand. why didn't you call?
"
"Because I didn't want to lose my last 25$. My husband wouldn't let me buy
in again!"
FAINT!!!!!   What a reason she gave me!  It was tough to even make some
dollar from fishes who just wanted to lose.
"You had me beat. You should have called. I thought you didn't have anything
and my J10 was good." I was such a good liar.
"No--, you did not." She continued with a tone sounding like a typical
American girl.
"Ok I had you beat. It was a good fold." I thought she was pretty honest to
me so I gave her the truth.
"No--, you did not." She repeated the same thing again.
"haha." I laughed, "What would you like me to say? You were not happy with
me telling you that you had a better hand. Now I am telling you I have you
beat, you are still not happy.  Tell me what you want to hear. I will say
whatever makes you feel better. But seriously I had you beat."
"No--, you did not." She kept mumbling while the game continued. I didn't think she liked me any less after losing the hand, because she never came here with a plan to win. She probably had fun just arguing with me, but I made 25$ less for her stupid reason not to call.

(18)  I have a talent.
    The game continued. Another player joined and sat 2 seats to my right. I
looked at him. Wow, he looked exactly like J. C (Just Call) Tran, with the
same hair style and sun glasses. I told him later that he looked like him.
He didn't even look at me.  I later told Beta about this. He said "He
probably was J. C. Tran and didn't like it that you called him out." "haha,
I highly doubt that." But I will call him J.C anyway.

    J.C liked to raise at button and late position. He raised a few times to
6$-8$ at those positions versus a few limpers and took some pots after flop
. Another hand came with 2 limper and he raised again to 8$. I was at big
blind and looked at my cards A Qs. I couldn't flat here to let everyone come
along. So I re-raised to 25$ to isolate. To my surprise, everyone folded.
Maybe it was my tight image. I couldn't complain and took down a small pot.
The business looking guy asked me "what did you have?" "Pocket deuce." "
Really." "I had to bet when I was ahead right? I had a pair!"  "Yes, of
course."  I didn't think he agreed but he said he did. I thought I announced
to the table that I would re-raise with any pair.

    I think lying on the poker table comes so naturally for me. There were
many spots on that day where I could tell a lie without even blinking my eye
. I honestly think I have a true talent on this.  The conversation between
me and the wife were probably at my best. Then there were other occasions. I
was at button and everyone folded to me. This was very rare. Facing the
couple at small blind and big blind, I wasn't about to limp or fold. I
raised it to 8$ with my Q2s. The wife folded. The husband raised all in with
the rest of his 13$. It was a no brainer call. He turned over AQ and had me
dominated, but I kept my hand down.  Flop had an A and he doubled up and
found some breathing room. I just mucked my hand. The businessman looking
guy wanted to get some information again and asked what I had. I replied: "
pocket Js."  Why not? I was not ready to ruin my tight image and let the
table knew that I would steal with Q2s.

    Later that night, I was dealt KK at EP. After UTG limped, I limped as
well behind. MP made it to 12$ and one caller. I re-raised to 50$. Everyone
folded. You might ask why I limped second after UTG.  I did this because I
wanted someone to raise me so I could re-pop him while he thought I was weak
since I limped after another guy. That was how I read the LAG Russian had
nothing for his hand when he called sb and reraised when bb raised. I
instantly knew that he had nothing and he did only have 105o. Unfortunately,
no one paid attention to this and everyone folded. 对牛弹琴啊。Probably
half of table didn't even realize that I limped after UTG. Someone did ask
what I raised so big with. I said "I don't have much but I don't like to be
raised when I limp."  Haha. This reply even made myself laugh. But I wasn't
sure how the table would perceive me or they even listened. I might not
have a talent in poker, but my talent of telling lies on a poker table was
REAL.

(19)  Biggest pot of the night.

    The game continued and I was comfortably holding more than 400$ chips
again. I was very happy that I could climb out of the big loss earlier. The
businessman lookalike had been pretty active lately. I found that he liked
to put in big bets on river, pot size river bets on several occasions.
Another hand dealt, and he raised to 6$ from MP. I was at bb and called with
pocket 3s with someone else at LP.

FLOP AJ8 with 2 spades and a flush draw.

    I didn't like the flop and I was out of position, so I checked. So was
everyone else. Surprise! No one have an A?  

Turn 3 no spade.

    I hit my set. I was confident that I must be way ahead of everyone.  So
I led 20$. The businessman looking guy called and one folded.

River 10 no flush made.

    This card completed several straights. Not an ideal card, but I wasn't
about to give it up. I checked for my option, knowing that he liked to bet
river. No surprise there. He put in 40$ bets. I didn't think he had the
straight, but his betting size did worry me quite a bit. I started to count
my chips. When he saw me counting more than the 40$, he reminded me "only 40
$." Worrying about the straight, I put the extra chips back and just called.
He showed AK. I showed my sets and took down the pot.  Looking back, I
thought he did give me a tell when he reminded me that the bet was only 40$.
He would never do that if he had a straight. I was too worried about the
straight and didn't at least mini-raise the river to 80$. The correct play
should be mini-raise to 80$ and fold if he pushed really hard all in. We
should never miss a value raise or bet on river because of the fear of the
nuts especially at this level where few people had the ability to 3 bet
bluff river. Later he said he was thinking about what he did wrong on that
hand. I asked "why didn’t you bet river?" He said "I was afraid that
everyone would fold if I bet." I nodded along while I laughed so badly in my
mind.

After this hand, I increased my stacks to over 500$. A few hands later, I
was UTG again and looked down with again 1 red and 1 black rocket! I
casually limped in like many other times. "raise it to 12$." 同胞A who had
been fairly quiet recently announced a raise. Another guy called and action
was back to me. I couldn't slow play this. The tragedy of pocket Ks was
still lingering in my mind. "I re-raise. 60$."  同胞A was surprised. No sure
what was going through his mind. He said "ALL IN" very quickly. I knew he
had got a hand, but I had the mortal nuts. The other guy folded quickly. I
calmly asked dealer to give a count on all of his chips. "$198 on top." Wow
huge pot, he had got 258$ total, but I had him covered. I was not trying to
slow roll here. I really just wanted a count so I knew how much I was up
against. I still regretted that I didn't get a count for my first all in and
I couldn't give out the exact amount of money in the pot. "I call." I
replied and turn over my As. Mistake again! I should have waited until the
end when he turned over the cards first since he put in the last raise.

Flop was all small cards with 2 spades. Turn was a Q spade. I didn't like the Q
at all! He could well have pocket Qs. Luckily, I had the A of spade so I
added a nut flush draw. River was another spade and no pair on board. I had
the nuts and won the pot. 同胞A mucked his hand! I still didn't know what he
had. Someone beside me said "he didn't have much." I couldn't agree with
him. I knew he had at least a big pocket pair like Ks Qs Js or AK. But no
one could ever tell except 同胞A himself. I do hope that he comes to this bbs board and tell me who he is some day. I need to say thanks to him again for lending me the I-phone and sorry to him for taking his whole stack. I thought he played well but he probalby lost patience at the end of the night.

同胞A left the table right away while I tried to arrange my huge stack of chips. I had more than 750$ chips with all 5s. For some weird reason, the dealer was not allowed to switch his 25$ chips to my 5$. I had to keep the tower of chips right in front of me. But it felt great!

(20)  尾声。
    It was almost 1 am on Sunday morning. I didn't realize the time passed
by so fast within the action packed 2 hours. I increased my stack by 500$
during that time. The fish couple left long ago after both of them got
busted in a short period of time. There joined a baby faced young man who I
was sure that was underage. I asked him, but he denied it. The businessman lookalike said, "you can check his ID after you lose a big pot to him." What a slick idea! The baby face sat down to my left and bought
in 200$. He instantly increased his stack. He caught his set on one of the
hand and won a pretty big pot. When he turned over his sets, he sounded like
a veteran poker player. "I have a set." Later there was another hand, when
the old Asian guy went all in with another guy with K high board. He
immediately called out AK versus KJ. It was exactly that. I praised him "wow
, you got lazar eyes!"

I was very wary of the baby-face sitting to my left. The old Asian guy also
moved from another seat to 2 seats to my left. With two decent players
sitting to my left eyeing my huge stack, I was ready to call it a night.  I
ordered a cocktail trying to relax myself. Up until now, I only drank non-
alcohol drink and water to keep my mind sharp. Now it was close to the end,
I wanted to get some alcohol in and enjoy myself. After I finished my drink,
I was ready to leave the table. With so many chips in front of me, I could
not even fit it into one chip holder. I had to ask floor man to bring me
another. I went to the cashier and cashed out 500$.

I was ready to leave that table but not call it a night yet even though it
was already 1:30 am. After all I drove 2 hours to get here. I went back and
sat down another table to kill some more time. That table sucked. There was
not much action. The table didn't have an automatic shuffler and the dealer
was very chatty. I liked to chat with the players but if the dealer joined
and slowed down the game significantly. I hate it! I finally stood up and
left the casino around 3am after another hour of non-action. I cashed out
another 239$. I was up totally 599$. It was quite an achievement for me
considering this was my first live poker experience. I took a cab and went
back to the hotel. The cab driver charged me 10$ for just driving down the
street from Caesars to Sheraton, but there was really nothing else I could
complain about for the night.

Walking into the hotel, my wife was furious. She thought I planned to go
back around 11pm, but I went missing for another 4 hours. She couldn't reach
me since my cell phone was dead and was afraid that I got mugged on the way
home or murdered. I used all my tricks on an angry wife. She finally calmed
down but still was not happy. I slept from 4:00am to 8:00am and my 10 month
old baby girl woke me up twice during the time by crying very loud!

The next day, my wife kept telling me what she was planning to do to find me
. She wanted to contact the casino security, cab company and the police. I
thought it was pretty funny. She also said this would be the last time I
could come to AC to play poker because of my behavior. Obviously my winning
meant nothing to her. Not until 2 days later, she told me that she wanted to
go back to AC again because she did not pack well this time for us. What a
reason! I could only look at her in awe, but my mind has gone back to AC
already for the second time…

回复 3# windstormm


    (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".

一般说来，你说第一次玩别人都不信，好多人这样说。撒谎的人太多了，实话也没有人信了。有一句话很流行，never trust poker players.

   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.

很好。现场大家比较松，而且一般都不是很狡猾。没有遇到拼命的，即使这样的flop，一般也没大事。
手发抖别人第一可能没注意到。即使注意到，也不能说明什么，这不算明显的tell。有的人好牌抖，有的人差牌抖。所以，这个看不出什么东西来。
我们这里的标准raise是12或者15，一般10元，可能会有6.7个靠的。
如果遇到道格拉斯来了，抓起一把，那就变成-2-5或者5-10了。

回复 4# windstormm


    (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?

under the gun AK有时候limp in 也是个不错的主意。直接第一过早暴露了实力，第二遭遇反抗，很难知道自己处于什么位置。当然，也是个好打发。最差的是limp in后，一群人进来，你中了东西还不知道危险。

这样还有一个好处，如果有一个不太紧的在后面搞到10元，后面有两个靠的话。你在100元左右的时候可以考虑推了。直接赢45或者用100赢130。对第一个raiser的认识非常重要，如果他是很紧的rock，回到你这块把AK扔掉。

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.  

基本上这样，也没有什么更好的办法了

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.
不要恨在乎现在是输了还是赢了，那是完全无关紧要的事。你的财富在流动中，而不是在静止的stack里。

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.

你英语好，确实可以交流。但是，谈话的时候，你最好别说你心理怎么想的，有人在偷听。比如，某把牌其实你想靠，聊天的时候你最好反着说或者胡说八道。别走漏风声。
我们有个小哥们，跟你情况差不多。英语特别好。他每手结束后，用英语大声分析自己为什么这样为什么那样。我告诉他，你这是使劲浑身解数教别人怎么打败你。

都看完了，非常精彩！楼主的记性非常好，怎么能记住这么多的交锋，包括其他人的

好文，加油，继续。